On Communism - November 2009

Confusion on Communism
Most of the confusion on ‘what is communism’ is attributable to the dominance of capitalism and its associated propaganda machinery that spreads misinformation. This can be seen in the common definitions attributed to communism. As an example I googled ‘communism’ on www.dictionary.reference.com and got the following three definitions.
1. a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.
2. (often initial capital letter ) a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.
3. (initial capital letter ) the principles and practices of the Communist party.

Other definitions on that same site are -
1. A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.
2. Communism
a. A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.
b. The Marxist-Leninist version of Communist doctrine that advocates the overthrow of capitalism by the revolution of the proletariat.


Central to communist thought is the elimination of private property and the withering away of the state. Private property in today’s society is dominated by a small percentage of the world population owning and/or controlling the massive resources of the planet. The elimination of this ownership is necessary to bring justice and egalitarianism to our world. However, communism does not rely on state ownership that implies a state or government apparatus that is controlled by a minority of the population. Instead communism relies on the transformation of the human population’s way of thinking, therefore our way of acting. Women and men will operate on the principle of “contributing based on their ability and receiving based on their need”. This is a basic principle that can be shared by many ideologies and is not unique to Marxism or Leninism. But most importantly communism must be viewed as the resulting socio-economic reality that combines traditional communal principles of humanism, collectivism and egalitarianism with the science and technology capabilities of the future (capable of delivering the needs of all of world’s population) to allow for the extension of communalism across the planet earth eliminating class divisions and national boundaries.
The recognition of communism as an objective and a socio-economic inevitability is important in waging a strategy that builds strong relationships with all forces fighting for justice and a higher level of humanity. It will allow for more effective strategies in working with truly religious forces that advocate humanism, egalitarianism justice and the end of racism. It will allow for better working relationships with nationalist forces that struggle for land reclamation, indigenous people’s rights and reparations. It will be the basis for struggling against the sectarianism that currently overwhelms the communist movement. The Pan-African forces can take a lead in this.

The Current Global Crisis and Lessons from President Kwame Nkrumah

The widely recognized global economic crisis must be seen as a failure in capitalism. This failure is not a temporary setback or a minor flaw, but a realization that capitalism is “organized crime”, unethical behavior, and systematic domination by a small clique, that owns and controls the major multinational corporations and mega-banks, to maximize their profits. There is no limit on the profit motive of capitalism. Where is the boundary between justifiable profits and GREED? THERE IS NONE!!

The current crisis has been linked to the creation of financial derivatives based on an overextended, speculative housing market. What this means is that the owners and controllers of banking and financial institutions legalized a range of risky investment options built on top of an overpriced housing market. With the downturn of the housing market, those banks, corporations, retirement funds, and individual investors now suffer financial losses or even economic ruin!

Some see capitalism as the only economic reality. They place the blame on a few greedy individuals and are very careful not to fault capitalism as a whole. ‘The problem can be corrected by adding more government regulation.’ These supporters of capitalism view capitalism as viable, claiming capitalism has flexibility, an ability to respond to crisis and rebound. The reality is quite different.

Capitalism was built on the theft of land, natural resources and labor from Africa (chattel slavery). In Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism, Lenin points to the rise of the financial sector as the major capitalist sector in manipulating and exploiting the people. President Kwame Nkrumah had the foresight to understand and articulate how neo-colonialism would take the place of colonialism and extend the exploitation of Africa. This exploitation is the last phase of imperialist exploitation. Once African People reorganize to end the exploitation of African’s immense natural resources and refuse to allow Africa to be the dumping ground for overproduction, incompetent consultants and the toxic waste from capitalism, the primary external source of capitalist profits will be inaccessible.

This year is the 100 anniversary of the birth of President Kwame Nkrumah. He posed the solution to our predicament years ago in the closing paragraph of his classic work Class Struggle in Africa. He stated “The total liberation and unification of Africa under an All-African socialist government must be the primary objective of all Black revolutionaries throughout the world. It is an objective which, when achieved, will bring about the fulfillment of the aspirations of Africans and people of African descent everywhere. It will at the same time advance the triumph of the international socialist revolution, and the onward progress toward world communism, under which, every society is ordered on the principle of – from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”

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The Sources of Global Economic Crisis
1) Overproduction – too many SUVs, too many condominiums, too many new office buildings, etc.
2) Overextended financial sector – risky financial products, too much credit that is uncollectable from credit cards, house mortgages, corporate debt to foreign debt.

