The Revolutionary Communist Party of the USA is the political party of the working class in the United States, the vanguard of the proletariat in this country, and a part of the communist movement internationally, just as the working class in the U.S. is one part of the revolutionary movement of the international proletariat.
The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA takes Marxism-Leninism, Mao Tsetung Thought as the theoretical basis guiding its thinking.
The basic programme of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA is the complete overthrow of the bourgeoisie, the establishment of the all-around dictatorship of the proletariat in place of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie and the triumph of socialism over capitalism in all spheres of society as the necessary transition to the ultimate aim of the Party: the realization of communism with the abolition of all class distinctions. This basic programme can be accomplished only on the basis of and through the unity and mutual support in revolutionary struggle of the proletariat of all countries; communism can only be achieved on a world scale through the final defeat and elimination of the bourgeoisie and all exploiting classes and of every vestige of exploiting class society throughout the entire world.
The roots of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA were established and nurtured in the mass revolutionary upsurges of the 1960s and early 1970s, in the United States and internationally, against imperialism and reaction. The party of the proletariat in this country was forged through and amidst fiery struggle, both in this society and throughout the world as a whole and within the communist movement in the U.S. and internationally. And, since its formation in 1975, the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA has been tempered and strengthened through the fierce struggle, including within its own ranks, to defend and uphold the red banner of the international proletariat and to fight in accordance with its revolutionary outlook and interests in a situation marked by tremendous and increasing crisis, turmoil and accelerating developments toward both world war and revolution.
Most especially, the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA has defended and upheld the historic lessons and achievements of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution waged by the working class and masses of people in China from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s under the guidance of Mao Tsetung to beat back attempts to restore capitalism under the command of a new bourgeoisie centered within the Communist Party itself at its highest levels. This Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, a political revolution carried out under the conditions of socialism and in the face of capitalist restoration in the Soviet Union, represents the highest peak yet reached by the international proletariat in forging the ascent toward the goal of communism; and the contributions of Mao Tsetung, particularly in leading such an unprecedented revolution, represent an enrichment and development of Marxism-Leninism, the revolutionary science of the international proletariat. All this remains true despite the fact that this Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was in and of itself ultimately unable to prevent capitalist restoration and that, shortly after the death of Mao Tsetung in 1976, the new bourgeoisie inside the Communist Party of China seized power from the proletariat through an armed coup d’etat.
The experience of the proletarian revolution and socialist society, not only in China but in the Soviet Union and other countries, has shown that after the old exploiting classes are overthrown and deprived of ownership of the means of production, after they are isolated and defeated politically, there still remain for a long time many “birthmarks” of the old society within the new, both in the economic relations of the people in society and in the superstructure of politics and ideology. These can and must be increasingly struggled against and restricted by the proletariat in power, in moving toward the final goal of completely eliminating them. But until this ultimate goal is reached these “birthmarks” will continue to provide the basis for a new bourgeoisie to be constantly engendered within socialist society and to wage struggle against the proletariat in an attempt to seize power and restore capitalism. Thus the proletariat can only maintain and further consolidate its political power and the socialist system by continually waging struggle against the bourgeoisie, most especially this new bourgeoisie, and by repeatedly overthrowing its representatives who usurp power from the proletariat in various spheres within socialist society.
Further, the experience of the proletarian revolution and socialist society has shown that this revolution cannot succeed all at once in every country, or even in a short period throughout the world, but must win victory country by country and over a fairly long historical period. Therefore in every country where it succeeds in winning power the proletariat will, to one degree or another, find its new state surrounded by hostile reactionary states which will use various means–outright military attack and subversion, as well as economic, diplomatic and political pressure–to attempt to destroy the socialist state. And these reactionary powers will also seek out agents within the government and the vanguard party in the socialist countries in coordination with their external aggression, subversion and pressure. Thus the continuing class struggle within the socialist country and the international class struggle interconnect with and influence each other, and the proletariat in power can only defeat attempts at capitalist restoration and continue advancing toward the goal of communism by continuing the revolution within the socialist country and actively supporting and assisting it worldwide, while resisting and defeating the attempts to strangle and crush it from outside.
Still further, experience has shown that the heart of the new bourgeoisie within socialist society, the greatest danger to the dictatorship of the proletariat and therefore the main target of the continuing revolution under this proletarian dictatorship lies within the vanguard party of the proletariat itself, especially among its top leadership. This is because, with the seizure of power by the proletariat and the socialization of ownership of the means of production, the party becomes both the leading political center of the socialist state and main directing force of the economy, and the contradiction between the party as the leading group and the working class and masses under its leadership is a concentrated expression of the contradictions left over from the old society. Where and to the extent that party members, especially leading party officials, deviate from Marxism-Leninism, depart from the socialist road and divorce themselves from the masses, their position of authority turns into its opposite, is transformed from leadership guiding the masses in revolution toward the goal of communism into oppression over the masses, forcing them back toward capitalism–in the name, however, of “socialism” and “communism.”
