About Me
"As capitalism has become infected by the crises of it's decay, truth has become it's antagonist. On the other hand, for socialism, for Marxism-Leninism, truth is an indispensible instrument. Truth is the soul, the very nature, of Marxism-Leninism. Because Marxism-Leninism is a science that rests on a careful and meticulous study of all the facts of objective reality, it is as close to truth as possible." (Gus Hall, 'The Role of Theory in the Struggle for World Communist Unity,' "Political Affairs," Sept. 1977)Who am I? I am a working-class Communist. Marx and Engels wrote that Communists are "the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others" and "clearly understand...the line of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement." (Marx and Engels,"Communist Manifesto," 1848) We Communists have never made any secret of the fact that our ultimate objective is socialism.As American workers we strive publically and by democratic means to convince the American people that socialism is the only way to end the scourge of economic crisis, unemployment, and violent class conflict. We strive to convince them that only socialism can once and for all put an end to racism, reaction, fascism, and war which are engendered by monopoly capitalism.We Communists are confident that the day will come when the majority of Americans will decide by their own free choice, on the basis of their own experience, and in harmony with their fundamental interests, to march forward along the road of social progress toward socialism--that is, to establish the common ownership of the national economy under a government of the people, led by the working class.What Is Socialism?Socialism is the social ownership of means of production and their utilization to satisfy the material and cultural requirements of the whole of society. Socialism is necessary because only by such a radical transformation of the economic basis of society can the evils resulting from capitalism be done away with, and new powerful techniques be fully utilized.Socialism can be achieved only by means of the struggle of the working class, and only on condition that the mass working-class movement is equipped with scientific socialist theory. V.I. Lenin said that: "Without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement." (Lenin, 'What Is To Be Done?', 1902)Marx and Engels established the basis of this theory. The foundation of their teaching was their discovery of the laws of development of society, the laws of the class struggle. Frederick Engels pointed out that with Karl Marx's discovery of surplus value and the materialist conception of history "socialism became a science." (Engels, 'Socialism: Utopian and Scientific,' 1892)Thus understanding the laws of historical development, Marx and Engels showed that socialism was not a utopian dream, but the inevitable outcome of the development of capitalist society and of the working-class struggle against capitalism.Marx and Engels taught the working class to be conscious of its' own strength and of its' own class interests, and to unite for a determined struggle against the capitalist class, rallying around itself all the forces discontented with capitalism.They showed that it was impossible to get rid of capitalism and establish socialism unless the working class conquered political power, deprived the capitalists of all power and stamped out their resistance. This is called the dictatorship of the proletariat. Lenin wrote that: "Only he is a Marxist who EXTENDS the recognition of the class struggle to the recognition of the DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT. This is what constitutes the most profound distinction between the Marxist and the ordinary petty (as well as big) bourgeois." (Lenin, 'State and Revolution,' 1917) And Marx and Engels showed that in order to vanquish the old world and create a new, classless society, the working class must have its' own party, which they called the Communist Party. Lenin wrote that that: "It (Marxism) made clear the real task of a revolutionary socialist party: not to draw up plans for refashioning society, not to preach to the capitalists and their hangers-on about improving the lot of the workers, not to hatch conspiracies, but to organize the class struggle of the proletariat and to guide this struggle, the ultimate aim of which is the conquest of political power by the proletariat and the organization of a socialist society." (Lenin, 'Our Programme,' 1899)The scientific socialist theory of Marxism-Leninism is tried and tested and has proved it's truth in practice. Guided and inspired by it, socialism was built in the Soviet Union, and the shape of the future communist society became clear. In the USSR,a new world came into existence whose growth the forces of the old were utterly powerless to prevent. We have every right to defend it's achievements.Completely different is the world of dying capitalism, torn by insoluble crisis and conflict. The main contradiction in capitalist society is that production is social but appropriation is private. Frederick Engels writes that: "The contradiction between socialized production and capitalistic appropriation manifested itself as the antagonism of proletariat and bourgeoisie." (Engels, 'Anti-Duhring,' 1877) Under capitalism, the ruling monopolies strive to solve their problems and increase their profits by forcing down the people's standards, by deceiving the people and undermining their liberties, by piling up armaments and waging and preparing to wage aggressive wars of conquest. They pin their hopes for the future on bombs and napalm and bacteriological weapons. Their final accomplishment is the means for mass destruction. Gus Hall, the former leader of the Communist Party USA, wrote that: "At no previous time in history has life presented so much irrefutable evidence as today that capitalism as a socio-economic system is outmoded and therefore on the skids of extinction." (Gus Hall, 'Capitalism on the Skids to Oblivion,' 1972)Our final conclusion, then, is clear. All over the world the common people can and must unite to preserve peace. We must work for the ending of capitalism and the establishment of socialism in our own country. Socialism cannot possibly be achieved by any gradual transition based on class collaboration, since by it's very conditions of existence the capitalist class is bound to resist to end the introduction of socialism, which would deprive it of it's power and profits. On the contrary, it can be achieved only by the struggle of the working class to emancipate itself from capitalist exploitation. By emancipating itself from capitalist exploitation the working class will thereby emancipate society at large from all exploitation. "We are going to be an important factor in the force that will propel the capitalist dinosaur to extinction." (Gus Hall, 'Capitalism on the Skids to Oblivion,' 1972) Speed the day!
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