A Model Fundraising Letter for the BA Everywhere Campaign, April 2014

 April 14, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

We are posting this letter developed by several people working on raising funds for BA Everywhere. We thought this will be helpful as one model in reaching out to sit down during April with many people who are deeply concerned about the environmental crisis. This isn't intended as one-size-fits-all – it can be edited and personalized. We would welcome seeing other letters people have developed.

Dear :

I am writing to ask you to meet this month. This year, as we mark Earth Day, we need a new world, a radically different world. As scientists across the globe are sounding the alarm about the environmental emergency now approaching the tipping point of irreversible harm… as millions in the poorest countries already face an unsustainable environmental hell… as the potential of an uninhabitable planet is part of a foreseeable future… and as thousands are resisting and millions more turn their eyes to this devastating trajectory…

What is needed is the most scientific understanding not only of the physical processes of global warming, acidification, accelerating species extinctions and the many intertwined manifestations of ecological destruction, but also the most scientific understanding of why governments, countries and those sitting in the world's seats of power are not addressing this insane trajectory in the ways that would be needed to actually stop and reverse it. A global system of ruthless competition for profit among capitalists and among nation-states cannot and will not meet the needs of humanity; nor will it safeguard the rich diversity of life on this planet. This international system of production is so thoroughly reliant on fossil fuels that some scientists and writers make the analogy to slavery in the foundation of America's vast wealth — and the fact that it took civil war to uproot and abolish the literal ownership of slaves.

Serious examination of societal root causes and pathways to radical course-change is essential in this moment. It is for this reason that I am inviting and urging you to meet this month to discuss how you can contribute to the BA Everywhere Campaign.

Bob Avakian (BA) has developed a strategy for real revolution and a vision and framework for a radically new state power, through a deep study of the revolutions of the 20th century — the shortcomings as well as the great achievements — and of many different fields of human endeavor, through history and throughout the world. His new synthesis of communism has inspired a draft constitution for the revolutionary society that makes one of the fundamental principles governing the economy, "protecting, preserving, and enhancing the ecosystems and biodiversity of the planet for current and future generations." (From the Revolutionary Communist Party's Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal))

This needs to be widely known and debated — from the university science departments and boards of directors of the environmental organizations, to the public schools and the living rooms of the housing projects and barrios. Think about the difference it would make if people in every corner of society were measuring and debating solutions that propose adjusting (and even justifying) the current trajectory of this system, up against a thoroughly realistic and radically liberating framework for society with the means and orientation to prioritize the flourishing of human potential and the devotion of necessary resources, creativity and expertise to the urgent problem of halting and reversing the destruction of the global ecosystem.

This is possible — and very needed! BA Everywhere… Imagine the Difference It Could Make is a multi-faceted, national campaign to raise major funds for the large-scale promotion and distribution of Avakian's work and vision throughout society.

Let's meet, very soon, to get into this.

Sincerely,

Contributions can be made to the Bob Avakian Institute. Learn more about their work on their website, thebobavakianinstitute.org.

To learn more about Avakian's and the RCP's work, here are materials to look at before we meet:

The Revolutionary Communist Party's Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal) is available at Revolution Books or online here.

In 2010, the RCP published State of Emergency! The Plunder of Our Planet, The Environmental Catastrophe & the Real Revolutionary Solution (Click here to read, or download PDF).

In 2013, the film BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS! Bob Avakian Live was released. It is a film of a major talk given by Avakian deeply going into the most critical problems humanity faces and the possibility and viability of the revolutionary solution. (Click here to learn more about this extraordinary film and to order a copy.)

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