The U.S. is an imperialist superpower in steep decline. A recent case in point: At the G20, a conference of the world’s largest economies, the Big Fascist liberals—the multinational banks and energy companies that control the Democratic Party—utterly failed in their attempts to isolate rival imperialist Russia. From the New York Times (7/8): "[I]n a reflection of why Russia’s economy continues to function, [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov did meet directly with…major nations that have declined to join the Western-led coalition against his country.”
As the U.S.-European alliance behind Ukraine seems exhausted, Russia has strengthened its economic ties with regional powers from Iran and India to Brazil and Mexico. Imperialist China, the greatest threat to U.S. dominance, dismissed an appeal from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to join the anti-Russia coalition. U.S. sanctions be damned, Russia is raking in record revenues from fossil fuels (NYT, 6/13). (The ruble is up nearly 30 percent against the U.S. dollar this year.) All the while, millions of workers worldwide are starved and impoverished by droughts, floods, and an inflationary spiral with no end in sight.
Despite unequaled wealth and the world’s largest armed forces, the U.S. seems powerless to stop the Chinese imperialists from expanding their economic influence. Despite billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, it can’t stop Russia from grabbing more territory. As diplomacy and threats fail, the bosses will settle their disagreements with bullets and bombs. Regardless of who wins, workers will pay the price with their blood. It is up to the working class of the world to turn this imperialist war into class war for communism–workers’ power.
U.S. rulers’ split points to fascism
To fight off a life-and-death challenge from the Small Fascists, the gutter racists and sexists who control the Republican Party and the U.S. Supreme Court [see Glossary, p. 6], the Big Fascists of finance capital can’t keep running things in the old way. Liberal democracy—the lipstick on the pig of capitalist dictatorship—never served the interests of the working class. Now it’s not even working for the liberal bosses. Full-blown fascism—with wholesale state terror—is on the horizon. It’s the only way for the liberals to stop the Small Fascists. It’s the only way they’ll be able to enlist workers into the U.S. military, facing its worst recruiting crisis since the draft ended in 1973 (foxnews.com, 7/6). The U.S. bosses know they’ll need that military to fight, sooner than later. In China and Russia, without the constraints of liberal democracy, the rulers are more unified, more efficient fascists at this stage of the game. They have a head start toward World War III.
The world’s rising instability is a great danger for the international working class—but also a huge opportunity to smash the profit system once and for all. Workers are enraged by the capitalist status quo, as attested by the thousands in Sri Lanka who stormed their war criminal president’s residence. Their fury and courage are unquestioned—but to change the world, they need communist leadership.
Progressive Labor Party is small today. So were the Bolsheviks before World War I and the Chinese communists before World War II. Like them, we have the potential to grow quickly. Our historic task is to organize millions to turn the next world war into communist revolution.
Europe: U.S. friends in shambles
In February, at the start of the current conflict in Ukraine, the U.S. bosses trumpeted the rebirth of NATO and the unity of the West. Five months later, their most important partners are in turmoil. Small Fascist parties are surging throughout Europe. In June, French President Emmanuel Macron lost his parliamentary majority—due mainly to the breakout success of the National Rally, the gang of nazis that opposes the war in Ukraine (Politico, 6/22). In Italy, the government collapsed when the anti-Ukraine war Five Star Party withdrew its support (Guardian, 7/14). In Britain, the war effort’s staunchest backer, Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned in a sea of scandal.
 All the while, Russia has been paying for the war with profits from gas and oil sales to the United States’ most trusted partners. As the New York Times noted (7/12), “Ukraine’s steadfast NATO allies are tired. This war has already contributed to a huge spike in natural gas, gasoline and food prices in Europe — and if it drags into the winter, many families in the European Union (E.U.) may have to choose between heating and eating.” In Germany, the EU’s alpha dog, whole industries could collapse if Russia cuts natural gas exports (businessinsider.com, 7/4).
As economies in Europe go from bad to worse, the competition between capitalist factions will intensify. Both sides are disasters for our class. But it’s the liberal misleaders—with their track record for mass slaughter and their strategy to pacify militant fightback—who are the main danger. They’re the express train to fascism. Workers have but two real choices: to fight in the bosses’ next global war for profit, or to join the historic struggle for communist revolution.