With multinational corporations moving production overseas to reduce the cost of paying workers, the USA has become de-industrialized, relying more and more on the financial sector for profits. By the 1990’s GM made more financing the purchase of cars than manufacturing cars. At the end of 2007 GMAC Finance claimed $249 billion in assets with 15 million customers over 40 countries. (see www.gmacfs.com)

The financial sector extended way beyond the traditional bank loans and stock market, creating legal gambling on a wide range of financial instruments - from the Futures market (gambling on the future price of everything from stocks to orange juice) to the most exotic Credit Default Swaps (CDS) (contracts based on little or no real assets). Toward the end of 2008 outstanding CDS exceeded the World GDP! (Fortune, Oct. 13, 2008)

Credit Default Swaps Outstanding = $54.6 Trillion
WORLD GDP = $54.3 Trillion
Combined value of:
All stock on NYSE + USA GDP + Total USA National Debt = $50.5 Trillion

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To extract more profits from underdeveloped and developing countries, the imperialist countries led by the USA have enacted ‘neoliberal financial reform’ that centers on eliminating national influence and control over financial markets. The results are capital flight; currency and financial instability and crisis; economic stagnation; compromised national autonomy; and aggravation in the disparities in power and wealth (Monthly Review, vol.53, #11)

In Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism p.259, Nkrumah points out “The foreign firms that exploit our resources long ago saw the strength to be gained from acting on a Pan-African scale. By means of interlocking directorships, cross-shareholdings and other devices, groups of apparently different companies have formed, in fact, one enormous capitalist monopoly. The only effective way to challenge this economic empire and to recover possession of our heritage, is for us also to act on a Pan-African basis, through a Union Government.”

To expand, capitalism used racism to justify national oppression. It was racism that justified the theft of the Americas and Australia from the indigenous people. The same racism was used to enslave African people and partition Africa under the Berlin Conference in 1884-1885. European colonizers used racism to maintain Apartheid in South Africa until 1994. Imperialism used racism to create Israel and maintain Apartheid in occupied Palestine today. England and her destructive children – USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada employ racism in a relentless assault on Zimbabwe’s Land reclamation process (reclaiming land stolen by white settler families). In all these cases of national oppression, race is an ideological tool for capitalist policies that enrich the handful of super-wealthy. President Nkrumah was clear on the solution.

“It is only the ending of capitalism, colonialism, imperialism and neocolonialism and the attainment of world communism that can provide the conditions under which the race question can finally be abolished and eliminated.” (p. 29, Class Struggle in Africa)

“When Africa becomes economically free and politically united, the monopolists will come face to face with their own working class in their own countries, and a new struggle will arise within which the liquidation and collapse of imperialism will be complete.”(p. 256 Neo-Colonialism) The ‘monopolists’ (primarily from USA and Europe) will no longer extract super-profits from the exploitation of African people and African natural resources. The increase in tension has the potential of unleashing another world war.

Nkrumah points out “If world war is not to occur it must be prevented by positive action. This positive action is within the power of the peoples of those areas of the world which now suffer under neo-colonialism but it is only within their power if they act at once, with resolution and in unity”. (p. 259 Neo-Colonialism)

In 2004, the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party initiated a call for positive action highlighting the need to cancel all IMF/imperialist banking debt; cease foreign military ventures in Africa; and extend the just land reclamation process across Africa. In this 100th year since the birth of President Kwame Nkrumah, we must take lessons from his writings and reinvigorate the CALL FOR POSITIVE ACTION.

