During the course of the recent RCI World School, the British delegation took the time to caucus with two leading members in our International.
We spoke to Alex from Germany, who began by highlighting that the rise of the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) was a direct consequence of the failure of the status quo.
“On the federal level, they have reached almost 30 percent of the vote,” Alex said, “which is six percent ahead of the CDU [conservative party] – so they’re the strongest party in Germany now.”
Weakness of the lefts
When asked about Die Linke, the left party that saw a bounce in the 2024 elections, Alex explained the hard limits they have placed on the struggle:
“For all the youth in Germany that are worried about the rise of racism – about their Muslim friends – they want to do something to stop the right. But then the left tells them: ‘there is nothing we can do but vote!’”
Alex explained to us that for many ordinary Germans, the ‘left’ has become indistinguishable from the establishment – through carrying out cuts and austerity, and forming alliances to ‘save democracy’ with the parties that the working class despises.
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Much like the left in Britain, Alex commented that “the left leaders are in a profoundly depressed mood: they say we live in a period of dark reaction, that fascism is around the corner, that everyone is turning to the right, and there is nothing that can be done.”
But Alex countered:
“The period we’re living in is not simply reaction, but preparing the ground for revolution. And this radicalised youth will precisely play a crucial role in it. They say that the working class is reactionary now… But this is a blatant attempt to shift the blame away from themselves for paving the way for the rise of the AfD.”
Our German section has recruited 200 new members this year, bringing our section to 430 members nationally.
We heard of their plans to bring forward a class programme to battle against the AfD; and to agitate against the war drive sweeping Europe, and participate energetically in the anti-conscription youth movement.
Titanic events
We also had the pleasure of speaking with Antonio, a leading member of our US section. He highlighted that Trump’s ‘red scare’ propaganda is a direct consequence of the class struggle heating up in the States.
In our caucus, Antonio captured the mood of the Minneapolis uprising earlier this year:
“When Renée Good was shot, people were incensed seeing that footage. There was this local event being organised in a school. Organisers expected maybe a dozen people – but over a thousand showed up.”
Antonio highlighted the spontaneity and creativity of the working class as they began to defend their communities:
“There was this map of the city with neighbourhoods colour-coded, with people assigned to put up stickers in different areas. There was this massive network of group chats where, immediately as ICE was spotted anywhere, you could hear everyone getting notified. It felt like the majority of the population was in those!”
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But beyond organising self-defence, Antonio highlighted, people were asking, “what next?” At one of the meetings, 300 unorganised people showed up asking this exact question. These were not normal times.
Antonio concluded on the need to build the party ahead of titanic events breaking out:
“It is not just numbers or foot soldiers that we need. We need comrades who can be leaders – who can orient and lead, who will be able to see what the situation requires, and gather leading teams around them… Minneapolis is our point of reference for what we are preparing for.”