U.S. runs into a BRICS wall
Since Richard Nixon went to China 50 years ago, the U.S. ruling class has played Russia, China, and India against one another. But today, in the face of U.S. weakness, these longtime adversaries are growing closer. India needs cheap fuel for its growing economy and huge population; since the Ukraine war began, it has spent five times as much on Russian oil as in all of 2021 (Forbes, 7/13). China, whose own economy is in a nosedive, flouts U.S. sanctions by buying record amounts of Russian crude (oilprice.com, 7/6).
Now the alliance known as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) is expanding, with Iran and Argentina set to join in 2023. In May, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, and Nigeria attended the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting for the first time (The Diplomat, 7/13). As capitalism in crisis heads toward world war, it is impossible to predict how these countries will align. But what seems certain is that the situation is volatile—and is heading toward a boiling point.
The new Russia-Iran axis
Besides enriching Moscow’s treasury, the United States’ moves to punish Russia have backfired by uniting two of its arch-enemies, Russia and Iran. The Big Fascists hoped to delay Iran’s development of nuclear weapons by reviving the nuclear deal engineered by Barack Obama—until Russia torpedoed the strategy by persuading Iran to insist on a lifting of sanctions against Russia (NYT, 7/14). On July 19, Vladimir Putin met with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top leader, who proclaimed that Russia was justified in invading Ukraine. According to a Kremlin spokesman, a “strategic cooperation” treaty with Iran is on the table (NYT, 7/19). U.S. bosses’ immediate fear is that Iran will sell Russia state-of-the-art battlefield drones, which could tip the balance in artillery warfare in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russia and India are pursuing a land-and-sea trade route through Iran, avoiding Europe and any potential obstructions. It’s a big boost for Russia, and a sign that Iran is open to new transnational commerce—independent of the U.S. dollar—that would render U.S. sanctions almost useless (Bloomberg, 7/14).
The only solution
As the U.S. empire falters, China and Russia are growing bolder in challenging the U.S. bosses’ dominance. All of these imperialist powers spell death and destruction for the international working class. All of them use the rotten ideas of nationalism and patriotism to try to deceive us into killing our class sisters and brothers.
This deadly equation won’t change by removing Putin or electing a new U.S. president or threatening the Chinese bosses. Reforms can’t stop the capitalist rulers’ from slaughtering millions in their ruthless drive for maximum profits. Only a mass communist movement can turn the guns against the bosses and end inter-imperialist war for good. Fight for communism! Join Progressive Labor Party!

This summer project centered around two major events: 1) a march in protest of the murder of Shantel Davis by police detective Phil Atkins in 2012 and 2) the imprisonment of Justin Rodwell and the legal attacks on him and his brothers for resisting police terror. These two struggles encapsulated what the party is all about and were an opportunity to demonstrate our politics in practice to everyone at the SP.
The march was a powerful experience; it connected the murder of Kyam Livingston to Alex Flores (LA) to Shantel Davis. Families of all three spoke about losing their loved ones is something no one should ever have to experience. But under capitalism these racist killings are the order of the day. We took the streets! It was a show of resistance against the bosses and their enforcers and also an unapologetic expression of the party’s politics. Many gave speeches about how we need to unite to fight this capitalist system that creates these police who kill us. This had a profound effect not only on the PL’ers and friends present but also on the workers who marched, chanted, and raised their fists with us.
Smash racist housing conditions
The SP also centered around the housing struggle in Newark, NJ.  In multiracial groups, we trekked to Stephen Crane Village where for the past two years, a comrade who resides there is trying to organize neighbors against the inhumane conditions and privatization of the complex. PL’ers went door to door to show residents CHALLENGE and invite to a PL-authored skit in the courtyard.
The skit addressed the issues surrounding public housing such as rent increases, vermin, cynicism, and the importance of organizing—all with a dose of humour. At the performance, one resident recognized the comrade and was enthusiastic about growing this struggle.
