FIGHT THE POWER, AND TRANSFORM THE PEOPLE, FOR REVOLUTION
Welcome to the site of REVOLUTION, revcom.us, after a week in which the United States escalated its threats against Russia, people got a giant wake-up shock on abortion, and revolutionary forces fought to bring something positive and emancipating out of it all. Our issue covers all of that and more, but first read, and reflect on, the following, with this past week in mind:
Things are not as they were in the past, and the reality is this: The profound divisions, within the ruling class, and in the society overall, cannot be smoothed over—they are only going to become deeper and sharper, more acute and antagonistic. Here is the fundamental truth that needs to be clearly and deeply understood: These divisions
cannot be resolved within the framework that has existed, and has held things together, for nearly 150 years, since shortly after the end of the Civil War which led to the abolition of slavery—they cannot be resolved on the basis of the capitalist “democracy” that has been the “normal” means of capitalist rule (dictatorship) for so long.
And:
This rare situation, with the deepening and sharpening conflicts among the ruling powers, and in the society overall, provides a stronger basis and greater openings to break the hold of this system over masses of people.
It is extremely important to deeply understand this:
As this situation develops, and the ruling class is more and more unable to rule in the old way, society and daily life for masses of people, from different parts of society, can become increasingly unsettled and chaotic, with frequent “disruptions” of the “normal” way things have been.
And as the “the normal way” society has been ruled is failing to hold things together—and society is increasingly being ripped apart—this can shake people’s belief that “the way things have always been” is the only way things can be. It can make people more open to questioning—in a real sense it can force people to question—the way things have been, and whether they have to stay that way. And this is all the more likely to happen if the revolutionary forces are out among the people shining a light on the deeper reality of what is happening, and why, and bringing out that there IS an alternative to living this way.
The above is from the extremely important talk from Bob Avakian, “SOMETHING TERRIBLE, OR SOMETHING TRULY EMANCIPATING: Profound Crisis, Deepening Divisions, The Looming Possibility Of Civil War—And The Revolution That Is Urgently Needed. A Necessary Foundation, A Basic Roadmap For This Revolution."
This past week has borne out the great and ongoing relevance of this work, in particular around the two major social fault lines—the move of the fascist Supreme Court toward wiping out the right to abortion and the escalating involvement of the U.S. in the war in Ukraine, with the increasing danger of nuclear war—that we began this week’s guide with. Let’s start with abortion.
For months revcoms united with others to sound the alarm and call on people to get mobilized. Those who came together to form Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights (RU4AR) fought the ignorance of this assault among the broad masses, the cover-up and capitulation-in-advance by the “pro-choice” movement, and the general despair in society by those overwhelmed by it all… and then something totally unexpected happened.
Monday night someone—nobody knows exactly who—“leaked” the draft Supreme Court decision by the ultra-reactionary and fanatical fascist Justice Alito that not only overturned the right to abortion, but did so in the nastiest of terms. What’s more, the reasoning of Alito’s draft by implication threatened other critical rights like marriage equality and the basic rights of LGBTQ people altogether, the right for people of different races to marry (yes, interracial marriage was legally banned in 16 states as late as 1967!), and a host of other critical rights people now take for granted.
Fortunately, a core of people—that is, RU4AR—had forged itself through hammering out together the stakes of this fight and daring to go up against the so-called leaders of the “pro-choice” movement who were intent on suffocating struggle. That core fought to become a presence in society—a magnetic political pole around which those who wanted to fight this could gather—by going into the streets, at first with at most a few hundred and usually a few dozen.
They didn’t give up.
Then the Alito leak hit. Nobody anticipated it, and the person who took the risk to do this could not know in advance the result. As it turned out, this “accident” occurred at a time when there was a force—RU4AR—that had been working and fighting and was ready to act on and give shape to and stoke the outrage and drive home the point that this fight is not over—it could be won… and the stakes are extremely high in winning it, for women… and for humanity. We cover this, principally through our link to the special “Revolution, Nothing Less Dispatch” here, as well as other stories and videos. Spread the link… and spread the fight. This week is crucial—RU4AR has called for National Week of Action May 8-14, climaxing in major marches on May 14. Go here to find out more. And go here to dig into the critical work on this from Bob Avakian (BA), “The Fight for Abortion Rights and the Emancipation of Women.”
The second major development this week was in the Ukraine war, which has now devolved, in its main character, into a proxy war between Russia and the U.S.-headed NATO bloc. Not only did Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin shift the U.S. goal from “helping Ukraine defend itself” to “weakening the Russian army”… not only did top Democrat Nancy Pelosi declare that the U.S. would support Ukraine “until victory”… but it came to light—again, through leaks—that the U.S. provided the intelligence that enabled Ukrainian forces to kill a number of Russian generals and to destroy the principal ship of the Russian navy. This is really like using a high-powered firehose to spray gasoline instead of water on a fire already threatening to jump out of control, with potentially catastrophic—even civilization-ending—consequences: a nuclear war that escalates out of control.
