The Central Committee of the RCA met in New York City last month, with 53 CC members and invited guests. As the elected national leadership of the party, the CC is tasked with politically guiding the Party between meetings of the National Congress. 

We held discussions on US Perspectives, the Cuban Revolution, the Marxist view on the DSA, and building strongholds of the RCA.

John Peterson of the RCA Executive Committee led off on US Perspectives, which we have published as “US Imperialism’s Insoluble Contradictions.” All comrades should read this important and timely update on the decline of US imperialism.

Below we summarize some of the main political conclusions from this meeting of the CC.

1. The insoluble contradictions of American imperialism are reaching a tipping point

The US is facing a strategic defeat in over 200 years in Iran, as NATO stares into the abyss in Ukraine. US public debt is over $40 trillion, and inflation and unemployment are on the rise. Every move the ruling class makes only paves the way for further instability.

The days of unchallenged American hegemony are over, but the US imperialists aren’t willing to accept it. The emerging “multipolar world” will be even more tumultuous than the recent period, as multiple powers vie for a piece of the limited world-market pie and use all manner of economic and military warfare to battle it out.

It is vital that all comrades of the RCA grasp the historical significance of the period we are living through. As the article explains:

Given the fast and furious flow of events, it’s easy to get dragged into the weeds. Our task as Marxists is to focus on the fundamentals … we should strive for a “long zoom” approach, never forgetting that everything is interrelated—from the AI bubble to Israel’s genocide, the Gulf States, Iran, China, the Ukraine war, BRICS, the debt crisis, midterms, and the resurgence of the DSA. However, not all elements in the big-picture equation carry equal weight. We must learn to differentiate the essential from the anecdotal, while recognizing that the anecdotal can often express far deeper necessity than raw facts and figures …

 

To put everything into its proper context, we need to identify the gravitational center of the phenomena we’re dealing with. When it comes to US perspectives, it is not merely a question of the accelerating decline of American capitalism and its foreign-policy extension; it is the dizzying decline of the postwar, post-Soviet, “rules-based international order,” with the US at its epicenter.

2. This crisis is having profound impacts on working-class consciousness

The capitalists are determined to make the working class pay for their crisis in one way or another: cuts to social spending, real wages, and benefits; layoffs; increased intensity of work; reduction in safety standards; and more are becoming regular parts of life for millions of Americans.

This pressure is making huge impacts on working-class consciousness, as many are beginning to correctly associate the entire political establishment with the hardships they are facing.

As the article lays out:

Inevitably, all of this is transforming the consciousness of Americans of all classes. On the country’s 250th anniversary, just 33% of US adults say they are “extremely proud” to be an American, down eight points from last year.

 

25 years ago, after the attacks on September 11, it was more than double that. It’s easy to feel American pride when you feel like a victim and appear to be kicking ass. These days, the US is victimizing the world and is getting its ass kicked.

 

Incredibly, 28% of Americans say the government/Congress/politicians are the biggest problem facing the country—more than double the numbers for immigration, the economy, or inflation. The beginnings of an awakening class consciousness can be discerned in that figure …

 

The youth are sick of alienation and poverty when social media shows them a world awash with wealth and the potential for even more. The mood on the campuses this fall is seething with discontent and an unprecedented eagerness to get organized with the RCA.

 

Among the allegedly “apathetic” and “apolitical” youth, a distinct working-class consciousness is emerging. But this transformation is not limited to the youngest cohorts of workers. According to Pew Research: “Working-class identification has ticked up from a few years ago: In 2024, 54% of Americans said the term described them well, and 60% do so today.”

Sick of the status quo, young people are increasingly turning toward socialism and communism as alternatives to capitalism. Comrades from across the country reported that this mood is evident on college campuses. In city after city, young people are enthusiastically signing up to join the RCA and fight for revolution.

This anger can only stay below the surface for so long. Eventually, big class battles will explode to the surface in one way or another.

3. The only way forward for humanity is a worldwide socialist revolution

Only a nationalized, rationally planned economy in the hands of the working class can put an end to poverty, wars, and climate crises.

The incredible achievements of the Cuban Revolution show us just a glimpse of how a planned economy could transform the lives of billions globally. After nationalizing the large industries, banks, and agriculture, the Cuban workers’ state was able to provide housing, healthcare, education, and affordable food and utilities to all.

This was achieved on a tiny island that has faced decades of economic, political, and military strangulation by US imperialism.

A communist America, founded as a healthy workers’ state, could use the US’s vast resources to provide all of this and much, much more. And when combined with the rest of humanity’s resources as part of a world socialist federation, a new era in human history will open up.

As things stand right now, the Cuban Revolution is in its most dire state in 67 years. The fundamental problem the Cuban Revolution faces is its international isolation. Socialism cannot be built in one country, much less a small island. A successful revolution in the US and across Latin America would entirely transform the situation, providing a lifeline to Cuba and raising living standards across the Americas.

This is why we are building sections of the Revolutionary Communist International across the world. The inspiring history of the Cuban Revolution can be read here.

4. The working class requires militant, class-independent leadership

History has shown that the quality of the working class’s leadership will determine the ultimate outcome of the coming class battles. Without a Marxist leadership to guide it, even the most determined and heroic revolutionary movements cannot succeed in carrying out the socialist transformation of society.

As it stands, there is no mass, class-independent leadership for the working class.

In this vacuum, many are looking to the DSA and figures like Zohran Mamdani as the way forward. Their popularity is another sign of the growing radicalization among a layer of young people who want real change.

The rise in support for socialist ideas, as evidenced by the recent resurgence of the DSA, is an enormously positive development. But without a scientific understanding of the class struggle, the DSA will not be able to deliver on their promises.

The ruling class won’t give up without a fight. In order to successfully lead the working class, socialists must understand that only class struggle methods can win real reforms. This means collective action of the working class, such as strikes and mass demonstrations. We must also understand that any reform won under capitalism can be taken back, and the struggle must eventually move to revolution to make the socialist program a permanent reality.

These are not the methods of DSA’s leading figures, who instead advocate for working entirely within the limits of the capitalist system. Eventually, many will realize that these methods are insufficient and will begin to look for a revolutionary alternative.

5. We must urgently build the Revolutionary Communists of America

The reality is that no one is building the type of leadership that the working class requires except for the comrades of the RCI.

The success of the American socialist revolution is indispensable for the success of the world socialist revolution. The RCA has a paramount responsibility to build our forces as urgently as possible.

The key factor to our success will be the quality and quantity of Marxist cadres in our ranks. The most important task of every comrade is to continue deepening our understanding of Marxist theory and to help new comrades in our branches to grasp these ideas.

Combining this careful attention to education with a bold, creative, and meticulous approach to recruitment will be vital for our growth in the coming period. There are plenty of radicalized workers whom we could convince to join our ranks right now—but they will not recruit themselves. We must do everything possible to find them, talk to them about our perspectives and strategy, ask them to join, integrate them into party-building activity, and begin training them in Marxist theory.

The results of our Fall Offensive so far show the immense potential to build the RCA. The upcoming day of action to defend the Cuban Revolution and our Marxist Schools in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City will be key opportunities to strengthen our collective political level and raise the banner of the RCA.

The crisis of capitalism is presenting us with a historic opportunity to transform the trajectory of human history. Revolutionary upheavals are on the horizon. Building a revolutionary leadership in advance of these events is the only way to ensure that this opportunity will not go to waste.