Post-Election Dinner Sparks Evaluation of Old Communist Movement

NEWARK, NJ—Over 24 members and friends of the Progressive Labor Party discussed the state of the world after the election of Donald Trump. As they began to fill the apartment and prepare dishes, discussions already started about the presidency. The event was a display of multiracial and multigenerational unity ready to fight back in 2017.
What was to be an evening of entertainment and discussions around the presidency turned into an analysis of the old communist movement and what it will take to lead the working class to communist revolution.
Skit Shows Challenges of Overcoming Bad Ideas
Two comrades initiated the discussion by presenting a skit to show what some workers are thinking concerning elections. Whether it is the belief that we can find the “best candidate” or in the belief that white workers can’t be trusted, these are ideas held by people close to PLP and who at times fight alongside us. The skit showed how PL’s views contrasted with these workers.
The skit set the stage for us to always struggle against these ideas, even when we are in the minority. Through building personal relationships and engaging in class struggle, these words really do start to take form. The ideas are not empty rhetoric, but a political line that will lead us to revolution.
What Happened to the Old Movement?
After the skit, we aimed to analyze the historical process that brought Trump to the presidency and its implications for the working class. There was talk about the growing racism and sexism, which are endemic to capitalism. From attacks on immigrants and Muslims to future defunding of women’s health services like Planned Parenthood, it is clear we have a fight on our hands.
 Trump is inheriting a war and deportation machine. Currently involved in wars in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia as well as expanding the surveillance state and deportation machine, The Obama administration has done most of the legwork for Trump to carry out his campaign promises (see page 4).
Then, a friend raised the million-dollar question, “What happened to the old communist movement?  Why did they fail?”
Whether it was the maintaining of the wage system, the line of “revolutionary nationalism” (essentially allying with one set of bosses that look like us) or uniting with the “better capitalists” in the popular front theory of World War II, the old communist movement gave us a lot of lessons for the future.
Perhaps the failure of the old movement can be summed in three words: lack of confidence. A communist movement is as strong as is relationship with the working class. The following is an excerpt from Road to Revolution III, PLP’s analysis of the failure of the Chinese Revolution:
Only the workers have the power and understanding to win and secure state power. We must involve millions in the Marxist-Leninist process. History has taught us the bitter lesson that a party can grow, can lead struggles, and even hold power temporarily. But it will lose out if millions upon millions of workers aren’t imbued with communist consciousness, and take part in the political planning and direction of the Party. We reject reliance on the ruling class—any section of it.
We rely only on workers all over the world. The working class is one international class with the need to crush each section of the international bourgeoisie until the entire ruling class is finished. This is not a bookkeeper’s approach. It is an approach which demands the unity of all workers at the highest level. It calls upon all workers to be won to Marxism- Leninism.
While we weren’t able to completely cover them, PLP explained that with all of these errors, this was the first time millions worldwide were fighting to get rid of human exploitation. We have much to learn from our predecessors.  
Capitalism Decaying, yet Alive
A comrade also spoke about capitalism’s ability to stay alive throughout the period when pro-communist ideas touched virtually every corner of the earth. Through depression and wars, the bosses found a way to stay alive. This is not to say that our fight is futile; we shouldn’t underestimate the flexibility of the rulers. At the same time, the working class will win once we shed ourselves of capitalist illusions.
Another friend asked about a visible weakness of our social—a lack of students. PL’ers accepted our friends’ challenge to ensure we work harder to include more students.
We also had a discussion about some of the challenges in organizing young people. Like many workers, young people are also held back by illusions, particularly the belief that workers can’t run the world. However, our Party has had relative success in embedding ourselves in high schools, and reaching students that way, some of whom grow up to become communist leaders in their workplaces.
Building a Base Leads to Growth
The contributions by friends of the Party illustrated the importance of keeping ties to the working class. They were the ones who put the questions of communism front and center and struggled with us to continue to work and recruit more young people to the Party. Taking leadership from the masses, and winning them to communist consciousness and organizing is key. Hopefully they too will join the Party and take on the responsibility of organizing millions to fight for communism.