Courts & cops, all part of bosses’ plan
The SP culminated with a discussion on why nationalism is always the enemy. We identified how nationalism and revisionism disguises itself as radicalism, but is really reactionary and how it destoyed revolutionary states like China and working class movements around the world. We also identified present day examples of nationalism: whether it takes the form of reformist Black mayors like Ras Baraka who promotes voting as the solution to ending racism, but uses his state police force to terrorize Black workers, or fake-revolutionary, revisionist groups who call for multicultural capitalism that ultimately would keep capitalists of all identities on top and workers on the bottom.
With all this in mind PLP held a protest at the Essex County Courthouse with Justin Rodwell’s family on the day of his latest court hearing. Justin continues to languish in jail more than a year after he and his brothers were attacked by Newark Police. During the hearing the fascist judge noticed our numbers and threatened us to keep silent, but when PL’ers held our fists up in solidarity with an imprisoned worker, Justin put up his fist in response. Later his family told us how they were now even more committed to fighting back against this racist, fascist system.
Confidence in our potential
This project provided us with some assignments for the future, inspiring all those involved. Next year, we need to sharpen the struggle with students and workers around us to participate in these events. After a comrade spoke to a student about the Shantel Davis march, the student said, “I really wish I took care of my chores on Friday so I could have been there.”
We are already making plans for a recap for all of our friends who weren’t able to make it. PLP has a strong potential for growth. At our closing event, one participant joined!
Another comrade spoke about writing a pamphlet. As they looked around at the other comrades working with him he said, “You’re not alone. Something about being in this space that makes it feel possible.”
Despite the attacks on our class, we know that a communist world is possible. This project gave us a small glimpse of that world we want to create through the power of collectivity.

*****

Letters from youth participants

This was my first summer project experience with the Progressive Labor Party. I had met several members over the years and joined a study group. It was inspiring to see PLP converge for concentrated class struggle. The party is diverse, grounded and led by the working class, as well as intergenerational. That was obvious to see just from the welcome barbecue.
I read about the police assault against the Rodwell-Spivey family in CHALLENGE, and I met the family after the court case. The police are predators, and they are patrolling workers’ neighborhoods to terrorize and intimidate wholesale just like the slave patrols that are their forebearers.
I volunteered for childcare during the hearing, but I heard from the family and the comrades about the struggle in the courtroom. The judge patronizingly instructed the witnesses in the gallery to respect the hall of criminal injustice and slavery, and in response many comrades raised their fists as a silent protest. Melodramatically the judge put his hand over his heart in response. They use patriotism and nationalism in order to rationalize and hide from their own role as enforcers of the bosses’ dictatorship.
I was glad to be a part of the team, and I was inspired to join the party at the end!
*
During the Summer project, I, along with my comrades, had an important experience in Newark. June 1st marked the one year anniversary of the Rodwell-Spivey family being attacked by the kkkops. Undercover kkkops targeted two of the Rodwell-Spivey brothers claiming they were looking for a Black man wearing a white t-shirt with dreads. On July 12th, a hearing for four of the brothers took place to set a trial date. One of the brothers had been waiting for this trial for a year in jail, rotting away on misdemeanor charges of “resisting arrest.”
Before the hearing, the Progressive Labor Party and Rodwell-Spivey Defense Team held a rally outside of the courthouse. Then we stepped into a building named after Martin Luther King, the same building that ironically locked up Black men. We waited outside of the kkkourtroom for what seemed like hours before a kkkourt guard told us to conduct ourselves well and hold our thoughts and grievances for after the hearing or we would be removed.
As the hearing began I could see the cracks in the system showing themselves through a callous prosecutor and unprepared city attorneys. On a zoom call the prosecutors showed no concern, mixing up the plea bargain dates of 18 months to 3 years. One city attorney needed three more weeks to prepare for the trial. Two chose not to speak on behalf of their clients. One attorney and family friend of the Rodwell-Spivey family pushed for the full body cam footage from the day of the arrest. However, the prosecutor did not send the film nor contacts to retrieve it. As the hearing began to end, the trial was once again pushed back.
