05.01.1995

Fighting fund

Phil Kent reports on the Weekly Worker fighting fund

THE SIGHT of people collecting for charity reminds me of Jesus telling Martha that it was alright sploshing expensive perfume on his feet because “the poor are always with us”. He certainly had a point. Every Christmas the charities throw themselves into their work only to return the following year, saying that things are even worse. Truly, faith, hope and charity are not enough.

What can turn the tide? Without revolutionary consciousness and practice workers can never raise themselves above the level of wage slaves. With it they can rule the world, get rid of poverty, exploitation and suffering. There is no other course, but it cannot be done without a Communist Party. Building the Party has to be foremost in our plans.

Party building is tied to fundraising like Prometheus to a rock. Ideally fundraising should raise the party’s banner and class consciousness but we also have a print shop and do car boot sales to pay our bills. We have no choice but to run things on a shoe string. However our plans must be based on what the class needs, not on what we can afford.

This Christmas comrades were out campaigning on working class issues. When we take our politics onto the street in this way we win the hearts and minds of our class in a much more significant way than the charities. Workers may not be ready to fight yet, but they are more interested in real change than handouts.

Comrades in London who were out every day raised over £1,000 in just two weeks. Special mention must go to LB and SK for out-standing results. But if we are to reach our political target we need to raise more and raise it regularly. For this reason supporters from all around the country must learn from the excellent example of the comrades in London and make fundraising a central task in branch activity. A problem shared is a problem halved. Now we have our £3,000 January target in our sights.

Phil Kent