From the Factories to the Streets—
SEATAC, USA, June 3 —Ten thousand rallied in front of the federal prison in this city south of Seattle. Some 300 immigrant parents are incarcerated here, forcibly separated from their children at the Texas-Mexico border.
The protestors kept streaming in. King County sheriffs tried to hem in the crowd but thousands of pissed-off demonstrators surrounded the dozen or so cop SUVs meant to be a barrier. The cops soon retreated.
We distributed hundreds of Red Flag newspapers, all that we had. We talked about “building a communist world to end borders and nations.”
Some protestors were particularly excited to hear about the plant wide debate at Boeing about how communism would make this possible, reported in the Red Flag issue we were distributing. Many were inspired by the idea that blue-collar workers, whom the media paint as xenophobic Trump supporters, would seriously consider such an alternative.
After a long discussion with two comrades about this debate, one new reader at the demonstration concluded, “Of course! That [communism] is the only thing that will work!”
The Nightmare That Is Capitalism
A Boeing friend knew he would be required to work overtime during the Saturday rally. So, the week before, he and his wife went down to the protest campground set up outside the prison to show support.
The prisoners’ relatives camped there asked them why the U.S. government was picking on immigrants.
“They did this to us [black slaves],” the Boeing worker responded. Then he listed all the groups of workers the capitalists have separated and attacked.
“They [the capitalists] will be coming for all workers. You are not alone and that’s why we’re here,” he said (SEE BOX).
Ruling Class Willing to Accept Socialist Candidates as Bulwark Against Communism
One protestor got excited when she heard us talking about a communist world. “Yes, finally!” she shouted, taking a bunch of papers to give to friends who accompanied her.
In contrast, a young Democratic Party organizer tried to get a Red Flag distributer to sign up to vote.
“Voting won’t stop the attacks on workers,” our comrade began. “The working class must change the system from the bottom up.”
“But what about the socialist who won the primary in New York City?” the liberal organizer countered.
A new poll shows that 61% of U.S. millennials (aged 18-34) favor socialism. Our experiences at recent protests have shown that young people are ready to go further than the pollsters cared to ask. The interest in communist revolution and communist society has exploded in the last decade, particularly among young workers.
Given this development, larger sections of the U.S. capitalist ruling class have seen the value of accepting socialist candidates. The bosses are betting these socialists will do the dirty work necessary to build the anti-communist campaign they must wage. Historically, socialist politicians have been some of the most vicious anti-communists, often paving the way for fascism.
To be sure, some leading Democratic Party politicians are not yet on board. For example, Democratic U.S. House leader Nancy Pelosi tried to dismiss the victory of the New York City socialist. She blamed it on the large number of Hispanic and black voters in that district. The soon-to-be congresswoman is the daughter of a Puerto Rico-born mother and a father born in New York. The emergence of socialist candidates threatens Pelosi’s career.
Opportunity Knocks
All this interest in communism and socialism provides a great opportunity to build the International Communist Workers’ Party (ICWP). We usually come out ahead when we contrast how a communist society will work to how socialism works.
Socialism—whether it results from elections or revolution—maintains capitalism’s essence. Money, wages, nations and borders continue. Communism eliminates all that.
Without the fetters of capitalism, we can struggle and win a world based on communist relations among all workers. Nations, borders and immigration laws all pit one group of workers against another to intensify exploitation. Communism will relegate all of them to the garbage can of history.
Communism is what millions are seeking around the world. Let’s not allow the capitalists to hoodwink us with programs like socialism that perpetuate their dog-eat-dog system. Join the ICWP to build an international party capable of winning a communist world.
Worker Calls for Collectivity and Unity of Our Class
A Boeing friend wrote this after visiting the protest camp in front of where immigrants separated from their children were shipped.
To the relatives of incarcerated immigrants camped out at the SeaTac federal detention center and my fellow workers:
When we the people, in the U.S. and around the world—whose values are to do what’s right, to say your prayers, and dream the dream—come face to face with today’s reality, we see a nightmare. Uncertainty fills the air with division at all levels, pitting one against the other and some refusing to see the facts. It calls into question that which is our core as human beings.
These divisions create mass community separation, jobs scaled down, less hope and less organization to prosper as a people.
We need organizations that have a message: from unity to prosperity. Collectively we can all prosper with devotion and unity.
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