by The Editorial Board
It is International Workers Day, a day on which the red flag is raised high above the world’s people in a combative celebration of our class, a proclamation of its greatest ambitions: to conquer the world and free its people! International Workers Day was built for fighting back and for this reason last year we initiated our newspaper.
One year ago today The Worker wrote “This first issue of The Worker is an advanced agent of the resumption of The Daily Worker.” Conditions across the US and the world have entered a more revolutionary climate than at the time of our first issue and The Worker strives steadily alongside the growing people’s movements to proclaim the cause of the working class. The working class, unlike any other revolutionary class in history, does not represent the interests of an exploiting minority, but of the vast majority of the world’s people. The Worker is directed and edited by blue collar workers and relies heavily on the best allies of the working class: students and intellectual laborers. We are a small volunteer organization free of corporate money and influence—no one but our class determines what we can say and from whose perspective we say it. In order to reach our goal of becoming a daily newspaper and the central source of information specifically for our class, we need your help and participation.
In the year since our initiation, we have reported on the deepening crisis of the imperialist system which has been felt in economic crisis all over the world. The Worker has provided news reports and analysis on the waves of increased labor activity, and on the major events which are shaping our decade—the Palestinian resistance and its worldwide solidarity movement. Such articles have gained contacts and served as the basic material for study groups scattered around the country, allowing us to receive feedback and answer questions, all of which improves our work. More importantly, The Worker has seen some success in circulation in the workplace and on campuses and has received support, helping us in furtherance of our goals.
What confirms the need for a working class newspaper like the one we set out to establish a year ago and continue to fight for today? The cycle of imperialist crises which itself is confirmed by the growing people’s movements, most gloriously exemplified by the heroic student movement which has more and more placed itself on an anti-imperialist footing and which survives escalation of repressive state attacks; these attacks do nothing but sharpen the critique represented by the students. What began as a denunciation of inhuman acts is developing to be a condemnation of the inhuman system—it is shaping the views of a new generation of active participants in the transformation of society.
Likewise, the crisis of imperialism is reflected in the most scandalous and farcical election year in US history. The elections and the repression of the brightest and youngest minds in the country represent simultaneous attacks on democratic rights and indicate the overall decomposition of capitalist democracy, indicating that the propertied class is no longer fit to rule. It is becoming more and more evident that the people cannot accept living in the old way and that the rulers cannot maintain their rule effectively in the old way either. What is needed is a sewing together of the progressive and revolutionary elements of society.
The numerous revolutionary and truly progressive circles which exist in the US are not yet linked up. Amateurishness, individualist and narrow outlooks that cause damage to the people’s movements, along with ideological confusion and disorganization are the main features of the US left and there is no one to whom this does not apply. Only striving to accomplish a newspaper based on the most advanced scientific ideology of the working class can begin to overcome such conditions, to link up the best and most revolutionary circles with the most revolutionary and class conscious workers, forging and consolidating ideological unity. We have made a small start; it is only with accomplishing greater unity that the next leap will be accomplished.
In the coming year we hope to improve the readability of our articles for common workers, expanding our appeal to the masses. This means less phrase-mongering, followed by a more expansive viewpoint. We aim high to diversify media to include not only the printed and digital word, but audio and video media as well, with increased production of shorter articles on the most important topics affecting the working class. We intend to expand our workers’ study groups, cultural events, and presentations with the inclusions of those whose views do not align entirely with our own, placing solidarity and democratic camaraderie in its rightful place.
It is certain that in the long process of worsening conditions in production and life that our class will rise in ever greater numbers in the struggle alongside the best of the other mistreated classes in US society, entering an era of unrest and rebellion. We aim to bring scientific analysis and better organization to the struggles ahead and to greet these struggles with optimism and enthusiasm.
May 1, 2024
The Worker
