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Articles in this issue (scroll down or click to read article below):

  • Follow Bob Avakian (BA) on social media!
  • War Update on Gaza: Israel Escalates Turning Gaza into a Death Camp, and Chuck Schumer Demands a Different Face for Israeli Genocide
  • The Democratic Party Is Part of the Problem, Not the Solution

    The Campaign to “Drive AIPAC Out of the Democratic Party” Is a Potentially Disastrous Dead-End Detour
  • SXSW Update: Fascist Abbott’s Attack on Squirrel Flower Backfires
  • No Business As Usual Amidst a Genocide! Creative, Disruptive Protests in NYC and San Francisco
  • Check It Out: The Zone of Interest

    From a reader

  • On the Brink of Nuclear War: U.S. and Western Powers, Russia, Threaten Escalations over Ukraine
  • Having a Mental Breakdown While Black = Police License to Kill
  • VIDEO:

    Interview with Raymond Lotta On Calling Out Yale Professor Timothy Snyder's Lies About Communism
  • Not Another Foreign Occupation, and Not So-Called “Free Elections” Either:

    The Crisis in Haiti Cries Out for REAL Revolution

    Sweep Away the Domination of the U.S. Imperialist System and Its Haitian Enablers

    Empower, Unleash and Lead the Haitian Masses to Repair and Rebuild Haiti Based on the Needs of the People, in Haiti and Around the World

  • VIDEO:

    Rafael Kadaris on the crisis in Haiti
  • American Crime Case #80: 1915-1934: The U.S. Invasion, Occupation and Domination of Haiti
  • Contribute Now to Support the Texas Revcoms at the Border in Eagle Pass
  • From the International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners Now (IEC)

    Islamic Theocrats Step Up Misogynistic Repression 

    Fire and Fury Against Compulsory Hijab Continue to Ignite in Iran 

  • From Atash/Fire #148, Journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    THE REALITY OF COMMUNISM

    Part 6: Totalitarianism: A Yardstick That Cannot Measure Reality 

  • VIDEO

    Resist The Anti-Communist Brainwash... Step Into The Revolution For A Whole New World

    Episode 187 of The RNL — Revolution, Nothing Less! — Show

  • From the Revcoms (Revolutionary Communists)

    REVOLUTIONBUILDING UP THE BASIS TO GO FOR THE WHOLE THING, WITH A REAL CHANCE TO WIN:STRATEGIC ORIENTATION AND PRACTICAL APPROACH
  • A Message to the Revcoms and Everyone Else Yearning for a Better World

    THIS Is A “Game-Changer”: The Bob Avakian Interviews

    Part One

  • A Message to the Revcoms and Everyone Else Yearning for a Better World

    THIS Is A “Game-Changer”: The Bob Avakian Interviews

    Part 2: Build a NATIONAL Movement

  • A Message to the Revcoms and Everyone Else Yearning for a Better World

    THIS Is A “Game-Changer”: The Bob Avakian Interviews

    Part 3: Key Relationships: Getting the Dynamics Right

  • A Message to the Revcoms and Everyone Else Yearning for a Better World

    THIS Is A “Game-Changer”: The Bob Avakian Interviews

    Part Four: Once More on Important Relations and Dynamics

  • Real Revolution, In This Time:What the Powers-That-Be Don't Want You to Know

    A series of social media dispatches from Bob Avakian

  • Letter from a reader on Bob Avakian's Social Media

    The High Stakes of Thousands Getting Into These Now
  • Reflections from a reader:

    Genocide in Gaza, This Rare Time, and the Urgent Need—and Real Potential—to Spread @BobAvakianOfficial Far and Wide 
  • 2024 SCENARIOS (A SKETCH), AND THE CHALLENGES
  • U.S. CONSTITUTION: AN EXPLOITERS’ VISION OF FREEDOM—ADDED NOTES (AND BRIEF INTRODUCTION)
  • From The RNL Show:

    Bob Avakian on Why He Wrote the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America
  • 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

  • REVOLUTION IS POSSIBLETHIS RARE TIME MUST BE SEIZED

    Important excerpts from “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating”*

  • REVOLUTION: MAJOR TURNING POINTS AND RARE OPPORTUNITIES

    Or... Why did Lenin talk about World War 1 as a “stage manager” of revolution?...

    And why did Mao say, We should thank Japan for invading China?

  • REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN

    Part 1: We Are Serious

  • REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN

    Part 2: A Scientifically Based Strategy

  • REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN

    Part 3: Civil War and Revolution

  • REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN

    Part 4: Hard Core Youth and the Revolution

  • REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN

    Part 5: Winning and Winning

  • Organizing for an Actual Revolution:7 Key Points
  • ALLEGIANCE
  • ALLEGIANCE: A Special RNL Show Dispatch
  • BOB AVAKIAN: A RADICALLY DIFFERENT LEADER—A WHOLE NEW FRAMEWORK FOR HUMAN EMANCIPATION

    Bob Avakian (BA) is the most important political thinker and leader in the world today.

  • STATE OF EMERGENCY:CHAINS ON PEOPLEWHO DESPERATELY NEED TO BE FREE

    A message from Bob Avakian, revolutionary leader, author and architect of a whole new framework for human emancipation: the new communism

  • VIDEO:

    STATE OF EMERGENCY: CHAINS ON PEOPLE WHO DESPERATELY NEED TO BE FREE, By Bob Avakian
  • What is that? Who said that? Say what?
  • A point in response to the (all too common) carping—especially from among people in “the educated middle class”—about our “promotion of one leader”:
  • “Cult”—An Ignorant and Cowardly Slander
  • Bob Avakian Speaks to “Cult”: A Ridiculous, Ignorant, and Irresponsible Accusation

    We Are Applying a Scientific Method and Approach to Understanding, and Transforming, the World To Emancipate Humanity

  • PUTTING AN END TO EXPLOITATION,AND ALL OPPRESSION
  • EXPLOITATION: WHAT IT IS,HOW TO PUT AN END TO IT
  • Killer Mike, Ice Cube,

    WHY CAPITALIST PROGRAMS and BOURGEOIS ASPIRATIONS CANNOT LEAD TO LIBERATIONandWHY WE NEED A REAL REVOLUTION
  • THE TRIALS OF FASCIST DONALD TRUMP,AND THE CRIMINAL NATURE OF THIS WHOLE SYSTEM

    Or: Don’t Be Played for Suckers by Trump’s Posturing, or the Democrats’ Posing as Defenders of Justice—We Need a Revolution and a Fundamentally Different and Far Better System

  • CAPITALISTS, ANTI-COMMUNISTS:BLATANT HYPOCRISY,GLARING CONTRADICTION
  • GOD, PREJUDICE, OPPRESSION, TERRORAND THE WAY OUT OF THIS MADNESS

    Oppressed people who are unable or unwilling to confront reality as it actually is, are condemned to remain enslaved and oppressed.

  • Resource Page on the Genocidal Assault on Palestine — And Israel as an Enforcer of Imperialism
  • A Timely Provocation from Bob Avakian
  • VIDEO

    Bob Avakian on the Two Meanings of “Never Again”
  • Essential writings from Bob Avakian On The Middle East, Israel and the Revolution — and the World — We Need
  • Take the Quiz! Israel: Perception & Reality

    Part 1. The Origins of the State of Israel, the Palestinians, and the Holocaust

  • Take the Quiz! Israel: Perception & Reality

    Part 2: Israel and Comparisons to Apartheid South Africa

  • Texas Anti-Immigrant Law Would Enable Every Pig in the State To Demand, “Show Me Your Papers!”
  • VIDEO

    Dueling visits to border by Biden and Trump. Same damn system!
  • Storm Clouds Darken at the Border
  • STOP The Demonization, Criminalization and Deportations of Immigrants and the Militarization of the Border!
  • Solidarity Statement from the International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners Now
  • From Atash/Fire, journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    On the Importance of Truth to Achieving Emancipation: A Letter to Narges Mohammadi from Somayeh Kargar
  • From the International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners Now (IEC)

    A Night of Cultural Revolt Full of Joy and Hope: Free Rebel Rapper Toomaj Salehi and ALL Iran’s Political Prisoners With Urgency
  • From Atash/Fire #143 

    Journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    The Reality of CommunismBourgeois Democracy Means Class Dictatorship of the Bourgeoisie 

    Part 1

  • From Atash/Fire #144, Journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    The Reality of CommunismThe Reality of Democracy and the Ideal of Democracy

    Part 2

  • From Atash/Fire #145, Journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    The Reality of Communism Democracy and Freedom of Expression—The Economic Base Is the Decisive Factor!

    Part 3       

  • From Atash/Fire #146, Journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    The Reality of Communism What Is Social Democracy and Why Is It a Capitalist Dictatorship?

    Part 4 

  • From Atash/Fire #147, journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    The Reality of CommunismRevisionist Democracy: Socialism in Name, Capitalism in Essence

    Part 

  • The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show Podcast!!

    A PODCAST for a time when revolution has become more possible...

  • A World in Flames: Imperialist Bloodbath in Ukraine Expands, War Preparations in East Asia Intensify
  • War in Ukraine: Frequently Asked Questions
  • Piercing the Lies, Digging Beneath the SurfaceThe Larger Dynamics of the World Imperialist System Driving the War in Ukraine...And a Lesson from When There Was a Genuinely Socialist Soviet Union
  • The War in Ukraine and the U.S. Threats Against China: A Resource Page

    Dangerous Developments, Imperialist Power Moves, Rank American Hypocrisy

  • BOB AVAKIAN FOR THE LIBERATION OF BLACK PEOPLEAND THE EMANCIPATION OF ALL HUMANITY
  • American Crime Case #12: The 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the Destruction of Black Wall Street
  • RACIAL OPPRESSIONCAN BE ENDED—BUT NOT UNDER THIS SYSTEM
  • A Resource Page:

    The Oppression of Black People & the Revolutionary Struggle to End All Oppression
  • Minstrels for Trump
  • IMPORTANT NOTICE:Nominations Now Open for Bootlickers Hall of Shame
  • Rich and Lively Engagement About “‘Woke’ Lunacy vs. Real Revolution” at Two Universities in North Carolina

    A Letter from a Professor 

  • “Woke” Lunacy vs. Real Revolution National Tour Hits Houston
  • “WOKE” IS A DESTRUCTIVE FORCEin the political, intellectual, artistic and ethical life of society
  • VIDEO:

    “Woke” Lunacy Vs. Real Revolution — Sunsara Taylor Speaks at UCLA
  • SCIENTIFIC COMMUNIST THEORYAND THE PROBLEM WITH “MASS LINE”
  • ANTI-SCIENTIFIC “ANTI-AUTHORITARIANISM”Serving American Imperialism and Promoting American Chauvinism
  • Reality and Distortions of Reality—Objective Truth and Subjective Influences
  • “DON’T WORRY ABOUT A NUCLEAR WAR—IF THERE IS ONE, RUSSIA WILL LOSE!”The Dangerous Demagoguery of Timothy SnyderOn Behalf of U.S. Imperialism and Its Proxy War in Ukraine

    by Bob Avakian

  • THE WAR IN UKRAINEAND THE INTERESTS OF HUMANITY:A SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONARY APPROACHVS. HARMFUL CONFUSION AND CHAUVINIST DELUSIONBob Avakian RespondsTo People Who Should Know Better (and Maybe Once Did)
  • Shameless American Chauvinism:“Anti-Authoritarianism” as a “Cover” for Supporting U.S. Imperialism

    New: Added Note by Bob Avakian

  • Translated into English, by revcom.us, from the blog Aurora Roja, of the Revolutionary Communist Organization, Mexico:

    REVOLUTIONARY HOPE

    New Possibilities Are Opening Up for Liberatory Revolution In the Midst of Acute Crises and Upheavals of the Capitalist System — It Is Urgent to Organize the Fight For Revolution

    Revolutionary Communist Organization, Mexico

  • ARTICLE:

    Follow Bob Avakian (BA) on social media!

    Updated

    REVOLUTION 16: Fairy Tales and Real Monsters: America, the myth... and the reality

    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 15: AMERICA: Truly a Model of DEPRAVED RACIST GENOCIDE

    Read more
    Close

    Break The Chains—Unleash The Fury Of Women As A Mighty Force For Revolution! A Special Message
    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 14: What is really to blame for women dying with their children trying to cross the border?
    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 13: "The Super Bowl—and super bad ways of thinking and acting, doing real harm"
    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 12: Madness—and getting beyond all this madness
    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 11: "... the overall developing situation... and revolution..."
    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 10: "Yes, a revolution, to overthrow this system... could win."
    Read more
    Close

    A Special Message: F*CK Snoop Dogg!
    Read more
    Close

    Breaking News

    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 9: "For a revolution to succeed... there must be three basic conditions"
    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 8:  "Revolution... it could happen... right here and right in this time..."
    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 7: Why is the U.S. supporting Israel's genocidal slaughter of Palestinians?
    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 6: Answering the arguments... that try to "justify" the genocidal slaughter of Palestinians
    Read more
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    REVOLUTION 5: Israel and Palestine: a terrible ironic twist of history
    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 4: “Why should I care about Palestine when we've got problems here?”
    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 3: "USA... number one imperialist oppressor"
    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 2: When has the USA been a "great" country?
    Read more
    Close

    REVOLUTION 1: "...those of you who are not afraid of the truth..."
    Read more
    Close

    As BA says in his first social media post, REVOLUTION — NUMBER ONE:
    “...those of you who are not afraid of the truth:
    get ready for messages coming at you...”

    Hear the truth that BA is bringing. Spread the word in real life, and online.
    Get people to follow BA on any and all platforms. Dig into serious discussion and debate... and stay tuned!

    Substack, Instagram, Facebook, X, Telegram, Threads, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube

    Spread the word about @bobavakianofficial with these flyers:
    Spread these designs from a revcom volunteer. Feel free to make other designs and provocations and send to getorganizeforrevolutiontour@gmail.com.
    See all designs >>
  • ARTICLE:

    War Update on Gaza: Israel Escalates Turning Gaza into a Death Camp, and Chuck Schumer Demands a Different Face for Israeli Genocide

    Thousands of Palestinians wait for food trucks in Rafah, March 12, 2024.

     

    Thousands of Palestinians wait for food trucks in Rafah, March 12, 2024.    Photo: AP

    In this past week, Israel’s conscious policy of starving the population of Gaza, especially killing vulnerable children, escalated with more massacres of people waiting for food, more attacks on aid distribution, and continued choking off anything close to aid required simply to keep people from dying of hunger and disease. All with U.S. backing.

    At the same time, Democratic U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer delivered a speech on the Senate floor that overwhelmingly upheld Israel’s genocidal slaughter in Gaza and U.S. backing for that. Outrageous! But nothing new. What was remarkable, however, was Schumer’s insistence that Israel cannot “survive” as an essential enforcer of U.S. interests in the Middle East and beyond without replacing its Prime Minister Netan-NAZI, aka Benjamin Netanyahu. In insisting Netan-NAZI step down, Schumer supposedly “broke the rules” of the “special relationship” between the U.S. and Israel, and stirred up a shitstorm.

    In the two parts of this article that follow, we bring you up to date on what’s been going on in Gaza; and we dig to the bottom of Schumer’s speech—what rules it broke, and what rules it most definitely did NOT break.

    These events are part of a world of rapidly intensifying horrors and crises. And a time of explosive conflicts between those who sit atop this world of exploitation and oppression. But they are also part of a situation where, as revolutionary leader and author of the new communism Bob Avakian (BA) has scientifically identified, REAL REVOLUTION in the U.S. is much more possible, IF that possibility is wrenched out of all this suffering and madness.

    Part 1: Israel Escalates Mass-Murder-by-Starvation in Gaza

    On Thursday, March 14, Israel did it again. Only two weeks after slaughtering more than 100 people seeking food aid near Gaza City on February 29, Israeli troops opened fire on people waiting for food in Gaza City itself, killing 21 Palestinians, and wounding 150 more. 

    Witnesses told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces used helicopters, tanks, and drones to target thousands of people waiting on food trucks. The Israeli military did not deny that troops had fired on people, but replayed the same excuse they used on February 29, that people desperate for food “stampeded.” Earlier that day, at the same food distribution point, Israeli forces had shot dead at least six Palestinians. And yet, starvation is so extreme in northern Gaza that people risked death, and died, seeking food at the same location.

    Israel Bombs UN Aid Warehouse

    In addition to shooting down people waiting for food, Israel attacks UN aid distribution centers. The UN provides the exact location of these distribution centers to the Israeli military in the hopes that will prevent them from being bombed. But instead of that information being used to avoid bombing aid distribution centers, those GPS coordinates are used by Israel to identify targets to bomb. The UN has documented more than two dozen attacks on Gazans waiting for aid since January.

    Israel bombs UNRWA food aid center, distribution warehouses in Gaza March 15, 2024. Credit: Video @ajplus; ajplus.co/whatsapp

    On March 12, Israel bombed an aid warehouse in Rafah, in the far south of Gaza where more than a million people displaced by Israeli attacks have fled. At least one UN relief staff member was killed and another 22 were injured.

    The New York Times reported, “Photos and video taken by Reuters photographers at the scene showed blood splashed in several locations around the facility: smeared on a warehouse floor surrounded by stacks of aid, soaked into the side of a box of baby supplies and pooled on the ground outdoors. At the nearby Al-Najjar Hospital, where many of the injured were taken, U.N. workers grieved over the body of their dead colleague, who lay on a stretcher still wearing the [UN’s] signature blue jacket.” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths posted on social media: “How are we to maintain aid operations when our teams and supplies are constantly under threat?”

    Mass Starvation as an Escalating Weapon of WAR CRIMES

    Attacks on food distribution centers and starving people seeking food are a systematic policy of starving the people of Gaza. And that starvation continues to escalate at a horrific pace. On March 15, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that “Acute malnutrition has doubled in one month in the north of Gaza strip.... At least 23 children in northern Gaza have reportedly died from malnutrition and dehydration in recent weeks, adding to the mounting toll of children killed [in Gaza]—about 13,450 reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health."

    UNICEF and other aid agencies in the north of Gaza found, in February, that more than four children out of every hundred in shelters and health centers suffer from severe wasting. This is the deadliest form of malnutrition. It is caused by a lack of nutritious food and repeated cases of diseases including diarrhea that compromise a child's immunity. These children will die unless they receive urgent therapeutic feeding and treatment. But because Israel has bombed, shot up, and shut down most of Gaza’s medical infrastructure, that treatment is not available. 

    Israeli authorities also choke off lifesaving aid by imposing random, long, and sadistic inspection protocols and criteria that severely slow the entry of aid trucks. On March 11, Philippe Lazzarini, UN Commissioner-General of the UN relief agency UNRWA, posted on X (Twitter):

    [A]n entire population depends on humanitarian assistance for survival. Very little comes in & restrictions increase. A truck loaded with aid has just been turned back because it had scissors used in children’s medical kits. Medical scissors are now added to a long list of banned items the Israeli Authorities classify as “for dual use” [meaning that in addition to an item’s normal use, Hamas can supposedly use it for military purposes]. The list includes basic and lifesaving items: from anesthetics, solar lights, oxygen cylinders and ventilators, to water cleaning tablets, cancer medicines and maternity kits. The clearance of humanitarian supplies + the delivery of basic & critical items need to be facilitated & accelerated. The lives of 2 million people depend on that, there is no time to waste.

    Items Israel bans from Gaza include lifesaving items

     

    Items Israel bans from Gaza include lifesaving items like anesthetics, solar lights, oxygen cylinders and ventilators, water cleaning tablets, cancer medicines and maternity kits.   

    Last month, Biden promised to set up a floating pier to deliver aid to Gaza by sea. While it is being built, the U.S. delivered a first shipment of aid by sea. That shipment delivered only as much aid as 10 trucks do. Under current, extreme, desperate conditions, even the 500 trucks of aid a day that went into Gaza before October 7 would not come close to meeting existing needs for food, shelter, and medicine. And as we exposed in previous coverage, whatever arrives by sea will have little meaningful impact. Israel bombs aid distribution centers, warehouses, transport routes, and shoots people attempting to collect food.

    As yet another weapon of mass starvation, Israel enables genocidal “protesters” to block aid trucks lined up at the Kerem Shalom crossing, the only high-volume-capable route into Gaza.

    The U.S. is backing the genocidal slaughter of young children by supplying Israel with billions of dollars of bombs, drones, tanks, missiles, and guns. But it also enables starvation as a weapon of war. The U.S. cut off funding to the UN agency that distributes aid in Gaza. Three times the U.S. has vetoed resolutions in the UN calling for a cease-fire that might have made it possible to distribute aid. The U.S. repeatedly tries to lend credibility to incredible excuses Israel makes for killing starving people getting food and bombing warehouses. And overall, the U.S. registers only the most meaningless, self-serving, ass-covering criticisms of Israel’s policy of turning Gaza into a death camp.

    Last week, as U.S./Israeli death-by-starvation began to spread among children, we wrote:

    Stop and feel the heartbreak, the pain that will never go away, the fury, of a parent, sibling, or loved one who must watch their child waste away and die for lack of fruit and milk. All the while, in this world of tremendous food resources, access to food, a basic element of human survival is strangled by a system of exploitation and oppression. And that same system maintains its rule by starving children as a weapon of war.

    Speaking of that system of exploitation and oppression, Bob Avakian has said:

    We, the people of the world, can no longer afford to allow these imperialists to continue to dominate the world and determine the destiny of humanity. They need to be overthrown as quickly as possible. And it is a scientific fact that we do not have to live this way.

    The situation in Gaza drives home the urgent moral imperative of that statement.

    Part II: Chuck Schumer Calls for Replacing Netan-NAZI… In Order to Maintain Israel as a Genocidal Enforcer for the U.S. Empire

    On March 14, the same day Israel was starving children in Gaza to death, and shooting down desperate Palestinians attempting to collect food aid in Gaza City, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gave a speech on Israel that CNN reported as sending “shockwaves from Washington to Jerusalem.” The New York Times called it “A Watershed Moment for the Politics of Israel...” The speech called for an election in Israel to replace Netan-NAZI.

    Schumer’s speech gave the most perfunctory—almost in passing—nod to the horrors being inflicted on the people in Gaza by Israel, with U.S. backing. On one level, this is all you need to know about how much the humanity and lives of the Palestinian people count in the calculations of a leading representative of this system of heartless exploitation and oppression.

    But the speech, and Biden’s endorsement of it, did reflect intense and sharpening conflict between the Biden administration and Netan-NAZI. It also reflected corresponding conflict between different factions in the Israeli ruling class. Those conflicts are focused on whether Israel will “brand itself” as both Jewish and democratic, as it has attempted to do since it was founded. Or will it just give up the pretense [cover] of being anything but a Jewish-supremacist, racist state. 

    Those conflicts are real, and intense. And the speech set off a storm of controversy among the rulers of Israel, and the U.S. But these conflicts are NOT over whether to maintain Israel as a nuclear-armed, genocidal, apartheid state enforcing the interests of the U.S. in the Middle East. They are conflicts over how to do that. 

     What Schumer Did Condemn, and Why

    Much of Schumer’s speech was made up of the kinds of lies that justify both Israel’s violent founding on what had been overwhelmingly Palestinian land and its subsequent horrific oppression of the Palestinians for the past 75 years. For a thorough refutation of these lies go to Bob Avakian’s social media dispatches 4 through 7.

    So, what then provoked the “shockwaves” and the “watershed moment” headlines? 

    Schumer criticized Israel’s powerful finance minister Smotrich for openly calling “for the subjugation or forced displacement of all Palestinians in the West Bank.” He also hit him for opposing any “humanitarian assistance to Gaza, going so far as to stop agreed-upon shipments of flour.” And he called out Israel’s “National Security” chief Ben-Gvir for provoking outrage among Muslims by insulting one of that religion’s holy places, and arming “settlers” in the West Bank region of Palestine. (For more on these “settlers,” see Tens of Thousands of Israeli “Settlers” Are Genocidal Terrorists–But Biden Punished Only 4 of Them with “Sanctions”… Here’s Why.Schumer said, “Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir may not say they want to kill all Palestinians outright, but they are clear in their desire to displace them from their homes and replace them with Israeli settlers.”

    In calling for new elections in Israel,1  Schumer said that Netanyahu “has all too frequently bowed to the demands of extremists like Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, and the settlers in the West Bank.” And, Schumer continued, Netanyahu “has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah [isolated and hated].” (emphasis added) 

    That was a whitewash of Israel’s crimes and Netan-NAZI’s role in them. Netan-NAZI is not “willing to tolerate” the death toll in Gaza. He is leading it. He has called for genocidal destruction of the lives, homes, and society of the Palestinian people in Gaza, repeatedly, and in the most explicit terms. On October 28 of last year, for example, he told people in Israel, “You must remember what Amalek did to you.” He was referring to a passage in the Bible that instructs Israelis to “kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings [breast-feeding babies].” 

    Had Schumer acknowledged that, the question would pose itself: Why is the U.S. providing military equipment, funding and diplomatic support to Israel—including with vetoes of three UN cease-fire resolutions that Israel opposed!? 

    Nevertheless, in calling for an end to the Netanyahu government, and new elections in Israel, Schumer set off a shitstorm. No leading representative of the U.S. government has ever done something like that in relation to Israel. Republi-fascists reacted in outrage. House Speaker, Christian fascist Mike Johnson blasted Schumer for criticizing Israel when “We need to be standing with Israel.” Israeli ruling class figures, including opponents of Netanyahu, condemned Schumer for interfering in Israel’s affairs, even as Schumer has led the charge in funding all the crimes Israel is committing against the Palestinians including the ones perpetrated by Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, and Smotrich. 

    The “Two-State Solution” Is a Form of Genocidal Enslavement

    So, what was Schumer’s agenda here? Schumer’s speech was intended in part to placate, and play for fools, people in this country who are horrified and outraged by Israel’s genocidal slaughter in Gaza. He wanted to make it seem like the Biden administration (which approved Schumer’s speech publicly) was “hearing” protesters here and around the world, and finally “getting tough” with Israel. And he aimed to slap up another thin coat of whitewash in the arena of global public opinion over the reality that all Israel’s crimes are enabled by, armed by, funded by, and backed by the U.S.

    But at the heart of the intent of, and controversy around, Schumer’s speech, he insisted that aiming for—or at least maintaining the pretense of aiming for—a “two-state solution,” is necessary for Israel to “survive.” Netan-NAZI, on the other hand, has rejected the “two-state solution,” at least for the foreseeable future. In other words, Netan-NAZI rejects any pretense of even the most token and phony Palestinian self-rule. The problem for the Democrats, in particular, is that they like to pose—both here and around the world—as the great “upholders” of democracy. While the phony two-state solution has been in reality a non-starter for more than 20 years, the outright rejection of it at this point by Israel would strip away any pretense of even trying for the most pitiful version of that so-called “democratic self-rule” by Palestinians. 

    In fact, the “two-state solution” is not a solution to the oppression of the Palestinian people in any way. It refers to setting up a tiny so-called state for Palestinians, confined to small, disconnected regions, and defenseless against Israeli violence and dictates, or arbitrary orders. But it would provide for some extremely limited, small-scale self-rule within those bounds, and a pretense of respecting the existence of the Palestinian people. 

    Netan-NAZI, and dominant forces in the Israeli government, find that unacceptable. For them, it implies too much recognition of any rights for Palestinians. They see the growing Palestinian population, now the majority of people inside areas under Israeli rule, as an existential threat. And they are convinced that threat can only be responded to with naked violence and terror, and that the Palestinian people must be entirely driven out of their homeland or utterly crushed.

    Why Did Schumer Feel Driven to Also Oppose a Single State with Equality Between Jews and Palestinians?

    In addition to insisting on at least promises of a “two-state solution,” Schumer felt it necessary to pose, and rule out of order, any idea that there could be a single state with formal equality for Palestinians and Jews. He claimed that “this hypothetical single state democracy could cost Israeli Jews their safety.” Translated: allowing Palestinians to even vote in an election that included everyone in territory ruled by Israel would be the end of a Jewish-supremacist state that would be a stable enforcer for U.S. interests in the Middle East and beyond. 

    It is worth noting that Schumer feels that he must spend a significant amount of time in his speech opposing this solution, which is evidently gaining ground among the justice-minded people that the Democrats are tasked with appealing to—and corralling. Because of this, we want to conclude with Bob Avakian’s answer to this same question and with the path forward that BA points to:

    What is Israel supposed to do? Israel is “supposed” to stop brutally oppressing the Palestinian people. But Israel, as a racist, Jewish-supremacist (Zionist) state, cannot do that: it cannot do that, because murderous oppression of the Palestinian people has been built into the state of Israel from the very beginning, and Israel could not exist without brutally oppressing the Palestinian people.

    And, since Israel cannot stop brutally oppressing the Palestinian people, Israel—as a racist, Zionist state—must cease to exist.

    The real question is: what is the legitimate way to fight against the state of Israel, and what is a just solution to all this?

    The answer is definitely not to “kill off all the Jews in Israel” or “drive them into the sea.” The answer is the abolition of the state of Israel, and in its place the creation of a revolutionary state in which the government and the laws do not promote any religion and do not favor one people over another, and instead there is equality between Jews and Palestinians.

    The answer is also definitely not the “two-state solution” being promoted by the Biden administration. Such a “two-state solution” would really amount to nothing more than a powerful state of Israel continuing to occupy land stolen from the Palestinian people, while the so-called “Palestinian state” created with this “solution” would be a bitter joke—a puppet state—merely a patchwork of separated small territories, surrounded and dominated by Israel, with the Palestinian people still subjected to terrible oppression and deprivation.

    The answer is that the fight against the state of Israel must be waged on a revolutionary basis, with the goal of putting an end to all oppressive relations and all inequality among people based on race and nationality, sex and gender, and all relations in which one part of society exploits others. And the urgent need is for a revolutionary force to emerge to lead the struggle on that basis.

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. In Israel, the parliament (Knesset) chooses the Prime Minister. In addition to regularly scheduled elections, special elections can be called for by the Knesset itself at any time. [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    The Democratic Party Is Part of the Problem, Not the Solution

    The Campaign to “Drive AIPAC Out of the Democratic Party” Is a Potentially Disastrous Dead-End Detour

    This week, a coalition of groups who've been speaking out and organizing against the U.S.-backed Israeli slaughter of the Palestinian people in Gaza, launched a campaign to “Reject AIPAC.” AIPAC, or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is a pro-Israel lobby group that funds candidates who support Israel, sometimes in direct opposition to candidates who are critical (even slightly critical) of Israel.

    Over the last months, Israel has used American military equipment and funding to kill more than 30,000 Palestinians. Israel has used American political support to starve more than two million Palestinians in Gaza. And Israel is using American diplomatic cover to threaten the invasion of the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza where more than half the population in Gaza is now concentrated.

    At such a time, this campaign to “Reject AIPAC” is a terrible and damaging dead end. This campaign would channel you back into the killing embrace of the political forces and the system responsible for the slaughter in Gaza. It would tame and confine your outrage to “improving” the Democratic Party, a party of war crimes and crimes against humanity. And it would act as a diversionary tactic to point you away from recognizing the real enemy, the system of U.S. capitalism-imperialism.

    Rafah, Gaza, sole survivor on debris from Israeli airstrike meant to rescue hostages.

     

    February 13, 2024:  The sole survivor of a family of eight, including three children, stands on the debris of his home in Rafah, bombed by an Israeli airstrike supposedly meant to rescue Hamas-held Israeli hostages who were in another part of town.    Photo: AP

    What Really Drives the U.S.'s Unconditional Support for Israel?

    The Reject AIPAC campaign states, 

    For decades, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has been a hawkish, warmongering, and bullying force in U.S. politics. AIPAC advocates for a US foreign policy directly at odds with human rights and international humanitarian law, and has supported an unconditional flow of US military funding and weapons to the Israeli government that have been used to support human rights violations against Palestinians.

    While there has been “an unconditional flow of U.S. military funding and weapons to the Israeli government that have been used to support human rights violations against Palestinians,” this is NOT caused by AIPAC. This has been a strategic choice by the ruling class of this country to maintain its domination of the strategic region of the Middle East, using Israel as its principal weapon. AIPAC is only a very secondary symptom of that root cause.

    Since the 1960s, the U.S. has relied on a “special relationship” with Israel. The U.S. propped up the military and economic might of Israel with billions of dollars in economic support, military equipment and political cover. In exchange, Israel provided a military bastion for the U.S. in the resource-rich region, while playing a major role in the military training and execution of war crimes in other parts of the world that helped maintain the rule of U.S. imperialism (from Guatemala to South Africa). (To go deeper into the history, see revcom.us special issue “Bastion of Enlightenment…or Enforcer for Imperialism: The case of ISRAEL.”)

    Much of this predated AIPAC which became a political force in the mid to late 1970s. AIPAC did not gain the power it has because it has particularly effective lobbyists and a big budget, or because of the poisonous idea that the “Jewish lobby” has some kind of hold on American politics. It is “effective” because its mission aligns with the interests of the U.S. empire. 

    Secondarily, it serves the ruling class of this system to have its support for Israel seen as a result of this “grassroots” lobbying movement, in part to legitimize that support.1 This is a sleight of hand or a trick, which the organizers of the Reject AIPAC campaign are reinforcing.

    What Really Is the Democratic Party?

    In announcing this campaign, the pro-Palestinian Jewish organization If Not Now posted on Instagram that “AIPAC and its GOP megadonors have no place in our party, spending millions in Democratic primaries & lobbying against Palestinian lives.” 

    Really?! “Our party,” you say?

    Was it “your party” when Democratic President Truman rushed to be the first world leader to officially recognize Israel as a “legitimate state” in 1948? This was in the midst of the Nakba (the "catastrophe" in Arabic), where 750,000 or more Palestinians were brutally forced from their land with more than 530 Palestinian villages destroyed.

    Was it “your party” when the Democratic President Lyndon Johnson provided diplomatic cover to Israel in 1967 in their pre-emptive war against a number of Arab states, including Egypt, Jordan and Syria (the so-called Six Day War), which led to the expansion of Israel and mass Palestinian displacement?

    Was it “your party” in 2010 when Obama supported Israel in enforcing a blockade that kept essential medical, construction, and food supplies from reaching Gaza just months after Israel waged an unrelenting assault resulting in the deaths of more than 1,000 people and the destruction of large parts of Gaza?2

    Was it “your party” when the Democrats signed onto U.S. wars in the Middle East from the 1990s up through today?

    Was it “your party” when Obama backed a war in Yemen which killed 150,000 people and led to death by starvation of tens of thousands of children? 

    And for that matter, was the Democratic Party “your party” when Truman sent more than 300,000 American soldiers to Korea to wage a war that killed more than two million North Korean civilians and killed or wounded well over a million soldiers on all sides?

    Was it “your party” when they dropped nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Or was it “your party” when they waged war in Vietnam, killing more than three million people and poisoning the earth for generations? Was it “your party” when they orchestrated coups and invasions from Iran to Haiti to El Salvador? 

    No! The Democratic Party is a ruling class party. A ruling class of a worldwide system of exploitation and oppression that rests on billions of people, including more than 150 million children, slaving in sweatshops, mines and farmlands serving the needs of American empire. Maintaining this empire requires hundreds of military bases, terror, torture and wars. 

    BAsics 3:12 quotation by Bob Avakian

     

    A question and challenge to If Not Now, Jewish Voice for Peace, and all the other groups that have signed onto this Reject AIPAC Campaign: DO YOU REALLY WANT TO CLAIM THIS AS “YOUR” PARTY?!?

    Watch out! Many of you have done important work, but as the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian has said: “If you try to make the Democrats be what they are not and never will be, you will end up being more like what the Democrats actually are.”

    Poster of chart of Republi-fascists and Democrats crimes against humanity.

     

    What Is Urgently Needed Now, and What Must Be Urgently Rejected

    At a time when the actual nature of the Democratic Party as a party of vicious war crimes is being laid bare, while millions have come to see “Genocide Joe” as profoundly illegitimate, this campaign to Reject AIPAC is a way of “rescuing” the Democratic Party and letting the system that it is enforcing off the hook.

    Do not allow yourself to be roped into this! The dead end of “Reject AIPAC” must itself be thoroughly and unambiguously rejected.

    Two things are urgently needed right now.

    The first: an escalation of the powerful protest movement—growing more determined, broader and uncompromising. Aimed at STOPPING business as usual in every corner of society to demand that the U.S.-backed Israeli genocidal slaughter of Palestinians stop NOW!! 

    The second: a much more scientific understanding of what we're up against and what it will take to defeat it. This is a system of capitalism-imperialism. This system cannot be reformed, it must be overthrown through an actual revolution. 

    Revcoms Declaration: We Need and We Demand...

     

    A challenge to all those who want to see an end to the nightmare in Gaza, and want the Palestinian people to be free: listen to Bob Avakian's social media dispatches (go here) that dig seriously and scientifically into these questions: Why is Biden, and basically the entire government and ruling class of the U.S., supporting Israel in carrying out genocide against the Palestinian people, before the whole world? And what is a just solution to all this? 

    And if you can’t deny the essential truths that Bob Avakian is putting forward, dig deeper into what he is saying about the need for revolution and how that revolution is possible in this time. And be part of acting now on those truths.

    REVOLUTION Number Seven
    Follow, Listen and Share: @BobAvakianOfficial

    From Bob Avakian Official 

    REVOLUTION 7: Why is the U.S. supporting Israel’s genocide of Palestinians?

    This is Bob Avakian (BA), bringing out more of the truth about what is happening with Palestine: why the U.S. is supporting and aiding Israel’s genocidal slaughter of Palestinian people, how this shows once again the barbaric nature of this system of capitalism-imperialism, and the truth that only a real revolution can put an end to all these horrors constantly perpetrated by the rulers of this country and the system that they serve and enforce.

    In the face of all the lies, it is crucial to keep coming back to this basic, essential reality: Here is the entire ruling class of the U.S., and all its major politicians, both Democrat and Republican, fully supporting an apartheid state, Israel, carrying out the genocidal slaughter of Palestinians in front of the whole world.

    And for those of you who think that politicians just act in their own narrow personal interests, think deeper—think about this: Biden has not only been a long-time fanatical backer of Israel, with its terrible crimes against humanity, but now Biden is fully supporting the genocide being carried out by Israel, even though this is likely to cost Biden the votes of large numbers of people who are righteously outraged by this genocide, and this could end up costing Biden the election. (And don’t be fooled by Biden putting on the act of telling Israel to be more careful in killing civilians—Biden has continued to send military aid to Israel, and to provide it with “political and diplomatic cover,” as the bodies of Palestinian civilians massacred by Israel pile up in the tens of thousands.)

    Why is Biden, and basically the entire government and ruling class of the U.S., supporting Israel in carrying out genocide against the Palestinian people, before the whole world? Here is the answer to that crucial question:

    This is not because of “the power of the Jewish lobby”—or because of some ignorant, ridiculous and outrageous notion that “Jews are controlling everything.” It is because Israel plays a “special role” as a heavily armed bastion of support for U.S. imperialism in a strategically important part of the world (the “Middle East”). And Israel has been a key force in the commission of atrocities which have helped to maintain the oppressive rule of U.S. imperialism in many other parts of the world.

    (That is from my statement Some Basic Truths About the U.S.-Supported Israeli War Against Palestine, which is posted at revcom.us.)

    It’s the system! The system of capitalism-imperialism that Biden serves. The system he has to serve—the system that anybody and everybody has to serve if they want to hold office, and especially “high office,” like president, within this system. That is why Biden is doing what he’s doing—what all these politicians are doing—above and beyond their more narrow personal interests.

    It’s the system! This system of capitalism-imperialism that embodies and enforces white supremacy, patriarchal male supremacy and other brutal oppression—this system resting on ruthless life-stealing exploitation of masses of people in this country and literally billions of people worldwide, including more than 150 million children—all enforced with massive violence and destruction, of people and the environment, posing a very real threat to the future and the existence of humanity.

    This system that needs to be overthrown at the soonest possible time, through an actual revolution.

    Next, I’m going to get directly into why this revolution is possible, in this time, and what we need to be doing, right now, so there will be a real possibility for this revolution to succeed.

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1.  It is also a means to bludgeon, or hammer down, any lower-level Democratic Party politician who falls out of line with unwavering political support for Israel. [back]

    2. See “American Crime Case #30: Israel’s U.S.-Armed and -Backed Massacre in Gaza (2008-2009) [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    SXSW Update: Fascist Abbott’s Attack on Squirrel Flower Backfires

    Last week Revolution shouted out a Cheers to Squirrel Flower for her refusal to participate in the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival because of its military sponsorship. Greg Abbott, the Republi-fascist governor of Texas, responded to Squirrel Flower and others who withdrew from SXSW by telling them, “Don’t come back.”

    But Abbott’s arrogant bravado backfired on him. It contributed to what became a mass exodus of performers from SXSW, and an impromptu festival of musical performers from many countries opposed to Israel’s genocidal, U.S.-backed onslaught upon Palestinian people. About 100 artists withdrew from SXSW, including the entire contingent of bands and singers from Ireland. Kneecap, a rap trio from Belfast, Northern Ireland, said, “We cannot in good conscience attend an arts festival that has the U.S. Army as a 'super sponsor.’” They said that not being part of SXSW would have a significant impact on their group, and then added, "But it isn't an iota of hardship when compared to the unimaginable suffering being inflicted every minute, every day on the people of Gaza."

    Performers boycotting SXSW appeared in numerous “unofficial” Austin venues. There were at least three full programs, a day-long concert at Austin City Hall, and an evening of Irish bands, including some of the 12 who had boycotted SXSW. A couple of revcom supporters went out to some of these events and talked with performers and patrons. They distributed several dozen copies of the flyerBob Avakian (BA) on Israel’s Genocide Against the Palestinian People, and the Only Just and Viable Solution.”

    Vic with sign as the revcoms raised almost $200 at Univ of Texas at an unofficial SXSW event.

     

    The revcoms were invited to set up a table outside a University of Texas residential co-op during an unofficial SXSW event. They raised about $200 for the revolution selling mac & cheese, cookies, and cake balls.  Photo: Special to revcom.us   

    The revcoms chat with students outside a University of Texas residential co-op during an unofficial SXSW event.

     

    The revcoms chat with students outside a University of Texas residential co-op during an unofficial SXSW event.  Photo: Special to revcom.us   

    At an “unofficial” venue where a few of the boycotting bands were performing, the revolutionaries set up outside the entrance with a large sign that said, “From Palestine to the USA, Revolution is the Way,” and another reading, “No Fascist Trump, No Genocide Joe, The Whole Damn System’s Got to Go.” One reported, “Some party-goers took pictures, some donated to the revolution, some snapped the BobAvakianOfficial QR code we had hanging on our lanyards, some argued over things like ‘lesser evil’ bullshit, and some performers who had proudly boycotted thanked the revolutionaries for being there.”

    The wellspring of opposition that erupted to SXSW’s involvement with the U.S. war machine is inspiring. It needs to be carried into all spheres of life. It also indicates how what begins as a small action, even by one person acting righteously to oppose U.S. war crimes, can quickly gain momentum, help break things open, and set better terms for further struggle. 

    Card Building Up the Basis

     

  • ARTICLE:

    No Business As Usual Amidst a Genocide! 

    Creative, Disruptive Protests in NYC and San Francisco

    New York War Crimes front page

     

    Photo: @wawog_now

    Last week saw daring, creative, and determined protests against the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza—on opposite coasts of the U.S., in New York City and San Francisco. At a time when the U.S. continues to send massive weapons to Israel as they massacre and starve the Palestinian people of Gaza, it is urgent and necessary that protests like these not only continue but become even bolder and more widespread, as people dig deeper into what is at the root of these crimes and how to stop them. 

    “Stop the Presses” at the New York Times

    In the early morning hours of Thursday, March 14, protesters blocked the New York Times printing center in the Queens borough of New York City, preventing trucks from entering the facility for several hours to pick up the day’s papers for distribution. Their banner read, “Consent for Genocide is Manufactured Here.” Later that morning, protesters occupied the lobby of the Times headquarters in Manhattan, and more than 120 were arrested. They were acting against what the Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) called “Times’s role in legitimizing the occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine, as well as its sordid record of support for U.S.-backed wars and regime change around the world.”

    Tweet URL

    While occupying the building lobby, Writers Against the War on Gaza held a mock awards show, where presenters gave out awards to the “Most Deranged Use of the Passive Voice to Justify Genocide” and “Best Supporting Bad Actor.”

    Along with the action at the Times's printing facility and headquarters, WAWOG distributed a fake version of the paper, titled The New York War Crimes (crossing out the word Times). See the online version here. The banner headline declares: “STOP THE PRESSES! FREE PALESTINE!” The issue of the New York War Crimes includes “a line-by-line look at the way the Times has attempted to make a genocide [of Palestinians in Gaza] palatable to the public” and examples of its “sordid record of support for American wars, right-wing dictatorships and U.S. backed regime change”—from the U.S.-backed 1954 coup in Guatemala to the CIA coup in Iran in 1953, and others.

    “Stop the World for Gaza” at SF International Airport

    Hundreds of protestors shut down SFO International Terminal, demanding permanent #CEASEFIRE in war on #Gaza and an end to US arms to Israel.

     

    Hundreds of protesters shut down SFO International Terminal, demanding permanent #CEASEFIRE in war on #Gaza and an end to U.S. arms to Israel, March 13, 2024.    Photo: Brooke Anderson @movementphotographer via twitter

    Wednesday morning, March 13, hundreds of protesters converged at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to cause a major disruption. One of their banners read “Stop the World for Gaza.” In a local news coverage of the protest, as the protesters are heard in the background chanting “Shut it down! Shut it down!” the reporter says, “Well, it was anything but business as usual at SFO’s international terminal today. A large group of pro-Palestine, anti-war protesters descended on the terminal and effectively shut down the security gates. The group calling for an end to the violence that officials say has now left nearly 30,000 Palestinians dead.” The organizers planned for the protest to last for exactly 153 minutes—one minute for each day since Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza began in October.

    One of the protesters said, “So many lives have been lost and so many more are at stake, and we cannot sit idly by as our government is complicit in arming and justifying these atrocities against Palestinians in this moment, and for the past 75 years. As people of conscience, it is a necessity for us to take action to stop this escalating genocide."

    Elsewhere…

    Some of the other recent protests around Palestine:

    Portland, Oregon, March 15: Hundreds of high school students and some teachers walked out of school and converged at the Portland Public Schools headquarters.

    Staten Island, New York City, March 15: Students at Wagner High School walked out chanting “Free Palestine”; they also alleged discrimination by school officials against Palestinian and Arab students.

    Bakersfield, California, March 13: Protesters chanting “Ceasefire now!” disrupted a city council meeting, demanding that the council adopt an official resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

    Cleveland, Ohio, March 9: A protest car caravan shut down parts of major highways, including near the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, and then disrupted traffic in the downtown area.

  • ARTICLE:

    Check It Out: The Zone of Interest

    From a reader

    After seeing the “Cheers” to Jonathan Glazer, director of the movie The Zone of Interest, at revcom.us last week for his powerful and polarizing statement at the Oscars, I rented the movie. I watched it twice—the second time with a roomful of friends and comrades. I share that to encourage others to find collective ways to watch and then talk about this film.

