Fiona McCandless

Two weeks with at most six hours sleep, and three nights where the sleep was skipped all together, it's no wonder these blogs are few and far between. The days as well blend together. Whatever blog entries I write now will be a summary. I think for this trip, a summary is best - I'll have a bit of time to let these new ideas percolate and will voice them first here, and review them later.

I'm back in Moscow now for my final night in Russia. It snowed this morning apparently, and is sitting at around 1 degree compared to 20 degrees in sochi. If Moscow snows for us, that would be such a magical conclusion to this trip. There is something comforting in the cold, in it you can find a nice sense of solace.

I came on this trip wanting to be an open book, with few preconceived ideas. When I arrived in Moscow I was so surprised at the hammer and sickle symbol still adorning many of the soviet buildings. I found that the Russian people I spoke to were generally impartial to their soviet history, if impartial is the right word. They were proud of what it had achieved, but recognised its flaws. It seemed many people also blamed its demise on corruption and a quick succession of leaders, rather than an actual failure of system. I would be interested to see how many people would support a communist system again, but I've also learnt that russia doesnt always work like that. Shades of grey.

The festival was amazing in that communism was everyday, not a dirty word. It was the general standard school of thought of the majority of people there. Rather than being something people laugh at or are scared of, it was more 'of course communism is a wonderful system, look at their focus on education, women's rights, healthcare...' 'the real enemy to freedom is Imperialism!'. I met with communist parties from England, Vietnam, Venezuela, Russia, even the Ukraine where the party is outlawed. It was fascinating to recognise so many current communist states. Look at Cuba, who despite their decades of US sanctions are such a well educated, healthy culture of people - they have more doctors per capita than any other country. They have discovered a preventative cure for lung cancer! And their culture is so rich, they are so proud. I really have to visit Havana before more changes occur to their current socialist system.

Although I have been dubbed as being 'red blood royalty' thanks to my pinko family, I have never really engaged fully with the ideas of communism. I've never joined the CPA, and even after this festival, I'm not sure I will. Though my reasons not to may have changed slightly. I have always considered myself a communist, but thought that being a communist was almost a waste of time. Life in Australia is far from a revolution-inducing struggle. It's comfortable, and there is nothing wrong with this, at least on the surface. I believed in the idea that all people should be paid and treated equally, and believe that capitalism is a fundamentally corrupt system that perpetuates itself on the promise of wealth while ensuring poverty, but we are still a long way from revolution. I never thought there was value in being a communist until the working classes begin to realise the injustice of the system, and begin to really struggle and seek change. I dont know if I agree now. Why do we have to have revolution to create communism equality? The answer of course is because the bougiousie upper class 1%ers don't want to give away their greed for the majority of people. If this is the case, then why do we have to wait until we are so impoverished before we stand up for our rights and equality? I suppose this is the question I'm now struggling with. Capitalism has really done a job on us - the fact that we are happy with buying the new iPhone at the expense of our education, healthcare, and liberty. All the while the upper 1% are holding more wealth than all of us combined. We make their luxury cars that we ourselves will never be able to afford - what kind of system is that? And we still believe that if we work hard and are worthy, then maybe we will get a taste of luxury? But again this is at the expense of the underprivileged. This system is the devil. It shouldn't take until we are starving and willing to give our lives for communism to revolt. For me, the communist ideology is true democracy that we should strive for every day, at every election, and in every aspect of life.

I have met with many many people who are communists. Many people who, unlike me, have 'converted' to communism in university rather than being brought up with the collected works of Lenin on their bookshelves as children. I was most interested in these people, I wondered what was it about communism that made them put in so much time and energy for this political system. I dont put time into the struggle for freedom of the workers, but they have travelled to russia to man communist stalls to discuss the state of the party in their countries. We are so different in this respect! They are so dedicated, and yet I didn't quite feel like one of them. The issue I had was the politicisation of communism. I know this sounds very strange, given that communism is a political system. Communists are obsessed with the past personalities of the revolutions. They are either Stalinist or Trotskyists, and the majority I met from at least non-communist countries were very militant. I have such fundamental issues with this.

