18. Adopt the following as MIM's program in place of the previously approved June 1995 version:
Maoist Internationalist Movement Platform and Program
(July 1995)
WHAT WE WANT
WHAT WE BELIEVE
1. We want communism.
We believe that anyone who opposes all oppression--power of groups over groups--is a communist. This includes opposition to national oppression, class oppression and gender oppression.
2. We want socialism.
We believe that socialism is the path to communism. We believe that the current dictatorship of the bourgeoisie oppresses the world's majority. We believe that socialism-- the dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry--is a necessary step towards a world without inequality or dictatorship--a communist world. We uphold the USSR under Lenin and Stalin (1917-1953) and China under Mao (1949-1976) as models in this regard.
3. We want revolutionary armed struggle.
We believe that the oppressors will not give up their power without a fight. Ending oppression is only possible by building public opinion to seize power through armed struggle. We believe, however, that armed struggle in the imperialist countries is a serious strategic mistake until the bourgeoisie becomes really helpless. Revolution will become a reality for North America as the U.S. military becomes over-extended in the government's attempts to maintain world hegemony.
"We are advocates of the abolition of war, we do not want war; but war can only be abolished through war, and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun."
--Mao Zedong
4. We want organization.
We believe that democratic-centralism, the system of unified application of majority decisions, is necessary to defeat the oppressors. This system includes organization, leadership, discipline and hierarchy. The oppressors use these weapons, and we should, too. By building a disciplined revolutionary communist vanguard party, we follow in the tradition of comrades Lenin, Mao and Huey Newton.
5. We want independent institutions of and for the oppressed.
We believe that the oppressed need independent media to build public opinion for socialist revolution. We believe that the oppressed need independent institutions to provide land, bread, housing, education, medical care, clothing, justice and peace. We believe that the best independent institution of all is a self-reliant socialist government.
6. We want continuous revolution.
We believe that class struggle continues under socialism. We believe that under socialism, the danger exists for a new bourgeoisie to arise within the communist party itself. We believe that these new oppressors will restore capitalism unless they are stopped. We believe that the bourgeoisie seized power in the USSR after the death of Stalin in 1953; in China it was after Mao's death and the overthrow of the "Gang of Four" in 1976. We believe that China's Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) is the farthest advance towards communism in human history, because it mobilized millions of people against the restoration of capitalism.
7. We want a united front against imperialism.
We believe that the imperialists are currently waging a hot war--a World War III--against the world's oppressed nations, including the U.S. empire's internal colonies. We seek to unite all who can be united under proletarian leadership against imperialism.
We believe that the imperialist-country working-classes are primarily a pro-imperialist labor aristocracy at this time; thus, while we recruit individuals from these and other reactionary classes to work against their class interests, we do not seek strategic unity with these classes. In fact, we believe that the imperialist-country working-classes, like the bourgeoisies and petit-bourgeoisies, owe reparations to the international proletariat and peasantry. As such, one of the first strategic steps MIM will take upon winning state power will be to open the borders.
We believe that socialism in the imperialist countries will require the dictatorship of the *international* proletariat and that the imperialist-country working-classes will need to be on the receiving end of this dictatorship.
8. We want New Democracy for the oppressed nations. We want power for the oppressed nations to determine their destinies.
We believe that oppressed people will not be free until they are able to determine their destinies. We look forward to the day when oppressed people will live without imperialist police terror and will learn to speak their mind without fear of the consequences from the oppressor. When this day comes, meaningful plebiscites can be held in which the peoples will decide for themselves if they want their own separate nation- states or some other arrangement.
9. We want world revolution.
We believe it is our duty to support Marxism-Leninism-Maoism everywhere, though our principal task is to build public opinion and independent institutions in preparation for Maoist revolution in North America. The imperialists think and act globally--we must do the same.
10. We want politics in command.
We believe that correct tactics flow from correct strategies, which flow from a correct ideological and political line. We believe that the fight against imperialism goes hand-in-hand with the fight against revisionism, chauvinism, and opportunism.
"The correctness or otherwise of the ideological and political line decides everything. When the Party's line is correct, then everything will come its way. If it has no followers, then it can have followers; if it has no guns, then it can have guns; if it has no political power, then it can have political power."
--Mao Zedong
Contact MIM by writing mim@mim.org