After showing no emotion during the hearing the judge flips out, berating the antiracist supporters in the gallery. He tells us that he has treated us with respect and dignity and he expected the same. He grew louder and told us a group before had disrespected him and he would not stand for it. What the capitalist with current authority was referring to was a hearing when PLP, the Rodwell-Spivery family, and friends of the family said “We Miss You Justin.” We left the courtroom silent and with fists up. Outside the doors, we started chanting, “Free Justin.” Within seconds, multiple cops came ready to pounce.
Previously I had only been to a courtroom on a school trip. But this experience was completely different. I’ve learned that there might be fancy language and specific rules to represent capitalist law. However, the people ruling do not have the interest of the working class at heart.
The judge told us to respect his courtroom and to respect him. But how are we supposed to respect people who allow Black men to rot away in prison when they have the power to take them out? How are we supposed to respect the same courts that give kkkops a slap on the wrist when they murder our Black and Latin brothers and sisters? How are we supposed to respect the courts when they are only made to put the working class “in their place?” If we are not receiving justice in the courts, we as workers must shut them down!
H
My takeaway from this year’s summer project was that leadership comes from the entire working class. As someone who has been on many projects, it’s always uplifting and motivating to draw from the experience and knowledge from so many comrades and workers. We collectively organize to achieve goals, get to know each other better, and just have fun. As always, my participation this past week has provided me with a sharpened optimism and energy to build the Party in my area.
*
My first PLP summer project deepened my sense of urgency and pride for the fight for working-class power. Spending several days with PLP  members and like-minded folks normalized open discussion of the very particular ways the capitalist system fails us all. There were several educators like myself from across the country dealing with similar things like being scolded for being open with students about having recently tested positive for Covid, being excluded in decisions to implement initiatives and strategies that require extra time and energy but so often get thrown out, and trying to safely navigate discussions about reproductive rights in schools where sex education leaves a lot to the imagination. One educator even lost his job for giving students food and allowing them to enter the building to keep them from the cold before the approved time (See CHALLENGE, 7/20). He got his job back when parents, students and PLP raised enough of a noise to embarrass school bosses for their foolishness.
It was impressive that some teachers invited students! With them, we watched a leader of the NAACP take a nap in a Newark kkkourtroom where Justin Spivey was given additional jail time without any conviction, due to the repeat instance of absentee lawyers and a judge who claimed there was “not much else I can do.”
We heard a healthcare worker discuss single handedly organizing a walkout due to lack of personal protective equipment(PPE).Another PL’er ushered us into their experience of deplorable housing conditions and gentrification, as we knocked on residents doors to invite them to a Party written and performed play about just that!  We also witnessed a couple roast each other on the topic of Stalin's militancy sparked from the decision of where a group of us should go for ice cream!
Hearing so many intense struggles told by the people who experienced them as well as participating in a few as a multiracial, multigenerational collective, for me, ate away at the sense of isolation that makes these problems seem unrelated.

*

Suffering from the worst shortages of gas and fuel, food, and medicine not seen since independence in 1948, workers and students in Sri Lanka rebelled. Many hundreds of thousands joined a protest movement demanding the ouster of the ruling Rajapaksa family. When president Gotabaya Rajapaksa refused to resign, protesters stormed the Presidential palace, occupying the extravagant grounds and chasing him out of the country. Workers even took a swim in the presidential pool.
The new president is now-former prime minister Ranil Wickremesing, whose official residence was burned down after over 100,000 protesters surrounded the mansion (CNN, 7/13). Working class rebellion is a good thing.
This system is getting worse each day. Fighting back is the only way to change it. Long-term victory means going beyond rebellion or demands for different capitalists to be put in power.  It requires us to organize to build a communist movement with the outlook of putting the working class in power.
Workers bear the burden of the bosses’crisis
The capitalist crisis in Sri Lanka is a warning sign for the rest of South Asia; The Maldives, Bangladesh, and Pakistan’s economies are on the brink.  This crisis is exposing the weakness that was hiding under the surface of the world’s capitalist economies.
Capitalism has never worked. Even though the capitalists considered Sri Lanka a success story, the working class here has lived in poverty even before the current crisis. In 2020 the per capita income was about $1300/year (ceicdata.com).
