The first annual Vancouver School of Communism was a smashing success! With ninety communists in attendance from Vancouver, Victoria, Abbotsford, Surrey and Calgary, Communism is back on the west coast! We also had over a dozen American comrades come from Seattle, Bellingham and even as far away as New York to participate.
Opening on the Marxist perspective on imperialism and war, the mood of the school was set: while the chaos of world capitalism is bringing untold suffering to the masses in the Middle East and beyond, it is also radicalizing millions of youth and workers who want to fight war and imperialism. It is with a sense of urgency that we must work to organize to overthrow this sick system and not allow it to drag us ever more deep into the abyss.
With discussions on dialectical materialism, the role of China on the world stage today, the chaos unfolding in the U.S., and the building of a Bolshevik party, the weekend was packed with lessons all participants could benefit from. The school was alight with high-level discussions, chatter in the halls, and political discussions that went on well into the night.
We also held an important discussion on Operation Solidarity—a hidden piece of revolutionary history—putting forward a Marxist analysis of the incredible events of 1983. In that year, the working class of British Columbia staged mass demonstrations continuously for months, and pushed the province on the brink of a general strike in response to an all-out austerity offensive by the government. They were tragically betrayed at the eleventh hour by their own union leaders. It showed how in times of crisis, the working class will jump onto the scene of history, but with poor leadership can leave the scene of history just as quickly. The RCP will soon produce a lengthy article on these momentous events, in order to arm our comrades in the fight for the leadership of the working class today.
We sold over $2,700 in books and papers alone, showing a clear desire to deepen their understanding of the topics discussed. It’s now time to take everything we learned into the movement and build the revolutionary party the working class needs. Five years ago, the RCP had hardly an organized presence in BC. With this school, we have announced that communism is back in British Columbia! While we are only beginning our work, we are ever confident that we will make communism a force to reckon with.