Thus, throughout the entire socialist transition period until the worldwide victory of communism is finally achieved, the proletariat and masses of people, led by those party members and officials who continue to adhere to and apply Marxism-Leninism, must not only uphold the dictatorship of the proletariat but must continue to wage struggle in all spheres, both practical and theoretical, to distinguish genuine from sham Marxism-Leninism and the socialist from the capitalist road in order to expose and defeat the attempts of the bourgeoisie, especially the bourgeoisie in the party, to usurp power and restore capitalism, and in order to continue revolutionizing all of society. And, as a crucial part of this, the party itself must be continually revolutionized amidst the storms of this mass struggle and the interrelated struggle within the party itself between the two lines of Marxism-Leninism and opportunism and the two roads of socialism and capitalism. Through this continual process, punctuated repeatedly by all-out struggles to determine which class in fact holds power and in which direction society is moving, unreformable opportunists within the party must be exposed and driven out, while broader and broader sections of the working class and masses are tempered and steeled in struggle and fresh forces from among them, and especially those who come to the fore in the mass revolutionary struggles, are brought into the party, so that the revolutionary line and vanguard role of the party is safeguarded and strengthened and new generations of revolutionaries are reared within the party and in society as a whole.
For all these reasons, the proletarian revolution and the advance to communism cannot be and has not been a smooth and even process, proceeding in a straight line, but one full of twists and turns, even temporary setbacks and reversals, and therefore proceeding in a spiral. But, this has been an upward spiral, with three major mileposts: the first actual seizure of power by the proletariat in the short-lived Paris Commune in 1871; the successful consolidation of power and establishment of a socialist economy in the world’s first socialist state, the Soviet Union, where the proletariat retained state power and remained on the socialist road for four decades, until the mid-1950s; and the Chinese revolution, in which one-fourth of humanity not only embarked on the socialist road but, through the course of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, made the greatest advances along that road so far.
Not only through its victories but also through its defeats the proletariat as well as the communist movement internationally, through the process of sharp struggle itself, has time and again summed up the historical lessons and made new leaps forward. This has been guided on the highest level by Mao Tsetung, who by applying Marxism-Leninism to both the positive and negative experience of the proletarian revolution, and deepening this revolutionary science in the process, summed up that the final victory of the proletariat and the ultimate achievement of communism throughout the world would inevitably be realized amidst earth-shaking storms and unprecedented struggles. Such is the stand of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Tsetung Thought; such is the stand of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.
In the United States today, rivaled as a bastion of reaction and enemy of the international proletariat only by the equally imperialist Soviet Union, the first great step of the proletarian revolution–the seizure of power by armed force–is not only a historic task that demands to be accomplished. It is also an urgent necessity, not only for the working class and the great majority of people in the U.S. itself but for the international proletariat and people of the world. It will constitute a tremendous blow against the imperialist system and reaction everywhere and will mark a tremendous leap toward the liberation of the proletariat and oppressed peoples throughout the world–toward the emancipation of mankind itself from the fetters of capitalism and every form and manifestation of class division in society.
To carry out this first, great step the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, as the vanguard of the proletariat in the United States, must systematically and unceasingly take up the preparation of its own ranks as well as the masses for the eventual development of a revolutionary situation and then resolutely and uncompromisingly lead them in seizing the opportunity to win state power through the armed overthrow of the capitalist state in the U.S. when the conditions do ripen. Create public opinion, seize power–raise the consciousness of the masses and, when through the development of the objective situation and the work of the Party they become convinced of the necessity and possibility of proletarian revolution, organize and lead them in the armed onslaught against the military forces and political institutions of capitalism–this is the basic method through which the preparation for revolution and then the revolutionary overthrow of U.S. imperialism will be realized. It is the central task of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.
Throughout this entire process, and beyond, until the final victory of the proletarian revolution and the attainment of communism–upon which the distinction between the Party and the masses will be eliminated and the Party will cease to exist–the Party must both learn from and lead the working class and its allies through the application of the mass line. This means to take the ideas of the masses and the experience of the class struggle, in the U.S. and internationally, and by applying the science of revolution to them concentrate the essential lessons, distinguishing what is correct from what is incorrect, and then return these concentrated ideas to the masses, propagate them widely and deeply among the masses and unite with the masses to apply them to transform the world through class struggle. This, too, is a continual process which proceeds in an upward spiral, in accordance with the development of the objective situation and the class struggle overall.
