Communist Party, USA
by Sam Web

On behalf of the National Board of the Communist Party of
the United States, I want to begin by thanking the
Communist Party of Greece for organizing this international
meeting of our respective Parties. This meeting as well as
earlier meetings hosted by the Greek Party significantly
contributes to the process of bringing together the
communist and workers' movement.

Given the political and economic changes taking place on a
global stage and in our respective countries, this process
must continue, and, in my opinion, at an accelerated pace.

What other choice do we have in a world in which
transnational corporations ruthlessly straddle the world
economy?

What other choice do we have in a world in which the
centrifugal as well as the centripetal pressures weighing
on the international working class are so deeply structured
into the present phase of capitalist development and will
only gain in intensity and scale?

What other choice do we have in a world in which the
extreme rights is attempting to exploit the legitimate
frustrations of the exploited and oppressed and, in doing
so, to construct movements that are xenophobic, racist,
anti-immigrant, misogynist, militaristic, and even
fascistic in their outlook and actions?

What other choice do we have in a world in which U.S.
imperialism. Emboldened by the collapse of the Soviet Union
and seeing no comparable rival on the world stage, believes
that it has both a duty and a right to reign terror on
other sovereign states, build-up its nuclear arsenal and
abrogate treaties, impose embargoes on Cuba, the Democratic
Peoples Republic of Korea, Iraq and other countries, and
maintain military installations in near and far off lands?

These questions outline in broad strokes some of the main
features and dangers of the present day world. And in doing
so they provide U.S. communist clear and compelling reasons
to give our full support to efforts to strengthen the
cohesion of the communist movement worldwide.

We are mindful of mistakes in earlier periods, but that
should not deter us from the urgent task of consolidating
the unity of communists around the globe.

We must keep pace with the very movement that we aspire to
lead: the international labor movement. This labor
movement, probably more than any other social movement at
\this moment, appreciates the new, internationalist
requirements connected to the contemporary class struggle.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, for example, speaks of the
need for a �new labor internationalism�.

Can we as a movement do any less? From our very inception
in the middle of 19th century, the founders of the
communist movement proclaimed internationalism to be one of
our two distinguishing characteristics.

Our Party realizes that the process of rebuilding the
international communist movement will not happen overnight.
It will take time and practice as well as joint actions and
the creative development of Marxism-Leninism. More than
likely, a variety of forms, suited to today's conditions
and the challenges, will emerge.

The main thing is that all of us continue this process in a
creative, flexible and practical fashion. Earlier meetings
of our movement at various levels, the joint statements of
our Parties, the use of the internet, and this weekend's
meeting provide solid ground on which we can move ahead.

SEATTLE: A BIG BANG

The 20th century ended with a big bang. If the U.S.
communists had been asked to write its ending, we couldn't
have done it much better than the way 40,000 trade
unionists and their families did at the WTO conference in
Seattle. By the time that the final curtain fell on the WTO
conference, the trade talks had collapsed, a new coalition
had been born, and the hopes of millions had been lifted by
the protest actions.

While the �Battle in Seattle� took nearly everyone somewhat
by surprise, what happened was not unpredictable. It is
both a continuation of growing military in the U.S. labor
movement as well as an essential part of a larger political
pattern that is evolving in quite dramatic ways across the
country and globally. In fact, the social explosion in
Seattle mirrors similar mass explosions in other cities
around the world.

What are some of the main features of this new political
development in our country?

The right wing in the U.S. is retreating. Its policies are
meeting stiffer resistance. The extreme right wing, which
has dominated our nation's political life the last two
decades, is on the defensive and worries that its control
of Congress may come to an end in November.

Its desire to regain control of the Presidency is by no
means guaranteed to succeed. The race between Democratic
Vice President Gore and his challenger, Texas governor
George W. Bush is tightly contested.

And, despite the claims of some on the left in our country,
who wins will make a difference in the lives of tens of
millions of American people as well as on world
developments. While we have no illusions about the Clinton
Administration nor a future Gore Administration, a Bush
victory in our view will set the stage for even more
aggressive, reactionary policies on the part of U.S.
imperialism at home and abroad. For this reason we are
joining with labor and its allies to defeat Bush and right
wing congressional candidates. No political task is more
important this year.

MASS ACTIONS

Since the world-shaking events in Seattle, a remarkable
rush of mass, militant actions have occurred over the past
six months, leaving a distinct mark on the political
terrain of our nation.

