Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend.
– Mao Zedong

We are 100 Flowers. We have come together after being involved in different communist organizations in the US. Based on our experiences in revolutionary political organizing, we believe the communist movement in the US is faltering due to widespread sectarianism and an aversion to principled struggle over political differences. In order to encourage comradely criticism and two-line struggle to overcome this situation, we are launching the 100 Flowers Journal.

Often, genuine differences of opinion on live issues within the International Communist Movement are labeled as opportunism or revisionism—when friends are confused for enemies. This confusion is only deepened by the individualist bourgeois culture of an imperialist society such as the United States. Advancing people’s struggles and resolving differences requires honest and collective discussion. Today, however, debate usually happens over corporate-owned social media or in private channels. The result is the stifling of open and above-board debate. We are founding this publication with the objective of clarifying some of the existing differences in political lines, earnestly struggling through them, and consolidating unity within the revolutionary movement. 

Our name comes from the Hundred Flowers Campaign led by Mao Zedong, which encouraged the masses to express their opinions about problems in Chinese society and the leadership of the Communist Party. The open and democratic debate sparked by the campaign raised the consciousness and practical engagement of the masses as masters of their own destiny. It is in the spirit of this campaign, and with an eye toward holding open and fearless debate among communists, that we have started this publication.

As contradictions sharpen in the US and around the world, there is a dire need for revolutionary struggle. Since the capitalist reversal in 1976, China has gradually transformed into an imperialist power, and there are no longer any socialist countries to look towards. The reversal led to divisions among communist forces around the world. In the US, the few revolutionary forces that existed collapsed or retreated into revisionism in the decades that followed. Today, our forces remain cloistered and divided. 

The objective conditions for revolution are growing by the day. Yet with weak and dispersed communist formations, the workers’ movement is co-opted by the ruling class through their lackeys on the “left” and funneled into dead ends. As US imperialism continues to decline, it has intensified its inter-imperialist competition against Russia and China. Crises continue to multiply and the monopoly capitalist class hurtles toward more war and fascism to try to save itself. We hope that our journal will bring communists together to analyze and debate the situation in the world today, and that it will be a helpful tool in empowering the people to change it.

We believe we must struggle tirelessly through our differences to advance the class struggle and revolution. Our aim is to collaborate widely on this project and create a platform for disparate groups and individuals to engage in discussion over key issues. We are beginning by sharing writing from members of our collective, but we invite all those who share this perspective and feel inspired to contribute to contact us. This effort is a small step we can take to strengthen the forces of revolution on the long and difficult road towards defeating the people’s oppressors once and for all.