English

The Though of Workers’ Self-Emancipation

 The Draft Program, adopted at the 25th NC Meeting, is an achievement gained through day-to-day practice of all the comrades of JRCL for the revival of class struggle labor movement. It is also a materialization of the endeavor of JRCL for half a century. Above all, what has finally enabled the formulation of the Draft Program is no doubt a tremendous advance of the efforts for the construction of a workers’ party, largely owing to the struggle of worker members of West Japan.

 The Draft Program is a product of class-based practice and intense discussion of all the party members striving for proletarian world revolution in 21st century.

 JRCL proudly present the Draft Program to the proletariat of the whole world as the Manifesto of Communist Party of today. JRCL calls upon the working class of the world to rise up in unity for the complete overthrowing of capitalist society and for the construction of communist society, a genuine community of human beings. JRCL declares to accomplish unity of revolutionary communists who are devoted in life and death struggle and makes it clear that it is ready to stand on the forefront of the struggle of constructing a single world revolutionary party. The Draft Program is composed of four chapters and 14 articles. In each of them, efforts are made to present fundamentally as well as precisely the essential problems: what is proletarian revolution, how is the self-emancipation of workers is achieved and what is needed for this.

 All these issues are in fact the core problems of Marxism. But it is not a mechanical reproduction of 19th century thought. JRCL as a revolutionary party of the working class, helped by the class struggle labor movement practiced by Doro-Chiba in a square confrontation against capitalism=imperialism, has reached today’s attainment through re-examination of the experiences of the struggles and theoretical works of our predecessors. JRCL claims to be able to present to you “a living Marxism today” attained by its sweat and blood.

 As for the content and detailed explanation and development of the Draft Program, we ask you to refer to the second report to the 25th National Committee Meeting published in the Communist, theoretical review of JRCL, No.162. The following are the essential points of the Draft Program, summarized into four points.

 Firstly, the Draft Program thoroughly revived the thought of self-emancipation of the working class, the most fundamental thought of Marxism. It starts with a sentence, “The emancipation of the working class must be conquered by the workers themselves”. The power of overthrowing capitalist society is in the working class. When workers, who are isolated, divided and are pitted against each other by capitalist rule, get united, they attain a power to cut off chains of wage slavery. Emancipation of the working class means at the same time a universal emancipation of all humankind through abolishing class society and liberating people from all kinds of exploitation, discrimination and oppression. This is the essence of proletarian revolution.

 Stalinism that brought about distortion of the Russian Revolution has long denied this thought of working class self-emancipation. As a result, despise and disbelief of working class has been prevailing and actual workers have been regarded as being powerless to change the society. Our Draft Program has made a decisive break with these false ideas and proclaimed that the working class is the only revolutionary class and has a great historical task.

Secondly, the Draft Program of JRCL has presented once again a strategy of “Proletarian World Revolution against Imperialism, against Stalinism” as only platform of today’s revolution.

 JRCL started its struggle 50 years ago with a clear-cut slogan of “anti-Imperialism as well as anti-Stalinism” through attaining a perception of the counter-revolutionary essence of Stalinism that helped survive imperialism in abandoning world revolution and distorting Marxism. We made it clear that proletarian revolution is carried out as world revolution. At the same time, JRCL had to fight against dogmatized Trotskyism that claimed to “defend workers’ state unconditionally”. And we worked out a clear position against Stalinism that should be overthrown, in other words, the necessity of the second revolution in Stalinist or ex-Stalinist regimes. Thus we established a platform of proletarian world revolution against imperialism and against Stalinism.

 Today, total and historical bankruptcy of Stalinism has been fully exposed by the collapse of the USSR and the East European Stalinist regimes followed by aggravating crisis of surviving Stalinist regimes like China, North Korea and others. But Stalinism has not yet vanished or defeated completely. In face of deepening global economic crisis, remnant Stalinists are making their desperate efforts, together with imperialist, to suppress workers’ rising in fear of revolutionary upsurge of working class. Its typical example is Japan Communist Party. Now it has become urgent to rush for proletarian world revolution on the firm position against Imperialism, against Stalinism.

