The Revolutionary Communist goes bimonthly! Read the editorial of issue 5 below, and set up a physical or digital subscription now. Every subscription and paper bought will help us strengthen the revolutionary press, produce more regular articles and analysis, and advance the fight for communism in Ireland today!
As we go to print, an uneasy ceasefire seems to be holding between Israel and Iran in the Middle East.
Following an unprovoked and – even by capitalism’s own cynical standards – illegal attack ordered by Netanyahu, the two countries exchanged missiles, drones and bombs for 12 days. When Trump gave the green light for American B-2 bombers to strike Iranian nuclear sites, it seemed the region was poised for another brutal, long war.
What comes next is impossible to predict. The situation remains dangerously volatile in the Middle East. But through their criminal actions, the imperialists in Washington, London, Brussels and Tel Aviv – along with their hypocritical lackeys in the Dáil – are threatening to plunge the whole region into a barbaric nightmare. Indeed, they have already done so in Gaza.
And their crimes are by no means confined to the Middle East.
As the crisis of world capitalism deepens, explosive contradictions are piling up everywhere – internationally, and on the domestic front. Intensifying imperialist rivalries are hurtling toward open confrontation in the international arena while the living standards of ordinary people are being savagely curtailed. In a desperate bid to cling on to a system in terminal decay, the capitalist class is unleashing ever more horror on workers and youth across the globe.
As Rosa Luxemburg warned more than a century ago, humanity faces a stark choice: socialism or barbarism.
Riots in the North
Closer to home, we just had a glimpse of capitalist barbarism when loyalist thugs whipped up a pogrom against immigrants in Ballymena.
Homes were torched. Windows smashed. Doors kicked in. Cars set on fire. The sight of Roma families fleeing for safety brings back to memory the dark history of sectarian pogroms against Catholics by loyalist mobs. And let’s not forget – this is the second summer in a row that race riots have erupted in the North of Ireland.
What a damning indictment of the so-called ‘peace process.’ Sectarianism was meant to wither away. Bigotry and violence, supposedly left behind. Instead, the British imperialists cynically abused the aspirations of workers and youth in the region to serve their short-term interests.
The monster of orange sectarianism – that they consciously nurtured for centuries – not only did not go anywhere, but grew even fatter under the regime ushered in by the Good Friday Agreement. The riots exposed the shameful role of some so-called community leaders working for ‘peace’ – more often than not, loyalist paramilitary gangsters using their grip on communities to demand a greater share of the spoils.
Through their short-sighted and self-serving actions, the imperialists have sown the seeds of a barbaric nightmare in the North, always ready to explode into full view.
The deepening of the crisis of capitalism and the decimation of living conditions are creating a powder keg in the Six Counties. Loyalism is thrashing for survival, threatening to drag society back into sectarian turmoil. The tentative mood is palpable this summer – and marching season has barely begun.
This situation at home – as the one in the Middle East, and across the globe – must infuse communists, revolutionaries and all class-conscious workers with a sense of urgency and duty for our cause. Unless we build a party able to carry through a militant fight against capitalism, the ruling classes will drag the whole planet into a barbaric inferno.
Forward!
That is precisely the task that revolutionary communists in Ireland have committed ourselves to. Together with our comrades in the Revolutionary Communist International – fighting in over 70 countries – we are building the forces needed to overthrow capitalism.
With issue 5 of the Revolutionary Communist, we are taking another vital step forward in that direction.
On the strength of the growing support we’ve earned among workers and youth – and the hundreds of copies we sell every month – we’re moving our paper from quarterly to bimonthly publication.
In just two years, we’ve gone from publishing biannually, to quarterly, and now to every two months. We’re very proud of this progress achieved on the back of many sacrifices – and we’re only getting started.
Our goal is to publish the Revolutionary Communist monthly, then fortnightly, and beyond. That’s what the political moment demands of communists – and we’re determined to rise to the task.
A more regular paper will allow us to offer timely analysis of unfolding events in Ireland and around the world. It will sharpen our intervention in the class struggle, and help us build our ranks both quantitatively and qualitatively.
We have no illusions about the challenges ahead. The path is steep, and the task history has put on the shoulders of the working class is great. But the forces of communism are advancing.
As the consciousness of hundreds of thousands is shaped by the titanic events of our time, new opportunities are opening up to build a revolutionary force on this island. And we have no doubt that – armed with the correct ideas, through our collective determination, and infused with the Bolshevik willingness to smash every obstacle in front of us – we will succeed.
If you agree with the ideas in this paper, support our work. Go to communism.ie now and take out a yearly subscription. Your support is vital.
But don’t stop there – get involved in the fight for communism. Join one of our local party branches. We’re active in all major cities and beyond. There is no time to waste – and a world to win!
