If 2020 exposed the horrors of capitalism for all to see, then 2021 proved the ruling class’s inability to solve any of the problems that capitalism has caused. The COVID-19 pandemic drags on with the more contagious Omicron variant, which the capitalists allowed to develop by trying to squeeze profits out of vaccines instead of making them available around the world. Fires and floods devastated entire towns, but bourgeois governments refuse to act for fear of threatening the interests of their capitalist friends. Justin Trudeau will shed tears over the discovery of the mass graves of Indigenous children, while the Canadian state continues to preside over the oppression of Indigenous peoples. And as the cost of living rises to levels unmanageable for working people, the bosses and bankers continue to rake in millions in profit.
In the midst of all of this, there is still cause for optimism. From this fall’s historic strike wave in the United States to the heroic victory of the farmers’ protests in India, workers around the world are fighting back against capitalist oppression and exploitation. Canada is not immune to this process; indeed, more Canadians oppose capitalism than support it. And more than ever, Canadians are looking for the ideas that will lead us out of this capitalist nightmare.
The growth of Fightback/La Riposte socialiste is evidence enough of this. In February, more than 1,150 people attended our annual Marxist Winter School to learn about and discuss the lessons of past and current struggles.
Fightback activists put these lessons into practice throughout the year. In the unionization of Ripley’s Aquarium workers and the fight for stronger health and safety measures of WoodGreen workers, our comrades played a leading role. When Molson brewery workers were locked out in Toronto and when dock workers went on strike in Montreal, our comrades led solidarity efforts to let the workers know that they were not alone in their struggle. On May 1, Fightback played a pivotal role in organizing what was the largest anti-capitalist online International Workers’ Day rally in Canada, organized under the demands: No Bailouts for the Bosses, Nationalize the Pandemic Profiteers!; Fight Capitalism—Fight for Socialism! and Workers of the World and Oppressed Peoples Unite! And in September, the comrades of La Riposte socialiste led the second annual anti-capitalist Labour Day in Montreal, aimed against the anti-worker CAQ government.
Of course the struggles of the working class extend beyond the workplace and into the political arena. They involve not just fights for better pay and working conditions, but fights against oppression as well. Over the past year, Fightback spearheaded a number of initiatives, including the Ontario Coalition Against Ford campaign for mass work refusals for paid sick days, the Labour Against Moss Park Evictions to defend homeless encampments against the police, and the Say No campaign to speak out against the far-right Indigenous genocide denial.
We would not have been able to do any of this without a firm grounding in revolutionary theory. So it is fitting that we capped off the year by celebrating our paper moving from a monthly to a fortnightly publication. These were very successful events that demonstrate once again the growing enthusiasm for Marxist ideas. However, in spite of our growth over the past year, we are not yet big enough to reach everyone who is looking for a solution to the problems of capitalism. We need your help to get there. If you support revolutionary organizing, get a subscription to Fightback and help us build, so we can end the misery of capitalism once and for all.
