The world has been turned upside down, and capitalism proves its bankruptcy every single day, in every way imaginable. From rising inflation to the housing crisis to the inability to eradicate the pandemic, the system is seen by millions as incompatible with human life.
There has never been a more urgent need for revolutionary ideas to change the world. But these won’t fall from the sky. The Marxists of Fightback/La Riposte socialiste are steadily building our forces and growing to meet the need for a revolutionary solution. And we can truly say that our forces are on the march like never before.
We are proud to announce that as of last October, our newspaper Fightback has gone from a monthly to a bi-weekly paper!
This big step forward has been prepared by years of building up a pool of revolutionary journalists, of being active in the key struggles of the working class and youth, and by the iron determination to spread Marxism in the movement.
The return to in-person activity has seen hundreds of Fightback activists selling the papers in schools, universities, in the streets and in demonstrations. All this makes us absolutely confident that this bi-weekly paper will grow and gain a wider and wider audience.
To celebrate this achievement, we will be holding launch meetings all across Canada: Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Waterloo, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax!
We encourage everyone reading these lines to contact your local Fightback chapter to come and celebrate, but also to buy or renew your subscription to our paper without waiting!
Our newspapers Fightback and La Riposte socialiste seek not only to give a voice to workers, but also to give the ideas that we need to win against the bosses.
While many on the left consider theory and ideas a mere supplement or a completely unnecessary thing, we consider it our duty to uphold the tradition of genuine Marxism. Without the right ideas, we can’t build anything sustainable. Our action is aimless or ends in demoralization when the struggle ebbs. A revolutionary Marxist perspective is necessary to keep a cool head and prepare for the coming struggles. As Lenin famously said, “Without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement.”
We are also happy to announce the return of our in-person Montreal Marxist Winter School, which will be held in February 2022. The theme we chose this year is “In Defence of Marxism”, and it isn’t an accidental choice.
There is no work more modern than the 170-year-old Communist Manifesto. The characterization of capitalism by Marx in his Capital has become literally true: “Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole.” Any worker or youth looking to change the world will find a treasure trove of ideas in these works.
But Marxism isn’t only about economics and class struggle in the narrow sense. It is a philosophy which allows us to deepen our understanding of the entire complexity of reality. The school this year will aim to broaden the horizons of attendees with presentations and discussions on the Marxist view of art, science and the Indigenous struggle, among other topics. We will also have a talk on the general strike of 1972 in Quebec, with the aim of revisiting our revolutionary history.
The Marxist Winter School has become a marquee event on the left in Canada. Last year, we had an exceptional school with more than 1,150 participants in our online version. This year, we are aiming to get 500 participants attending in person in Montreal. At a time where union bureaucracies and left parties are still keeping their meetings online and atomizing, we are preparing for the largest in-person Marxist conference in recent Canadian history. Make sure to put it on your agenda!
Over the next few weeks, we will be massively postering and flyering on campuses to promote this event and build momentum. We invite anyone interested in coming and helping to mobilize to contact us.
We live in exciting times. The old world is dying, a new one is struggling to be born. Thirty-five per cent of Canadians support moving away from capitalism. We can overthrow capitalism in our lifetime.
With the launch of our bi-weekly English paper and our massive Marxist Winter School coming, we are taking concrete steps in building the revolutionary organization needed to make this a reality. Please join us to fulfill this task!
Register for the school TODAY: https://www.marxist.ca/winter-school
Subscribe to Fightback: https://www.marxist.ca/subscribe
Support our French paper La Riposte socialiste: https://marxiste.qc.ca/abonnement