WE ENCOURAGE ALL JUSTICE LOVING PEOPLE TO STUDY & ORGANIZE WITHIN A POLITICAL PARTY WORKING FOR THE PEOPLE

AFRICAN WOMEN'S CHARITY ORGANIZATION

AFRICAN WOMEN'S CHARITY ORGANIZATION

Toward Clarity on ‘Pan-Africanism, Socialism and Communism’

Communism was defined before Marx and Engels. A simple definition was put forward by Kwame Nkrumah in the final paragraph of ‘Class Struggle in Africa’

The total liberation and unification of Africa under an All-African socialist government must be the primary objective of all Black revolutionaries throughout the world. It is an objective which, when achieved, will bring about the fulfillment of the aspirations of Africans and people of African descent everywhere. It will at the same time advance the triumph of the international socialist revolution, and the onward progress toward world communism, under which, every society is ordered on the principle of – from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. (my emphasis)

This definition pre-dates Marx and Engels and addresses the fundamental distinction between Socialism and Communism. Socialism is a society where the operating principle is ‘ from each according to his ability to each according to his contribution.

One of the significant contributions of Nkrumah-Toureism (N-T) and the AAPRP is clarifying the separation between modes of production – socialism and communism and ideology. Marx, Engels and Lenin wrote to clarify ‘what must be down’ to advance humankind to socialism and communism. Their writings and their organizing made significant contribute to revolutionary theory and practice. Their followers have come to call this body of writings Marxism-Leninism (M-L). The error of these followers is to equate M-L with communism and scientific socialism.

The AAPRP has broken from this trend recognizing that scientific socialism is achievable by all people and does not require commitment to M-L. Using N-T as our guiding ideology and employing the tools of analysis of dialectical and historical materialism we have been advancing the political line and strategy that our people need to seek justice and power that is due us. But our search for justice does not end with socialism nor is it limited to Africa. That in fact is the essence of Nkrumah’s closing sentence in ‘Class Struggle’.

Our comrades in PA chapter have advanced quotes from Lenin on communism as if we are to accept Lenin as the authority on communism. This was his analysis about communist ethics, not ours! Marx, Lenin, Mao and others have written about what communism will look like and even more about how to organize to bring about communism. Some of their analysis his based on dialectical and historical materialism and is scientific. Other of their analysis is based on their cultural experience (their views on Nationalism and Religion) and is inconsistent with the African cultural experience and must be rejected by Africans building on our cultural reality. This distinction is the essence of N-T.

It is our task to advance the path to socialism and communism. How can one adhere to socialism and reject communism. All the quotes, positions, analysis etc.. of the M-L hold for both socialism and communism? There position is consistent for the two. They both wrote that socialism was just a path (phase) leading to communism. The arguments presented by PA chapter are the arguments presented by ‘cultural nationalist’ worldwide as to why we must reject socialism and either go back to traditional Africa or seek a 3^rd way. Nkrumah vehemently combated this bad analysis in his classic work “Two Myths” which he concludes with

Socialism depends on dialectical and historical materialism, upon the view that there is only one nature subject in all its manifestations to natural laws and that human society is, in this sense, part of nature and subject to its own laws of development.
It is the elimination of fancifulness from socialist action that makes socialism scientific. To suppose that there are tribal, national or racial socialisms is to abandon objectivity in favour of chauvinism.

The PA analysis makes no effort to reject socialism. The question is - are they advocating we stop at socialism? Are they arguing that we cannot as humankind advance beyond socialism? This is contradictory to dialectical and historical materialism.

Socialism is a social – economic system where control of the production processes and associated institutions has been taken out of the hands of the capitalist class. During this period the peoples’ party coordinates the transportation of society to eliminate the gap between the haves and the have-nots. This process of class struggle is to eliminate classes. The elimination of classes requires an ideological and spiritual transformation that in essence is the creation of the true human. However, this new society is communism and this new human is the true communist. If you don’t allow yourself to get caught up in the dogmatic elements of the M-L rhetoric, when reading M-L, Maoist, Le Duan and other ideological literature, one will see this common thread. Simply put, socialism is a path and process of class struggle to eliminate injustice and class division bringing us to a social –economic reality where society is ordered on the principle of – from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs – COMMUNISM!!

Our task as Pan-Africanists is to study, analyze and articulate how Pan-Africanism in an objective that will make a monumental contribution toward world communism. While most of the white left dominated socialist movement worldwide has rejected nationalism based on the European cultural experience, we as Africans realize it as a rallying point for revolutionary transformation to a broader union – a united states of Africa under scientific socialism. This should be recognized as a stage toward world communism that should be embraced by all true socialist / communist revolutionaries. Our task is to advance this line of thought in our literature, our programs and our interactions within our communities and within the broader progressive and revolutionary movements.

