Contribution of the Pôle de Renaissance Communiste en France

The class struggle is stepping up and so is the ideological struggle; the recent Communist conference In South Africa and previous seminars provide us with solid basis for further improvements in both fields.

An aspect of the ideological struggle

It has never been difficult for bourgeois leaders to take progressive stances or even revolutionary stances: Who said: no to hooligan bosses? Ex president Chirac. Who said: we stand by those who wake up early… we reject predatory capitalism? President Sarkozy. Who said: the wages mobile scale should be re established…the bosses who lay off workers in order to invest abroad must be taxed…no to French intervention in Libya & Afghanistan? The fachistic leader "frau" Lepen.

Indeed, social-democrat leaders or so called communist leaders can take these "radical" stances even more easily.

In order to differentiate ideological marketing and class contents, it is essential to address the real issues:

There are two ways to explain the crisis

The crisis would originate in hundreds of fatal and mysterious causes: the greed of anonymous speculators, the powerlessness of the states, the inadequacy of such institution, the inability or the blindness of such group of politicians, the peoples' reluctance to accept unavoidable sacrifices, new technologies, the will of god…the crisis would just be a temporary drift from "normal" routine, normal exploitation, it could be tackled by hundreds of measures, within capitalism… all these are the ruling class' explanations.

The crisis is the expression of the laws of the capitalist system itself: systemic over production, systemic over accumulation of capital, frantically in search of the best rate of profit, systemic rush to raw material and human resources ; The crisis witnesses the antagonist contradiction between social production and private ownership ; it is the sign that capitalism is doomed to disappear from the scene of history; at the same time, the crisis is also a weapon for the ruling class in order to weaken and dominate the masses.

There are two ways to change the world:

If the major means of production & exchange remain in the hands of an ever smaller group of monopolies, if the national states and the international institutions remain the tools of these same monopolies, then yes, changes may take place; These changes would mainly take place in the interest of the ruling class: once again, advances in science, in technique, in production, might be turned against the masses; once more, the planet might be bloodily partitioned and greatly damaged.

Conversely, if the major means of production and exchange are collectivised, if the bourgeois states and imperialist institutions are smashed and replaced by popular ones, in one word, if the working class and its allies take power from the ruling gang, then changes may take place; then and only then, can a planned economy give everyone according to his work; then and only then, can the needs of the majority and the needs of future generations be fully taken into account.

There are also two ways to explain war

War would originate in hundreds of fatal and mysterious causes: man's inner violence, especially in the uncivilized countries, the evil behaviour of such leader, god's punishment for men's sins… these are some of the warmongers' explanations.

War is the continuation of economics by other means; it expresses the structural need of the monopolies: control the sources of material and human resources, control the centres of power, raise the rate of profit of he war industry which is a key feature of monopoly capital and, of course, try to crush resistance to exploitation.

War & peace is a touchstone of politics in general, and a touchstone of revolutionary politics in particular.

For decades, the FCP, born in the struggle against WW1, relentlessly mobilised against warmongers: occupation of the Ruhr in 1921-23, colonial wars in Morocco & Syria in 24-26, "appeasing Hitler" policies in the thirties. The FCP took a huge part in the Spanish international brigades, a leading role in the French resistance; it opposed anti soviet provocations in the cold war, German rearming, colonial wars in Indochina and Northern Africa, Yes, when this party was communist, it did mobilise the masses against warmongers.

Progressively, this very party shifted to petty bourgeois pious positions on many issues, including war & peace: peace would come, not any more by identifying and isolating the warmongers, but through clever diplomacy under the blessing of international institutions; The CP started denouncing some peoples' guerrillas as undermining peaceful settlements. Peace would come through preaching conciliation and good will to all belligerents; what would have happened if the Cuban people had conciliated with US imperialism or the South African people with Apartheid? What sort of conciliation and good will can be expected between the genocide prone Zionist state and the Palestinian people?

When President Mitterrand sent, once again, troops to Zaire, causing thousands of victims, CP ministers did nothing to disturb their honeymoon. Later, under the pressure of opinion, a parliamentary commission was held; no surprise, its conclusions white washed French imperialism, but with no opposition from the CP representative.

Years after, R Hue, the then president of the CP stated: the European fast reaction force is only acceptable on strict condition that its missions remain peaceful.

A new shameful step has recently been taken by the CP magazine editor in chief about Libya: protecting populations which are victims of attacks is a duty and the united nation council was justified… but ( ) the strikes did not only destroy planes, they also destroyed civilian houses and this is a different strategy…and now ( ), some countries intend to hand over the leadership to NATO, if this was the case, the world would have been cheated, these are unacceptable drifts.

