“Capitalism cannot reform itself; it is doomed to self-destruction.
No universal selfishness can bring social good to all.”
—Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois African American scholar, activist and Communist
CAPITALISM
What do you call a system that promotes selfishness, exploitation, racism and police brutality, sexism, and homophobia? A system that wages unjust wars for profit, that robs young people of jobs and education, devastates our communities with drugs and poverty and destroys our environment?
What do you call a system that puts people out on the streets, lets children go hungry and leaves the sick and elderly without care? A system that allows a small minority to become obscenely wealthy and powerful, while the majority of people live in poverty and powerlessness?
Do you call it inhumane? Unjust? Crazy? You can call it that, or you can just call it capitalism.
Most young people think there’s something wrong with “the system.” There is. What’s wrong is the system of capitalism itself. Under capitalism, the wealth produced by working people goes into the pockets of a small minority—the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
SOCIALISM
What do you call a system that promotes community, economic justice and equality, peace among nations, and outlaws racism, sexism, and homophobia?
What do you call a system that houses the homeless, feeds the hungry, takes care of the sick and elderly, rebuilds our cities and schools, provides jobs and education to all and puts the power of the government into the hands of the multi-racial working class?
Do you call it humane? Just? Rational? You can call it that, or you can just call it socialism.
We can build a system where the wealth produced by the people is owned by the people and services the people. That system is called socialism.
WHO WE ARE
The Young Communist League, USA is a multi-racial, working-class organization made up of youth who believe we can build a better world. We come from a variety of backgrounds, just like the young people of our country: we are employed and unemployed workers, we are high school and college students, we are Black, white, Latino, Asian, and Native American, we are gay and straight, we are women and men.
We struggle together for a socialist USA, for jobs for youth, against racism and oppression, for peace, for women’s rights, for the right to an education for all, and more. We struggle for immediate reforms and at the same time we fight for a more fundamental revolution.
The ruling class has always tried to “divide and conquer.” As communists, we understand that the real enemy is not each other—it’s capitalism.
The capitalist class exploits working people and promotes division and confusion. The enemy is not unions, it is not immigrants, nor any other scapegoat. It’s the corporations and banks that close factories, cut wages and benefits, and force people, especially youth, to work for minimum and sub-minimum wages or join the military in order to get an education or an income.
The enemy is not overseas. It is not the people of Iraq, Cuba, Venezuela, or China. The enemy is the ruling class right here at home. The ruling class profits from imperialist military interventions, while the sons and daughters of the workers of each country do all of the killing and the dying.
TIME FOR SOME ACTION!
The YCL knows how to fight. We are out in the streets marching, protesting and knocking on doors. We are working in our communities and building winning coalitions. We know that young people need to be united with the working class and the labor movement, and with the movements for racial and gender equality.
The YCL is a school of struggle, where we organize and educate each other to fight for our rights, to understand our world and how to change it. The YCL has solutions. The capitalists say that our solutions won’t work, but that’s because they bene•t from the existing arrangement of our world.
It is possible to solve the crisis facing young people. Together, we can:
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Provide free, quality education and good jobs to all.
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Outlaw racism, sexism and homophobia and promote understanding and peace.
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Rebuild our communities. Provide recreation, sports and cultural opportunities for all.
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End the drug and violence epidemic that is destroying our generation.
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Tax the super-rich and corporations and shift the military’s massive budget to social programs that benefit the people.
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End all wars and acts of aggression. Build peace and international solidarity!
We struggle for socialism because it offers young people a future. Under capitalism it is possible to win small victories, but only under socialism will they be lasting. Socialism has real solutions to the problems of capitalism. But it won’t come by itself. It will come through the struggles of the people and those who consciously work for it.
The united strength of working people of all races, of women and men, of gays and lesbians, of seniors, of youth and students, can solve the crisis of capitalism. It’s time for some action!
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