Come on Sunday; That’s When the Communists Come
Written By: Louie Gibson
“I am a communist because I am convinced that the reason we have been forcefully compelled to eke out an existence at the very lowest level of American society has to do with the nature of capitalism. If we are going to rise out of our oppression, our poverty we will have to destroy the American capitalist system”
- Angela Davis
Community Union Defence League volunteers and
Australian Communist Party members at a Street
Kitchen in Dandenong, Melbourne
At a street kitchen recently, I was approached by two members of the community who organised and ran their own coffee service for the homeless before the Covid pandemic. After much discussion about the street kitchen, CUDL and the history of the organisation, I asked them how they knew we would be there, or if they ran into our service by chance. The answer put a smile on my face; they explained that “they [the homeless] said to come on Sunday, that’s when the communists come”. They went on to tell me how gutsy they felt we were for being openly communist and seemed happy to see a vibrant service, run by energetic and welcoming youth. The interaction reminded me how I was formerly weary of being openly communist and even opposed parties using the word communist in their names.
This mindset is not only common among communists in the west but also one by many members of the general public, whether they support the communist party or not. One example of this trend is activists describing their politics as “socialist” rather than “communist”, as they believe it sounds less confronting to the public. This may seem reasonable at first as it could be viewed as introducing their politics in a way that seems friendlier or more acceptable. However, what is actually occurring is an ideological retreat in which communists dilute their politics and the principles of their ideology in an attempt to make it “digestible” to the minds of individuals that have succumbed to anti-communist propaganda. Instead of pushing through these tropes created by right wing mouthpieces, they succumb to them and therefore set a trend of retreat.
Why is this a retreat? Because with this mindset, they are basing their politics off a reaction to ruling class propaganda and not their own principles. So they may deem socialist rather than communist more acceptable to the general public, but what will happen when the term “Socialist” is labelled too extreme by the corporate media? What will they call themselves then? How will they describe their economic and social policies? Can they continue to openly advocate a Marxist economic analysis?
Retreat on this question goes hand in hand with retreat in other areas of political activity. It is reflected not only in the way they identify themselves politically, but also in their tactics where they are constantly tailing public opinion and chasing whatever the mainstream media deems as the new big issue. We can see this oppositionist on much of the “left” who, in response to the decades long cold war propaganda campaign, label themselves “socialist” only and their politics are characterised as “anti” anything the current right wing media or government is peddling. They label themselves “anti-racist and anti-capitalist” for example, which is fine, but what are they “pro”?
“When we serve our communities, when we guide those who seek it, our actions will be clear as day for the oppressed and exploited who will be confident that the communists have their backs, so come on Sunday, because that’s when the communists come”
Another one of these tactics is working in different fronts and organisations, rather than in a communist party. This has its roots in both the early Maoist movement and the Euro Communist movement which flourished in the late 1960s-early 70s and affects us til this day. Through a combination of the “mass line” tactic of the Maoists and the anti-Marxist identity politics of the Euro Communists, the party’s position in struggles of the working class was shifted into the background. Maoist organisations focused on workerist front organisations with the stated aim of “meeting people where they are”. While this analysis of understanding where individuals or organisations political beliefs are at currently is worthwhile and is employed by the ACP, the aim of interacting with or organising in front organisations is to influence and further their political analysis. Unfortunately an associated risk of this tactic which occurred in Australia is the tailing of the working class movement and the rejection of vanguard politics by these activists. It means always going down to what activists perceive is the worker’s level instead of working to raise the political level of those workers. Euro-communists in Australia historically used the Party as a resource to aid other progressive and leftists groups rather than seeking to lead those organisations towards a common goal. Marxist-Leninist parties have a long and successful history of using front organisations and taking up the causes that working people spontaneously struggle for. Where these tactics become opportunist is when the role of the Communist Party is undermined and the spontaneous element is worshipped. Subordinating the Party to spontaneous movements inevitably leads to a slow and agonising slide into liquidationism and political irrelevance. The liquidationist path of the Euro Communists eventually led to the demise of the original CPA and the founding of the short lived “New Left Party” which then dissolved into the modern day Search Foundation.
These organisations encouraged and further cemented the belief that being openly communist was something that was either too radical for the time or even completely unnecessary. The dissolution of the Communist Party left the movement in Australia divided, as there was no pan-working class movement anymore and many activists instead worked in separate organisations centred on the “single issue” politics we are familiar with today. Put simply, class analysis was non-existent in the discussion, with the world seen through the lens of these now abandoned front organisations. This defeatist trend undermines the hard work of many communists as it now characterises them as old fashioned and out of touch or that their “extreme” politics are no longer needed, as now we are in “new times” and things have apparently changed. They are viewed as being too extreme as the new and younger generations not only move away from labels but also tactics.
It is up to every dedicated communist to break this cycle, and to openly advocate for the socialist future the working class needs, not just in words but also by action. We must boldly and fearlessly take our Marxist-Leninist stand to the masses, for how can we convince people another world is possible if we won’t even make our case in public? When we serve our communities, when we guide those who seek it, our actions will be clear as day for the oppressed and exploited who will be confident that the communists have their backs. So come on Sunday, because that’s when the communists come!