Declaring imperialism not guilty, begging him to make his humanitarian wars a little cleaner please. What is this? This is a betrayal of the FCP legacy; this is a blatant betrayal of Communist ideals.

When wild pit-bulls roar, we generally are on our guard; but when gentle looking poodles whine, we sometimes put down our guard: this is risky, because the same imperialist pack leader often holds roaring pit-bulls in one hand, whining poodles in the other.

Hence, a first requirement for us: not an inch of compromising with the opportunist outlook; not 1 inch.

There's still another aspect:

We know that history is not made by the sole vanguards, however resolute they may be. History is made by the broad masses, in their boundless social and ideological diversity. The German peasants' rebellions of the 15th century, were not fought under the banner of social emancipation or historical progress; they were fought under some now obscure polemics around the status of the pope, of paradise, of redemption; nevertheless, as KM masterly analysed it, they were expressing, in their own ideological clothing, the need for one step forward in history, in this case, the end of feudalism. In 1917, the masses of Russian peasants first gathered around the Bolshevik-lead working class on the issues of bread, peace and land; they discovered through their own experience that dictatorship of the proletariat, socialism were the key of everything; maybe, recent mobilisations in the Arab world, extremely varied in ideological terms, express the same need for one step forward in history.

This it might be the case for our continent: the current resistance to capitalist offensive definitely expresses the need for one step forward in history, in this case, a socialist revolution; the current struggles will no doubt increase; at the same time, they will no doubt take numerous ideological features, according to the issues, the countries and the stages of the struggles;

Hence a second requirement for us: learn from the masses; not an inch of compromising with what Lenin himself described as Communist self complacency, not 1 inch.

Marxism Leninism

We all know that genuine M-L is not a dogma, but a guide for action.

It implies we should remain faithful to Leninist fundamentals, which have been validated by the course of history;

It implies we should endeavour to enrich Leninism with the numerous new issues that are ahead;

Above all, it implies that we should apply Leninism in practice, first of all, in the class struggle practice;

A streams arises from the depth of the world

A stream arises from those who toil relentlessly under the whip of productivity; day after day, they are ordered: work more, always more, until they choke; sometimes, as it happened recently in France, until they commit suicide.

A stream arises from those who wake up in the morning, their hands are crafty, their brains are apt, but they are told: we don't need you, we don't want you ! In the sole EU, 25 millions human beings are deprived of a job; Day after day, from dawn to dusk, they try to find solutions for themselves and their families; some think: how can I get out of this? Others think: this is unfair, others wonder: why? Why is the world upside down? Some even ask us: how can we put the world back on its feet?

A stream arises from those who have, throughout their whole life, created the splendour of our times; they have built factories, they have erected bridges over the seas, they have launched metal birds across the continents and even to other planets. After a lifelong of merit, they are told: you're not profitable to us any more; you are a burden to society.

A stream arises from the new generation. Those who discover life under the ugly cloak of a harsh pitiless disorder the motto of which is no future; and this youth shouts in many languages: we want another world

Indeed, a streams arises from the depth of the world, from everywhere mankind tries to live in a more just, in a more rational, in a more efficient, in a more humane way.

Another stream also arises from the depth of history

It arises from the 1871 French Commune, which, in 72 days only, sowed seeds which are not yet extinct. It arises from those days that shook the world in October 1917; it arises from the red army's crushing Hitler's barbarity, it arises from the heroic struggle of ELAS partisans, from the Chinese long march, from the Cuban guerrilla, from the continental struggle of Che Guevara, from the victory of the Vietminh over 3 successive imperialisms; It arises from everywhere the peoples reject oppression, exploitation and misery.

Over all these streams, a banner soars high, our common banner, red, with an unwavering hammer and sickle.

These streams are heading their way

We have suffered a serious defeat in Eastern Europe counter revolution; now, we are reorganizing our ranks; indeed, we are not at the end of this process: differences of assessment remain between us on several issues, new problems may arise, and, above all, the class enemy is determined; he knows his system is at stake; we know he will fight to the end.

One thing is certain: over the years, we have strengthened the links between us and we've strengthened our links with the masses.

Stream of the international working class, of the peoples from all countries and all continents;

Stream of true Communist organisations, of living Leninism;

Let these powerful streams merge; and then, no force whatever will be able to stop mankind's glorious march towards its future.

Let's work for it, comrades!