THREE THE COMMUNIST Program of the Communist Party of America mo.
com.
ADOPTED BY THE THIRD CONVENTION, February, 1921 Capitalist society is distinguished from all burden, millions of proletarians and peasants the proletariat into an indepenedent Polrical previous forms of society by the production of in Africa, Australasia, Asia, and the Americas, party, which opposes all the bourgeois parties, commodities on the basis of capital; the private met each other in mortal combat over the divi. including the opportunist socialist parties; leads ownership of the means of production and ex sion of the spoils. Thus the imperialist world the workers in the class struggle; reveals to change by a small group in society, the bour war originated.
them the irreconcilable ditterence of interest geoisie; the reduction of the great majority of This world war marks new epoch. the between the exploiters and the expolted, and the people to the status of proletarians and epoch of the collapse of capitalism and the explains the historio significance and the essen.
semi proletarians, e. the working class, who beginning of the proletarian revolution. As tial conditions of the approaching social revolu.
are compelled to sell their labor power to the imperialism breaks down, uprisings among the tion. The Communist Party of America, the OWRors of the machinery of production, to be.
exploited masses in the colonies and in the revolutionary vanguard of the proletariat, callg come wage sirves and to create by their labor, small dependent nations take place. The dis upon the toiling and exploited masses who profits for the ruling and upper classes of so integration of the imperialist armies; the un. accept its principles and tactics, to join its ciety.
masking of the ruling class, exposing their in. ranks.
The development of machinery, means of com capacity to longer direct the destiny of the The Communist Party of America, Section of munication and technique, during the last cen world working masses; armed insurrection of the Communist International, defines the aims tury, led to the extension of the capitalist the proletariat resulting in victorious revolution and processes of the proletarian revolution in system of production throughout the entira as in Russia. this is the present status of America, as follows: world, and to the formation of large industrial conditions throughout the world, enterprises, which expropriated the small inde. Humanity, Its civilization now in ruins, is The Dictatorship of the Proletariat pendent manufacturers, some of whom were threatened with complete annihilation. There and Bourgeois Democracy. reduced to the position of proletarians while is only one power that can save it. This power Between capitalist and Communist society the status of their wholo class, the petit bour is the proletariat, The old capitalist order is there lies a period of revolutionary transforgeoisie in social, political and economic life decaying; it can prevall no longer. The final mation from the former to the latter. state was reduced to impotency.
result of the capitalist system of production of political transition corresponds to this period, The technical development and the increasing is chaos, and only the great producing class, and the state during this period can be no use of machinery in production and distribution, the working class, can bring order out of this other than the revolutionary dictatorship of the led to the division and subdivison of labor; the chaos.
To accomplish this the working class proletariat. Marx. use of woman and chld labor; the substitution must destroy the capitalist state, root and Bourgeois republics, even the most democratic, of unskilled and semi skilled workers for the branch, and by establishing the dictatorship of and sanctioning such watchwords as: will of craftsmen and artizans. The relative decrease the proletariat, based upon Soviet power, make the people. unity of the nation. public in the demand for human labor on the part of capitalist counter revolution and imperialist war opinion. no class privilege. equality before the capitalists creates a condition wherein the impossible; wipe out the boundary lines of the law. etc. etc. remain in fact, due to the the supply of labor exceeds the demand; in states, and realize the brotherhood of man and existence of private property in land and the creases the dependence of labor on capital; and the liberation of all peoples in the Communist machinery of production, the dictatorship of intensifies the degree of exploitation.