In true communism - which the world is yet to see - the state would ideally whither away. In my ideal, the 'commune' is the ruler. People live in smaller groups like suburbs which allows them to have a louder voice rather than the whimper we have in our 'democratic' countries, and we trade and communicate openly with our neighbours. No boarders, just little communes. It allows everything to be divided equally, and in my mind it would eradicate much crime since there is bigger sense of purpose and community, and no poverty. We have never seen this kind of society. So why follow stalin, Mao, or even Lenin to the book? They revolted in a different culture, in a time before credit cards and disposable luxuries. The great October revolution was 100 years ago this year! Why are we arguing about the ins and outs of these dead revolutions? The idea of communism should be first seen as just that - an idea. Read Marx and Engels as a philosophy, because that is what it was. Lenin and Mao and Ho Chi Minh and Castro adapted this to their own cultures, that is testament to their equal greatness in character. We should read all works like the Jews read the Torah, as interpretations of the original script. Not fighting between the Stalinists and Trots, that is just absurd.

Ho Chi Minh used his Confucian education to travel, and worked as a dish pig in France and a baker in the US. He used communism as a philosophy and used it as a lens to observe workers across different cultures, and used that information to create revolution in his home country. Vietnam is still considered a communist state, and they still love their old leader. You don't hear of Ho Chi Minh much in the western groups of communists. Che Guevara volunteered in a leper colony, and met with the workers of south America. Observation is key to finding cracks in capitalism. You don't have to look very hard, but it isn't until we struggle that we feel our chains, and in a revolution they are the only thing we have to lose. The problem with a lot of us White collar commies is we don't actually know the struggles of our country. The one thing all other leaders had in common was that they were educated, but they strove for an understanding of their people. We are too busy arguing over the best past leader or the funniest gulag memes. Or worse, focused on which soviet weapons did the most damage during WWII. This is not the aim of communism, this is the means to an ends. And the ends is peace. If we lose that basic focus, we are surely doomed.

The first battle isn't over which revolution was 'better', but our first battle should be to give communism back its good name. It's such a dirty word nowadays. Even me posting this blog on the interwebs is a bad idea, for if I ever want to run for parliament this will be a big red stain on my resume. We should read all the works of communism, and then meet the 'proletariate' workers. I met with some Aussie communists who have fought for indigenous rights. This is the spirit of communism, and our indigenous people need communism the most. As the privileged leftist class, it is our job to help these people find their voice, and to create a fight where we are all on the same side. It is through working with these people who are holding the rest of us up in this capitalist system, that we realise the current, literal problems of capitalism. We should also try to break away from capitalistic greed. I believe this is the cause of all corruption, the desire for 'more'. We should practise being anti-consumers. In a system such as capitalism, this in itself is a soft revolutionary act. Soft revolutionary acts of kindness, before the bloody overthrow of the capitalist system. Haha.

The biggest thing is kindness. We are all equal, we are all humans. We all deserve shelter, clothing, warmth, food, and education. I dont know how these basics became optional under capitalism,how they became a privilege. In striving for this, I think the most 'communist' thing we can do is work within the capitalist system in reformist areas, such as in trade unions and NGOs. We must continue the communist dialogue, but work for equality now, work actively within our communities rather than talking in closed rooms. One thing I have learned, or solidified in this festival is the importance of education. This is also the one aspect government's are so keen to erode, like cutting funding to universities and dropping arts units. We need to be smart, and spread our intelligence to everyone. We now should work with the people, and then slowly slowly we might create a better world for us all.

Marx may have said that religion is the opiate of the masses. I do agree in part with this. But communism itself should be a moral for life, it should be a kind of spirituality. From these roots, a better world will be born.Read more