This current generation of youth faces a bleak future. The boom years are long gone, a distant memory now, and there is no prospect of them returning.
On the contrary, all that capitalism can offer is further crises, wars, falling living standards, and climate catastrophe.
In reality, this is the only picture that young people have ever known. No wonder greater and greater numbers are drawing revolutionary – communist – conclusions, and are looking to get organised.
To these layers, we say: join us in the fight for communism!
😏The Gen Z revolution is being prepared, not by me, but capitalist crisis itself. Time to join the revolutionary communists pic.twitter.com/Y9qxk5YVEv
— Fiona Lali (@fiona_lali) September 16, 2024
World on fire
Everywhere we look, the world is on fire.
Nowhere are the endless horrors of capitalism more evident than in Gaza. Over 40,000 men, women, and children have already been murdered in cold blood by Israeli forces. And there is worse to come, with the threat of a greater conflagration across the whole Middle East.
But there is no way of extinguishing this blaze under capitalism.
Marx explained this long ago. At a certain point, he emphasised, every social system becomes incapable of developing the productive forces: industry, science, technology, and culture.
From there, the system enters into terminal decline, and an epoch of revolution opens up.
This process can be clearly seen today. The last decade has seen feeble economic growth across the globe. The system is seizing up.
The ruling class is systematically destroying the forces of production, closing factories and shunting people into the dole queue: from the Port Talbot steelworks, to the Grangemouth refinery, to the Harland and Wolff shipyards.
On the one side, our lives and livelihoods are being sacrificed at the altar of profit. On the other, revolutionary explosions – led by the youth, ‘Generation Revolution’ – are erupting across the world, from Bangladesh to Kenya.
Starmer’s austerity agenda
With the possibility of a second Trump term, intensified trade wars will be on the order of the day. The world economy is heading for a new slump.
At the same time, British capitalism is falling further and further behind. The capitalists’ refusal to invest in production, in favour of financial speculation, has led to a vicious cycle of stagnation and decline.
Local government is in crisis. Public services have been slashed. Many councils and universities are threatening bankruptcy. The health service is on its knees – run down in preparation for privatisation. Homelessness, evictions, and rents are all rising, while the property profiteers get away with murder.
Starmer says he has the solution: to “fix the foundations” of British capitalism and “grow” the economy. In reality, the Labour leaders have nothing to offer except further austerity and attacks.
‘Sir’ Keir Starmer and his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, promise “tough decisions”. This means starving kids and freezing pensioners, in order to fill a “black hole” left by capitalism’s crisis. Nevermind if thousands die as a result.
At the same time, Starmer and his wife receive tens-of-thousands-of-pounds worth of clothes in “gifts” from the rich and wealthy, “so they can look their best”. This is alongside an eye-watering amount of “entertainment”-related perks and freebies from corporate lobbyists and influencers – totalling over £100,000 in the last five years.
The poor suffer, and our schools and hospitals crumble. Meanwhile, Starmer hands out £3bn a year without a second thought to NATO’s imperialist war machine in Ukraine.
His government also continues to ship weapons to Israel to exterminate the Palestinians, despite mealy-mouthed talk of a so-called ‘arms embargo’.
No wonder there is such massive anger in society. After 14 years of fury directed against the Tories, now it is Starmer’s turn to be hated!
In fact, support for Starmer and his government has already plummeted, after just a few months in office. And it will only fall further, as the cuts begin to bite.
Join the communists!
No amount of tinkering with this sick system will solve anything.
Those who think they can reform capitalism are living on another planet. You can’t convince a flesh-eating tiger to be a vegetarian.
Yet this is the perspective of the so-called reformist ‘lefts’, who believe in creating a ‘nicer’, ‘kinder’, ‘greener’ capitalism. But this is a complete contradiction. Such a utopian outlook offers no solution to society’s problems.
Only a root-and-branch overthrow of the capitalist system can offer a way forward.
This means taking economic power out of the hands of the billionaires and bankers. We must expropriate the super-rich.
Only socialist revolution – to place ownership and control of the economy in the hands of the working class – can allow us to democratically and rationally plan the resources of society in a sustainable way, for the benefit of all.
On this basis, the wonders of modern science and technology, such as AI, would be used – not for developing the means of death and destruction – but to reduce the working day, offer greater leisure time, and vastly improve living standards.
The abolition of global military spending alone would provide an extra $2.44 trillion to spend on health, education, and wellbeing.
We fight for world revolution. Only then can we end the threat of war and environmental disaster, and create a real future for ourselves, free from oppression and the evils of capitalism.
This is the communist view – championed and advanced by the Revolutionary Communist Party. If you agree, join us, get organised, and help us build!
Cut from a different cloth
Keir Starmer has reportedly accepted nearly £19,000 worth of high-end clothes and several pairs of glasses from multi-millionaire donor Lord Waheed Alli. On top of this, Alli also paid for a personal shopper, clothes, and alterations for Starmer’s wife.
While Labour rolls out austerity for the working class, worsening child poverty and depriving pensioners of heating, there will be no such hardship for the Starmers.
The elderly will shiver this winter. But the PM and his partner will have plenty of designer layers to keep themselves warm.
Starmer is also no stranger to accepting corporate ‘donations’ from those seeking influence over his big business government. In recent years, he has enjoyed hospitality packages at sporting events, VIP concert tickets, hotel stays, and fine-dining experiences thanks to the capitalists.
In total, it has been estimated that the ‘Labour’ leader has enjoyed perks and freebies amounting to over £100,000.
Our PM might be advised to consult a French or Russian history book. Brutal living standards for the masses – combined with a shamelessly lavish lifestyle for the rulers – can have explosive consequences.
Andy Rudlin, Farringdon
