Revolution #210, August 29, 2010
OUTRAGEOUS VERDICT!
VIDEOGRAPHER FOUND GUILTY,
TAKEN DIRECTLY TO JAIL!
The following is from a statement received by Revolution, dated Thursday, August 26: After 9 months of vengeful and unrelenting pursuit of a conviction by the Cook County (Illinois) State’s Attorney and the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago (EHSC), a videographer was found guilty today of trespass, resisting a police officer, and battery for the "crime" of videotaping a brief but newsworthy statement by Sunsara Taylor at the EHSC. The young man was maced and brutalized during the arrest, and this was acknowledged by police at trial, yet he was the one charged and now found guilty.
We ARE BUILDING A Movement For Revolution
For the latest updates and guidance on the campaign "The Revolution We Need… The Leadership We Have," check out the "This Week" column that appears in every issue of Revolution newspaper and online at revcom.us.
Murderous NYPD Rampage in Harlem
Early Sunday morning, August 8, Harlem, New York City. People had been out barbecuing and listening to music at a block party all day Saturday and into the night. It was a typical New York City thing on a beautiful summer day.
All that changed when police converged on the street party.
Glenn Beck, the "Founding Fathers"
...and A REAL Radical Alternative
Over the past few years, Glenn Beck has called the overwhelmingly poor and Black survivors of Hurricane Katrina locked down in the Superdome—in his words—"scumbags." He has ranted that progressives are a "cancer" that have to be "eradicated" from America. On an episode of his TV show, Beck envisioned—with barely concealed glee—an armed uprising of "bubbas" (white racists). He claims Barack Obama's White House is highly influenced if not run by communists, and that Obama "has a deep seated hatred for white people and white culture." A wide-ranging array of right-wing militia members, Tea Party mobs, and heavily armed desperate people get much of their picture of the world, along with organizational direction, from him.
Capitalist Private Property Creates Monumental Social Disasters
Gulf of Mexico Oil: Ecological and Human Catastrophe
The capitalist system we live under is hooked on profits from oil, gas, and coal. The capitalists depend on these fuels to run their economy—even though the "greenhouse gases" from burning them is causing global climate changes that could threaten the very existence of life on this planet. Oil companies are in cutthroat competition to control fuel sources and to drill in environmentally hazardous areas. That's why BP (and others) has been drilling in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, without any idea of how to stop an oil spill at that depth. BP rejected a $500,000 safety device that might have prevented the oil gusher at its Deepwater Horizon well. Why? In their calculations based on maximizing profits, the safety device cost too much. The U.S. government, representing the overall interests of the capitalists, gave the go-ahead to the Gulf drilling.
- Centerfold (PDF)
From Ike to Mao and Beyond
My Journey from Mainstream America to Revolutionary Communist
A Memoir by Bob Avakian
from Chapter 3: The World Begins to Open
Arbitrary Authority
Even though I did this whole traffic boy thing in grammar school, I had also at a very early age internalized the idea that arbitrary authority wasn't deserving of respect. I had gotten from my parents a strong sense that you should not have to follow people who required unthinking obedience—the drill sergeant or the military dictator being the embodiment of that. I don't know if they ever articulated it exactly that way, but that was sort of a general value or outlook that I got.
Some Principles for Building A Movement for Revolution
In each issue of Revolution, you'll find "Some Principles for Building A Movement for Revolution," by Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. The events covered in this issue of Revolution demonstrate the critical importance of these principles, and of proceeding from them.
- Poster (PDF)
Needed: $10,000 for Publication
Coming soon from the Revolutionary Communist Party:
CONSTITUTION FOR THE NEW SOCIALIST REPUBLIC IN NORTH AMERICA
The RCP, USA announces with great enthusiasm the upcoming publication of the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal).
This Constitution will be a historic and visionary model of the future revolutionary socialist society and government. At the same time, it will give people a very concrete sense of how the new power would be constituted and exercised in the new society. People will get a feel, and an in-depth understanding, of how that new, revolutionary state power could work to truly usher in a new world, a world in which people would want to live and could flourish.
Pakistan Floods: Disaster on Top of Disaster
The country of Pakistan and its people are being devastated by a flood of unprecedented proportions. Heavy rains, called monsoons, are always expected at this time of the year in South Asia. But at the end of this July and early August, more than half of the normal annual monsoon rainfall—usually spread over a three-month season—fell on Pakistan in just one week. Pakistan's major river, the Indus, swelled to record levels, and massive amounts of water flowed over the banks.
40th Anniversary of Chicano Moratorium
August 29, 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium, when over 25,000 Chicanos (people of Mexican descent born or raised in the U.S.) from across the country marched down Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles to demand an end to the Vietnam War and an end to their oppression as a people. They marched under the slogan "Raza sí, Guerra no!"
