Surprise, surprise: the bourgeois media lies. On August 20th, the Dallas Express published an article by Logan Washburn about our comrades at the University of North Texas. In the article, Mr. Washburn says that our organization “appears to be promoting violence against the wealthy.” Pictured as proof is our sticker of Luigi Mangione with the words “Expropriate the Billionaires.” He also cites the erroneous figure from Victims of Communism “Communism has killed more than 100 million people.”

In good faith to Mr. Washburn, we sent this statement to correct both mistakes:

Hi Logan, today you posted an article regarding the political work of the “UNT Marxist cell”, affiliated with the RCA. We feel there were a number of inaccuracies in your reporting and we would appreciate it if you would print our reply.

 

Neither the UNT Marxists, nor the Revolutionary Communists of America, promote violence. Our poster is a contrast. It states “Expropriate the billionaires”, which can only be done by the establishment of a workers’ government. A workers’ government would mean that the working class would create its own political party and this would need to win over the majority of the workers. This is in sharp contrast with single individuals who try to look for “political shortcuts.” That is the contrast that is depicted in the poster. We believe that people need to engage in collective action – party building, union organizing, mass protests – these are the methods that will eventually change society.

 

Your article then quotes “Victims of Communism” and puts forward false allegations. World Wars I and II combined killed more than 76 million people. These were inter-imperialist wars, caused by capitalism. The Soviet Union alone lost more than 20 million people in World War II, invaded by German Imperialism.

 

In addition to this, how many deaths in the Mexican-American War? How many in the Spanish-American War and the war by the US against the Philippines? How many were killed in Korea and Vietnam by the US capitalist class? How many people died in the North American slave trade, that the capitalists slave traders ran? How many Native Americans were killed as capitalism moved westward? It is capitalism that has killed millions of people and the working class can end this violence by bringing that stage of history to an end. This is what the UNT Marxists and the RCA are working to achieve.

What did Mr. Washburn publish? Only a third of the statement:

Neither the UNT Marxists, nor the Revolutionary Communists of America, promote violence. Our poster is a contrast. It states “Expropriate the billionaires”, which can only be done by the establishment of a workers’ government. A workers’ government would mean that the working class would create its own political party and this would need to win over the majority of the workers. This is in sharp contrast with single individuals who try to look for ‘political shortcuts.’ That is the contrast that is depicted in the poster. We believe that people need to engage in collective action – party building, union organizing, mass protests – these are the methods that will eventually change society.

Although disappointing, this kind of shoddy reporting is to be expected. These days, it is rare for even the big bourgeois papers to report the truth, so it should not surprise us that a third-rate, local reactionary rag does not meet basic journalistic standards.

The bourgeois press’s refusal to report the crimes of capitalism globally and especially of US imperialism will not prevent young people from questioning the system’s legitimacy. Regardless of what is reported in the media, people see the truth in front of them. In fact, the media’s distortions, omissions, and outright lies have only led to its own discrediting. Trust in mainstream media has been on a steady decline for decades, with only 26% of people under 30 saying they trust in mass media greatly or a fair amount.

As for the “victims of communism,” the “100 million dead” figure has long been debunked, even by the authors of the work that coined it. Just to show the absurdity of this figure,  Hitler’s Waffen SS and the Nazis killed while invading the USSR are counted among the so-called “victims of communism”.

Pointless Distortions

To top it off, Mr. Washburn then went for a final, pointless distortion when he said: “The identity of the individual representing RCA refused to identify themselves.”

Here is the word-by-word exchange:

Washburn: Thank you very much for reaching out! We’d be happy to update the article with your response. Is there a specific individual to whom I can attribute this comment?

 

RCA: No specific individual, just from the organization is fine. Thank you!

 

Washburn: Understood. Thank you too!

Evidently it wasn’t understood. No one refused to “identify themselves.” We were communicating the collective perspective of the organization.

Mr. Washburn also mentioned, seemingly innocently, the location of our next public event in his article. But then, he tagged reactionary doxxers Andy Ngo and Chris Rufo, who have rabid fanbases. This will not deter us from connecting with the American youth and workers who hate capitalism. We will continue to hold our events and public meetings regardless.

Defending the status-Quo

Mr. Washburn thinks it is wrong to tell young people that they can fight against the system that constantly drills them with: “shut up, get to work, put your head down, and grind your life away for our profits.” We are described as “extreme” for opposing this.

Throughout history, revolutionaries have been tarred with the label “extremist” by defenders of the status-quo. The first American revolutionaries who fought against the British Crown were described as “extreme.” So were the abolitionists during the 19th century.

Today, the richest 1% of Americans have as much wealth as the bottom 90%. The ten richest Americans increase their wealth by $100 million dollars every single day. It would take the average worker three million years to amass Elon Musk’s net worth. The standard of living of Americans is rapidly declining; today, the essentials of life are far more expensive than 10 years ago, while wages have fallen or stagnated.

By the way, Mr. Washburn, the system that you defend makes 25,000 people die of starvation every day. It kills millions more at home by slashing funds from the most basic social services. It sends this money robbed from working people and uses it to bankroll bloodshed, wars, and famines overseas. This sounds fairly “extreme” to us.

More and more Americans are beginning to question the legitimacy of this putrid system. Statistics collected by capitalist insitutions themselves, such as the Cato Institute, show that Washburn’s defense of the status quo is increasingly coming into conflict with what most young Americans think: Only 15% of young people say the country is heading in the right direction. 62% of Americans under 30 now say they have a favorable view of socialism. 34% have a favorable view of communism. If this is what is “extreme” then a huge section of the American working class is “extreme.”

The tide is shifting

Why are Mr. Washburn and so many other journalists so hostile towards our organization?  The simple answer is that they are afraid. Millions of young people in America have recognized the failure of capitalism to deliver a dignified life and they want to see a better future. This is the layer that we find everyday at schools, work and out in the streets. As our quoted report says: In just two hours, 18 members of the RCA found 90 people that wanted to organize against capitalism.

Young workers, especially Gen Z, want a revolution. They correctly understand that there is no future under capitalism, and they are attracted to ideas that speak the truth about the way the world is. The fact that we are finding a ready audience among young Americans makes and will keep making these reactionary journalists terribly uneasy.