Proud to be a Communist in the 21st Century

by John Maryon

A contribution to the joint NCP-RCPB-ML seminar held recently in London

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels cooperated to publish the Communist Manifesto in1848. It was at the time of the Industrial Revolution when industrial cities were being and millions flocked from the countryside to seek work in the new factories. It was also a time of harsh exploitation by the bourgeoisie who accumulated great wealth from the surplus value created by the workers. The Communist Manifesto examined the development of nature, society and productive forces and proved the necessity for a class struggle. A struggle that would not only lead to a redistribution of wealth through various forms of public ownership. It would also serve to change the aspirations of the proletariat and the social relations within society itself.
    Today the those dark satanic mills may have gone but sweat-shops, with low pay and appalling working conditions, still exist where capitalism flourishes. Often the owners are to be found living in luxury near their tax havens. Grim polluted factories, with a dangerous work environment and employing children, are no longer to be found in Britain but we do have low pay and zero hour contracts forcing workers to rely on food banks. In former times agricultural labourers were forced to carry out hard manual labour, almost from dawn to dusk, but today their equivalent may be NHS staff. Some qualified ambulance workers may still be working 15 hours into a shift. And although the workhouse may be a thing of the past homeless people today can be left to die cold, lonely and frightened in some mean dark street.
    Capitalism still exists to enslave many parts of the world and remains powerful and influential. It is however in terminal crisis facing irreconcilable contradictions, as predicted by Marxists, leading to booms and slumps Cycles of inflation, unemployment and business failures occur but the main burden will always be carried by the workers. Imperialist rivalry increases with great hostility to the socialist countries bringing with it the constant danger of war. Communists today have an essential and vital role to play, in educating and organising the working class, to fight for improved wages and working conditions while maintaining the struggle for world peace.
    We now live in the digital age, an era of quantum physics and instant communication, but the fundamental nature of capitalism has not changed. The class struggle must continue and it is the duty of communists to lead it. Tinkering with a failed system by Social Democrats will achieve nothing. Communists believe that a revolutionary change is essential with full commitment to the class struggle.
    It can take courage to be a Communist. A situation similar in some ways to young men refusing to enlist for the First World War. Incessant propaganda by the bourgeois media creates an image in people's minds of communists being dangerous red monsters with evil intent. Others with alternative views such as anarchists are also tarred with the same brush by being presented as only wanting to destroy. A good communist must be able to stand tall and proud, be fair and honest and work hard to gain the trust and respect of his fellow workers.
    Communists may stand side by side with others to fight for a common cause. Whilst they may not agree with all the other parties honest held views those opinions will be respected and discussed. Communists will join with allies to form a broad front when it is expedient to do so.
    We will never abandon our core values or commitment to the scientific philosophy of Marxism Leninism. Communists will strongly resist the negative influence of a number of trotskyist organisations and also expose the treachery of the pseudo-left. Throughout the Labour movement there are individuals who while pretending to be progressive follow a reactionary agenda of their own. They emerge at critical times to oppose the workers struggle, make false claims against the socialist countries and some apparently have no qualms about stabbing their leader in the back.
    Communists will endeavour to equip the working class with the knowledge and confidence necessary to establish state power and build a socialist society. For centuries the poor, oppressed and disadvantaged have fought for justice and equality. Now in the modern world, with the rise of organised labour and the development of scientific socialism, it is possible to not only dream of a better world but to build it.
    Marxists realise that in the real physical world there is constant change. It is important to learn lessons from history and adapt to new conditions as they arise in order to meet new challenges that may lie ahead. There is no point however in re-fighting the ideological battles between Stalin and Trotsky of over 100years ago. This is merely a last ditch attempt by some Trotskyists to gain some relevance in the modern world.
    Communists respect an individuals sexuality and oppose any attempt to discredit or hassle others. We regard ourselves as all citizens of the world and are totally opposed to racism, social segregation or any persecution of ethnic minorities. We seek to build a beautiful new world based upon equality with the establishment of real human rights; something that is impossible in a capitalist society.
    Communist party members are committed to democratic centralism. This ensures that factional disputes, which would weaken the movement, are avoided. Policies are discussed fully and openly following which a vote is taken. The policy then becomes binding on all comrades.
    The struggle of the working class is international. Communists are true internationalists realising the importance of working together to coordinate their struggles with multi-national cooperations. There is also the question of aid in the form of material or military assistance given by powerful states to weaker one's being bullied by imperialism. In Afghanistan it is reported that a number of people have been forced to sell their kidneys to buy food. The US has frozen the nation’s assets but China has stepped in to provide aid including medicines. This is the kind of action that makes me proud to be a communist in the modern world.