    2024 Oscars: Jonathan Glazer, Director of The Zone of Interest Acceptance Speech for Best International Film

     

    Jonathan Glazer, director of The Zone of Interest, giving his acceptance speech for Best International Film at the 2024 Oscars.   

    A little background might be useful. The title, The Zone of Interest, is a literal translation of a German term Interessengebiet, which the Nazis used as a euphemism (a term that covers up the actual meaning of what is being talked about) for the area around the 15-square-mile Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Nazi-occupied southern Poland. That “Zone” kept people at a distance from where a million Jews were being worked to death, or gassed to death, and their bodies incinerated. It was intended to keep people from knowing what was going on, or at least provide them with space, literal and otherwise, to be in denial that Jews were being rounded up and killed, despite things they saw going on around them. 

    The movie focuses on people living inside the “Zone,” who did know what was going on. It is centered at the home of Rudolf Höss, commander of Auschwitz, and a notorious architect of the Nazi system of genocidal death camps.

    The movie is mostly in German (as well as a little Polish and Yiddish), with English subtitles. But there is much more going on than the dialog. Watch and listen closely from the first minute! You’ll get it, quickly. And as the movie goes on, you’ll get it even more.

    I think this is an enormously powerful movie. Analogies to Israel and Gaza are obvious. But even beyond that, there is a universally applicable moral divide you are led to confront in a world of savage inequalities enforced by the most depraved brutality and mass murder. And what “looking away” or obscene reveling in the spoils of all that does to one’s soul, and to humanity as a whole. I’ll leave it at that for now. I hope others will share their insights on this movie through correspondence to revcom.us.

    The film is showing in theaters (a great place to engage people), and through streaming services. Find showings and streaming options at the film’s website.

    BAsics 5-11 quote

     

  • ARTICLE:

    On the Brink of Nuclear War: U.S. and Western Powers, Russia, Threaten Escalations over Ukraine

    July 2023, Ukrainian tank firing toward Russian front lines..

     

    Ukrainian tank firing toward Russian front lines.    Photo: AP

    The grinding horrific war in Ukraine, in which the Ukrainian army (funded, backed and to a certain extent directed by the U.S. and its military allies) is taking on the Russian army, may not dominate the news the way it did two years ago—but it is far from over. In fact, this proxy war between Russia and the U.S. is at an extremely dangerous stage. And by “dangerous,” yes we DO mean the real possibility of nuclear war.

    U.S. Ruling Class Sharply Divided Over Ukraine 

    This year Russian forces have made significant advances in eastern Ukraine, seizing new territory and forcing the Ukrainians to retreat. The U.S. had at one point explicitly set its goal at “strategically weakening Russia.” But if things continue to go in this direction, Russia could end up seizing and annexing large parts of Ukraine and administering a major defeat to the U.S. and its NATO allies—at the expense of the Ukrainian people!

    Up until now, the U.S. has provided over $75 billion in military and other aid to Ukraine, as well as intelligence and strategic advice. But now this aid has been drying up—largely because a decisive Republi-fascist section of the U.S. ruling class has increasingly turned against this war. 

    Bob Avakian, in “The Trials of Fascist Donald Trump, and the Criminal Nature of this Whole System,” laid bare the reasons behind the Republi-fascist opposition to Biden’s Ukraine policy: 

    The fascists (or at least some of them) believe that being involved in a lot of formal alliances with other (lesser) countries may restrict the freedom of U.S. imperialism to act—including with unrestrained violence and destruction—to enforce its interests, anywhere in the world. And, more specifically, at least many of these fascists strongly feel that the proxy war that the U.S., with Biden’s lead, is waging against Russia in Ukraine is a distraction from the necessary focus on opposing China and using whatever means may be necessary to prevent China from surpassing the U.S. as the world’s dominant imperialist power, militarily as well as economically. And these fascists see the war in Ukraine strengthening the ties of Russia with China, making the opposition to U.S. domination more powerful. On the other hand, Biden—and those allied with him in the ruling class—are waging, and continually increasing U.S. involvement in, a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine (using Ukrainians as “cannon fodder” in this war) because this part of the U.S. ruling class is convinced that delivering a defeat to and weakening Russia, and its ability to challenge U.S. dominance, is important in its own right and will also drive a wedge between Russia and China.

    It should not have to be said that these kinds of concerns, on either side, have nothing to do with the fundamental interests of the masses of people in this country, and in the world as a whole.

    Since this was written, the opposition has become more intense, with the fascists at this point refusing to pass Biden’s new requests for more military aid for Ukraine.

    Ruling Out Nothing

    Biden and some other NATO leaders have been trying to find ways to continue to prop up Ukraine and enable it to fight on. To put it more plainly, Genocide Joe aims to prolong the bloodbath in which Ukrainian people are fighting and dying in the interests of U.S. capitalism-imperialism in order to administer a strategic defeat to Putin. But the Republi-fascist opposition to his plans, combined with Russia’s increasing military effectiveness, could instead mean a strategic defeat for the U.S. and its European imperialist allies grouped in NATO.

    That prospect could compel the U.S. or some NATO leaders to try to radically change the situation to prevent that happening, rather than see Russia conquer and take over strategic sections of Ukraine. Every way they could do that spells increased danger for the masses of people—all over the world.

    Map of Ukraine, Black Sea, Turkey, East Europs

     

    Up until recently, the U.S. and NATO have repeatedly insisted they would not send their own troops into Ukraine. Doing so would put nuclear-armed Western imperialist powers in direct military confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia. But in late February, French president Emmanuel Macron was asked about the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine. He replied, “Nothing should be ruled out … anything is possible if it is useful to reach our goal … [that] Russia cannot win this war.” Macron warned the "security of Europe and the French is at stake" and if Russia wins Europe's credibility will be “reduced to zero.”

    Macron’s comments were quickly repudiated by Olaf Scholz, Germany’s leading politician. Scholz said that “It is clear: there will be no ground troops from European countries or NATO.” Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda agreed with Macron. Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said Ukraine needs “less talk and more ammo.” As this article was being written, a meeting between Macron, Scholz, and Tusk to show that they are “united and determined” concluded. At the end of the meeting, none of the leaders responded to questions about what they had discussed or decided. But going into the meeting, Macron had reiterated that if Ukraine lost, a number of other countries—including Poland—“would be next.” 

    Meanwhile, partially in response to this French threat, Russian president Vladimir Putin has made it clear that Russia is prepared for taking this conflict as far as it needs to go to defend and advance its interests. In the past two weeks, he has twice said Russia is “ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty or independence is threatened.” Russia’s “strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness,” he added. 

    The point: If indeed forces in NATO put troops on the ground in any capacity in Ukraine and there is any kind of clash, this could escalate—and it could easily and quickly go up the “ladder” to an all-out nuclear exchange!

    These are like two high-stakes poker players pushing their chips into the middle of the table. No matter who wins, those who pay will be the masses of people—in Ukraine, Russia and around the world.

    Biden-Putin_Doomsday clock at a few minutes before midnight.

     

    The Doomsday Clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight on January 24, 2023. According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, this was done “largely (though not exclusively) because of the mounting dangers of the war in Ukraine." This is the closest to forecasting global catastrophe it has ever been.   

    A Nuclear Space Race, and Biden’s Armageddon Speech

    At the same time, in late February the New York Times reported that Russia is developing the capability of putting nuclear weapons in space, and may attempt to do so this year. A report by Reuters said that “If Russia did develop such a weapon, then the United States would be forced to do something similar and perhaps China too—and so there would be a risk of some sort of nuclear space race.”

    The New York Times also recently reported that in October 2022, Joe Biden gave a speech to a select group of wealthy and powerful supporters—but this time in more detail than originally reported. He said the U.S. thought Russia was prepared to use “battlefield nukes” in Ukraine. The war in Ukraine was not going well for Russia at that time, and Biden told his select audience that “we have a direct threat of the use of a nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path they’ve been going.”

    In this article and others, the Times, the most influential source of news in the U.S., has repeatedly raised the specter of nuclear war to its readers. Exactly why it is doing this is not clear. But it does signal concern within influential circles of the ruling class that things could get out of control—very possibly in regard to the politically explosive situation in Ukraine.

    What Bob Avakian has said in response to this rings out with more immediacy and urgency than ever:

    We, the people of the world, can no longer afford to allow these imperialists to continue to dominate the world and determine the destiny of humanity. They need to be overthrown as quickly as possible. And it is a scientific fact that we do not have to live this way.

    Bob Avakian on Biden, Putin & Xi Jinping: Imperialist Gangsters and the Need for Revolution!
    excerpt from The Bob Avakian Interviews on The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show
  • ARTICLE:

    Having a Mental Breakdown While Black = Police License to Kill

    Ryan Gainer, 15, murdered by police

     

    Ryan Gainer, 15   

    On Saturday, March 9, the San Bernardino pigs murdered Ryan Gainer. Ryan was a 15-year-old Black child with autism who was in the midst of a mental breakdown. The police knew this since this was the fifth time Ryan's family had called the police to help bring Ryan to a mental health facility for emergency medical care.

    After some outcry, the sheriff released the full body cam footage of the incident. What you see in this footage is how—at every single point—these pigs gave ZERO care for the life and humanity of Ryan Gainer. 

    Thirty seconds was the time from arriving on the scene, with one pig having his gun out pointed at Ryan. Ryan was running toward him, still in the midst of a mental breakdown, with a sharp-edged garden tool.

    Seven seconds was the time in between running backwards and threatening Ryan that two pigs shot to kill. 

    Sixty seconds was the time that Ryan was laying on the ground, bleeding out and dying, before those pigs offered Ryan any medical attention. His mother was wailing, prevented from holding her baby, and what were the pigs doing? Hollering for the family to keep their distance as Ryan struggled for breath. Walking slowly over to a car to get themselves rubber gloves. Again, paying attention to their own “safety,” and fuck any urgent attempt to save Ryan's life.

    The sheriff repeatedly defended these pigs, at one point referencing Ryan’s “physically fit” “large stature.” This kind of dehumanization of Black boys has existed throughout the whole history of this country of slavery and lynching and has served as justification for police murder and mass incarceration.

    Ryan was a human being! He had curiosity, hopes and dreams. In a video filmed by a fellow high school student that has now gone viral, Ryan says: “to all the viewers, make sure you have a great day. Be the spark and make sure you spread kindness.”

    revcom oembed URL

    His family said, “Ryan was very active in our community; involving himself with tutoring kids afterschool, assisting with robotics programs, community clean up and so much more. He was a super intelligent, kind, generous, respectable, thoughtful, funny, goofy, charismatic person, who always saw the good in people. Ryan wanted to be a mechanical engineer and run track for Oregon State University one day; our hearts continue to break at the thought of him being robbed of his bright future.”

    30 seconds, 7 seconds, 60 seconds—a life stolen by the armed enforcers of this system! Hundreds of years of a system that will continue to steal the lives of our Black and Brown sisters and brothers unless and until we make revolution to overthrow this system and replace it with a radically different system with a whole new way to live.

    This nightmare calls to mind this powerful point from the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian about the murder of Tyisha Miller—a 19-year-old Black woman killed by Riverside, California police in 1998. Miller had been passed out in her car, resulting from a seizure, when police claimed that she suddenly awoke and had a gun; they fired 23 times at her, hitting her at least 12 times, and murdering her. In speaking to this, Bob Avakian said:

    If you can’t handle this situation differently than this, then get the fuck out of the way. Not only out of the way of this situation, but get off the earth. Get out of the way of the masses of people. Because, you know, we could have handled this situation any number of ways that would have resulted in a much better outcome. And frankly, if we had state power and we were faced with a similar situation, we would sooner have one of our own people’s police killed than go wantonly murder one of the masses. That’s what you’re supposed to do if you’re actually trying to be a servant of the people. You go there and you put your own life on the line, rather than just wantonly murder one of the people. Fuck all this “serve and protect” bullshit! If they were there to serve and protect, they would have found any way but the way they did it to handle this scene. They could have and would have found a solution that was much better than this. This is the way the proletariat, when it’s been in power has handled—and would again handle—this kind of thing, valuing the lives of the masses of people. As opposed to the bourgeoisie in power, where the role of their police is to terrorize the masses, including wantonly murdering them, murdering them without provocation, without necessity, because exactly the more arbitrary the terror is, the more broadly it affects the masses. And that’s one of the reasons why they like to engage in, and have as one of their main functions to engage in, wanton and arbitrary terror against the masses of people.

    Bob Avakian, BAsics 2:16

    We need and we demand: a whole new way to live, and a fundamentally different system!

    Revolution—Nothing Less!!

    Bob Avakian on the People's Security After the Revolution

    From REVOLUTION AND RELIGION: The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion; A Dialogue Between CORNEL WEST & BOB AVAKIAN

  • ARTICLE:

    VIDEO:

    Interview with Raymond Lotta On Calling Out Yale Professor Timothy Snyder's Lies About Communism

    Be Part of This Debate...Resist the Brainwash... 
    Dare to be Part of the Revolution to Change Everything

    Bring Raymond Lotta To Your Campus This Semester: The New Communist Revolution So Badly Needed v. The Anti-Communist Brainwash You're Getting!

    Contact: revbooksnyc@yahoo.com

  • ARTICLE:

    Not Another Foreign Occupation, and Not So-Called “Free Elections” Either:

    The Crisis in Haiti Cries Out for REAL Revolution

    Sweep Away the Domination of the U.S. Imperialist System and Its Haitian Enablers

    Empower, Unleash and Lead the Haitian Masses to Repair and Rebuild Haiti Based on the Needs of the People, in Haiti and Around the World

    “There is an urgent need for [the new communism] to be taken up, broadly, in this society and in the world as a whole: everywhere people are questioning why things are the way they are, and whether a different world is possible; everywhere people are talking about ‘revolution’ but have no real understanding of what revolution means, no scientific approach to analyzing and dealing with what they are up against and what needs to be done; everywhere people are rising up in rebellion but are hemmed in, let down and left to the mercy of murderous oppressors, or misled onto paths which only reinforce, often with barbaric brutality, the enslaving chains of tradition; everywhere people need a way out of their desperate conditions, but do not see the source of their suffering and the path forward out of the darkness.”

    This quote from Bob Avakian (The New Communismp. 91) is universally true, but nowhere is it truer than in Haiti today.

    Haiti: slums of Porto-au-Prince, 2003.

     

    Tin and scrapwood shacks lining "Route Neuf" or "New Road" north of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2003.    Photo: AP

    Once again Haiti’s 12 million people have been plunged into a devastating crisis. Heavily armed gangs and militias control the capital city, Port-au-Prince, where about one in four Haitians live, the majority in impoverished slums. An estimated 350,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and many others are huddled at home afraid to go out. Nearly half of Haiti’s food is imported, but the gangs have forced the main airport and seaport to close, choking off the food supply. Major roads are blocked, cutting off trucks bringing food, fuel and water to the city. Starvation looms. The healthcare system is on the brink of collapse.

    Children line up to receive a plate of food at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 14, 2024.

     

    Children line up to receive a plate of food at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 14, 2024.    Photo: AP

    Every honest and knowledgeable observer knows that the dire situation in Haiti is overwhelmingly the responsibility of U.S. imperialism, which has dominated Haiti for more than 100 years. (The U.S. displaced, but also followed in the footsteps of, French colonialism/imperialism, which openly enslaved Haitians for more than 100 years. The vast wealth squeezed out of France’s slave plantations in Haiti helped lay the foundation for France’s “civilized way of life,” while condemning Haitian people to a short life of misery and brutal death from overwork, disease or outright murder—life expectancy for a Haitian slave was 21 years! (See “Haiti: a long descent to hell.”) 

    At every single point in its reign, the U.S. ignored or spat on the interests, rights, dignity, well-being and sovereignty of Haitian people. It invaded repeatedly, and occupied the country (as well as organizing other foreign forces to occupy it) for periods of decades. It has backed the most savage and sadistic dictators—the Duvalier dynasty—that literally struck terror in the hearts of millions of Haitians with its networks of spies, murderous paramilitaries, prisons and torture chambers. It has overthrown popularly elected leaders and imposed unelected ones. It has crippled Haitian peasant agriculture which until 20 years ago employed the large majority of Haitians and at one time had made Haiti self-sufficient in food. (See “The U.S. in Haiti: A Century of Domination and Misery”)

    Image of Revolution centerfold on US domination of Haiti

     

    (Click to enlarge)   

    And now one of the highest officials of the U.S. government, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has pulled together U.S. “assets” in the region—pro-U.S. leaders of other Caribbean countries—in Jamaica in order to impose a new “solution” on Haiti. (Some members of the pro-U.S. Haitian ruling class “participated” via Zoom.) 

    And what is the U.S. “solution”? To create a “transitional council” of pro-U.S. Haitian elites that will appoint a prime minister, who will then create the façade of a “legitimate” government, that will (Blinken hopes) stabilize the situation enough to be able to bring in an occupying force of 1,000 Kenyan soldiers to “restore order”… and then stage “free elections” for president as a way to sanctify the U.S.’s murderous reign with the Holy Water of “democracy.” 

    Let’s be clear: at every single point in the 220-year history of the U.S. “relationship” with the nation of Haiti, including the 109 years in which the U.S. has dominated the country, every single thing it has done has been from the standpoint of strengthening and enriching the U.S. empire at the expense of Haiti and its people. This is why the revcoms have repeatedly stressed that no good can possibly come from any further or deeper U.S. intervention.

    BAsics 1-3 English

     

    That is important, it is fundamental to understanding the situation today. BUT, it doesn’t answer the question: what is needed to get out of this nightmare?

    Many people, some well-meaning, say that “free and fair elections” are the answer. “Let Haitians decide—through elections—the future of Haiti.” 

    But Haiti—like our whole planet!—is in desperate need of deepgoing and fundamental change. The centuries of colonialist/imperialist rule have not just looted and tormented the Haitian people, they have fundamentally twisted everything in order to fit the needs of imperialism. The “political class” in Haiti—overwhelmingly representatives of Haitian capitalists who thrive on the exploitation of Haitian people and are inseparably tied to and dependent on the imperialists—have no desire to transform the economy, agriculture, the educational system, the terrible devastation of the environment wrought by slavery and then imperialism, the governing structures, the police or anything else to serve the needs of the masses of people and of humanity.  

    And even if somehow someone was elected who did have that “desire,” and even if they weren’t rapidly overthrown by internal or foreign reactionary forces, the kind of transformations needed cannot be done by “edict.”

    In today’s world, in Haiti and elsewhere, revolutionary change means that revolutionary leaders, have to come together and take up the new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian. This provides a scientific method and guide to understanding the world, and to mobilizing the masses in their millions, tapping their insatiable desire for a better world to collectively uproot the old world and build a new and better one, and to defend it from its enemies. The method and approach of the new communism enables revolutionaries to develop the strategy required to make revolution and to move to building a whole new society free from oppression and emancipation—and it enables them to do it in a way that increasingly involves masses of people.

    And revolutionary change requires doing this as part of a worldwide struggle to overthrow capitalism-imperialism and forge socialist societies. And to lead people who are fighting for this in any one country to contribute all they can to people everywhere, including by opposing reactionary interventions by “their own” governments against revolutionary forces and new socialist governments that are established.

    This is why we say, without hype, and with the soberest understanding of all the difficulties and sacrifices this road entails, that humanity needs revolution guided by the new communism.

    In coming articles, we will show how the whole history of Haiti points to the reality that this kind of deepgoing revolution, and nothing less, nothing else, provides the only solution to the nightmare world imperialism has shaped and that its supporters want to condemn us to for eternity.

  • ARTICLE:

    VIDEO:

    Rafael Kadaris on the crisis in Haiti

  • ARTICLE:

    American Crime Case #80: 1915-1934: The U.S. Invasion, Occupation and Domination of Haiti

    Bob Avakian has written that one of three things that has “to happen in order for there to be real and lasting change for the better: People have to fully confront the actual history of this country and its role in the world up to today, and the terrible consequences of this.” (See “3 Things that have to happen in order for there to be real and lasting change for the better.”)

    In that light, and in that spirit, “American Crime” is a regular feature of revcom.us. Each installment focuses on one of the 100 worst crimes committed by the U.S. rulers—out of countless bloody crimes they have carried out against people around the world, from the founding of the U.S. to the present day.

    See all the articles in this series.

    THE CRIME:

    On July 28, 1915, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson ordered 330 U.S. Marines to invade Haiti’s capital city of Port-au-Prince. This was the beginning of a 19-year U.S. occupation that didn’t end until 1934. At the time of the invasion the political situation in Haiti and the government itself were extremely unstable. U.S. troops landed after Haitian President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam was killed by people in the streets. And Sam himself had come to power after leading a revolt to topple the president a year earlier.

    HaitiansRebelsArrested1915-x600.jpg

     

    The Haitian people fiercely resisted the U.S. occupation in a series of revolts which the U.S. military ruthlessly crushed. Haitian rebels are enslaved in ropes, 1915.

    Haiti, a Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, had been France’s most lucrative colony until the Haitian people rose up in the largest successful slave rebellion in history, led by Toussaint L'Ouverture in 1791. At the time of the U.S. invasion, Haiti was a poor, mainly rural country that different foreign imperialist powers were trying to dominate.

    After the invasion, the U.S. immediately gained complete control over Haitian finances. Even before the invasion U.S. soldiers had gone to the Haitian National Bank, removed its gold reserves and sent them to National City Bank (now Citibank) in New York City. The U.S. also forced the election of a new pro-American puppet president, Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave, by the Haitian legislature in August 1915.

    In September 1915, the U.S. ratified the Haitian-American Convention, a treaty granting the U.S. security and economic oversight of Haiti for a 10-year period. The U.S. was given veto power over all government decisions in Haiti, and U.S. Marine Corps commanders served as administrators in Haiti’s government departments.

    BAsics cover 600

    BAsics from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian   

    These imperialists make the Godfather look like Mary Poppins.

    —Bob Avakian, BAsics 1:7

    By 1918, the Haitian Constitution, which had banned foreign purchases of land, had been rewritten by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was then Assistant Secretary of the Navy (and would later become president of the U.S.), to explicitly allow foreign ownership of Haitian property. Land was seized from small peasants to create large plantations; the economy was reorganized so that 40 percent of Haiti’s gross domestic product flowed to U.S. banks. The U.S. seized control of Haiti’s banks and the national treasury and 40 percent of Haiti’s national income was designated to repay debts to American and French banks. This included debt that originated in the “indemnity” that Haiti was forced to pay to France for property—including slaves—the French lost after the Haitian Revolution, the equivalent of $40 billion in today’s currency.

    Racist attitudes toward the Haitian people by U.S. occupation forces were blatant and widespread. Robert Lansing, then U.S. secretary of state, justified the occupation by claiming Haitians had “an inherent tendency toward savagery and a physical inability to live a civilized life,” so were incapable of self-government. Medill McCormick, a senator from Illinois, wrote in 1920 that the American occupation was necessary “to develop the country, the Government, and above all, the civilization of the people, of whom the overwhelming majority have African blood in their veins.” There were many reports of U.S. Marines sexually assaulting Haitian women. The occupation included segregation and enforced chain gangs to build roads and other construction projects.

    Haiti-CPeralte_body-x400.jpg

     

    U.S. Marines murdered one of the occupation's most famous resistance fighters, Charlemagne Péralte, then pinned his body to a door where it was left to rot in the sun for days.

    The Haitian people fiercely resisted the occupation in a series of revolts, which the U.S. military ruthlessly crushed—murdering leaders, burning villages to the ground, and killing thousands of people.  Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat wrote: “My grandfather was one of the Cacos, or so-called bandits, whom retired American Marines have always written about in their memoirs. They would be called insurgents now, the thousands who fought against the occupation. One of the stories my grandfather’s oldest son, my uncle Joseph, used to tell was of watching a group of young Marines kicking around a man’s decapitated head in an effort to frighten the rebels in their area.” Danticat also talks about how the Marines murdered one of the occupation’s most famous resistance fighters, Charlemagne Péralte, then pinned his body to a door where it was left to rot in the sun for days.

    During the 19 years of the U.S. occupation, at least 15,000 Haitians were killed. In 1918 there was an uprising of some 40,000 people. After the Haitian Gendarmerie was overwhelmed, U.S. Marines helped put down the rebellion, killing 2,000 people. During a December 1929 demonstration in the city of Les Cayes, part of a nationwide strike and ongoing rebellion, U.S. Marines fired on 1,500 people, wounding 23 and killing 12.

    The U.S. didn’t end its occupation until 1934—leaving behind a brutal, U.S.-trained Haitian National Army to repress the people.

    This invasion and occupation was the beginning of, and laid the basis for, subsequent decades of U.S. domination of Haiti and brutal U.S.-backed regimes.

    François “Papa Doc” Duvalier came to power in the 1957 presidential election and set up his own army of thugs—the Tontons Macoutes. The Duvalierist reign of terror—supported and backed by the U.S.—killed roughly 50,000 people. When Papa Doc died in 1971, U.S. warships were stationed just off the coast of Haiti to oversee a smooth transition of power to Duvalier’s son, Jean-Claude (“Baby Doc”). Baby Doc was closely associated with the “American Plan,” which explicitly aimed to cut the ground out from under peasant agriculture by large-scale imports of cheaper U.S. goods. This drove hundreds of thousands of peasants into the cities and shantytowns, desperate for work in U.S.-owned assembly plants. These were being set up by companies like Disney and Kmart, some paying workers 11 cents an hour to make pajamas and T-shirts.

    After popular uprisings ousted this brutal tyrant, the U.S. maneuvered and intervened—opposing any forces that threatened U.S. interests—and worked unsuccessfully to prop up and stabilize a series of governments that the Haitian people called out as “Duvalierism without Duvalier.” In 2004, the U.S. was directly involved in overthrowing the popularly elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

    At the time of the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Bill Quigley, legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, said of the U.S. role in Haiti: “We have kept the country dependent. We have kept the country militarized. And we kept the country impoverished. We have dumped our excess rice, our excess farm produce and that stuff on the country, thereby undercutting the small farmers who would make up the backbone of the place.... We didn’t create the earthquake, but we created some of the circumstances that made the earthquake so devastating....” (Democracy Now!, January 14, 2010)

    THE CRIMINALS:

    1915-1934 invasion and occupation: President Woodrow Wilson; Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Assistant Secretary to the U.S. Navy; the U.S. Marines

    1957-1986: The U.S. government, which backed the brutal dictatorships of “Papa Doc” Duvalier and “Baby Doc” Duvalier with their murderous Tonton Macoute militia that killed thousands of people.

    THE ALIBI:

    Wilson claimed the reason for the 1915 invasion and occupation was to “re-establish peace and order...”

    THE ACTUAL MOTIVE:

    At the time of the invasion, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy instructed Admiral William Deville Bundy, commander of the invasion, to “protect American and foreign” interests. These interests had everything to do with U.S. imperialism recognizing the strategic importance of controlling Haiti, as part of dominating the Caribbean region and Latin America as a whole, while preventing rival powers from gaining influence.

    The years leading up to the U.S. invasion of Haiti was a time of great political instability—where there were a series of political assassinations and forced exiles resulting in six presidents holding office between 1911 and 1915. Various rebel armies carried out coups, enlisted by rival political factions. This was taking place in a situation where German imperialism—which at that time was embroiled in World War 1 against other European imperialist powers over which one would dominate the world—was gaining influence in Haiti and increasingly becoming a rival power for the U.S. in the region. The U.S. itself would enter that war two years later and emerge from it as a major imperialist power. It was in this context of violent contention among imperialists for empire that it was crucial for the U.S. to control this nearby island of Hispaniola.

    IN THEIR OWN WORDS:

    The official U.S. government “Office of the Historian” website says:

    As a potential naval base for the United States, Haiti’s stability concerned U.S. diplomatic and defense officials who feared Haitian instability might result in foreign rule of Haiti. In 1868, President Andrew Johnson suggested the annexation of the island of Hispaniola, consisting of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, to secure a U.S. defensive and economic stake in the West Indies.... In 1915, Haitian President Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam was assassinated and the situation in Haiti quickly became unstable. In response, President Wilson sent the U.S. Marines to Haiti to prevent anarchy. In actuality, the act protected U.S. assets in the area and prevented a possible German invasion.

  • ARTICLE:

    Contribute Now to Support the Texas Revcoms at the Border in Eagle Pass

    Updated

    Editors’ note: Below is a letter that can be sent out to people you know to call for donating to the work of the revcom crew now at the border in Eagle Pass.

    Dear XXX
    A team of revcoms (revolutionary communists) has been traveling to Eagle Pass, Texas.  This is a small border town that has become ground zero in the escalating repression of immigrants and intense conflict between the rulers of this system. 

    We have been challenging people around Eagle Pass with this message: “We don't have an immigration problem, we have an imperialism problem. We need a real revolution." We are working to “fight the power, and transform the people, for revolution.” (See our latest video, on the dueling visits of Joe Biden and Donald Trump to the Texas border with Mexico). 

    Dueling visits to the border by Biden and Trump, Same damn system! We don’t need more murderous repression of immigrants. We need revolution for a whole new way to live!
    IG/@txrevcoms

    Texas’s Republi-fascist governor Abbott has strung miles of deadly razor wire along the Rio Grande around Eagle Pass. Numerous people, including small children, have drowned as a result. Texas has occupied the city park of Eagle Pass with National Guard troops, and Abbott recently ordered construction of a permanent military base just south of town. Texas’s onslaught has the full support of Donald Trump and 24 Republican governors. Convoys of rabid anti-immigrant MAGA supporters have gathered around Eagle Pass and demanded the border be shut down. 

    Abbott and his fellow fascists are aiming to undermine and delegitimize the authority of the federal government in service of a genocidal, Trump-fueled MAGA-fascism. But meanwhile, Genocide Joe Biden has deported and expelled more immigrants than any other president, vowed to shut down the border, and essentially eliminate asylum.

    As the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian said in a recent social media dispatch:

    This is not a time to be siding with one group of oppressors or another. This is a rare time—a very rare opening—a chance that may come only once in a lifetime—a chance to take advantage of the deep divisions among the ruling oppressors and go after their whole system, with the aim of bringing the whole thing down, and putting something much better in its place.

    This is what we're working toward—but we can't do this without your support!

    The revcoms have been aiming to break through with the message of real revolution— to seize on this opening. We've been interviewed in the Spanish language media—from Mexico and the U.S. We have reached out to people in laundromats, fast food restaurants, and taquerias. We’ve set up our banner demanding an end to the attacks on immigrants in a crowded park and a trail ride. We’ve participated in protests of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s fascist “Operation Lone Star,” marched through downtown Eagle Pass, and done creative street theater exposing the deadly razor wire Abbott has installed in the Rio Grande. We have put up scores of stickers and posters around Eagle Pass, and listened to or watched videos of revolutionary leader, Bob Avakian, with small groups of people.

    And this is just the beginning.

    Will you contribute to this urgent project—to impacting society with the only way out for humanity, at a time when the revolution we need is more possible? 

    Eagle Pass is hundreds of miles from other Texas cities. The costs of getting there, sustaining a crew there for days at a time, printing and preparing materials for broad impact in Eagle Pass and other Texas cities, are substantial. 

    If you are horrified by the racist vitriol directed at all immigrants; if you are alarmed at the direction society is careening toward; if you want to see a real way out for humanity—make a financial donation so the work of this team can continue, and contribute to wrenching a revolutionary solution out of this madness. 

    Best,

    At University of Texas at Austin, for an International Women’s Day Bake Sale

    Austin, Texas: IWD bake sale raised nearly $200 for revolution.

     

    Revcom supporters baked cookies and cupcakes for an International Women’s Day Bake Sale to Break All the Chains at University of Texas on March 8, 2024. It was the day before spring break and most students were rushing to class or to the airport, but we raised $189 and handed out about 75 “zines” (little booklets) of the Revcom statement for International Women’s Day. Throughout the sale, we played BA’s social media dispatch for IWD on a small speaker, as well as the words to the dance "Battle Cry to Break All the Chains."  Photo: Special to revcom.us   

    At an unofficial SXSW event

    Vic with sign as the revcoms raised almost $200 at Univ of Texas at an unofficial SXSW event.

     

    The revcoms were invited to set up a table outside a University of Texas residential co-op during an unofficial SXSW event. They raised about $200 for the revolution selling mac & cheese, cookies, and cake balls.  Photo: Special to revcom.us   

    The revcoms chat with students outside a University of Texas residential co-op during an unofficial SXSW event.

     

    The revcoms chat with students outside a University of Texas residential co-op during an unofficial SXSW event.  Photo: Special to revcom.us   

  • ARTICLE:

    From the International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners Now (IEC)

    Islamic Theocrats Step Up Misogynistic Repression 

    Fire and Fury Against Compulsory Hijab Continue to Ignite in Iran 

    Revcom.us editors’ note: We received the following from the International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners Now (IEC).

    We are the successors of the rebellious women who made our commitment quite clear to the Islamic Republic during the Jina uprising, shouting ‘You have made the compulsory hijab a symbol of our subjugation, we will burn your symbols and end patriarchy!’
    Statement of 10 Groups for International Women’s Day 2024

    A Single Spark Sets Off a Firestorm of Anger

    A young woman takes her sick baby to a medical clinic in Iran’s ultra religious “holy city” of Qom. A mullah (Muslim cleric) films her on his phone as she nurses her child and her headscarf has fallen around her shoulders. Videos quickly went viral on social media that captured her raw fury as she confronts him and shouts her demand “give me your phone, delete it.” He refuses, and other women in the clinic join her, surrounding him, angrily calling him out for his likely plan to report her for hijab violations on a special app created by the Islamic regime. The clash ended with the mullah being pushed with his turban and tunic being pulled off as he scurries away.

    Tweet URL

    The Qom prosecutor reported that four yet unnamed people were arrested for releasing the CCTV video of the incident. All this has unleashed broad mass outrage that may not go away soon enough for the regime.

    Cartoon titled “Women’s Dance of Freedom” by Shahrokh Heidari, November 2023

     

    Cartoon titled “Women’s Dance of Freedom,” November 2023    Cartoon by Shahrokh Heidari

    This incident re-ignited the red-hot embers of anger that still burn under the surface against the hijab as both symbol and reality of the patriarchal subordination of women in Iran. The compulsory hijab law and its brutal enforcement is a cornerstone of Iran’s theocratic capitalist rule and social cohesion.

    In the wake of the historic uprising after the state murder of Mahsa Jina Amini in the custody of “morality police,” the regime has further unleashed an organized all-around and systematic reign of terror against the vast number of people opposing their oppressive rule. In 2023, 139 women activists were given prison terms for the collective sum of more than 553 years with 10 sentenced to 557 lashes in addition to their prison terms.2

    Amnesty International reported (3/6/2024) that women and girls are being subjected to “constant surveillance and policing” that “span from stopping women drivers on the road…. to imposing inhumane flogging and prison sentences…. Official announcements indicate that since April 2023, Iran’s Moral Security Police have ordered the arbitrary confiscation of hundreds of thousands of vehicles with female drivers or passengers as young as nine without or in ‘inappropriate’ headscarves. According to testimonies, such orders are based on pictures captured by surveillance cameras or reports from plain clothes agents patrolling the streets and using a police app, called Nazer to report license plates of vehicles with non-compliant female drivers or passengers.”

    The report also notes that hijabless women face threatening car chases, being denied access to public transport, airports, and banking services besides verbal abuse and physical threats; and that in the city of Qom alone, the police prosecutor referred 1,986 hijab-related cases for prosecution since March 2023.3 In January 2024, anti-hijab activist Roya Heshmati was flogged 74 times for being hijabless in public. Afterwards, she described the room in which she was whipped by a man as a “medieval torture chamber.”4

    To quote from the IEC International Women’s Day solidarity statement:

    But what stands out about Iran is not simply the unbearable degradation and brutality towards women that exists on every corner of our planet today. What stands out is the decades of persistent and fierce defiance, especially by masses of women. And nowhere does this shine more brightly than the heroism of over 100 women political prisoners, many imprisoned for being hijab rebels. These brave sisters go up against great odds and take great risks to stand in the forefront of fighting a patriarchal and misogynistic regime and society.

    It’s Right to Rebel Against Forced Hijab

    A case in point is Sepideh Rashno, a well-known women’s rights activist, writer, artist, and vocal critic of compulsory hijab. She was arrested, severely beaten and tortured into a forced confession in June 2022 after a video of her arguing with a hijab enforcer on a bus in Tehran went viral. On social media, she announced, “[I will attend the trial] to defend myself for crimes that I have not committed, to defend the right to choose one’s clothing and [the right] to write about the things that have happened to me, to defend the right to be a woman.” She was denied presence at her own trial in Tehran after declaring on social media that she would not wear the hijab in court. She was recently returned to prison to begin a sentence just short of four years (!), all the while maintaining her fierce spirit of resistance.

    Other women political prisoners have taken very courageous stands against the compulsory hijab, such as Sepideh Gholian who also refused to wear it to court, and Narges Mohammadi, who refused to put it on for a hospital visit even when the Evin Prison authorities denied her life-saving medical treatment, which sparked a sit-in strike by fellow women’s ward mates.

    Street Celebrations Full of Fury and Fire

    On March 12, two days after the Qom episode, throughout Iran, during traditional bonfires in street celebrations for Chaharshanbe Suri, the ancient fire festival before the Persian New Year (or Nowruz), there were powerful, defiant expressions of outrage against the regime. A noose was set ablaze, many hijabs met bonfires, posters of “Supreme Leader” Ali Khamenei, mullah’s tunics and turbans were also set ablaze. Crowds of women were dancing without head coverings alongside men (prohibited by law). Women, children and men were joyously, angrily calling for change (video compilation on Instagram).

    At least one mass gathering in Tehran sang and danced to “Baraye” in a tribute to now political prisoner, the world renowned artist Shervin Hajipour. Iran’s regime is sending him to prison for his song supporting the Women, Life, Freedom uprising. As we write, rapper Toomaj Salehi remains in prison awaiting the decision of a recently concluded court hearing in which he strongly defended himself against bogus, outrageous charges of “spreading lies” and “calling for violence” for his revolutionary rap music and activism against Iran’s oppressive and repression regime.

    Free Toomaj Salehi! Free All Iran’s Political Prisoners! No US Threats or War Moves Against Iran, lift US Sanctions!

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  • ARTICLE:

    From Atash/Fire #148, Journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    THE REALITY OF COMMUNISM

    Part 6: Totalitarianism: A Yardstick That Cannot Measure Reality 

    Editors’ note: The article below is posted in Farsi in Atash/Fire journal #148, March 2024, at cpimlm.org. It was translated into English by revcom.us volunteers.  Bracketed words/phrases, and some of the footnotes are added by translators for clarification.  Part 1, Part 2Part 3Part 4 and Part 5 are also posted at revcom.us.

    March 5, 2024

    The main source of this series of articles is Bob Avakian's book Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That? and his other works on democracy/dictatorship. 

    One of the most widely used and popular concepts on Iran's political scene today is “totalism” or “totalitarianism,” a theory developed by Hannah Arendt. This concept is widely used by opposition forces on the Right and the Left, though with different intent and understanding, to describe the Islamic Republic of Iran [IRI]. The most well-intentioned often assume that totalitarianism is an extreme form of tyranny and despotism, where the state is about controlling society down to the most personal aspects of an individual’s life. But some deliberately use this ideological weapon to misrepresent the only radical solution that has emerged outside the framework of the imperialist-capitalist system (i.e. communist revolution). They define the only, and binary, alternatives as “democracy” (including “good” bourgeois autocracies) vs. totalitarianism when the real choice is between two different kinds of future. [It is either] to perpetuate this very same system of capitalist oppression and exploitation, with all the horrors it visits on the majority of the world's people, and today—through destruction of the environment and nuclear war [threatening] life on planet Earth and all of humanity—vs. getting rid of this system and establishing a fundamentally different type of state (class democracy/dictatorship) in order to move towards a world that has no private ownership of the means of production, no class or social distinctions, and with no [need for the] state.

    Therefore, it is important to take a closer look at the concept or theory of totalitarianism, although it is difficult to call it a theory due to its lack of logic and internal coherence, in order to understand not only how the term is used, its analysis of the problem that the IRI represents, and what it says must be done to solve that problem. Because if the problem is that the IRI is totalitarian, [then] the solution would be to create the “normal democracy” that a wide spectrum of the opposition goes on and on about. But if our analysis of the nature of the IRI is consistent with reality, we will recognize that it is not only a theocratic fascist state, but also that it is completely interwoven with a capitalist infrastructure [that is] dependent on the world imperialist capitalist system. Therefore, the solution can be nothing less than overthrowing the IRI, with the goal of establishing a socialist state and society. So let's take a look at what totalitarianism is and why our problem with the IRI’s regime is not something called totalitarianism.

    Any concept or theory, including totalitarianism, cannot be understood without taking into consideration the historical and global social context from which it emerged. So, we must get clear on these two points: 1) the [historical] period in which this theory was developed, and 2) that this theory is a distortion of reality that serves the interests of a specific class and its specific political goals. Further, there never has been a state that could be explained by “totalitarianism.” All examples of states alleged to be totalitarian were, in reality, either one of the various types of imperialist-capitalist regimes—fascist or autocratic with a socialist mask—or genuine socialist states (the Soviet Union 1917-1956 and China 1949-1976).

    Here is how [revolutionary leader] Bob Avakian describes the actual content and political role of the theory of totalitarianism:

    This theory was developed in the context of World War 2, including the events of the late 1930s leading up to it and above all the situation that arose in its aftermath. It was not widely promoted (or the Soviet Union was not targeted in the same way as it is now) during the period 1941-45, when the [socialist] Soviet Union was allied with the “Western democracies” against the fascist Axis (that is German, Italian, and Japanese imperialism and their allies). It was after the war that this theory was fully fertilized and blossomed forth. For the Soviet Union—and what was then a large and potentially very powerful socialist camp under its leadership—had emerged as the direct antagonist to imperialism in the West. (This became all the more the case, and this socialist camp was seen as all the more dangerous, after the victory of the Chinese Revolution in 1949.)1

    Subsequently, in the 1980s when the Soviet social-imperialist bloc was the serious rival of the Western imperialists, the concept (or accusation) of totalitarianism was one of the main ideological weapons in the Western imperialist arsenal that they deployed in the conflict. And still, whenever [inter-imperialist] conflict escalates—for example, in the war between Russia and NATO in Ukraine—they justify their actions with this ideological weapon [of totalitarianism].

    Totalitarianism presents itself as a new “yardstick” that goes beyond the distinction of Left and Right. Indeed, Arendt is not unique in [her refusal] to recognize these fundamental distinctions. She relies on some superficial similarities between Hitler's Germany and the Soviet Union under Stalin's leadership to invent a “new theory of the state.” According to Arendt, there is a new kind of state, the “totalitarian state,” which is not only different from democracy, but even different from the openly dictatorial states (reactionaries, autocrats, etc.) that have existed up ’til now. In this new theory, the state is unmoored from classes, from the specific social division that the state is an extension of, and from the production relations that the state must ultimately serve and reproduce. 

    The totalitarian “yardstick” is used to propagate the very enormous lie that fascist and communist governments are the same (!) and simultaneously serves as an apology for the many not-so-democratic “free world” regimes in the U.S. imperialist camp that are not considered to be totalitarian! For example, Saudi Arabia's [Mohammed] bin Salman is never considered totalitarian, even though he ordered the dismemberment of [Jamal] Khashoggi, a critic and journalist! Nor is Israel! (Although Arendt was against certain crimes the Israeli government committed, neither she nor other anti-totalitarians ever called Israel totalitarian.) And of course, this yardstick serves to prettify and distract attention from the criminal nature of Western imperialist democracies. Regardless of how much they are intertwined with racism, patriarchy, warmongering and environmental destruction, when confronted with the specter of communism we must bow down to them! 

    The same concept of the state, one that completely separates the political superstructure from the economic infrastructure, is used by Iranian intellectuals in their analysis of the IRI to reduce it to merely a totalitarian regime, without bothering to explain the differences between this regime and other reactionary and despotic regimes. According to U.S. government documents, apparently ever since the IRI signed a twenty-five-year agreement with China, they have considered it to be totalitarian.2 Before that, dating back to 1979 and even before, they were treated as little more than regional reactionary Islamists—and occasionally as U.S. allies in the fight against the threat of communism. 

    Ultimately, this yardstick of totalitarianism is not only inaccurate but also lacks the ability to measure the fundamental attribute of the state: that it is a dictatorship of one class over other classes. The concept of “totalitarianism” is nothing more than a political tool for drawing a line of demarcation between the camps of the friends and enemies of the U.S.

    But, apart from the specific political aims of totalitarianism which many are unaware of, why is this concept actually out of sync with reality and therefore unscientific?

    [C]entral to the whole outlook and methodology of the antitotalitarian theorists is the recasting and reinterpretation of events according to the a priori notions of their theory. This is a Procrustean outlook and methodology: anything which does not fit the theory, and any event of world history which does not conform to and confirm its assumptions, is bent and mutilated to make it fit. These theorists are every bit as fanatical about this as the totalitarians portrayed in their writings.3

    Arendt, for example, asks why the masses of people in Germany, and even a section of the intelligentsia, supported Hitler (and a similar question is posed about the support given to [Iran’s Ayatollah Ali] Khomeini in 1978 by sections of the masses and by the intellectuals). Instead of examining the real dynamics of the rise of fascism from within the capitalist system—that it was grounded in the defeat of Germany in World War I, the changed conditions of people in a defeated imperialist country and its many political and social dimensions, including the limitations of other forces on the scene—Arendt blames the masses (“the alliance of the mob with the elite”) and flying in the face of all facts to the contrary, she declares the end of imperialism!

    There are a lot of similarities between this and the blame-game targeting proponents of [Iran’s revolution in] 1979. There is a lot of complexity to the effect of several decades of [Shah Mohammed Reza] Pahlavi’s pro-Western rule on the life of the Iranian people, the global situation, domestic repression, and ultimately on the functioning of the imperialist capitalist system whose internal dynamics gave rise to reactionary alternatives like Islamic fundamentalism. It is far easier to attribute all of it to the stupidity of the masses and intellectuals, and to Khomeini being totalitarian!

    Arendt writes: 

    [W]e are indeed at the end of the bourgeois era of profit and power, as well as at the end of imperialism and expansion. The aggressiveness of totalitarianism springs not from lust for power, and if it feverishly seeks to expand, it does so neither for expansion’s sake nor for profit, but only for ideological reasons: to make the world consistent, to prove that its respective supersense has been right.4

    The basis of this theory is precisely that totalitarianism has its own unique dynamics and does not function according to the dynamics of imperialism! So, too bad about the facts of World War II, which show that it was fought among imperialist countries over the re-division of the world, especially for advantage over strategic regions. Further, the ruling capitalist class always uses ideology to govern and justify its actions, and to expand its spheres of influence. U.S. imperialism epitomizes this practice, carrying out wars and military interventions around the world in the name of “exporting democracy.” If this is not for expansion and profit, if imperialism has ended, why don’t Arendt and others in her school of thought conclude that the U.S. is a totalitarian state because of such lust for power? 