Concerning the quotes of Kwame Ture (KT) and Sekou Toure, it is unfortunate that the natural language is so ambiguous. Yes most communist parties are atheistic, therefore to be a communist in those parties you had to be an atheist. KT was talking of M-L parties. We are clearly a different communist party. In ‘not going to communism’ KT was in error. We can and must rectify this error. We must categorically reject the notion that ‘scientific atheism is an ideological and philosophical aspect and requirement of communism’. It is nowhere in the definition of communism and runs directly counter to Nkrumah’s ideological contribution to the issue. It is strictly a M-L notion and must be rejected by all true Pan-Africanists!! An accurate interpretation of Toure’s “not bound to endorse philosophical materialism which denies the existence of God” is not a rejection of philosophical materialism, but a rejection of THE philosophical materialism of M-L that denies the existence of God. This is the only interpretation that renders consistency to Toure’s earlier acceptance of dialectical and historical materialism and recognition of Marx’s contribution to class analysis.

I encourage struggle over these and other points.

Pan-Africanism will bring world communism

Readings on Pan-Africanism & Communism

Topic: Pan-Africanism, socialism and communism

Seku Ture: Africa on the Move

 Chapter 5 The Sense of Progress p.111-122

Chapter 6 The End and the Means p. 122-125

Chapter 7 Africa's Future and the World p.125-139

Chapter 35 The Non-Capitalistic Way p.321-327

 Kwame Nkrumah: Revolutionary Path

Chapter 33 Extracts from Class Struggle (this is the last two chapters) p.511-518

Chapter 31 Two Myths p.435-444 (a work-study book)

Consciencism,;pgs, 6,7,8,9, 20,21, chapter 3, plus pgs, 78,79, 84, 88,89

Some Essential Features of Nkrumahism p.159-167

V.I. Lenin The State and Revolution

 Chapter 1.4-2.1 p.274-281

Chapter 5 The Economic Basis of the Withering Away of the State p.323-337

Marx and Engels Manifesto of the Communist Party (a work-study book)

Chapter 2 Proletarians and Communists p.49-61, and

Chapter 4 Position of the Communists in relation to the various existing opposition parties p.75-77

Emile Burns An Introduction to Marxism (a work-study book)

Chapter 2 p.1023, Ch5-6 p.54-89

E. Cornforth, Communism and Human Values

Chapter 6 Capitalism & Socialism p.28-32, Chapter 7 Communism p33-40

 Kwame Ture, OSAGYEFO'S VISION, INEVITABLE REALITY: AFRICA WILL BE 

LIBERATED, UNIFIED AND SOCIALIST

Other Recommended Readings:

· S.Ture, Strategy & Tactics of the Revolution “Doctrine of the PDG”, pgs. 49 – 53, F- “The Phase of The Party State”pgs. 172, 173, 174

· PDG: Africa On The Move vol. XXIV “Revolution and Religion”: Materialist Philosophy vs. Religious Philosophy,” (p.185- 189) “The Believer and Class Struggle,” (p.189-193) and “Science and Religion,” (p.193-213).

· Nkrumahism – Tureism paper by Kwame Ture

· F. Engels, Ludwig Feuerbach and the Outcome of Classical German Philosophy Idealism and Materialism,”p.20-32 and “Dialectical Materialism”p.42-61

The Essence of Communism

The Essence of Communism – September 2005

1. The end of private property – This does not mean that individuals can’t own anything. It means the means of collective production and distribution must be collectively owned. All land should be collectively owned. This is one point many countries are now moving on, where individuals can only lease the land. You correctly raised the point that under communalism no individual owned the land. However, one will have the ability to own the tools of their craft and the results of the practice of their craft – what we write, what we paint, and the jewelry you make. J. With the advancement of human thinking home ownership and inheritance become non-issues. We, humans, will have advanced such that we see the essence of humanness is to seek a higher order. This is where much of what you posited fits in. We can devote our energy connecting with the origins of life and dedicate our time to improving the state of humankind and nature. With this focus on making the planet and universe a better place, we lose interest in small matters like a bigger house, a second car and of course our own private boat. Since technology has advanced to meet the needs of all the people of earth there is no need to claim or accumulate property to pass on to our children.

