For a better tomorrow

Andy Brooks' closing remarks

 By Andy Brooks

NCP leader Andy Brooks took part in the 27^th Wanshou Forum at the Renmin University of China (RUC) in Bejing last month. The Forum was initiated by the International Department of the Communist Party of China in early 2016 and it aims to provide an open and inclusive international exchange for Chinese and overseas political leaders, think-tank scholars and academics to help build a community with a shared future for humanity and a better world.

Andy Brooks took part in the closing ceremony and this is the New Communist Party of Britain’s contribution to the debate.

The communist party is based upon the revolutionary principles of Marxism‑Leninism. Our purpose is to equip the working class so that it can establish working class state power and then build a socialist society.

Bourgeois democracy is democracy for the exploiters and dictatorship for the exploited. Bourgeois elections, when they are held, are used so that the smallest number of people can manipulate the largest number of votes.

Communists, therefore, believe that socialism is essential to eliminate exploitation, unemployment, poverty, economic crisis and war.

The history of humanity is a history of exploitation and class struggle. For century after century working people, the slaves, the peasants, the artisans, fought for justice and equality. Only in the modern era with the rise of the working class and the development of scientific socialism has it been possible not only to dream of a better world but also concretely to build it.

The Paris Communards fired the first shots. The Great October Revolution lit the torch of revolution, which burns on in Asia and the Caribbean. The great revolutionary teachers of humanity, Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin, were shaped from the epic struggles of the last two centuries.

Communists proceed from the principles of proletarian internationalism, peace and friendship among the peoples. The communists were the centre of resistance to fascism during the Second World War and the Soviet Union played the decisive role in the defeat of Hitler and Hirohito. The international communist movement lit the flames of revolution in Africa, Asia and Latin America and inspired the independence movements that broke the chains of colonial slavery.

The great revolutionary leaders of the struggling masses, Mao Zedong, Kim Il Sung, Fidel Castro and Ho Chi Minh inspired generations to sacrifice and struggle for the bright, red future.

That is a world with no classes and no exploitation; a world in which the will of the masses, the workers, the toilers, the people who work in the factories and farms, is carried out. It is a world in which those who produce the entire wealth of the globe get the fruits of their labour.

We believe that while calls for the re‑establishment of a formal Communist International are premature, a coordinated international communist response is needed to rally working people against the imperialists and oppressors. We must work to restore the momentum for revolutionary change; strengthen co‑operation and united action with communist and workers parties around the world; build solidarity with the global anti‑war movement and forces for liberation in the Third World to unite the class and march towards a new tomorrow — the world Marx and Engels predicted and a world that will surely come.

Whilst it is impossible to foresee how long capitalism’s general crisis will take to mature, it is certain that the contradictions within the system will ensure that at some stage in the future the capitalists will find it impossible to resolve the contradictions within the capitalist system. For these reasons capitalism will not, and in any case can never, meet the needs of humanity as a whole — only socialism can do that. Capitalism will not collapse of its own volition — it must be pushed by the efforts of the working class operating in the specific conditions of their own countries. The exact scenario as to how this will happen cannot be predicted. But it is certain that communist parties are essential to the process of preparing workers to carry out fundamental social change and to ensure the advance to socialism.

What does socialism mean? First of all it means that the ownership of the means of production — the factories, mines, the transport industry, the land and the machinery to till it — are taken from the hands of the capitalists into state and collective ownership on behalf of the working class. A dictatorship of the working class will be established that will suppress the capitalists economically and politically through the workers' government, trade unions and councils and in the sphere of ideology and culture generally.

 The energy, vitality and creative power of the working class will be unleashed, providing a freer and fuller life for everyone. The people will own the banks, insurance companies and finance houses. The age of classes and exploitation will be over. The greed, speculation and corruption of the bourgeoisie will end when the workers' government is established and a new era will dawn.

The economic slumps which are part and parcel of capitalism will disappear. There will be no more unemployment and no more war.

Homelessness and the squalor of the slums will end. Housing will be good, free and available to all. The environment will be protected for the benefit of the countless generations to come. Everyone will enjoy free education and a free health service.

Everyone who is able will work. And work will become a pleasure. Every job will have value and importance, from the essential services to the highest scientific research and it will be all for the common benefit of the people.

People will have more leisure time: time to think; time to grow and appreciate life; time to participate and discuss; time to play or travel; time to reflect and create.

There will be no classes, sects or racial discrimination. Unemployment, poverty, racism, discrimination and bigotry will vanish. Women will finally be fully emancipated and play a full role in the society of the future.

Elderly people will be provided with a living income to enjoy the fruits of their past labour. And they will continue to play a role in a society which treasures their experience and knowledge.

Culture, sport, arts and entertainment will be made by the masses for the masses. The old culture of selfishness and competition, which pits worker against worker, will go. The old distinctions between skilled and unskilled, white‑collar, and blue‑collar workers will end, together with the dead‑end jobs and the sterile intellectualism of today. People will live in dignity and hope, building communism throughout the world.

We call on   Communists, socialists and all class‑conscious workers to close ranks, organise and rally workers in the struggle for peace and socialism in the 21^st century!