    But some people just cannot see that claims about totalitarianism are completely contrary to reality, that in every case this theory is applied in a way that is thoroughly contradictory! For example, Mehdi Khalaji says that imperialism has never existed in Iran (yet at this very moment, the IRI exists within the imperialist system—not itself an imperialist country but is dependent on the capitalist system of imperialism). In Khalaji’s opinion, a Shiite state is not necessarily a totalitarian one! From this we should conclude that the only state that necessarily and certainly is totalitarian—and therefore must be avoided—is a socialist state.

    In addition to the non-scientific methodology, another anti-scientific aspect of totalitarianism is its false theory that human nature is unchangeable. Arendt goes so far as to call Darwin's theory of evolution invalid! Discounting the possibility of changing human thinking and social behavior is in fact to oppose the possibility of changing the world—a world full of exploitation, oppression of one human being by another, hostile relationships between people, and destructive wars—which leads to acceptance of all these horrors. According to Arendt and her cohort of Iranians, from Touraj Atabaki to Mehdi Khalaji and Bahareh Hedayat5,the goal of totalitarian systems is to create a ‘new man’! But changing everything winds up destroying everything!” And, according to Arendt, not only is the totalitarian project of making “a new type of man” a bad thing, but for the thinking of humans to change as a result of change to external conditions will lead to an instability and inconsistency, which she sees as a conspicuous characteristic of the “totalitarian personality” or mentality!6

    The reality is that the human species is very adaptable and [can change] as conditions—and above all social systems—change. People are able to make enormous changes in their outlook, beliefs, and even in their feelings... For those who have no interest in the status quo, this is very liberating. But for those like Arendt, the mere attempt at change is frightening. And this includes any kind of change, even to achieve equality of opportunity and education. Arendt wrote that, 

    Nineteenth-century positivism and progressivism perverted this purpose of human equality when they set out to demonstrate what cannot be demonstrated, namely, that men are equal by nature and different only by history and circumstances, so that they can be equalized not by rights, but by circumstances and education.7

    Bob Avakian replies: 

    Here Arendt reveals both the bourgeois—and more specifically, bourgeois-democratic—essence of her outlook, and at the same time the reactionary essence of the bourgeois-democratic ideal in this era: the notion, and insistence, that on the one hand equality is the highest principle but that on the other hand human “equality is an equality of rights only."8

    For antitotalitarians, it does not matter that for the IRI the “new type man” is steeped in religion, male supremacy/patriarchy, oppressive social hierarchies and exploitative economic relations — and that the transformed human being of the future socialist society hates all of this, and this change is part of dismantling those oppressive, exploitative social relations and the corresponding dark-ages ways of thinking. As Marx put it, circumstances are changed by men, meaning that s/he can change her/himself. For the antitotalitarians, all that matters is that the old human—the atomized individual that capitalism created a few hundred years ago by uprooting peasants from the land and destroying feudal collectives, a commodity owner (whose commodity is his labor power)—should be kept just as he is, with his highest contribution to society [in] a vote for a section of the ruling class. But let the same vote go to the fascist faction of the ruling class like Hitler, Trump or Erdogan, it sends the antitotalitarians into crisis, so they put the blame on the masses for misusing their “right to vote.” 

    Paradoxically, according to some including Khalaji, what is key to combating totalitarianism and the “new-type man” is self-motivation and self-awareness! It is as if those who Arendt calls “self-contained and unique” are living in a vacuum, and can consciously choose their own social and production relations; as if they live in no particular political, ideological and economic-social system with no dominant class, no ruling ideology that influences society and gives direction to their spontaneity. According to this line of thought, all that is out there are isolated individuals. Whereas in their same ideal bourgeois-democratic countries, people from an early age are constantly and continually inundated with misinformation. Through their comprehensive educational system, the media, and by other means they lie to people about every important issue in current political events, world affairs, and world history. They systematically inculcate their own misleading and upside-down view of the world in the minds of the masses. And they accomplish this not through extreme and bizarre practices like those portrayed in 1984, George Orwell’s [fictional] totalitarian society, but through the “normal” and democratic functioning of the bourgeois-democratic society and state.

    At times, the concept of totalitarianism is used so randomly that it would astonish Arendt herself, should she hear them. Reza Kazemzadeh, for example, believes that totalitarian governments are created to combat individuality and a private life. “In the last century,” he writes, “all totalitarian regimes were collectivist and group-oriented systems... from fascism and Nazism in Europe, to ‘people’s democracies’ in the communist Soviet Union and China. All of them were based on the principle of prioritizing collective interests over individual rights. Apparently, there is an organic connection between being group-oriented and totalitarianism, such that in the official ideology of these systems, an individual finds meaning and receives official recognition only within the framework of the group and in their assigned role within the collective."9

    Elementary social history shows that the conflict between the individual and society is present in all types of society. But the problem is that this contradiction becomes antagonistic in class societies such as capitalism (no matter whether the capitalist class governs with fascism or with liberal democracy) because, in the existing social division of labor, the majority of society must serve the interests of the minority class that stands over and against them and their collective interests. And on the contrary, in socialist society, the individuality and individual talents of this majority flourish a million times more. But under capitalism, the majority of workers in society are treated like “nobodies” and often as merely “surplus [labor]”—not as full human beings with amazing talents, leaving us with only these “collective” and “individual” interests versus those “collective” and “individual” interests! 

    On the subject of the totalitarianism of the IRI, Kazemzadeh writes, “Home and family are the only places in our society that are significantly resistant to an assortment of direct and continuous interferences by the government.” Yes, the family (!) despite the fact that, even within the framework of this capitalist system, families are often feudal hierarchies. The family household is one of the main vehicles for inculcating ruling class ideology and for controlling and suppressing a large share of society—especially women and their “individuality.” This has nothing to do with the "eye of big brother" and the totalitarianism of the IRI. Rather, it is part of how all states function in the imperialist capitalist system, where male-supremacy/patriarchal relations are rooted in the family. 

    Extreme individualism of the Ayn Rand variety does not save a society from totalitarianism. Instead, it divides society into millions of hostile and competing cells, each of which sees the other as an obstacle to its own freedom and prosperity. Such an outlook is the basis for liberal democracy and for its justification of imperialist rivalries and wars. It is also the basis for fascist solutions of making war on the “other.”

    And, it can only exist if we close our eyes to the common interests of the whole of Humanity which, objectively, has the ability to advance beyond this system of oppression and exploitation.

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. Bob Avakian. Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That?, pgs. 170-171. [back]

    2. Iran and China, the Totalitarian Twins, U.S. Department of State, July 20, 2020. [back]

    3. Avakian. Democracy…., pg. 170.  [back]

    4. Hannah Arendt, Totalitarianism, cited on pg. 175 of Avakian, Democracy…. [back]

    5. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulP09gkCt7ghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6mlDBCTQ6ohttps://iranwire.com/fa/features/124516-Bahareh-Hedayt-Ma-Liberalha-kajai-Midan-Bartanzi-Stadhayim/. See also Lilly Babayi and Somayeh Kargar, “On Which Side Of History Do We Stand?” RadioZamineh.com [back]

    6. Arendt, Totalitarianism, p. 39.  [back]

    7. Arendt, Totalitarianism, p. 186. [back]

    8. Avakian, Democracy…, pgs. 186-187. [back]

    9. https://www.radiofarda.com/a/f3_privatelife_totalitarian_regime_Iran/2082829.html [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    VIDEO

    Resist The Anti-Communist Brainwash... Step Into The Revolution For A Whole New World

    Episode 187 of The RNL — Revolution, Nothing Less! — Show

  • ARTICLE:

    From the Revcoms (Revolutionary Communists)

    REVOLUTION

    BUILDING UP THE BASIS TO GO FOR THE WHOLE THING, 
    WITH A REAL CHANCE TO WIN:
    STRATEGIC ORIENTATION AND PRACTICAL APPROACH

    If you don’t understand why we need a revolution, and how that revolution could be possible, then you dont know what you need to know.

    Fundamentally, people cannot imagine this because they are not approaching things with a scientific outlook and method.(Bob Avakian, revolutionary leader, author and architect of a whole new framework for human emancipation: the new communism).

    We Are Serious: We Are Working for a Real Revolution and a Whole New, Emancipating Way to Live.

    We are applying the scientific analysis and the strategic approach in the major work by Bob Avakian, Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating, which can be found at revcom.us. Here is the heart of what is brought to light in that work. 

    First of all: We live under a systemthe system of capitalism-imperialism (capitalism is an economic and political system of exploitation and oppression, and imperialism refers to the worldwide nature of this system). It is this system which is the basic cause of the tremendous suffering that people, all over the world, are subjected to; and this system poses a growing threat to the very existence of humanity, in the way that this system is rapidly destroying the global environment, and in the danger of war between the U.S. and its rivals in Russia and Chinaall nuclear-armed capitalist-imperialist powers.

    All this is reality, and no one can escape this reality. Either we radically change it, in a positive way, or everything will be changed in a very negative way. Changing it in a positive way means making revolutiona real revolution, to overthrow this system of capitalism-imperialism and replace it with a radically different and emancipating system, a whole new way of organizing society.

    And this is crucially important: This is a rare time when a revolution to overthrow this system of capitalism-imperialism, and bring something much better into being, is not only urgently necessary but is more possibleand this rare time must not be squandered (wasted, thrown away) but must be actively seized on to build up the basis and the forces for revolution, and then carry the revolution through.

    With all the chaos and madness in the worldwith this systems accelerating destruction of the environment and the way it is heightening the danger of nuclear war that could wipe out human life as we know it... with all the craziness in this country, continually disrupting the normal way things have been... with one part of society and one governing party (the Republicans) now made up of fascists determined to crush any opposition to them and their blatantly racist, anti-immigrant, woman-hating, anti-LGBTQ, environment-plundering program and anti-scientific lunacy, that they claim will make America great again... with the other ruling class party (the Democrats) seeking to maintain this horrific system in the traditional form in which it has existed for generations, and has caused so much suffering for the masses of humanity, while the Biden Democratic administration is adopting policies that accelerate the destruction of the environment and acting in ways that heighten the danger of nuclear war... and, very importantly, with these ruling powers deeply divided among themselves, and those divisions becoming sharper all the time, so that they can no longer rule in a unified waywith all this, things that have gone on in more or less the same way for years, and decades, can suddenly and dramatically change, in months or even weeks.

    All this 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 hasnt happened since the Civil War in the 1860s. This could lead to something even more terrible than normal life under this systemmaking life even more unbearable, or even impossible, for the masses of people everywherebut there is also this very important positive potential: In this situation, 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 thingIF the revolutionaries have been 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.

    And that is what we are determined to do. 

    Here is how we are working to make this real. And if you can’t stand this world the way it is and where it is now headed, then YOU need to become part of working to make this real—to seize on this “rare time” to put an end to this capitalist-imperialist system that we are now forced to live under, with all its madness and destruction, and bring something much better into being, for people everywhere and for future generations.

    1. A Fundamental Point of Orientation, and Practical Guidance: 

    Everything depends on bringing forward a revolutionary people, from among the most bitterly oppressed, and all parts of society, first in the thousands and then in the millions, as a powerful revolutionary force, organized from the start and consistently with a country-wide perspective, impacting all of society and changing the terms of how masses of people see things and how every institution has to respond. Everything must be focused now on actually bringing forward and organizing this revolutionary force.

    Think of the millions of people, of all races and genders, who rose up with righteous anger, all over the country, in 2020, when the murder of George Floyd by a heartless pig was just too much—something which was not an “isolated incident” but a concentration of the way the police in this country continually carry out cold-blooded murder of people, especially Black people, Latinos, and Native Americans. This uprising in 2020 was powerful and inspiring (so powerful that even some big-time capitalist exploiters and ruling class politicians had to “take a knee” pretending to be with the massive protests!). But there was a big problem: people were divided and pitted against each other by “identity politics” and misled into a dead-end by completely unrealistic demands like “defund” or “abolish” the police—which could never happen under this system. Many became discouraged, disoriented and demoralized, when murder by police kept happening, over and over again, with the fascist Republicans calling for even more brutal action by police, while Biden and the Democrats doubled down on funding the police and backing them in violently “serving and protecting” this system of murderous oppression. The real lesson is not that nothing can change but that we need a revolution to get rid of this whole system. 

    Think what could be possible if millions were mobilized into the streets again—not just to express their anger, but with the understanding and determination to do what needs to be done to really put an end to police terror and murder, to white supremacy, male supremacy and gender oppression, and to all the inequality, discrimination, exploitation, plunder and destruction of people and the environment that is built into this system of capitalism-imperialism—to put an end to all this in the only way it can be done: by putting an end to this system itself, and bringing something much better into being.

    2. In the circumstances of all-out crisis, when the whole direction of society is being called into question, there would be different trends and organized forces seeking to take things in different directions. There would be the fascist Republicans, aiming to seize (or consolidate) power, in order to bring about a more blatant form of oppressive and murderous rule, without the usual disguise of “democracy, with liberty and justice for all.” There would be those, like the leaders of the Democratic Party, trying to maintain (or restore) this monstrous system of oppression in its more “traditional” form. There would be masses of people in favor of some kind of basic change in a positive direction, but with different ideas about what that would mean. And there would likely be some organized forces claiming to be aiming for some kind of “progressive” change—even some calling themselves “revolutionaries” or “socialists”—when in fact their programs would only reinforce, and keep people locked into, the existing system.

    The people who are won, in increasingly greater numbers, to the actual revolution that is urgently needed, must be led to have a clear understanding of the need, and be in position, to wage a powerful struggle to determine the whole direction of things in the midst of such an acute crisis, in order to carry things forward toward the only real positive solution: a truly emancipating revolution.

    EVERYTHING THAT IS DONE, FROM HERE FORWARD, MUST BE ORIENTED TO CREATING THE BASIS FOR THIS.

    3. We are working every day to win growing numbers of people to understand the urgent need and possibility for revolution and to become an organized force that can shake up the whole country—waking people up and changing the way they think about things... working continually to gather forces and build up the organized strength of the revolution... working to powerfully impact the development of things in such a way that a situation can come about where there could be an all-out fight for revolution, with a real chance to win.

    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. 

    With “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating” as the basic guide, and utilizing the YouTube RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show and the website revcom.us as key resources, we are organizing people to grapple with why an actual revolution is urgently necessary and more possible now, what such a revolution involves, and what kind of society this is aiming for—involving them in the process of building for revolution, in an organized way, and enabling people in parts of the country where the revolution does not yet have an organized presence to link up with others and become part of this revolution. (This is spoken to further in Organizing for an Actual Revolution: 7 Key Points, which can be found at revcom.us.)

    We are spreading far and wide the inspiring vision of how much better life could be, for the great majority of people, if millions of people got behind this revolution and carried it through—making it possible to restructure all of society on a completely different foundation, with a radically different economic system (mode of production) and emancipating relations among people, as spelled out very concretely in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, written by Bob Avakian. 

    In an all-around way, and especially in broadly promoting what are truly extraordinary Interviews with Bob Avakian on The RNL Show, we are doing the necessary work and waging the necessary struggle so that masses of people know about and get with the leadership we have in Bob Avakian: learning about the inspiring vision and concrete blueprint for a radically different, emancipating society he has brought forward, following the concrete guidance he is providing, taking up and applying the scientific method and approach of the new communism he has developed, in order to really make revolution and finally get free. Bob Avakian is completely different than the endless stream of bourgeois (capitalist) “leaders” who are put forward, and others who cannot see, or will not look, beyond the confines of this horrific system. He is hard-core for revolution, with a largeness of mind, generosity of spirit, and lively sense of humor—all of which shines through in these Interviews.

    Through actively taking part in the tremendous radical upsurge of the 1960s and being strongly influenced by the Black Panther Party and other revolutionary forces in that time—especially what was at that time a revolutionary, socialist China—Bob Avakian became a determined revolutionary communist; and he has continued to dedicate his life and devote his efforts to developing a scientifically based theory, strategy and program for revolution whose fundamental goal is freeing people everywhere from every form of oppression. He embodies this rare combination: someone who has been able to develop scientific theory on a world-class level, while at the same time having a deep understanding of and visceral connection with the most oppressed, and a highly developed ability to “break down” complex theory and make it broadly accessible.

    A leader like this has never before existed in the history of this country. Having a leader like this is a rare and precious thing for the masses of people who are so terribly oppressed under this system. It is a powerful positive factor for the revolution that is urgently needed, with the goal of ending all oppression and finally bringing about the emancipation of humanity as a whole.

    4. We have issued a bold Declaration, WE NEED AND WE DEMAND: A WHOLE NEW WAY TO LIVE, A FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT SYSTEM, which raises this demand: 

    The Existing Capitalist-Imperialist System And Institutions Of Government In This Country Must Be Abolished And Dismantled—And Replaced By A New, Socialist System Based On The CONSTITUTION FOR THE NEW SOCIALIST REPUBLIC IN NORTH AMERICA.

    That Declaration provides a basic summary of fundamental principles and specific goals of the revolution and the new society and way of living we are working for, as set forth in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America. The Declaration needs to be very broadly distributed and popularized, among millions of people, in all parts of the country, now and throughout the development toward a full-out crisis. It needs to be driven home very clearly how the new socialist Constitution provides the foundation, the framework and practical guidelines for a radically new, emancipating system, really enabling and empowering the masses of people to move to abolish inequality and discrimination, oppression and exploitation, and to provide powerful support for revolutionary struggles throughout the world striving for the same goal, while also moving quickly, systematically and effectively, to address the already acute and fast accelerating environmental crisis, with the aim of bringing into being a world where humanity can truly be fit caretakers of the Earth.

    5. As a crucial part of the three prepares, the revolutionary communist leadership for the revolution, based on the new communism, must be greatly strengthened, with the Revolutionary Communist Party systematically built up as the overall leadership, with a growing core of strategic commanders of the revolution and the expanding ranks of the Party clearly oriented, prepared and organized to lead the whole revolutionary process.

    6. Throughout the period leading to an all-out crisis, mass organization for defense against unjust attacks on people’s rights and their lives, by oppressive and murderous thugs, in and out of government, must be built up, throughout the country, on the basis of the Points of Attention for the Revolution, which you can also find at revcom.us. This mass organization for defense needs to be developed as part of the overall process of carrying out the three prepares.

    In order to achieve the fundamental goal of sweeping away this system of capitalism-imperialism and replacing it with a new socialist system based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, as things clearly approach an all-out crisis, with millions won to the revolution, it will be necessary and critically important to transform this mass defense organization—and to steel, strengthen and rapidly expand its ranks—so that it is developed as a disciplined revolutionary force, throughout the country, that is oriented, prepared and led to strategically defeat the armed enforcers of this system, as well as fascist thugs and other murderous reactionaries, who are attempting to violently crush the revolution.

    All this is based on the understanding that the fundamental source of violence in the world is the system of capitalism-imperialism; that by far the greatest perpetrators of unjust violence are the ruling classes of the capitalist-imperialist powers, most of all in this country—and that the fundamental reason why the abolition of this system cannot be achieved peacefully is because of the nature of this system itself, and the fact that those who rule it would never allow their system to be swept away without attempting to violently suppress and crush any such attempt. 

    A serious, scientific approach to how such a disciplined revolutionary force could actually succeed in defeating the unjust violence of this system’s armed enforcers (and others seeking to crush the revolution) is spoken to in a series of articles by Bob Avakian, REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN, also available at revcom.us. What is put forward in these articles needs to be broadly promoted, discussed and debated, among masses of people.

    7. Large parts of the major institutions of armed enforcement of the currently ruling system are made up of people drawn from the bitterly oppressed in this country. With the immediate approach of an all-out crisis, an appeal should be made to those who have been part of these institutions to join with the masses of people in the struggle to achieve this fundamental and urgently needed demand: to dismantle the existing system and institutions of government—to be replaced by the implementation of the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.

    To those who have been part of the system of government which is to be abolished and replaced: an offer of amnesty should then be made, except for those who have been the key decision-makers and those who have been responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    8. At the same time, it will be important to continually increase and more powerfully organize the broader ranks of the millions demanding the dismantling of the existing system and institutions of government and the implementation of the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America. This revolutionary people, of millions, would need to be mobilized and wielded in such a way as to make clear that it is going for a complete, revolutionary change—that it will not back down from this goal and accept anything less. In this way, it would constitute a powerful pole attracting and drawing forward even broader numbers of people from all parts of society—and it would pose a definite challenge and call to people everywhere in society, including in all the existing institutions of this system, to come over to the side of the revolution.

    This will also strengthen the basis to provide powerful support for, and to continually expand, the organized, disciplined revolutionary force oriented to bring about the victory of the revolution through strategically defeating the unjust violence of the ruling institutions and armed enforcers of this system, as well as fascist thugs and other murderous reactionaries.

    9. This overall strategic approach must also be sharply posed directly against the BEB (Bourgeois Electoral Bullshit) of this capitalist-imperialist system, and in particular the BEB leading into the 2024 presidential election—all of which serves to keep people chained to this system. Here is a crucially important guideline from Bob Avakian that has special significance now: When conflicts among the different sections of the bourgeois (capitalist) ruling class become so deep and hostile that they are no longer able to rule in the “normal way” they have for generations, “that is a sign of extremely deep and acute cracks and fissures in the entire established order; and such a situation must be seized by the oppressed not to side with one section of the bourgeoisie against another ... but instead to rise in revolutionary struggle to overthrow the rule of the bourgeoisie altogether.”

    10. Popularizing the strategy is an important part of carrying out the strategy. The strategic orientation and practical approach outlined here needs to be boldly put forward and broadly popularized, among masses of people, now and throughout the process of carrying out the three prepares: making clear that this is aimed at achieving the profoundly, and urgently, needed revolution, fundamentally through the mobilization of millions and millions of people around this basic demand: to dismantle the existing system and institutions of government—to be replaced by the implementation of the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.

    Popularizing this, now and in an ongoing way, throughout the period of working to achieve these objectives, will strengthen the basis for masses of people to see, concretely, that there is a definite strategic orientation and practical approach to bringing about the necessary revolution, and what their role can be, and needs to be, in all this. It will strengthen the basis to engage in more focused struggle with people about the possibility—as well as the urgent need, and the truly emancipating potential—of this revolution.

    ACTIVELY CARRY OUT THIS STRATEGIC ORIENTATION AND PRACTICAL APPROACH TO SEIZE ON THIS RARE TIME WHEN REVOLUTION IS MORE POSSIBLE!

    BUILD UP THE ORGANIZED FORCE OF THOUSANDS, AND THEN MILLIONS, OF REVOLUTIONARY EMANCIPATORS OF HUMANITY PREPARED TO GO FOR THE WHOLE THING!

  • ARTICLE:

    A Message to the Revcoms and Everyone Else Yearning for a Better World

    THIS Is A “Game-Changer”: The Bob Avakian Interviews

    Part One

    Editors’ note: Revcom.us recently received a valuable contribution from two readers on how to go out and turn the new interviews with Bob Avakian, BA, into the societal game-changers they can—and urgently need to—be. We will be posting edited excerpts from this letter over the next few weeks. We urge all our readers to write us with your thoughts on this and how we can meet this crucial goal, and your experience—positive and negative—in doing so.

    What is concentrated in these interviews is objectively a game-changer: there simply is no one and nothing else like this, and any decent, honest and intellectually curious person who cares about the state of the world and watches this will be transformed, even as those newer to things will of course not immediately become revcoms, and will have plenty of questions, things they don’t understand and things they understand wrongly.

    But in the process of and alongside thinking about why and how to project these interviews out in society in a big way, anyone who is part of these efforts should take some time—whether they are brand new... or have heard this before and think they already have a deep grasp of this point—to truly and seriously reflect upon what is contained and concentrated in these interviews and what it would mean for the prospects for revolution in this rare time in history to SUCCEED in creating a climate in which these BA interviews and BA himself increasingly make a big societal splash and become known to and a huge reference point for first hundreds, then thousands and ultimately millions—with increasing waves of these people getting deeply into these interviews and into BA and stepping forward into the movement for revolution that he is leading.

    Really being anchored in the above will lead to all kinds of good, exciting, and compelling ideas and to really thinking big in a way commensurate with what and who it is that we’re projecting.

    Part 1: Some Important Principles and Points of Orientation

    These points are informed by the understanding that our forces are currently very small... but also not non-existent. Along these lines, we wrangled, brainstormed and shuttled back and forth between two planes of conception in our thinking:  

    *Pursuing a thought experiment in which the two of us arrived in a new city, were the only two people who had heard of BA and these interviews and were seeking to make as big and broad a splash as possible as quickly as possible... and

    *Stepping out of this thought experiment back into a reality in which we are not, in fact, literally starting from scratch and do have forces, ties and factors to work with, even if starting out they are small in number.

    With this in mind, here are some key principles and points of orientation that we discussed, and that should inform brainstorming, ideas and efforts to break through on making these interviews a huge deal in society.

    Point 1: Strategic confidence and radical simplicity

    Once again, think about these interviews and what it was like to watch them.

    Like, really actually think about that for a moment...

    Think about who and what they feature... what these interviews talk about and how they talk about it... think about their substance... their style... think about how they inspired and moved you... how they challenged you... what they illuminated... what they made you think and what they made you feel.

    Think honestly about whether you have ever seen and heard anything else like this...

    Now, with that still fresh in your mind...

    Think about someone who doesn’t want to watch these interviews. Who makes snarky, dismissive comments... or who does watch the interviews and is “unimpressed.”

    Think what that says about that person’s worldview and priorities.

    Now: Why the hell would we want to be in any way defensive or deferential towards... waste time with... or kiss the ass of people like that?!

    That is what is meant by strategic confidence. That is the attitude we need to be going out with if we are going to break through... it means we go out into the world, whether on the ground or online, knowing that who and what we have and are working to connect people with is special... is vital... is decisive... and that, to paraphrase an old saying, if you don’t know... you better ask somebody!

    No, this doesn’t mean we write people off or give up on them permanently if they don’t immediately respond well—or respond in contradictory ways... but it does mean that we don’t take any nonsense from people who don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about.

    In fact, this kind of strategic confidence on our part is essential for people to be able to transform and get off the bullshit they’re on.

    Existing revcom forces really grasping and applying the above points about strategic confidence—what it means, why it’s essential, and how to apply it—is critical methodologically and epistemologically in its own right; and is also of paramount importance in terms of being able to make advances and accumulate forces for revolution in an accelerated way. Therefore, further discussion, struggle, ruptures and clarity on this point within our existing forces would seem very important. 

    To be blunt: Masses will not really take us seriously, will not be called forth into this revolution and will not be unleashed to transform in the ways that are necessary, unless we do comprehend, project and apply strategic confidence in the ways discussed here.

    Conversely, our forces—including the newer people we are calling forth and accumulating along the way—will get much less discouraged and disoriented by bullshit, attacks, snark, etc. if we are internalizing, applying and projecting this strategic confidence... which will create the basis for telescoped further advances in dialectical relation with the unfolding of events in the world.

    Again, if there is disagreement, discomfort or lack of clarity on these points about strategic confidence—and what this means—among our existing forces, this should be: unearthed, explored, struggled over and transformed. 

    Radical simplicity, meanwhile, is closely related to strategic confidence and flows from it. Radical simplicity means that without in any way watering things down, there is a need to put forward some simple, clearly distilled, easy-to-grasp points about what this interview is... why people need to get into it and contribute to making it a huge societal phenomenon... and why that matters.

    And then, of course, we can and must bring plenty of substance behind that radical simplicity to back it up, which we are more than capable of doing. But there is an importance to getting a good dialectic going between the simplicity and the complexity and to having some key forms where we hit people with the simplicity in a compelling way.

    As one example, in building for the Dialogue between Bob Avakian and Cornel West in 2014, it proved to be an important turning point in our promotion when—a few weeks out from the event—we settled on a few (it might have been three) very succinct and simple points for why this event was so significant and historic and why people couldn’t and shouldn’t miss it. It has been a few years, so I don’t remember the exact phrasing of these points now, but I think it was something along the lines of: you can’t miss this event because of the chance to see this leader (BA), these speakers (BA and CW) and this subject matter—REVOLUTION AND RELIGION: The Fight For Emancipation and the Role of Religion: A Dialogue Between CORNEL WEST and BOB AVAKIAN.

    We think there is an important role for some similar short, succinct and provocative points for why these interviews are must see, can’t miss, and must spread.

    The points emphasized in the promotional palm cards for the interviews would at the very least provide some good initial ideas, inspiration and material for developing these succinct, radically simple promotional points.

    This kind of radical simplicity infused with strategic confidence—rather than being a substitute for more in-depth explanation of things—can rather help to more quickly distinguish between masses who are or could be fairly quickly won to be seriously interested vs. those who should not be given up on but are at the moment not serious, while also calling forward the more serious masses and creating the basis to work and struggle with them in more depth while avoiding getting bogged down with and by those who are not serious.

    A couple of final thoughts for now on this point about radical simplicity: There is a radical simplicity of this interview at this moment in history and in the world.

    If we really fully understand the point from the interview about how humanity can no longer afford to allow this system and this ruling class to be in power—that this is actually an existential question for humanity, and that it’s not just that “things are really bad and getting worse” but that humanity is truly confronted acutely with the choice between “something terrible OR something truly emancipating,” then there is important radical simplicity flowing from this in terms of the fact that now is the time to bring forward something truly emancipating and making these BA interviews a huge social phenomenon that can play a massive role in relation to that.

    So this is how our people should feel—and project—the urgency in their bones of this interview and the need to project it throughout society in a huge way.

  • ARTICLE:

    A Message to the Revcoms and Everyone Else Yearning for a Better World

    THIS Is A “Game-Changer”: The Bob Avakian Interviews

    Part 2: Build a NATIONAL Movement

    Editors’ note: Revcom.us recently received a valuable contribution from two readers on how to go out and turn the new interviews with Bob Avakian, BA, into the societal game-changers they can—and urgently need to—be. We are posting edited excerpts from this letter over a few weeks. We urge all our readers to write us with your thoughts on this and how we can meet this crucial goal, and your experience—positive and negative—in doing so.

    While our forces are small, the movement for revolution is a national movement. So our small forces should be carrying out work in a way that comprehends this fact—that we are a national movement seeking to have major national influence and impact.

    Think about it: our goal, and what everything we’re doing is working towards, is not to make revolution in one neighborhood or one city. It’s to make revolution in this country as a critical step in ultimately carrying that revolution forward throughout the entire world.

    So, rather than revcom forces thinking in provincial ways—“I’m in Chicago, here’s what’s happening here... that person or event is in L.A., that’s what’s happening there,” there needs to be more conscious thinking, coordination and dynamic synergy that is linking together ideas, plans and practice in different areas throughout the country where the revcoms already have—or need to have, but don’t yet have and are working to create—a presence.

    There needs to be the orientation: Maximize, amplify and magnify every strength... every positive development... all of the forces, even if small, that we do have.

    The dynamic of working consciously with a national perspective, striving to link together our ideas and our work in different areas throughout the country is an important part of how the above orientation can be implemented.

    This way, revolutionary work that initially small revcom forces are doing in one area is not cut off and isolated from the larger, national picture and movement of which it is a part. Relatedly—and importantly—revcom forces themselves, including newer people we are bringing forward, do not feel as isolated because they are not just thinking about what they are doing in one particular area or city but the whole larger canvas it is contributing to.

    The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show, the revcom.us website, and social media work more generally (@therevcoms) can and should all play an important role in the dynamic of sewing together and illuminating the connections between the threads in different areas as part of a coherent national mission.

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    Here is a hypothetical example of the above points in action: Maybe one of the masses from a neighborhood of the oppressed in, say, Chicago, is baking and selling pies in order to raise funds to promote the BA interviews in a big way. Instead of just looking at this as an important but small-scale initiative that one person in one neighborhood in Chicago is doing, let’s be thinking about how to explicitly link this with efforts in other cities and areas as part of a national whole...

    So, first of all, maybe the masses who are doing this in Chicago do a simple post on social media about the BA interviews and why they felt inspired by them, what they are doing to promote them and why... 

    and then The RNL Show does a brief segment highlighting this fundraising initiative, perhaps briefly interviewing the masses involved in it about why the interviews inspired them to raise funds for it and a simple explanation of the steps they are taking to raise funds and why and how it’s been going, how they feel being part of all this...  

    and then the show calls on people in neighborhoods in other areas throughout the country to do something similar, to post on social media, linking to the BA interviews and explaining why they were inspired to raise funds for them and what steps they are taking to do so...

    and then to send a brief video to The RNL Show with permission for The RNL Show to broadcast it showing them baking pies (or whatever specific fundraising step they are taking) and talking about how the BA interviews and the efforts of the masses in Chicago to raise funds to promote them in turn inspired them to do the same in the cities/areas where they live... 

    and then The RNL Show could call on students and artists... as well as those with more means such as professors, medical professionals, lawyers, and others in various spheres of society with more means throughout the country to take a lesson and take heart from what the masses in Chicago and other neighborhoods of the oppressed throughout the country are doing, and get their friends and colleagues together to watch the BA interviews... and each give donations that match... or double... or triple... the funds raised in these neighborhood fundraising initiatives... and to post on social media talk about how they were inspired and moved by the BA interviews and by the masses in Chicago and others who launched similar fundraising initiatives to promote those interviews...       

    and then The RNL Show could feature segments showing people from these strata doing and talking about all of the above...

    This is just an example. But the key point of the example is that with a conscious national orientation, what started asand by itself would have remainedsmall forces in one area doing one initiative can quickly mushroom into something connected to a much larger and coherent national mission that multiplies and generates continuouslypotentially even exponentially—growing momentum

    That example—and the underlying principles and orientation it illustrates—certainly applies specifically to promotion of the BA interviews. And it also applies to our revolutionary work more generally.

  • ARTICLE:

    A Message to the Revcoms and Everyone Else Yearning for a Better World

    THIS Is A “Game-Changer”: The Bob Avakian Interviews

    Part 3: Key Relationships: Getting the Dynamics Right

    Editors’ note: Revcom.us recently received a valuable contribution from two readers on how to go out and turn the new interviews with Bob Avakian, BA, into the societal game-changers they can—and urgently need to—be. We are posting edited excerpts from this letter over a few weeks. We urge all our readers to write us with your thoughts on this and how we can meet this crucial goal, and your experience—positive and negative—in doing so.

    Individual Clips and the Totality of the Interviews

    It is very important to correctly grasp the relationship between individual clips, excerpts and portions of the BA interviews... and the totality of the interviews.

    Individual clips and excerpts can play a very important role in introducing people to this leader, these interviews, and inspiring them to watch the whole thing.

    In addition, there are many clips and excerpts that can play a particularly important role in terms of ideological struggle around major questions weighing on the basic masses or broader strata of people. There are many examples that come to mind, but a few that particularly come to mind are:

    A) Different segments in which BA is speaking directly to/struggling with the oppressed masses who need to be the backbone of this revolution in a simultaneously deeply scientific, visceral and personal way to get out of the shit they are caught up in and get with this revolution.

    B) The segment that opens Part 2 on Ukraine/American chauvinism (to shorthand here).

    C) Segments polemicizing in a very frontal and sharp way against various manifestations of wokeness.

    Again, those are just three important examples of many that could be highlighted here.

    Go HERE for clips from the BA interviews.

    So, that’s on the one hand—there is an important role for excerpts, segments, teasers, etc... and also a potentially important role for nationally coordinated efforts to promote certain segments. For instance, there might be certain weeks where forces in different parts of the country are working to promote certain clips and sending in reports to The RNL Show in real time or as close to that as possible of experiences, lessons, reactions and controversies, so that—once again—these different experiences in different places are connected with each other and linked to a coherent larger national picture and movement.

    On the other hand, there is also an extremely important power, dynamism, breadth, momentum and magnetism to the totality of these interviews that is very important not to lose or inadvertently de-emphasize in the effort to highlight shorter excerpts.

    Otherwise said: segments or excerpts of the interviews should supplement, not substitute for, leading people to watch the full set of three interviews.

    There may be a spontaneity of (or a pull toward) compartmentalizing and separating the particular from the whole that may need to be guarded and struggled against here—including because it’s spontaneously “easier” to get people in this climate and culture to watch something shorter than something longer.

    In my view, it’s not a problem if some people are initially watching individual excerpts or segments, but we definitely need to get a dynamic going where increasing numbers of people are watching and immersing themselves in the full sweep of these interviews.

    Not Proceeding from What We “Know” We Can Do, but What We Can Potentially Unleash

    To really make the breakthroughs we need to make from a starting point of small forces... in relation to projecting and promoting these interviews, and more generally—we need to be thinking not just in terms of what our existing forces can accomplish and who we can bring forward... rather, we need to think of what we can unleash those we are bringing forward to do and how those new forces can themselves accumulate forces for revolution.

    Therefore, we need to be poised and geared towards working to quickly cohere the people who are initially drawn forward and attracted by these interviews. We need to have small groups that we are forging and leading initially who are discussing the interviews together and then are going out to broadly spread them and create their own watch parties/study and discussion groups and inviting many others to join them.

    This way, we’re bringing in and cohering people around us; they are part of what we’re doing; and we’re unleashing them to go out and themselves bring forward newer people: they’re part of forces we’re accumulating but also part of accumulating forces themselves.

    To be able to do this and have it stick...

    Orient People to Understand and Refute the Bullshit by Going on the Offensive

    There will be a need to orient newer people from the start about bullshit, slander, attacks, etc. that they are going to run into... why... what this represents... and the need for and radically simple ways to have backbone, moral clarity, principle, critical thinking, courage and integrity in the face of this rather than cowing or disappearing in the face of utter bullshit. And if people run into shit they’re confused by, ASK US and let’s talk about it instead of disappearing.

    Very, very important: In regards to the above, there should be an approach of orienting on—and from—the OFFENSIVE. NOT the defensive.

    A three-paragraph template/example of how to orient from the offensive, with strategic confidence and radical simplicity:

    You may have a bunch of questions as you get into things. And that’s not only fine, it’s important. It means you’re taking things seriously and thinking critically. And you’re not expected to understand everything all at once, right away. But you also know enough based on what you just saw and heard to know some essential things about BA and these interviews, what this is, and what it’s not... You know enough to understand and begin envisioning the difference it would make if this person and these interviews got out to thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of people and became a phenomenon in society that people were discussing, debating, and thinking deeply about.

    “Now, when you go out and spread the word about this, you’re going to find that some people respond well and love these interviews and love BA, and some people run a bunch of bullshit and hate BA... and in both cases, it’s for the same simple reason: because BA is about everything you just saw in this interview, about completely breaking out of the confines and framework of the way the world is today and radically, fundamentally changing the world through making revolution... he’s about the emancipation not of one identity group, but all of humanity... and some people love this and are attracted by that vision, and some people hate it and feel threatened by it... It’s really as simple as that.

    “So yeah, besides encountering people who are excited about these interviews and about BA, you’re going to run into people who hate this, who make snarky comments or personal attacks on BA or who say this is a cult. And that’s where you have to have some honesty, courage and integrity to think for yourself. You might have a bunch of questions, but you know those kind of nasty attacks are bullshit and have nothing to do with changing the world. You just saw these interviews [or a portion of it] yourself. Did this seem like a cult leader to you?!?! Did this seem like a robotic, dogmatic person who is trying to brainwash you? Or did it seem like a deeply scientific person, critical thinker and flat-out nice person with a strong sense of humor who has dedicated his whole life for decades to taking up big, complex questions as part of making revolution and transforming the entire world? Anybody who watches this interview honestly and is not completely steeped in prejudice knows it’s the second one. So you need to have the honesty and courage to tell the haters that they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about and that they’re spreading lies and poison that have nothing to do with changing the world and that you’re not fooled by them... and then come back and talk to us about the shit we ran into and we can get more into it.”

    * In short: Orient people about the shit they’re going to run into, and do that, yes, by preparing them for what they are going to encounter and why and reinforcing that it is harmful lies and complete bullshit... but also, as a key part of that and even more fundamentally... orient people by bringing them back to, and leading them to anchor themselves in, what they just saw that is the polar opposite of the bullshit, lies and slander that they are going to hear...

    This relates to Sunsara Taylor’s point in a recent episode of The RNL Show about how these interviews provide some of the most most powerful refutations of the lies and slanders, etc.

    This also sets critically important terms about what is and isn’t understandable and acceptable...

    Furthermore, this relates to simple and complex: You (including newer people) know enough to know why this needs to get out there in a huge way and the difference that could make... and that these lies and slanders are completely at odds with what you just saw and experienced... Now, if you have questions about WHY people say this kind of bullshit and where that comes from, we can get into that—the lines and wrong ways of thinking that people have about leadership, about communist leaders in particular...

    But you don’t have to be able to answer every question to know that this needs to get out there and people slandering this are full of shit.

  • ARTICLE:

    A Message to the Revcoms and Everyone Else Yearning for a Better World

    THIS Is A “Game-Changer”: The Bob Avakian Interviews

    Part Four: Once More on Important Relations and Dynamics

    Editors’ note: Revcom.us recently received a valuable contribution from two readers on how to go out and turn the new Interviews with Bob Avakian, BA, into the societal game-changers they can—and urgently need to—be. We are posting edited excerpts from this letter over a few weeks. We urge all our readers to write us with your thoughts on this and how we can meet this crucial goal, and your experience—positive and negative—in doing so.

    In different ways and on different levels, we need to be correctly grasping the dialectic—the back-and-forth, reinforcing relationship—between the particular and the overall... and between different features of our revolutionary work. 

    To raise a few particular examples for further, ongoing reflection and discussion—including by the Revolution Clubs and those more broadly working to promote the BA Interviews... how do we understand the back-and-forth, reinforcing relationship between:  

    • On the ground promotion and social media promotion?
    • Winning over prominent, influential people—including those with huge audiences and social media/online followings—and  generating momentum among the broader masses of different strata?
    • Broad promotion of the BA Interviews and fierce ideological struggle to break people out of the wrong lines and frameworks they are in?  

    Initial thoughts on above point: We need to get these Interviews out in a huge way in front of a lot of people. But we also need to break through on the “ignore-ance” among the not insignificant numbers of people who have already seen the Interviews or who do know about BA. We need to break through the dynamic of people literally or figuratively—online or on the ground—“giving a thumbs-up” and walking away without further engagement. 

    We need to create a sense of social compulsion among blocs of people to watch this...

    And stirring up controversy and fierce ideological struggle is essential to creating this sense of social compulsion.

    See also:

    A Message to the Revcoms and Everyone Else Yearning for a Better World
    THIS Is A “Game-Changer”: The Bob Avakian Interviews
  • ARTICLE:

    Real Revolution, In This Time:
    What the Powers-That-Be Don't Want You to Know

    A series of social media dispatches from Bob Avakian

    Updated

    Bob Avakian Official on youtube recently made a playlist of BA's social media dispatches 1-11 with the title: "Real Revolution, In This Time: What the Powers-That-Be Don't Want You to Know."

    This is an hour-plus audio from the revolutionary leader who has brought forward a framework for human emancipation, for a whole new way to live.  This series provides a powerful introduction that speaks to the basic and urgent questions of why we need this revolution (with extensive exposure of the crimes of this system, right down to today), why this revolution is possible in this ‘rare time,’ and how this revolution could actually succeed (how we could win). 

    They are also a companion to The Bob Avakian Interviews on The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show which take you into the heart and soul and hard-core-for-revolution understanding of this this leader, and the future that is possible.

    Finally, to get alerted as soon as a new social media post is up from Bob Avakian, subscribe to his newsletter on substack.  You can also get the full text of his posts there!

    Leaflet to spread word of @BobAvakianOfficial broadly:

    BA is coming to you straight up, bringing truth the powers-that-be don’t want you to have—truth you need to know—the truth about the revolution we need now: Why is revolution necessary?  Why and how is it actually possible—not in some far off time, but right in this time—with society being ripped apart and the rulers more sharply divided than they've been since the Civil War?  Could we really win?  What is this revolution aiming for?

    Because: If you don’t understand why we need a revolution, and how that revolution could be possible, then you don’t know what you need to know.

    Go to and share:

    Nine icons for BA social media

     

    BA Social Media Youtube Playlist Nos 1-11

     

    @BobAvakianOfficial

     

    BA Interviews

     

    Bob Avakian is completely different than all the capitalist “leaders” who can't see, and won't look, beyond the confines of this horrific system. He is hard-core for revolution, with a largeness of mind, generosity of spirit, and lively sense of humor—which shines through in these Interviews.

    WATCH * SPREAD 

     

    Follow Bob Avakian on Social Media

  • ARTICLE:

    Letter from a reader on Bob Avakian's Social Media

    The High Stakes of Thousands Getting Into These Now

    Dear revcom.us,

    We who recognize the need for revolution are in a race against time. We need to literally bring forward thousands of people right now as fighters for this revolution, conscious emancipators of humanity. These thousands in turn will be key to bringing forward the millions who would make this revolution possible when the chance emerges—which could come very soon.

    I've been part of fighting for this, and wanted to share some of my thinking about what we're up against—and especially, the impact and potential of Bob Avakian's leadership in helping to change what we're up against.

    Here's a problem: There are lots of people right now who are agonized about the dire future before humanity. This is important. But they are on their own not confronting the system that's at the root of the problems we face or the need and potential for revolution to overthrow this system—in this time. A lot of these kinds of people appreciate what we're saying in any particular discussion, but their heads are still mainly left someplace else in terms of what they are actually thinking and doing about the world.

    A related problem: We can’t just be having some good discussions which end up with people (individuals, let alone groups of people, even large groups of people) not transforming in some basic way how they are engaging revolution and the leadership of BA. The time is too short. We need to figure out an approach which puts it on them—makes them feel the need, and even compulsion on their own to engage the question of changing the world in radical ways as an immediate and serious question. 

    I think this means much more frontally—straight up—challenging people and making clear to them what they should immediately be reading/engaging/doing. If we do not make this type of breakthrough, and things stay with general appreciation, but no transformation, then I'm afraid all of our interventions and discussions will be frittered away. Because the weight of “how things are” right now really powerfully cuts against the break that people need to be making in their thinking. 

    With this big problem in mind, I re-listened to the social media dispatches from BA, #1–#11, now titled Real Revolution, In This Time: What the Powers-That-Be Don't Want You to Know. This is what all these people need to be immediately and deeply engaging! 

    Before you read further, take the time now and listen. Or if you've already listened, go back and listen to these again, all together.

    Taken together, these are the most powerful distillation of what people need to hear, understand, and themselves be part of fighting for! In simple and living ways, BA brings alive the most essential core message of why we need a revolution and how revolution is actually possible.

    They are also an important and crisp companion to The BA Interviews, which take you deeply into who this leader is, and what this revolution is all about.

    These provide a certain core around which the job and the fight of making revolution right now needs to pivot. And I think the central argument we need to have with masses of people should be for the immediate and deep engagement with this social media playlist and The BA Interviews. 

    This also means spreading these in a big way throughout society—getting posters up on walls, flyers out to people on the trains, supermarkets and mass protests. Really making the case all over that this is what people need to get into, and why that is.