First, the farmers and their allies assembled in Washington
in the middle of March to protest the corporate takeover of
our nation's agricultural sector. Then tens of thousands
marched in the deep South against and for affirmative
action. Then thousands of unionists gathered in Ohio to
support the locked out and courageous workers at AK Steel.

Then, tens of thousands assembled in Washington to protest
globalization and its effects. Then, a strike of 17,000
Boeing engineers forced Boeing to yield at the bargaining
table. Then a half million assembled in our nation's
capital for Earth Day. Then another half million came to
the footsteps of our capital to demand gay rights. Then
more than a half million mothers and their allies assembled
in front of the Washington monument to protest the right
wing gun lobby and congressional stalling on gun
legislation

Then millions of Americans refused to swallow the mass
media-hyped anticommunist hysteria to legitimatize the
unlawful holding of Elian Conzalez in the U.S. against the
wishes of his father. Then janitors marched for wage
increases in our urban centers. Then peace activists,
somewhat dormant during the previous decade, started taking
to the streets, demanding an end to nuclear testing, the
removal of military installation on Vieques, Puerto Rico,
and a lifting of the blockade on Cuba. Then 20,000
immigrant workers, along with the labor movement, met in
Los Angeles culminating in a series of similar meetings in
cities around the country.

And in the midst of all this a mass outpouring of support
for a state holiday in California honoring Cesar Chavez,
the great Mexican American trade union leader was cresting
into a tidal wave.

The only sour note was labor's rally demanding �No
Permanent Trade Status for China�. That rally heard
speeches that were throwbacks to the Cold War period. To
make matters worse, Reform Party Presidential candidate and
extreme right wing demagogue, Pat Buchanan spoke at the
Teamster rally, organized earlier in the day.

It would be hasty, however, to say that the labor has been
permanently derailed from the positive direction that it
has been moving in recent years. Admittedly, the anti-China
campaign is a serious diversion, but we are of the opinion
that the trade unions will get back on a progressive,
anti-corporate track.

BROADE PROGRESS OF STRUGGLE

All of these developments are part of a broader process of
struggle in which a still loosely constructed anti-monopoly
coalition, driven by capitalist globalization and policies
of extreme right, is emerging on new scale.

It embraces already an incredibly broad array of forces.
The forms of struggle employed are creative and varied. Its
tone is militantly anti-corporate, and even anti-capitalist
among some of its currents, particularly the youth. It
thinks in global terms.

Millions from different backgrounds are joining struggles
for the first time in their lives. New organizational bases
are mobilizing broad sections of the American people.
Perhaps there is no better example of this than the women's
march against gun violence that I mentioned earlier. And,
new demands, like the cancellation of the burdensome debt
of developing countries, strike a positive chord in the
thinking of millions.

What distinguishes this coalition from other coalitions of
the last half-century is that organized labor, despite its
anti-China campaign, is an integral and leading part of
this broad coalition. Arguably, labor is its center of
gravity.

Of course, it's still in its early stages. Its roots are
not deep enough. Its programmatic demands are imprecise.
The leading role of the working class and labor movement is
not fully appreciated. And the enormous strength of the
racially oppressed is not yet felt nor is the strategic
importance of Black, Brown, white unity adequately
understood.

Nevertheless, its emergence lays the ground for a new era
of class and democratic struggles at a local, national, and
global level, beginning with the 2000 elections.

Presently, this fledgling labor-led people's coalition does
not yet have an independent expression at the national
level, not even a social democratic party. But this should
not obscure the broad support for political independence
nor dampen the search for independent political forms.
Therefore, an immediate, but complex task is to find the
independent political forms of struggle that will
eventually lead to the formation of a broadly based
anti-monopoly people's party on a national scale.

LABOR'S ROLE

Perhaps no one appreciates the diverse nature of this
movement more than the new leadership of the AFL-CIO. Since
their election in 1995, this leadership has shown unusual
understanding of the entangled nature of class and social
struggles.

From what we observe, the approach of the new labor
movement is to reach every potential coalition partner -
both the familiar and traditional and the unfamiliar and
non-traditional. Indeed, the interactions of labor and its
growing array of allies are more entwined now than at any
time that we can recall.

To be more specific, the new labor movement is renewing old
relationships, with the African and Mexican American
people. Meanwhile, it's reaching out to new political
actors, particularly women, youth and students, immigrants,
environmentalists, academics, gay activists, seniors and
sections of the radical community.

Frankly,there is much that we are learning from labor's
approach to coalition building.

OUR ROLE

The emergence of this very fluid coalition imposes on the
Party and the broad left the following question: How do we
help extend, deepen, and accelerate this process? I wish
that our Party had a definitive answer to this question,
but we don't yet. In many ways, we, along with this much
broader movement, are entering uncharted waters. And no
precise maps are now available to navigate these waters.