Special Issue of Revolution on Israel
A special issue of Revolution on the nature and role of Israel is in the works. It will give students on college campuses—along with a broader audience—a vivid and rigorously documented picture of Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians and reveal the role of Israel around the world. It will speak directly and honestly to the toughest questions students and others have.
From A World to Win News Service
Feeding Iraq to the Wolves
August 9, 2010. A World to Win News Service. The U.S. and UK "killed our country," Saddam Hussein's former foreign minister Tariq Aziz told the UK Guardian in an interview published August 7. Now it is "leaving Iraq to the wolves."
Attacked by Police, Videographer Faces 3 Years in Jail
From a statement received by Revolution:
A young man is facing 3 years in jail. His crime? Videotaping. Yes, videotaping a very brief but newsworthy statement by Sunsara Taylor in November 2009 at the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago (EHSC), in Skokie, IL.
Stolen Lives Induction Ceremony Celebrates the Lives of Those Killed by Police and the Struggle for Justice
This correspondence is from someone working with the Stolen Lives Project:
On July 18, I attended the 2010 Stolen Lives Induction Ceremony (SLIC), held by the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation, in New York City. These SLICs are held every year, and are an important part of building urgently needed resistance to this ongoing and immense crime of this system, the literal stealing of thousands of lives of a criminalized generation by the system's enforcers, the police. These ceremonies have always been solemn, enraging, and uplifting occasions. Family members speak the stories of how their loved ones, mainly young Black and Latino men, died at the hands of police terror, the subsequent cover-ups by the authorities, and the systematic demonization of those killed by the powers-that-be.
It is only possible today to conjecture, and to dream, about what expressions social contradictions will assume in the future communist society and how they will be resolved. How will the problem be approached of combining advanced productive forces, which require a significant degree of centralization, with decentralization and local initiative (whatever "local" means then)? How will the rearing of new generations of people – now carried out in atomized form, and through oppressive relations, in the family – be approached in communist society? How will attention be paid to developing specific areas of knowledge, or to concentrating on particular projects, without making these the "special preserve" of certain people? How will the contradiction be handled of enabling people to acquire all-around skills and knowledge and at the same time meeting the need for some specialization? What about the relation between people’s individual initiatives and personal pursuits on the one hand, and their social responsibilities and contributions on the other? It seems that it will always be the case that, around any particular question, or controversy, there will be a group – and as a general rule a minority at first – that will have a more correct, advanced understanding, but how will this be utilized for the overall benefit while at the same time preventing groups from solidifying into "interest groups"? What will be the relations between different areas and regions – since there will no longer be different countries – and how will the contradictions between what might be called "local communities" and the higher associations, all the way up to the world level, be handled? What will it mean concretely that people are truly citizens of the world, particularly in terms of where they live, work, and so on – will they "rotate" from one area of the world to another? How will the question of linguistic and cultural diversity versus a world union of humanity be handled? And will people then, even with all their understanding of history, really be able to believe that a society such as we are imprisoned in now actually existed – let alone that it was declared to be eternal and the highest pinnacle humanity was capable of reaching? Again, these questions, and many, many more, can only be the object of speculation, and of dreaming, today; but even to pose such questions, and to attempt to visualize how they might be addressed – in a society where class divisions, social antagonism, and political domination no longer exist – is itself tremendously liberating for anyone without a vested interest in the present order.
Bob Avakian,
Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA
Democracy, Can’t We Do Better Than That?
(Chicago: Banner Press, 1986), p. 266
THERE IS NO "PERMANENT NECESSITY" FOR THINGS TO BE THIS WAY
A RADICALLY DIFFERENT AND BETTER WORLD CAN BE BROUGHT INTO BEING THROUGH REVOLUTION
One of the more important statements in the Manifesto from our Party (Communism: The Beginning of a New Stage) is the quote from Marx: "Once the inner connection is grasped, all theoretical belief in the permanent necessity of existing conditions breaks down before their collapse in practice." This is not just a matter of abstract theory—it has a broader effect. That belief weighs heavily on people who don't like the way things are—they are weighed down by a belief in the "permanent necessity of existing conditions." Over and over we are confronted by the fact that people can't see beyond the way things are now.
What Is Communist Revolution?
It is this system that has got us in the situation we’re in today, and keeps us there. And it is through revolution to get rid of this system that we ourselves can bring a much better system into being. The ultimate goal of this revolution is communism: A world where people work and struggle together for the common good…Where everyone contributes whatever they can to society and gets back what they need to live a life worthy of human beings…Where there are no more divisions among people in which some rule over and oppress others, robbing them not only of the means to a decent life but also of knowledge and a means for really understanding, and acting to change, the world.