    To be clear, I'm not suggesting these replace all the agitation and struggle that the revcoms need to be waging—having a big impact and really reaching throughout society. They obviously don't replace the full strategic approach laid out in REVOLUTION: Building Up the Basis to Go for the Whole Thing, With a Real Chance to Win, and they don't replace other important works by BA. 

    But right now, if we aren’t able to get people to seriously engage these works, I just think that all of our other work will get “lost.” It will end up dissipating into how people are going along with things (and being told to go along with things), even if they are otherwise concerned about the future. 

    This means that we're going to have to struggle ferociously with people to see the immediacy of altering their lives and not just “checking out” these works. NO—we have to lay this out to them as if the future of humanity rides on doing this. Because it does! 

    Everyone reading this—and everyone you can reach—should be part of taking responsibility to make this happen.

    Send your ideas and experience on this to getorganizedforrevolutiontour@gmail.com so we can all learn from each other. Use this new flyer—widely. Argue with your friends, family... and wherever you can reach people gathered.

    Stay tuned for revcom.us for more materials, and please write with your reflections and ideas on this. 

    Real Revolution, In This Time:
    What the Powers-That-Be Don't Want You to Know

    A series of social media dispatches from Bob Avakian

    Bob Avakian Official on YouTube.com recently made a playlist of BA's social media dispatches 1-11 with the title: “Real Revolution, In This Time: What the Powers-That-Be Don't Want You to Know. A series of social media dispatches from Bob Avakian.”

    This is an hour-plus audio from the revolutionary leader who has brought forward a framework for human emancipation, for a whole new way to live. This series provides a powerful introduction that speaks to the basic and urgent questions of why we need this revolution (with extensive exposure of the crimes of this system, right down to today), why this revolution is possible in this “rare time,” and how this revolution could actually succeed (how we could win). 

    They are also a companion to The Bob Avakian Interviews on The RNL – Revolution Nothing, Less! – Show which take you into the heart and soul and hard-core for revolution understanding of this this leader, and the future that is possible.

    Finally, to get alerted as soon as a new social media post is up from Bob Avakian, subscribe to his newsletter on substack. You can also get the full text of his posts there!

  • ARTICLE:

    Reflections from a reader:

    Genocide in Gaza, This Rare Time, and the Urgent Need—and Real Potential—to Spread @BobAvakianOfficial Far and Wide 

    I’ve been grappling with and trying to get a deeper understanding of the significance of what has been unleashed by Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, what this has to do with seizing on this rare time when revolution has become more possible, and what necessities—and potential freedom—this poses for revolutionaries. 

    I’ve been out with others at protests against Israel’s monstrous atrocities, on campuses and around the city, getting out materials from Bob Avakian and the revcoms. But I felt the need to get with others to “pull back the lens” and take a more overarching view of things. Just how explosive is this situation—politically, socially, ideologically? How broadly and deeply are people agonizing over the horrific, escalating slaughter? How are people making sense of what's driving this and what do they think it will take to stop it? And how does all this connect with the challenge of rapidly bringing forward the thousands to lead millions and making this pivotal year a year of revolution?

    Something Terrible or Something Truly Emancipating - Square, wo "NEW"

     

    Genocide in Gaza and This Rare Time

    In his REVOLUTION Number Nine social media post, the revolutionary leader and author of the new communism Bob Avakian (BA) analyzes:

    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 picture is truer by the day, and as part of that, I’m feeling the genocide in Gaza is sending out shockwaves in deeper, more profound, and broader ways than I’d appreciated. 

    BA talks about “the stability of daily life” being “increasingly shattered.” Just look at the campuses, where people used to have at least some space to express themselves. Now you sign a statement against Israel and you might see a truck parading your picture and personal information all over town. Your whole future maybe turned upside down when your future—or current—employers come under pressure not to hire you or to fire you. 

    Now even the presidents of top universities can be brought before Congress, humiliated, and then bounced out of office in a hot minute if they don’t “get with the new program” of suppressing any and all opposition to Israel and its genocidal war.

    Think about “the very nature of society and how it’s governed”…. Suddenly what people long took for granted looks very different, shaking core beliefs.

    Israel, supposedly formed to prevent another Holocaust, is now blatantly carrying out one of its own. What was once broad, often unquestioned, support has, as a former U.S. ambassador to Israel put it, turned into condemnation of Israel by international public opinion, which is unprecedented in breadth and depth, and which has spread to the United States.

    The Democrats, who the vast majority of liberal/progressive people have counted on as the “lesser evil,” or the only realistic pathway to progress, have been exposed as direct enablers of war crimes and genocide in Gaza, and are increasingly hated by millions, throwing traditional electoral calculations into disarray.

    “Esteemed” international institutions such as the United Nations have now proven totally incapable of stopping the kind of blatant, text-book case of genocide they were supposedly formed to prevent.

    If the Revolutionaries Rise to the Challenge…

    Stepping back, it’s clearer that this situation has the potential to significantly contribute to a repolarization of society and the real chance to overthrow this monstrous system and open a whole new, liberating chapter for humanity. 

    Card Building Up the Basis

     

    But as BA stresses in REVOLUTION Number Nine, that potential will only be realized—no matter how obscene the atrocities this system is driven to commit—if and only if revolutionaries are out among the people 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:

    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 preparesprepare 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.

    The urgent need for that last part: “waging fierce struggle to break people out of the bullshit ways of thinking and acting that they are caught up in” is very, very striking right now. This includes the need to be struggling mightily with those standing up against the U.S.-Israeli genocide. To take one example, an organizer for Jewish Voice for Peace lamented to the New York Times that “People have done everything they can possibly think of to try to convince the U.S. government to end its complicity in Israel’s genocide against Palestinians, from the train stations to the bridges to the halls of Congress” (referring to past protests) “and yet they won’t listen.” 

    That’s true! But the conclusion the group reaches is not that this illustrates the dictatorial nature and unreformability of the capitalist-imperialist system and its political structures. Their answer is to focus on exposing the lobbying group AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee). They think this can pressure Congresspeople not to accept their large campaign contributions, as if these contributions are what’s causing virtually the entire U.S. ruling class to staunchly support Israel. 

    While getting in there, and really uniting with the determined mass protests taking place, as well as working to make them broader—I feel there’s a real need for the forces for revolution to be contending more sharply, concretely, and substantively ... struggling against the illusions and dead ends being put forward by various forces with a scientific understanding of the real problem—this system of capitalism-imperialism—and the need for a real revolution to overthrow this system. And people need to know there is leadership for this revolution being provided by BA.

    Follow Bob Avakian (BA) on social media!
    Substack, Instagram, Facebook, X, Telegram, Threads, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube

    @BobAvakianOfficial on Social Media – A Key Tool, Right Now, for Breaking Through the Fog and Bringing Forward Thousands

    In his social media posts, especially numbers Four through Seven, BA digs deeply, clearly, and concisely into the questions being debated among millions of people around Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, and struggling with them over the wrong paths people are caught up in, including: Why should people in this country care about the Palestinian people? What is the real nature and history of the state of Israel? Why is Biden supporting Israel so staunchly, even if it might cost him the election? Why treating the crimes committed by Hamas on October 7 as an excuse for Israel’s genocide—as the U.S. and Israel constantly do—is utter bullshit. And in stark contrast to what the U.S. and Israel as well as Hamas put forward, what the real path for emancipating the Palestinian people actually is. 

    These and all BA’s posts are part of the invaluable leadership he’s providing in preparing for and being able to actually make a real revolution. As he says in his REVOLUTION Number Eight social media post:

    This is not a time to be siding with one group of oppressors or another. This is a rare time—a very rare opening—a chance that may come only once in a lifetime—a chance to take advantage of the deep divisions among the ruling oppressors and go after their whole system, with the aim of bringing the whole thing down, and putting something much better in its place.

    This rare time must not be squandered—wasted and thrown away. It must be actively and urgently seized on—to bring about a truly emancipating revolution.

    With everything very likely coming to a head and coming up for grabs soon, the outcome of this rare time can’t be left to the brutal enforcers of this system, in one camp or another—or to any force which cannot, or will not, look beyond and lead people beyond the confines of an oppressive system, in one form or another. There must be—and there can be—an organized force of thousands, in a position to lead millions, to take this where it needs to go—to an actual, emancipating revolution.

    With such an organized revolutionary force, it is possible to have a growing impact on all of societychanging the terms of how masses of people see things, and how every institution has to respond.

    Spreading @BobAvakianOfficial along with the Bob Avakian Interviews far and wide is a crucial way, right now, to bring forward the thousands needed to lead millions!

    The Bob Avakian Interviews on the RNL--Revolution, Nothing Less!--Show

     

  • ARTICLE:

    2024 SCENARIOS (A SKETCH), AND THE CHALLENGES

    Looking ahead, over the course of this year—and specifically as things are very likely to be focused, to a very great extent, in relation to the 2024 election—the following are (not the only possible but are realistically possible) scenarios that need to be anticipated, not in some abstract sense but specifically in terms of the necessity and challenges we will face as things unfold, from the standpoint of the urgently needed repolarization for revolution.

    * The Democrats win the presidential election—and the Republicans refuse to accept the results, with everything that would imply.

    * The Republicans win—“legitimately,” or at least in a way that is ruled “legal.” This is probably the worst-case scenario. In one important dimension, it would pose very sharply the need for overcoming the spontaneity, among significant numbers of people opposed to the Republi-fascists that “nothing can be done” (“what can you do?”). At the same time, along with mass discontent, there would very likely be “spontaneous” mass outpouring of opposition, and the phenomenon spoken to in Revolution—Building Up The Basis To Go For The Whole Thing, With A Real Chance To Win: Strategic Orientation And Practical Approach (and cited shortly below here) of different organized forces in the field, seeking to take things in different directions.

    *There is no election—with all the tumult, chaos, etc., that would accompany this scenario.

    Once again, in relation to all of these (and other possible) scenarios, the challenge will be repolarization—for revolution. (In this regard, it is important to cast away illusions and keep in mind that, especially if the Republi-fascists do win the election, there would be people whom you might expect to be opposed to the fascists who would instead actually rally to their camp—including some basic oppressed people—and this emphasizes from yet another angle the crucial importance of repolarization, for revolution, through ferocious ideological struggle, as well as concrete action, all along the way, as well as specifically in those particular circumstances.)

    This gives particular focus and emphasis to the following (from point 2) in Revolution—Building Up The Basis To Go For The Whole Thing, With A Real Chance To Win: Strategic Orientation And Practical Approach:

    In the circumstances of all-out crisis, when the whole direction of society is being called into question, there would be different trends and organized forces seeking to take things in different directions.  There would be the fascist Republicans, aiming to seize (or consolidate) power, in order to bring about a more blatant form of oppressive and murderous rule, without the usual disguise of “democracy, with liberty and justice for all.” There would be those, like the leaders of the Democratic Party, trying to maintain (or restore) this monstrous system of oppression in its more “traditional” form. There would be masses of people in favor of some kind of basic change in a positive direction, but with different ideas about what that would mean. And there would likely be some organized forces claiming to be aiming for some kind of “progressive” change—even some calling themselves “revolutionaries” or “socialists”—when in fact their programs would only reinforce, and keep people locked into, the existing system.

    The people who are won to revolution, in increasingly greater numbers, must be led to have a clear understanding of the need, and be in position, to wage a powerful struggle to determine the whole direction of things in the midst of such an acute crisis, in order to carry things forward toward the only real positive solution: an actual, truly emancipating revolution.

    EVERYTHING THAT IS DONE, FROM HERE FORWARD, MUST BE ORIENTED TO CREATING THE BASIS FOR THIS.

    This also underscores the crucial importance of the following:

    Everything depends on bringing forward a revolutionary people, from among the most bitterly oppressed, and all parts of society, first in the thousands and then in the millions, as a powerful revolutionary force, organized from the start and consistently with a country-wide perspective, impacting all of society and changing the terms of how masses of people see things and how every institution has to respond.  Everything must be focused now on actually bringing forward and organizing this revolutionary force.

    It does need to be understood that, even if at the beginning of a crisis represented by one of the above scenarios (and/or possibly some others), there is not yet a revolutionary people in the millions, the challenge and responsibility we must strive to meet in those circumstances is to bring such a revolutionary people into being, through the “intense swirl” of the crisis: to take responsibility precisely to repolarize—for revolution—in such intense circumstances. And the following statement from Lenin (part of fuller observations by Lenin cited below) not only applies overall to the kind of situation we are in now, but would especially apply when everything is coming to a head: “people learn in a week more than they do in a year of ordinary, somnolent [sleepy] life.” 

    This speaks to the possibility of winning masses, yes even millions, of people to revolution in a very “telescoped” way, in the circumstances of rapidly intensifying contradictions, when the whole direction of society is being immediately and sharply contested—even when, in immediate terms, the defining contestation is among forces none of which is revolutionary—and even when winning masses of people to revolution had seemed like a remote possibility, or even outright impossibility, shortly before that.

    However, this—it needs to be firmly understood and constantly kept in mind—does not in any way reduce the great need and urgent importance of bringing forward a revolutionary people, in the millions, as soon as possible, in order to be in the best possible position to influence the course of events as things continue to intensify, and likely make leap after leap in the intensification of the crisis. In more blunt terms, this is NOT an “invitation” to the rationalization: “Well, if we don’t bring forward a revolutionary people, first in the thousands and then in the millions, leading into a situation where the whole direction of society is ‘up,’ at least we can try to do so once there is that situation.” NO! and again NO! There is an urgent need to be making the breakthroughs that can result in bringing forward such a revolutionary people before and leading into a situation where “everything is on the line”—or the chances of being able to “determine the whole direction of things” toward a positive, revolutionary resolution, will be greatly diminished.

    The point is that everything, from here forward, must be oriented toward actually achieving this (bringing forward such a revolutionary people, first in the thousands and then in the millions, in a very “telescoped” period, before and leading into a situation where “everything is on the line”). If, despite all our efforts, we do not succeed in meeting this crucial objective, then—and only then—the emphasis must shift to doing so as everything is “on the line,” all with the orientation of getting into position to go for the whole thing, with a real chance to win.

    *****

    The following from Lenin, in Lessons Of The Revolution (summer, 1917) has important bearing on this, and more generally with regard to the understanding of—and the challenges, and possibilities posed by—“rare time”:

    Every revolution means a sharp turn in the lives of a vast number of people. Unless the time is ripe for such a turn, no real revolution can take place. And just as any turn in the life of an individual teaches him a great deal and brings rich experience and great emotional stress, so a revolution teaches an entire people very rich and valuable lessons in a short space of time.

    During a revolution, millions and tens of millions of people learn in a week more than they do in a year of ordinary, somnolent [sleepy] life. For at the time of a sharp turn in the life of an entire people it becomes particularly clear what aims the various classes of the people are pursuing, what strength they possess, and what methods they use. 

    As important and definitely relevant as these statements by Lenin are, they must not be understood in mechanical terms. For example, the revolution in China followed a significantly different path than the one in Russia. At the same time, with regard to that revolution in China there is applicability to what Lenin writes here, including the basic point that “Every revolution means a sharp turn in the lives of a vast number of people.” Notably, the invasion and occupation of China by Japanese imperialism was certainly “a sharp turn in the lives of a vast number of people.” Again, the point is to understand this in a living, and not a mechanical, way.

    This also applies to the last part of this statement by Lenin: As a point of general understanding, and one of particular and acute relevance to our situation now, this part of this statement by Lenin should not be interpreted to mean that “the aims the various classes of the people are pursuing,” etc., will become clear spontaneously, but rather that there is far more basis than in “normal times” to make this clear through scientific analysis—and agitation as well as propaganda based on this scientific analysis—which especially in such times (times, in fact, like these) must be penetrating and compelling, and increasingly accessible to broad masses of people.

    With those caveats, however, this statement by Lenin remains very important and highly relevant.

     

  • ARTICLE:

    U.S. CONSTITUTION: AN EXPLOITERS’ VISION OF FREEDOM—ADDED NOTES (AND BRIEF INTRODUCTION)

    Brief Introduction:

    The following article by Bob Avakian was originally published in 1987. We are republishing it now, because it remains highly relevant in terms of understanding the basic nature of this system we live under—the system of capitalism-imperialism—and the role of the U.S. Constitution as the legal and political basis for this system of ruthless exploitation, murderous oppression and massive destruction. In this republished version, Bob Avakian has provided some Added Notes at the end of the article, to further clarify important points.

    * * * * *

    James Madison, who was the main author of the Constitution of the United States, was also an upholder of slavery and the interests of the slaveowners in the United States. Madison, the fourth president of the United States, not only wrote strongly in defense of the Constitution, he also strongly defended the part of the Constitution that declared the slaves to be only three-fifths human beings (that provided for the slaves to be counted this way for the purposes of deciding on representation and taxation of the states—Article I, Section 2, 3 of the Constitution).

    In writing this defense, Madison praised "the compromising expedient of the Constitution" which treats the slaves as "inhabitants, but as debased by servitude below the equal level of free inhabitants; which regards the slave as divested of two-fifths of the man." Madison explained: "The true state of the case is that they partake of both these qualities: being considered by our laws, in some respects, as persons, and in other respects as property.... This is in fact their true character. It is the character bestowed on them by the laws under which they live; and it will not be denied that these are the proper criterion." Madison got to the heart of the matter, the essence of what the U.S. Constitution is all about, when in the course of upholding the decision to treat slaves as three-fifths human beings he agrees with the following principle: "Government is instituted no less for protection of the property than of the persons of individuals."1 Property rights—that is the basis on which outright slavery as well as other forms of exploitation, discrimination, and oppression have been consistently upheld. And over the 200 years that this Constitution has been in force, down to today, despite the formal rights of persons it proclaims, and even though the Constitution has been amended to outlaw slavery where one person actually owns another as property, the U.S. Constitution has always remained a document that upholds and gives legal authority to a system in which the masses of people, or their ability to work, have been used as wealth-creating property for the profit of the few.

    The abolition of slavery through the Civil War meant the elimination of one form of exploitation and the further development and extension of other forms of exploitation. As I wrote in Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That?, "despite the efforts of abolitionists and the resistance and revolts of the slaves themselves—and their heroic fighting in the Civil War itself—it was not fought by the Union government in the North, and its president, Lincoln, for the purpose of abolishing the atrocity of slavery in some moral sense.... The Civil War arose out of the conflict between two modes of production, the slave system in the South and the capitalist system centered in the North; this erupted into open antagonism, warfare, when it was no longer possible for these two modes of production to co-exist within the same country."2 The victory of the North over the South in the U.S. Civil War represented the victory of the capitalist system over the slave system. It represented the triumph of the capitalist form of using people as a means of creating wealth. Under a system of outright slavery, the slave is literally the property of the slaveowner. Under capitalism, slavery becomes wage-slavery: The exploited class of workers is not owned by the exploiting class of capitalists (the owners of factories, land, etc.), but the workers are in a position where they must sell their ability to work to a capitalist in order to earn a wage. Capitalism needs a mass of workers that is "free," in a two-fold sense: They must be "free" of all means to live (all means of production), except their ability to work; and they must not be bound to a particular owner, a particular site, a particular guild, etc.—they must be "free" to do whatever work is demanded of them, they must be "free" to move from place to place, and "free" to be hired and fired according to the needs of capital! If they cannot enrich a capitalist through working, then the workers cannot work, they cannot earn a wage. But even if they cannot find a capitalist to exploit their labor, even if they are unemployed, they still remain under the domination of the capitalist class and of the process of capitalist accumulation of wealth—the proletarians (the workers) are dependent on the capitalist class and the capitalist system for their very lives, so long as the capitalist system rules. It is this rule, this system of exploitation, that the U.S. Constitution has upheld and enforced, all the more so after outright slavery was abolished through the Civil War.

    But here is another very important fact: In the concrete conditions of the U.S. coming out of the Civil War, and for some time afterward, wage-slavery was not the only major form of exploitation in force in the U.S. Up until very recently (until the 1950s), millions of Black people were exploited like serfs on Southern plantations, working as sharecroppers and tenant farmers to enrich big landowners (and bankers and other capitalists). A whole system of laws—commonly known as Jim Crow laws—were enforced to maintain this relationship of exploitation and oppression: Black people throughout the South—and really throughout the whole country—were subjected to the open discrimination, brutality, and terror that such laws allowed and encouraged. All this, too, was upheld and enforced by the Constitution and its interpretation and application by the highest political and legal authorities in the U.S. And, over the past several decades, when the great majority of Black people have been uprooted from the land in the South and have moved into the cities of the North (and South), they have still been discriminated against, forcibly segregated, and continually subjected to brutality and terror even while some formal civil rights have been extended to them.

    Once again, this is in accordance with the interests of the ruling capitalist class and capitalist system. It is consistent with the principle enunciated by James Madison: Governments must protect the property no less than the persons of individuals. In fact, what Madison obviously meant—and what the reality of the U.S. has clearly been—is that the government must protect the property of white people, especially the wealthy white people, more than the rights of Black people. It must never be forgotten that for most of their history in what is now the United States of America Black people were the property of white people, particularly wealthy plantation owners. Even after this outright slavery was abolished, Black people have never been allowed to achieve equality with whites: they have been held down, maintained as an oppressed nation, and denied the right of self-determination. Capitalism cannot exist without the oppression of nations, and this is all the more so when capitalism develops into its highest stage: monopoly capitalism-imperialism. If the history of the United States has demonstrated anything, it has demonstrated this.

    The Heritage They Won’t Renounce

    The ruling class of the U.S. today—above all the U.S. imperialists, the large-scale capitalists and international exploiters who dominate the U.S. and most of the world—are indeed, as they proclaim, the direct and worthy descendants of their “Founding Fathers.” And this is why the ruling class and its political representatives, while they feel obliged to say that they are opposed to slavery today (at least in the U.S. itself), solemnly praise and celebrate slave owners and upholders of slavery who were so prominent among the “Founding Fathers” and played so central a part in the establishment of the system in the U.S.: men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.

    These imperialists will never admit that their “Founding Fathers” established a system of government that, in its very foundation, is based on oppression and exploitation. They will never admit that their Constitution is the legal instrument for enforcing that exploitation and oppression. They cannot admit this, any more than they can admit their much-vaunted wealth and power has been established and built up by stealing land and resources from the native peoples (and Mexico) through extortion and outright murderous means; by trading in human flesh and harnessing human beings in slave labor; by pitilessly exploiting immigrants in their millions as wage-slaves; by robbing and plundering throughout the world, particularly Latin America, Africa, and Asia (what today is generally called the Third World). They cannot acknowledge that, while the forms of slavery have changed, the U.S. has, from the beginning and down to today, remained a society where enslavement, in one form or another, has been at the very heart of the economic system and the very basis of the political structure.

    There are many (including even Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall) who argue that, because of the upholding of slavery in the Constitution—and other injustices, such as excluding women from voting, and the treatment of the Indians—the Constitution was not such a great document when it was written, but it has been made great through the history of the U.S. and the struggles to create a more perfect Union and a more perfect Constitution. In other words, the Constitution may have had defects in some important ways when it was originally conceived, but the miracle of it is that the Constitution has within it provisions for changing and improving it—for extending democracy and rights to those previously excluded. And, some will add, while the Constitution upholds property rights, it also upholds individual and civil rights (even the statement from Madison cited at the beginning of this article stresses that, some might argue). Let’s look more deeply at these questions.

    Extension of the Constitution … Extension of Bourgeois Domination

    The extension of constitutional rights and protections to those previously excluded from them has gone together, in an overall way, with the extension of bourgeois (capitalist) relations and their dominance throughout the U.S. And, at the same time, it has gone hand-in-hand with the continuation of the oppression of Black people, of Native Americans, of Latinos and immigrants from Latin America (and elsewhere), of the oppression of women, and other forms of oppression and exploitation. All this is not in contradiction to but is consistent with the fundamental principles on which the Constitution is based and the way in which it treats the relationship between the rights of property and the rights of individuals.*

    It is noteworthy that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution (echoing the 5th Amendment) has as its pivotal point the provision that no State may “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.” Especially in the period since World War 2, this amendment has been used as a major part of the basis to extend civil rights for Black people, for women, and for others discriminated against. Yet this amendment was passed right after the Civil War, in 1866; and for many decades this amendment was not used to combat racial or sexual discrimination. Instead, “For many years the Supreme Court applied the due-process clause mainly to protect business interests against state regulatory legislation.”3 It was only beginning after World War 1, and more fully after World War 2, that the 14th Amendment was applied in a significant way to the questions of racial and sexual discrimination. Thus, “in a long series of cases” beginning in 1925, the Supreme Court “gradually expanded its definition of due process so as to include most of the guarantees of personal liberties in the Federal Bill of Rights and has protected them from state impairment. A similar development occurred with respect to the equal-protection clause.”4 These changes in Supreme Court decisions were part of larger changes in ruling-class policy. But these resulted not from some brilliant new legal insight, nor from some sudden flash of moral awakening within the ruling class. Rather, they resulted from the changed situation of Black people in U.S. society and, more decisively, from the situation and needs of the ruling imperialists.

    As noted earlier, the masses of Black people have undergone a dramatic change in their particular conditions of existence—and of oppression—in the U.S. This began during and immediately after World War 1 but developed fully during and after World War 2. Demand for labor in war production and other strategic industry, followed after World War 2 by sweeping changes in Southern agriculture—called forth by technological changes and international economic competition—drove millions and millions of Black people from the rural South to the urban ghettos of the North and South, and into the most exploited sections of the proletariat. At the same time, the U.S. imperialists emerged not only victorious but greatly strengthened from world war that devastated those countries which were much more directly and centrally involved. So, after World War 2 U.S. imperialism was everywhere, scooping up the former colonial possessions of the prior colonial powers and establishing U.S. neocolonial domination in the name of freedom and (usually) in the guise of allowing formal independence. In this situation, it was not so necessary—nor was it so helpful—to openly and blatantly treat Black people as “second-class citizens” in the U.S. itself. So, over the period of the next several decades, concessions were made to civil rights demands and struggles at the same time as deception, vicious repression, and the promotion of “loyal and responsible Negro leaders” were carried out to keep things firmly under the control of the ruling class and in the service of its larger interests. Similarly, recent decades have seen political and legal changes that have brought certain extensions of formal rights to women and certain concessions to their battle against oppression. These have corresponded to significant changes in society and the world, including the fact that in only a small percentage of U.S. families is it any longer the case that the family is supported by just the man working. But, again, these concessions have been confined within limits that fundamentally conform to the interests and needs of the ruling class in the face of changing conditions in the U.S. and the world.

    Would anyone dare say that, because of these changes and concessions, inequality and injustice have been eliminated in the U.S.? The fact is, none of this has in any way eliminated, or come close to eliminating, discrimination against Black people, their overall conditions of oppression, their status as an oppressed nation. Nor have the ruling imperialists ceased to oppress the Native Americans—they have never even stopped trying to cheat and rob them of valuable land and resources. Nor have these imperialists ceased to discriminate against and viciously exploit other national minorities and immigrants. Nor, despite the constitutional amendment (the 19th, in 1919) giving them the right to vote and other concessions to “women’s rights,” have women been granted equality—there has been no end to the subjugation and degradation they have been subjected to: The oppression of women remains a foundation stone of U.S. society, as indeed it must so long as a system of class domination and exploitation is in force. Today, 200 years after the U.S. Constitution first took effect, and after all the changes and amendments, no one can seriously and reasonably argue that the various kinds of oppression that I have spoken to here do not exist or are only a minor aspect of the situation. No one can seriously and reasonably argue that they are not a basic and deeply rooted feature of American society.

    The reason for this is rooted in the very reality and nature of the economic system in the U.S. and the political system that upholds and enforces this economic system, including the Constitution as the legal “cement” of the political structure. The fundamental reason why the “extension” of constitutional rights to those previously excluded from them has not put an end to exploitation, inequality, and oppression is this: The essence of the capitalist economic system is not the competition of commodity owners, all vying equally in the marketplace (equal opportunity for all). The essence is the exploitation of labor as wage-labor, the command by capital over labor power (the ability to do work) as a commodity—a unique commodity—that creates wealth through its use.** (As a dockworker told me years ago: No one gets rich working; the only way to get rich is by making other people work for you.) And the essence of the political structure that goes along with and protects this capitalist economic system is not freedom and democracy for all, regardless of wealth and social position. The essence is the dictatorship of the bourgeois class—its monopoly of political power and armed force—over those it dominates in the economic system, especially the proletariat. Thus, the right to vote and other formal rights for the proletariat and other oppressed masses are in no way in fundamental opposition to the economic and political system of capitalism and bourgeois dictatorship.

    Bourgeois Democracy—Bourgeois Dictatorship

    Bourgeois democracy presents itself as classless democracy: It proclaims equality for all. Thus, the U.S. Constitution does not say that different classes of people shall have unequal wealth and power; rather, it sets forth a charter that appears to treat everyone the same, regardless of wealth and social status. Yet there never has been, and never could be, a capitalist society without tremendous differences in wealth and power, without fundamental class divisions and antagonisms. In fact, a capitalist society without these things is not even conceivable. And in reality, democracy in capitalist society can only be bourgeois democracy. This means there is democracy—equal political rights and the power to make fundamental decisions—only among the capitalist class, the ruling class. For the rest, and for the proletariat especially, bourgeois democracy means dictatorship: It means being ruled over by the capitalists, even while being allowed to vote and even while being governed by a Constitution that sets forth laws that are said to be applied, equally, to all. How can this be?

    First, as for voting, as I pointed out in Democracy: Can’t We Do Better Than That?:

    On the most obvious level, to be a serious candidate for any major office in a country like the U.S. requires millions of dollars—a personal fortune or, more often, the backing of people with that kind of money. Beyond that, to become known and be taken seriously depends on favorable exposure in the mass media (favorable at least in the sense that you are presented as within the framework of responsible—that is, acceptable politics)…. By the time “the people express their will through voting,” both the candidates they have to choose among and the “issues” that deserve “serious consideration” have been selected out by someone else: the ruling class….

    Further, and even more fundamentally, to “get anywhere” once elected—both to advance one’s own career and to “get anything done”—it is necessary to fit into the established mold and work within the established structures.5

    But that is not all:

    If, however, the electoral process in bourgeois society does not represent the exercise of sovereignty by the people, it generally does play an important role in maintaining the sovereignty—the dictatorship—of the bourgeoisie and the continuation of capitalist society. This very electoral process itself tends to cover over the basic class relations—and class antagonisms—in society, and serves to give formal, institutionalized expression to the political participation of atomized individuals in the perpetuation of the status quo. This process not only reduces people to isolated individuals but at the same time reduces them to a passive position politically and defines the essence of politics as such atomized passivity—as each person, individually, in isolation from everyone else, giving his/her approval to this or to that option, all of which options have been formulated and presented by an active power standing above these atomized masses of “citizens.”… [T]he very acceptance of the electoral process as the quintessential political act reinforces acceptance of the established order and works against any radical rupture with, to say nothing of the actual overturning of, that order.6

    And let us remember that one of the main reasons for which the U.S. Constitution was “ordained and established,” as proclaimed in its “Preamble,” was to prevent social upheaval and the overturning of the order upheld by that Constitution—to “insure domestic tranquility.”

    The same can be said of the other aspects of bourgeois democracy and the kind of rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution (including its “Bill of Rights”): They have the purpose and function of reinforcing the rule of the bourgeoisie and keeping political activity within limits acceptable to the bourgeoisie. Thus, “the much-vaunted freedom of expression in the ‘democratic countries’ is not in opposition to but is encompassed by and confined within the actual exercise of dictatorship by the bourgeoisie. This is for two basic reasons—because the ruling class has a monopoly on the means of molding public opinion and because its monopoly of armed force puts it in a position to suppress, as violently as necessary, any expression of ideas, as well as any action, that poses a serious challenge to the established order.”7 The history of the U.S., like the history of all other “democratic” bourgeois dictatorships, is full of graphic illustrations of just how true the above-quoted statement is!

    Formal equality—the treatment of all persons as equal, and specifically as “equal before the law,” without regard to wealth or social position—in bourgeois society actually covers over the relationship of complete subordination, exploitation, and oppression to which the proletariat and masses of people are subjected. If a small group—the capitalist class—controls the important means of creating wealth, then in reality they have the power of life and death over those who control little or none of these. To have such power over other people is, in essence, to hold them in an enslaved condition, whether or not the chains are literal and visible. In such a situation—which is the fundamental condition of capitalist society—how can there be anything but profound inequality economically, socially, and politically? And with such a fundamental division, with such fundamental inequality, there can never be anything but exploitation, oppression, domination, and dictatorship.

    With regard to the law, this will manifest itself in two main ways. First, those who dominate society economically will dominate in deciding, through the political structure, what the laws will be. They will insure that the laws serve their interests. And second, the actual application and enforcement of the law will discriminate in favor of those with wealth and power and against those without them—and even more so against oppressed nationalities, women, and others who are “the last of the last” in society. Everyday life in any capitalist society proves this over and over. Thus, once again, as with the right to vote and other constitutional rights in a bourgeois-democratic republic, formal equality before the law expresses itself, in reality, as profound inequality—and more—as something confined within and conforming to bourgeois domination and dictatorship.

    The basic difference between the bourgeoisie’s view of freedom and democracy on the one hand, and the striving of oppressed masses for an end to oppressive conditions on the other hand, is sharply drawn in recent events in Haiti, the Philippines, and South Korea. The oppressed masses (and students and other revolutionary intellectuals) want some kind of fundamental change in the social system and a breaking of the chains of imperialist domination in their countries. But the bourgeois opposition leaders and parties want only the recognition of bourgeois-democratic provisions and procedures—with elections the highest expression of political activity. Most of all, they want the sharing of power more broadly and “equally” among the upper classes—really, they want their chance to hold the reins of power—while leaving the social system and imperialist domination intact. As for the imperialists, where they become convinced of the need for change in such situations, they make every effort to keep it confined within the framework of imperialist domination and bourgeois rule. Indeed, they try to use such situations to strengthen and perhaps “refine” the apparatus of bourgeois politics—and, above all, of repression—in the countries involved.

    This brings us to a most fundamental point that is so often ignored or glossed over in discussions and debates about democracy in countries like the U.S.: The fact is that even the extent to which rights are allowed to the nonruling classes in imperialist countries depends on a situation where, in large parts of the world under imperialist domination, the masses of people are subjected to much more open and murderous repression. In short,

    The platform of democracy in the imperialist countries (worm-eaten as it is) rests on fascist terror in the oppressed nations: the real guarantors of bourgeois democracy in the U.S. are not the constitutional scholar and the Supreme Court justice, but the Brazilian torturer, the South African cop, and the Israeli pilot; the true defenders of the democratic tradition are not on the portraits in the halls of the Western capitols, but are Marcos, Mobutu, and the dozens of generals from Turkey to Taiwan, from South Korea to South America, all put and maintained in power and backed up by the military force of the U.S. and its imperialist partners.8,***

    But, at the same time, the imperialist rulers and ardent worshippers of bourgeois democracy go to great lengths to try to cover over, or explain away, the brutal repression “at home” that is so essential to the functioning of the system and the maintenance of the established order:

    For there is vicious repression and state terror carried out continually—and not only in times of serious crisis or social upheaval—in the imperialist countries; it is carried out specifically against those who do not support but oppose the established order, or who simply cannot be counted on to be pacified by the normal workings of the imperialist system—those whose conditions are desperate and whose life situation is explosive anyway.

    In the U.S. the hundreds of police shootings of oppressed people, particularly Blacks and other minority nationalities, every year; the fact that jails are overwhelmingly filled with poor people, the greatest number again being Black and other minority nationalities—it is an amazing but true statistic that one out of every thirteen Black people in the U.S. will be arrested each year (and Blacks are incarcerated eight and one-half times as frequently as whites)!—and the widespread use of drugs, surgical techniques, and other means to repress and terrorize prisoners (as well as an astounding number of people not in jail, including allegedly recalcitrant children); the use of welfare and other so-called social service agencies to harass and control poor people down to the most intimate details of their personal lives; this, and much more, is part of the daily life experience of millions of people in the major imperialist countries. Along with all this, of course, is the use of the state apparatus for direct political repression….

    In times of severe crisis and social strain, of course, all this is carried out more intensively and extensively…. Already, right now in the U.S., to cite one important aspect of this, hundreds of thousands of immigrants, “illegal” and “legal,” are being subjected to a campaign of terror—including raids at their places of work and homes, the sudden and forcible separation of parents from children, and the deportation of large numbers of refugees back to the waiting arms of death squads and other government assassins in countries like El Salvador. The same kind of thing is also being directed against immigrants in France, West Germany, England, and other imperialist democracies.

    Through all this, while overt political repression by the state is in one sense the clearest indication of the class content of democracy—in the imperialist countries as well as elsewhere—in another sense the daily, and often seemingly arbitrary, terror carried out against the lower strata in these imperialist countries concentrates the connection between the normal workings of the system and the political (that is, class) nature of the state.9

    A New and Far Greater Vision of Freedom

    In the course of this article so far, in speaking to some essential questions concerning the U.S. Constitution and the system it upholds, I have answered some of the main arguments made in defense of this Constitution and this system, including the argument that the Constitution, if not perfect, is perfectible—that it can be continually improved and the rights it establishes can be extended to those previously excluded. Before concluding, I want to briefly address some of the other main arguments made on behalf of—or in defense of—this Constitution and the principles and vision it embodies.

    “This Constitution establishes a law of the land that is applicable to all—it establishes a government of laws, not of people.” This is closely linked to the principle of “equality before the law.” What is meant by “a government of laws, not of people” is that no one is “above the law” and that what is allowed and what is forbidden are set forth before all, in one set of regulations binding on everyone, and this can be changed only through the procedures established for making such changes. A “government of people” refers to a notion of a government where it is the will and the word of certain people—a king, a despot, a small group of tyrants, etc.—that determine what is allowed and what is forbidden, and where this can and will change according to the dictates and the whims of such rulers: There is no common and clearly spelled-out standard binding on all, even on the political leaders and the powerful and influential in society.

    Like all principles of bourgeois democracy, this notion of “a government of laws, not of people” misses and obscures the essential question. First of all,

    “the rule of law” can be part of a dictatorship, of one kind or another, and in the most general sense it always is—even where it may appear that power is exercised without or above the law, laws (in the sense of a systematized code that people in society are obliged to conform to, whether written or unwritten) will still exist and play a part in enforcing the rule of the dominant class. Conversely, all states, all dictatorships, include laws in one form or another.10

    Most fundamentally, the question is: What is the character and the class content of the laws, what system do they uphold and enforce, which class interests do they represent—of which class dictatorship, bourgeois or proletarian, are they the expression and instrument—and toward what end are they contributing—the maintenance of class division and domination, exploitation and oppression, or the final elimination of class divisions, of all oppressive social divisions, and of social antagonisms? In short, the essential question is not “a government of laws vs. a government of people,” it is which people—which class—rules, and what laws are in force, in the service of what ends?

    “‘We The People,’ that is the heart of this Constitution and the genius of this Constitution: It establishes a government of, by and for all the people.” As a matter of historical fact, this opening phrase of the Constitution, “We the people of the United States,” was not the product of some lofty desire by the “framers” of the Constitution to set forth some universal principle of popular sovereignty. It was the product of their desire to overcome the problem of States posing their own sovereignty against that of the Federal Government—and the desire to avoid the specific problem of not knowing which States would ratify the Constitution: “The Preamble of the Articles of Confederation had named all the states in order from north to south. How was the [Constitutional] Convention to enumerate the participating states without knowing which would ratify? In a brilliant flash of inspiration, the Convention began with the words, ‘We the People of the United States…do ordain and establish this Constitution….’”11

    More importantly, the larger historical context and the actual content of this proclamation—“We The People”—must be made clear. The founding of the United States of America as an independent country represented not just the breaking away from domination by a foreign power. It also meant breaking away from a form of government that vested great power in the person of the monarchy—even while it ultimately served the interests of the bourgeoisie and the landed “nobility.” In general, the rights and the restrictions of power established in the Constitution of the newly founded United States revolved around preventing arbitrary rule by despots and the concentration of too much power in one person or one part of the government. The “separation of powers” and the “checks and balances” of different branches of government was seen as a way of insuring that the government would serve the interests of the capitalist class and (at that time) the slaveowners as a whole. It is in this light that “We the people of the United States,” in the “Preamble” of the Constitution, must be understood. Obviously, “We the people of the United States” did not include all those who were expressly excluded from the process of selecting the government and endorsing the Constitution. For, “Even on the most obvious level, how could the government of the newly formed United States, for example, be considered to have derived its powers ‘from the consent of the governed’ when, at the time of the formation of the United States of America, a majority of the people ‘governed’—included slaves, Indians, women, men who did not meet various property requirements, and others—did not even have the right to vote…to say nothing of the real power to govern and determine the direction of society?”12

    Bourgeois ruling classes generally speak in the name of the people, all the people. From their standpoint, it may make a certain amount of sense: They do, after all, rule over the masses of people. But from a more basic and more objective standpoint, their claim to represent all the people is a deception. If it was a deception at the time of the founding of the United States and the adoption of its Constitution, it is all the more so now. For now the rule of the capitalists is in fundamental antagonism with the interests of the great majority of people, not just in a particular country, but all over the world. Now the decisive question is not overcoming economic and political obstacles to the development of capitalism and its corresponding political system. The time when that was on the historical agenda is long since passed. What is now on the historical agenda is the overthrow of capitalism and the final elimination of all systems of exploitation, all oppressive social relations, all class distinctions, through the revolution of the exploited class under capitalism, the proletariat.

    To get a very stark sense of just how historically conditioned—how long since outmoded and completely reactionary—are the interests and the paramount concerns of the "Founding Fathers" and their descendants, the ruling imperialists of today, let us consider the fact that, in writing their Constitution, Madison and others "For theoretical inspiration...leaned heavily on Locke and on Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws. Both writers had insisted on the need for separation of powers in order to prevent tyranny; in Montesquieu's view even the representatives of the people in the legislature could not be trusted with unlimited power."13 In reading over Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws I could not help but be struck by how thoroughly his frame of reference is that of a bygone age and his outlook that of exploiting classes whose period of historical ascendancy is long since past. As a glaring illustration, consider the following:

    If I had to justify our right to enslave Negroes, this is what I would say: Since the peoples of Europe have exterminated those of America, they have had to enslave those of Africa in order to use them to clear and cultivate such a vast expanse of land.

    Sugar would be too expensive if it weren't harvested by slaves.

    Those in question are black from the tip of their toes to the top of their heads; and their noses so flattened that it is almost impossible to feel sorry for them.

    It is inconceivable that God, who is a very wise being, could have placed a soul, especially a good soul, in an all-black body....

    One proof of the fact that Negroes don't have any common sense is that they get more excited about a string of glass beads than about gold, which, in civilized countries, is so dearly prized.

    It is impossible that these people are men; because if we thought of them as men, one would begin to think that we ourselves are not Christians.14,****

    Let the "Founding Fathers" and their descendants draw theoretical inspiration from the likes of Montesquieu! Let them defend slavery and modern-day exploitation on the ground of property rights, taking their lead from the likes of James Madison, the main author of the Constitution. As for the proletariat, our goal is "Marx's view of the complete abolition of bourgeois property relations—and all relations in which human beings confront each other as owners (or non-owners) of property rather than through conscious and voluntary association."15

    For the exploiting classes, and in a system under their rule, the "bottom line" is to reduce the masses of people to mere wealth-creating property—and today, under the domination of the imperialists, the greatest of all exploiters, the mass of humanity is treated as merely a means to amass even greater wealth and power in the hands of, and for the profit of, so few. And at what cost! This cost must be measured in massive human suffering, degradation, and destruction. Imagine the even greater cost in human suffering, degradation, and destruction that will have to be paid unless and until the oppressed and exploited victims of this system, who are the great majority of humanity, rise up and overthrow this system and finally put an end to all social relations of exploitation and oppression.

    In conclusion, The Constitution of the United States is an exploiters' vision of freedom. It is a charter for a society based on exploitation, on slavery in one form or another. The rights and freedoms it proclaims are subordinate to and in the service of the system of exploitation it upholds. This Constitution has been and continues to be applied in accordance with this vision and with the interests of the ruling class of this system: In its application it has become more and more fully the instrument of bourgeois domination, dictatorship, oppression, conquest, and plunder.

    Our answer is clear to those who argue: Even if The Constitution of the United States is not perfect, it is the best that has been devised—it sets a standard to be striven for. Our answer is: Why should we aim so low, when we have The Communist Manifesto to set a far higher standard of what humanity can strive for—and is capable of achieving—a far greater vision of freedom.*****

     

    NOTES

    1. Quotes from James Madison are from the Federalist Paper No. 54 in The Federalist Papers (New York: New American Library, 1961), pp. 336-341, especially pp. 339 and 337. [back]

    2. Bob Avakian, Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That? (Chicago: Banner Press, 1986), pp. 110-11. [back]

    3. Edward Conrad Smith, editor, The Constitution of the United States with Case Summaries (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1979), p. 18. All citations in this article are from the essay “The Origins of the Constitution.” [back]

    4. Ibid., pp. 18-19. [back]

    5. Avakian, Democracy, p. 69. [back]

    6. Ibid, p. 70. [back]

    7. Ibid, p. 71. [back]

    8. Lenny Wolff, The Science of Revolution: An Introduction (Chicago: RCP Publications, 1983), p. 184. [back]

    9. Avakian, Democracy, pp. 137-39. [back]

    10. Ibid., pp. 233-34. [back]

    11. Smith, Constitution of the U.S., p. 12. [back]

    12. Avakian, Democracy, p. 100. [back]

    13. Smith, Constitution of the U.S., p. 13. [back]

    14. Charles Montesquieu, De L'Esprit Des Lois, Paris: Garnier, 1927, livre 15, chapitre 5, "De L'Esclavage Des Negres" (The Spirit of the Laws, book 15, chapter 5, "On the Enslavement of Negroes"), my translation. [back]

    15. Avakian, Democracy, p. 212. [back]

    Added Notes by the Author, Spring 2023

    * A major factor underlying this “extension of constitutional rights and protections to those previously excluded from them” has—especially since the second half of the 20th century—been the increasing globalization of the capitalist-imperialist economy, a worldwide system of exploitation ensnaring literally billions of people, and in particular super-exploitation of masses of people, including more than 150 million children, in the Third World of Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The relationship of this worldwide exploitation, and super-exploitation, to the situation in the U.S. itself—particularly with regard to the economic structure and social and class relations within this country—is analyzed in depth in the paper by Raymond Lotta Imperialist Parasitism and Class-Social Recomposition in the U.S. From the 1970s to Today: An Exploration of Trends and Changes, which is available at revcom.us. The political dimensions of this are explored in my article Imperialist Parasitism and “Democracy”: Why So Many Liberals and Progressives Are Shameless Supporters of “Their” Imperialism (also available at revcom.us), where the following is made clear:

    [T]his imperialist plunder provides the material basis for a certain stability, at least in “normal times” in the imperialist “home country” (with the U.S. a prime example of this). This relative stability, in turn, makes it possible for the ruling class to allow a certain amount of dissent and political protest—so long as this remains within the confines of, or at least does not significantly threaten, the “law and order” that serves and enforces the fundamental interests of this ruling class.

