Last weekend, the elected national leadership of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), the central committee, met to discuss the latest political developments internationally, and to draw up a balance sheet of our ‘autumn offensive’ in Britain.
A clear, vivid picture emerged from these vibrant discussions: that capitalism globally is in an ever-deepening crisis; that sharp and sudden changes in the situation are producing an equally sharp change in consciousness; and that the revolutionary communists are in a strong position to take advantage of these events.
World perspectives
Jorge Martin, a leading member of RCP and the Revolutionary Communist International (RCI), opened the weekend by providing comrades with an overview of world events.
In his introduction, Jorge began by explaining the context to all the current turmoil: the global crisis in 2008. As he and other comrades emphasised, the capitalist system has never fully recovered from this heavy blow – the reverberations of which can still be felt today.
With this crisis of capitalism, Jorge explained, has come a slowing down – or even reversal – of ‘globalisation’ and world trade. And this, in turn, is the underlying reason for the growing tensions between the major imperialist powers.
A number of contributions developed this point, with several comrades fleshing out Jorge’s analysis regarding the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and others highlighting the barbarism that imperialism is creating through the proxy wars and civil wars that are raging in Sudan, Ethiopia, Congo, Myanmar, and elsewhere.
In Ukraine, western imperialism faces a humiliating defeat. In Lebanon, meanwhile, a fragile ceasefire deal has been agreed: a tacit acknowledgement by Netanyahu and the Zionist ruling class that Israel is not achieving – and cannot achieve – its war aims.
Of course, the biggest political earthquake of the last few months has been the re-election of Donald Trump in the US presidential elections. And a significant chunk of the discussion touched on this question, with comrades outlining the potential impact that a second Trump presidency could have: on American politics and society; on the US and world economy; and on the consciousness of workers and youth.
Other comrades discussed the increasingly unstable political situation in Europe – most notably in terms of the imminent implosion of the government in France, alongside the recent collapse of the coalition in Germany.
Such instability is a general feature for capitalism today, expressed at every level: economically, diplomatically, socially, and politically.
Summarising the session, Jorge emphasised this point, pulling all the threads together and drawing out the key conclusion for comrades: the period ahead is set to be one of extreme turbulence and volatility; the class struggle is intensifying; and the opportunities for building the forces of genuine communism have never been greater.
Autumn offensive
This provided the perfect platform for the next discussion: an organisational report on the activities of the RCP over the past few months, introduced by the party’s general secretary, Ben Gliniecki.
Ben gave a whistlestop tour of the RCP’s many achievements and successes since the leadership’s last national meeting at the end of August.
At this previous gathering, the CC launched a recruitment campaign, primarily focussed on finding and organising a new generation of communists in the universities. And since then, local RCP branches have thrown themselves into this work.
As Ben stressed, when it comes to evaluating this campaign, the figures speak for themselves. The RCP’s overall base on UK campuses has doubled since early September. Existing communist clubs and Marxist societies have been strengthened and re-registered. And new student groups have been established in several places.
One notable and important part of this work was Fiona Lali’s ‘books not bombs’ tour, which brought a clear anti-imperialist analysis to student activists in around a dozen locations nationwide.
As we have reported in the pages of The Communist, thanks to comrades’ tireless efforts, rapid growth has been seen in many areas of the country, including cities like Manchester and Sheffield.
The result is that the organisation has never been stronger, both quantitatively and qualitatively. This was reflected in the record attendance at this year’s Revolution Festival, and by the high theoretical and political level on display at this inspiring landmark event.
Comrades added to Ben’s report in their contributions, reflecting on the lessons from this energetic period of activity, and clarifying the tasks for the weeks and months ahead.
Primarily, this means educating the hundreds of new recruits who have joined our ranks recently; strengthening the branches of the organisation, by training up new layers of leadership and establishing strong Bolshevik traditions, particularly on the question of revolutionary finance; and building upon the impressive foundations that we have established in the student field, with further work on the campuses next term.
Revolutionary finance
This led nicely into Sunday’s discussions, which started with a presentation by Joe Russell, the national treasurer of the RCP, about the organisation’s finances.
Joe underlined how proud we can be on this question, having raised a record-breaking £275,000 for the fighting fund over the course of this year.
This truly astonishing amount is a testament to the sacrifice and determination shown by comrades; a reflection of the revolutionary optimism and confidence that RCP members have in the ideas, perspectives, and methods that we defend.
There is still work to be done, however, Joe explained. Above all, the leadership has the immediate task of training up new finance officers in the branches, and in turn educating new comrades in communist traditions when it comes to matters of money.
As is often quoted, finance is the sinews of war. And we need to strengthen the finances of the organisation to prepare for the class war that is brewing; to fortify the organisation by raising the income needed to take on new full-time staff who can support the work of the branches locally, coordinate our campaigns nationally, and expand the production and publication of grade-A Marxist analysis and literature.
So we appeal to all our readers: support the RCP this winter; donate to our fighting fund; and better yet, join us and give a day’s wages every month to the cause of revolutionary communism.
The importance of leadership
The final session of the weekend examined lessons from other sections of the RCI, most notably on the question of Bolshevik methods and the role of revolutionary leadership.
Our international has a long heritage, rich in experiences. And recent growth and developments across the RCI, thanks to the Are you a communist? campaign of the last year-or-so, has only added to this.
Introducing the discussion, Hamid Alizadeh of the RCI international secretariat gave a thorough political explanation for the importance of communist practices and structures when it comes to organisational matters.
The revolutionary party, he emphasised, is first and foremost its programme and traditions. Comrades join and participate to help build the organisation on this basis. And the leadership plays an essential role in transmitting these ideas and methods – which have been tried and tested over decades – from one generation to the next.
Professional organisational methods, in this respect, Hamid explained, are inseparable from Marxist theory and philosophy. The two go hand-in-hand. We reject both alien class ideas – such as postmodernism and identity politics – and the anarchistic, individualistic approaches that flow from these.
This provided a fitting finish to the latest meeting of the RCP CC, giving comrades a clear sense of purpose and priorities for the period ahead: to steel themselves in the ideas of Marxism and the traditions of Bolshevism; to help educate and train up a new swathe of communist cadres, armed with this same understanding; and to go out and build the party, in preparation for the titanic events and battles that lie on the horizon.