And yet in America, most people—including way too many people who in the past might have taken an antiwar position—are blindly following what could be a path into the nuclear inferno. What is needed is what BA called for in the extremely important recent article “World War 3 and Dangerous Idiocy”:
…[I]t is vitally important for the masses of people, in this country, and other countries aligned with it, as well as in Russia—for people everywhere—to finally and fully wake up now, recognize the real, and profoundly heavy, stakes involved, and act in accordance with our actual interests—the interests of all of humanity: demanding that this war in Ukraine, and the involvement (direct and indirect) of the imperialists on both sides in this war, be STOPPED, before it not only causes even greater suffering for the people of Ukraine but possibly escalates into a far more terrible conflict which causes massive destruction and death, on a whole other level, and even possibly poses a threat to the very existence of humanity itself.
Last week, one of our readers posted an earlier piece from BA, “Ukraine: World War 3 Is the Real Danger, Not a Repeat of World War 2,” on a listserve of former members of Students for a Democratic Society, a radical student movement of the 1960s. A number of people replied to this, and the overwhelming majority were negative. But BA’s piece had struck a nerve—they felt compelled to read through it and put out their arguments. And BA went to work on that. This week, our most important new article comes from BA, his in-depth reply to the critics:
There will be no movement of the kind Bob Avakian calls for above without sharp struggle with HOW people think. We are urging readers to read this new article more than once, to discuss it (including on Zoom calls with the Revolution Club), and to learn from the example of the reader who posted this… and then send us the responses you get and how you try to answer them.
On both these fronts and in different ways, the revcoms were acting on the situation, fighting to change how people think and winning them to act. One key way—the most key way right now—to change how people think is through The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show on YouTube. Last week, The RNL Show posted its 100th episode! This episode gives you the sweep of the show over these past two years and more, it connects you with those who watch the show, and it gives you ways to be part of the growing community around the show. It bristles with revolution! Watch this episode; spread it. There is nothing else like this on the internet. Boosting the audience for this 100th episode and for the show overall—winning new subscribers everywhere we go in this period of upsurge—is critical for the movement for revolution to bust out of its still way-too-narrow confines.
Acting on the situation last week also meant taking to the streets on May 1—in Los Angeles and New York City, in several cities in Colombia, and in Berlin—around these slogans:
NO US/NATO WAR WITH RUSSIA! NO WORLD WAR 3!
IT’S THIS SYSTEM, NOT HUMANITY, THAT NEEDS TO BECOME EXTINCT!WE DON’T ACCEPT THEIR FUTURE
IT’S TIME TO GET ORGANIZED FOR A REAL REVOLUTION
In addition to coverage which we posted on Tuesday of last week, we have a story from Berlin and the speech given by Noche Diaz, national spokesperson of the Revolution Club, in Los Angeles.
See the table of contents below for other important articles this issue. And see you in the streets, all week long!
* New from Bob Avakian
- THE WAR IN UKRAINE
AND THE INTERESTS OF HUMANITY:
A SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONARY APPROACH
VS. HARMFUL CONFUSION AND CHAUVINIST DELUSION
Bob Avakian Responds
To People Who Should Know Better (and Maybe Once Did) - Revolution: Hope of the Hopeless
Bob Avakian Speaks To
“WE GOT NO FUTURE
AND WE’RE GONNA DIE YOUNG ANYWAY”
* The fight for abortion rights
- The Supreme Court Moves to End Abortion Rights: "Taking to the Streets," And Refusing to Let This Go Down. Bob Avakian Speaks to This Critical Juncture in the Fight for Abortion Rights, the Road Forward, and Avoiding Dead Ends (posted 5/9)
- DISPATCH #1 from The RNL Show: Now Is the Time to Take to the Streets & Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights
- From Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights: Call for National Week of Action, May 8-14
- Coast to Coast, Cities Big and Small
Thousands of Middle, High School and College Students Walk Out to Stop the Supreme Court from Overturning Roe v Wade!
“Overturn Roe? Hell No!” - Overturn Roe? Hell No! STOP the Supreme Court from Taking Away the Right to Abortion!
Furious, Youthful Outpourings of Righteous Protest Rock the Country from Coast to Coast - The Fight for Abortion Rights and the Emancipation of Women, by Bob Avakian
- Worth Reading This Week: On the Draft Opinion Overturning Roe v. Wade
- “I had an illegal abortion in Birmingham, Alabama in 1969 #Never Again”
Powerful Abortion Emergency Speak-Out at Revolution Books in Harlem
* Interview with Bob Avakian
* Articles by BA of continuing importance, on the war in Ukraine
- Ukraine: World War 3 Is the Real Danger, Not a Repeat of World War 2
- World War 3 and Dangerous Idiocy
* Revolutionary Internationalist May Day 2022
- Sights of May 1 in Los Angeles and New York City
- Noche Diaz, National Spokesperson for the Revolution Clubs, speaking at Los Angeles march
- Revolutionary May 1 in Berlin, Germany
- Revolutionary Internationalist May Day Around the World
* The REAL “Wave of Terror” in Israel: Intensified Apartheid Repression and Genocidal Killings OF PALESTINIANS (Updated)
* From the International Emergency Committee to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners Now: Teachers Across Iran Protest on May Day—Defying Regime Crackdown Dual-National Political Prisoner Ahmadreza Djalali Threatened with Execution