This revolution is both necessary and possible.
Who Is Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party?
In Bob Avakian, the Chairman of our Party, we have the kind of rare and precious leader who does not come along very often. A leader who has given his heart, and all his knowledge, skills and abilities to serving the cause of revolution and the emancipation of humanity. Bob Avakian came alive as a revolutionary in the 1960s—taking part in the great movements of those days, and especially working and struggling closely with the most advanced revolutionary force in the U.S. at that time, the Black Panther Party. Since then, and while many others have given up, Bob Avakian has worked and struggled tirelessly to find the way to go forward, having learned crucial lessons and built lasting organization that could continue the struggle, and aim to take it higher, while uniting with the same struggle throughout the world. He has kept on developing the theory and strategy for making revolution. He played the key role in founding our Party in 1975, and since then he has continued the battle to keep the Party on the revolutionary road, to carry out work with a strong revolutionary orientation. He has deeply studied the experience of revolution—the shortcomings as well as the great achievements—and many different fields of human endeavor, through history and throughout the world—and he has brought the science and method of revolution to a whole new level, so that we can not only fight but really fight to win. Bob Avakian has developed the scientific theory and strategic orientation for how to actually make the kind of revolution we need, and he is leading our Party as an advanced force of this revolution. He is a great champion and a great resource for people here, and indeed people all over the world. The possibility for revolution, right here, and for the advance of the revolution everywhere, is greatly heightened because of Bob Avakian and the leadership he is providing. And it is up to us to get with this leadership…to find out more about Bob Avakian and the Party he heads…to learn from his scientific method and approach to changing the world…to build this revolutionary movement with our Party at the core…to defend this leadership as the precious thing it is…and, at the same time, to bring our own experience and understanding to help strengthen the process of revolution and enable the leadership we have to keep on learning more and leading even better.
- Works by Bob Avakian (PDF)
Now available
The Ascendancy of Obama
and the Continued Need
for Resistance and Liberation
A Dialogue between
Cornel West and Carl Dix
This historic event took place in Harlem, N.Y. on July 14, 2009
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Video Available!
- Rough cut of the video without the audience Q&A
- Rough cut of the of the Q&A that followed the dialogue
- Click here for the audio only of the July 14 dialogue (mp3)
- Watch the Youtube video announcement of the July 14 dialogue
- Response to Obama's "No Excuses" speech at NAACP convention by Carl Dix (Part 1 / Part 2)
Go to YouTube for these must-see videos:
- Sunsara Taylor
- Carl Dix
- Joe Veale
- "Next Stop Revolution"
Inaugural issue now online! demarcations-journal.org
Demarcations
A Journal of Communist Theory and Polemic
Demarcations: A Journal of Communist Theory and Polemic seeks to set forth, defend, and further advance the theoretical framework for the beginning of a new stage of communist revolution in the contemporary world. This journal will promote the perspectives of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.
¡FUERA CON TODOS LOS DIOSES! Desencadenando la mente y cambiando radicalmente el mundo
AWAY WITH ALL GODS! Unchaining the Mind and Radically Changing the World
Is believing in gods actually harmful? How has Christianity for centuries served as an ideology of conquest and subjugation? Why is the "Bible Belt" in the U.S. also the "lynching belt"? Why is there a rise of religious fundamentalism throughout the world? In the intensifying conflict between U.S. imperialism and Islamic fundamentalism, is the only choice to take one side or the other? Why is patriarchy and the oppression of women foundational to so many religions? Can people be good without god? These are just some of the questions explored in this provocative work by Bob Avakian.
Voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party,USA
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There are many websites that link to revcom.us, and this site sometimes links to other sites. Such links do not imply endorsement by Revolution newspaper of the content of those other websites (nor are those other websites responsible for the content of revcom.us).
Three Main Points
What do we in the Revolutionary Communist Party want people to learn from all that is exposed and revealed in this newspaper?
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The Objective Situation, the Bush Regime and the Bourgeois Elections |
An Assessment of the Momentum Towards War Between the United States and Iran: Causes and Potential Ramifications |
"The politics of the ‘possible’ is the politics of monstrosity. To adhere to, or acquiesce in, the politics of the ‘possible’ is to support, and actually to facilitate, monstrosity." |
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Is it right to promote individual leaders? Check out... 1995 Leadership Resolutions on Leaders and Leadership: Part II: Some Points on the Question of Revolutionary Leadership and Individual Leaders |
"What we see in contention here with Jihad on the one hand and McWorld/McCrusade on the other hand, are historically outmoded strata among colonized and oppressed humanity up against historically outmoded ruling strata of the imperialist system. These two reactionary poles reinforce each other, even while opposing each other. If you side with either of these ‘outmodeds,’ you end up strengthening both." |
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