Revolutionary Role of Labor Union

 Thirdly, the Draft Program has made it clear that proletarian revolution is a violent revolution and that establishment of proletarian dictatorship is the core problem of the revolution.  Working class has to overthrow bourgeois state power and establish its own political power to achieve its own emancipation. It can never be done by the change of the government through parliament. Uprising proletariat completely crushes the exiting state apparatus and replaces it with a totally new type of state, that is, proletarian dictatorship. Under proletarian dictatorship, the working class takes back all the social means of production that were possessed by capitalist class as its private property and organize the whole society anew for the construction of communist society.Outright hostilities against revolution are expressed by those political tendencies that are defending capitalism, such as Rengo, JCP, JSP, Shiokawa-group and etc. JRCL never tolerates Shiokawa-group that went so far as to claim that Leninism was responsible for the emergence of Stalinism. Contrary to these tendencies, our position is to succeed and achieve all the endeavors since the Paris Commune in 1871 and the Russian Revolution in 1917. We are determined to carry out to the end what Lenin and the Bolshevik Party challenged and were forced to stop in halfway.   Fourthly, the Draft Program has elucidated once again the revolutionary role of labor unions in proletarian revolution and decisive significance of debate and struggle over labor union from the fundamental Marxist standpoint. The working class organizes itself into an independent political party to achieve proletarian revolution. Party is a part of the working class, the highest form of class unity and the most trained vanguard of the working class. A victory of revolution is achieved through gaining the whole working class to the side of the revolutionary party, promoting class unity and drawing forth potential power of each worker for its self-emancipation for explosive upsurge. To succeed this task, revolutionary party needs joining force with labor union.Labor union is a weapon of unity of workers to fight against capital. It is the most fundamental form of unity of the working class. Workers need labor union to carry out confrontation with capital day by day against its unrestricted exploitation and to defend themselves and their families. But labor union is necessary for workers not only for daily guerrilla warfare against capital but also for a struggle to overthrow wage slavery and capitalist rule as well. Most decisively, it serves as an organized power of the working class. Combined rule of imperialists and Stalinists has severely undermined the fundamental significance and task of labor unions. Labor unions have long been regarded as organizations to address economic demands of workers in reformist ways. Prevailing “common sense” in labor unions harshly rejected the idea that labor unions should have a link with revolutionary movement. Nowadays, majority of labor unions have ceased to be a weapon of workers to fight against capital and have ended up degrading into an instrument of a handful of labor aristocrats to control workers as agents of capitalists.The major strategic task of the 21st century world revolution is to revive worldwide labor unions as fighting organizations of working class through breaking down the existing situation of labor unions. Doro-Chiba stands at the forefront of this struggle of revitalization of labor unions and numerous militant labor unions of Japan and the rest of the world are joining this movement in participating November Workers’ Rally in Tokyo.As the global economic crisis is aggravating and aggressive war and world war are imminent, a decisive battle is developing now over the hegemony of labor unions and labor movement between revolutionary forces and counter-revolutionary forces. Victory of revolution depends upon this battle. JRCL has perceived the vital importance of this problem around labor unions for proletarian revolution today and formulated it in the Draft Program. We claim it as a historical achievement of our struggle.

Achievement of the Half-Century’s Struggle

The 25th NC Meeting and adoption of the Draft Program is an achievement of the struggle of JRCL for a half-century and is a starting point for a great leap forward.The fifty-years’ struggle of JRCL since its foundation was strenuously devoted to construct a revolutionary workers’ party in place of Socialist Party and Communist Party with the banner of proletarian world revolution against imperialism and against Stalinism. JRCL kept standing at the forefront of the Japanese class struggle highlighted by Ampo (Japan-US Security Treaty) Struggle in 1960, Ampo/Okinawa Struggle in 1970’s, university struggles and Sanrizuka Struggle etc. JRCL fought back political repression by the state power to liquidate revolutionary organizations through determined fight in and outside of the prison and won a definite victory over the white terrorist band Kakumaru in 20 years’ civil-war-like confrontation.

Through the considerable efforts of worker members, JRCL succeeded in overcoming mistakes and distortions within the organization and movement, produced in long-years’ party activities to confront difficulties and adversities. Now we are proud of sharing a common struggle to promote Japanese labor movement together with Doro-Chiba that has been carrying out an unflinching effort for revitalizing class struggle labor movement. Our party construction has entered a new stage with the formulation of the Draft Program coupled with the advance of the new trend of labor movement represented by Doro-Chiba.