What it means to be a communist in 2022

by Theo Russell

A contribution to the joint NCP-RCPB-ML seminar held recently in London

A thorough understanding of Marxist-Leninist theory and philosophy - dialectics, a materialist, scientific and multi faceted view of the world. Thorough knowledge of the contributions of Stalin, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and other revolutionary thinkers.
    Applying correct Marxist-Leninist positions to real day to day problems, understanding the errors of right and left revisionism, and of anarchism, and their relationship with bourgeois and petty-bourgeois ideology.
    Understanding the different trends within bourgeois ideology, liberal and reactionary bourgeois ideology (e.g. in different periods the bourgeoisie moves from one to the other), and that in normal times, they are not the same as fascists (a common ultra-leftist error).
    Thus our fight with both Tories and right-wing Labour is against their upholding neo-liberal capitalism at home and imperialism abroad, but at the same time we still enjoy extensive democratic rights which have been won in battles from the English Revolution onwards. The same can be said of most advanced capitalist states. It’s important to remember that the Bolsheviks had to work secretly underground under the brutal Czarist dictatorship.
    Understanding that even under bourgeois rule, and when there is no possibility of revolutionary change, the working class can still be mobilised to make enormous gains, as in the period of the 1945 -51 post-war Labour government, that such reforms can strengthen the morale of the organised working class, but never losing sight of the need to educate the vanguard and to take up the fight to achieve socialism when the time comes.
    A thorough understanding of the bourgeois, capitalist state in the epoch of imperialism and monopoly finance capital, which rides roughshod over the rights of workers and the small bourgeoisie alike. Knowing our enemy well and understanding that bourgeois democracy is only genius democracy for the bourgeoisie. This explains why in the same breath as telling socialist countries to adopt multi-party “democracy” and the “rule of law”, the dominant capitalist states also back violent subversion and corrupt and undemocratic regimes.
    Understanding that the handful of rich capitalist states still enjoy overwhelming dominance over the world economy, allowing them to use sanctions and financial subversion as powerful weapons, but also that this domination – especially in the fields of science & technology – is on the wane.
    The ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood and to search out truth from all sources, especially communist and honest, progressive sources. This may seem obvious to communists, but it distinguishes us from those who pose as leftist or revolutionary, but who have not left behind bourgeois / petty-bourgeois thinking, and are still infected with the lies of the capitalist censored mass media.
    Understanding the need to always work in alliances, first and foremost with communists and socialists, including a non-sectarian approach and working with organisations on vitally important issues while disagreeing on other issues.
    Understanding that we can ideologically side with all sorts of strange bedfellows, such as during the Brexit referendum, and right now we would agree with both S Khan and P Patel that the Met Police have to clean out the racist and sexist pigs from their animal farm. This is something which U-Ls get into huge theoretical twists about, but which also shows the world that we share the basic norms of democracy and civilised life with the masses.
    Likewise, understanding that if and when socialism is achieved, there is no magic wand which turns the masses into revolutionaries, but that you have to work with and bring with you a very wide alliance of forces to continue the revolution.
    The ability to work in all working class and progressive organisations democratically and collectively, not imposing our ideas on others but putting forward correct positions and proposals and accepting the decision of the collective without question. Never claiming to be better than the collective or the leadership.
    Setting an example of hard work, dedication and upholding an organisation's principles, eg in a trade union working to recruit members, build branches, inform and educate members, support strike action, and never fail to join picket lines – the coal face of working class struggle; if working with the Labour Party, always turn out for canvassing and any other tasks the local branch sets.
    Never to expect too much, to be prepared to continue working for months, years and decades with possibly little or no result, but when the class is ready to move and take up the fight, to be in position where you are known and trusted by many who are not in our party, are not communists, but who know that we fight for the same goals as they do.
    There are no easy solutions to the difficult and complex problems which life throws up.

What it means to be a communist, new and revolutionary today

by Michael Chant

A keynote opening given by the leader of the RCPB-ML at a joint seminar with the NCP that was held recently in London.

