Celebrating the Bolshevik Revolution 1917-2017
SOUTH AFRICA—We had a successful day celebrating the Russian revolution, which serves as a great lesson for us in our efforts of mobilizing the masses for communism to free us from this “horror with no end.” It was a great day! We managed to invite 28 -30 workers and students, some of them with different views. Some subscribed to black nationalist movement.
One of the first questions that were raised in our discussions was whether there is a need for a revolution in our society, even though we had different views. Some who had never heard of communism agreed that indeed we need a revolution in our society because “voting does not change lives,” as one student worker said.
We discussed what this revolution must be aimed at? What must this revolution achieve?
One said “it must be aimed at eradicating these white capitalists so that we have a system where black people prosper because they’ve been suffering for a long time.”
A comrade then answered, “What about the black capitalists?”
“The revolution must be aimed at eradicating capitalism and capitalists regardless of their skin color or nationality. The so-called black people you’re referring to are the working-class people. They have been and are still exploited not only by white capitalists but by black capitalists as well. That’s why we say the revolution must be a communist revolution that will make sure that not only do we eradicate capitalism but we establish a communist society that is based on meeting the needs of the working class from all corners of the world.”
We drew lessons from history. There have been black nationalist movements before. All of them have failed to liberate the black working class or the masses because they didn’t destroy capitalism. They didn’t destroy the wage system.
A simple example is Zimbabwe where every day the masses are forced to flee out of the country because of the authoritarian regime of the ZANU-PF under Mugabe.
Hence we draw motivation and lessons from the successes and failures of the Russian communists of the 19th century. They showed that the working class is capable of taking power from their oppressors.
We also take great lessons from their failure to establish communism directly. Now we know that we don’t need a stage to get to communism. We need to fight and struggle for it directly. We also know that we won’t be able to establish communism through nationalism but to fight for it internationally, when the working class of the world is united under one umbrella party the International Communist Workers Party (ICWP).
Another question was: Can we have a revolution without violence? Almost everyone agreed that it is not possible to have a revolution without violence, that violence is needed in order to have a successful revolution because those that are in power will never relinquish their power without a fight. They have shown that and they continue to do so here. They brutally killed Marikana workers for simply wanting a pay raise. They continue to brutally kill the masses all over the world. That is why we need an army to turn their guns against the capitalists and fight for their class brothers and sisters.
We talked about how will communism work or look like? We explained: in communism everyone will work collectively to run the society. There will be no profit or private property. No one will be more privileged than the other. There won’t be a few individuals owning the means of production. Everyone will work according to his/her ability to meet the needs of all. We will collectively deal with anyone trying to sabotage or undermine the needs of the working class. We will collectively struggle with decisions that affect everyone. Only through collective effort can we best advance and maintain our communist principles and ideas that benefit the working class as whole.
It was very inspiring after the discussions to see more people with changed minds wanting to know more about the party. Every one that was not a party member took our literature like the MMC (Mobilize the Masses for Communism) and the Red Flag. Some pledged to come to our meetings. Even those comrades that were not so active said they are going to be active now.
An Inspiring Event
On 18 November the youth collective hosted an event (Celebrating the 100th year anniversary of the Russian Revolution). Our ICWP discussion, in which about 30 people participated, was a very successful and inspiring event.
All the comrades showed leadership and every one participated. Each comrade contributed according to their commitment. I had a very good experience and it is always exciting to see young people are open to our communist ideas.
Three comrades who were part of the event are members of the Black Empowerment Movement. We discussed the differences between the political line of the International Communist Workers’ Party and other political parties (Lefties).
They were convinced we are fighting the same enemy: exploitation, discrimination, wage slavery and homelessness. We spent all day talking about the evils of capitalism and how to end them.
“We don’t need the bosses”! I still recall those words coming from an angry young comrade who was fed up of this racist system. This comrade was so keen to know how exactly ICWP is planning to overthrow this evil system. We told him we advocate for change through revolution and we must fight directly for communism, not socialism. History has taught us how to struggle for communism.
It is important to keep mobilizing and carry our message to the masses no matter how long it takes, that is the ultimate goal.
From this experience I have drawn many political lessons and it is clear we are going forward as a youth collective in the Republic of South Africa.
We need to expand these discussions amongst our friends so we can grow as a party. Keep up the good work Comrades!
—A comrade in South Africa
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