    At the same time, as sharply demonstrated in mass uprisings which do call into question that “law and order” and/or defy allegiance to the imperialist interests of this system—such as the mass outpouring against police terror in 2020, and urban rebellions and mass opposition to the Vietnam war in the 1960s—the rulers of this country will frequently respond to such opposition with severe repression and murderous retribution.  For example, the city of Wilmington, in Biden’s home state of Delaware, was placed under martial law for months during the 1960s upsurge against the oppression of Black people, and a number of members of the Black Panther Party, most prominently Fred Hampton, were murdered by police, along with many Black people taking part in urban uprisings in that period, while militant mass resistance against the Vietnam war and rebellions among middle class youth and students were in some cases subjected to a vicious, and at times murderous, response by police and National Guard troops.

    It should never be forgotten, or overlooked, that the “law and order” that enforces this relative stability has included the regular murder of Black people, as well as Latinos, by police—resulting in the fact that the number of Black people who have been killed by police in the years since 1960 is greater than the thousands of Black people who were lynched during the period of Jim Crow segregation and Ku Klux Klan terror, before the 1960s. It should also not be overlooked that the U.S. has the highest rate of mass incarceration of any country in the world, with Black people and Latinos particularly subjected to this mass incarceration. [back]

    ** The point here, as emphasized in my work Breakthroughs: The Historic Breakthrough by Marx, and the Further Breakthrough with the New Communism, A Basic Summary, is that the essence of the capitalist economy, and the source of capitalist “wealth” and “economic growth,” is not a bunch of capitalist entrepreneurs and their “innovation,” or their “entrepreneurial genius.” It is the exploitation by the capitalists (the bourgeoisie) of wage-workers (the proletariat). This is different than the question of what is the driving force compelling the capitalists to continue to intensify the exploitation of the proletariat and to continually find new means of doing so. As also pointed out in Breakthroughs:

    Engels, in Anti-Dühring, discussed the motion of the fundamental contradiction of capitalism between socialized production and private appropriation. He pointed out that the working out of this contradiction assumes two different forms of motion that go into the dynamic process of this fundamental contradiction’s motion. Those two forms of motion are, on the one hand, the contradiction between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat that it exploits, and the other form of motion that Engels identified, importantly, is the contradiction between organization and anarchy, the organization of production on the level of, say, an enterprise—which may be highly organized, with lots of calculations going into it, market estimates and all kinds of things, and may be very tightly organized in terms of how the actual process of production is carried out on the level of the particular capitalist corporation, and so on—while, at the same time, this is in contradiction to the anarchy of production and of exchange in the society as a whole (or today in the world as a whole, today more than ever in the world as a whole). So you have these two forms of motion—and I’ll come back later to a crucial distinguishing aspect of the new communism: the importance of identifying the second form of motion of this fundamental contradiction, that is, the anarchy/organization contradiction, or the driving force of anarchy, as overall the principal and most essential form of the motion of the fundamental contradiction of capitalism....

    In this regard, in the article “On the ‘Driving Force of Anarchy’ and the Dynamics of Change,” Raymond Lotta cited this statement of mine:

    It is the anarchy of capitalist production which is, in fact, the driving or motive force of this process [of capitalist production], even though the contradiction between the bourgeoisie and proletariat is an integral part of the contradiction between socialized production and private appropriation. While the exploitation of labor-power is the form by and through which surplus value is created and appropriated, it is the anarchic relations between capitalist producers, and not the mere existence of propertyless proletarians or the class contradiction as such, that drives these producers to exploit the working class on an historically more intensive and extensive scale. This motive force of anarchy is an expression of the fact that the capitalist mode of production represents the full development of commodity production and the law of value.

    And then there is this very important passage:

    Were it not the case that these capitalist commodity producers are separated from each other and yet linked by the operation of the law of value they would not face the same compulsion to exploit the proletariat—the class contradiction between bourgeoisie and proletariat could be mitigated. It is the inner compulsion of capital to expand which accounts for the historically unprecedented dynamism of this mode of production, a process which continually transforms value relations and which leads to crisis.

    (Breakthroughs is available at revcom.us; and the article by Raymond Lotta referred to here, “On the ‘Driving Force of Anarchy’ and the Dynamics of Change,” can be found in the online theoretical journal Demarcations, Issue Number 3.) [back]

    *** As noted in “Imperialist Parasitism and ‘Democracy’: Why So Many Liberals and Progressives Are Shameless Supporters of ‘Their’ Imperialism”:

    Some of the mass murderers in other countries who today play such a crucial role in serving the interests of U.S. imperialism throughout the world, and in making possible the maintenance of bourgeois democracy in this country itself (worm-eaten as it is indeed), are the same as they were 40 years ago, and some are different—but the essential reality remains that the “platform of democracy” in this country rests on fascist terror, along with ruthless exploitation, in the oppressed nations of the Third World (Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia). [back]

    **** In relation to this statement by Montesquieu—and more generally his views on slavery—I am reproducing here the following “A Note from Bob Avakian: On Montesquieu, Slavery and the U.S. Constitution,” which appeared in Revolution #037, March 5, 2006, posted at revcom.us:

    Recently, Revolution ran an excerpt from a pamphlet I wrote, which was originally published in 1987, U.S. Constitution: An Exploiters' Vision of Freedom. In that excerpt, there is a quote from De L'Esprit Des Lois (or, in English, "The Spirit of the Laws") by Charles Montesquieu, an 18th–century French philosopher, who was one of the sources of inspiration for the U.S. Constitution, and in particular the theory of the separation of powers that is incorporated in that Constitution. The quote from this work of Montesquieu's, which was published in 1748, is one in which he recites an extreme and grotesquely racist justification for "the enslavement of the Negroes." In relation to this, it is not infrequently argued that Montesquieu was being ironic here, and deliberately overstating this argument, in order to, in effect, polemicize against the enslavement of African people, and that in general Montesquieu's writings express opposition to slavery. But the reality is not so simple as this, nor does this reflect what Montesquieu was essentially seeking to do in this part of "The Spirit of the Laws." It can be said that in "The Spirit of the Laws" Montesquieu's position is one of general opposition to slavery, and he indicates that slavery is not appropriate in countries like France; but, at the same time, he speaks to various circumstances in which he believes slavery can be justified or reasonable. For example, he argues that in the parts of the world, in particular the southern regions, where the climate is warmer, this climate makes people lazy (indolent), and slavery may be justified in order to get them to work (and he argues that in a despotic country, where people's political rights are already repressed, slavery may not be worse for people in that condition).

    This, and the general discussion of slavery that makes up this part (book 15) of "The Spirit of the Laws," is included in a broader discussion by Montesquieu on the nature of different societies and governments in different countries and parts of the world (this is found not only in book 15 but also books 14 and 16 of "The Spirit of the Laws") in which Montesquieu argues that geography and in particular climate plays a big part in determining the nature of different peoples and the character of their society and governing system. And it is important to understand that, although in this discussion Montesquieu makes logical refutation of certain arguments, including certain defenses of slavery, this is not a polemic for or against slavery, or other forms of government, and its character is not that of moral argumentation, so much as it is an attempt to explain why various practices, and various forms of society and government, have existed (and in some cases continue to exist) in various places.

    Another way to put this is that what Montesquieu is doing, in these parts of "The Spirit of the Laws" (and generally in this work), is attempting to make a kind of materialist analysis of these phenomena, including slavery in many places where it has existed—although it must be emphasized that this is not a thoroughly scientific, dialectical materialism but instead a rather crude and vulgar materialism which is marked, and marred, by a considerable amount of determinism: it is a kind of mechanical materialism that argues for a direct and straight-line (linear) connection between things like geography and climate and the character of society and government. It is a kind of materialism that does not adequately and accurately characterize the real motive forces in the development of human society, and in fact this kind of vulgar materialism has often been used to justify various forms of oppression, including colonial and imperialist domination. While we can, and should, recognize that, in the circumstances and time in which he wrote—about 250 years ago—there are aspects of what Montesquieu was seeking to do that were new and represented a break with the suffocating and obfuscating feudal outlook and conventions, it is very important to understand how Montesquieu's outlook and method were marked, and limited, by the social, and international, relations of which they were ultimately an expression: relations in which one part of society, and of the world, dominates and exploits others. And that is the basic point that was being emphasized in relation to Montesquieu and the U.S. Constitution, in the pamphlet U.S. Constitution: An Exploiters' Vision of Freedom.

    With regard to the specific passage that was cited in U.S. Constitution: An Exploiters' Vision of Freedom, "on the enslavement of the Negroes," there is, in fact, some reason to accept that Montesquieu does not actually agree with the justification for this enslavement that he summarizes, and that he is actually subjecting this kind of justification to some ironic and satirical treatment. A reasonable interpretation of Montesquieu's arguments, as he goes on in this part of "The Spirit of the Laws" (book 15), is that this kind of argument, about the non-human character of the Negroes, is not a valid argument, not one that actually justifies this enslavement. But then he does go on to explore the question of what might actually be reasonable justifications, in certain circumstances, for slavery; and, as spoken to above, he finds such justifications in situations such as those where there is a despotic government, or where—as he concludes, through an application of vulgar and determinist materialism—the warm climate makes people lazy and unwilling, on their own initiative, to work.

    Thus, in looking into and reflecting on this further, I would say that, while it is important to understand the complexity and nuance of what Montesquieu writes here—and it can be said that the way in which I cited Montesquieu in writing this pamphlet on the U.S. Constitution does not really or fully do that—it is not the case that what Montesquieu was doing here was actually making a case against the enslavement of the Negroes, or against slavery in general. Once again, it is important to keep in mind the fact that, although he was opposed to slavery on general principle, and declared that it was a good thing that it had been eliminated in his home country, France, and more generally in Europe, Montesquieu did not think slavery was wrong, or without justification, in all circumstances. And it also seems that Montesquieu did not hesitate to invest in companies involved in the slave trade. In this, there is a parallel with John Locke, the English philosopher and political theorist, who, as I pointed out in this same pamphlet (U.S. Constitution: An Exploiters' Vision of Freedom), was also a major influence in the conception of the U.S. Constitution. As I wrote in Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That? (p. 29):

    "In sum, the society of which Locke was a theoretical exponent, as well as a practical political partisan, was a society based on wage-slavery and capitalist exploitation. And it is not surprising that, while he was opposed to slavery in England itself, he not only defended the institution of slavery, under certain circumstances, in the Second Treatise, but turned a not insignificant profit himself in the slave trade and helped to draw up the charter for a government headed by a slave-owning aristocracy in one of the American colonies. For as Marx sarcastically summarized: ‘The discovery of gold and silver in America, the extirpation, enslavement and entombment in mines of the aboriginal population, the beginning of the conquest and looting of the East Indies, the turning of Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting of black-skins, signalized the rosy dawn of the era of capitalist production.’" [back]

    ***** In the years since the writing of this article, I have devoted considerable work to the development of what is meant by this “far greater vision of freedom”—what it would mean “in real life.” One very important result of this is the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, which provides both a sweeping vision and a concrete blueprint for a radically different and emancipating society and world. This Constitution is available at revcom.us. [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    From The RNL Show:

    Bob Avakian on Why He Wrote the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America

    From The RNL Show, Episode 156

  • ARTICLE:

    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

    In the course of this talk, I will be referring to, and digging further into, key points that are put forward in two very important documents which are featured on our website revcom.us: A Declaration, A Call To Get Organized Now For A Real Revolution; and an article of mine, following up on that “Declaration and Call”: This Is A Rare Time When Revolution Becomes Possible—Why That Is So, And How To Seize On This Rare Opportunity. So, for everyone getting into this talk, everyone who cares about the crucial questions it is speaking to, it is also important to take up (or return to) and get deeply into those documents as well—and to go regularly to revcom.us, and watch the weekly YouTube show Revolution—Nothing Less, both of which sharply illustrate why a real revolution is urgently needed, and is possible, what are the goals of this revolution, and how to be part of building for this revolution. What I will be speaking to here is, as the title says, a necessary foundation and a basic roadmap for this revolution.

    One other point: I am going to say what needs to be said about the way things are, why they are that way, where things are headed, and what needs to be done to radically change this in a positive way—and, as part of that, I am going to bluntly speak some truth that is bound to offend some people. I do this because the stakes in all this are so high, and (to refer to a line from Bob Dylan) the hour is getting late, and there is no time to speak falsely now. But I do this, not out of a sense that people are so deeply caught up in, that they cannot break with, ways of thinking and acting which serve to perpetuate their own oppression and degradation, and that of others as well. No, I am doing this precisely out of the understanding that masses of people not only need to, but can, make a profound break with this—that they can radically change themselves as part of, and in the process of, radically changing the world, in an emancipating way.

    So, let’s get to it.

    Bob Avakian

     

    BOB AVAKIAN:
    A RADICALLY DIFFERENT LEADER—A WHOLE NEW FRAMEWORK FOR HUMAN EMANCIPATION

    Learn more about Bob Avakian and the new communism
    A DECLARATION, A CALL TO GET ORGANIZED NOW FOR A REAL REVOLUTION

     

    cover of pamphlet Bob Avakian: This Is A Rare Time When Revolution Becomes Possible—Why That Is So And How To Seize On This Rare Opportunity

     

    Here is the heart of the matter: Many people—including someone like Martin Luther King—have argued that attempting to carry out a revolution to overthrow this system is suicidal, particularly for Black people in this country—when, in fact, Black people, and masses of other oppressed and exploited people, profoundly and desperately need this revolution. The reality is that such a revolution can succeed, but this is possible, particularly up against powerful ruling forces, like in this country, only in rare times and circumstances. And here is a very important truth: This is one of those rare times and circumstances.

    This rare time must not be wasted, squandered, thrown away. Rather, revolution must be actively prepared for and vigorously, consistently worked for—now, and in an ongoing wayto build up the scientifically oriented and powerfully organized forces for, and to prepare the ground for, this revolution.

    And that is why we revolutionary communists say:

    [E]veryone who can’t stand this world the way it is ... who is sick and tired of so many people being treated as less than human ... who knows that the claim of “liberty and justice for all” is a cruel lie ... who is righteously enraged that injustice and inequality go on, and on, and on, despite false promises and honeyed words from people in power (or those seeking power) ... everyone who agonizes about where things are headed and the fact that to be young now means being denied a decent future, or any future at all ... everyone who has ever dreamed about something much better, or even wondered whether that is possible ... everyone who hungers for a world without oppression, exploitation, poverty, and destruction of the environment ... everyone who has the heart to fight for something that is really worth fighting for: You need to be part of this revolution.

    We’re talking about a real revolution, not playing around with a few changes that leave this system in place and in power, while benefitting only a small number. As the “Declaration and Call” makes very clear:

    A revolution means a force of millions, drawn from many different parts of society and organized for an all-out fight to overthrow this system and replace it with a radically different and much better economic and political system, a socialist system, based on meeting the needs of the people and carrying forward the fight for a communist world where there will finally be an end, everywhere, to the exploitation, oppression, and destruction of the environment that is built into this system of capitalism-imperialism. Anything less than this revolution will completely fail to deal with the root of all the problems or lead to the actual solution. [Emphasis added here.]

    So let’s get more deeply into why this is one of those rare times and circumstances when this revolution is possible, and what must be done for there to be a real chance for this revolution to actually succeed.

    First, let’s get clear on these BASIC TRUTHS:

    We live under a system—the system of capitalism-imperialism (capitalism is an economic and political system of exploitation and oppression, and imperialism refers to the worldwide nature of this system).

    It is this system which is the basic cause of the tremendous suffering that people, all over the world, are subjected to; and this system poses a growing threat to the very existence of humanity, in the way that this system is rapidly destroying the global environment, and in the danger of war between nuclear-armed capitalist-imperialist powers, such as the U.S. and China.

    All this is reality, and no one can escape this reality. Either we radically change it, in a positive way, or everything will be changed in a very negative way.

    To be very clear once more: Changing it in a positive way means making revolution—a real revolution, to overthrow this system of capitalism-imperialism and replace it with a radically different and emancipating system. For it is also a basic truth that: In today’s world, to fundamentally change society, you must seize power—overthrow the existing state power and establish a new state power.

    And here is another very important truth from the “Declaration and Call”:

    We have seen the potential for revolution powerfully demonstrated in the summer of last year (2020) when millions of people, of all races and genders, all over this country, and all around the world, rose up together against racist oppression and police murder. We have seen this potential in the mass outpourings of women, in countries all over the world, refusing to put up with being abused and degraded. This potential is also revealed in the deep distress being expressed, by scientists and millions of ordinary people, about the continually worsening climate crisis and the threat this poses to the future of humanity—a crisis this system cannot solve, but can only make worse.

    As we have also seen, when millions of people do take to the streets—and, especially when they do this not just for a day or so, expressing their feelings and then going home, with things returning quickly to “normal,” but when they do this with real determination and in a sustained way—this can change the “political atmosphere and alignment” in society as a whole, compelling every section of society, and every major ruling institution, to respond to this. To again cite a powerful example, this was the case with the massive uprising in the summer of 2020.

    But, as important as it is, millions taking to the streets, even in a sustained militant way, cannot by itself lead to fundamental change—which can only happen if the system that they are rebelling against is actually brought down.

    There have been many situations in different countries where a huge part of society has rebelled, even taking to the streets for weeks and months, but the ruling institutions, and in particular the police and military, did not “break apart,” and the people were not prepared to take the struggle to the next level—so there was no fundamental change. There have also been disastrous outcomes when people rising up in a mass revolt have mistakenly believed that, simply because their cause is just, the armed forces of the existing system will sympathize and join with them—when in fact those armed forces continued in their role as violent enforcers of the existing system and sooner or later acted to forcefully suppress the people.

    No, the existing oppressive system must be overthrown—the institutions of violent suppression of this system must finally be broken apart, defeated and dismantled by an organized revolutionary force. That is what is necessary for things to go beyond just mass protest, however militant and determined, and become a real revolution.

    Speaking specifically of this country, even in a situation where millions of people are taking to the streets, in a sustained way, in determined rebellion against oppression and injustice, and even with some among this system’s armed forces sympathizing and identifying with this, it is very unlikely that this, in itself, would lead to those armed forces splitting apart and a significant part of them joining with the people rising up in this way. (This is all the more true of the police, whose ranks are filled with hardcore right-wing brutes.)

    It is a fact that one of the objectives of the revolution—and what would be a necessary part of the strategy of the revolutionary forces—would be to win over significant parts of armed forces that start out opposing the revolution. But the possibility of this, and the way in which it could be achieved, would depend on how the revolutionary process actually unfolded.

    Later, toward the end of this talk, I will speak to this more directly, and get into some key aspects of the doctrine and strategic approach that would need to be applied by the revolutionary forces in order to have a real chance to win, when the necessary conditions for the all-out revolutionary fight had been brought into being—including the approach to winning over forces from the opposing side, in the course of that all-out fight. And, as part of that, I will talk about how, in an actual civil war, fought between opposing sections of society, things could develop in such a way that the armed forces that had been the backbone of state power, enforcing the existing capitalist-imperialist system, would split apart in the context of such a civil war—and what would be the implications of that for carrying revolution to a successful outcome.

    But, before that, it is important to get into this fundamental question: What are the necessary conditions for a revolution? In basic terms, they are:

    A crisis in society and government so deep and so disruptive of the “usual way of things,” 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.

    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.

    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 is grounded in, and is working systematically to apply, the most 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.

    To get into this further, let’s start by focusing on the first of these conditions.

    There is some important historical experience to learn from—situations where a ruling class was no longer able to rule in the “normal way” that people had been conditioned to accept, and a real possibility arose of putting an end to the existing system, even one which had been so powerfully entrenched that such a profound change had long seemed impossible. This has happened especially when the ruling class, or a section of the ruling class, of that system no longer believes in, and more or less openly abandons, what had been the “cohering norms”—the regulating set of beliefs and processes—of that system.

    An example of this kind of thing—which involved a significant change, even though it was not brought about by a real revolution—is the collapse of the Soviet Union in the years 1989-91. The Soviet Union was the world’s first socialist state, brought into being through the Russian Revolution of 1917. The truth, however, is that capitalism had actually been restored in the Soviet Union, in the mid-1950s—even as it continued for some time to maintain the façade of “socialism.” But then, in the 1980s, “reforms” were instituted that began to unravel this whole thing, and finally sections of the ruling class abandoned the pretense of socialism, and the country underwent a transformation to an openly capitalist society, dropping even its outward identity as the “USSR” (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). The same kind of thing happened in some Eastern European countries that had been under the effective domination of the Soviet Union—countries where there were massive uprisings, the ruling structures split apart, and the result was a change from disguised capitalism to open capitalism—a major change, even if not a real revolution.

    This, again, is part of a more general phenomenon where major change, and even a real revolution, can become possible (or more possible) not simply when there is a deep crisis in society, and not just when the ruling forces are seriously divided, but when they actually split apart, and the old way of ruling can no longer hold. Another example of this kind of thing is the creation of the Soviet Union itself, resulting from the Russian Revolution. This occurred during World War 1, in which millions of Russian people died and the masses of people overall suffered tremendous hardship. In this critical situation, the ruling forces of that country split, resulting first in the overthrow of the long-entrenched rule of absolute monarchs (the Tsars), but with an opening created for a revolution that overthrew the exploiting classes as a whole, including the bourgeois forces that were attempting to consolidate capitalist rule without the Tsars.

    Or, to take another important example, this time from the history of this country: Why did so many Black people (nearly two hundred thousand) join the Union Army fighting against the southern Confederacy during the Civil War in the 1860s? Because the country, and those who ruled it, had split apart, and masses of Black people could sense that, in this situation, there was a real possibility of putting an end to their enslaved condition, which did happen as a result of that Civil War.

    How does this kind of thing apply to this country now? As is becoming more clear every day, there are deep, and continually deepening, divisions not only in this country overall but among the ruling powers of this system. And, as I will get into more fully in a little while, one part of those ruling powers, represented by the Republican Party, no longer believes in or feels bound by what have been the “cohering norms” of “democratic” capitalist rule in this country. This is leading, and will increasingly lead, to further, deepening divisions and bitter clashes throughout society, as well as “at the top.” All the ruling institutions of this system will be increasingly affected by this. The polarization will continue to sharpen, with forces grouped around and led by the Republican Party becoming even more aggressive in insisting on imposing, including by violent means, their vision of what “makes America great,” with all the very real horrors, on top of horrors, that this involves.

    All this in itself will have contradictory effects—some definitely negative, but some positive, or with positive potential. And, as this unfolds, this profound truth will be more and more forcefully demonstrated: The crisis and deep divisions in society can only be resolved through radical means, of one kind or another—either radically reactionary, murderously oppressive and destructive means or radically emancipating revolutionary means.

    With all this, what is urgently needed, what is possible—and what must be actively, tirelessly worked for, in order for there to truly be a positive outcome to all this—is a fundamentally different alignment in the country as a whole: a Repolarization that is favorable for, and brings forward the necessary forces for, Revolution—a real revolution to overthrow this system, and bring into being a radically different and much better system.

    But why, and how, could it be possible to bring about such a repolarization for a real revolution?

    This is because of something that is very different, in a very profound way, from what has been, for generations, the “normal situation” in this country. I spoke to how this has come about, in the following from “Rare Time”:

    Even though “democracy, with liberty and justice for all” is a cruel lie, this lie has been crucial for the rulers of this country to keep things together under this system—and especially to keep people who are oppressed under this system believing in the possibility of making this system more just. This is why both ruling class parties generally agreed, for a long time, to work within the same framework for ruling this country—they agreed to accept the results of elections and bring about “the peaceful transfer of power” between the different representatives of this same system, whether Democrat or Republican.

    With changing conditions in this country, and in the world as a whole, over the time since the end of World War 2 (75 years ago), it has been necessary for the ruling class, in order to maintain “order and stability” in this country, to make certain concessions to the struggle against white supremacy, male supremacy, and some other oppressive relations, while at the same time insisting that this is all part of “creating a more perfect union” and “further perfecting the great democracy that has always existed in this country.” This has also been necessary in order for the rulers of this country to continue promoting it as “the leader of the free world,” which they say must remain the dominant power in the world—but which, in reality, is the most oppressive and destructive power, plundering masses of people as well as the earth.

    But a section of the ruling capitalist class, represented by the Republican Party, has all along resisted even these partial concessions to the fight against oppression, and has become convinced that these changes have now gone too far, that they threaten to destroy what has held this country together and enabled it to dominate the world.

    The Republicans have become a fascist party—a party based on open and aggressive white supremacy, male supremacy and other oppressive relations—a party convinced that only it deserves to rule, moving to manipulate elections and suppress votes in order to gain and hold onto power, refusing to accept the outcome of elections it does not win, determined to gut and pervert “the rule of law,” trample on people’s rights, and adopt what amounts to an undisguised capitalist dictatorship, ready to use violence not only against masses of people but also against its rivals in the ruling class.

    These Republicans have mobilized a significant section of people who believe, with an intense, irrational passion, that white supremacy, male supremacy, and other oppressive relations (as well as unrestrained plunder of the environment) must be firmly upheld and enforced. They have been driven to a state of vicious insanity, embracing all kinds of lunatic conspiracy theories, along with a crazed Christian fundamentalism, as a response to the threat they see to their entitled (or “god-ordained”) position and their insistence that further concessions to the struggle against oppression will destroy what has “made America great.”

    Every day, and in a thousand ways, the reality screams out that there is no living together with this fascist lunacy—and no one should want to! There is no way that any decent person should want to live in the society, and world, that these fascists are determined, that they are willing to kill, to bring into being.

    As I wrote in my New Year’s Statement, this January (2021):

    Biden and the Democrats cannot “bring the country together,” as they falsely claim, because there can be no “reconciliation” with these fascists—whose “grievances” are based on fanatical resentment against any limitation on white supremacy, male supremacy, xenophobia (hatred of foreigners), rabid American chauvinism, and the unrestrained plundering of the environment, and are increasingly expressed in literally lunatic terms. There can be no “reconciliation” with this, other than on the terms of these fascists, with all the terrible implications and consequences of that!

    Early in his campaign for president, Biden bragged about how, as a senator, he was able to work with white supremacist, southern segregationists! Now, he is still trying to work with the blatant white supremacists and outright fascists of the Republican Party. But, try as he might, they are not willing to work with him—except on their terms.

    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 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.

    This is a crucial part of how a revolutionary situation could be brought into being—a situation where it becomes possible to actually bring down this system.

    On the other hand, “left to itself”—that is, if the current character and dynamics of all this remain on the same course they are now on—this situation, the divisions characterizing it, and the outcome resulting from it are almost certainly going to become even more terribly negative. So, all this must be radically changed, in what is a relatively brief, “compressed” period of time—not just weeks or months, but also not decades. If things have not already fully erupted before then, the scheduled presidential election of 2024 is very likely to be a critical focal point and turning point, through which the fascist Republicans will attempt to gain and lock down power over society, and put an end to any possibility of a future “transfer of power” away from them.

    With the Republicans’ continuation of the Big Lie that the last (2020) presidential election was stolen from Trump, their moves to suppress votes, and their whole orientation that, in any case, with regard to the 2024 presidential election (assuming there is one), the only acceptable outcome is that they are declared and confirmed as the winner—all this has made clear that they will allow no “peaceful transfer of power” in government, unless it results in their coming to power. Growing numbers of fascist-oriented people in this country are prepared to use violence in pursuit of their perverse notion of “making America great again”—and the Republican leadership is ready to resort to this, if they cannot come to power otherwise. Already Republican elected officials, including members of Congress, are whipping up sentiments in favor of such violence and supporting fascist mobs who have engaged in this violence.

    In the situation of the 2020 presidential election, defeating and ousting Trump through that election was possible, and was important to do, as a tactical move to prevent the further consolidation of fascist rule right then. Even with that electoral defeat, however, Trump and his supporters nearly succeeded in pulling off a coup that would have resulted in his remaining in power, in defiance of the outcome of the election and the “peaceful transfer of power” from one section of the ruling class to another. And things have moved, and are continuing to rapidly move, beyond the situation that existed with that 2020 election and in its immediate aftermath.

    Further, this system’s electoral process itself works against the kind of fundamental change that is now urgently needed. Among other things, it lowers people’s horizons, restricting “realistic choices” to what is possible within the confines of this system and conditioning people to view and approach things on the terms of this system. Continuing to vote for Democrats, and attempting, through the electoral process, to prevent a successful Republican-fascist seizure and consolidation of power, will very likely fail, and more fundamentally will contribute to the continuation of things on the disastrous course they are now on, with terrible consequences for the billions of people on this planet—for humanity as a whole.

    As I emphasized in my New Year’s Statement:

    The electoral defeat of the Trump/Pence regime only “buys some time”—both in relation to the imminent danger posed by the fascism this regime represents, and more fundamentally in terms of the potentially existential crisis humanity is increasingly facing as a consequence of being bound to the dynamics of this system of capitalism-imperialism. But, in essential terms, time is not on the side of the struggle for a better future for humanity.

    Time, and with it the current momentum of things toward a disastrous outcome, is moving on. The time that still does exist must not be squandered in what would, especially now, be meaningless maneuvering within the framework of this system and its elections. This time must be seized, with the necessary urgency, to build toward the only resolution that can avoid that disaster, and wrench something truly positive out of all this: an actual revolution.

    Through the rest of this talk, I am going to speak more fully to what needs to be done in order for there to be the basis to actually make this revolution; and toward the end of this talk, I will turn directly to the basic approach to waging the all-out fight for revolution, with a real chance to win. But here a crucial truth needs to be emphasized: Everything depends on bringing forward a revolutionary people, from among the most bitterly oppressed, and all parts of society, first in the thousands and then in the millions, as a powerful revolutionary force, organized from the start and consistently with a country-wide perspective, impacting all of society and changing the terms of how masses of people see things and how every institution has to respond. Everything must be focused now on actually bringing forward and organizing this revolutionary force.

    The basic way to do this is laid out in the “Declaration and Call.” First of all:

    We need to urgently change the situation where not nearly enough people know about this revolution and are with it. We need to get this revolution, and its leadership, known everywhere. We need to challenge and seriously struggle with people right around us, and all over the country, to do something that, yes, requires real heart and will make a positive difference for real—become part of this revolution, and follow this revolutionary leadership. We need to organize more and more people into the ranks of the revolution.

    So what does it mean to go to work now to organize people into this revolution? As the “Declaration and Call” explains:

    Organizing people into this revolution means reaching out to all sorts of people—not just where there are protests and rebellions against oppression and injustice, but everywhere throughout society—spreading the word about revolution and getting people together (in real life and online) to grapple with why an actual revolution is necessary, what such a revolution involves, and what kind of society this is aiming for. This will enable people who are new to the revolution to themselves become organizers for this revolution and to recruit more and more people to do the same. On this basis, and through the growing ranks of the revolution acting together as an increasingly powerful force, it will be possible to attract and organize the necessary numbers, and build up the necessary strength, to be in the position to do what needs to be done.

    We need to struggle hard with people to take up the orientation and strategy, the values and goals, for this revolution, and dedicate themselves to working for this revolution, while we unite growing numbers to fight the abuse, brutality and destruction perpetrated by this system, and through all this get thousands and then millions of people prepared and steeled to do away with this system that brings so much hell to people. We need to wield this growing revolutionary force to stand up to this system and its murderous enforcers and to change the whole “terrain” (the political, social and cultural situation and “atmosphere”) throughout society, in order to weaken the hold of this system over people, win people away from acting to strengthen and enforce this system, and create the best possible conditions for this revolution to succeed.

    Along with that, this basic understanding and approach needs to be consistently applied:

    An important principle and method in organizing people into the revolution is the understanding that, while revolution requires serious commitment, people’s level of commitment will, at any given time, “essentially correspond to and [be] grounded in what aspirations have been awakened, or brought forward [in them], and what they are coming to understand is required in relation to that,” and this commitment “should proceed from what they themselves have been won (yes, won through struggle, even at times sharp struggle) to see as a necessary and essential contribution to the revolution.” People can start with basic tasks that they can readily carry out and feel confident doing which make a real contribution to building the revolution, and can learn to take on more responsibility as they gain more experience and a deeper understanding. The important thing is that they are part of the process of building the revolution, together with others. These principles and methods should be kept clearly in mind and applied at all stages of people’s involvement with the revolution, to enable them to continue advancing in understanding and commitment.

    (That is from Part II of my speech Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution.)

    As the “Declaration and Call” makes clear, in order to win masses of people to revolution, there is a tremendous amount of struggle that needs to go on, not just against the system that is the source of the horrors that people are continually subjected to, but also against ways of thinking and acting among the people that actually “internalize,” and serve to perpetuate, this system and the ways of thinking it promotes, with its monstrously oppressive relations and putrid values—ways of thinking and acting that work against the repolarization that is urgently needed to have a real chance at seizing on this rare opportunity to make revolution.

    In Hope For Humanity On A Scientific Basis, I pointed to the characterization of the current polarization by the fascist former Republican congressman Steve King—that there is a lot of talk about another civil war, and one side (the fascist side) is heavily armed (with 8 trillion bullets) while the other (“woke”) side can’t decide which bathroom to use. Even as this involves some real distortion, and definite slander against trans people, there is a demented insight, and too much of the truth, in this observation by that fascist King. And, if this polarization remains essentially unchanged, it will have even worse implications, as things develop and further intensify.

    Very much related to and an expression of this, is the reality that today, particularly among the middle classes, things are still way too much in line with the words of the poet Yeats: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” It is fascists who have declared “this is war!”—who viscerally feel that the way things are going is completely intolerable to them, is an existential threat to a way of life and a country that they believe is worth being part of. And, in their demented minds, the government (or government that is in the hands of, or strongly influenced by, the Democrats) is working to continue things on this course, and is therefore completely illegitimate. At the same time, among what can rightly be called “decent people,” who are opposed to these fascists, there is way too much obliviousness, ignorance and ignore-ance—or even continuing denial—of what is going on, way too much being lulled by a sleepy sense that the way things are going is favorable to how they want things to go, or at least that “things will work out” in a way that is in accord with their inclinations. Or, to the degree that there is a recognition that this is not the case (for example, with the accelerating environmental crisis), this has led far too much to defeatism, cynicism, and passivity.

    But that is not all there is to the problem. As I also noted in Hope For Humanity:

    [A]nother element of this that we can’t overlook is that, while a lot of what [Steve] King describes applies in a certain demented way, particularly to progressive or so-called “woke” middle class people, there is another kind of problem with regard to more basic oppressed people, and in particular the youth—a big problem that their guns are now aimed at each other ... this is something that needs to be radically transformed in building a movement for an actual revolution.

    I will have more to say that relates to this, later. But here it is important to call attention to what has been, so far at least, the “soft” treatment of those who took part in the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol and Trump’s attempted coup—the low level charges and lenient sentences being handed down in the court cases around this, as well as the fact that there has been no move to indict Trump and other top fascist political figures. This calls to mind the way things were handled in Germany, with the rise of the NAZI fascist movement there, headed by Hitler. In the 1920s, Hitler led what came to be called the “Beer Hall Putsch”—a clumsy attempt to come to power through a poorly organized coup that lacked the necessary planning and support. But Hitler in particular was treated very leniently, and this “Beer Hall Putsch” became in effect a dress rehearsal for the later seizure and consolidation of power by the NAZIs, the crushing of any effective opposition, and all the horrific NAZI atrocities that followed. (The parallel is captured in what some people today have put forward regarding the coup attempt by Trump and his supporters in the aftermath of the 2020 election, and in particular the storming of the Capitol on January 6: “What do you call a failed coup? A dress rehearsal!”)

    Meanwhile, what is the situation “on the other side of the divide,” and particularly among people who claim to be “woke”? It must be bluntly said that “woke” is becoming a joke—a bad joke. The slogan we revcoms have raised, “You Think You’re Woke But You’re Sleepwalking Through A Nightmare,” captures something very important. But it needs to be added that this “wokeness,” with its evading of and diversion from the real struggle that needs to be waged, and its substituting of “word changing” and “cancel culture” in place of this struggle, is actually contributing to and furthering this nightmare.

    A ridiculous, and outrageous, example of this is the ACLU’s butchering of a statement by former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg about a woman’s right to abortion: The ACLU actually replaced “woman” with “person” (and “she/her” with “they/their”)! This is part of a larger phenomenon which, in the name of trans rights, actually pushes in the direction of erasing women, conceptually. But rhetorically erasing the concept of women does not, and cannot, erase the reality of the existence, and the horrific oppression, of billions of women in this real world. What it actually does is undermine the massive, militant struggle that is urgently needed against the mounting attacks on, and the further fastening of the chains of oppression on, the half of humanity that is female.

    If the ACLU, and others, who have done good things in the past, continue on this course, they will undermine much of the good they have done, and much they could still do, and need to do.

    Do these “woke” and “progressive” people really believe that a focus on changing terms (nouns, pronouns, etc.) will actually lead to changing the world, in a positive way?

    Do they really believe that calling oppression “agency” makes it less oppressive (for example, when women are caught up in prostitution and pornography, does calling this “agency” on their part make this something other than horrific oppression to which those women are subjected, and which does great harm to all women)?

    Do they really think that having more “inclusion” of oppressed people in the dominant institutions and the structures of power of this system of capitalism-imperialism will actually change the fundamentally, and horrifically, oppressive nature of this system? (The First Black President... First female Vice-President... First Asian... First Latinx... First Gay... First Trans... First... SAME SYSTEM!)

    Or is the deeper problem that these “progressive” and “woke” people have just given up on, or never really thought about, working for change that would actually lead to ending oppression?

    With regard to “woke folk”—and in particular the whole “cancel culture” thing—it needs be said: Masses of people are being brutalized and savaged, the world is burning (literally as well as figuratively) and you are preoccupied with changing the faces of those who preside over these horrors, and spitting on people if they don’t use nouns and pronouns that you approve of, or in some other way violate the constantly mutating standards of “wokeness.”

    This ties in with the discussion in Breakthroughs of a certain attitude and approach—“striking a pose to intimidate”—that was sharply criticized by Mao Zedong (the leader of the Chinese revolution, and what was a revolutionary socialist state in China until his death in 1976, whose “little red book” of quotations was widely read by people all over the world, including Black people, youth of all nationalities, and others in the U.S.). “Striking a pose to intimidate,” Mao made clear, is useless against the enemy, and does real harm among the people. As I pointed out in Breakthroughs:

    [I]dentity politics, and in particular the posturing that all too often accompanies it, is only “useful” among people who will be intimidated by this, and in fact such intimidation does a great deal of harm. That’s what Mao meant when he said this kind of thing does great harm among the people. Intimidating people rather than winning them to a scientific understanding of reality, and what needs to be done about it, can only do harm among the people, and it’s absolutely useless against those who have real power.

    Along with this, it has to be said that there is too much of people being absorbed in “trauma culture”—where any insult or affront, or challenge to one’s cherished beliefs, is treated as actual trauma, and any real trauma that is suffered becomes a motivation to turn inward to focus on individual “self-care.”

    In Hope For Humanity, I emphasized this:

    The trauma that results from directly suffering horrific forms of oppression and degradation is very real, and no one should deny or underestimate that—but, instead of an individual “turning inwards,” this needs to be transformed into anger and determination to be part of a collective struggle to put an end to all the atrocities, everywhere, whose fundamental source and cause is this system of capitalism-imperialism.

    But, along with “trauma culture”—and I am going to call this out, even though it may “overlap” with some of what is asserted by fascists, coming from a completely opposite place and with completely opposite objectives—it is too much the case that, despite often ill-founded, ridiculous and even cartoonish references to “badass” this and that, too many people are being encouraged and conditioned to be “soft crybabies”!

    Here I have to say: Enough of “woke folk” who act as if it is actually oppressed people (or, as they like to say, the “marginalized”) who are fragile beings constantly in need of the protection of “safe spaces,” lest they fall apart at the mere appearance of a “triggering” phenomenon. And since when are universities and other institutions supposed to be places where you are “safe”—not just from physical violence of one kind or another, and from overtly threatening or clearly degrading verbal assaults, but from ideas, statements, etc., that simply make you uncomfortable?! How are you going to “change the world” if you are in danger of falling apart at things like that? Again, from Hope For Humanity:

    [I]n any real struggle to deal with any real oppression, up against powerful enforcers of that oppression, you are going to have to face the prospect of real sacrifice, including the prospect of being physically attacked. And if you think that you can carve out little safe enclaves, and that this is somehow going to lead to any kind of significant change in society, you are full of illusions and delusions.

    To add to the problem, this is often accompanied by attempts to sideline and silence others who, according to this scheme of things, occupy a “privileged” and not a “marginalized,” status.

    This is all an expression of extremely lowered sights—with a marked tendency to identify the “enemy” as people who may have more “privilege,” rather than the system of capitalism-imperialism, its fundamental relations, and its institutions of authority and power, which embody and enforce the terrible exploitation and oppression that masses of people here, and literally billions of people around the world, are subjected to.

    Here again we are back to Mao’s point about striking a pose to intimidate—that it is useless against the actual enemy and does real harm among the people.

    All this represents the influence of forces proceeding from a bourgeois (or petty bourgeois) outlook and aspirations—seeking a re-arrangement which will provide them (and perhaps some others like them) with a better position within this horrific system of oppression, and trying to force opposition to injustice into the framework and in the service of this objective.

    So, once again, with all this in mind, and with regard to the society overall, what is profoundly and urgently needed is repolarization—for revolution: winning growing numbers of people away from support for either side in the division among the ruling powers that are seeking to maintain and enforce this system, in one form or another, away from those promoting deadly illusions and self-serving goals which are dead-end, non-solutions for the masses of people.

    This goes back to the first of the three conditions for revolution—the deep divisions among the ruling powers—and more particularly that, with the conflicts among the ruling forces increasingly becoming really deep and sharp, masses of people respond to this not by falling in behind one side or the other of the oppressive rulers—not by acting in ways that serve to perpetuate and reinforce the oppressive rule of this system—but by taking advantage of this situation to build up the forces for revolution.

    It is true that there are a lot of very bad things connected with the present polarization and the whole trajectory things are on, and this could lead to something really terrible; but it is also true, and of profound importance, that it is possible that we could wrench something really positive out of it—revolution, to put an end to this system and bring something much better into being. But, once more, this requires recognizing the situation, and the current trajectory of things, for what they are—and responding in a way and on a level that is commensurate with this, is in accordance with the profound stakes involved—acting to change things, urgently, toward the goal of getting rid of this whole system, and replacing it with something radically different and much better.

    The reality now is that the fascist section of the ruling class, represented by and concentrated in the Republican Party, is actively and aggressively engaged in a “two-pronged” move to achieve and consolidate fascist rule. These “two prongs” are: corrupting and controlling the electoral process and key government institutions; and the threat and use of violence, including through the mobilization of violent mobs. These fascists are, for now, relying mainly on the first, but with the second (violence) as an “accompaniment” to this—which could become their main means, if that proves necessary for them. In any case, if they succeed, the full power of the government—including the executive power of the presidency, the courts and legal apparatus, the prisons, as well as the police and the military—will be wielded to crush any effective opposition to fascist rule and to forcefully impose its program of “restoring” America to its mythological “greatness” on the basis of aggressive white supremacy, crude and brutal male supremacy and suppression of LGBT people, xenophobia (hatred and persecution of foreigners and immigrants, particularly from what Trump infamously referred to as “shithole countries”), forceful assertion and chauvinistic trumpeting of American dominance and “the superiority of western civilization,” along with willful rejection of science and the scientific method, especially where it would interfere with unrestrained plunder of the environment, as well as people.

    Given the nature, objectives and actions of the fascists, there is the real possibility of actual civil war. But given the nature, objectives and actions of the “mainstream” section of the ruling class (as represented by the Democratic Party and media such as MSNBC, the New York Times and CNN), and given the current situation with those, from different parts of society, who tend to support, and politically tail behind, this “mainstream” section of the ruling class, it is possible that the fascists could achieve and consolidate power without a civil war, but with all the terrible consequences that would follow this fascist consolidation of power. Or, as emphasized in the “Declaration and Call,” in what would amount to a one-sided civil war, these fascists could carry out a slaughter of those they hate, including Black people and other people of color, “illegal immigrants,” “uppity women” and those who don’t conform to “traditional” sexual and gender relations and “norms.”

    In any case, it is a deadly serious reality that these fascists are determined to crush—as violently as necessary—anyone and anything, anywhere in society, that stands in the way of implementing their horrific objectives.

    This puts an exclamation point on what the “Declaration and Call” says immediately after this:

    This situation needs to be radically changed, to where there are masses of people prepared to defeat these fascists and to do so as part of getting rid of this whole system, which has bred these fascists, along with all the other horrors it continually perpetrates.

    The Democrats will never, and can never, fight these fascists in the way they need to be fought, because that requires getting into the real nature of this system, and bringing out the fact that these fascists, as grotesque as they are, are in fact a grotesque expression of the very system that the Democrats themselves are an expression of, and are working to perpetuate. Most fundamentally: The purpose and aim cannot be simply to defeat these fascists, as an end in itself, with the orientation of somehow returning things to the “normal” way this horrific system of capitalism-imperialism has operated for more than a century.

    This is not the time of the Civil War in the 1860s, when the goal of those fighting against injustice was to abolish slavery, and—in terms of who ruled society—the only possible positive outcome was the consolidation and strengthening of the rule of the rising capitalist class centered in the North. That time is now long gone. And this system of capitalism, which has developed into a system of worldwide exploitation and oppression, capitalism-imperialism, is long outmoded—long past its expiration date, long past any circumstances where it could play any positive role. The goal now must precisely be getting rid of this whole system of capitalism-imperialism.

    The character of a new civil war would have significantly different features from that previous civil war of 1861-65, where one geographic part of the country, the southern Confederacy, attempted to secede and form a separate country in that territory. Today, the forces of fascism among the population are again concentrated in the South, as well as in rural areas throughout the country; but, in the South and throughout the country, they are closely connected, geographically, with sections of the population that are opposed to this fascism. Any new civil war would be fought between opposing forces that would be in close proximity to each other—in a real sense intertwined geographically—around the country. This would have both advantages and disadvantages for the people on the positive side of such a civil war, and this would need to be taken into account in their approach to fighting that civil war.

    (The “Red States/Blue States” picture, which is constantly presented in the mainstream media, is very misleading in terms of the geographic and political divisions in the country. It does not present an accurate picture of population concentration—of which sections of the people are actually concentrated where, and in what numbers, within the existing states. Of particular importance, it downplays the concentration of people in this country as a whole in urban areas, including the suburbs around the inner city cores, and the concentration of masses of oppressed people especially in those inner city cores. It downplays the strong opposition to the fascists that exists among large numbers of people in the urban areas. This mainstream presentation of things is meant to reinforce the sense that the only possibility is the continuation of this system of capitalism-imperialism, and the only choice is between the two parties representing the ruling class of this system: the “red” Republican Party or the “blue” Democratic Party. And, by the way, with the color red historically associated with communism, the “appropriation” of this color in association with the fascist Republican Party is an abomination!)

