We Are Dedicated to the Same Cause

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We Are Dedicated to the Same Cause

May 5 marked the anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx in 1818. We are taking this opportunity to reproduce the message of the Central Committee of RCPB(ML) to the reception of the New Communist Party in March this year, held to mark the anniversary of Marx’s death.

We bring greetings to this reception to commemorate the death of that great leader of the international proletariat, Karl Marx.

The very fact that our parties are remembering this occasion is once again proof of the vitality and scientific nature of the doctrine of Marxism. We are proud to call ourselves Marxist-Leninists, and, as were Marx and Lenin, we count ourselves as revolutionists. It is to create the subjective conditions for revolution that our two parties are all about. We see that the objective conditions are pointing towards the necessity to transform capitalism to socialism through revolutionary struggle. It is the concrete analysis of concrete conditions that is going to provide the guidelines for our revolutionary actions, and the vitality of our relations is shown through the serious discussion that always takes place between our two parties. We are serious about wanting to bring into being a socialist Britain, and this is what prevents each of us from being dismissive about the thinking of the other, and is the basis for the spirit of communist unity that enlivens our discussions.

Marx and Engels proclaimed the revolutionary watchword, "Workers’ of All Countries, Unite!". This is a clarion call today also, when in Britain the most intense chauvinism is funnelled by the bourgeoisie into the workers’ movement. The ruling elite attempts to turn this chauvinism into an unchanging principle, it peddles disinformation about the present in order to ideologically disarm the working class and people, and it distorts and rewrites history to exonerate itself from the crimes of colonialism and imperialism which it has committed. Today this has as its aim the step-by-step bringing into being of a corporate fascist state, with an official state ideology, a nation united behind the ruling class and a trade union movement which is in social partnership with the government. To this end, bourgeois ideologues are developing disorientating doctrines about a so-called "strategic state" which "pushes power down to the people", and a government which is dedicated to forming a so-called "Compact" with what they have named the "third sector" of society, the voluntary sector which is dedicated to taking the blame for the crisis of the capitalist system and letting the government off the hook.

In contrast, the revolutionary call to workers of all countries to unite is based on and reflects the programme and spirit of proletarian internationalism. Contemporary Marxism-Leninism is its doctrine, and the workers internationalist traditions underpinned by the dignity of labour are its concrete manifestations, of which the communists are proud to stand in the vanguard. The doctrine of Marx also teaches us that as a starting point the workers have to settle scores with their own bourgeoisie. This is what we mean by settling scores with the old conscience, in terms of the retrogressive consciousness which the bourgeoisie tries to claim is universal and the most humane. It is also what we mean by the working class constituting itself the nation and vesting sovereignty in the people. As is clear from the occupation and aggression against Iraq, the threats to Iran, and generally disregard of the sovereignty of nations which are labelled "rogue states", the "axis of evil" and "illegal regimes", it is crucially important that the working class and people, with the communists at the head, defend the sovereignty of nations and peoples. It underlines the necessity of the working class taking power into its own hands so that the people can in reality become the decision-makers, the necessity for the most thorough democratic renewal of those political institutions and processes which have been the instrument of colonial rule abroad, of imperialist plunder, and the political, ideological and organisational subjection of the working class and people at home.

For us, Marxism-Leninism is a guide to action and not a set of beliefs, a set of boxes to be ticked to guarantee that one is a good communist or communist party. In a situation which poses such very great dangers to the peoples of the world, including nuclear catastrophe and the global warming exacerbated by the criminal irresponsibility of the international monopolies whose only concern is to make the maximum profit in the most parasitic way possible, it is so very urgent to be pro-active and provide a block to the programme of Anglo-US imperialism and the big powers for fascism and war.

We communists are not and cannot be satisfied with the present state of society nationally or internationally. We see the urgency to change the situation, and ask why revolution has not taken place, what is holding it back. In the days of Marx and Engels, one of the most crucial tasks that they set themselves was developing the theoretical basis for Marxism, for analysing the concrete conditions of capitalism, discovering the laws of motion of society and those of capitalist society in particular, laws which exposed for all time the source of capitalist profit in the exploitation of the working class and people. We communists also can never relinquish the task of analysing the concrete conditions in today’s world, and developing guidelines for action based on the most advanced theory. Our whole being as communists militating in the collective of the communist party is to do everything to smash the blocks to the line of march to a new society, which will put an end to relations of exploitation, to the relations of master and slave, metaphorically and objectively. These relations are both national and international, and it is the historic duty of the working class to end these relations. Our duty is to put the working class into action, as a contingent of the international proletariat, never being afraid to look reality in the eye.

The revolution of the working class is not just a struggle for a redistribution of the products of labour. It is a revolution against the class in power, so that the whole of the social product can be put under the control of the working class and applied for the benefit of society as a whole, so that the claims of people on society, for health education and other social programmes, can be met. That is why the issues of the practical movement for revolution are so necessary. It is why the combating of the right of the monopolies to dictate to society is so crucial, to arm the workers in struggle, so that they become political in their own right. Our aspiration is nothing less than founding society anew, as Marx himself declared right at the beginning of his political life and to which principle he remained true until his dying breath.

We remain firmly of the conviction that one of the tasks of the moment for the realisation of this high ideal, so that we can do our duty to the memory and legacy of Karl Marx, is to rebuild the unity of the communist movement, a unity which has been constantly shattered by social democracy and old and new revisionism. The basis for this conviction is the fact that as there is only one working class there can only be one programme that the class can adopt as its own so as to break the shackles of the Old and bring the movement for the New to fruition, with the working class standing at the forefront of this movement.

The objective situation, which is so fraught with danger, and which the bourgeoisie attempts to portray as the only possible world, cries out for a force to lead to society out of the crisis. The more it is emphasised that the rules of the games are changing, the more the mass of the people are convinced that the ruling class has no solution but fascism and war, the tearing up of all the gains of progressive humanity, even to the extent of criminalising communism and other doctrines which threaten the imperialist world. The fate of humankind cannot be left to the reactionary bourgeoisie of any shade, their political parties or representatives. Our two parties are united in their call to the working class and people to build the workers’ opposition to capitalist retrogression and the Anglo-American "new world order" and take a stand in favour of the rights of nations and peoples and for social and national liberation. The movement against war and fascism is growing. In the tradition of Marx and Engels, we call on the working class to take centre stage in putting an end to state terror, aggression and war.

As such, we would like to reiterate how happy we are once again to be participating in this reception of the New Communist Party in honour of Karl Marx and his revolutionary legacy. A new society is possible in which the people themselves are at the centre of all decision making! We are dedicated to the same cause, the cause of communism and socialism. Long may this dedication continue!

Thank you very much.