JRCL has decided to put an end to the “transition period” of party construction and resolutely declare that it takes upon responsibility as a party of revolutionary communists and as a genuine workers’ party for the victory of proletarian world revolution. We are not afraid that struggle as responsible organizers at the point of production and every other spot will inevitably and mercilessly expose our immaturity and weakness. It gives us, however, a favorable opportunity to confront the reality and to make a great leap forward step by step.

Workers of Japan and the rest of the world, particularly young workers and students! W call upon you to join us under the banner of JRCL and to rise up together for a victory of 21st century revolution, an unprecedented great task! We are the last winner. Fight together!

(2) Revolution today is proletarian world revolution against imperialism and Stalinism.

As defined by Lenin, imperialism is the highest stage of capitalist development, in which inherent contradiction of capitalism is violently aggravated and outbreak of imperialist war and great economic crisis become inevitable. The age of imperialism is an age of proletarian socialist revolution.

The Russian Revolution in 1917 opened up a way for proletarian world revolution through overthrowing imperialism and thrust the whole world into a world-historical transition period from imperialism to socialism. However, Stalinism emerged with the false principle of socialism in one country that is a total destruction and distortion of Marxism and Leninism and brought about a total deformation of the achievement of the Russian Revolution. Through betraying and suppressing the struggle of the international working class for world revolution, Stalinism became a supporting pillar of world imperialist rule and ended up as a gigantic counter-revolutionary force to help survive imperialism. In spite of the historical bankruptcy and collapse of the USSR and East-European Stalinist regimes, Stalinism has not been completely overthrown. China, now one of the economic big powers through acrobatic policy of introducing capitalism, remains in its essence anti-proletarian vestige of Stalinism. Ideologically, Stalinist distortion of socialism and communism has still been playing a harmful role in the class struggle of the world. Especially, Stalinist negation and decomposition of Marxist thought in its core, that is, the thought of self-emancipation of working class, remains the most serious issue today. For accomplishing proletarian revolution, we need to carry out the second revolution of overthrowing Stalinism together with overthrowing imperialism. It is an inevitable task for us to take back genuine Marxism in the hand of working class.

(3) To achieve this goal, the proletariat needs to organize itself into an independent political party (revolutionary workers’ party). Proletarian revolution is not achieved spontaneously through class antagonism but is carried out by conscious efforts of the proletariat who is aware of its own historical task and is determined to overthrow bourgeois rule and to establish workers’ political power.

We fight for an overall overthrowing of capitalist rule of the whole world as a member of an international troop of working class. Our immediate task is to do away with our own bourgeoisie in unity and solidarity with fighting workers of imperialist countries as well as the rest of the world.

[II] Revolutionary situation is ripe

(4) Historical conditions are already ripe for the achievement of proletarian world revolution. The time has come working class finally stage general uprising to overthrow once and for all capitalism=imperialism in its death agony and ultimate catastrophe.

The whole historical development from the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Great Depression in 1929 and World War II till today is characterized by desperate efforts of imperialists for survival through suppressing successive revolutionary uprising of working class by the help of Stalinist betrayal. It ended, however, in aggravating crisis and corruption of capitalism, imperialism, to the extremity.   

State Monopoly Capitalism emerging after World War II was a system for maintaining capitalists rule through absorbing anger of working class by reformist measures. But the economic crisis of 1974-1975 exposed underlying contradictions of its system and put an end to it. The neo-liberal policy launched in 1980’s was presented as a last resort of moribund imperialism. As a result the whole society was subjugated to a ruthless law of jungle and speculative bubble economy flourished upon limitless exploitation of working class. Privatization offensive dismantled public education and medical system, causing devastation and decline of the society as a whole. A huge amount of riches have been concentrated into the hands of a small number of imperialist bourgeois at the sacrifice of working people.

The current global economic crisis is an inevitable consequence of the total failure of the neo-liberal policy and a manifestation of inherent contradiction of imperialism accumulated for the past century. It is evident there is no way of survival for capitalism=imperialism any longer. To prevent a desperate plunge into a large-scale unemployment and war, including nuclear war and to save not only working class but also the whole humanity from marching toward a catastrophe, there is no alternative than to turn world economic crisis into proletarian revolution. It is time to respond to the cries of workers and farmers, “We must live” and carry out revolution.

