The struggles of the youth

The following resolution was passed unanimously by the tenth party congress of the CPGB-ML.

This congress notes that young workers and students face a deluge of challenges in modern life. Capitalist society has concocted numerous means by which to deaden and numb young people in order that they don’t, in a serious and lasting way, get involved in the class struggle, and which generally inhibit their development into rounded, fully functioning and social members of society.

Congress further notes that today’s youth largely lack the necessary human connections required to live a fulfilled and meaningful life – this being both a side-effect of capitalist production relations and a deliberate tactic of the bourgeoisie to keep the working class divided.

In particular, congress recognises the following key challenges which are inhibiting the healthy development of young people into proud young workers:

1. Drug and alcohol abuse as an escape from the daily grind and depressing alienation of daily life.
2. Difficulty in forming meaningful social connections owing to easy access to the internet and social media from a young age. In particular, online pornography as an escape from social loneliness or frustration, which instead further drives apart young men and women.
3. A chronic lack of motivation in life owing to difficulty in finding work or purpose. This, in combination with rising property prices, is making it more and more difficult for young people to move out of their parents’ homes and property start their adult lives.
4. Anxiety and depression resulting from the dark outlook of the future forced upon us by capitalism, especially on the matter of climate change. Many young people ‘don’t want to bring a child into this world’, having themselves no faith in the future of humanity.
5. All of the above leading to seriously aggravated mental illness on a large and ever-growing scale.

Congress believes that this is a generation in crisis. Capitalism has nothing to offer our young people except a lifetime of servitude to a system that does everything it can to crush their spirits.

Congress further believes that the antidote to a generation in crisis is socialism. Human beings are social creatures, and our party offers a unique combination of revolutionary optimism – to combat most youths’ grim outlook for the future – and a social organisation which provides real human connections both within and without the party. It provides purpose in a world in disarray.

Further, work under a socialist planned economy provides a purpose and motivation unmatched by any other human behaviour. Few young people really enjoy their work in today’s world; it is simply a means to an end. Socialism, on the other hand, connects the individual’s work to the collective betterment of the entire proletariat, providing a really concrete reason to work and fight for a brighter future. Most of the social ills that are common under capitalism simply disappear when people find they have a purpose.

This congress therefore recognises the need to do everything in our power to educate young people in Britain on the root cause of the problems that face them, and to enlist them into the struggle for a socialist world. Not only will a socialist society solve their problems and open up a bright future for them and for future generations, but the energy and enthusiasm of the young generation is an essential part of any successful struggle for socialism.

Congress therefore instructs the party to:

1. Create materials aimed specifically at young people around the issues outlined above, and take them to colleges, universities, workplaces and anywhere young people are likely to congregate.
2. Consider launching a campaign against pornography, which is now so widespread and violent it is having a most serious effect on the development of all our young people and on their ability to build healthy friendships and relationships across the gender divide.