Capitalism’s finished – not us!

by Andy Brooks

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined social scientists, businessmen, solidarity workers and other communists for an economic seminar at the Chinese embassy in London on 24 October 2025 The Chinese ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, opened on the important decisions made at the Fourth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China that week and the new developments in China and the opportunities it gave to the world that was the theme of the symposium and the discussion that followed. This is Andy Brooks' contribution...

The world today stands at a crossroads of profound transformation and turbulence, with uncertainty pervading the globe. This is a time of sharpening contradictions – and the primary contradiction in the world today is between United States imperialism and the rest of the world it seeks to control and exploit.  
While the imperialists live in the past with their “American Dream”, their “new world order” and “Making America Great Again” the Global South aims for the future – a better tomorrow that was charted out in Beijing by the leaders of the people’s democracies and the leaders of the Global South during the top-level discussions on the sidelines of the Victory Day celebrations in the Chinese capital in September.
Donald Trump and the other old men who lead the bourgeoisie in America and Europe have nothing to offer the new generation apart from tales of an imagined glorious past when imperialism in all its forms ruled most of the world. And all they can promise is never-ending poverty, forever wars and endless austerity in the future.
These venal politicians and the ruling class that they serve maintain that capitalism is the only game in town. And it is – but only for themselves. Capitalism, in the final analysis, is simply a system designed to perpetuate the rule of the landowners, industrialists and capitalists to ensure that a tiny handful of parasites can live the lives of Roman emperors off the backs of millions upon millions of working people. There is only one solution to the capitalist crisis – socialism.
Humanity has passed through a number of historical epochs from the first glimpses of primitive communism in the Stone Age to the growth of feudalism and the emergence of capitalism and imperialism in the modern era. Today a new stage of development is underway in the people’s democracies on the road of socialist advance which will in turn make the qualitative advance to communism.
Now a new economic and political counter to US-led imperialism is being built by China, Russia and the rest of the Global South. BRICS and the Belt & Road initiative provide an alternative to imperialism’s one-sided “deals” and “partnerships” that solely serve the interests of the trans-national corporations of the imperialist world.
In Beijing the Chinese leader Xi Jinping outlined five core principles that should be the driving force for global reform: sovereign equality, adherence to international law, multilateralism, a people-centred approach, and focus on practical action. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, backed China’s new initiative on global governance, calling it “timely and positive”. He reaffirmed Russia’s support for China’s proposals, which aim to build a more effective and fair international system amid Western dominance. 
Today socialism in forms suited to specific local conditions is back on the agenda. The social progress and economic might of People's China has been amazing.  Measured in terms of real GDP  (the real value of goods and services without such American features as exorbitant medical fees, high rents and legal costs) China is on a par with the USA.  Its mixed economy does have certain risks but the cardinal task of the Communist Party of China is to ensure that no one is left behind.  A prosperous society is being created for everyone to enjoy.
The other people’s democracies are also making excellent progress.  Cuba has endured a blockade by the USA for over 60 years and Democratic Korea, Laos and Vietnam, who all took on and defeated the might of American imperialism in their fight for freedom, have recovered from almost total destruction and their governments have led the drive to build strong, prosperous, democratic and equal societies with the people as its true masters.
In China the government, led by the Communist Party, ensures that the fruits of economic and social progress are shared by the vast majority of the people, effectively avoiding issues such as wealth polarisation and social fragmentation that we see all the time in the West.
In Britain and the rest of the imperialist heartlands politics has become a game for those who serve the ruling class. Venal politicians tell us  that we have free speech and democracy, but it’s democracy and freedom only for themselves. They have elections but only so that the smallest number of people can manipulate the maximum number of votes. They have parliaments but they are all frauds designed to mask the fact that bourgeois government rests on the bourgeois state, which exists solely to serve the interests of the ruling class. 
In China the people’s government remains committed to advancing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of its people. This commitment has laid a solid foundation for long-term social stability and harmony. When people realise that the nation's development blueprint is closely linked to their own interests, they will come together with tremendous strength and unity to strive forward.
Stable growth, stable policies and stable expectations – this is what the people want. China's development follows a clear direction that is taken with confidence and determination – whether it is a top-level design for developing new quality productive forces based on local conditions, the solid advancement of common prosperity through high-quality development, or a systematic plan to accelerate the formation of a new development project. 
This is China’s answer to Western calls for tariff walls and trade wars. China's approach to development is not about fighting for your own corner but about serving the people for the benefit of the entire world.
The 15th Five-Year Plan, which starts next year, is a carefully designed blueprint for realising the Chinese people's aspiration for a better life. Serving the people, the plan charts the way forward for the People’s Republic in building a community with a shared future for humanity that will make ever greater contributions to world peace and global development.
The history of humanity is a history of exploitation and class struggle. For century after century working people – the slaves, the peasants, the artisans, dreamt of justice and equality. But in the modern era with the rise of the working class and the development of scientific socialism it is now possible not only to dream of a better world but also to concretely build it.
The imperialists think that their guns will ensure that they can ignore the will of the people for as long as they like. But they were proved wrong in the 20th century and they will be proved wrong today. The days when people listened to the rich men who told us that the greatest virtue of humanity was the possession of the largest amount of money are over.
Great mass movements are again sweeping the continents. The masses are demanding social justice, democratic rights and an end to exploitation. It’s capitalism that’s finished – not us. 
Everywhere we look in the capitalist world we see unemployment, homelessness, poverty, drug abuse and crime. The symptoms of industrial decline, inflationary pressures, stock market volatility and economic stagnation. This is capitalism. And working people are being made to carry the burden of its failure. But in People’s China working people aren’t simply reacting to global challenges – they are shaping the very future of our world.