(5) Everything depends upon whether working class rises up in unity as a single class overcoming division brought about by capital among workers. In developing and forging class unity, a genuine community of human race will be revived after a long history of its deprivation. Working class alone has such a power and ability to achieve this human cause. Real power to change the society lies here.

The development of capitalism, imperialism, has brought forth a tremendous productive forces as a result of pursuing more profit and at the same time produced worldwide proletariat who is grave-diggers of capitalism. When workers of the world unite and rise up for revolution, it is possible to overthrow capitalist society and to launch immediately construction of communist society. Its conditions are ripe. 

[III] The core problems of revolution

(6) Working class needs to take political power from bourgeoisie and to become ruling class for the achievment of proletarian revolution. Proletarian revolution is by nature violent revolution. Working class establishes a new state, that is, proletarian distatorship, through overthrowing the state power of burgeois dictatorship.

Proletarian distatorship is necessary not only for defeating all resistance from the part of burgeoisie completely. It is necessary for acquiring ability to sweep away all the remnant of the old society, abolish class society and establish communist society.

The first task of proletarian distatorship is to violently dismantle huge military and bureaucratic state machinery of bourgeoisie and replace it with a totally different organization based on the armed masses (a Commune-type state, a state preparing its own disparition). Under proletarian dictatorship, working class develops itself into direct organizer of the state power of proletarian dictatorship and forge its ability to reorganize production and to solve all the social problems through united effort. Proletarian distatorship makes efforts to gain and organize farmers and all other working people to the side of workers’ state, abolish antagonism among nations, to overcome division of towns and countries and to create a society in which there is no discrimination or suppression.

This is a way to achieve a communist society based on the hstorical experiences of the Paris Commune in 1871, Russian Revolutions in 1905 and 1917, materialized in Soviet (Council of Workers, Farmers and Soldiers ). 

(7) For the victory of the revolution, construction of a party of working class is decisive. Stalinists deformed Marxism and also distorted workers’ party into a special group standing outside, or even above the actual working class. As the Manifesto of the Communist Party states, the party of proletariat has no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole. It does not set up any sectarian principles of its own, by which to shape and mould the proletarian movement. Working class create a party through its own struggle by its own ability. The party is a political body of communists whose aim is to establish working class power and to achieve communism. The party is, therefore, a part of working class and the highest form of its unity representing its class-consciousness in a sharpest way. It is the most trained and tested vanguard of working class.

Construction of workers’ party is only possible through a struggle that is carried out on the principle of establishing class unity to fight unconciliatoryantagonism against capital. In the present situation, it is carried out in unity with the endeavor of revitalizing militant labor union.

Working class emerges as a political force by creating a party. The party stands at the forefront of the class struggle, represents the interest of not a part of but the entire working class and expresses not only the present but also the future of the movement, pointing out the conditions of social revolution and historical task of proletariat before the eyes of the whole working class. With the party as an important pillar, working class fights and defeats all repressions of capitalist class and the state power, promotes class unity based on labor union and makes all preparations necessary for the victory of armed uprising to take power in a conscious and planned way.

The party is by nature constructed as illegal and clandestine party and as a Marxist party and a single working-class party of the world.

(8) Labor union occupies a vital position and plays an important role in formation of the working class into a revolutionary class. The core of the struggle of reviving Marxism consists in rehabilitating the revolutionary role of labor union.

Labor union is a weapon of workers to fight in unity against capital and the most fundamental form of unity of the working class. First International stated in its resolution, Trades' unions. Their past, present and future, that “If the trade unions are required for the guerilla fights between capital and labor, they are still more important as organized agencies for superseding the very system of wages labor and capital rule”. In other words, labor union is “a school of socialism” (Marx), in which each worker is brought into class unity and trained to be a major character of revolution through daily fight against capital in the point of production helped by the struggle of a party. Through forging unity, the working class acquires a power to take over the control of workplace from the capitalist class and to run the social production on its own. Establishment and expansion of the control of the point of production, workplace to the whole society offers a decisive prerequisite for overthrowing the bourgeois state power and victory of proletarian revolution.

Labor union has a strategic significance as one of the major pillars of proletarian dictatorship together with the party and the soviet and serves as “a school of communism” (Lenin) in paving a way for abolition of class antagonism and for construction of communist society.