Society the bourgeoisie and an instrument for the exThis state of affairs within the nation, together Against the world revolution imperialism arms ploitation and suppression of the broad masses with the continual sharpening of rivalry in the itself for the final conflict. Under the guise of of the workers by a small group of capitalists.
world market, makes the sale of goods, the pro he League of Nations it is making a last des Contrary to this, the proletarian or Soviet state duction of which continually increases, more and perate effort to bolster up the remnants of the transforms all purely working class organizations, more din cult. Overproduction is the inevitable capitalist system, and directs all its power the organizations of the proletariat and the semi.
outcome of the development of productive power against the evergrowing proletarian revolution, proletariat, comprising the vast majorty of the in capitalist society. As a result of overproduc In answer to this huge conspiracy of collapsing population, into a single and permanent basis tion, industrial crises occur whcih are followed capitalism the proletariat must conquer political of state apparatus, both local and national by more or less lasting periods of stagnation. power and direct it against its class enemies The proletarian revolution comes at the Crises and periods of industrial stagnation ruin setting in motion all the forces of social revo ment of economic or political crisis. the colthe small manufacturers still more, increase the lution.
lapse of the capitalist order. During the revoludependence of wage labor upon capital, and lead To attain the victory of the proletarian world tion and under the impulse of the economic more quickly to a relative and sometimes to revolution, the fullest confidence, the closest chaos, the proletariat organizes separate organs an absolute deterioration of the conditions of unity and Co.
is ecessary. These of working class power, Workers Soviets the working class.
conditions cannot be realized without a (Councils. and by the use of force conquers The perfection of machinery is made com plete break with, and bitter opposition to the political power, destroys the machinery of the pulsory for each manufacturer and is compli bourgeois perversion of socjalism which domi bourgeois state, and establishes the proletarian laborers mented by the constant displacement dictatorship.
nates the official social democratic and socialist the industrial reserve army On the other parties.
The proletarian state, like every state, 18 hand the unlimited extension of production is One form of this perversion is the current an organ of suppression and coercion, but its On also compulsory for every manufacturer, of opportunism and social chauvinism, socialist machinery, is directed against the enemies of both sides: tremendous development of proin name but chauvinist in fact, disgulbing the the working class. Its aim is to break the defense of the iniorupts of the bourgeoisle dasvatute teelsledco ui te ne ductive forces; excess of supply over demand; under the false watch words of the defense of all the power at their command to drown the overproduction, glutting of the markets; recur.
revolution in Dlood; Its aim is to make this ring crises; vicious circle.
the fatherland, particularly during the imperial.
Excess, on one 1st world war of 1914 1918.
hand, of means of production and products, and This current of resistance impossible. The proletarian dictator.
on the other hand, of laborers, without employ.
opportunism is due to the opportunities created ship which openly places the working class in by the robbery of colonial and weak nations a privileged positon in society, is on the other ment and without means of existence. But these by imperialist capitalist states, The two levers of production and social well being superhand a provisional institution. When the resistprofits acquired by this exploitation by the ance of the bourgeoisie is broken; when it is are unable to work together, because the capi.
bourgeoisie enables them to bribe the leaders expropriated and gradually absorbed into the talist form of production prevents the productive of the working class and to place the upper labor strata, all classes vanish, the proletarian forces from working and the products from strata of the workers in a privileged position dictatorship disappears; the state dies out.
circulatieg, unless they are first turned into by guaranteeing to them in time of peace a, The bourgeois parliamentary state is the capital, which their very superabundance pretolerable existence and by taking their leaders organ of the bourgeoisie for the suppression vents. The mode of production rebels against and coercion of the working masses. Parliainto the service of the bourgeoisie.
the form of exchange. The bourgeoisie stand The opportunists and the social chauvinists mentary government is the expression of bourconvicted of incapacity to further manage their are the servants of the bourgeoisie and the geois supremacy: the form of authority of the own social productive forces.
direct enemies of the proletariat, especially now, capitalist class over the working class. BourAs all these contradictions which are inherent when together with the capitalists they are supgeois democracy is nothing but the concealed in bourgeois society grow and develop, the dispressing the revolutionary movement of their dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. Bourgeois content of the exploited masses with the existing own and other countries.
democracy, with its parliamentary system, de.
state of things grows also; the number and The other form is the socalled centre.
frauds the masses of participation in the adsolidarity of the proletariat increases and the which is also a bourgeois perversion of social.
ministration of the state. The masses, and their struggle with their exploiters becomes keener.
