Carson W, Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
While tabling in Denton recently, we signed up four contacts and sold three papers. More important than the quantity, however, was the quality of the conversations and of the potential recruits.
The first person who signed up was a self-proclaimed communist, ready to get organized. He works at a school, and he’d been talking with one of his students about communism!
The second contact wanted to know our position on the genocide in Gaza. We talked about the need to overthrow American imperialism, and for a socialist revolution in the Middle East to truly free Palestine. We connected it to the potential present during the 2011 Arab Revolutions, and the need for a clear program and revolutionary leadership forged in advance. After hearing that, she signed up and donated $10 for The Communist. She’s interested in attending our next meeting and joining the RCA.
We don’t sell the paper to raise funds or “get our ideas out there”—important as that is. We don’t amass contact details for the sake of it. We’re in the business of party-building! If someone is genuinely interested, we should spend the time to provide thoughtful answers to their questions, and explain the necessity of a mass communist party. If we do our jobs correctly, they might even sign up to join on the spot!