Under the rule of imperialism and Stalinism, however, revolutionary role of labor union has long been denied and labor union has been transformed into an instrument of controlling workers by capital under the domination of corporate-fed labor aristocrats and established reformist leadership. It is urgently needed to break up this situation by the rising of rank and file and revive labor unions into their original form. 

[IV] The Task of 21st Century Revolution

(9) Confrontation with the current global economic crisis and war is the urgent task of the working class of the whole world. The major battlefield is a frontal crash of a revolutionary force and a counter-revolutionary force over the hegemony of labor unions and labor movement.

Violent development of world economic crisis inevitably leads to imperialist war. We must be aware, however, that imperialist war is only possible when class unity of workers is devastated and labor unions are transformed into an instrument of mobilization of workers into capitalist war. The historical lessons of World War I and World War II teach us this. A decisive polarization and antagonism is developing within labor unions and labor movement over the grave issue: whether to fight uncompromisingly against imperialist offensive of privatization, war and union busting or to cave in to the enemy attack. At the same time, this development leads to a violent confrontation with all kind of counter-revolutionary forces as well as Fascist movement who are urged to emerge in the battlefield of class struggle in fear of imminent proletarian world revolution. When the working class succeeds in carrying through a determined and unflinching struggle in this decisive historical moment, militant labor union and class struggle unionism will be revitalized and the direct way for the taking power by the working class will certainly be paved.

(10) This struggle comprises a great historical task to take back class unity and international solidarity that have long been trampled by imperialists and Stalinists through bringing in a division among working class into oppressing nations and oppressed nations. Proletarian class unity beyond nations, nationalities and borders enables working people to prevent imperialist war of aggression and world war and to proceed for proletarian world revolution.

(11) For farmers and other layers of working people, it has become now urgent desire and need to overthrow capitalism, imperialism. Proletarian revolution makes it one of its major tasks to offer an ultimate solution to agricultural and farmer problem. At the same time revolutionary uprising of farmers occupies a decisive position for the victory of proletariat. We recognize the enormous significance of worker-farmer alliance in our struggle.

(12) Japanese imperialism is the weakest link in international imperialism. The foundation of Japanese imperialism, a major economic power, is in essence, it’s a fragile structure dependent on US world domination. Fatal elements for Japanese imperialism are firstly the critical structure of the control of workers within the framework of the postwar constitution and secondly the crucial relation with the United States, materialized in Japan-US Security Alliance (“Ampo”) and presented as “Ampo, Okinawa issue”. The current global economic crisis aggravates the critical and crucial problems of Japanese imperialism and inevitably brings them to explosion. We urgently need to perceive the tremendous turmoil created by this crisis of Japanese imperialism and turn it into an excellent opportunity for the victory of Japanese revolution.

Japanese imperialism is precipitated into a deep crisis. It has become, therefore, urgent for Japanese ruling class to establish a system of national mobilization into imperialist war of aggression, to strengthen offensives in serious issues: Ampo and Okinawa problems, revision of the Constitution, privatization, introduction of the Doshusei (Wider Area Local Government System) and union busting. Japanese imperialism is, however, a bankrupt state with grave fiscal failure and its political ruling system is collapsing. We face now the greatest revolutionary situation since the defeat of the postwar revolution. A decisive battle is before us, demanding a vital choice: whether to suffer terrible agony of war, unemployment, exploitation, usurpation, disease, massacre, an so on, or to carry out proletarian revolution to overthrow Japanese imperialism, taking over imperialist state power and pave a way for socialism. What decides the life and death struggle, or war or revolution, is conquest of hegemony by working class over labor union and labor movement.

The last resort of imperialist counter-revolutionary forces is the Emperor System (Ten-no System) as the political rule of capitalist, or class rule, faces catastrophic disintegration. Working class is determined to sweep away all forms of the Emperor System once and for all as one of the essential tasks of proletarian revolution.

(13) The victory of Japanese revolution is achieved through solidarity with the Korean proletariat who are struggling for revolutionary unification of Korean Peninsular by breaking down the division into North and South and solidarity with the Chinese proletariat who aims at overthrowing Chinese Stalinism. Combined with the historical upsurge of the US working class fighting at the heart of world imperialism, this victory will prepare a way for the victory of proletarian world revolution, turning the current global economic crisis into an excellent opportunity for us.

(14) Our fundamental spirit is expressed by Marx and Engels at the end of the Manifesto of the Communist Party:

The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.

Working Men of All Countries, Unite!