The ‘Why you should be a Communist’ tour has begun! And what a time to be discussing revolutionary ideas.
The spread of this ‘Gen Z revolution’ represents a burning defiance from the youth – defiance against a class that profits from imperialist war and genocide, while simultaneously robbing us of any semblance of stability or future.
That is why I am doing this tour: to find the next generation of class fighters, and arm them with revolutionary ideas for the battles to come.
At the time of writing this, I have spoken in Manchester, Brighton, and Queen Mary University in London.
Manchester was a particular highlight. The meeting was packed, and it began with some good theoretical questions. But there was one contribution from a young Indonesian woman that really brought the discussion to life.
She spoke about the Nepalese revolution – she was amazed at how quickly it had developed into a full-blown insurrection, and expressed her disappointment with the limits of the revolution in her home country.
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She also said she was amazed to see a communist meeting taking place so openly, without fear of repression.
This deserves a moment for reflection. In other parts of the world, to host an open meeting titled ‘Why you should be a Communist’ would be impossible.
It serves as a reminder to British comrades: all we ask of you as a revolutionary today is time and financial sacrifice. But much bigger sacrifices will be thrust upon us in the future.
This contribution really grounded the meeting in reality, and brought home the seriousness of the task of communists in every country.
We cannot romanticise these movements in Indonesia, Bangladesh, or Nepal. As much as they are an immense inspiration, they also serve as a warning of what can happen when there is no party to carry the revolution to success.
We must use the time we have now to build as solid a party as possible. There is something in the air – and the world is already catching fire! We have launched our new podcast, A World on Fire, to discuss the ‘Gen Z’ revolutions exploding worldwide.
I also attended two demonstrations in London to protest the interception of the Sumud Flotilla, which were filled with a sense of urgency and outrage. However, that urgency was not matched with a clear idea of the way forward.
I was supposed to speak at one of them, but couldn’t because the police immediately implemented a section 14 outside Downing Street. Had I been given the platform, I would have directly called out the role the unions could be playing in Britain.
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This is precisely what is missing from the situation – the ‘block everything’ strikes in Italy and France have shown that the way forward for the Palestine movement now is militant class struggle.
Lastly, I woke up on Friday morning to a call from Times Radio, to respond to Shabana Mahmood’s declaration that protests for Palestine in the wake of the Manchester attack were ‘insensitive’ and indeed ‘un-British’. What a loathsome creature.
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But truthfully – as I responded to the slander that antisemitism is the driving force for the Palestine movement – I felt quite assured that the lies of the mainstream media are so hated already, that actually, the momentum is on the outside for once.
This week I’m speaking in Central London, Leeds, and at The World Transformed festival, before the huge Palestine demonstration in London on Saturday. No rest for the revolutionary when the world is on fire!
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Revolution is sweeping the world!
The Communist
From Italy to Indonesia, Madagascar to Morocco: a wave of revolution, rebellion, and revolt is sweeping across the world.
Last month saw the outbreak of mass uprisings and militant action all over the planet.
In Nepal, protestors burned down buildings housing the country’s parliament, Supreme Court, and senior politicians.
In France, workers mobilised to ‘block everything’ in opposition to the government’s austerity agenda, helping to bring down yet another prime minister.
And mass movements also erupted in East Timor and Ecuador; the Philippines and Peru.

Already, October has seen equally dramatic events as those of ‘Red September’.
The movement for Palestine has escalated in response to Israel’s attacks on the Gaza solidarity flotilla, with unprecedented demos taking place in Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, and the Netherlands, amongst other places.
Above all, however, it is the inspiring example of Italian workers and youth that has shaken the ruling classes of Europe.
Friday 3 October saw a political general strike across Italy over the question of Palestine. Millions of workers took collective action to shut down society, supported by mass walkouts of students. This was followed by a huge national demonstration in Rome the following day.
Meloni’s reactionary government has been dealt a mighty blow by this incredible mobilisation of the organised working class. And her imperialist counterparts in the West will no doubt be trembling at the prospect of a similar tsunami hitting their shores in the imminent future.
By mobilising as a class, the Italian workers have shown the way forward for the whole Palestine movement internationally.
Direct action by dockers, for example, has done more to halt the Israeli war machine and stop the genocide than two years of A-to-B marches and appeals to the bloodsoaked criminals in power have since 7 October 2023.
The trade unions here should follow this lead, and utilise the tremendous strength of the working class that lies at their fingertips.
Millions of workers in Britain are organised in the unions. If properly mobilised, through a bold call to action, this would constitute an unstoppable force, which no amount of state repression could subdue.
Such a movement should be linked to a clear class programme: connecting the struggle against war and imperialism abroad to the fight against austerity and militarism at home; and, in turn, aiming to overthrow the Westminster warmongers who are aiding and abetting Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The burning issue of Palestine has been the catalyst for this upturn in the class struggle in Europe. But the size and scale of the movement is a reflection of a wider radicalisation amongst workers and youth.
Likewise, the ‘Gen Z revolutions’ that have exploded onto the streets in Nepal, Indonesia, and Madagascar in recent weeks – and before that in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Kenya – may have been sparked by anger over corruption and cronyism amongst the political elites.
But their ferocity and intensity are symptomatic of a deep hatred towards capitalism’s broken status quo, and the rotten establishment that upholds it.
Across the world, a whole generation of young people has known nothing but crisis and chaos; instability and insecurity.

In the Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels explained how capitalism is a global system. The world market binds us all together.
And as this sick system becomes ever-more infirm and diseased, it is generating the same unbearable situation for the exploited and oppressed masses everywhere – and thereby forging its own gravediggers.
Similar conditions, in turn, produce similar results. The pressure in society is mounting. A powder keg of combustible material is being created. And consciousness is being transformed and radicalised, leading to social explosions and political upheavals in one country after another.
The problem in all cases can be reduced to the same missing factor: the lack of revolutionary leadership, capable of channelling this potential energy towards genuine – socialist – change.
Instead, there is an immense political vacuum: the utter discrediting of capitalism’s institutions and of all the traditional parties; but also the absence of any real class alternative.
This is the contradiction that the Revolutionary Communist International is seeking to resolve, by building a force that can lead the working class to victory.
So if you want a revolution against the billionaires and warmongers, join the Communists today – and help us sweep the capitalists and their bankrupt system into the dustbin of history.