To unite the broadest ranks of the working class, together with its allies, both to carry out the armed overthrow of capitalism and to maintain the dictatorship of the proletariat and advance along the socialist road toward the goal of communism, the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA must apply the strategic plan and principle of the united front. This means to unite under its leadership all forces that can be united against the enemy, which requires that the Party consistently direct the main spearhead against that enemy and just as consistently struggle to bring to the forefront the revolutionary outlook and interests of the proletariat and rely first and foremost on the class-conscious proletariat.
In the U.S. the firmest allies of the proletariat are the struggles of the oppressed nationalities in this country against their oppression as peoples. Given the whole history as well as the present-day reality of what is now the United States of America, proletarian revolution is not even conceivable here unless it takes up and carries through as a central and decisive question the fight to abolish every form of oppression and discrimination against these peoples and to uproot every basis for this, material and ideological. The revolutionary unity of the working class movement with the struggles of the oppressed nationalities against their oppression as peoples must and will be forged as the solid core of the broader united front. Such a united front is the strategy for proletarian revolution in the United States.
At the same time, the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, as the political party of the working class in this country, must lead the masses of people in the U.S. to firmly unite with the working class and oppressed peoples and nations of the world in the common struggle against imperialism and reaction, especially where the spearhead of that struggle is directed against U.S. imperialism. Because the working class in the United States is but one division in the army of the international proletariat, because the historic mission of communism can only be achieved through the united and mutually supportive struggle of the workers of all countries, the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA recognizes and is determined to carry out its responsibility to itself uphold and to educate and lead the proletariat and masses in this country according to the basic principles of proletarian internationalism. As Lenin stressed, for the proletariat there is one and only one genuine internationalism: to wage the struggle for revolution in one’s own country while supporting this same struggle in all other countries–and this is of special importance in an imperialist country, particularly one like the U.S. today, which not only oppresses whole nations and hundreds of millions of people around the world but seeks to enlist the proletariat and masses in the U.S. in the filthy cause of maintaining this oppression. The proletariat in the U.S. will never overthrow and defeat the bourgeoisie in this country, it will never make its contribution to the revolutionary cause of the international proletariat, until it breaks completely with the chauvinist “America first” stand, thoroughly renounces patriotic allegiance to U.S. imperialism, and unites wholeheartedly and fights side by side with the proletariat and peoples of the world in the struggle against imperialism and reaction.
As for the question of war, the only war the class-conscious proletariat in the U.S. wants to fight, the war for which the working class and masses in this country are being prepared through the work of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, is a revolutionary civil war to defeat and overthrow the bourgeoisie and the capitalist state and replace bourgeois dictatorship with the dictatorship of the proletariat. On a world scale, the proletariat supports the revolutionary struggles, including armed struggle as the highest form, of the workers and the oppressed peoples and nations against imperialism and reaction; it opposes the wars of plunder of the imperialists and reactionaries and actively seeks their defeat at the hands of the people. The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA will work tirelessly to educate the proletariat and masses in this country to the truth that they have no country to defend, that in a world war with the Soviet Union, while the proletariat has no interests in the victory of either imperialists, it can only welcome the defeats suffered by its own imperialist bourgeoisie–and more, that the proletariat must utilize such defeats and the weakening of the ruling class to prepare for and finally carry out its overthrow when the possibility ripens. Only this is consistent with proletarian internationalism, with the revolutionary interests of the working class and with its struggle to break free of and ultimately bury the capitalist system and all of its evils, including the monstrosity of war.
On the basis of proletarian internationalism, the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA actively seeks to unite with the genuine Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations in other countries and to carry out an ideological struggle on the most fundamental and pressing questions confronting the international proletariat today, in order to achieve the greatest possible clarity and unity first and foremost within the communist movement internationally and also as broadly as possible with other forces struggling against imperialism and reaction. This is a crucial part of both upholding the general principles of proletarian internationalism and of meeting the urgent demands and requirements of the present and developing situation.
Today, the imperialist system is in its greatest crisis. This, as always under such a system, will mean even more intense suffering for the masses of people throughout the world. But it can also mean tremendous opportunities, including the possibility of making revolution in one of the most powerful imperialist countries and bastions of reaction. The proletariat and the communist movement internationally are regrouping–in the wake of a severe, if temporary, setback in China and its repercussions, but also in the situation of profound and intensifying imperialist crisis. Revolutionary waves are rising once more in many parts of the world, pounding more powerfully again at the imperialist system and both of its superpowers. Members of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, who dedicate their lives to the struggle for communism, must rise to the challenge and resolutely advance into and through the storms and stress–achieve the greatest preparation, strike the most decisive blows at our own ruling class, build the firmest unity with the revolutionary struggle of the international proletariat and peoples of the world, and make the greatest contribution possible to the cause of proletarian revolution and communism worldwide.