At the invitation of the Comitati di Appoggio alla Resistenza per il Comunismo (CARC), Michela Martinazzi of the Central Committee of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization delivered the following speech to a national meeting against NATO, held in Italy, December 8.

Good morning from New York comrades,

On behalf of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, I extend warm greetings and solidarity to the participants and organizers of this important gathering. The violent involvement of NATO is felt throughout the world. As communists, we have a special task to oppose U.S. monopoly capitalism, the wars that it brings, and its tools like NATO. We’re honored that you invited us to take part in this meeting to fight NATO on a global scale. And we’re ready to continue the fight alongside you!

The downward spiral of imperialism

Imperialism is steadily spiraling towards its end. The decline picks up speed with each new world event that stresses the antagonisms between the war-mongering class and those who foot the bill.

Post World War II, the U.S. built a web of economic institutions where Wall Street and Washington DC were at the center. That original web is long gone, and in its place is a world economy that is breaking and fragmenting. With each new break, the decline of U.S. imperialism is picking up speed, and the Trump presidency will accelerate its downfall.

A symptom of declining imperialism is the sharpening of inter-imperialist contradictions. These can take on both political and military scopes. For example, Trump campaigned that Ukraine is primarily a concern for Europe and that the U.S. should no longer concern itself with the issue. If Trump is true to his word, the policy shift will force European imperialist powers, mainly Germany, to bolster Ukraine while putting stress on NATO.

As the power of the U.S. economy shrinks, Trump relies on threats of tariffs to recover a semblance of power. He ran on the promise of tariffs on all Chinese-imported products. While the U.S. working class will be the ones who shoulder the burden of this trade war, Trump continues to barrel forward in de-linking the U.S. economy from the People’s Republic of China.

With each misstep on behalf of the imperial powers, we’re seeing a clearer definition in the developing spheres of influence and domination. The U.S. has a smaller role to play, while the other two centers of monopoly capitalism – Japan and the European Union – are also taking up smaller shares of the world GDP.

Anti-imperialism in the 21st century

As we see the steady decline of U.S. imperialism, and, broadly, the decline of imperialism around the world, we see the inverse, as the people rise up against it. As the U.S. monopoly capitalist class stumbles, the people continue their march to victory.

People around the world are facing economic hardships as the warmongers steadily beat the drums of war. United States military spending went from $366 billion under Bush to $1,109 billion, or more than $1 trillion, under Biden. In the last two decades, this budget destabilized Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya; funded attempted coups in Bolivia and Venezuela; supplies weapons to reactionary governments in the Philippines and Ukraine. and spearheads the genocide of Palestine.

The people are tired of their tax dollars funding war

Since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, we’ve seen the anti-war movement have its highs and lows, but the overall trend has been to fight against imperialist wars.

The pandemic in 2020 sharpened many contradictions and it culminated in the George Floyd rebellion. This laid the groundwork for a new generation of organizers to not only question the ruling class but gain confidence in the power of protest. The landscape of the movement completely changed after that summer.

The same people who took to the streets for the George Floyd rebellion, were some of the same ones who joined the protests in 2023 for Palestine – some of the largest protests for Palestine we’ve seen in the West.

As inflation rose, jobs were lost, and debts were left unpaid, everyday people continued to question why the government continued to spend money on war rather than people’s needs. Worsening conditions only deepened the antagonism between the interests of the working class and the ruling class.

When the heroic Palestinian resistance carried out the Al-Aqsa Flood, the same generation that the George Floyd rebellion revolutionized, took to the streets in the millions. Politicians who cried for Israel could not gather the same support they were used to just a few years back.

FRSO released a statement on October 9th where we said:

“Those of us who stand in solidarity with Palestine have our work cut out for us. The Zionist regime is carrying out horrific crimes – including indiscriminate bombings in Gaza that have destroyed homes, schools and health care facilities. Their logic is genocidal. We need to act fast.

Demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine should be organized everywhere. The role of the U.S. needs to be highlighted. U.S. weapons are killing people. Biden wants to send Israel more weapons. Not one U.S. dollar should be funding the occupation of Palestine.

In the days ahead, lots of politicians are going to be saying “stand with Israel.” They will lie and cry. Do the opposite. This is time to stand with Palestine. Time is on the side of the oppressed. And a new stage of the freedom struggle has arrived.”

The people of the world understand that the imperialist rulers are selling out their livelihoods for profits and domination. They see it embodied in the ongoing genocide in Palestine. The U.S. alone has sent $17.9 billion since October 2023.

And that’s why the people cannot stand by as Israel carries out a genocide. That’s why millions have been marching, boycotting, and organizing since October 7.

We’re entering a new era of the anti-war movement, and as communists we must seize it!

Organizing against the war

The forces organizing for Palestine are the same forces that will be ready to organize against NATO. Our role is to cultivate a campaign against NATO forces that harnesses the raw revolutionary passion of this new generation of activists.

When the protest against the NATO summit took place in Washington DC this past summer, I was happy to see that the majority of attendees were people my age and younger. Broad calls against war are gaining popularity amongst all progressive people. The question of “Why are we sending money overseas?” is on everyone’s mind.

However, to sustain a strong anti-war movement, we must have strong organizations to support it. It requires an understanding of meeting the masses where they’re at and bringing their demands forward through the lens of Marxism.

The great Chairman Mao Tse Tung said in his speech A Talk to the Editorial Staff of the Shansi-Suiyuan Daily, “If we tried to go on the offensive when the masses are not yet awakened, that would be adventurism. If we insisted on leading the masses to do anything against their will, we would certainly fail. If we did not advance when the masses demand to advance, that would be Right opportunism.”

Our organization is growing quickly. We’re taking up the demands of the people in the belly of the beast, and channeling them into campaigns. Relying on sloganeering to build our movements will only result in burning out the revolutionary fire of the people. As Marxist-Leninists, we must deliver tangible victories to the people as we face the many-headed monster that is imperialism.

To grow the fight against NATO, let us find the demands of the people and show them who the true enemy is: NATO and the monopoly capitalist class!

The road ahead

We have a challenge ahead of us. We’ve seen the election of right-wing populists throughout the world. We also face politicians that parade around progressive slogans, but actively work against the needs of the people. These figureheads are enemies of progress, justice and freedom.

But while we have many enemies, we have even more allies. As we’ve seen in the last year, millions are ready for change. Millions are marching against a rotten system that has only delivered death and misery. Millions are ready to fight towards a better future!

Our role as communists is to unite all that we can against tyranny. Our task is revolution, and we’re armed with the tools of Marxism-Leninism. The road ahead may be filled with challenges, but we’re well equipped to face them!

Down with NATO!

Down with imperialism!

Long live international solidarity!

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