    The current polarization, even on the positive side, among those opposed to the fascists, is not what is needed, and will not meet the profound and urgent challenge of these times. For the reasons discussed in this talk, there can be no real and lasting defeat of these fascists on the terms of the Democrats, on the terms of what have been, for generations, the “norms” of “democratic” capitalist rule in this country. Fundamentally, there can be no resolution to this, under this system, which will be in the interests of the masses of people, not just in this country but in the world as a whole. Once more, what is urgently needed is a very different polarization than what exists today—a repolarization—for revolution.

    And, once again as well—without being absolute about this—there is a limited time frame within which this repolarization must be achieved. If things continue as they are, with the fascist offensive by the Republican Party and its base becoming even more aggressive and powerful, then it is very likely that their “two-pronged offensive” will succeed, that they will utilize the changes they are forcing through state governments and key parts of the federal government, in particular the courts, to regain and consolidate control of the country as a whole, move forward with a vengeance to implement their fascist program, and forcefully suppress, as violently as necessary, any effective opposition.

    The urgency of this situation—and the urgent need for repolarization, for revolution—must be clearly understood, and forcefully conveyed to masses of people. This must be done in a compelling way, without hype (and there is no need for hype to describe the critical situation and urgent stakes). While it is crucially important to unite with people in rising up against the terrible injustices and outrages constantly perpetrated by this system, and to continually bring alive the possibility of a radically different and emancipating alternative, once again it needs to be stressed: It is necessary to wage a tireless struggle to break people out of the ways of thinking, and acting, that in fact keep them chained to this system and contribute to perpetuating this system, in one form or another.

    Fatalism, and defeatism—the belief that nothing can be done to change the terrible situation and bleak future humanity is now facing, that no positive radical change is possible—this way of thinking itself must be defeated, overcome both through sharp struggle and by bringing alive and popularizing the possibility for a radically different and better world, through revolution, which is grounded in a scientific, materialist approach to and understanding of the real world and the actual possibility for its positive radical transformation. Overall—and above all in terms of the basic masses, the bitterly oppressed people who must become the backbone of this revolution—overcoming this defeatism, and bringing about the necessary repolarization, must be carried out, and can only be achieved, through a powerful combination of fierce ideological struggle among the people, to win growing numbers to a scientific understanding of the situation we face and the actual solution to this, together with determined resistance against this oppressive system—all of which must be led to contribute to building up the forces and creating the political alignment necessary for revolution.

    While masses of people urgently need this revolution, it is all too true that, right now, the great majority of them are thinking in a lot of wrong ways. To put things straight-up, they don’t know shit and have their heads up their asses! This needs to be radically changed—and can be, but only through a tremendous amount of sharp struggle. As I have said before (in “Rare Time”):

    It is the responsibility of everyone who recognizes the profound need for revolution—and the rare possibility in a time like this to actually make revolution—to wage a tireless, and at times fierce, struggle to win more and more people to make a radical rupture with the confining and degrading terms of this system, and to take up, and act on, the revolutionary orientation and motivation that is put forward in the “Declaration and Call.”

    Instead of “staying in your lane,” and “going for self,” while this system is moving to even more decisively crush any hope for a world worth living in, people need to be looking at the bigger picture, focusing on the greater interests of humanity and the possibility for a far better world—and acting to make this a reality.

    Instead of finding excuses to go along with the way things have been, standing apart from (or even bad-mouthing) the revolution, people need to get with this revolution, and not throw away the rare opportunity to be part of bringing something much better into being.

    Instead of lashing out with individual acts of frustration, or attempts to take on this system with small, isolated forces that have no chance of succeeding, people need to pour their anger, and their hatred for injustice, into building a movement of millions that could have a real chance to defeat this system and make a real revolution.

    Instead of fighting and killing each other, what people need to be doing now is uniting to defend each other—opposing all unjust violence, not launching attacks on anyone but at the same time not allowing the police or “civilian” fascist thugs to wantonly brutalize and murder people. And people need to do this as part of building up the forces for revolution.

    Instead of snarking and sniping at each other, and being divided by “identities,” people should be working to unite everyone, from every part of society, who can be united in the fight against oppression and injustice, with the goal of putting an end to this system that is the source of this oppression and injustice.

    Instead of being a tail on the Democratic donkey—with its attempt to keep this monstrous system going, and to deal with the growing fascist danger, by relying on the “normal procedures” of this system and doomed efforts to “heal the divisions” that are deepening every day—people need to work for the revolution that is urgently needed, and deal with the fascist danger as part of doing that.

    Running through much of the situation today is the problem of individualism—“going for self” regardless of the effect on other people, and on humanity as a whole—which is encouraged and expressed in extreme forms in this particular society at this time, and is often combined and intertwined with a lack of hope for anything better in this world. Again, from Hope For Humanity On A Scientific Basis:

    Lack of real hope for a better life in this world is a heavy chain weighing down, suffocating and deeply scarring the masses of humanity, including the youth who are concentrated in the ghettos and barrios of this country as well as its overflowing torture chamber prisons. And the extreme individualism promoted throughout this society, the obsessive focus on “the self,” has reinforced the heavy lid on the sights of people, obscuring their ability to recognize the possibility of a radically different and better world, beyond the narrow and confining limits of this system, with all its very real horrors.

    Along with other negative trends, there is the way that people’s sense that the world is fucked up beyond repair, and things are just going to keep going to hell, leads them to just try to get what they can for themselves now, before it’s too late. So people need hope—not hype but real hope that is based on a scientific method and approach to understanding the world as it actually is and the possibility of changing it, in the way it can be changed, to bring a radically different and much better world into being, through a real revolution. They need the scientifically based sweeping vision, and concrete blueprint, for a radically different and emancipating society that is set forth in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, which I have authored.

    They need the fundamental approach to understanding reality, and the basis and possibility for radically changing it, that is concentrated in the following:

    [T]he systems that characterize the societies that people live in ... are historically evolved. This means that changes in human society are based, and can only be based, on transforming what already exists in that society, on the foundation of the forces of production that have been developed at any given time [the land and raw materials, factories and other production facilities, machinery and other technology, and the people, with their knowledge and abilities].

    And even revolutionary changes—a radical leap from one system to another—can only proceed on the basis of transforming what exists. This cannot be done by coming up with ideas or notions about how society “ought” to be, if those ideas or notions have no basis in the existing reality.

    What is crucially important to understand is that the basis now exists to enable the billions of people on this planet to have the means for a decent life, worthy of human beings—a life that is continually being enriched, not just materially but socially, intellectually and culturally. But, at the same time, the way human society has developed under the domination of this system of capitalism-imperialism has led to a highly “lopsided” world, where billions of people in the world live in horrific conditions of oppression and misery, with millions of children in the Third World dying each year from starvation and preventable diseases....

    It is the productive forces that have been developed under the capitalist-imperialist system that actually provide the material basis to move beyond all this. But, at the same time, it is this system, with its mode of production based on exploitative relations of production, that is the direct barrier to making this a reality—is a chain on the masses of people throughout the world, and on humanity overall.

    That is from the article Why The World Is So Messed Up, And What Can Be Done to Radically Change This—A Basic Scientific Understanding. As I pointed out in that article: The resolution to this howling contradiction between what are now the conditions of the masses of humanity, and what is actually possible—the only resolution that is in the interests of those masses, and ultimately all of humanity—is through the revolution to overthrow this system and replace it with a socialist system on the road to a communist world. Bringing this fundamental understanding to people is crucial, in order for them to really have hope, on a scientific foundation.

    But the fact is that there is not only a lack of hope among many, but also a lack of searching—for an understanding of why the world is so messed up, and can anything be done to really change this. This needs to be strongly and deeply challenged, through the promotion of broad debate about these literally life and death matters, and a tremendous amount of struggle over the big question: what is the fundamental problem humanity is facing, and what is the solution?—or, put in basic terms, reform vs. revolution, working within this system, or overthrowing it and replacing it with a radically different system. This needs to be vigorously taken up and fiercely debated and struggled out among people in all parts of society—including students, academics and other intellectuals, people in the arts and the professions, as well as people with only a limited formal education—all of whom can be, and need to be, seriously engaged with these vital and urgent questions.

    To return to the current lack of searching: this is linked in many cases with self-absorbed individualism, either blindly and blithely oblivious or virulently poisonous. Once more from Hope For Humanity:

    Individualism is a significant factor and “unifying element” in much of the negative trends that play a major role in keeping people from recognizing the reality and depth of the horrors continually brought about by this system—and recognizing the urgent need to act, together with others, to abolish and uproot all this, at its very source.

    And:

    [T]he terrible suffering of the masses of humanity and the urgent challenges facing humanity as a whole as a result of the escalating destruction of the environment by this system of capitalism-imperialism as well as the possibility of nuclear conflagration that continues to loom as an existential threat over humanity—all this cannot be seriously addressed, let alone actually solved, by each person pursuing their particular individual interests, and in fact people acting in this way constitutes a major obstacle to bringing about the necessary solution.

    This individualism, in turn, is based, to a very significant extent, in parasitism—living in this country that is sitting atop the imperialist food chain, deriving benefits from the exploitation and misery of millions and billions of people worldwide. This applies not just to the section of people in this country that is really well off, but also to the large number who are scrambling to make it through the day, the week, or the month: for them in particular there is a kind of toxic combination of having to struggle and scrounge to get through, and at the same time benefitting to some degree from imperialist parasitism. The effect of all this is to make it seem possible, and/or to seem necessary, to ignore what is going on in the larger world. But, in reality, there is, and increasingly there will be, no ignoring what is happening in that larger world, and no avoiding the consequences of failing to confront and radically transform this.

    Yes, it is true: YOLO. But, since you only live once, you should make it count for something—something much bigger than yourself—being part of an historic revolution to free all oppressed people, and bring in a new day for all humanity, with whole new horizons of freedom and life with meaning for human beings, way beyond what is possible now, when we are still forced to live under this monstrosity of a system which denies a decent life to billions of people on this planet and has no decent future, or no future at all, for those of the younger generations.

    Parasitic individualism needs to be directly, sharply, and deeply challenged, as it is a major obstacle in the way of people seeking out the answers to the profound and accelerating crisis and potential catastrophe that people, not just in this country but in the world as a whole, are facing (whether or not they recognize, or acknowledge, it). And this individualism prevents people from acting together, as a revolutionary force, to wrench something positive out of all this ongoing madness.

    In both immediate and overall strategic terms, very much bound up with challenging this parasitic individualism is waging substantial, determined, relentless struggle against American chauvinism—the disgusting notion that America and Americans are better and more important than everybody else. As I have pointed out before, this is a poison infecting people broadly in this country, even among the bitterly oppressed; and a positive, revolutionary resolution to the current course of things cannot be brought about unless masses of people break with this American chauvinism. One of the main, and most ugly, manifestations of this American chauvinism is the sickening support, even among large numbers of “progressive” and “woke” people, for the U.S. military—with all this nauseating “thank you for your service”—a “service” which consists of horrific war crimes and crimes against humanity in enforcing the interests and objectives of the most exploitative, oppressive, and destructive social force in the world: U.S. capitalist imperialism. Combating this, and winning people to reject and repudiate this—among all sectors of society—is crucial now, and has definite strategic implications, in building for and then carrying out the revolution that is urgently needed.

    So people need to be jolted awake, to reality—to the reality of this system of capitalism-imperialism, the reality of where things are heading right now, with terrible consequences if things continue on this course—and the reality of the possibility, and the urgent need, to wrench something positive out of this, through a real revolution.

    Another important dimension of the straight-up, hardcore struggle that needs to be waged with people, including bitterly oppressed people, is spoken to in the following in Part 3 of my New Year’s Statement:

    Given the tight connection between militant patriarchy and fascism, it is not surprising that some (though clearly a minority of) Black and Latino men have been drawn to support for Trump, despite his overt white supremacy. (This includes some who are or have been prominent in rap music. While there have been positive forces and elements in rap and Hip Hop overall, what has been increasingly promoted is a culture that is full of, not to say dominated by, misogynistic degradation of women, as well as admiration for the kind of hustler gangsterism that is one of Trump’s defining “qualities.”) It is also not surprising that even significant numbers of women (mainly white women but also some Latina and other women of color) have been drawn to this fascism, as the phenomenon of the oppressed clinging to “tradition’s chains” that oppress them is unfortunately all too common.

    There must be determined struggle against the “macho” bullshit of all too many Black and Latino men—a “warrior mentality” of the wrong kind, which also characterizes far too many Native American men, in their own particular way, with their utterly misplaced, and frankly perverse, pride in being part of the same U.S. military that carried out the genocide against these original peoples in America. There must also be sharp struggle against the ways that, among the other half of humanity, which is female, the phenomenon of the oppressed acting in ways that oppress them not only involves clinging to highly oppressive patriarchal religious tradition but also takes the form of aggressively reveling in and flaunting what is objectively highly demeaning “sexualization” and commodification of sex. This is actively promoted among Black and Latina women—and is a definite negative trend in popular culture, including Hip Hop. It is also noteworthy that, as surprising as it might seem when looked at superficially, this self-degrading hyper-sexualization often goes hand-in-hand with its “mirror opposite”: religious obscurantism—a fundamentalist form of religion that blocks, obscures the light of reason. There is also a similar phenomenon among gang members, where gang-banging and other acts of degradation and self-degradation are combined with a heavy religious obscurantism, in one form or another.

    To far too great a degree, the “education” that masses of basic people get—and in particular the “education” that tends to “stick”—comes through religious institutions, and the promotion of obscurantist religion. This is a real problem, a significant part of why far too many basic oppressed people are susceptible to anti-scientific thinking, including crazy conspiracy theories.

    This “religious impulse” continues to exert a significant influence—is a significant phenomenon—among many in the Black middle class as well, including many who acquire a more “cosmopolitan” education, even at the more “elite” universities.

    All this is promoted and reinforced by the continually propagated notion that the very identity of Black people is somehow inextricably bound up with religion and religious institutions, in particular the Christian Black Church (the idea that this religion and Black identity are so tightly and essentially woven together, that they cannot be separated) and that, without religion and the Black Church, Black people could not survive, or thrive, in racist America. But, for the masses of Black people, “thriving” within this monstrous system is impossible—and merely surviving, while still being terribly oppressed, tormented, tortured and repeatedly brutalized and murdered, under this system, cannot be, and is not, the most that can be hoped for, or achieved.

    It is true that, although Christianity in particular was imposed on Black people by the slave system, the Black Church has at times, and to a degree, played a positive role in the struggle of Black people; but it is also true that it has placed very definite constraints on this struggle, channeling and limiting it within the confines of this very system that is the source of the oppression and suffering to which Black people have been subjected throughout the history of this country.

    As another dimension of this problem, especially with the undermining and outright gutting of public schools, particularly in the inner cities, in the realm of athletics—one of the very few arenas in which a few basic Black people can attain wealth and prestige—there is the fact that significant numbers of Black athletes now go through private Christian fundamentalist schools for their basic “education” (in fact, mis-education). And then, even as they take stands in support of struggles against injustice, many of these athletes also utilize their “platform” to promote the religious obscurantism with which they have been indoctrinated—which contributes to the situation where masses of people, who are influenced by these prominent figures, are vulnerable to all kinds of distortions of reality.

    We have witnessed statements and actions by influential Black celebrities, in sports as well as the arts, which reflect and encourage anti-scientific ways of thinking, including disinformation about and discouraging people from getting the vaccines against COVID, when Black people (and other people of color) are dying at higher rates than others from COVID, and the vaccines have been proven safe and very effective against serious illness and death from COVID. This spreading of anti-scientific disinformation is very harmful, both in its immediate effects, and in strategic terms.

    Yes, it is true that, in the history of this country, Black people have been the victims of horrific medical experiments, and still today they are subjected to discrimination, and at times uncaring and even harmful treatment, in the realm of health care. And, yes, it is true that Black people have been, and continue to be, subjected to vicious and often murderous oppression at the hands of government authorities. But all that is certainly true of Native Americans as well. Yet they have a much higher rate of vaccination against COVID. What they do not seem to have among them, at least not as a significant factor, is the phenomenon of prominent and influential people spreading anti-scientific disinformation about the vaccines and active discouragement from getting vaccinated.

    With regard to vaccines, and dealing with COVID generally, as with all social problems and their solutions, what is needed is an evidence-based scientific approach.

    Besides the great harm it does to people who are hit hardest by COVID, and to the overall efforts to “get on top of” this COVID pandemic, another very damaging effect of this anti-scientific, anti-vaccine disinformation is that it plays directly into the hands of the white supremacist fascists, who have been quick to pick up on, praise and promote this. As I have said about this:

    What a terrible situation where some Black people and other oppressed people can actually find themselves in the same place as those fascists who regard them as inferior sub-humans and want to deny them basic rights, lock them up permanently, or outright exterminate them!

    To a great degree, this spreading of harmful, even deadly disinformation is also an expression of rampant individualism—the notion that “it is my right, and an expression of my personal freedom, to do whatever I want, and no authority should be allowed to restrict that.” As I have also pointed out:

    This is nonsense—very harmful nonsense! Individual freedom is not absolute—as almost everyone will agree when this is posed to them in terms that do not run up against their individualism. For example, few will argue that someone should have the freedom to drive 100 miles an hour through a school zone when children are crossing the street. And any reasonable person will agree that it is not okay for white supremacists to lynch Black people—or for the police to wantonly murder Black people—simply because they feel like it—because they see it as an expression of their “individual freedom” (and “personal choice”)....

    It would be impossible to live in any society where “individual freedom” (or “personal choice”) were absolute. The question is: Are expressions of individual freedom, or restrictions on individual freedom, good or bad—do they make for a better, or worse, society?

    On the part of at least some of these Black celebrities, this irresponsible spreading of anti-scientific nonsense is also part of self-promotion—is an expression of the dominant culture overall, where opinions are “re-branded” as “my truth” and are put forward as being the same as (just as good as, or perhaps even better, than) facts, and people seek to build a following by spouting opinions, including many which are wildly in conflict with reality.

    But, again, the influence of religion, and especially crudely anti-scientific obscurantist religion, is also a significant factor in these harmful positions taken by some influential Black celebrities. In the absence of, and especially in opposition to, a scientific approach, people are left groping in the dark, unable to determine what is actually represented by different forces and where different paths will lead. Any rebellion in these circumstances is rebelling blindly, believing that you are striking out against things that oppress you (and others like you), when in fact you are playing into the hands of, and actually strengthening, the most vicious oppressors and ultimately the whole system of oppression.

    The religious obscurantism that is far too widespread among the basic masses is another chain of oppression on them, which needs to be vigorously and resolutely struggled against.

    And, while it needs to be recognized that there are many religious people who play a positive role in the fight against many injustices and forms of oppression, and it is important to unite with them in this fight, it is also important to struggle against the religious outlook in general. Why? Because putting an end to injustice and oppression, and uprooting the basis for all this, requires a revolution led by a powerful and growing force of people who are grounded in a scientific method and approach, in particular the scientific method and approach of the new communism.

    What is said in the book BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian is a fundamental truth—and there is a need to unsparingly drive home this truth: “Oppressed people who are unable or unwilling to confront reality as it actually is, are condemned to remain enslaved and oppressed.” (This is BAsics 4:1.) And the religious outlook and approach—with its misplaced belief in the ultimately decisive role of non-existent supernatural beings and forces—is an obstacle to applying a consistently scientific method to confront reality as it actually is, and transform it in an emancipating way.

    To put things in deliberately provocative terms: It’s time to leave that “god stuff” alone—that will never lead anybody to get free. We need a lot less of this “god talk” and a lot more talk, and action, for revolution—real revolution.

    Some people may not like my saying all this, but I’m going to say it anyway, because I’m not here to please people, or to make them feel better about their enslaved and degraded position—I’m here to bring them a scientific method and approach to making revolution, in order to free themselves and all humanity, and I’m here to tell them the truth about everything that stands in the way of that.

    And one big reason why I say what I say, regardless of whether some people like it or not, is because Black people, who have so long been subjected to the most horrific oppression under this system, can and must play a decisive and tremendously powerful role in bringing about the revolution that will not only put an end to their oppression, but will strike a powerful blow for ending all oppression, of everyone, everywhere. As I have stated before:

    There is the potential for something of unprecedented beauty to arise out of unspeakable ugliness: Black people playing a crucial role in putting an end, at long last, to this system which has, for so long, not just exploited but dehumanized, terrorized and tormented them in a thousand ways—putting an end to this in the only way it can be done—by fighting to emancipate humanity, to put an end to the long night in which human society has been divided into masters and slaves, and the masses of humanity have been lashed, beaten, raped, slaughtered, shackled and shrouded in ignorance and misery.

    But this can happen only as growing numbers of Black people, together with others, take up a scientific, not a religious, viewpoint, method and approach.

    So, am I saying that there is no place in this revolution for people who continue to hold religious beliefs? No. It is an objective fact, which needs to be understood, that many people who take part in this revolution will still hold religious beliefs, of one kind or another—and of course religious people who want to be part of this revolution should be welcomed into the broad ranks of the revolution. The casting off of religious belief by masses of people must be a conscious, voluntary act, which will advance in tempo with the overall development of the revolutionary process and the transformation of society, and the world, toward the goal of ending all oppression and exploitation, all division of society into masters and slaves. But, again, there must be a leading force, and a growing force of the revolution that is solid core/hardcore based on a scientific, not a religious viewpoint, method and approach, and there must be generous-minded but consistent, determined, compelling struggle, waged broadly—sharply posing the need for people to take up the scientific viewpoint, method and approach of the new communism, in opposition to everything that is an obstacle to that, including belief in gods or other supernatural forces which in reality do not exist, and religious tradition which upholds oppressive relations.

    Here is another profound truth: Even with all the ways that the heavy chains of hundreds, and thousands, of years of oppressive tradition weigh down on the masses of people—and place a heavy burden particularly on the half of humanity that is female—there is a deep yearning to be free of all this, which not only leads to imaginary hopes of supernatural salvation but also erupts in unrestrained fury right in this real world. And that fury needs to be fully called forth, given a scientific, revolutionary expression—focused toward the emancipation of all the oppressed and exploited of the world, and ultimately all humanity—directed to fighting against the fundamental source of all the suffering: this system of capitalism-imperialism, with its suffocating and brutal, patriarchal male supremacy, along with all its other outrages. This takes on even more powerful meaning and urgent importance in the current situation in this country (and others), where the forceful assertion of raw misogyny (hatred of women) and patriarchal subjugation of women is becoming more blatant and unbridled, focused to a significant degree now in the escalating moves to even further deny women control over their own lives and their very bodies, with the right to abortion, and even birth control, being brought under mounting attack. Right now, this slogan and call needs to be taken up broadly and made a powerful material force: Break the Chains, Unleash the Fury of Women as a Mighty Force for Revolution!

    In relation to all this, these observations of mine, from a number of years ago now, not only have great importance in general and at all times, but are especially important now:

    The religious fundamentalists, of various kinds, make a point of recruiting in the prisons, and they come with a heavy ideological message.... It is not at all the case that people can only “lose their religion” by replacing it with another religion in some form. But there does have to be another explanation about the world and existence and why this is the way it is, and how it could be different.... If you want to rupture people out of shit, not only stuff that lands them in prison, but the daily shit they are caught up in, in the society, you have to have a really strong hardcore ideological thing to bring to them.... [I]t has to be coherent and systematic. It has to explain the world—and in our case we can actually explain it in a scientific way. That’s an advantage of communism over religion, even though religion has certain short-term advantages.... But we have the advantage of actually being able to make reality make sense for people. That’s a very powerful thing.

    We should not underestimate the importance, not only with prisoners but in general, of doing a lot of ideological work to really enable people to see the world in a wholly different way—really the way it is. To take the pieces of this puzzle that are all out of whack and don’t fit together—it’s like looking through a weird kaleidoscope the way most people see reality. And then it’s misinterpreted for them by all these different bourgeois and reactionary ideologies and programs, and so on, including various religious views. But communist ideology and its application to the world is a way of taking reality and having it make sense for people.

    At the same time, winning basic people, and in particular the youth, to revolution also requires making further critical breakthroughs in what I have called the “George Jackson question”—the problem sharply posed by George Jackson, a prisoner who became a militant revolutionary associated with the Black Panther Party during the upsurge of the 1960s, and who grappled deeply with the question of revolutionary possibility, before he was assassinated by the authorities. To a slave who does not expect to live beyond tomorrow, Jackson said, the idea of gradual change, and revolution in some far-off future, has no meaning and no appeal.

    This takes on particular and special meaning in a rare time like this—a time when revolution could actually be possible, exactly not in some vague far-off future, but through the swirl of the sharpening events and conflicts that are happening right in this present time.

    Here, again, is the decisive question of how much the organized forces of revolution are built up and have an impact on all this, in the direction of the revolution that is so urgently needed.

    To appeal to masses of people, and in particular basic youth, the revolution must become a growing, organized, disciplined, bold and fearless force which, through its scientifically based method, its sweeping vision, its emancipating program and goals, and its actions, is an increasingly powerful pole that will attract these youth—and fighters for revolution from all parts of society.

    There is plenty that needs to be done, and urgently, which requires real boldness and heart, in working for this revolution: powerfully spreading the word about this revolution, challenging people to get into this revolution, recruiting and organizing them into this revolution—going up against and breaking through all the bullshit that people are caught up in that goes against their own real interests—doing the work that needs to be done to transform people’s thinking, and their actions—standing up against the forces oppressing the people, waging the fight that needs to be waged against the atrocities of this system—doing all this to get ready, and to have the basis, to wage the all-out fight to finally overthrow this system, as soon as the necessary conditions for that have been brought into being.

    And, as the revolution grows in this way: There is plenty that needs to be done, and urgently, which requires real boldness and heart, to stand up against the fascists, and any other oppressive force, in their moves to threaten and intimidate, brutalize and even murder people. Let me make clear that I am not calling for launching unprovoked and unjustified attacks on anybody; but there is a right, and a need—and there is the responsibilityto defend the people who are oppressed and brutalized under this system, and those who represent and stand for what is right, and are being attacked because of that.

    In the six Points of Attention for the Revolution—which are basic principles that the Revolution Clubs, a key form of organization for this revolution, base themselves on and fight for—the final point is this:

    We are going for an actual overthrow of this system and a whole better way beyond the destructive, vicious conflicts of today between the people. Because we are serious, at this stage we do not initiate violence and we oppose all violence against the people and among the people.

    Yes, this is something very serious: going for an actual overthrow of this system and a whole better way. And, yes, a big part of this is overcoming how people who are already messed over, in so many ways, by this system, get caught up in yet another way this system messes them up: fighting and killing each other. This needs to stop.

    But it doesn’t need to just stop. People who have been caught up in this need to become part of something really positive—they need to become part of the forces for the revolution that is so urgently needed now.

    The frustration and anger that so many feel, especially so many basic youth, because they can sense that life under this system has nothing good for them—that, from the time they are born, they are locked down and surrounded by forces that regard and treat them as alien objects of fear and hatred—and that those with power look at them as scum who deserve nothing more than a boot up the ass and a bullet in the brain—this frustration and anger needs to be redirected to fighting the system that treats them this way, and has robbed them, and so many like them throughout the world, of a decent life and a decent future, or any future at all.

    Once more, there is plenty that calls, urgently, for great courage and boldness in doing what needs to be done: to be part of rising up against this system and getting ready to go all the way with revolution as soon as the time is right—and, as an important part of that, supporting, and defending, people who are constantly being subjected to unjust attacks on their rights and their very being.

    There are the continuing attacks on people and movements that are rebelling against racist oppression.

    There are threats against, and physical attacks on, health care officials and providers, local government officials (and their families!), as well as employees in stores, and so on, when they are advocating and implementing much-needed and life-saving measures, such as mask and vaccination mandates to deal with the continuing COVID pandemic. There are attacks on school board members not only for adopting these basic health measures but also for things like approving the teaching of some truth about the white supremacy that has always existed in this country, or allowing rights for trans people.

    There are the threats, harassment and attacks on women seeking abortions, and on clinics and medical personnel working to provide those abortions, along with the escalating assault on the right to abortion by the Republican-fascist party, and those it has placed in the courts.

    There are brutal and often murderous attacks on LGBT people.

    There are continuing moves, including with the threat or use of violence, to once again prevent Black people and other oppressed people from even exercising what are supposed to be basic rights, such as voting. (With a scientific method and approach, it is both possible, and important, to actively oppose attempts to deny people the right to vote, and at the same time win people to see that their efforts need to go, not into voting for representatives of this system that is oppressing them, but working to build up the basis to overthrow this whole system.)

    All these attacks on people and their rights need to be powerfully opposed, and people on the good side of this need to be actively protected and defended, where they are assaulted with threats and even outright physical attacks.

    There is the need to prevent the police from brutalizing and just coldly murdering people. Let us remember what was said by some people who witnessed, and even recorded, the slow-motion vicious execution of George Floyd: They agonized over whether they should have done more, should have acted to stop this blatant assassination of a defenseless Black man. Now, again, what I am pointing to is consistent with point 6 of the six Points of Attention for the Revolution—and, in what I am saying here, I am not calling for launching an attack on anyone. But there is no right for anyone, including police, to just murder someone—and there is a right and responsibility to defend and protect people from unjust attacks on their rights, and on their very lives.

    Imagine if, in these different kinds of situations, there were a force of hardcore revolutionaries, including basic youth, whose presence in a disciplined and organized formation made clear that no unjust attacks on people would be tolerated. But this must not just be imagined—it must be developed as one important part of the overall process of preparing for, and building the organized forces for, revolution.

    This must be taken up in a serious, scientific way—not attempting, at any given point, to do what there is not yet the basis to do, but actively working to bring into being the conditions where what was not possible before becomes possible, as the organized ranks of revolution continue to grow and become steeled as a disciplined force. Taken up in this way, this can increasingly have dynamic effect—with “reverberations” and impact far beyond the immediate situation, attracting more people to this revolution... which, in turn, will make it possible to have even greater impact... and attract even larger forces.

    All this is an important part of the overall approach that I have laid out in the course of this talk, which will enable what are today the small organized forces of this revolution to continue to grow—increasingly by leaps and bounds—in numbers, organized strength, and impact on society as a whole. This is what more and more people must be challenged, and enabled, to become part of.

    This brings up another important dimension of working for revolution—and opposing the fascists as part of doing that: It is necessary to sharply expose and oppose—and fight to politically and practically overcome—the reality that for white supremacists and fascists generally the Second Amendment, the “right to bear arms,” has been regularly upheld and given the backing of the law and the courts, and the support of the police and other institutions of the state; while for Black people, other oppressed people, and generally those opposing the oppression and injustice of this system, the “right to bear arms,” even in self-defense, has been actively opposed and suppressed.

    This is made graphically clear in the book by Carol Anderson focusing on the Second Amendment—The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America. This book contains (yet more!) searing exposure of the depraved violence visited upon Black people throughout the history of this country, and speaks to how the “right to bear arms” has never applied to Black people, and instead there has been the perverse “right to kill” Black people, on the part of the powers-that-be and racist whites generally. This cannot be allowed to continue!

    And it is not just around what is represented by “the Second Amendment” that a determined fight must be waged, but around the many ways in which the approach to rights that are supposedly guaranteed to people is applied in a highly unequal way, so that oppressed people, and those acting against the oppressive relations of this system, constantly find their rights attacked, “abridged,” or outright denied and suppressed. In waging this fight, it is important to recognize and, to the degree possible, take advantage of this contradiction: In reality, under this system of capitalism-imperialism, rights and liberties are determined, and limited, in accordance with what serves the interests of this system and its ruling class; but, we are constantly told that, under this system, there is “liberty and justice for all,” and the rulers of this system, or at least some of them, feel it is important to maintain this myth. Again, to the degree possible, this contradiction must be seized on, in waging the fight to defeat attempts by the enforcers of this system to violate what are supposed to be basic rights, in their moves to suppress people rising up against this system and its profound injustice.

    But, most fundamentally, this fight must be waged with full awareness, a scientifically grounded understanding, of the essential nature of this system, with the orientation and goal of working toward the overthrow of this system and the dismantling of its relations and institutions of vicious exploitation and blood-soaked oppression and repression.

    Once again, in order to make all this a reality, as this revolution is being brought to growing numbers of basic youth, and others, and they are being challenged to get into it, they need to be struggled with, hard, to get rid of the ways of thinking and acting that keep this system going. People need to “get their head right,” get their head out of their ass, and take up the scientific method and approach of the new communism to understanding reality, and transforming reality in a fundamental way, through revolution. This means not being just out for yourself, or those you can identify with in a narrow way (whoever that may be), but becoming revolutionaries in the fullest sense—revolutionary communists, emancipators of all humanity—becoming part of the organized and disciplined forces for this revolution, and nothing less.

    As we say, to “everyone who has the heart to fight for something that is really worth fighting for: You need to be part of this revolution.”

    So, on the foundation of everything that has been said so far, and in moving to the conclusion of this talk, it is worthwhile returning to, reviewing, and elaborating briefly on some key aspects of these big questions: Why this is one of those rare times and circumstances when revolution becomes possible, even in a powerful country like this, and how to seize on this rare opportunity to actually make this revolution.

    * There is the sharpening conflict at the top, and throughout the country, with society and the “ruling norms” of this system being torn apart, driven especially by the relentless offensive of the fascist forces. Yes, as the “Declaration and Call” makes clear, there are a lot of bad things connected with this, and it could lead to something really terrible; but, if it is seized on and correctly worked on by growing organized forces of revolution, guided by the scientific method and approach of the new communism, it is also possible that we could wrench something really positive out of this—revolution, to put an end to this system and bring something much better into being.

    * Bringing into being a revolutionary people in the millions—with an organized force of thousands at the core, leading these millions—is the key objective and necessary focus of revolutionary work now, in preparing to go for all-out revolution, with a real chance to win, as soon as the conditions for that have been brought into being.

    And here is another very important requirement in all this. In order for there to be the necessary force of thousands, able to lead millions—and more particularly in order to defeat the vicious repression that is bound to be brought down on a seriously developing revolutionary force, including the ability to replace leaders who are killed or imprisoned by the repressive force of the existing state power:

    It is a matter of strategic importance to develop a large core of experienced and tested leaders—not just “tens” but at least hundreds of such leaders, on all levels—firmly grounded in the line, above all the scientific method and approach of [the new communism], and capable, on that basis, of taking initiative to lead, including in situations of sharpening contradictions and the intensification of repression and even attempts at violent suppression by the powers-that-be, throughout the process of advancing the “three prepares” [prepare the ground, prepare the people, prepare the vanguard leadership for revolution]; and then, when the conditions come into being, this core of tested leaders needs to be capable of giving direction to thousands, and in turn millions, to fight all-out, in a unified way, for the seizure of power. Whether or not such a cadre of leaders—in the hundreds, at least—is developed, will have a significant bearing on whether or not all the work we are doing now is really preparing for revolution, and whether there is a real chance of winning when the time comes.

    (That is a crucial point I have emphasized in the book The New Communism, Part IV, “The Leadership We Need.”)

    This development of hundreds of such leaders must be carried out in the crucible of intense struggle in the tumultuous time before us, as a crucial part of bringing forward the thousands to lead millions. And, as the work of building for revolution is developing, these hundreds, together with the thousands they are leading, must be forged into a disciplined vanguard force, capable of leading the overall revolutionary process of preparing for and then, when the time is right, carrying out the all-out fight for the seizure of power.

    * Transforming the people is decisive in order for there to be a positive outcome to all this—and transforming the thinking of masses of people is crucial, is pivotal, in doing this.

    * At the same time, there is real importance to fighting the power—building powerful, massive resistance to the continuing atrocities of this system—and actively defending, and opposing moves to intimidate, and attack, those who are targeted by “official” enforcers of this oppressive system and “civilian” fascist forces.

    * The key, the most decisive thing: All this must be for revolution: carried out to build toward, and get in position to have a real chance to win, an all-out fight for revolution, as soon as the conditions for that have been brought into being.

    Once more: Everything depends on bringing forward a revolutionary people, from among the most bitterly oppressed, and all parts of society, first in the thousands and then in the millions, as a powerful revolutionary force, organized from the start and consistently with a country-wide perspective, impacting all of society and changing the terms of how masses of people see things and how every institution has to respond. Everything must be focused now on actually bringing forward and organizing this revolutionary force.

    And then, once this revolutionary force is brought into being, everything would be focused on how to actually fight to win.

    At that point, this force of millions would need to be mobilized and wielded in such a way as to make clear that it is going for a complete, revolutionary change—that it will not back down from this goal and accept anything less. In this way, it would constitute a powerful pole attracting and drawing forward even broader numbers of people from all parts of society—and it would pose a definite challenge and call to people everywhere in society, including in all the existing institutions of this system, to come over to the side of this revolution.

    And, through the swirl of this intense process, concrete work would need to be carried out to organize, train and prepare the initial fighting forces for the revolution, while actively, vigorously combating and defeating attempts to violently suppress this.

    Here, again, is something that is crucial to understand, something that is a hallmark of a serious, scientific approach to fighting to win, when the time comes: No matter how much the situation in society overall is changed, and no matter how much even the most powerful institutions of violent repression of this system are affected by this, with significant splits very likely occurring among them, the revolution will still be confronted with powerful armed forces of counter-revolution, from among sections of the official institutions, along with fascist “civilian forces” aligned with them. And it would be extremely unlikely that, particularly at the beginning phase, the revolutionary fighting forces would be able to confront and defeat those armed forces of counter-revolution by directly and frontally taking on anything close to their full force. That is why, in the doctrine and strategic orientation that has been developed to enable the revolutionary forces to fight to win, when the time is right, it is stressed that:

    [T]he revolutionary forces would need to fight only on favorable terms and avoid decisive encounters, which would determine the outcome of the whole thing, until the balance of forces had shifted overwhelmingly in favor of the revolution.

    This doctrine and strategic orientation is spoken to in some depth and spelled out more fully in my speech Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Could Really Make Revolution, with additional thinking provided in my article A Real Revolution—A Real Chance To Win, Further Developing the Strategy for Revolution, both of which can be found at revcom.us. This sets the basic groundwork for how, when the necessary conditions have been brought into being, a revolutionary force, mobilizing masses of people, could actually approach the overthrow of this system in such a way as to effectively neutralize and eventually overcome what would almost certainly be, at the outset, the overwhelming power of the armed forces seeking to defeat and pulverize this attempt at the revolutionary seizure of power. It speaks to how, when the revolutionary situation has been ripened, revolutionary fighting forces, with the backbone drawn especially from youth who have been won hardcore to this revolution, could be organized and trained, and provided with the means to engage and defeat forces of counter-revolution in encounters, beginning on a small scale, which would be favorable for the revolutionary forces—and how, on that basis and through the course of doing that, they could grow in strength and win over growing numbers among those who had been part of the counter-revolutionary forces, and then finally defeat the remaining forces of counter-revolution.

    At the same time, the development of this basic doctrine and strategic approach is an ongoing process. And throughout this period of preparing the ground, preparing masses of people and preparing the leading forces for this revolution, this basic doctrine and strategic approach for the all-out fight must be continually developed and made more “operational” in conception—that is, it must be further elaborated and further concretized, particularly in terms of what will constitute the actual pathways to victory—and, flowing from and serving that, what should be the specific nature and features of the encounters with the other side, particularly in the beginning phases, and (as far as possible) overall.

    As spoken to earlier, a big factor in regard to all this is the real possibility of civil war between opposing sections of society, and how this could impact the key institutions of state power of this system. If such a civil war were to erupt—or even if the deepening divisions in society were moving more directly toward such a civil war—this could have a profound effect on such institutions, with the real prospect of splits among them, and even the splitting apart of such institutions, with some parts siding with the fascists and others with those on the side opposed to the fascists.

    This possibility is something that the basic doctrine and strategic approach for the revolutionary fighting forces would need to take into account and encompass. But, in order for the revolutionary forces to win over, and incorporate into their ranks, significant numbers from among the ruling and repressive institutions of this system, and to do so in a way that would actually maintain the emancipating character of the revolutionary forces, and strengthen them on that basis, it would be necessary for the revolutionary ranks to be tempered and steeled, not just in terms of fighting capacity but in terms of their fundamental ideological and political orientation, as fighters for the emancipation of humanity.

    Here again is the very important point that

    This is not the time of the Civil War in the 1860s, when the goal of those fighting against injustice was to abolish slavery.... The goal now must precisely be getting rid of this whole system of capitalism-imperialism.... which has bred these fascists, along with all the other horrors it continually perpetrates, here and throughout the world.

    So, in the event of, and in the context of, a new civil war, the approach of the revolutionary forces, led by the new communism, would be to carry out the necessary political work, in combination with the actual fighting, to develop such a civil war into a revolution to achieve the goal of getting rid of this whole system, and replacing it with a radically different and emancipating system based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.

    Above all, right now, this further emphasizes the crucial importance of working actively, boldly and tirelessly for the necessary political repolarization in society as a whole, and among all sectors of society, in a direction favorable for all-the-way revolution.

    In this same light, it is also necessary to take into account how a revolution in this country would have important international dimensions and interconnections. First of all, this revolution would of course not be bound by the present territory and borders of this country, which have been forged through wars of conquest and genocide. This revolution will inevitably be influenced by, and will in turn significantly influence, what is happening in countries to the south (and north) of it, with which the USA has historically been closely interconnected, and which in many cases it has dominated and plundered.

    And more generally, there will be the ways in which this revolution will be viewed, and responded to, by different forces, far beyond the present borders of this country. A serious fight for revolution in this countrythis country—would have the effect of a powerful political earthquake, sending seismic shockwaves throughout the world. It is true that one reaction to this would be that oppressive governments and forces throughout the world would see this as a serious threat to their position and objectives, and there is a real possibility that there could be moves by some of these forces to aid, or join in, attempts to crush such a revolution. At the same time, such a revolution would shake awake and provide a powerful positive shock to literally billions of people everywhere, shattering the sense that no alternative to this terrible world is possible. Overall, it would almost certainly contribute, in a very significant way, to a repolarization on a global scale.

    All this would need to be taken into account by the leading forces of this revolution, as an important part of its strategic orientation and objectives.

    In all this, and in everything I have spoken to in the course of this talk, this fundamental principle stands out: Revolution is a very serious matter, and it must be approached seriously and in a consistently scientific way.

    In Conclusion: Everyone who really wants to see the world changed, in a profoundly positive, emancipating way, and everyone who thinks about whether this is actually possible, or wishes it could be, needs to seriously engage what has been spoken to here, take up the scientific revolutionary orientation, method and approach of the new communism; become part of, and work tirelessly to build up, the organized forces for this revolution whose goal is nothing less than the emancipation of all oppressed people, everywhere, and ultimately all of humanity, from the horrors of this system and from any way in which people are exploited, oppressed, degraded and treated as less than human.

    To return to this crucial and urgent truth:

    This is one of those rare times and circumstances when revolution becomes possible, not just because this system is always a horror, but because the crisis and deep divisions in society now can only be resolved through radical means, of one kind or another—either radically reactionary, murderously oppressive and destructive means or radically emancipating revolutionary means.

    There is a great challenge that must be met, and a tremendous amount of work and struggle that must be carried out, with scientifically grounded determination and boldness, in order to make possible the emancipating revolutionary resolution.

    There is no guarantee of achieving all this, but there is a real possibility. And what we do—what all those who want to see a world and a future worth living in, where human beings everywhere can truly flourish in the fullness of their humanity—what we all do can make a tremendous difference in what the outcome of all this will be.

    There is the possibility, there is the challenge.

    Dare to become part of the forces for this historic revolution. Dare to work resolutely to make this a reality. Dare to struggle, dare to win.

    Announcing New work by BA, SOMETHING TERRIBLE, OR SOMETHING TRULY EMANCIPATING:

     

    Bob Avakian

     

    BOB AVAKIAN:
    A RADICALLY DIFFERENT LEADER—A WHOLE NEW FRAMEWORK FOR HUMAN EMANCIPATION

    Learn more about Bob Avakian and the new communism

    A DECLARATION, A CALL TO GET ORGANIZED NOW FOR A REAL REVOLUTION

     


    cover of pamphlet Bob Avakian: This Is A Rare Time When Revolution Becomes Possible—Why That Is So And How To Seize On This Rare Opportunity

     

  • ARTICLE:

    REVOLUTION IS POSSIBLE
    THIS RARE TIME MUST BE SEIZED

    Important excerpts from “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating”*

    The reality is that such a revolution can succeed, but this is possible, particularly up against powerful ruling forces, like in this country, only in rare times and circumstances. And here is a very important truth: This is one of those rare times and circumstances.

    This rare time must not be wasted, squandered, thrown away. Rather, revolution must be actively prepared for and vigorously, consistently worked for—now, and in an ongoing way—to build up the scientifically oriented and powerfully organized forces for, and to prepare the ground for, this revolution.

    And that is why we revolutionary communists say:

    [E]veryone who can’t stand this world the way it is ... who is sick and tired of so many people being treated as less than human ... who knows that the claim of “liberty and justice for all” is a cruel lie ... who is righteously enraged that injustice and inequality go on, and on, and on, despite false promises and honeyed words from people in power (or those seeking power) ... everyone who agonizes about where things are headed and the fact that to be young now means being denied a decent future, or any future at all ... everyone who has ever dreamed about something much better, or even wondered whether that is possible ... everyone who hungers for a world without oppression, exploitation, poverty, and destruction of the environment ... everyone who has the heart to fight for something that is really worth fighting for: You need to be part of this revolution....

    We’re talking about a real revolution, not playing around with a few changes that leave this system in place and in power, while benefitting only a small number. As the “Declaration and Call” makes very clear:

    A revolution means a force of millions, drawn from many different parts of society and organized for an all-out fight to overthrow this system and replace it with a radically different and much better economic and political system, a socialist system, based on meeting the needs of the people and carrying forward the fight for a communist world where there will finally be an end, everywhere, to the exploitation, oppression, and destruction of the environment that is built into this system of capitalism-imperialism. Anything less than this revolution will completely fail to deal with the root of all the problems or lead to the actual solution....1

    There is some important historical experience to learn from—situations where a ruling class was no longer able to rule in the “normal way” that people had been conditioned to accept, and a real possibility arose of putting an end to the existing system, even one which had been so powerfully entrenched that such a profound change had long seemed impossible. This has happened especially when the ruling class, or a section of the ruling class, of that system no longer believes in, and more or less openly abandons, what had been the “cohering norms”—the regulating set of beliefs and processes—of that system....

    As is becoming more clear every day, there are deep, and continually deepening, divisions not only in this country overall but among the ruling powers of this system....One part of those ruling powers, represented by the Republican Party, no longer believes in or feels bound by what have been the “cohering norms” of “democratic” capitalist rule in this country. This is leading, and will increasingly lead, to further, deepening divisions and bitter clashes throughout society, as well as “at the top.” All the ruling institutions of this system will be increasingly affected by this. The polarization will continue to sharpen, with forces grouped around and led by the Republican Party becoming even more aggressive in insisting on imposing, including by violent means, their vision of what “makes America great,” with all the very real horrors, on top of horrors, that this involves.

