This is Bob Avakian (BA) back with more serious talk about revolution—how we could really make a revolution.

For a revolution to succeed, especially in a country like this, there must be three basic conditions.

1. A crisis in society and government so sharp and deep that those who have ruled over us, for so long, can no longer do so in the “normal” way that people have been conditioned to accept.

2. A revolutionary people in the millions and millions, with their “allegiance” to this system broken, and their determination to fight for a more just society greater than their fear of the violent repression of this system. Masses of people who feel in their bones that, no matter what, we can no longer afford to live under this system, and a radical change is urgently necessary.

3. An organized revolutionary force—made up of continually growing numbers of people, from among the most oppressed but also from many other parts of society—a force which has the most consistently scientific approach to building for and then carrying out revolution, and which is increasingly looked to by masses of people to lead them to bring about the radical change that is urgently needed.

Soon, I’m going to be getting directly into how a revolution, involving millions of people, could actually defeat and dismantle the institutions that now violently enforce this oppressive system. But right here, we need to get deeper into these three conditions for revolution and how that relates to what is happening now, and what could be possible.

The first condition is rapidly developing. As I have said, everything is very likely coming to a head and coming up for grabs very soon, with the presidential election this year a sharp focus of the fight between the dominating ruling class parties—Democrats and Republicans—a fight that is very likely to break all out of the bounds of the “normal way” they exercise power over the people, and keep their whole murderous system going.

The third condition has to do with what we (the revcoms—revolutionary communists) are doing: working every day to bring forward the thousands now who will be the organized force to lead millions to actually make the revolution that is urgently needed.

And the second condition has to do with you: the need for you, others like you, and people from many different parts of society, to become part of the thousands getting organized, now, for this revolution, with the aim of reaching and moving millions to seize on this rare time for revolution.

It is really important to understand this: With thousands organized into the ranks of the revolution, millions can be won to revolution; and with millions won to revolution, there could be a real possibility for this revolution to win.

This takes us back to the three conditions for revolution, and how they are all tied together.

Society is being torn apart. The “stability of daily life”—a stability full of horrors for masses of people—will be repeatedly disrupted and increasingly shattered. Things cannot stay the same as they have been—there will be a radical change one way or the other. Everything that is going on now is heading toward, and could soon become, an all-out crisis in this country, with the very nature of society, and how it is governed, being directly battled out in a way that hasn’t happened since the Civil War in the 1860s.

This could lead to something even more terrible than “normal life” under this system—making life even more unbearable, or even impossible, for the masses of people everywhere. But there is also this very important positive potential: In this developing situation now, which is continually becoming more intense, “the forces for the revolution that is urgently needed could grow, quickly, from small numbers to thousands, and then millions, and get in position to go for the whole thing. How? Through the work of those who are won to this revolution “getting out the message broadly among the people, shining a light on the deeper reality of what is happening and why, bringing out that there IS an alternative to living this way, and struggling with people to break with all their wrong ways of thinking and get with the revolution.”

(That is from the very important statement Revolution—Building Up The Basis to Go For The Whole Thing With A Real Chance To Win: Strategic Orientation And Practical Approach, which can be found at revcom.us.)

That statement goes on to make clear what the basic approach is that we revcoms are applying in building for this revolution, now:

In all that we are doing, all the struggle we are waging, we are applying the overall approach of Fight the Power, and Transform the People—for Revolution, with the aim of achieving the three prepares: prepare the ground (the situation in society), prepare masses of people, and prepare the leadership, for the all-out revolutionary struggle.

We are uniting with and mobilizing people to stand up against the injustices and outrages constantly perpetrated by this system, defending people from attacks on their rights and their lives, and waging fierce struggle to break people out of the bullshit ways of thinking and acting that they are caught up in, winning them to become revolutionary emancipators of humanity.

And this is what you need to become part of doing, now, so this rare opportunity for revolution does not get wasted, thrown away—and instead there is a real chance to break on through and bring into being a truly emancipating alternative to this terrible world that we are now forced to live in, and the even worse future that looms before us, under the domination of this system of capitalism-imperialism.

Next: I’m gonna get right into how we could win: how a revolution involving millions of people could actually defeat and dismantle the institutions that now violently enforce this oppressive system.

But I will end this message with this:

Especially at a time like this—a time when big things are up in the world, affecting the whole future of humanity...when those big-time exploiters and oppressors who rule over us in this country are bitterly divided among themselves and increasingly unable to hold things together as a “unified” ruling class...when there is not just an urgent need but a real possibility to seize on this situation to overthrow them altogether—if you are NOT getting with the revcoms (revolutionary communists) who are working every day for this revolution, if you are not part of working to bring about this revolution, then what the hell are you doing?!