2. The withering away of the state – This is perhaps the most complex of the 3 tenets posited. The state does not wither away on its own. Revolutionary efforts transform society resulting in changed men and women that no longer require the restrictive and coercive institutions that make up the state. These are all institutions that are not essential to real production and distribution. We can start with the police and military forces. With nations in true cooperation under communism there is no need for armies, navies and air forces to ‘defend their borders’. Think of all the money saved! With everyone able to work and receive what they need crime as we know it will vanish, therefore we save trillions on police, private security, electronic security systems, door locks, etc. Of course without crime and criminals no need for the court system, judges, lawyers, etc. More money saved! But lets not stop there, do we really need banks, bills, credit cards, bill collectors? All this is part of the financial apparatus of the state that can and will vanish because are needs are met and we will have advanced mentally and most importantly spiritually.

3. The advancement of human thinking to embrace “from each according to their ability to each according to their need.” This is the essential tenet in that the advancement of human thinking is what makes the first two points possible. The practical benefits of the withering away of the state can be expressed in qualitative terms and can even be quantified. Imagine the trillions of dollars that can be redirected to improving society – humankind and nature! One doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to see the logic behind this. Is this advancement in human thinking possible?

Of course! The world is infinite so all is possible! Is it probable? Given the nature of time change is observable. Changes can be improvements or setbacks. Granted change is not linear, we all observe advances and setbacks. There are difference views as to what is an advance and what is a setback, and how significant a given advance and setback is. Given these seemingly chaotic vacillations, we can characterize aggregate chance in three types: cyclical, declining, and advancing. One who believes in a cyclical pattern believes humanity is destined to advance, decline, advance and decline in a repeating pattern. This view presents a bound on human capacity and argues that no matter how hard we try while advancing society, it will eventually return to a declined state. This projection of how society functions is a deterministic view. With rise and decline inevitable why try to make changes? The view that society is declining (or slowly going to hell) provides no incentive to attempt to improve the world. These two views are tenets of various religious and philosophical dogma that support capitalist thinking.

This leaves us with the third possibility – humanity and society is advancing. Given this believe we are convinced of the inevitable advancement of humankind, therefore the inevitability of communism. Given this believe we can accept the responsibility to advance humankind as fast as possible, contribute on a part time basis or attempt to defy societal advancement.

Socialism or more properly ‘scientific socialism’ is the path to communism. Marx refers to it as the early stage of communism. Others view it as the final stage of capitalism or the transition from capitalism to communism. In all cases one should not be satisfied with stopping at socialism for two reasons. First it still maintains methods of coercion. While these methods are directed at controlling the capitalists that have been taken from power, it is none the less coercive. Secondly, socialism maintains much of the economic imbalance inherited from capitalism. This is due to the fact that while with the defeat of capitalism, revolutionary forces seize the means of production and can redirect the profits of production to the needs of the people, the people have not been reeducated to recognize the benefits of “each receiving based on their needs”. This requires the transition phase where “receiving based on contribution” is practiced. What does this mean – it takes time to educate the population on why doctors, college professors and computer scientists shouldn’t get paid a whole lot more than stock boys, garbage collectors and waitresses.

Battle of Ideas - June 2004

The Battle of Ideas – 19 June, 2004

“Revolutionary commitment requires participation in revolutionary organization. The highest form of revolutionary organization is a communist political party.”

What is the highest form of ‘revolutionary organization’? Imani is correct in that the highest form of ‘revolutionary organization’ is the ‘people’s state’.

But what is ‘a people’s state’? A society where the people’s interest is truly met, where the people are in control of the society’s resources and can direct the development of society. It rises above the context or concept of any type of organization. It rest on the achievement of a state of humanism that surpasses the necessity of any ‘organizations’. This collective state of humanism can only be reached when the mass of women and men in the society have reached a level of spiritual and ideological development where their commitment to the future of the collective of society so dominates their lives that the coercive nature of an organization is no longer required. This type of society is communism!! Plain and simple, a society where people contribute based on their ability and receive based on their need. At least three theories dominate the ideological playing field on how this society can be achieved.

