The decay of capitalism is making itself felt more sharply every day. This has led to a growing radicalization of workers and youth with millions rejecting the system. According to a recent poll, one million Canadian youth want communism. Fightback, the Canadian section of the International Marxist Tendency has launched a campaign titled “Are you a Communist” with the aim of organizing this growing layer of communists in Canada. As part of this campaign, we are opening the pages of our magazine to ask the question: why are you a communist?
If you are one of these hundreds of thousands of communists in Canada and would like to explain to our readers why you are a communist, you can make a submission of no longer than 500 words to our editorial board at eb@marxist.ca.
Throughout my entire life, I have, like many others across the world, looked at the stars with hopeful eyes. To me, the greatest joy in life is uncovering the unknown, and where better to solve mysteries than in the infinite void of space? However, as I grew older this intense curiosity distilled into a mixture of anguish and despair. I did not understand why space agencies like NASA or the CSA kept receiving less and less funding when the possibilities of what we could find only increased each year.
It wouldn’t be until I moved out at age 17 that I would realize why my dreams of stellar wonder would not be fulfilled. Though the stars still stood strong in my heart, I would come to revolutionary conclusions via a very unrelated topic. My road to Marxism began with the realization that our cities exist in such a car-centric state due to the meddling of corporations like General Motors. From there, I started waking up to the ways in which many of my grievances were caused by the excesses of capitalism. After a few months I found myself watching any socialist content I could consume; though much of what I watched had a Stalinist character, it was filled with calls to “organize”. It was this demand that would lead me to break with the pseudo-Marxist rot that pervades the internet and move into the hands of the IMT.
As soon as I met with a comrade from Fightback a spark lit up inside of me. All of a sudden I could envision a dream of a future where humanity could dive headfirst into the curiosities of the cosmos. This image only got stronger as I read more and more. Eventually, with a scientific understanding of our society, this image ceased to be a dream, but a snapshot into the future of our species.
For as long as capitalism dominates our world, the efforts of humanity, of our greatest minds and strongest backs, will be solely focused on profit rather than wonder. One can only imagine the technological wonders that will be available to our descendents when they are free to focus on what is best for the whole of humanity, rather than the elite few. We will never know exactly how much potential has been wasted because a young genius was crushed by the weight of poverty, killed in an imperialist war, barred from an education, etc., etc. And so it is youthful energy that I fight to unleash to fulfill the potential of humankind. I am excited for the day that all those children, like me, who stared into the night sky with astonishment can reach for the stars and bring humanity along with them.
It is only through a revolutionary Marxist programme that we can end the hellish monotony, fear, and dread of capitalism! Join the IMT in leading humanity into a truly futuristic future. I believe, my friends, that on distant and dusty planets our footprints will be left as our mark!