Ism. This current is observed in equal degrees organizations are actually deprived of real state at the same time, as a result of the development administration.
in all capitalist countries, and It fluctuates of technique, the means of production are con.
between the social chauvinists and the communIn the Workers Government the proletarian centrated into fewer and fewer hands, and the dictatorship in the form of Soviet power the ists. The centriste, no longer able to revive process of labor becoming more collective, rap.
the Second International, which has now become organization of the masses dominate and through 1dly creates the conditions for the bringing about a stinking carrion, attempt to preserve unity them the masses hemselves administer. Bourof Bocial revolution which provides the opwith the opportunists and social chauvinists geois democracy and the parliamentary system portunity for replacing the capitalist system by by striving to organize a spurious international separate the masses from the capitalist state the communist society which is the final aim by the of their own.
division of legislative and executive of the Communist Party of America, Capitalism The Communist International alone conducts power, and by the toleration of unrecallable tends to overcome the social anarchy in promandates, the struggle of the proletariat for its emanciIn the Soviet Government, on the duction within each nation by the more com.
contrary, the merging of the legislative and pation, and the Communist Party of America plete organization of production, distribution and 18 its American section. The Communist Interexecutive functions, the right of recall, tho exchange. Instead of numerous rival employers, national was in fact created when the real operation of the Soviets as active state appamighty corporations are formed (syndicates, ratus, unite the masses with the administrative proletarian elements of former socialist parties trusts, etc. Financial capital is combined with in the different countries formed Communist organs. This unity is also promoted by the industrial capital.
The whole economic strucfact that under the Soviet government the Parties; and it was formally established in ture is ruled by the financial oligarchy, which, March, 1919, at its first world congress at Moselections themselves are conducted, not in conbecause of its superior form of organization, The Communist International, which is formity with artificial territorial demarkations but in accordance with industrial units. The becomes the dominant ruling power of the namore and more gaining the sympathy and supTho tlon. Monopoly supplants free competition, proletarian dictatorship, in the form port of the proletariat of all countries, not of the individual capitalist becomes the corporation Soviet Government, thus realizes true proletarian alone in words but in deeds, by its political democracy, the democracy for and, of capitalist. The anarchy of competition 18 re content and ideology restores Marxism and the working class and placed by organized capital, within each nation, realizes the revolutionary teachings of Marx, against the boureoisie.
Was As competitive capitalist production now relieved from all bourgeois and opportunist The proletarian revolution 18 a lengthy process which begins with the destruction of the superceded by capitalist organization in each perversions capitalist state and the establishment of the nation, the contradictions, the internatioal com The social revolution, replacing private proDetitive conflicts, the anarchy of world production perty by social production and exchange, and dictatorship of the proletariat, and ends only and exchange became more acute. The compe with the transformation of the capitalist system Introducing the systematic organization of pro.
into the Communist Society.
tition between the highly organized imperialist duction to secure the welfare of all members states and groups of states led directly to the of society, will abolish the division into classes world war of 1914 1919. The greed for profit and liberate oppressed humanity, and put an Political Action compelled and continues to compel the capital.
end to all expoitation of one part of society Every class struggle is a political struggle.
1st raperialist national groups to fight among by another.
The necessary condition for a social revoluThe object of this struggle, which inevitably therselves for new markets, new fields for the develops into civil war, 18 the conquest of tion is the dictatorship of the proetariat, which Investment of capital, new sources of raw matepolitical power. However, this power cannot rials for their industries, and for the cheap means that the proletariat must seize political power to enable it to crush the resistance of be acquired, organized and directed, otherwise labor power of the colonial peoples.
the capitaliste. The Communist Party of Amethan by means of a political party. Only when The imperialist states, which had already rica aims to make the proletariat capable of the workers have as their leader an organized divided among themselves the territory of the fulfiling its great historic mission; it organizes and experienced political party, with strictly entire world, and had reduced to beasts of defined objects, and practically drawn up cow,