Clara Zetkin: Fascism

In Fascism, the proletariat is confronted by an extraordinarily dangerous enemy. Fascism is the concentrated expression of the general offensive undertaken by the world bourgeoisie against the proletariat. Its overthrow is therefore an absolute necessity, nay, it is even a question of the every-day existence and of the bread and butter of every ordinary worker. On these grounds the whole of the proletariat must concentrate on the fight against Fascism. It will be much easier for us to defeat Fascism if we clearly and distinctly study its nature. Hitherto there have been extremely vague ideas upon this subject not only among the large masses of the workers, but even among the revolutionary vanguard of the proletariat and the Communists. Hitherto Fascism has been put on a level with the White Terror of Horthy in Hungary. Although the methods of both are similar, in essence they are different. The Horthy Terror was established after the victorious, although shortlived, revolution of the proletariat had been suppressed, and was the expression of vengeance of the bourgeoisie. The ringleaders of the White Terror were a quite small clique of former officers. Fascism, on the contrary, viewed objectively, is not the revenge of the bourgeoisie in retaliation for proletarian aggression against the bourgeoisie, but it is a punishment of the proletariat for failing to carry on the revolution begun in Russia. The Fascist leaders are not a small and exclusive caste; they extend deeply into wide elements of the population.

Nepal: Goverment bans the Communist Party of Nepal

Govermentt bans Chand-led party SENIOR LEADERS OF CPN IN HIDING
Following a series of explosions that took place at Ncell towers and other public places across the country, the government has banned the Communist Party of Nepal led by Netra Bikram Chand.
The Cabinet meeting held in Baluwatar late this evening decided to ban the Chand-led CPN and its ‘criminal’ activities, a senior minister told THT after the meeting.

China Arrests Student Leader for Celebrating Mao Zedong’s Birthday

The Chinese state security arrested a student leader of Peking University for attempting to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of Chinese communist leader and the founder of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong, inside the university campus on 26 December. Qiu Zhanxuan, head of Peking University’s Marxist Society was forced into a black car by a group of seven to eight men who identified as ‘public security department’ officials.

Under Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party has started building a cult of individual and despite paying occasional lip service to the late founder of the People’s Republic of China and the leader of the Chinese Revolution, Mao Zedong, the party has recently officially distanced itself from celebrating any legacy of the leader fearing a public sentiment rising in favour of socialism and thereby fuelling a massive unrest against the unbridled capitalist exploitation, inequality and oppression the majority of the people are subjected to.

Announcement of USA troops withdrawal from Syria is evidence of acceleration of reactionary developments and conflicts

• Trump’s recent announcement of withdrawal of American troops from Syria, should not create any complacent feelings; on the contrary it should alert all the peoples of the area. The reason why is because –one way or another- this constitutes the acceleration of the development of conflict between the US and the other imperialists, especially Russia; and of course the escalation of their invasive policy in the area.
  Let us not forget that last time the US announced a troops’ withdrawal, that very announcement came with the launching of Tomahawk missiles against Syria and with the even greater intervention of the US to the Syrian front, which, even though much less possible at the moment, cannot be excluded as a possibility.
  It is also indicative that this announcement comes with the US underlining (so that there are no misconceptions to any foes or allies) that they are sustaining their ability to face swiftly and decisively any upcoming threat, through their Iraq based troops and assault weapon systems. Even the withdrawal timetable  the US announced gives them the potential to calculate the results and even the reactions from their announcement, in order to plan ahead their next steps.

Truth and Lies about Stalin

Interview of  professor of Medieval English literature at Montclair State University, Grover Furr, on the occasion of the 140th birth anniversary of Joseph Stalin

 Sixty-five years after his death, the name of Joseph Stalin remains at the epicenter of anti-communism. The bourgeois historiography, as well as bourgeois political forces, continue the vilification of Stalin, calling him a “dictator”, a “bloodthirsty tyrant” who supposedly “killed tens of millions of people”. According to your view, why anti-communists still focus their attacks on Stalin and what are the major sources of their claims?

G.FURR: Defenders of capitalism need to depict communism as something horrible! So, in addition to hiding the horrors of capitalism- imperialism, they require a “boogeyman” to focus on as the epitome of the “evil” of communism. Stalin was the leader of the USSR and the world communist movement during the period of its greatest triumphs, and therefore of its greatest threat to capitalism. So Stalin would be a natural target in any case. 

But there are at least two other factors. The first is Leon Trotsky, who lied about Stalin in virtually everything he wrote from 1928 until his murder in 1940. Trotsky’s post-1929 writings were the first major source of lies and slander against Stalin and the USSR. The second is Nikita Khrushchev. His “Secret Speech” of February 25, 1956 to the XX Party Congress was a devastating blow to the world communist movement. And it was an invaluable gift to the anticommunists of the world! 

After the XXII Party Congress in October, 1961, when Khrushchev and his people attacked Stalin even more viciously, with even more lies, Khrushchev and the CPSU sponsored hundreds of books and articles attacking and lying about Stalin. Khrushchev also sponsored hundreds of books and articles attacking and lying about Lavrentii Beria, whose murder Khrushchev organized on June 26, 1953. Beria is not as significant a figure in Soviet history as is Stalin. But Khrushchev and his men slandered Beria at least as viciously, if not more viciously, as they did Stalin. And those who had been closest to Stalin – Molotov, Malenkov, Kaganovich – supported Khrushchev in this unprincipled attack upon and murder of Beria.

What should we make of the yellow vest movement ?

We have seen the movement that grew up around the 17 November take off over the last few weeks, both in terms of media coverage and on the ground. At work and at home, on the streets and on public transport, the “yellow vest” movement is on everyone’s lips. The time has come to take stock of the situation.

What happened on 17 November (and the following days) ? 

It is clearly is a far-reaching movement, enjoying considerable media coverage from the outset unlike other social movements and making a show of its apolitical character has played in its favour. But the media have still tended to underplay the number of people involved, setting the figure at around 300,000 when even a quick estimate easily reveals that the true figure is considerably higher.
Unsurprisingly, most of the people involved come from the commuter belt of large towns and cities, rural areas, and small and medium sized towns because they are the ones with the furthest to travel to work.

BannedThought.net Banned in India!

 

Source: Bannedthought.net

At 7 minutes to midnight (New Delhi time) on November 11, 2018, the Indian government sent us at BannedThought.net an email informing us that in less than two days time it would hold a hearing in New Delhi to decide upon blocking public access by people in India to this website, or at least to the parts of it which contain materials from India and which express the views of large numbers of people in India which the government disapproves of. While we were invited to send a representative to argue our case at that hearing, this is not only impractical for time and financial reasons, it would also obviously be a total waste of time. (Or possibly even lead to our representative being arrested and imprisoned as has recently been happening even to people’s lawyers in India!) The committee meeting on Nov. 14 will almost certainly be a mere bureaucratic formality in any case. And there is nothing that we could say there that we don’t already say on our website—namely that we fervently support the right of free speech and the right to publish and distribute progressive or revolutionary materials not only in India, but everywhere in the world. This extremely basic democratic right is opposed by the current ruling class in India. So there is no point for us to say anything further at this meeting or elsewhere to this despicable anti-democratic ruling class bent on the suppression of all ideas that they disagree with.