“Now’s the day,
And now’s the hour.”
– Robbie Burns, poet and revolutionary
The first edition of The Communist has landed – a truly historic breakthrough! This launch of a brand new paper is part of the campaign to found a Revolutionary Communist Party in Britain: a vital step in the preparation for the stormy period that lies ahead.
The past few years have been marked by an astonishing rise in the ideas of communism, especially amongst younger generations.
The response to our Are You A Communist? campaign has been fantastic, demonstrating the radically changing mood in society. This has also coincided with the reawakening of the working class in Britain, reflected in a surge of strikes.
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Revolutionary explosions
The hatred towards the capitalist establishment and its political representatives is palpable.
The genocide in Gaza is again exposing the stinking hypocrisy of capitalist politicians and their media mouthpieces. The bombing of Yemen by the British and American imperialists is setting the region ablaze.
“The lights are absolutely flashing red on the global dashboard”, according to ‘Lord’ David Cameron. “There is no doubt we face the greatest risk to the global order in the post-war era”, echoes President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
It is becoming increasingly clear that capitalism has reached its limits. Ever since the great slump of 2008-09, in particular, the system has been in a blind alley. Instability has become universal, while the gap between rich and poor has become a chasm.
The deepening crisis of world capitalism is amplified by the long-term decline of British capitalism. Taken together, this is fomenting the conditions for revolutionary explosions.
According to the latest report from the Centre for Social Justice, Britain is at risk of slipping back to a level of social divide not seen since Dickensian times.
This is a dire warning for workers in Britain. Under capitalism, we are heading for disaster.
Question of leadership
The revolutionary wave that is being prepared requires bold revolutionary leadership.
The leadership of the labour movement is woefully inadequate, however. They are blind to everything taking place. Instead of fighting for a revolutionary programme, they offer platitudes.
Even the ‘lefts’ have no perspective of changing society. They meekly want to reform capitalism, nothing more.
The trade unions are facing the threat of new draconian anti-strike laws. But the TUC leaders, instead of preaching class war, are holding a ‘demonstration’ in Cheltenham – a former spa town renowned for its horse racing. The Tory government must be shaking in its boots!
All that Conservative-clone Keir Starmer has to offer, with his admiration for Thatcher, is more austerity and praise for capitalism.
The Labour ‘left’ has thrown in the towel, meanwhile. They had the chance to sweep out these Blairite gangsters under Corbyn, but they ran a mile. Such weakness is a reflection of their weak reformist politics.
The term ‘socialism’ has become devalued as a result. The word has lost all its meaning. Even Starmer calls himself a ‘socialist’. At best, it is seen as representing a desire to reform capitalism, not socialist revolution.
Clean banner
Given the betrayal of the ‘socialist’ leaders in the First World War, Lenin proposed that revolutionaries cast off the soiled shirt of ‘socialism’, and put on the clean linen of communism.
This represented a return to the genuine ideas of Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto – those of world revolution. We think the same is required today.
Over many years, the old ‘Communist’ Party, which adheres to Stalinism, has degenerated and collapsed. The remnants around the Morning Star have become thoroughly reformist. They have nothing in common with communism.
It is therefore time to build a revolutionary communist party anew.
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Workers’ paper
For this reason, we are proud to launch a new paper – The Communist.
The new paper sees a merging of the forces around Socialist Appeal with those of Revolution in Scotland, in the fight for the overthrow of capitalism, across these islands and worldwide.
As Lenin explained when launching Iskra, the first Marxist Russian paper:
“We do not intend to make our publication a mere storehouse of various views. On the contrary, we shall conduct it in the spirit of a strictly defined tendency. This tendency can be expressed by the word Marxism.”
We intend to make The Communist not simply a paper for workers, but a workers’ paper.
While maintaining our high-quality theoretical material and political analysis, we will open our pages to workers in struggle. And our paper will increasingly become an organiser, especially as we move – in the not too distant future – from a fortnightly to a weekly.
Revolutionary Communist Party
Lenin dedicated his life to the building of a revolutionary party, the Bolshevik Party. On this basis, he was able to lead the working class to power in Russia in 1917.
In the words of Lenin, we must strive to build the party. This is the most important task facing us. “We must train people who will devote the whole of their lives, not only their spare evenings, to the revolution”, he explained.
But such sacrifice comes from a confidence in the ideas of Marxism. These are daily being confirmed by the crisis of capitalism.
We appeal to you, our readers, to help us build the communist alternative to capitalist exploitation, austerity, and war.
Help us increase the sales of The Communist in your workplace, school, or college. Write for the paper.
Above all, help us build a powerful Revolutionary Communist Party, with the aim of overthrowing capitalism and creating a communist future for humanity.
Help build The Communist!
This week sees the launch of the first edition of our new paper, The Communist.
This publication is not just the same old Socialist Appeal with a new lick of paint. The Communist will be a vital addition to our arsenal; an essential tool for reaching and organising wider layers of revolutionaries than ever before.
The launch of this new paper could not be more timely. Workers and youth across the world are turning towards communism in droves, as the only solution to capitalism’s impasse.
This means there are opportunities to promote the paper everywhere. Comrades should think about ways to drive up circulation and subscriptions – not just within our ranks, but in workplaces, communities, schools, universities, and amongst friends and family.
To make a splash in this launch week, branches should organise multiple sales over the coming days, including a bumper weekend of recruitment stalls.
Sales should be organised both at regular locations on high streets and outside stations, and also in areas where we don’t currently have a presence. Budding communists met on these stalls could provide the basis for new cells and branches.
First ever sale of #TheCommunist?
The Mile End and Whitechapel branches were out on Queen Mary campus with ISSUE 1 of the brand new workers’ newspaper ‘The Communist’.
Our slogans ‘Sweep away their system!’ and ‘Hands off Yemen! Hands of Gaza!’ went down very well. 20 sold! 🗞️ pic.twitter.com/DLHUU2bL2c
— Tower Hamlets Communists ☭ (@THcommunists) January 24, 2024
Hype and anticipation can be built beforehand through a campaign of postering, stickering, and social media posts, letting everyone know that the communists are coming!
Those who we meet on these stalls should be invited to launch parties, celebrating the release of our exciting new paper. These are a great chance to educate comrades on the political importance of the revolutionary press. Our new pamphlet on this topic can help with this.
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The Communist will not just be a paper for workers. It will be a true workers’ paper, reflecting the lives, experiences, and interests of the working class.
We shouldn’t just aim to maximise sales of The Communist, therefore, but must actively seek out powerful content to fill it.
We want The Communist to be packed with contributions from you, our readers.
We want letters detailing the daily injustices of life under capitalism. We want real stories that reveal the rotten conditions that workers face, and expose the hypocrisy and lies of the bosses and their representatives. And we want reports from the frontlines – from the strikes and struggles breaking out across the country.
Comrades should see themselves as correspondents, consciously on the lookout for material that can bring the class struggle to life on the pages of The Communist. Head to communist.red/submit to send in any material, suggestions, or feedback.
Utilised correctly, The Communist will be a lever for enormously increasing the size and influence of the Marxists in Britain – and a key stepping stone to the founding of the Revolutionary Communist Party.