The crisis was caused by three main factors. The Sri Lankan bosses have relied on massive borrowing from the big imperialists and used the money they made from tourism to pay off what they owed. The combination of terrorist attacks and the pandemic gutted the tourist industry around the globe and Sri Lanka lost its main source of profits (Washington Post, 7/9).
The second factor was the ravenous profit motive of the Sri Lankan ruling class, dominated by the Rajapaksa family. Just before the pandemic hit, Sri Lanka’s short-sighted bosses gave themselves a massive tax cut that increased their profits at the expense of the working class (Washington Post, 7/9).
The third factor is the overall crisis of capitalism that is affecting the working class in every country. The combination of the pandemic and now the U.S.-led sanctions against Russia have set off inflation in the country currently at over 50 percent. On top of that it’s nearly impossible to get fuel for cars or cooking and electricity has been severely cut (Reuters, 7/7). The World Food Program reported that 86% of families were either skipping meals, eating less or buying worse foods (NPR, 7/20).
Sri Lanka’s importance in inter-imperialist rivalry
The island country is at an important location in the Indian Ocean and equidistant in the east-west maritime corridor; it’s at the crossroads of busy shipping routes. Since Sri Lanka’s initiation into China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, it has entangled itself in the regional and global rivalry between Japan, India, the U.S. and China.
In 2017, China took over the strategic port Hambantota in India’s backyard (CNBC, 12/13/17). India, the regional imperialist, needs Sri Lanka in its sphere of influence, which is aligned with the U.S.-led liberal order post World War II.
However, China has been expanding its imperialist tentacles via “debt traps” and infrastructure investments. Not only did Sri Lanka built its minimally-used Rajapaksa International Airport from China’s loans and started the The Port City project in Colombo, the two countries also share a military relationship. “China’s influence…has grown exponentially in the last 15 years as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda…became a dominant force in Sri Lankan politics” (Voa News, 6/10).
So why is China not committing to approve new loans to Sri Lanka right now as the small country is asking for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund? Well, “China appears to be shifting its strategic focus toward Southeast Asia and Africa” (Voa News, 6/10).
All capitalists, big and small, function under the rule of competition. Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is an opportunity for India to regain some influence. India provided around $3.5 billion as credit, and shipped fuel, food, and fertilizers recently. “After the initial credit line…both countries in January agreed to jointly operate 61 giant oil tanks…For over 30 years, India has been trying to access the British-era facility which will enable it to store strategic oil reserves” (BBC, 7/19).
At the moment, it seems that the ruling Rajapaksa family is aligned closer to China, and the U.S. news coverage of the rebellion has been largely positive. The movement has drawn countless protesters to the capital of Colombo to demand larger reforms. The dangers of this movement include what the working class of Sri Lanka is intimately familiar with: nationalism and identity politics. While it’s unclear which faction of bosses are backing the movement, one thing is certain: short of an international communist revolution that rejects all the bosses—local, regional, and global—the working class in Sri Lanka will become a pawn in the bosses’ games as they prepare for larger conflict.
As the global capitalist crisis infects more and more economies, there is only war and fascism headed for our class. Caught in the imperialist crosshairs, Sri Lanka aims to play both sides in an increasingly volatile world order where the working class will pay the ultimate price. While Sri Lankan bosses have tried to “remain neutral” on the war in Europe, this will be harder to do as imperialist contradictions sharpen. The country’s desperation for supplies has pushed it to buy oil from Russia. “There is an advantage…if we could buy [discounted] oil directly from [Russia],” said Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera (AP, 6/27). This is an illustration of the deterioration of the U.S.-led liberal order (see editorial, page 2). Let’s be clear: there is no loyalty among thieves, which is what bosses of all stripes are.
The heroism of the working class is inspiring
The protest movement includes students and workers, including some from less-oppressed sectors of our class. The storming of the presidential palace was inspiring and a lesson that the working class has the potential to not only beat the bosses, but also run a communist world. To achieve something beyond a new set of bosses replacing the old ones requires a movement that is looking to get rid of an entire system. The only way workers in Sri Lanka can escape this imperialist death sentence is to go beyond reformist militancy and fight for communist revolution.