    All this in itself will have contradictory effects—some definitely negative, but some positive, or with positive potential. And, as this unfolds, this profound truth will be more and more forcefully demonstrated: The crisis and deep divisions in society can only be resolved through radical means, of one kind or another—either radically reactionary, murderously oppressive and destructive means or radically emancipating revolutionary means.

    With all this, what is urgently needed, what is possible—and what must be actively, tirelessly worked for, in order for there to truly be a positive outcome to all this—is a fundamentally different alignment in the country as a whole: a Repolarization that is favorable for, and brings forward the necessary forces for, Revolution—a real revolution to overthrow this system, and bring into being a radically different and much better system....

    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 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.

    This is a crucial part of how a revolutionary situation could be brought into being—a situation where it becomes possible to actually bring down this system.

    On the other hand, “left to itself”—that is, if the current character and dynamics of all this remain on the same course they are now on—this situation, the divisions characterizing it, and the outcome resulting from it are almost certainly going to become even more terribly negative. So, all this must be radically changed, in what is a relatively brief, “compressed” period of time—not just weeks or months, but also not decades. If things have not already fully erupted before then, the scheduled presidential election of 2024 is very likely to be a critical focal point and turning point, through which the fascist Republicans will attempt to gain and lock down power over society, and put an end to any possibility of a future “transfer of power” away from them.

    With the Republicans’ continuation of the Big Lie that the last (2020) presidential election was stolen from Trump, their moves to suppress votes, and their whole orientation that, in any case, with regard to the 2024 presidential election (assuming there is one), the only acceptable outcome is that they are declared and confirmed as the winner—all this has made clear that they will allow no “peaceful transfer of power” in government, unless it results in their coming to power. Growing numbers of fascist-oriented people in this country are prepared to use violence in pursuit of their perverse notion of “making America great again”—and the Republican leadership is ready to resort to this, if they cannot come to power otherwise. Already Republican elected officials, including members of Congress, are whipping up sentiments in favor of such violence and supporting fascist mobs who have engaged in this violence.

    In the situation of the 2020 presidential election, defeating and ousting Trump through that election was possible, and was important to do, as a tactical move to prevent the further consolidation of fascist rule right then. Even with that electoral defeat, however, Trump and his supporters nearly succeeded in pulling off a coup that would have resulted in his remaining in power, in defiance of the outcome of the election and the “peaceful transfer of power” from one section of the ruling class to another. And things have moved, and are continuing to rapidly move, beyond the situation that existed with that 2020 election and in its immediate aftermath.

    Further, this system’s electoral process itself works against the kind of fundamental change that is now urgently needed. Among other things, it lowers people’s horizons, restricting “realistic choices” to what is possible within the confines of this system and conditioning people to view and approach things on the terms of this system. Continuing to vote for Democrats, and attempting, through the electoral process, to prevent a successful Republican-fascist seizure and consolidation of power, will very likely fail, and more fundamentally will contribute to the continuation of things on the disastrous course they are now on, with terrible consequences for the billions of people on this planet—for humanity as a whole. 

    As I emphasized in my [2021] New Year’s Statement:

    The electoral defeat of the Trump/Pence regime only “buys some time”—both in relation to the imminent danger posed by the fascism this regime represents, and more fundamentally in terms of the potentially existential crisis humanity is increasingly facing as a consequence of being bound to the dynamics of this system of capitalism-imperialism. But, in essential terms, time is not on the side of the struggle for a better future for humanity. 2

    Time, and with it the current momentum of things toward a disastrous outcome, is moving on. The time that still does exist must not be squandered in what would, especially now, be meaningless maneuvering within the framework of this system and its elections. This time must be seized, with the necessary urgency, to build toward the only resolution that can avoid that disaster, and wrench something truly positive out of all this: an actual revolution....

    Everything depends on bringing forward a revolutionary people, from among the most bitterly oppressed, and all parts of society, first in the thousands and then in the millions, as a powerful revolutionary force, organized from the start and consistently with a country-wide perspective, impacting all of society and changing the terms of how masses of people see things and how every institution has to respond. Everything must be focused now on actually bringing forward and organizing this revolutionary force. 

    ~~~~~~~~~~~

    As the “Declaration and Call” makes clear, in order to win masses of people to revolution, there is a tremendous amount of struggle that needs to go on, not just against the system that is the source of the horrors that people are continually subjected to, but also against ways of thinking and acting among the people that actually “internalize,” and serve to perpetuate, this system and the ways of thinking it promotes, with its monstrously oppressive relations and putrid values—ways of thinking and acting that work against the repolarization that is urgently needed to have a real chance at seizing on this rare opportunity to make revolution.

    In Hope For Humanity On A Scientific Basis, I pointed to the characterization of the current polarization by the fascist former Republican congressman Steve King—that there is a lot of talk about another civil war, and one side (the fascist side) is heavily armed (with 8 trillion bullets) while the other (“woke”) side can’t decide which bathroom to use.3 Even as this involves some real distortion, and definite slander against trans people, there is a demented insight, and too much of the truth, in this observation by that fascist King. And, if this polarization remains essentially unchanged, it will have even worse implications, as things develop and further intensify.

    Very much related to and an expression of this, is the reality that today, particularly among the middle classes, things are still way too much in line with the words of the poet Yeats: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” It is fascists who have declared “this is war!”—who viscerally feel that the way things are going is completely intolerable to them, is an existential threat to a way of life and a country that they believe is worth being part of. And, in their demented minds, the government (or government that is in the hands of, or strongly influenced by, the Democrats) is working to continue things on this course, and is therefore completely illegitimate. At the same time, among what can rightly be called “decent people,” who are opposed to these fascists, there is way too much obliviousness, ignorance and ignore-ance—or even continuing denial—of what is going on, way too much being lulled by a sleepy sense that the way things are going is favorable to how they want things to go, or at least that “things will work out” in a way that is in accord with their inclinations. Or, to the degree that there is a recognition that this is not the case (for example, with the accelerating environmental crisis), this has led far too much to defeatism, cynicism, and passivity.

    But that is not all there is to the problem. As I also noted in Hope For Humanity:

    [A]nother element of this that we can’t overlook is that, while a lot of what [Steve] King describes applies in a certain demented way, particularly to progressive or so-called “woke” middle class people, there is another kind of problem with regard to more basic oppressed people, and in particular the youth—a big problem that their guns are now aimed at each other ... this is something that needs to be radically transformed in building a movement for an actual revolution.

     

  • ARTICLE:

    REVOLUTION: MAJOR TURNING POINTS AND RARE OPPORTUNITIES

    Or... Why did Lenin talk about World War 1 as a “stage manager” of revolution?...

    And why did Mao say, We should thank Japan for invading China?

    Let’s begin with this: In the most fundamental sense, communist revolutions do not come about simply as a result of the revolutionary work and struggle of the communists.

    Why am I raising this? To argue that what communists do is unimportant?! No—obviously not. It is of definite and vital importance for communists to work consistently, and struggle vigorously, with determination and creativity, to win masses of people to see the need for and become actively involved in preparing for and then carrying out the overthrow of the oppressive system, in order to bring into being a radically different and emancipating system. (And clearly revolutions could not come about as a result of the revolutionaries carrying out something other than consistent revolutionary work and struggle.)

    But revolutions do not proceed in a straight line—and it is crucial to grasp, and act decisively in relation to, those rare times when a profound, qualitative change in the situation opens up the possibility for major advance for revolution, perhaps even the possibility of carrying things all the way to the overthrow of the existing system and the establishment of a radically different and much better system.

    This possibility may not be, and generally is not, immediately apparent, and on the contrary what is often more readily seen on the surface is the way in which, in the short term, the situation is worsening.

    The point is that all this can only be correctly grasped, and acted on, with a consistently scientific method and approach.

    One of the most important things that such a scientific method and approach makes clear is this: Revolutions are made possible, in the most fundamental sense, as a result of the intensification of the contradictions of the oppressive system, leading to crucial turning points, providing rare opportunities for major revolutionary advance, even potentially opening the way for the victory of the revolution. And the prospects for revolution hinge to a great extent on whether the conscious forces for this revolution not only carry out consistent revolutionary work and struggle, but more specifically whether they recognize—and on that basis act boldly and with scientifically grounded determination, to take full advantage of—these crucial turning points and all-too-rare opportunities.

    Of course, the role of communists is not to wait around passively for such crucial turning points and rare opportunities. On the contrary—and this is a basic point of orientation in the new communism which I have brought forward—communists must continually work to maximize the development toward, and accumulate forces for, the revolution that is needed: applying the approach of hastening while awaiting the necessary conditions that make it possible to go all out in the fight for revolution, with a real chance to win. And then, when the necessary conditions have come into being, it is of crucial importance to act decisively—to lead masses of people, in their millions, to actually seize power.

    But simply going along carrying out “routine” work in the name of revolution, actually lacking any revolutionary orientation and sense of urgency—“tolling the bell” timelessly, like monks in a monastery, paying no attention to the larger developments in the world, and in particular the way the fundamental contradictions of the ruling system are becoming much more acutely posed than in “normal times”—this will result in failure to grasp the potential this opens up for revolutionary advance and will lead to throwing away the rare opportunity.

    The successful communist-led revolutions, first in Russia and then in China, during the first half of the last century, illustrate these crucial lessons. (Even though the socialist systems that were established through revolution, first in Russia/the Soviet Union and then in China, were eventually overturned and capitalism restored in both countries, the essential points I have emphasized here are highlighted by the experiences of these revolutions in leading masses of people in overthrowing the oppressive old order and establishing a new, revolutionary society and government.)

    Russia: World War 1 as a “Stage Manager” of Revolution

    For the Russian revolution, it was World War 1, beginning in 1914, that greatly heightened the contradictions of the capitalist-imperialist system overall and in a particularly acute way within Russia. (This was a war between rival imperialist powers for the dominant position in the world, and in particular the domination and exploitation of vast colonial empires especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.) As this war unfolded over several years, and intensified the contradictions that led to the war, it made the objective basis and possibility for revolution more favorable, although this possibility had to be firmly grasped and actively worked on—and the opportunity to overthrow the old order had to be decisively seized, when that opportunity arose toward the end of this war. 

    But it is worth noting that for some time before the start of World War 1, and then during much of that war, the Russian communists (the Bolsheviks) were severely weakened—with their leader Lenin and some other leading figures in exile, desperately hanging on in extremely difficult circumstances (with some comrades living, and even dying, on the streets). This difficult situation was to a large degree the result of the defeat of a revolutionary uprising in Russia in the decade before the start of World War 1 and the severe repression that followed that defeat. In those circumstances, many former supporters, or intellectual sympathizers, of the revolution adopted “philosophical” rationalizations for turning away from Marxism, and more than a few people within the ranks of the Bolsheviks retreated into self-indulgent individualism. Further, for much of World War 1, because the Bolsheviks took and maintained the principled stand of refusing to support their own imperialist ruling class in that war—while exposing and denouncing the war overall as imperialist—they were very unpopular among large sections of the Russian people, who especially at the start of the war were swept up in patriotic fervor in support of Russia’s involvement in the war.

    But as the war dragged on, with the Russian ruling class continuing to be actively involved in this war that was causing enormous casualties for the Russian troops and terrible suffering for the masses of people in Russia, the Bolsheviks were able to increasingly win growing numbers of people and organize them into a powerful revolutionary force—including a section of the government armed forces that came over to the side of the revolution—and in the latter part of 1917 this revolutionary force succeeded in seizing power as the contradictions continued to intensify, largely as a result of the continuation of the war and the way it concentrated the underlying contradictions of the system of capitalism-imperialism.

    That is what Lenin meant when he said that this war, with all of its massive destruction and terrible suffering, was a “stage manager” of revolution. But this did not happen “automatically” as a result of the mounting horrors of the war. There would have been no revolution in Russia then if the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, had not, first of all, maintained a principled stand in opposition to the war—going against the powerful tide of patriotic fervor at the beginning and for a good part of the war. Beyond that, there would have been no revolution in 1917 if Lenin had not provided decisive leadership in making the scientific analysis of the ways in which this war was greatly heightening the contradictions of the capitalist-imperialist system, overall and in a particularly acute way in Russia—or if the Bolsheviks had failed to apply this analysis and seize on the rare situation toward the end of the war when, as Lenin also put it, years and even decades of “normal times” became concentrated in months or even weeks of intensified contradictions and accelerated developments.

    The Chinese Revolution and the Japanese Invasion and Occupation of China

    In the late 1920s, after the slaughter of large numbers of Chinese Communists by reactionary forces headed by Chiang Kai-shek in Chinese urban areas, Mao Zedong led in making a crucial leap for the Chinese revolution: he headed a force of revolutionaries, recruited especially from among desperate sections of Chinese youth, to retreat into remote mountains and launch an armed struggle—a people’s war—against the oppressive and murderous government headed by Chiang Kai-shek (backed by “western” imperialists, including the U.S.). For several years, this people’s war succeeded in establishing and extending revolutionary base areas in the Chinese countryside and defeating successive attempts of the counter-revolutionary forces to suppress and liquidate these base areas and the revolutionary forces leading them. But, finally, in the mid-1930s, the Chiang Kai-shek government adopted new military strategy and tactics, which succeeded in forcing the revolutionaries to abandon the base areas and embark on what became known as the Long March, covering thousands of miles and ending up with the establishment of a new base area centered in Yenan in the interior of China.

    Particularly with the eventual victory of the Chinese revolution—with the final defeat of Chiang Kai-shek’s forces and the establishment of nationwide revolutionary political power in 1949—the Long March has come to be seen as a great revolutionary achievement. And it was. But it is also the case that, although this Long March did make possible a new and crucial stage in the Chinese revolution, the great majority of the revolutionary forces that embarked on this Long March—numbering in the tens and tens of thousands—died in the course of it. And it is entirely possible that not only those massive numbers of revolutionary fighters, but the revolution itself, could have been killed off—at least for a whole period of time—as a result of having to abandon the original base areas and carry out the tortuous Long March.

    As it turned out, even with the great losses, a significant force survived the Long March, and this force—having fought many battles and overcome many hardships—was further tempered and steeled. Then, as a result of the invasion and occupation of large parts of China by Japanese imperialism, it became both necessary and possible to rally broad sections of the Chinese people in opposition to this invasion and occupation. And the need for the broadest possible resistance against the Japanese occupation, as well as the weakened position of Chiang Kai-shek’s government as a result of this occupation, established both the necessity and the basis to enter into a united front with this Chiang Kai-shek government to fight the Japanese invaders. (Because of “the reality on the ground” Chiang Kai-shek was forced to agree to this united front, even though, during the course of the war of resistance against Japan, Chiang continued his attempts to wipe out the communist-led forces, while giving up more and more ground to the Japanese.)

    The result of all this was that, through the course of World War 2—which began in 1939 and finally ended in 1945 with the defeat of Japan and its allies, including Nazi Germany—the revolutionary forces in China led by Mao grew in numbers and strength; and, after a relatively brief interlude of attempted but failed negotiations with Chiang Kai-shek, through three more years of people’s war the revolution succeeded in thoroughly defeating the reactionary forces of the old order in 1949, capturing power throughout the Chinese mainland and forcing Chiang Kai-shek to flee to the island of Taiwan.

    As was the case with World War 1, this second world war came about because of the intensification of the basic contradictions of the system of capitalism-imperialism. But the course of World War 2, including the Japanese occupation of China and the war of resistance waged against that occupation, in which the revolutionary forces led by Mao played a decisive role—all this resulted in a major change in the power relations within China, in a direction more favorable for the revolution; and this prepared much of the ground for the fight for the final victory of the revolution in 1949. In a real sense, the Japanese invasion and occupation of China constituted a kind of “fulcrum,” shifting the terms of the revolutionary struggle and providing the objective basis for a crucial advance of the revolution, after the devastating setback (the need to abandon the initial base areas of the revolution) which made necessary the Long March, with not only its real achievements but also its great losses.

    This is what Mao meant when he said that Japan should be thanked for invading China. Obviously, Mao was not unaware of, or unconcerned about, the terrible atrocities which Japan’s occupation forces imposed on the Chinese people. His point was that the Japanese invasion and occupation, with all the destruction and suffering it brought for hundreds of millions of Chinese people, and for the Chinese nation as a whole, ended up contributing, in a major way, to the eventual victory of the Chinese revolution, and with it the possibility of uprooting the fundamental and overall causes of the horrific exploitation and oppression to which the masses of Chinese people had been subjected not just for years and decades but for centuries and millennia.

    Mao’s ironic statement—we should thank Japan for invading—reflects the reality that the invasion and occupation of China by Japanese imperialism ended up contributing, in a major way, to the success of the Chinese revolution. But this revolution could not have succeeded if those leading it, and in particular Mao, had not grasped and acted in accordance with the changing objective conditions brought about by the Japanese invasion and occupation, particularly as this took place in the overall context of World War 2—and then the qualitatively changed conditions again, within China and in the world as a whole, with the end of World War 2, in which Japan was defeated and its occupation of China ended.

    Crucial Lessons for This Rare Time When Revolution Has Become—More—Possible

    Of course, no one can say with certainty that the Chinese revolution could not have eventually succeeded even if Japan had not invaded (or that there could never have been a communist-led revolution in Russia without World War 1). As Mao also emphasized, Marxists are not fortune-tellers. Marxism—communism—is a continually developing science, which proceeds on the basis of analyzing a continually changing objective reality.

    The point, once again, is that revolutions do not proceed in a straight line, but through many twists and turns, including setbacks and defeats, sometimes very serious setbacks and defeats, along the way. The actual process is in line with another statement by Mao, which applies to even a successful revolution—that it is a matter of fighting and failing, repeatedly, until victory is finally achieved. And, all along the way, there is a need to apply a scientific method and approach to learn not only from advances, and from what prove to be correct policies, but also from mistakes, difficulties, setbacks and defeats, to continually make a scientific analysis of the constantly changing situation, and to recognize and seize on openings for advance, especially situations where there are profound, qualitative changes in the objective situation providing the potential for major advance, even perhaps the victory of the revolution.

    Through the application of this scientific method and approach, it can be, and has been, firmly established that there is a basis and a possibility—not a certainty or “inevitability” but an actual basis and possibility—for revolution aiming for a communist world to ultimately triumph. And even while today the conditions in the U.S. and the world are vastly different than they were during the different phases of the Chinese revolution, in the first half of the last century, or the Russian revolution in 1917—and revolution in this country obviously will not and cannot come about as some kind of “copy” of either of those revolutions—especially in these tumultuous times now, the possibility of an actual revolution is real, yes right in this powerful imperialist USA. But this possibility cannot be grasped without the scientific method and approach of communism, as it has been further developed with the new communism. And a revolution will not, and cannot, be brought about without applying this method and approach to continually make, and act on, a scientific assessment of the constantly, and now rapidly, changing objective reality—including the daunting challenges and vexing difficulties, but most fundamentally the development of the contradictions of the system of capitalism-imperialism and the consequences of this, on a world level as well as within this country itself.

    This scientific approach is especially crucial in those times when the contradictions of this system are changing in a major way—and, above all, those rare times when, as Lenin noted, years and decades of “normal times” become concentrated in months or even weeks, when contradictions are repeatedly intensified and changes rapidly accelerated, heightening the prospect of great disaster for humanity but also the possibility of wrenching a radically different and far better future, through revolution.

    This is one of those rare times.

    Why? As explained in Organizing for an Actual Revolution: 7 Key Points,

    Brutal and murderous white supremacy, male supremacy, and other oppressive relations, the deepening crisis in society and the world overall, including the constant wars and the continuing destruction of the environment: all this cannot ultimately be resolved, in any positive way, within the confines of the system that rules in this country and dominates in the world as a whole—the system of capitalism-imperialism. Under the rule of this system, all this will only get worse. The deepening divisions within this country now, from top to bottom, mean that those who have ruled in this country for so long (the capitalist-imperialist ruling class) can no longer rule, as a “unified force,” in the “normal” way that people have been conditioned to accept—with a system of government that has an outer shell of “democracy” to cover over the fact that it is an actual capitalist dictatorship at its core, relying fundamentally on the armed force of the institutions of “official violence,” the police and the military. Because of big changes in this country and the world overall, one part of the ruling class, represented by the Republican Party, has become fascist: they no longer believe in or feel bound by what have been the “norms” of “democratic” capitalist rule in this country. And the other section of the ruling class, represented by the Democratic Party, has no real answer to this—except trying to maintain the “normal way” that the oppressive rule of this system has been enforced for hundreds of years, while the fascists are determined to tear up those “norms” and rule through more openly and aggressively oppressive means, without the traditional disguise of supposed “democracy for all.”

    The crisis and deep divisions in society can only be resolved through radical means, of one kind or another—either radically reactionary, murderously oppressive and destructive means, or radically emancipating revolutionary means. And this resolution could quite possibly happen, one way or the other, within the next few years. 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. In a situation like this, things that have basically remained the same, for decades, can radically change in a very short period of time. This rare time must not be wasted— it must be seized on to have a real fighting chance to bring about a truly emancipating revolutionary resolution, and not be subjected to a terrible, reactionary, murderously oppressive and destructive resolution.16

    This, once more, requires resolutely “going against the tide” of spontaneous mass sentiments, including the stubborn tendency of many to remain stuck in the well-worn rut of relying on “the way things have always been,” even as that “way” is being profoundly disrupted and shattered by the intensifying, and even potentially existential, “earthquakes” erupting in this country and the world overall. As I have emphasized before, people—masses of people, in different parts of society—need to be shaken awake, through sharp, and at times fierce, struggle to get them to confront the very real horrors shaping up on the near horizon but also the real possibility for a revolutionary way forward out of this madness. This means breaking with the dominant relations and ways of thinking of this putrid system of capitalism-imperialism, including its quicksand trap of elections to choose between the Democrat and Republican representatives of the ruling class of this system.

    The following, which I wrote years ago now, has greatly heightened and urgent meaning today:

    Indeed, if and when conflicts among different sections of the ruling class reach the point where they are beginning to assume antagonistic proportions themselves, that is a sign of extremely deep and acute cracks and fissures in the entire established order; and such a situation must be seized by the oppressed not to side with one section of the bourgeoisie against another—thus helping the ruling class to “repair” the rupturing old order and reinforce its dictatorship, in one form or another—but instead to rise in revolutionary struggle to overthrow the rule of the bourgeoisie altogether.17

    Masses of people: all those who suffer so horribly in the “normal times” of living under the rule of this system of capitalism-imperialism...all those who hunger for a more just world and a future worth living in, but whose future will be something truly terrible if things are allowed to continue on the terms set by this system... Masses of people, in continually growing numbers, must be made aware of the meaning and implications of this rare time, including through fierce struggle as necessary to win them to raise their sights and recognize not only the necessity but the possibility to seize on this rare time to make revolution and wrench something really positive, yes something truly emancipating, out of this rare time.

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. Organizing for an Actual Revolution: 7 Key Points is available at revcom.us. A fuller analysis of why this is a rare time when revolution becomes more possible, even in a powerful imperialist country like the U.S., is contained in the major work by 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, which is also available at revcom.us. [back]

    2. This statement by Bob Avakian is from his book Democracy: Can’t We Do Better Than That? (published by Banner Press, 1986); emphasis added. [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN

    Part 1: We Are Serious

    "REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN" is being published in a series. Part 1: We Are Serious was published July 31, 2023. Part 2: A Scientifically Based Strategy was published August 7, 2023. Part 3: Civil War and Revolution was published August 14, 2023. Part 4: Hard Core Youth and the Revolution was published August 21, 2023. Part 5: Winning and Winning was published August 28, 2023.

    Introduction:

    Some people have argued that an attempt to make an actual revolution, to overthrow the ruling system of capitalism-imperialism in this country, up against the powerful armed forces of this system, would be suicidal. This is something I spoke to, a number of years ago now, in the talk Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution:

    Many people, including many who say they would like to see a radical change in society, insist that revolution is not possible because “they” are too powerful, and “people are too messed up.” Well, it is true that, shaped as they are by this system, the masses of people, in any part of society, don’t know shit and have their heads up their asses, when it comes to an understanding of how things really are, why they are the way they are, and what could and should be done about this. But this stands in sharp contradiction to another important truth—that millions of people really do care about one or more, and many care about all, of the “5 STOPS.” This is a contradiction that we have to go to work on, to move masses of people in the direction of the revolution that is needed to finally put a stop to those “5 STOPS” and the horrific conditions to which the masses of humanity are constantly subjected. [The 5 STOPS refers to five major social contradictions and forms of oppression and devastation that are built into this system of capitalism-imperialism and which can only be eliminated through a revolution to overthrow this system.]1

    It is also true that the ruling powers of this system, with the machinery of death and destruction they wield to enforce this system, are indeed very powerful. But a big part of people’s difficulty in imagining that we could actually defeat them is the inability to conceive of a situation that is radically different than the “normal” functioning of this system, a situation where, for large parts of society, the “hold” of the ruling class over people—its ability to control, manipulate, and intimidate them—is broken, or greatly weakened. Fundamentally, people cannot imagine this because they are not approaching things with a scientific outlook and method.2 (Emphasis added.)

    This series of five articles speaks more fully to why such a revolution is not only urgently necessary now but why, with the right scientific approach, such a revolution could in fact have a real chance to succeed—and why anyone who really wants to see a radically different world, without all the horrors that are continually brought about, and the even greater horrors for humanity that are now threatened by this system of capitalism-imperialism needs to be actively involved in working tirelessly, with scientifically based determination, for this revolution.

    The following is the first in a series of selections from my talks and writings speaking to how to go about carrying out a revolution in this country, mobilizing millions of people, with the goal of actually defeating the violent enforcers of this system of capitalism-imperialism, abolishing this system altogether, and bringing into being a radically different, emancipating system based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.3

     This part one contains an excerpt from “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating” (which is available at revcom.us); and then an excerpt from a presentation to a gathering of revcoms (revolutionary communists) in 2022.

    Everything depends on bringing forward a revolutionary people, from among the most bitterly oppressed, and all parts of society, first in the thousands and then in the millions, as a powerful revolutionary force, organized from the start and consistently with a country-wide perspective, impacting all of society and changing the terms of how masses of people see things and how every institution has to respond. Everything must be focused now on actually bringing forward and organizing this revolutionary force.

    And then, once this revolutionary force is brought into being, everything would be focused on how to actually fight to win.

    At that point, this force of millions would need to be mobilized and wielded in such a way as to make clear that it is going for a complete, revolutionary change—that it will not back down from this goal and accept anything less. In this way, it would constitute a powerful pole attracting and drawing forward even broader numbers of people from all parts of society—and it would pose a definite challenge and call to people everywhere in society, including in all the existing institutions of this system, to come over to the side of this revolution.

     

     

    Something Terrible or Something Truly Emancipating - Square, wo "NEW"

     

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    As I said in the Dialogue with Cornel West: It is important that we are right, and righteous—it is important that we stand with the wretched of the Earth and stand up against their oppression—but we have to win. We have to actually shatter the rule of this monstrous system, and bring something radically different and much better into being. Or else, we will at best “fight the good fight” but the horrors will continue, and get even worse.4

    The sixth point of the Points of Attention for the Revolution says this: “We are going for an actual overthrow of this system and a whole better way beyond the destructive, vicious conflicts of today between the people. Because we are serious, at this stage we do not initiate violence and we oppose all violence against the people and among the people.”5

    I have highlighted the words “Because we are serious” in order to emphasize that this Point of Attention is not a declaration of some idealist pacifist notion that the struggle against this system can and must always remain non-violent. First of all, while we are against all violence against the people and among the people, and at this stage we do not initiate (and we do not encourage others to initiate) violence, at the same time we strongly recognize and uphold the right of people to defend themselves against unjust attacks. And, more strategically, we scientifically understand that: the fundamental source of violence in the world is this system of capitalism-imperialism, that by far the greatest perpetrators of unjust violence are the ruling classes of the capitalist-imperialist powers, most of all this country—and that the fundamental reason why the abolition of this system cannot be achieved peacefully is, once again, because of the nature of this system itself, and the fact that those who rule in it would never allow their system to be swept away without attempting to violently suppress and crush any such attempt.

    This is what it means that we are serious about all this.

    It is with this understanding, and this orientation, that we have to very seriously approach the question of how to actually win—win in the more immediate fight, historically speaking, to seize power—and win in a way that lays the basis for winning in the largest sense, with the goal of uprooting all oppression and exploitation, all over the world, bringing into being a communist world in which human beings can truly thrive with the fullest expression of their humanity.

     

    Next >>

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. The 5 STOPS are:

    STOP Genocidal Persecution, Mass Incarceration, Police Brutality and Murder of Black and Brown People!

    STOP The Patriarchal Degradation, Dehumanization, and Subjugation of All Women Everywhere, and All Oppression Based on Gender and Sexual Orientation!

    STOP Wars of Empire, Armies of Occupation, and Crimes Against Humanity!

    STOP The Demonization, Criminalization and Deportations of Immigrants and the Militarization of the Border!

    STOP Capitalism-Imperialism from Destroying Our Planet! [back]

    2. A film and the text of Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Actually Make Revolution are available at revcom.us in BA’s Collected Works. [back]

    3. The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America is available at revcom.us. [back]

    4. REVOLUTION AND RELIGION: The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion; A Dialogue Between CORNEL WEST & BOB AVAKIAN. This film of the Dialogue is also available at revcom.us/BA's Collected Works. [back]

    5. The Points of Attention for the Revolution are available as well at revcom.us. [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN

    Part 2: A Scientifically Based Strategy

    "REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN" is being published in a series. Part 1: We Are Serious was published July 31, 2023. Part 2: A Scientifically Based Strategy was published August 7, 2023. Part 3: Civil War and Revolution was published August 14, 2023. Part 4: Hard Core Youth and the Revolution was published August 21, 2023. Part 5: Winning and Winning was published August 28, 2023.

    Introduction: 

    Some people have argued that an attempt to make an actual revolution, to overthrow the ruling system of capitalism-imperialism in this country, up against the powerful armed forces of this system, would be suicidal. This is something I spoke to, a number of years ago now, in the talk Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution:

    Many people, including many who say they would like to see a radical change in society, insist that revolution is not possible because “they” are too powerful, and “people are too messed up.” Well, it is true that, shaped as they are by this system, the masses of people, in any part of society, don’t know shit and have their heads up their asses, when it comes to an understanding of how things really are, why they are the way they are, and what could and should be done about this. But this stands in sharp contradiction to another important truth—that millions of people really do care about one or more, and many care about all, of the “5 STOPS.” This is a contradiction that we have to go to work on, to move masses of people in the direction of the revolution that is needed to finally put a stop to those “5 STOPS” and the horrific conditions to which the masses of humanity are constantly subjected. [The 5 STOPS refers to five major social contradictions and forms of oppression and devastation that are built into this system of capitalism-imperialism and which can only be eliminated through a revolution to overthrow this system.]1

    It is also true that the ruling powers of this system, with the machinery of death and destruction they wield to enforce this system, are indeed very powerful. But a big part of people’s difficulty in imagining that we could actually defeat them is the inability to conceive of a situation that is radically different than the “normal” functioning of this system, a situation where, for large parts of society, the “hold” of the ruling class over people—its ability to control, manipulate, and intimidate them—is broken, or greatly weakened. Fundamentally, people cannot imagine this because they are not approaching things with a scientific outlook and method.2 [emphasis added here]

    This series of five articles speaks more fully to why such a revolution is not only urgently necessary now but why, with the right scientific approach, such a revolution could in fact have a real chance to succeed—and why anyone who really wants to see a radically different world, without all the horrors that are continually brought about, and the even greater horrors for humanity that are now threatened, by this system of capitalism-imperialism needs to be actively involved in working tirelessly, with scientifically-based determination, for this revolution.

    The following excerpt from Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution is the second in this series of selections from my talks and writings speaking to how to go about carrying out a revolution in this country, mobilizing millions of people, with the goal of actually defeating the violent enforcers of this system of capitalism-imperialism, abolishing this system altogether, and bringing into being a radically different, emancipating system based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.3

     

    Let’s begin with the statement from HOW WE CAN WIN that everything we are doing is “aiming for something very definite—a revolutionary situation: Where the system and its ruling powers are in a serious crisis” and “millions and millions of people refuse to be ruled in the old way—and are willing and determined to put everything on the line to bring down this system and bring into being a new society and government that will be based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North AmericaThat is the time to go all-out to win. That is what we need to be actively working for and preparing for now.”4 Key components and signs of a revolutionary crisis are that the violence used “to enforce this system is seen by large parts of society for what it is—murderous and illegitimate” and that “the conflicts among the ruling forces become really deep and sharp—and masses of people respond to this not by falling in behind one side or the other of the oppressive rulers, but by taking advantage of this situation to build up the forces for revolution.” This underlines the great importance of ongoing work and compelling struggle to break people away from the “hold” of the political operatives and media mouthpieces of this system.

    I will speak more fully to how we need to be actively preparing now for a revolutionary situation. But, first, in order to have the fullest sense of this, we need to work back from that situation and what would be required then—how the all-out fight would need to be waged—to have a real chance to defeat the powerful, violent forces of this system. Here again, it is crucially important to approach things in a serious and scientific way. This is what is done in “On the Possibility of Revolution,” which (as noted in HOW WE CAN WIN) “sets forth the foundation—the strategic conception and doctrine—for how to fight with a real chance of winning,” once the necessary conditions have been brought into being. “On the Possibility of Revolution” (which is available at revcom.us) is an important document that deserves serious study.5 Here, I am going to examine some of the key points that are gone into in depth in “On the Possibility of Revolution” and are summarized in a more concentrated way in HOW WE CAN WIN.

    A big problem for the revolution is what could be called the “encirclement and suppression” of the people at the base of society who are subjected to one injury and insult after another under this system, and who yearn for an end to all this madness, but who are, in a certain sense, “surrounded” in the society at large by sections of people who do not directly suffer the same daily outrages. To put it simply, there are large numbers of poor and bitterly oppressed people in this country, but there is also a big middle class. Although much of this middle class is not doing as well economically as in the past, there is still a big gap between the middle class and the people at the base of society, and this big divide is one of the main reasons why people—even people who say they would like to see a revolution, but who just look at things on the surface and do not analyze the situation scientifically—say that revolution is not possible. And it is something that the ruling class, and its institutions of repression and control, have seized on, in their efforts to isolate and contain, as brutally as they deem necessary, those whom they most viciously oppress and who represent potentially the greatest threat to their system. This is something these ruling powers would seek to do in an even more systematic and greatly intensified way in a situation where they were confronted by an organized revolutionary struggle aimed at overthrowing their whole system. It is one of the main obstacles the revolutionary forces would need to overcome in order to have a real chance of winning. Not only the strategic approach and basic operational principles, but also certain particular tactical measures of the revolutionary forces—including concentrating forces to repeatedly break through and break down the other side’s physical encirclement of areas of revolutionary strength—would need to be developed and applied to address this major contradiction once the all-out struggle were underway. But confronting this basic problem cannot be left until the time when the all-out struggle is raging. This is something I spoke to in very plain and stark terms in THE NEW COMMUNISM, where I emphasized that we need to “transform this situation so that, when the time comes, it’s not going to be the case that they can easily contain this revolution to those sections of the people that they’d... just as soon kill off anyway.”6 And, as is also emphasized in Part 2 of Birds Cannot Give Birth to Crocodiles, But Humanity Can Soar Beyond the Horizon: “political and ideological work with this contradiction in mind would need to be carried out during the whole period before the emergence of the necessary conditions and... [the all-out] struggle is launched.”7 The more this work is carried out, from here forward, the more the revolutionary forces would be able to counter and defeat the military “encirclement and suppression” of the strongholds of the revolution when the time came for the all-out fight.

    As I put it in THE NEW COMMUNISM, a defining contradiction of this all-out fight is the fact that, at the start, the other side “would likely still be very powerful in military terms, although weak, and in crisis, politically”; while the revolutionary side “would be weak, at the beginning, in military terms, but strong, and on the rise, and having a great deal of initiative, politically, which then would have to be transformed into initiative militarily.” The operational principles and stratagems that are outlined in the final part of HOW WE CAN WIN, speaking specifically to “How We Could Defeat Them,” are particular applications of the approach to dealing with this contradiction.

    An overall principle that flows from this contradiction is the fact that, once underway, the all-out fight would need to be protracted but also finite. “Protracted” means drawn out—it would not be a situation where the outcome, if it were favorable for the revolution, could be decided in a very short period of time. “Finite” means having definite limits—not extended indefinitely. Given that, at the beginning, the balance of power would almost certainly be heavily in favor of the forces of counter-revolution (the forces of the old ruling class and those fighting with it to defeat the revolution) in terms of their military organization and experience, as well as their armaments, the revolutionary forces would need to draw out (protract) the conflict for a certain period, in order to transform the situation into one in which they could overcome those strategic disadvantages. At the same time, because this all-out fight should only be launched by the revolutionary forces in a situation marked by a deep and acute revolutionary crisis and a revolutionary people in the millions and millions, if it were protracted over too long a period, without the revolution advancing in a fairly limited period of time toward the situation where it began to have the upper hand, then the advantages of a revolutionary situation would tend to be lost, the overall initiative would return to the counter-revolution, and the allegiance of significant sections of society, including in the middle classes, that was lost by the old ruling class, would be regained to a degree that could spell defeat for the revolution. This touches on a very important point of strategic orientation: When it comes down to it, what happens on the battlefield will be decisive in determining the outcome but, for the revolutionary forces, one of the key objectives of the fighting would be to demoralize and disintegrate the ranks of the other side, both their actual fighting forces and their broader “civilian support,” leading to further loss of allegiance and of initiative on the counter-revolutionary side; and, to the degree this succeeded, it would be a key element in shifting the balance of forces in favor of the revolution. The all-out struggle will not just mean going up against the institutional forces of the old ruling class but will also involve “a civil war between two sections of the people,” requiring the revolution to both defeat and disintegrate but also, as far as possible, win over parts of the armed forces among the population that started out on the other side....

    To begin, “backbone forces”—especially youth strongly committed to and actively involved in the revolution—would need to be transformed “into organized fighting forces in key strategic areas” and provided with the necessary training and equipment. Doing this would depend on the recognition that the revolutionary situation is clearly emerging. On the one hand, trying to do this before the immediate approach of a revolutionary situation would almost certainly lead to this effort being easily targeted and quickly crushed. On the other side of things, once a revolutionary situation were at hand, the shattering of the “normal conditions” and “normal functioning” of the system that such a situation would involve, would make it possible not to easily and smoothly organize, train, and equip fighting forces for the revolution, but to wrench, out of the intensifying situation, the basis for doing this. The point is that doing this, without being wiped out, would be a process of very intense struggle, but the dramatically new situation would provide the possibility for waging, and winning, this beginning struggle.

    Similarly, providing for the basic logistical needs of this revolutionary fighting force, to enable it to initiate the all-out fight, without being immediately crushed, and then to quickly regroup and once again take the initiative and maintain momentum overall, without being “fixed” and annihilated, would also involve intense struggle, and would require defeating enemy blockades and attacks and penetration directed against strongholds of the revolution and focused on locating and destroying those who make up the revolutionary fighting forces and their logistical sources. All this would require “misdirection” and surprise in operations. And all this would depend on millions more, beyond the backbone fighting forces, being organized concretely as “reserves” and as networks of support and supply for these fighting forces, and the willingness and ability of these “reserves” to “absorb” and protect the fighting forces and their equipment and logistical supplies, and enable them to repeatedly regroup and seize the initiative. This would also require continual “calibration” of the size of fighting units and their operations, at any given time, to enable these fighting units, upon completion of an engagement, to “melt back into” the larger revolutionary “reserves,” while at the same time the conditions are being created to allow them to remain active, in training and in initiating further engagements with the enemy.

    The approach of capturing equipment from the enemy is important for any revolutionary force which starts out facing an enemy with an overwhelming advantage in destructive power and, for some time, a much greater capacity to produce more of this. But HOW WE CAN WIN also emphasizes that utilizing equipment captured from the enemy must be done in ways that “fit the fighting strategy of the revolution.” Not all equipment that might be captured from the other side would be usable by the revolutionary forces—to try to use some captured equipment could put requirements on the logistical capabilities of the revolution that could not be met or sustained, and/or propel the revolutionary forces into fighting in ways that would run counter to the strategy the revolution would need to follow, and/or violate the basic principles and goals for which the revolution is being fought. It has everything to do with what the revolution is all about in the first place, as well as whether or not it has a real chance of succeeding, that HOW WE CAN WIN emphasizes that the revolutionary fighting forces must, “Always conduct operations and act in ways that are in line with the emancipating outlook and goals of the revolution.” Still, in addition to developing means to enlist masses of people in creating equipment the revolutionary forces could utilize, ways could be developed to utilize a great deal of equipment captured from the enemy that are consistent with the strategic orientation, the ways of fighting, and the goals of the revolution. All this would be vital for the advance and ultimate success of the revolution.

    As stressed in HOW WE CAN WIN, the revolutionary forces would need to fight only on favorable terms and avoid decisive encounters, which would determine the outcome of the whole thing, until the balance of forces had shifted overwhelmingly in favor of the revolution. This flows from what has been discussed regarding the overwhelmingly superior destructive force of the counter-revolution at the start of the all-out fight. What is also very important to underline is that this is not merely a question of orientation and intent on the part of the revolutionary forces. Given its overwhelming superiority of force, for some time the enemy would continually seek precisely to force the revolutionaries into situations where they would either be compelled to fight decisive battles that they were bound to lose, or they would have to surrender outright—leading to the total defeat of the revolution, or putting it well on the road to defeat. The point is that being able to avoid potentially disastrous decisive encounters with the enemy would itself be a matter of intense struggle, including that the revolutionary forces could often find themselves having to wage a determined struggle just to avoid being trapped in a situation where they would have to fight such a decisive encounter, or surrender. This is why HOW WE CAN WIN speaks of actively avoiding unfavorable decisive encounters and fighting only on favorable terms. It is why it also emphasizes that, even when the “balance of forces” has shifted in favor of the revolution, it would still be necessary, when conducting operations aimed at achieving final victory, to continue to “calibrate” those operations, “so that decisive encounters are still avoided until the forces of the old order have been brought to the brink of total defeat”—which would then be the time to “fully, finally, rout and dismantle the remaining enemy forces.”

    And it is because of the same concerns that HOW WE CAN WIN, while speaking to the importance of building up political and logistical bases of support for the revolution, at the same time stresses that the revolutionary forces should “not attempt to openly control and govern territory, until the necessary ‘favorable balance of forces’ has been created.” To attempt to do so prematurely would make this territory, the people within it, and the revolutionary forces defending and governing it, highly vulnerable to attack from an enemy that, again, would have overwhelming destructive power; and it would put the revolutionaries in the position of having the responsibility—and what, under the circumstances, would be an unsupportable burden—to meet the basic requirements of a functioning society, and the people within it. The point, the goal, is to carry forward the fight to thoroughly defeat, and dismantle, the forces of the old order, and on that basis to bring into being a new, revolutionary state that can embark on the thorough transformation of society with the ultimate aim of overcoming and eliminating all relations of exploitation and oppression, everywhere in the world.

    This ultimate aim and internationalist orientation of the revolution is also why HOW WE CAN WIN speaks to the need for the revolutionary forces in this country to correctly handle the relation between the all-out fight, when the time comes, and the situation—including the character and level of revolutionary struggle—in countries to the south (and the north). As we know, this country was created through and amidst warfare; and, as I spoke to earlier, it has continually expanded its territory and extended the reach of its empire through armed conquest, enslavement and other forms of extreme exploitation. In carrying out the fight to overthrow the violent rule of this system, both as a matter of orientation and principle, and in terms of strengthening the basis for succeeding, it will be crucial to refuse to be bound by the borders that have been established and the walls that have been erected through the murder and marauding of the ruling capitalist-imperialists of this country, but instead to actively unite with peoples to the south, and the north, in the struggle against this capitalist-imperialist monster, and advance the revolution overall, in this part of the world and in the world as a whole.

    In contrast to the revolutionary forces, the forces of the old order, especially when faced with the prospect that their oppressive system could actually be overthrown and dismantled, would resort to all kinds of barbarity to preserve this system. As it is put in “On the Possibility of Revolution”:

    It is not that the imperialists would hold back from bringing down terrible destructive force against the revolutionaries and the masses of people who supported them—given their reactionary nature, it would be necessary to reckon with the fact that the imperialists would do this—but the decisive question would be whether, through doing this, the imperialists would be able to isolate and destroy the organized forces of the revolution; or whether, on the contrary, these barbaric actions of the imperialists would deepen the hatred of growing numbers of people for the imperialists, stiffen the resolve of those already supporting the revolutionary side, and win more of the people to sympathize with, and to actively support, the revolutionary cause....

    “Decapitating” the leadership of the revolution, and destroying or crippling the means of coordination and overall direction for the revolutionary forces, would also be one of the major objectives of the counter-revolution. HOW WE CAN WIN correctly emphasizes the importance of “Relying on mass support, the intelligence this provides for the revolution and the denial of intelligence to the enemy, [to] counter the enemy’s efforts to find, fix and annihilate revolutionary leadership and key fighting units” and the importance of combining “strategic direction and coordination for the fight as a whole, with decentralized actions and initiative by local units and leaders.” Here again stands out the importance of all the work, from here forward, to build the revolution, among masses of people in many different parts of society. But it has to be squarely faced that, when it comes down to it, even with broad and deep mass support, protecting leadership, in particular the top leading core of the revolution, maintaining overall coordination and strategic direction, and being able to rapidly replace leaders and forces that are lost, is, and will remain, a serious challenge; and this, too, must be actively prepared for and struggled for, including by bringing forward growing ranks of revolutionary leadership now, who are trained and tempered through the combination of being actively involved in building the revolution and becoming more and more deeply grounded in the scientific outlook and methods of communism as it has been further developed with the new communism.

    This brings us back to the decisive point that everything that has been spoken to in terms of how we could defeat them, when the time comes, “depends on winning millions to revolution in the period that leads up to the ripening of a revolutionary situation.”....

    Here, it could be helpful to look at the similarities, and the differences, between the revolutionary process in a country like this and, on the other hand, what has happened in some Third World countries where conditions have allowed the revolutionaries to wage an armed struggle from the beginning of the revolutionary process—to start by fighting battles against small parts of the enemy forces, and to wage war over a long period of time, to wear down the enemy and build up their own forces, with the aim of reaching the point where the “balance of forces” has shifted in their favor, and they can then fight larger-scale battles to finally defeat the forces of the old order. This does have some things in common with how the all-out fight would be waged in a country like this, once the conditions for that had been brought into being. But there are important differences. In this kind of country, an armed struggle would not—should not—be launched until a revolutionary situation had been brought into being in society overall, and then this struggle, while having a certain aspect of being protracted, would also be considerably shorter (more finite) than the overall process of protracted revolutionary wars that have been carried out in Third World countries. In a country like this, there needs to be a process of political, ideological, and organizational work to carry out those “3 Prepares,” to hasten the development of things toward the revolutionary situation, when it would then become possible to launch an all-out struggle with a real chance of winning, through a somewhat protracted but also finite process. [The “3 Prepares" are: prepare the ground (the situation in society overall), prepare the people, and prepare the vanguard leadership for the revolution.]

