The Communist Party is a united party, growing throughout England, Scotland and Wales especially amongst young workers and union and women’s movement activists. Why not apply to join us? You can view here, reasons recent joiners have given for getting involved.
Zoe’s story
I first got into politics when I was around 14/15 years old, and my initial politics weren’t shaped by Marxist or feminist theory, but just my own lived experiences of being a young woman in a patriarchal, capitalist society. I had always enjoyed Modern Studies and Politics at school, and frequently enjoyed debates and discussions which involved class, feminism, or human rights as the main themes.
I have quite a vivid memory of the tampon tax being debated in parliament, and the wider discourse round this made me realise how women, under capitalism, will always come second to men, and this is even more pertinent when economics are brought into play: clearly, a working class woman will suffer more than a middle class woman due to things like the wage gap, high childcare costs, and over employment in the service industry.
Around the time of the above being debated, I was also starting to take notice of what Jeremy Corbyn MP was saying in the chamber, and in his bid for Labour leadership.
My road to socialism wasn’t started by Jeremy Corbyn alone, but he was the only politician to give me the hope that a better world was possible, one built on compassion and solidarity and nationalisation, not wars and private property and agreed.
History wasn’t kind to him, but his successes were huge: he politicised an entire generation into actively working towards nationalisation and strikes, even though most of us don’t remember a time when they happened freely and frequently.
My road to socialism and class politics has not been a particularly fast one, and I feel honoured every day to have my roles within the party, as well as having brilliant comrades I can look up to and ask questions.
As Angela Davis said, “Yes, I am a communist, and I consider it one of the highest honours, because we are struggling for the total liberation of the human race.”
Daisy’s story
Why I Joined the Communist Party I joined the communist party after one of my friends introduced me to it.
He was able to explain to me and my Boyfriend about it in depth and what it means to
be a communist and I realized that it’s what I’ve always believed in I just never joined a party for it.
I met the party members lovely people who educated me more hence I chose to join.
I joined the communist party because also naturally as someone from a socialist country if I was to pick a party where I’m at I’d have to go with the communist party it’s close to what we believe in Tanzania.
I joined the communist party because I believe in stateless and classless society, a central planned economy, and common ownership for the means of production you know just everyone and everything should be beneficial and equal in all aspects and I think that’s what the party is trying to achieve.
I joined the communist party because in this whole world the only party that is truly fighting for the liberation of every human being is this one. for example in the YCL they have done a lot for the community and are still doing their best to help those in need.
I think it goes without saying that one of our aims is to grow the branch as much as we can, but we also want to establish an identity for ourselves that is unique to our area, through looking back at our local history to engaging with the community and understanding the future it wants to achieve.
Living through this pandemic I’ve heard it said that necessity is the mother of invention in regards to the online platforms such as zoom that are now a part of our daily lives, which have now enabled and empowered us to reach many more people all over the country at the drop of a hat, which in my opinion, is a revolutionary way of organising going forward and I know the party is keen to keep bringing people together this way.
Many people looking at joining the Communist Party and those who have recently joined recognise that things need to change. The party is full of people from all walks of life committed to learning, committed to teaching and committed to changing things for the better, so I urge you to get organised and join the party and for those of you who have recently joined I implore you to hold nothing back in our fight to realise Britain’s road to socialism.
Laura’s story
I largely credit the autobiographies of Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X with shifting my vague high school perception of politics to a more developed, radical approach. Further reading on race, empire and colonialism cemented the link between social inequality and economic oppression, which formed the foundation of my later appreciation of Marxist theory.
I was first eligible to vote in the 2010 General Election. However, the radical conclusions I’d drawn thus far were completely incongruent with mundane party politics.
Then, whilst at university, I read core communist texts (the Manifesto, Capital, etc) in order to inform my social and historical analysis of literary fiction. At this point, my views were informed by Marxism, but still marred by the hypocritical idealism common to campus politics — ‘radical’; but still wishing to succeed within the capitalist system.
It is only my experience of the working world post-university which fixed my student political analysis in a real social context. Living and working in a post-industrial Lancashire town uncovered contradictions in my then-simplistic conception of Marxism. Radical social media soundbites and edgy memes are lost on the general working class, for whom revolutionary politics seems a childish daydream.
In reality, the only way communists can appeal to the broad working class is if our narrative is informed by relevant theory. Sound ideas — developed through the application of Marx’s method to the specific circumstances of the 21st century — delivered by those who can relate to the working class on both an economic and cultural level.
Scott’s story
I’m Scott and I’m a new member of the YCL and the CP of Britain and I hope to be able to give you an insight into what that’s like, what I’m passionate about and why I joined.
I am a trade union rep for the RMT and standing up for workers’ rights and the working class has always been a passion of mine.
For years I had seen the flaws in the system, living through the global crash and seeing my family struggle for work, leaving school and looking for a job and later seeing communites brutalised through years of austerity.
However even having the experiences of the negatives, I never knew how to overcome them.
I knew a radical alternaIve of how society should be ordered was needed.
I started looking into working class history and seeing that communist movements all over the world have always led the charge for social change. This led me to start reading Marx and Lenin.
Ather a giant tory majority and a pandemic where working people will be sacrificed for the status quo, I knew there was no better time to get organised.
I will admit to being a little hesitant at first of joining the party, I don’t know whether that was due to me being relatively new to Marxism, but I now know I had nothing to worry about and that joining was the best decision I could have made. I have found there is always someone on hand willing to help or discuss things with you.
This has enabled me to become involved straight away, along with being asked to speak at a recent Red Wedge event, I have been a part of the formation of a new YCL branch for the East of England and have been elected as chair of the branch.
I think it goes without saying that one of our aims is to grow the branch as much as we can, but we also want to establish an identity for ourselves that is unique to our area, through looking back at our local history to engaging with the community and understanding the future it wants to achieve.
Living through this pandemic I’ve heard it said that necessity is the mother of invention in regards to the online platforms such as zoom that are now a part of our daily lives, which have now enabled and empowered us to reach many more people all over the country at the drop of a hat, which in my opinion, is a revolutionary way of organising going forward and I know the party is keen to keep bringing people together this way.
Many people looking at joining the Communist Party and those who have recently joined recognise that things need to change. The party is full of people from all walks of life committed to learning, committed to teaching and committed to changing things for the better, so I urge you to get organised and join the party and for those of you who have recently joined I implore you to hold nothing back in our fight to realise Britain’s road to socialism.