First that of Utopian socialists that feel that by setting the example of a ‘people’s state’, a collective committed to the whole within their small community that they would be an example to the world, and, that by serving as an example they would transform the thinking and actions of the masses. Many of us were forced to read the story of Thoreau’s Walden Pond. Many of us were even taught that this glorious attempt at a higher level of humanity failed because of the nature of humanity. That is the capitalists’ rationalization of its failure. However, we must recognize the ‘good intent of utopian socialists’ as a reflection of the positive nature of humankind. An isolated Walden’s Pond or ‘People’s State’ is impossible because of the global nature of society and the ideological, technological and organizational dominance of capitalism. This domination can only be overcome through the building and work of revolutionary organizations.

The second theoretical approach to achieving world communism – a sustainable people’s state, is that of anarchistic organization. Some people that have followed the practice of anarchists may find the term ‘anarchistic organization’ an oxymoron. However, in fact to consciously organize against structured organization is in fact a form of organization. This ideological approach binds together anarchists factions in effect what becomes an organization of factions. The very nature of anarchy theory, allows these factions to function unchecked or unfettered by other anarchists. This allows them to expedite their practice at a pace unlike democratic centralist or hierarchical organizations. The flaw of their approach lies in their inability to control and direct production. They are only capable of disrupting production. They cannot build production or the larger society. Capitalists that recognize this shortcoming realize they have no need to fear that anarchists will seize power and therefore work to manipulate any disruptions caused by anarchists. The appeal of anarchy is the recognition of the historical baggage of so-called revolutionary organizations, organizations that have suffered from elitism and individualism. This historical baggage is due to the ideological and practical dominance of capitalism. This dominance fuels yet is maintained by their organizational dominance. This loop can only be circumvented by revolutionary organizations.

A third theoretical approach to achieving world communism – a sustainable people’s state, is that of empowering a communist political party. The A-APRP correctly recognizes that this party must be a mass-based party. The inadequate nature of a vanguard party has been demonstrated by the communist parties of Eastern Europe. They once had state power but suffering from elitism, isolated themselves from the masses and diverted from the cause of socialism in an effort to maintain power. The revolutionary nature of a political party requires recognition of the highest expression of humanity and organization. That highest form is a ‘people’s state – communism’ – society where women and men contribute based on their ability and receive based on their needs – fullstop! We cannot shy away from this revolutionary responsibility because capitalism has pronounced communism dead, or because Marx and Mao were not African, or because of capitalist domination, the masses are confused on what communism is and therefore do not support it and in many instances are openly opposed to communism. We must share with the masses the truth, as we know it. We cannot hold back the truth based on the belief that the people are not ready or the time is not right. The task of the socialist party is to first seize state power and then to embark on transforming society. This transformation is not only a transfer of control of society’s resources to the masses, but also a ideological and spiritual transformation of men and women that creates higher beings, humans capable of conducting society without the constrains of organization – this is communism. We must be clear on what a ‘People’s State’ is and not allow it to be a cloud to hide under to avoid the “C- word”. Too often the contributions of Nkrumah-Tureism are misused to blunt the significance of non-African contributions to the science of socialist transformation. Social revolution is an integral part of socialist revolution. The people’s class is an achievement under socialist transformation that requires the recognition of distinct class divisions and struggle under capitalism.

In any case there are two interpretations of ‘organization’ - organization as an object and organization as a state. Organization as an object refers to an organization such as a committee, front or political party. The ‘People’s state’ refers to organization as a state of being. It is not a structural object like a political party. The context of my writing was organization as an object as is reflected in the more complete thought expressed in my initial letter.

“Revolutionary commitment requires participation in revolutionary organization. The highest form of revolutionary organization is a communist political party. The transformation, you will witness in Cuba has been guided by the Communist Party of Cuba for the past 45 years.”

This short piece is to inspire ideological struggle on the relationships between socialism, communism, political parties, people’s states, and Pan-Africanism.