NEWARK, NJ, July 15—The Marxist Literary Group (MLG) is a group of progressive academics who have met annually for half a century; Progressive Labor Party (PLP) comrades have been regular participants. A hundred members attended this year’s week-long conference, whose theme was “Transition.” As the rulers who run the imperialist world-system gear up for World War III and unleash their guided missiles on the working class, the Party went in with a much stronger political presence than in the past. We distributed dozens of copies of CHALLENGE and spoke openly about the need for a party to make revolution for a communist world.
Attacking the Big Fascists
Front and center in all our presentations was the connection between liberalism and fascism. A multiracial group of Newark, NJ-based PL’ers involved in combating racist police terror presented a film titled Copaganda.
“I’m really nervous!” said the student comrade who was speaking about the role of liberal Big Fascist Mayor, Ras Baraka in enforcing violent police repression in Black neighborhoods. The Big Fascists are represented by the multinational banks and energy companies that control the Democratic Party.
“Hey, you’re fine!” “You’re doing great!” enthusiastically shouted the audience. For many in attendance, this session was the high point of the entire conference.
In the same panel, another comrade presented a documentary film about the politics and economics of Caribbean tourism. Focusing on the history of the walls set up in Aruba to separate visitors from workers, her talk redirected the whole question of building walls away from anti-Trumpism—an easy target—and located its grounding in the “big money” imperatives of colonialism and imperialism.
In a panel on “The Dialectics of Transition,” a comrade argued that the similarity between liberalism and fascism is primary over their difference. What makes fascism and liberalism more similar than different is their political relationship with capitalism itself. Liberal democracy, which has within it the roots of fascism, is a way the bosses cement their class rule.
PLP brings communist politics
 Another panelist examined the failed historical transition during the Reconstruction era in the U.S. toward what W.E.B. Du Bois called “abolition democracy.” After the Civil War, both northern capitalists and southern plantation owners commonly feared above all else the specter of a racially unified movement of farmers and workers.
A comrade who has written extensively about the USSR shared his most recent research about the relationship between Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. Unless the prevailing falsehoods surrounding scholarship on Soviet history are refuted, and people understand both the actual achievements and the shortcomings of Soviet socialist construction, the revolutionary “transition” from capitalism to communism will be significantly blocked.
Finally, PLP comrades and friends led a reading group that examined Marxist analyses of the grounding of fascism in capitalism and imperialism. One speaker focused on the mid-1930s debate within the communist movement between the call for social revolution issued by R. Palme Dutt and the advocacy of a popular front by Georgi Dimitrov. History shows that the united front resulted in only fortifying the bosses’ system and laid the basis for the corruption of the old communist movement.
Another speaker discussed the Caribbean communist poet Aimé Césaire’s dissection of European fascism as a direct result of colonial brutality.
A third speaker examined the writings of the Italian communist Antonio Gramsci, who ironically observed that democracy “organized fascism when it felt it could no longer resist the pressure of the working class” and no longer hide behind their pretense of  democracy.
Gramsci concluded that when the mask of democracy falls off, the ruler’s naked brutality is exposed, and the bosses use violence and repression to crush the working class in order to regain control of their system.
Be a communist, not just a Marxist
Many intellectuals who attend the MLG conferences describe themselves as Marxists, but not as communists. This needs to change. The Party builds a base with these graduate students and professors to help them unify theory and practice. We urge them to align themselves with the actual struggles of the working class and join our revolutionary Party. The working class, guided by international antiracist solidarity, is the leading force for revolutionary change. While intellectuals may display many of the weaknesses of bourgeois socialization, historically more than a few have been valuable revolutionary fighters for the working class: Karl Marx, Lenin, Mao Zedong, Claudia Jones—thinkers and fighters all.
Besides, many of the younger members of the MLG are themselves at best precarious workers, facing a jobless future in a university in decline in this perhaps “terminal” crisis of capital. Many professors and graduate students see themselves as workers and are active in their campus unions.
PLP argues that all sectors of the working class must reject liberalism as a way to save workers from the increasingly destructive effects—political, economic, environmental—of capitalist decay. In essence, liberal democracy turns into fascism as the imperialists of the world prepare for world war (see editorial, page 2).
We must fight against developing fascism with a revolutionary communist movement.