Whether it is running public stalls, speaking to our colleagues and classmates, or campaigning in elections, many times comrades are asked “why are you a communist?”, or “why should we support you?”.
Personally, I could talk for hours about why I am in the YCL and Communist Party. Often, however, it is useful to have a few key points we can use to keep concise, or to structure a longer conversation. Here are some of those key points which comrades may find useful – and readers from outside the YCL may want to consider if you have though about joining too.
1. A real alternative
With the repeated betrayals and failures of the Labour government, it is no surprise that many are looking for a left alternative, some turning to the Greens or Your Party.
So what makes the YCL and Communist Party different? What do we have to offer our members and supporters?
Firstly, instead of being another voting option within electoral, reformist politics, we are building an alternative to this politics entirely.
For us, standing candidates in elections is only one tool in the communist toolbox – useful, but not the be-all end-all. Instead of waxing and waning with the election cycle, the communist strategy is consistent and focused year-round on building mass support for a left-wing program across our unions, progressive organisations, campuses and communities.
For the electoral parties, reforms are the goal: to them, if we elect good left-wing people into parliament, they will pass good left-wing reforms, and the result will be social change.
As communists, we acknowledge the role of fighting for reforms in gaining allies and building the movement for socialism. Yet we also know the struggle for reforms can only be a means to building a revolutionary movement, not a replacement for it.
We must build support for a left-wing programme across society; linking up all the issues people face at school, work, home; and coordinating a joint response across the movement. Any left government that does arise would be the consequence of this mass support for socialist policies – its election would be a sign of the social change that was already taking place, not the root cause of this change.
Therefore, anyone looking for a real alternative should look to the YCL. We and the Communist Party are here to build lasting working class power, in our communities and workplaces not just at election time. In joining the League you enter a movement that thinks long-term, and is building the foundations for social change.
To sustain such a long-term struggle requires unity and coordination of the worker’s movement across the country. This is where our strategy comes in.
2. A strategy for unity
We aim to build a United Front of the workers and progressive movement, coordinated around a shared left-wing program, united against imperialism and for socialism.
This is not a simple slogan, or an unprincipled pursuit of ‘left unity’. We will always be honest about our party affiliation, where our line may diverge with others, and if we think people are going wrong.
This strategy requires dedicated work. Every area of struggle must be exposed and linked to one another – from poor conditions at work, to complicity with the arms industry, crackdowns on protest rights, to anti-communist propaganda in the media. The trade union, environmental, peace, women’s, lgbt, and black movements must be coordinated together in one movement – because these struggles are all rooted in capitalism. They are all part of one shared class struggle.
We must be capable of expressing communist ideas in a variety of organisations, campaigns, and movements, promoting our line in an honest, clear and constructive way.
Through joining the YCL you gain the support and experience of comrades around the country. You learn how to communicate Marxist ideas effectively, and gain the means to link up individual struggles where you are with a common movement against capitalism.
3. An international movement
Our networks and links go beyond just Britain however, as the struggle against imperialism and for socialism is an international one.
The YCL is proud to be a part of the international communist and youth & student movements. We are a member organisation of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, alongside a number of communist youth leagues, and other democratic youth organisations.
Similarly, our parent Communist Party enjoys fraternal relations with a range of communist parties globally – including those in governments.
In joining the YCL, members gain the opportunity to meet with comrades from around the world. This ranges from international delegates attending our Congresses, going to the Meeting of European Communist Youth Organisations (the most recent of which the YCL was honoured to host in Britain), being invited to meetings and events abroad, and interviewing our fraternal comrades for Challenge or their own publications.
The struggle against imperialism is international, overcoming the old ways of nationalism, militarism, and xenophobia. From solidarity work with countries like Cuba, Palestine, and Venezuela, to learning from the experiences of fraternal comrades in student organising, there is so much to be done on the international level as a young communist.
4. A class analysis
Something else that distinguishes communists, even from parts of the left, is the clear basis of class in our analysis. We live in a class society – today that is capitalism, before that was feudalism, next will be socialism. Everything comes down to who owns and controls the means of production – today the capitalists, tomorrow the workers.
We don’t ignore social, cultural, and political factors, but understand how they arise out of and influence the economic base of society.
This means when we are looking at issues such as race, religion, sexuality, gender, or immigration, we do not fall into the culture war being waged by the liberal “left” and conservative right.
The right scapegoat various groups for the problems of capitalist society. This creates contradictory positions such as blaming immigrants for Britain’s decline, rather than the big monopoly corporations and their friends in parliament, while at the same time supporting the wars, sanctions and foreign interventions that creates asylum seekers and immigrants in the first place.
Liberals offer false solutions too. They suggest the issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, and so-on can be solved by more of the discriminated against groups becoming CEOs, managers, police, intelligence agents, etc. In other words: good individuals in the existing positions of power.
Increased diversity amongst the ruling class and its state machinery is not the solution – working class power is, and a socialist society that removes the economic basis for sexism, racism, and imperialist wars.
5. A place for everyone
The YCL is open to all young communists willing to support our goals and follow our policies. We welcome and benefit from young people with a wide and varied set of experiences, interests, and skills.
Many new comrades have never been in a political organisation before, even those who have may be new to the world of trade union politics or student and community organising, and are just beginning to familiarise themselves with communist theory and history.
The Young Communist League is all about equipping new comrades with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to develop into leaders of the working and progressive youth, and to help them take their place in the Communist Party.
The role of a young communist, summed-up by Lenin, is to learn. That can mean many things: to learn from comrades in your branches, districts and nations; to learn from the experience of older comrades in the Communist Party; and to learn through all sorts of practical work – from organising events to running stalls, chairing a meeting to running a campaign in your community, campus, or workplace.
Furthermore, there is so much that existing members of the League can learn from new comrades too.
Whether you have a passion for graphic design, a love for history, or a keen interest in socialist music, there are so many ways to contribute to building the communist youth movement in Britain.
The first step is to join the Young Communist League and come meet your local branch!
Philip English, is the Editor of Challenge Magazine
If you haven’t already, join the YCL here and the Communist Party here
