New readers start here - The Red Menace

Rioting in Miami, fiddling the dole, strikes in Poland, hating your boss- these are all expressions of the class struggle. The basis of this struggle is the fact that capitalism, which exists in every country on the planet, can only continue to exist at the expense of the needs of the overwhelming majority of the world’s population: the proletariat. By proletariat we don’t just mean workers with jobs; we also prisoners, domestic labourers (e.g. housewives), the unemployed, uprooted ex-peasants etc.

The struggles of our class against poverty, repression, deteriorating working conditions etc. are all that is blocking the efforts of our rulers to impose more of these things. And crucially it is through the spreading and linking up of these struggles that the possibility emerges of a worldwide revolution that will bury capitalism (wage labour, buying and selling, the state etc.) and replace it with communism - a world human community where things will be produced for need not profit.

In the pages of ‘The Red Menace’ (and of course within the struggles we are personally involved in) we want to contribute to this communist movement by encouraging such things as the co-ordination of different struggles and the self-organisation of our class outside of the control of unions and political parties (including the so-called 'revolutionary’ parties).

We are not the only people with such a perspective, and in producing "The Red Menace" we hope to increase communication, discussion, the spread of information and generally stimulate joint activity between all those genuinely fighting against this world.

We don’t want people to just read "The Red Menace". We want to encourage them to make their own contribution to some of the tasks outlined above. If you are involved in any struggles, we would like to hear your accounts of them. Please send us any leaflets, pamphlets, magazines etc. you produce. If you wish to receive "The Red Menace" regularly (we hope to bring it out on a monthly basis) drop us a line. Better still take a bundle to distribute to your friends, workmates, on picket lines, demos and so on. As RM is a free newsletter, we are relying on DONATIONS!

From The Red Menace, number one, February 1989. Taken from the Practical History website.