Speaking generally, we are adjusting our concepts of
struggle so that they are more inclusive and flexible. In
our view, they should be flexible enough to encompass the
broadening character of today's movement.

Sound concepts like working class unity, Black, Brown,
white unity, left unity, and all people's unity have to
adjust to the new level of globalization, to the new social
forces, entering the arena of struggle, and to the new
framework of the class struggle. For example, our concept
of working class unity, left-center labor unity, and
international working class unity should be broader and
deeper. Similarly, our concept of Black, Brown, white unity
should be more expansive. The same can be said left unity
and all people's unity.

Or, take another example, political demands also have to
adjust to today's conditions, especially the global nature
of the present day struggle. Traditional demands that were
suitable a decade ago have to be fitted to the new
political landscape, while new programmatic demands shaped
by the contemporary situation are urgently needed. In the
same manner, our longer term goal of socialism also has to
be modified to take into account new development and
experiences. At the insistence of Comrade Gus Hall, our
vision of socialism gives much greater emphasis to
socialism's democratic essence and practices.

RETOOLING

Or take still another example, our approach to social
democrats in the labor movement is more nuanced now.

Under the impact of globalization and the assault of the
extreme right, this section of the labor movement is
shedding not all at once, but shedding nonetheless,
concepts that held them back from mass struggle. Today's
social democratic and social democratic influenced trade
unionists are not the same as the social democratic
elements that earlier dominated the labor movement.

This shift dramatically enlarges the possibilities for
broad unity and radical change. Already, the struggle for
economic justice, for racial and gender equality, for
immigrant rights and cross border solidarity, for a
revitalized labor movement are on a higher ground.

It also is widening the opportunities for communists to
make unique contributions to the class struggle, provided,
of course, that we continue to quickly adjust our tactics
to the new conditions and currents of struggle and fully
join our coalition parterns in today's movements and
struggles.

Of course, differences will inevitably arise between our
coalition parterns and us over ideological and tactical
questions, but we try not to allow them to rupture our
coalition relations. Rather we disagree without being
disagreeable while attempting to win our allies to our
point of view based not on our experience, but on their
experience In struggle.

Our main enemy is the TNCs, and these economic giants can
be brought to heel only through the actions of millions.
And this irrefutable fact weighs heavily on how we struggle
for our point of view in the broader movement.

PARTY BUILDING

The further growth of this evolving anti-monopoly coalition
requires a bigger Party, especially among our
multi-racial, male-female working class.

Therefore, we are grappling with how to speed up the
process of building the Party and Youth Communist League.
As a general rule of thumb, we provide many different
channels for a person to find their way to the Party. Some
join after reading our paper. Some join us over the
Internet. Some join us after hearing us at a public
meeting. Some join after watching our monthly access TV
show. Some join after working with us in the shop or in a
coalition.

At the same time, we try to create an atmosphere in the
public arena that makes it easier for people to join the
Party. To put it differently, joining the Party should not
have the same feeling of gravity as getting married or
having your first child. It should be an easy thing to do.

To create such an atmosphere, we fight for a bigger
circulation of the PWW, a far bigger audience for our
public access TV show, a more systematic approach to the
mass media, more public communists and communist
candidates, mass recruiting meetings, better use of our web
site and the internet.

Over the past period we have recruited many new members to
our Party on street corners and over the internet. Most are
young people.

The recruiting of workers, located in the main sectors of
the economy, is slow however, for reasons that we don't
fully understand.

We are examining these experiences, but not with an eye not
to going back to the old ways of recruiting. To the
contrary, our approach to recruiting will remain many sided
and mass. And we are convinced that given the changes now
taking place in our country that the prospects for building
the Party among our working class are more promising than
they have been for half a century.

Of course, our efforts to build the Party among workers
have to be closely connected to this era of class and
democratic struggles that are on the horizon. Party
building and coalition building are two sides of a single
coin.

Indeed, to build our Party, we have to sink our Party
building initiatives in the growing upsurge of labor and
its array of allies. We have to strive be inside players
with a growing public presence in these emerging coalitions
against the transnational corporations and the extreme
right. We have to creatively link in a mass way our
immediate day to day activities with our fundamental
objective of socialism.

In our Party we say that this is a great era to be a
communist. The beginnings of a new mass upsurge make us
walk at a quicker pace as well as open up a new political
horizon full of promise and hope for both our Party and the
exploited and oppressed.