Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

The masses make history, but unless they are conscious and aware of their role in the historical process, they can be (and often are) manipulated by the ruling classes. It’s only through the cohesion of the working masses as a conscious class, aware of its position and its strength, that the Communist movement can advance. This type of politics is inherently different from liberal-bourgeois politics, which dominate the media and political contests of the liberal republics.

Class politics, unlike liberal politics, do not function as popularity contests or efforts to mobilize already existing sentiments. In a liberal political contest, the ruling class puts up two potential politicians. Each of these potential politicians represent some interest of a subgroup of the ruling class, but are acceptable to a large portion of that class.

Liberals only consult the masses insofar as both factions try to temporarily mobilize some parts of the labor aristocracy and petty bourgeoisie with the limited aim of getting the most paper votes for “their guy.” The ruling class does not want the masses to be constant participants in the political life of the country. Participation might lead the masses to develop an independent base of political strength, act independently of the bourgeois parties, and pursue their own interests, which would be at odds with the interests of the ruling class.¹

The liberal approach is typified by “door knocking,” “phone banking,” and fund raising. It does not raise consciousness, but is an attempt to elevate the involvement of petty bourgeois individuals in elections. Communists, who intend to undermine and destroy the orderly functioning of the capitalist state, should be involved in no part of that.

How do we interact with the masses? First, we have to know the most urgently felt needs of the people. Then, we have to use our knowledge of political economy, organizational theory, and historical materialism to fashion an answer for those needs. This answer must link the immediate need with the broader need for social revolution. Then, we have to return to the people and present them this answer and explain why it is the necessary step.

Step One: Social Investigation

It is not possible to bring about the social revolution by shouting at the people or demanding that they revolt. We have to share in the life of the people, connect with the people, and unify with them. Yelling slogans at the people and haranguing them into action is the kind of relationship most often assumed by the political lackeys of the ruling class to the masses. This is how liberal politicians behave: they pick an issue that they are interested in and then they shout their demands at some part of the working class and urge them to action by voting, pledging, or even turning out for mass photo opportunities. In this type of relationship, the masses are fundamentally passive. They are objects, not subjects. They are tools in the liberal political relationship, being wielded by the liberal politician.

For Communists, the masses are never tools. We do not cynically make use of the sleeping power of the working class. We are educators, and we must educate the masses so we can serve as their instrument. For Communists, the militant party is objectified, not the masses. The party becomes the weapon by which the working class strikes at its enemy; the working class is not the weapon by which the party strikes.

How do we make sure we do not allow this liberal relationship to creep into our relations with the masses?

Our best tool to accomplish this is the social investigation. We know already, through study and experience, that the answer to whatever problem the masses bring to us is rooted in the reorganization of society and the economy, the demolition of the capitalist system, and the end of the parasitic ruling classes’ exploitation of the global working classes. Ultimately, we aim to pave the way to the abolition of  exploitation of one person by another. Social investigation is the tool we use to identify the most immediate problems so we can bring this understanding to the masses.

Social investigation is not the same as mobilization. When we conduct a social investigation, we do so in the following way:

1. Gain the trust and confidence of the community. This can be done through service to the community (such as Red Aid).
2. Discuss things with individual community members. Ask them what their most pressing concerns are. Have them confide their issues. Keep detailed notes.
3. Collate your notes with all those taken by other social investigators in your unit. Identify commonalities and attempt to uncover the sharpest contradiction represented by the answers you receive.
4. Identify the underlying causes that generate the common concern. Conduct a class analysis of the situation. Devise a solution which is in step with the organizational program: one that does not rely on working with the capitalist state, that undermines faith in the state if possible, and that encourages the community to organize (that is, to form councils, hold meetings, and continue to have discussions).

Step Two: Propaganda

Connecting the outrages of the capitalist state and the ruling class with the concerns of the masses and stressing the necessity of complete social revolution is the work of propaganda. For every five minutes we speak of solutions, we must spend twenty-five minutes speaking of revolution. There are numerous tools to help the working class achieve this awareness, including:

• Community meetings;
• Posters;
• Pamphlets;
• One on one conversations;
• and mass meetings.

The mass meeting is the most powerful tool of revolutionary propaganda we can call on today. Mass meetings are large-scale community meetings; Communist organizers inform the community of their intent to hold a meeting to address the problem that was identified through the social investigation. This includes weeks of broadcasting the existence of the meeting to the community (“Come and meet with us on X time at Y place, we’re going to be talking about what we can do about Z”). 

When a mass meeting begins, the organization first frames the discussion by telling the crowd why they have gathered; information is used from the social investigation and repeated to the crowd (“Such and such number of people lost their homes in the last six months,” etc.). Once the issue is framed, the organization asks individuals from the crowd to come and speak on the question, to testify if they have the same problems that the organization has identified.

If things start to get out of control, or mass meeting members inject reactionary statements or politics, it’s up to the organizers to convince the mass meeting that these people are confused about the sources of their problems, and then to bring the meeting back on track.

Once the testimonies have gotten the meeting agitated and in agreement, the organization should then present its plan for how to combat the problem. Organizers should explain clearly how the plan strikes not only at the problem itself, but at its root – and how the problem is caused by the current manner in which society is organized.

This is how we connect meaningfully with the masses and drive them to the subjective awareness of their existence as a class.

The Meeting

Mass meetings require that your organization take certain preparatory steps to run them effectively. We recently published an article, “The Mass Meeting,” that addresses some of these requirements in some detail (as well as laying out how the mass meeting is the present vehicle of developing the Communist movement). Here, we will address logistical concerns around holding mass meetings.

Firstly, a space must be secured. This can be an outdoor location, a church basement, a meeting hall, a local union hall; anywhere that can host a large number of people. Your organization must have at least three cadre-level members and a total of at least five reliable people it can count on to effectively run such a meeting.

It is helpful to offer resources for those who are attending. Even something as simple as coffee and snacks can help bring workers in, but full meal services, wage assistance, or legal aid are all good options. This helps to transform the mass meeting from an event into a place in which the organization can continue to meet with the masses and deepen roots.

A sound system, platform, stage, or speaking rostrum can be very helpful. Your most outward-facing cadre-level member, who has a high combined development in both public speaking and theoretical advancement, should run the meeting by addressing individuals, soliciting their problems, and reframing them in a Marxist-Leninist fashion. This person should be directly accompanied by one other cadre-level member to help control the rostrum, stage, sound system, or what-have-you.

Three other members (at least) should be stationed around the crowd to help break up or mediate disputes and eject open reactionaries from the meeting. If there is food service, there should be at least three members dedicated to running a food and drinks table. Lastly, at least one of the cadre members of the organization should be taking detailed notes of the meeting. If the meeting reaches a higher degree of organization and appears to be on the verge of developing into a standing organ of working-class power, minutes should be taken.

1. Members of the petty bourgeoisie tend to be more politically active. This class is the mass basis for settler fascism that undergirds the entire US regime, and thus landowning petty-bourgeois professionals generally do see their participation in elections and politics as “beneficial” for their class (the lowering of capital gains taxes, inroads on some progressive issues, etc.). However, the revolutionary masses (the working classes, the lower ranks of the petty bourgeoisie, etc.) are not participants in political life. They do not hold office, they do not attend city council meetings, they do not, by and large, vote in local or federal elections, and generally consider the affairs of politicians to have little impact on their day to day lives — and they are correct in that assumption. They have been politically disenfranchised through the two party system. ↩︎