LOS ANGELES, March 6—Recently, Progressive Labor Party (PLP) held a forum about inter-imperialist rivalry, capitalism, and impending World War III (WWIII). About 20 comrades and friends, including members of impacted families whose loved ones were killed by police, came out to a neighborhood park. The forum was very active and rich in discussion about inter-imperialist rivalry as a basis of capitalist wars (see editorial on page 2) Only communist revolution where the international working class turns the guns around can resolve this dangerous competition over land, profit, and power between the world’s imperialist powers.
We started with a brief overview of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and a beginning definition of imperialism. Then we broke up into smaller groups to discuss more in depth, referencing recent articles about Ukraine from CHALLENGE, excerpts about soldiers rebelling in Vietnam, and a timeline of events leading up to the current war in Ukraine.
People in the group thought the discussion about imperialism and the threat of WWIII was particularly relevant given the current war between Russia and Ukraine. The workshop leader began with a detailed explanation of what imperialism is. It is not just one country taking over land of another, but can also mean economic imperialism, which is investment of capital in other countries. It also involves the fight over labor markets and resources.
After reading an editorial about Russia and Ukraine, the discussion started off with a local tenant declaring about imperialism, “It is for the rich, not the poor. They want to stomp us like cockroaches but they need workers to struggle and fight in their wars.” This led to a discussion of whether war ever benefits the working class and how to end imperialist war.
People had questions about how we can make a communist revolution and we talked about the Russian soldiers refusing to fight in World War I and turning that war into the Bolshevik revolution. We also talked about how U.S. soldiers in Vietnam rebelling, refusing to fight, and killing their officers is what led to the U.S. imperialists ending their war against Vietnam. Our discussion made clear the necessity  of winning soldiers as well as masses of other workers to make a communist revolution.
One of the main lessons of the forum was the importance of doing work in mass organizations and the opportunities it presents for us. During the monthly Flores Fight Back action we passed out a leaflet linking the struggle against police violence with the struggle against imperialist war. The leaflet included an invitation to the forum and we also announced it during the speeches. As a direct result of our work with a group of tenants struggling to get repairs made to their apartments, one comrade met a young volunteer who, the comrade learned during their conversation, considers himself a communist.
The comrade invited the volunteer and his brother to the forum. They both came and participated vigorously in their workshop. One even volunteered to be on our May Day Committee. Everyone who attended was eager to continue these discussions and be involved in more actions. On to May Day!