{"id":12695,"date":"2023-10-27T05:04:52","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T05:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/?page_id=12695"},"modified":"2023-10-27T15:26:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T15:26:49","slug":"us-capitalist-crisis-masses-need-communist-revolution-not-capitalist-democracy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/volume-14-number-14\/us-capitalist-crisis-masses-need-communist-revolution-not-capitalist-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"US Capitalist Crisis: Masses Need Communist Revolution, Not Capitalist Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russian Revolution here \u2666<\/a> US Democracy: Death of an Illusion here \u2666<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“COMMUNISM”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Learn from the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia<\/span><\/h4>\n

This issue of Red Flag<\/em> marks the anniversary of the 1917 communist-led revolution in Russia (October 25 Old Style\/November 7 New Style).<\/p>\n

As we said in Mobilize the Masses for Communism, it was the second great victory for our class after the Paris Commune of 1871.\u00a0 The Bolsheviks mobilized masses of workers and soldiers to overthrow the liberal Kerensky government. They established the Soviet republic. However, they retreated from the goal of building communism. Instead, they built a socialist society with wages, money, and markets.<\/p>\n

We have so much to learn from its successes, its shortcomings, and its fatal errors. Articles we published for the centennial of the Bolshevik Revolution are available at this link:<\/p>\n

History of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917<\/a><\/p>\n

US Democracy:\u00a0 Death of an Illusion<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Masses Everywhere Need Communist Workers\u2019 Power<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

October 21\u2014 \u201cWhy is the Pax Americana in decline?\u201d asked US capitalist pundit Paul Krugman a few days ago. \u201cThe world no longer trusts US promises, and perhaps no longer fears US threats, the way it used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krugman blames the Republican Party, which blames Democratic President Biden for everything. He\u2019s partly right. As we\u2019ve said before, Trump and his openly fascist supporters are both a symptom and a further cause of the US decline.<\/p>\n

The Israel\/Palestine crisis could explode into regional war at any moment. Together with Ukraine, even into world war. And the US Congress has been paralyzed since October 4. Why? Because the fractured Republican Party can\u2019t agree on a House Speaker.<\/p>\n

It can\u2019t approve funds for its Israeli partners. Or for Ukraine. Or even keep the government open past November 17 unless something changes fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo many watching at home and abroad, the American way no longer seems to offer<\/p>\n

a case study in effective representative democracy,\u201d\u00a0wrote New York Times columnist Peter Baker. \u201cInstead, it has become an example of disarray and discord.<\/p>\n

The US capitalist rulers aren\u2019t the only ones in trouble<\/strong>. The Council of Europe met in May to discuss \u201cElections in Times of Crisis.\u201d\u00a0 Europe is in disarray, and China is making huge gains there.<\/p>\n

The leading capitalist party in Israel picked a fight with a key centrist party over the role of the judiciary and the occupation of the West Bank. Mass protests exploded for months\u2014including among military reservists. Hamas saw and seized its opportunity.<\/p>\n

Joe Biden\u2019s embrace of Bibi Netanyahu was a watershed moment. After Modi snubbed Biden publicly at the G20 meeting in India, the US is doubling down on its few loyal allies. Its global isolation is in full view.<\/p>\n

We could go on. Pakistan. Ecuador. Iran. Niger. And more.<\/p>\n

Workers worldwide must see and seize these capitalist crises as opportunities for communist revolution.<\/p>\n

Democracy:\u00a0 Not As Advertised<\/strong><\/p>\n

Democracy is supposed to mean \u201cpopular rule\u201d or \u201cpeople power.\u201d\u00a0 We\u2019re told, \u201cYour vote is your voice.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, very few of us have any voice on how our workplace runs!<\/p>\n

As for government, a September Pew Research study documented that most people in the US think that big donors, lobbyists, and large companies have \u201ctoo much\u201d influence on Congress. They think that \u201cpeople in their district\u201d have \u201ctoo little\u201d influence. No kidding! Over a quarter have no use for either party.<\/p>\n

Reformers call US democracy \u201cimperfect.\u201d\u00a0 They want us to make \u201cour government\u201d better. This is a dangerous illusion.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not \u201cour\u201d government<\/strong>. The ancient Greek enslavers invented democracy to manage their system that exploited masses of slaves. It oppressed \u201cfree\u201d people (including almost all women). The US \u201cfounding fathers\u201d adopted this democracy to manage their system that\u2026… did the same!<\/p>\n

Protest marchers chant \u201cThis is what democracy looks like!\u201d They are right, but not in the way they mean. We get to yell in the streets (sometimes) while the capitalists and their politicians make decisions from their corner offices high above us (always).<\/p>\n

In class societies, there is no \u201cthe people.\u201d\u00a0 There are exploiters and exploited. Either the exploiters hold power, or the exploited make a revolution to take it away from them. That\u2019s what we\u2019re preparing to do.<\/p>\n

Communist workers\u2019 power won\u2019t be a \u201cbetter democracy.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Instead, the International Communist Workers\u2019 Party will mobilize masses in workplaces, neighborhoods, and everywhere else into decision-making collectives. For local matters, we\u2019ll use our voices directly. We\u2019ll debate and decide what to do to meet the masses\u2019 needs, and how. We\u2019ll carry out and later evaluate those decisions.<\/p>\n

But these collectives can\u2019t be \u201cautonomous\u201d when it comes to big issues like water and food supplies or the environmental crisis. We need to communicate with each other through the Party center. That way, decisions can respond to the short-term and long-term needs of the masses everywhere. We work to spread revolution and abolish borders.<\/p>\n

We prepare for communist workers\u2019 power by building the ICWP today. Party members must be immersed among the masses. That way, we can respond to their material and political needs. We must participate actively in our ICWP collectives.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re sick of capitalist politics \u2013 if you are a communist or like communist ideas \u2013 please talk to us about joining or building an ICWP collective wherever you are.<\/p>\n

Front page of this issue<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russian Revolution here \u2666 US Democracy: Death of an Illusion here \u2666 “COMMUNISM” Learn from the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia This issue of Red Flag marks the anniversary of the 1917 communist-led revolution in Russia (October 25 Old Style\/November 7 New Style). As we said in Mobilize the Masses for Communism, it was the second … Continue reading US Capitalist Crisis: Masses Need Communist Revolution, Not Capitalist Democracy<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6495,"parent":12641,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12695","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12695"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12727,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12695\/revisions\/12727"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12641"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}