Taking the topic at face value, and giving an answer in a nutshell, one could say to be a communist means seeing the face of the New in the crisis of the Old, and working for the necessary change, for the transformation of the Old into the New, with revolutionary sweep.
    Further, one cannot conceive of being a communist without membership of a communist party, a modern type of party which mobilises and organises the people to defend their own interests, collective, individual and the general interests of society.
    And, as both propositions imply, the communist party takes up the problems of the day, whether national or international, with the spirit of proletarian internationalism, in order to provide solutions and to advance the progress of society.
    But, as always, the nub of the definition centres around how the question poses itself. To be a communist is not necessarily synonymous with being new and revolutionary. It is great that in our two parties, if one wants to separate them, we share the name communist; and one has New in its name and the other Revolutionary. I think this emphasises a common aspiration. It is difficult to think of a communist party worthy of the name that is not a party of revolutionary action, and which fights for the New. It seems to us essential that this quality is present.
    Being new and revolutionary is an act of being. In contrast, when it is posed, what it means to be a communist, one is invited to think of ‘communist’ as a category, how many criteria one fulfils, what the communist positions are, and so on. It is interesting how much difference a little ‘a’ can make: from ‘to be a communist’ to ‘to be communist’. In other words, ‘to be communist’ is not a question of ideological beliefs. It is a question of action, of structures, of membership. At the same time, how can it not include being new and revolutionary, immersing oneself in the struggles of the working class and people for their rights and interests, struggles which are in defence of the rights of all, and recognising the urgency of change, having a burning flame that the New has to come into being, since the political, economic, cultural and every other kind of crisis of the Old world is causing havoc and suffering to the people wherever they are in the world. In this respect, being communist is to have an optimism, to see in the movements of the people, whether against war, whether against the anti-social offensive, that the outcome can be something positive, creative, the people mobilised and organised to speak and act in their own name and have fidelity to the ensemble of all human relationships and what they are revealing, most importantly the need for political power. This looks like it is closer to how the question poses itself, and what it means to be a communist, new and revolutionary, today.
    So, ‘today’. This is crucial, because the argument is sometimes put that a communist party can only be revolutionary when there is a ‘revolutionary’ situation. So, then, what it means to be new and revolutionary today. It is the revolutionary nature and character of the party that matters, the revolutionary culture and driving force within it. But it is true that the revolutionary actions of the communist party are not to be understood as storming Parliament or Windsor Castle with an armed people’s militia. Nor is it the answer to return to a catechism of Lenin’s words that a revolutionary situation consists of when working people do not want to live in the old way and the ruling class cannot rule in the old way. Or, one could look at it from the point of view that that situation characterises the present, with the destruction of the public authority!
    But one can characterise the issue as what does the communist party take up for solution in this period of our era. When in the 1980s the world was going through its turning point from flow to ebb of revolution, of which, for example, the coming to power of Gorbachev in the Soviet Union was an example, the conclusion could be drawn that no force could act in the old way. Tony Blair tried to convince the world that there is a Third Way, but his new type of way was not in fact new, but pro-war, anti-worker, pro-covenant thesis.
    What might be said is that what is taken up for solution today is the battle of democracy, of which the defence of the rights of all is part, and which is characterised by the people being the decision-makers versus ‘representatives’ of the people claiming to act in their name but serving a fictitious person of state. In our view, not to engage in this battle of democracy condemns you to extinction today, particularly the communists. So these are crucial fronts of struggle that affect the lives of everyone: for economic well-being, for a ban on the use of force in settling conflicts, for the protection of the environment. It is our view that people are expressing their deepest desires for something new with these demands, which can be characterised as engaging in the battle of democracy, of the necessity to establish an anti-war government.
    Just to quote from the article Era, which Hardial Bains wrote in April 1991: “The main content of the era remains the same, but the forms of struggle have to be changed so that the working people can grasp and fight for the realisation of those demands which could improve their situation, bring peace, and protect the environment. The new situation demands a new approach and solutions that working people want.” So the tasks of today present themselves with profound meaning as engaging in the battle of democracy, taking it through to the end. One could say that communists present one face to the world, not a revolutionary face and a reformist face. It is a matter of our being. The working class will emancipate the whole of humanity through revolution, through the act of emancipating itself.
    In our view, confusion arises when ‘revolution’ becomes an act of belief rather than a historical outcome of the working class and people participating in making history. In this sense, ‘revolution’ as a belief simply says that the bourgeois ruling is overthrown by force with an act of revolution, to be replaced by the proletariat ruling by force. But the state form must be changed profoundly, and it is not a question of force – it is a question of bringing into being those arrangements that empower the people to be the decision-makers. We stand with the slogan: “There Is An Alternative! One Humanity, One Struggle!”
    That is to say, people are the history makers. How can the communists mobilise and organise the working class and people to this end, with this consciousness? The communists are not in a competition to best describe the ills of capitalism and of US imperialism striving for domination in the world. Communists are striving to develop the proletarian front and to provide an alternative, so that the New can overcome the resistance of the Old and prevail.
    Not only is the history-making of the 1917 October Revolution still unfolding – but the battle of democracy from the time of the English Civil Wars has still to be brought to completion! It is not a matter of indifference whether this battle is joined or not!
    The working class must stand at the head of the struggles of the people to turn things around in their own favour, and modern definitions are needed, not catechisms. That means that organising work for the communists takes pride of place. This means advancing step by step, accomplishment by accomplishment, dealing with the state disinformation that puts a veil over the need for political power. The character of the veil is that the people are told there is no question of achieving that power for themselves, but only replacing one set of ‘representatives’ by another, left-wing versus right-wing. In this way, the conception that the people are being deprived of decision-making power gets thoroughly obscured or put off sine die [indefinitely]. We need a vantage point and a line of march to impart to the working class and people!
    So, very briefly, that is what I wanted to say on what it means to be a communist – new and revolutionary – today!