    To summarize briefly: Third World revolutionary wars—armed struggle from the beginning, over a whole protracted period, to create the basis for the final decisive battles; revolution in a country like this—a process of political, ideological, and organizational work to hasten and prepare for the development of a revolutionary situation, whereupon the all-out fight could be launched, and carried out over a somewhat protracted but also finite period.

    In both types of situations, there is an aspect of “awaiting” as well as “hastening.” Even where revolutionaries in Third World countries have been able to wage warfare from the beginning, they have had to wait for, while actively fighting to bring into being, the situation where they can successfully fight large-scale decisive battles (and in some cases things have become protracted to the point of being bogged down, without any prospect of success). In both situations, everything the revolutionaries are doing needs to be aimed at getting to the point where they can go all-out to finally defeat and dismantle the violent enforcers of the old oppressive system; but the paths and the processes are different because of the different conditions. The point is that everything we are doing, at all times, is part of making revolution—actively working, according to a strategic approach and plan, to move things, as fast as possible, toward the time when it will be possible for millions to fight, all-out, with a real chance to win.

    So, with this understanding and orientation, how do we go about hastening while awaiting? The means for doing this is concentrated in the formulation: “Fight the Power, and Transform the People, for Revolution.” Let’s start with the aim of all this—Revolution. In BAsics 3:1, I put it like this: “Let’s get down to basics: We need a revolution. Anything else, in the final analysis, is bullshit.8 That is another simple and basic truth. We need to go to people—not just one or two people, not just a small number of people, but masses of people, reaching all over the country, in every part of society—straight up with revolution—instead of just letting “where they are at” set the terms, and trying to somehow “bring in” some idea about revolution within that limited framework. As BAsics 3:1 goes on to say: We do need to unite with people in all sorts of struggles short of revolution; but it is frankly ridiculous to think that something short of revolution could solve all the monumental problems and monstrous outrages that people face under this system. On the basis of going to people straight up with revolution, then, coming from that place, we need to unite with people in fighting injustice and oppression, and struggle to win more and more people to see the need and the possibility for revolution, and to get with this....

    This goes back to the important contradiction that millions and millions of people really do care about one or more, and many care about all, of those “5 STOPS,” but in terms of understanding where all these outrages come from and what is necessary to really put a stop to them, most of the same people don’t know shit and have their heads up their asses. So, while uniting with and working to bring forward still greater numbers of people in protesting and resisting the atrocities of this system, there is a need for sharp struggle to win them to confront and grasp the fact that, in fundamental terms, this system is the source of all these horrors, and it cannot be reformed but must be overthrown.

    This is revolutionary work that must be carried out, by continually growing numbers of people organized into the ranks of the revolution and acting together in accordance with a common strategic orientation and plan. This must be done consistently, including in more “normal” times (whatever those are), and it is of heightened importance “with every ‘jolt’ in society—every crisis, every new outrage, where many people question and resist what they normally accept...."

    HOW WE CAN WIN emphasizes that: “The organized forces and the leadership of this revolution must become the ‘authority’ that growing numbers of people look to and follow—not the lying politicians and media of this oppressive system—not those who front for the oppressors and preach about ‘reconciliation’ with this system—not those who turn people against each other when they need to be uniting for this revolution...."

    Revolution IS possible—and we have to go to work to make it real. So let me end with what is powerfully stated in the conclusion of HOW WE CAN WIN:

    All this depends on winning millions to revolution in the period that leads up to the ripening of a revolutionary situation. The chance to defeat them, when the time comes—the chance to be rid of this system and to bring something far better into being—has everything to do with what we do now. Everyone who hungers for a radically different world, free of exploitation and oppression and all the needless suffering caused by this system, needs to work now with a fired determination to make this happen, so we will have a real chance to win.

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. The 5 STOPS are:

    STOP Genocidal Persecution, Mass Incarceration, Police Brutality and Murder of Black and Brown People!

    STOP The Patriarchal Degradation, Dehumanization, and Subjugation of All Women Everywhere, and All Oppression Based on Gender and Sexual Orientation!

    STOP Wars of Empire, Armies of Occupation, and Crimes Against Humanity!

    STOP The Demonization, Criminalization and Deportations of Immigrants and the Militarization of the Border!

    STOP Capitalism-imperialism from Destroying Our Planet! [back]

    2. The text and film of Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolutiona speech by Bob Avakian in 2018, is available at revcom.us in BA’s Collected Works. [back]

    3. The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America is available at revcom.us. [back]

    4. From the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA: How We Can Win—How We Can Really Make Revolution, which is available at revcom.us. [back]

    5. On the Possibility of Revolution, Letter from a Reader... and ResponseRevolution #102, September 23, 2007, is available at revcom.us. [back]

    6. Bob Avakian, THE NEW COMMUNISM, The science, the strategy, the leadership for an actual revolution, and a radically new society on the road to real emancipation (Insight Press, Chicago, 2016). [back]

    7. Birds Cannot Give Birth to Crocodiles, But Humanity Can Soar Beyond the Horizon, Part 1 and Part 2, by Bob Avakian is available at revcom.us. [back]

    8. BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian (RCP Publications, Chicago, 2011). [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN

    Part 3: Civil War and Revolution

    "REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN" is being published in a series. Part 1: We Are Serious was published July 31, 2023. Part 2: A Scientifically Based Strategy was published August 7, 2023. Part 3: Civil War and Revolution was published August 14, 2023. Part 4: Hard Core Youth and the Revolution was published August 21, 2023. Part 5: Winning and Winning was published August 28, 2023.

    Introduction: 

    Some people have argued that an attempt to make an actual revolution, to overthrow the ruling system of capitalism-imperialism in this country, up against the powerful armed forces of this system, would be suicidal. This is something I spoke to, a number of years ago now, in the talk Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution:

    Many people, including many who say they would like to see a radical change in society, insist that revolution is not possible because “they” are too powerful, and “people are too messed up.” Well, it is true that, shaped as they are by this system, the masses of people, in any part of society, don’t know shit and have their heads up their asses, when it comes to an understanding of how things really are, why they are the way they are, and what could and should be done about this. But this stands in sharp contradiction to another important truth—that millions of people really do care about one or more, and many care about all, of the “5 STOPS.” This is a contradiction that we have to go to work on, to move masses of people in the direction of the revolution that is needed to finally put a stop to those “5 STOPS” and the horrific conditions to which the masses of humanity are constantly subjected. [The 5 STOPS refers to five major social contradictions and forms of oppression and devastation that are built into this system of capitalism-imperialism and which can only be eliminated through a revolution to overthrow this system.]1

    It is also true that the ruling powers of this system, with the machinery of death and destruction they wield to enforce this system, are indeed very powerful. But a big part of people’s difficulty in imagining that we could actually defeat them is the inability to conceive of a situation that is radically different than the “normal” functioning of this system, a situation where, for large parts of society, the “hold” of the ruling class over people—its ability to control, manipulate, and intimidate them—is broken, or greatly weakened. Fundamentally, people cannot imagine this because they are not approaching things with a scientific outlook and method.2 [emphasis added here]

    This series of five articles speaks more fully to why such a revolution is not only urgently necessary now but why, with the right scientific approach, such a revolution could in fact have a real chance to succeed—and why anyone who really wants to see a radically different world, without all the horrors that are continually brought about, and the even greater horrors for humanity that are now threatened, by this system of capitalism-imperialism needs to be actively involved in working tirelessly, with scientifically based determination, for this revolution.

    The following, from “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating3 is the third in this series of selections from my talks and writings speaking to how to go about carrying out a revolution in this country, mobilizing millions of people, with the goal of actually defeating the violent enforcers of this system of capitalism-imperialism, abolishing this system altogether, and bringing into being a radically different, emancipating system based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.4

    Something Terrible Or Something Truly Emancipating

     

    What are the necessary conditions for a revolution? In basic terms, they are:

    A crisis in society and government so deep and so disruptive of the “usual way of things,” 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.

    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.

    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 is grounded in, and is working systematically to apply, the most 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....

    The reality now is that the fascist section of the ruling class, represented by and concentrated in the Republican Party, is actively and aggressively engaged in a “two-pronged” move to achieve and consolidate fascist rule. These “two prongs” are: corrupting and controlling the electoral process and key government institutions; and the threat and use of violence, including through the mobilization of violent mobs. These fascists are, for now, relying mainly on the first, but with the second (violence) as an “accompaniment” to this—which could become their main means, if that proves necessary for them. In any case, if they succeed, the full power of the government—including the executive power of the presidency, the courts and legal apparatus, the prisons, as well as the police and the military—will be wielded to crush any effective opposition to fascist rule and to forcefully impose its program of “restoring” America to its mythological “greatness” on the basis of aggressive white supremacy, crude and brutal male supremacy and suppression of LGBT people, xenophobia (hatred and persecution of foreigners and immigrants, particularly from what Trump infamously referred to as “shithole countries”), forceful assertion and chauvinistic trumpeting of American dominance and “the superiority of western civilization,” along with willful rejection of science and the scientific method, especially where it would interfere with unrestrained plunder of the environment, as well as people.

    Given the nature, objectives and actions of the fascists, there is the real possibility of actual civil war. But given the nature, objectives and actions of the “mainstream” section of the ruling class (as represented by the Democratic Party and media such as MSNBC, the New York Times and CNN), and given the current situation with those, from different parts of society, who tend to support, and politically tail behind, this “mainstream” section of the ruling class, it is possible that the fascists could achieve and consolidate power without a civil war, but with all the terrible consequences that would follow this fascist consolidation of power. Or, as emphasized in the “Declaration and Call,” in what would amount to a one-sided civil war, these fascists could carry out a slaughter of those they hate, including Black people and other people of color, “illegal immigrants,” “uppity women” and those who don’t conform to “traditional” sexual and gender relations and “norms.”

    In any case, it is a deadly serious reality that these fascists are determined to crush—as violently as necessary—anyone and anything, anywhere in society, that stands in the way of implementing their horrific objectives.

    This puts an exclamation point on what the “Declaration and Call” says immediately after this:

    This situation needs to be radically changed, to where there are masses of people prepared to defeat these fascists and to do so as part of getting rid of this whole system, which has bred these fascists, along with all the other horrors it continually perpetrates. ...5

    This is not the time of the Civil War in the 1860s, when the goal of those fighting against injustice was to abolish slavery, and—in terms of who ruled society—the only possible positive outcome was the consolidation and strengthening of the rule of the rising capitalist class centered in the North. That time is now long gone. And this system of capitalism, which has developed into a system of worldwide exploitation and oppression, capitalism-imperialism, is long outmoded—long past its expiration date, long past any circumstances where it could play any positive role. The goal now must precisely be getting rid of this whole system of capitalism-imperialism

    The character of a new civil war would have significantly different features from that previous civil war of 1861-65, where one geographic part of the country, the southern Confederacy, attempted to secede and form a separate country in that territory. Today, the forces of fascism among the population are again concentrated in the South, as well as in rural areas throughout the country; but, in the South and throughout the country, they are closely connected, geographically, with sections of the population that are opposed to this fascism. Any new civil war would be fought between opposing forces that would be in close proximity to each other—in a real sense intertwined geographically—around the country. This would have both advantages and disadvantages for the people on the positive side of such a civil war, and this would need to be taken into account in their approach to fighting that civil war.

    (The “Red States/Blue States” picture, which is constantly presented in the mainstream media, is very misleading in terms of the geographic and political divisions in the country. It does not present an accurate picture of population concentration—of which sections of the people are actually concentrated where, and in what numbers, within the existing states. Of particular importance, it downplays the concentration of people in this country as a whole in urban areas, including the suburbs around the inner city cores, and the concentration of masses of oppressed people especially in those inner city cores. It downplays the strong opposition to the fascists that exists among large numbers of people in the urban areas. This mainstream presentation of things is meant to reinforce the sense that the only possibility is the continuation of this system of capitalism-imperialism, and the only choice is between the two parties representing the ruling class of this system: the “red” Republican Party or the “blue” Democratic Party. And, by the way, with the color red historically associated with communism, the “appropriation” of this color in association with the fascist Republican Party is an abomination!)

    The current polarization, even on the positive side, among those opposed to the fascists, is not what is needed, and will not meet the profound and urgent challenge of these times. For the reasons discussed in this talk, there can be no real and lasting defeat of these fascists on the terms of the Democrats, on the terms of what have been, for generations, the “norms” of “democratic” capitalist rule in this country. Fundamentally, there can be no resolution to this, under this system, which will be in the interests of the masses of people, not just in this country but in the world as a whole. Once more, what is urgently needed is a very different polarization than what exists today—a repolarization—for revolution.

    And, once again as well—without being absolute about this—there is a limited time frame within which this repolarization must be achieved. If things continue as they are, with the fascist offensive by the Republican Party and its base becoming even more aggressive and powerful, then it is very likely that their “two-pronged offensive” will succeed, that they will utilize the changes they are forcing through state governments and key parts of the federal government, in particular the courts, to regain and consolidate control of the country as a whole, move forward with a vengeance to implement their fascist program, and forcefully suppress, as violently as necessary, any effective opposition.

    The urgency of this situation—and the urgent need for repolarization, for revolution—must be clearly understood, and forcefully conveyed to masses of people. This must be done in a compelling way, without hype (and there is no need for hype to describe the critical situation and urgent stakes). While it is crucially important to unite with people in rising up against the terrible injustices and outrages constantly perpetrated by this system, and to continually bring alive the possibility of a radically different and emancipating alternative, once again it needs to be stressed: It is necessary to wage a tireless struggle to break people out of the ways of thinking, and acting, that in fact keep them chained to this system and contribute to perpetuating this system, in one form or another.

    Fatalism, and defeatism—the belief that nothing can be done to change the terrible situation and bleak future humanity is now facing, that no positive radical change is possible—this way of thinking itself must be defeated, overcome both through sharp struggle and by bringing alive and popularizing the possibility for a radically different and better world, through revolution, which is grounded in a scientific, materialist approach to and understanding of the real world and the actual possibility for its positive radical transformation. Overall—and above all in terms of the basic masses, the bitterly oppressed people who must become the backbone of this revolution—overcoming this defeatism, and bringing about the necessary repolarization, must be carried out, and can only be achieved, through a powerful combination of fierce ideological struggle among the people, to win growing numbers to a scientific understanding of the situation we face and the actual solution to this, together with determined resistance against this oppressive system—all of which must be led to contribute to building up the forces and creating the political alignment necessary for revolution....

    So, in the event of, and in the context of, a new civil war, the approach of the revolutionary forces, led by the new communism, would be to carry out the necessary political work, in combination with the actual fighting, to develop such a civil war into a revolution to achieve the goal of getting rid of this whole system, and replacing it with a radically different and emancipating system based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. The 5 STOPS are: 

    STOP Genocidal Persecution, Mass Incarceration, Police Brutality and Murder of Black and Brown People!

    STOP The Patriarchal Degradation, Dehumanization, and Subjugation of All Women Everywhere, and All Oppression Based on Gender and Sexual Orientation!

    STOP Wars of Empire, Armies of Occupation, and Crimes Against Humanity!

    STOP The Demonization, Criminalization and Deportations of Immigrants and the Militarization of the Border!

    STOP Capitalism-imperialism from Destroying Our Planet! [back]

    2. The text and film of Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, a speech by Bob Avakian in 2018, are available at revcom.us in BA’s Collected Works. [back]

    3. 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, by Bob Avakian is available at revcom.us [back]

    4. The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America is available at revcom.us. [back]

    5. From The Revcoms: A Declaration, A Call To Get Organized Now For A Real Revolution is available at revcom.us. [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN

    Part 4: Hard Core Youth and the Revolution

    "REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN" is being published in a series. Part 1: We Are Serious was published July 31, 2023. Part 2: A Scientifically Based Strategy was published August 7, 2023. Part 3: Civil War and Revolution was published August 14, 2023. Part 4: Hard Core Youth and the Revolution was published August 21, 2023. Part 5: Winning and Winning was published August 28, 2023.

    Introduction: 

    Some people have argued that an attempt to make an actual revolution, to overthrow the ruling system of capitalism-imperialism in this country, up against the powerful armed forces of this system, would be suicidal. This is something I spoke to, a number of years ago now, in the talk Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution:

    Many people, including many who say they would like to see a radical change in society, insist that revolution is not possible because “they” are too powerful, and “people are too messed up.” Well, it is true that, shaped as they are by this system, the masses of people, in any part of society, don’t know shit and have their heads up their asses, when it comes to an understanding of how things really are, why they are the way they are, and what could and should be done about this. But this stands in sharp contradiction to another important truth—that millions of people really do care about one or more, and many care about all, of the “5 STOPS.” This is a contradiction that we have to go to work on, to move masses of people in the direction of the revolution that is needed to finally put a stop to those “5 STOPS” and the horrific conditions to which the masses of humanity are constantly subjected. [The 5 STOPS refers to five major social contradictions and forms of oppression and devastation that are built into this system of capitalism-imperialism and which can only be eliminated through a revolution to overthrow this system.]6

    It is also true that the ruling powers of this system, with the machinery of death and destruction they wield to enforce this system, are indeed very powerful. But a big part of people’s difficulty in imagining that we could actually defeat them is the inability to conceive of a situation that is radically different than the “normal” functioning of this system, a situation where, for large parts of society, the “hold” of the ruling class over people—its ability to control, manipulate, and intimidate them—is broken, or greatly weakened. Fundamentally, people cannot imagine this because they are not approaching things with a scientific outlook and method.7 [emphasis added here]

    This series of five articles speaks more fully to why such a revolution is not only urgently necessary now but why, with the right scientific approach, such a revolution could in fact have a real chance to succeed—and why anyone who really wants to see a radically different world, without all the horrors that are continually brought about, and the even greater horrors for humanity that are now threatened, by this system of capitalism-imperialism needs to be actively involved in working tirelessly, with scientifically based determination, for this revolution.

    The following, from “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating8 is the fourth in this series of selections from my talks and writings speaking to how to go about carrying out a revolution in this country, mobilizing millions of people, with the goal of actually defeating the violent enforcers of this system of capitalism-imperialism, abolishing this system altogether, and bringing into being a radically different, emancipating system based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.9

    Something Terrible Or Something Truly Emancipating

     

    Winning basic people, and in particular the youth, to revolution also requires making further critical breakthroughs in what I have called the “George Jackson question”—the problem sharply posed by George Jackson, a prisoner who became a militant revolutionary associated with the Black Panther Party during the upsurge of the 1960s, and who grappled deeply with the question of revolutionary possibility, before he was assassinated by the authorities. To a slave who does not expect to live beyond tomorrow, Jackson said, the idea of gradual change, and revolution in some far-off future, has no meaning and no appeal.

    This takes on particular and special meaning in a rare time like this—a time when revolution could actually be possible, exactly not in some vague far-off future, but through the swirl of the sharpening events and conflicts that are happening right in this present time.

    Here, again, is the decisive question of how much the organized forces of revolution are built up and have an impact on all this, in the direction of the revolution that is so urgently needed.

    To appeal to masses of people, and in particular basic youth, the revolution must become a growing, organized, disciplined, bold and fearless force which, through its scientifically based method, its sweeping vision, its emancipating program and goals, and its actions, is an increasingly powerful pole that will attract these youth—and fighters for revolution from all parts of society.

    There is plenty that needs to be done, and urgently, which requires real boldness and heart, in working for this revolution: powerfully spreading the word about this revolution, challenging people to get into this revolution, recruiting and organizing them into this revolution—going up against and breaking through all the bullshit that people are caught up in that goes against their own real interests—doing the work that needs to be done to transform people’s thinking, and their actions—standing up against the forces oppressing the people, waging the fight that needs to be waged against the atrocities of this system—doing all this to get ready, and to have the basis, to wage the all-out fight to finally overthrow this system, as soon as the necessary conditions for that have been brought into being.

    And, as the revolution grows in this way: There is plenty that needs to be done, and urgently, which requires real boldness and heart, to stand up against the fascists, and any other oppressive force, in their moves to threaten and intimidate, brutalize and even murder people. Let me make clear that I am not calling for launching unprovoked and unjustified attacks on anybody; but there is a right, and a need—and there is the responsibility—to defend the people who are oppressed and brutalized under this system, and those who represent and stand for what is right, and are being attacked because of that.

    In the six Points of Attention for the Revolution—which are basic principles that the Revolution Clubs, a key form of organization for this revolution, base themselves on and fight for—the final point is this:

    We are going for an actual overthrow of this system and a whole better way beyond the destructive, vicious conflicts of today between the people. Because we are serious, at this stage we do not initiate violence and we oppose all violence against the people and among the people.10

    Yes, this is something very serious: going for an actual overthrow of this system and a whole better way. And, yes, a big part of this is overcoming how people who are already messed over, in so many ways, by this system, get caught up in yet another way this system messes them up: fighting and killing each other. This needs to stop.

    But it doesn’t need to just stop. People who have been caught up in this need to become part of something really positive—they need to become part of the forces for the revolution that is so urgently needed now.

    The frustration and anger that so many feel, especially so many basic youth, because they can sense that life under this system has nothing good for them—that, from the time they are born, they are locked down and surrounded by forces that regard and treat them as alien objects of fear and hatred—and that those with power look at them as scum who deserve nothing more than a boot up the ass and a bullet in the brain—this frustration and anger needs to be redirected to fighting the system that treats them this way, and has robbed them, and so many like them throughout the world, of a decent life and a decent future, or any future at all.

    Once more, there is plenty that calls, urgently, for great courage and boldness in doing what needs to be done: to be part of rising up against this system and getting ready to go all the way with revolution as soon as the time is right—and, as an important part of that, supporting, and defending, people who are constantly being subjected to unjust attacks on their rights and their very being.

    There are the continuing attacks on people and movements that are rebelling against racist oppression....

    There are attacks on school board members not only for adopting ... basic health measures but also for things like approving the teaching of some truth about the white supremacy that has always existed in this country, or allowing rights for trans people.

    There are the threats, harassment and attacks on women seeking abortions, and on clinics and medical personnel working to provide those abortions, along with the escalating assault on the right to abortion by the Republican-fascist party, and those it has placed in the courts.

    There are brutal and often murderous attacks on LGBT people.

    There are continuing moves, including with the threat or use of violence, to once again prevent Black people and other oppressed people from even exercising what are supposed to be basic rights, such as voting. (With a scientific method and approach, it is both possible, and important, to actively oppose attempts to deny people the right to vote, and at the same time win people to see that their efforts need to go, not into voting for representatives of this system that is oppressing them, but working to build up the basis to overthrow this whole system.)

    All these attacks on people and their rights need to be powerfully opposed, and people on the good side of this need to be actively protected and defended, where they are assaulted with threats and even outright physical attacks.

    There is the need to prevent the police from brutalizing and just coldly murdering people. Let us remember what was said by some people who witnessed, and even recorded, the slow-motion vicious execution of George Floyd: They agonized over whether they should have done more, should have acted to stop this blatant assassination of a defenseless Black man. Now, again, what I am pointing to is consistent with point 6 of the six Points of Attention for the Revolution—and, in what I am saying here, I am not calling for launching an attack on anyone. But there is no right for anyone, including police, to just murder someone—and there is a right and responsibility to defend and protect people from unjust attacks on their rights, and on their very lives.

    Imagine if, in these different kinds of situations, there were a force of hardcore revolutionaries, including basic youth, whose presence in a disciplined and organized formation made clear that no unjust attacks on people would be tolerated. But this must not just be imagined—it must be developed as one important part of the overall process of preparing for, and building the organized forces for, revolution.

    This must be taken up in a serious, scientific way—not attempting, at any given point, to do what there is not yet the basis to do, but actively working to bring into being the conditions where what was not possible before becomes possible, as the organized ranks of revolution continue to grow and become steeled as a disciplined force. Taken up in this way, this can increasingly have dynamic effect—with “reverberations” and impact far beyond the immediate situation, attracting more people to this revolution... which, in turn, will make it possible to have even greater impact... and attract even larger forces.

    All this is an important part of the overall approach that I have laid out in the course of this talk, which will enable what are today the small organized forces of this revolution to continue to grow—increasingly by leaps and bounds—in numbers, organized strength, and impact on society as a whole. This is what more and more people must be challenged, and enabled, to become part of.

    This brings up another important dimension of working for revolution—and opposing the fascists as part of doing that: It is necessary to sharply expose and oppose—and fight to politically and practically overcome—the reality that for white supremacists and fascists generally the Second Amendment, the “right to bear arms,” has been regularly upheld and given the backing of the law and the courts, and the support of the police and other institutions of the state; while for Black people, other oppressed people, and generally those opposing the oppression and injustice of this system, the “right to bear arms,” even in self-defense, has been actively opposed and suppressed.

    This is made graphically clear in the book by Carol Anderson focusing on the Second Amendment—The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America. This book contains (yet more!) searing exposure of the depraved violence visited upon Black people throughout the history of this country, and speaks to how the “right to bear arms” has never applied to Black people, and instead there has been the perverse “right to kill” Black people, on the part of the powers-that-be and racist whites generally. This cannot be allowed to continue!

    And it is not just around what is represented by “the Second Amendment” that a determined fight must be waged, but around the many ways in which the approach to rights that are supposedly guaranteed to people is applied in a highly unequal way, so that oppressed people, and those acting against the oppressive relations of this system, constantly find their rights attacked, “abridged,” or outright denied and suppressed. In waging this fight, it is important to recognize and, to the degree possible, take advantage of this contradiction: In reality, under this system of capitalism-imperialism, rights and liberties are determined, and limited, in accordance with what serves the interests of this system and its ruling class; but, we are constantly told that, under this system, there is “liberty and justice for all,” and the rulers of this system, or at least some of them, feel it is important to maintain this myth. Again, to the degree possible, this contradiction must be seized on, in waging the fight to defeat attempts by the enforcers of this system to violate what are supposed to be basic rights, in their moves to suppress people rising up against this system and its profound injustice.

    But, most fundamentally, this fight must be waged with full awareness, a scientifically grounded understanding, of the essential nature of this system, with the orientation and goal of working toward the overthrow of this system and the dismantling of its relations and institutions of vicious exploitation and blood-soaked oppression and repression.

    Once again, in order to make all this a reality, as this revolution is being brought to growing numbers of basic youth, and others, and they are being challenged to get into it, they need to be struggled with, hard, to get rid of the ways of thinking and acting that keep this system going. People need to “get their head right,” get their head out of their ass, and take up the scientific method and approach of the new communism to understanding reality, and transforming reality in a fundamental way, through revolution. This means not being just out for yourself, or those you can identify with in a narrow way (whoever that may be), but becoming revolutionaries in the fullest sense—revolutionary communists, emancipators of all humanity—becoming part of the organized and disciplined forces for this revolution, and nothing less.

    As we say, to “everyone who has the heart to fight for something that is really worth fighting for: You need to be part of this revolution.”

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. The 5 STOPS are:

    STOP Genocidal Persecution, Mass Incarceration, Police Brutality and Murder of Black and Brown People!

    STOP The Patriarchal Degradation, Dehumanization, and Subjugation of All Women Everywhere, and All Oppression Based on Gender and Sexual Orientation!

    STOP Wars of Empire, Armies of Occupation, and Crimes Against Humanity!

    STOP The Demonization, Criminalization and Deportations of Immigrants and the Militarization

    of the Border!

    STOP Capitalism-imperialism from Destroying Our Planet! [back]

    2. The text and film of Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolutiona speech by Bob Avakian in 2018, are available at revcom.us in BA’s Collected Works. [back]

    3. 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, by Bob Avakian is available at revcom.us. [back]

    4. The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America is available at revcom.us. [back]

    5. The six Points of Attention for the Revolution are available as well at revcom.us. [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN

    Part 5: Winning and Winning

    "REVOLUTION: A REAL CHANCE TO WIN" is being published in a series. Part 1: We Are Serious was published July 31, 2023. Part 2: A Scientifically Based Strategy was published August 7, 2023. Part 3: Civil War and Revolution was published August 14, 2023. Part 4: Hard Core Youth and the Revolution was published August 21, 2023. Part 5: Winning and Winning was published August 28, 2023.

    Introduction:

    Some people have argued that an attempt to make an actual revolution, to overthrow the ruling system of capitalism-imperialism in this country, up against the powerful armed forces of this system, would be suicidal. This is something I spoke to, a number of years ago now, in the talk Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution:

    Many people, including many who say they would like to see a radical change in society, insist that revolution is not possible because “they” are too powerful, and “people are too messed up.” Well, it is true that, shaped as they are by this system, the masses of people, in any part of society, don’t know shit and have their heads up their asses, when it comes to an understanding of how things really are, why they are the way they are, and what could and should be done about this. But this stands in sharp contradiction to another important truth—that millions of people really do care about one or more, and many care about all, of the “5 STOPS.” This is a contradiction that we have to go to work on, to move masses of people in the direction of the revolution that is needed to finally put a stop to those “5 STOPS” and the horrific conditions to which the masses of humanity are constantly subjected. [The 5 STOPS refers to five major social contradictions and forms of oppression and devastation that are built into this system of capitalism-imperialism and which can only be eliminated through a revolution to overthrow this system.]6

    It is also true that the ruling powers of this system, with the machinery of death and destruction they wield to enforce this system, are indeed very powerful. But a big part of people’s difficulty in imagining that we could actually defeat them is the inability to conceive of a situation that is radically different than the “normal” functioning of this system, a situation where, for large parts of society, the “hold” of the ruling class over people—its ability to control, manipulate, and intimidate them—is broken, or greatly weakened. Fundamentally, people cannot imagine this because they are not approaching things with a scientific outlook and method.7 [emphasis added here]

    This series of five articles speaks more fully to why such a revolution is not only urgently necessary now but why, with the right scientific approach, such a revolution could in fact have a real chance to succeed—and why anyone who really wants to see a radically different world, without all the horrors that are continually brought about, and the even greater horrors for humanity that are now threatened, by this system of capitalism-imperialism needs to be actively involved in working tirelessly, with scientifically based determination, for this revolution.

    The following excerpt from a presentation to a gathering of revcoms (revolutionary communists) in 2022 is the final installment in this series of selections from my talks and writings speaking to how to go about carrying out a revolution in this country, mobilizing millions of people, with the goal of actually defeating the violent enforcers of this system of capitalism-imperialism, abolishing this system altogether, and bringing into being a radically different, emancipating system based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.8 The first part of this excerpt was previously posted at revcom.us in part one of this series.

    Something Terrible Or Something Truly Emancipating

     

    As I said in the Dialogue with Cornel West: It is important that we are right, and righteous—it is important that we stand with the wretched of the earth and stand up against their oppression—but we have to win. We have to actually shatter the rule of this monstrous system, and bring something radically different and much better into being. Or else, we will at best “fight the good fight” but the horrors will continue, and get even worse.9

    The sixth point of the Points of Attention for the Revolution says this: “We are going for an actual overthrow of this system and a whole better way beyond the destructive, vicious conflicts of today between the people. Because we are serious, at this stage we do not initiate violence and we oppose all violence against the people and among the people.”10

    I have highlighted the words “Because we are serious” in order to emphasize that this Point of Attention is not a declaration of some idealist pacifist notion that the struggle against this system can and must always remain non-violent. First of all, while we are against all violence against the people and among the people, and at this stage we do not initiate (and we do not encourage others to initiate) violence, at the same time we strongly recognize and uphold the right of people to defend themselves against unjust attacks. And, more strategically, we scientifically understand that: the fundamental source of violence in the world is this system of capitalism-imperialism, that by far the greatest perpetrators of unjust violence are the ruling classes of the capitalist-imperialist powers, most of all this country—and that the fundamental reason why the abolition of this system cannot be achieved peacefully is, once again, because of the nature of this system itself, and the fact that those who rule in it would never allow their system to be swept away without attempting to violently suppress and crush any such attempt.

    This is what it means that we are serious about all this.

    It is with this understanding, and this orientation, that we have to very seriously approach the question of how to actually win—win in the more immediate fight, historically speaking, to seize power—and win in a way that lays the basis for winning in the largest sense, with the goal of uprooting all oppression and exploitation, all over the world, bringing into being a communist world in which human beings can truly thrive with the fullest expression of their humanity.

    This approach to “winning—and winning”—is an application of the principle that “the new communism thoroughly repudiates and is determined to root out of the communist movement the poisonous notion, and practice, that ‘the ends justify the means.’ It is a bedrock principle of the new communism that the ‘means’ of this movement must flow from and be consistent with the fundamental ‘ends’ of abolishing all exploitation and oppression through revolution led on a scientific basis.”11

    So, let’s get into how we could, and would need to, go about winning, when the conditions for that have been brought into being. The necessary strategic approach to this flows from the scientific understanding that the revolutionary forces could not win any contest in which they frontally took on the full force of a unified and cohesive existing state power. (I’m going to pause so people can think about this...)

    The following, from “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating,” speaks to this:

    Here, again, is something that is crucial to understand, something that is a hallmark of a serious, scientific approach to fighting to win, when the time comes: No matter how much the situation in society overall is changed, and no matter how much even the most powerful institutions of violent repression of this system are affected by this, with significant splits very likely occurring among them, the revolution will still be confronted with powerful armed forces of counter-revolution, from among sections of the official institutions, along with fascist “civilian forces” aligned with them. And it would be extremely unlikely that, particularly at the beginning phase, the revolutionary fighting forces would be able to confront and defeat those armed forces of counter-revolution by directly and frontally taking on anything close to their full force. That is why, in the doctrine and strategic orientation that has been developed to enable the revolutionary forces to fight to win, when the time is right, it is stressed that:

    [T]he revolutionary forces would need to fight only on favorable terms and avoid decisive encounters, which would determine the outcome of the whole thing, until the balance of forces had shifted overwhelmingly in favor of the revolution.12

    This doctrine and strategic orientation is spoken to in some depth and spelled out more fully in... Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, with additional thinking provided in my article “A Real Revolution—A Real Chance To Win, Further Developing the Strategy for Revolution” (which also can be found at revcom.us). This sets the basic groundwork for how, when the necessary conditions have been brought into being, a revolutionary force, mobilizing masses of people, could actually approach the overthrow of this system in such a way as to effectively neutralize and eventually overcome what would almost certainly be, at the outset, the overwhelming power of the armed forces seeking to defeat and pulverize this attempt at the revolutionary seizure of power. It speaks to how, when the revolutionary situation has been ripened, revolutionary fighting forces, with the backbone drawn especially from youth who have been won hardcore to this revolution, could be organized and trained, and provided with the means to engage and defeat forces of counter-revolution in encounters, beginning on a small scale, which would be favorable for the revolutionary forces—and how, on that basis and through the course of doing that, they could grow in strength and win over growing numbers among those who had been part of the counter-revolutionary forces, and then finally defeat the remaining forces of counter-revolution.

    In Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, I cited this important statement:

    Rupert Smith, a British military officer and strategist, has noted that an insurrectionary force that is "defining the parameters of the conflict" has “by default presented an alternative force and power.” [Let’s stop and reflect on what that means.] This means that, if a revolutionary force is to a large degree determining the character of the conflict, it will be seen not as a bunch of “outlaws” but as a legitimate force contending against the old order; and this relates to why it is so important that the initial actions of the revolutionary fighting forces, accompanied by a bold declaration to the world, “make clear that there is an organized force determined to defeat the forces of the old order and bring into being a new, revolutionary system.” This would play a crucial part in demolishing the “superstitious awe” that people have toward the existing system, the nearly religious belief that this is the best, or at least the only, way that things could be, and that the power of this system is unchallengeable; it would further undermine the “legitimacy” and “authority” of the old order and its ruling class and the allegiance to it of broad sections of the population, and lay more of a basis for winning over even broader sections, including from within the fighting forces of the other side.

    The approach of seeking and achieving victories, in more limited encounters, has as one of its key objectives the creation of an overall situation in which there will be increasing disintegration of the opposing side, and the defection of significant parts of that opposing side to the revolutionary side. This will be an important part of the process of bringing about a qualitative change in the “balance of forces,” to where the revolutionaries have gained the upper hand—a position from which they could then carry out the final defeat of the counter-revolution.

    The following (from the article “A Real Revolution—A Real Chance To Win, Further Developing the Strategy for Revolution”) stresses this:

    There would need to be an added emphasis on the need for the all-out revolutionary fight to be country-wide in scope, from the beginning, or very quickly after the start, for the revolutionary forces to have organized strongholds of support in many different parts of the country—and to have the ability to act simultaneously, or in quick succession, in many different parts of the country (to effect a “popcorn” phenomenon of actions breaking out repeatedly and in quick succession all over the country)—in order to effectively counter the “encirclement and suppression” of the revolution by the counter-revolution, and in particular the ability of the counter-revolution to not only concentrate forces against but to actually occupy the areas that constitute the strongholds of support for the revolution (even while those strongholds are not yet being openly controlled and administered by the revolution), particularly in the early stages of this all-out fight.

    This “popcorn” approach, keeping the enemy off balance, could also contribute to the disintegration of and defection from the other side.

    To quote again from Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution:

    [A]nother point emphasized by Rupert Smith is important: it is not absolute force but “utility of force” that matters—not what any state, or other armed force, may have in its arsenal, but what it can actually utilize to its advantage in an armed conflict. One of the key operational principles of the revolutionary forces would be to wage the fight in such a way as to prevent the forces of the old order from being able to use their worst destructive power in a way that would be to their military as well as political advantage. At the same time, in the face of the barbaric actions that the old ruling forces would still carry out, it would be crucial for the revolutionary forces to “turn the barbaric actions of the enemy against him—to win greater forces for the revolution, including those who come over from the ranks of the enemy.”

    Here it is worth repeating this crucial point:

    It is also true that the ruling powers of this system, with the machinery of death and destruction they wield to enforce this system, are indeed very powerful. But a big part of people’s difficulty in imagining that we could actually defeat them is the inability to conceive of a situation that is radically different than the “normal” functioning of this system, a situation where, for large parts of society, the “hold” of the ruling class over people—its ability to control, manipulate, and intimidate them—is broken, or greatly weakened. Fundamentally, people cannot imagine this because they are not approaching things with a scientific outlook and method.

    (And does it need to be said again that we must be bringing this scientific outlook and method to people?)

    At the same time, “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating” emphasizes that the development of the basic doctrine and strategic approach for this all-out fight is an ongoing process. And that

    [T]hroughout this period of preparing the ground, preparing masses of people and preparing the leading forces for this revolution, this basic doctrine and strategic approach for the all-out fight must be continually developed and made more “operational” in conception—that is, it must be further elaborated and further concretized, particularly in terms of what will constitute the actual pathways to victory—and, flowing from and serving that, what should be the specific nature and features of the encounters with the other side, particularly in the beginning phases, and (as far as possible) overall.

    As spoken to earlier, a big factor in regard to all this is the real possibility of civil war between opposing sections of society, and how this could impact the key institutions of state power of this system. If such a civil war were to erupt—or even if the deepening divisions in society were moving more directly toward such a civil war—this could have a profound effect on such institutions, with the real prospect of splits among them, and even the possibility of the splitting apart of such institutions, with some parts siding with the fascists and others with those on the side opposed to the fascists.

    This possibility is something that the basic doctrine and strategic approach for the revolutionary fighting forces would need to take into account and encompass. But, in order for the revolutionary forces to win over, and incorporate into their ranks, significant numbers from among the ruling and repressive institutions of this system, and to do so in a way that would actually maintain the emancipating character of the revolutionary forces, and strengthen them on that basis, it would be necessary for the revolutionary ranks to be tempered and steeled, not just in terms of fighting capacity [which is obviously very important] but in terms of their fundamental ideological and political orientation, as fighters for the emancipation of humanity.

    Otherwise, even if you win over forces from the other side, given how they’ve been conditioned and trained, that could end up setting the terms of things on a very bad basis and lead to defeat in one form or another (either outright defeat at the hands of the enemy, or defeat in the sense that, even if military victory were somehow achieved, the way that was done would not lead to a radically new and better system, where the ongoing transformation of society, and ultimately the whole world, to uproot all exploitation and oppression, could be carried out).

    Here is something else to take into account: What matters, as the all-out showdown approaches, is not only the size (in the millions) of the revolutionary people, but also its “composition,” involving masses of the most oppressed, especially youth, as well as large numbers of people from other sections of society; how that “composition” of the revolutionary people would relate to the composition of the opposing forces; and how, in turn, this relates to major social contradictions in the larger society (for example, racial, sexual and gender oppression).

    To be more concrete, to break this down further: Out of their own interests, the rulers of this country have been compelled to draw large numbers of people from the ranks of the oppressed into their military, including women, Black people and Latinos. To the degree that these ranks would see, in the masses of revolutionary people, “people like themselves,” this would strengthen the potential ability of the revolutionary forces to disintegrate the forces seeking to suppress them and to cause significant defections from their ranks to the ranks of the revolution.

    Of course, as pointed out in “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating,” this factor (the composition of the revolutionary people, in relation to that of the opposing forces) will not “automatically” translate into support for—and even defection over to—the side of the revolution; but this is a potentially favorable factor that would need to be consciously and concretely built on through the course of the all-out fight. And the potential for this would likely be even greater in the context of an actual civil war, with once again “the real prospect of splits,” among the institutions of violent enforcement of this system, “and even the splitting apart of such institutions, with some parts siding with the fascists and others with those on the side opposed to the fascists.”

    In this connection, here is another crucial point: We, the revcoms and continually growing masses of people we are leading, must come to the fore in waging the fight against the fascists and do so on a revolutionary basis, not as defenders of bourgeois-democratic imperialism. This will have everything to do with the potential for a repolarization more favorable for the revolution, including in the actual all-out fight.

    Through all this, it will be of great importance to be firmly based on, keep constantly in mind, and consistently apply the fundamental internationalist orientation and approach that is an essential part of the new communism. As I called attention to in “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating”:

    This revolution will inevitably be influenced by, and will in turn significantly influence, what is happening in countries to the south (and north) of it, with which the USA has historically been closely interconnected, and which in many cases it has dominated and plundered.

    (And here I want to mention a very important new book that has been published by the Revolutionary Communist Organization, Mexico: La Esperanza Revolucionaria [Revolutionary Hope],13 which has also been translated into English by, and is available at, revcom.us.)

    “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating” goes on to make this important point:

    And more generally, there will be the ways in which this revolution will be viewed, and responded to, by different forces, far beyond the present borders of this country. A serious fight for revolution in this countrythis country—would have the effect of a powerful political earthquake, sending seismic shockwaves throughout the world. It is true that one reaction to this would be that oppressive governments and forces throughout the world would see this as a serious threat to their position and objectives, and there is a real possibility that there could be moves by some of these forces to aid, or join in, attempts to crush such a revolution. At the same time, such a revolution would shake awake and provide a powerful positive shock to literally billions of people everywhere, shattering the sense that there is no alternative to this terrible world. Overall, it would almost certainly contribute, in a very significant way, to a repolarization on a global scale. [Think about the effect, even on people who are now drawn to very bad trends, like Islamic fundamentalism. All of a sudden, things are completely different in the world—here is a real revolutionary, emancipatory struggle, with a prospect of actually winning, taking place in this country. Think of the effect on hundreds of millions of youth as well as on others throughout the world.]

    All this would need to be taken into account by the leading forces of this revolution, as an important part of its strategic orientation and objectives.

    Everything Depends on Bringing Forward a Revolutionary People

    Having examined in some depth, and in a broad framework, the necessary foundation and basic roadmap for the revolution that is (more) possible—and urgently needed—now, we are back once more to this decisive point:

    Everything depends on bringing forward a revolutionary people, from among the most bitterly oppressed, and all parts of society, first in the thousands and then in the millions, as a powerful revolutionary force, organized from the start and consistently with a country-wide perspective, impacting all of society and changing the terms of how masses of people see things and how every institution has to respond. Everything must be focused now on actually bringing forward and organizing this revolutionary force.14

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. The 5 STOPS are:

    STOP Genocidal Persecution, Mass Incarceration, Police Brutality and Murder of Black and Brown People!

    STOP The Patriarchal Degradation, Dehumanization, and Subjugation of All Women Everywhere, and All Oppression Based on Gender and Sexual Orientation!

    STOP Wars of Empire, Armies of Occupation, and Crimes Against Humanity!

    STOP The Demonization, Criminalization and Deportations of Immigrants and the Militarization

    of the Border!

    STOP Capitalism-imperialism from Destroying Our Planet! [back]

    2. The film and text of Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Actually Make Revolution are available at revcom.us in BA’s Collected Works. [back]

    3. The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America is available at revcom.us. [back]

    4. REVOLUTION AND RELIGION: The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion; A Dialogue Between CORNEL WEST & BOB AVAKIAN. This film of the Dialogue is available at revcom.us in BA’s Collected Works. [back]

    5. The Points of Attention for the Revolution are available at revcom.us. [back]

    6. This is from Breakthroughs, The Historic Breakthrough by Marx, and the Further Breakthrough with the New Communism, A Basic Summary, by Bob Avakian, that is also available at revcom.us. [back]

    7. 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, by Bob Avakian is available at revcom.us. The statement quoted here can be found in Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution; this statement originally appeared in From the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA: How We Can Win—How We Can Really Make Revolution, which is available at revom.us. [back]

    8. La Esperanza Revolucionaria [Revolutionary Hope] available at revcom.us. [back]

    9. This is from “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating.” [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    Organizing for an Actual Revolution:

    7 Key Points

    Everyone who can’t stand this world, the way it is, needs to be challenged to be part of the revolution that is the way out of this madness. And people need to know there is an actual strategy for making this revolution, based on the key points of the “foundation” and “roadmap” for this revolution in the work by the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian: “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating.” The following is the basic means for carrying out this strategy, so that the currently small forces for the revolution that is urgently needed can grow in numbers and strength, quickly in a concentrated way, and become the powerful force that is needed to lead this revolution. Spreading and popularizing these Key Points is also an important part of carrying out this strategy.

    1   Set forth, and explain, in the following basic terms, why this is a “rare time” when revolution becomes (more) possible, even in a powerful country like this:

    Brutal and murderous white supremacy, male supremacy, and other oppressive relations, the deepening crisis in society and the world overall, including the constant wars and the continuing destruction of the environment: all this cannot ultimately be resolved, in any positive way, within the confines of the system that rules in this country and dominates in the world as a whole—the system of capitalism-imperialism. Under the rule of this system, all this will only get worse. The deepening divisions within this country now, from top to bottom, mean that those who have ruled in this country for so long (the capitalist-imperialist ruling class) can no longer rule, as a “unified force,” in the “normal” way that people have been conditioned to accept—with a system of government that has an outer shell of “democracy” to cover over the fact that it is an actual capitalist dictatorship at its core, relying fundamentally on the armed force of the institutions of “official violence,” the police and the military. Because of big changes in this country and the world overall, one part of the ruling class, represented by the Republican Party, has become fascist: they no longer believe in or feel bound by what have been the “norms” of “democratic” capitalist rule in this country. And the other section of the ruling class, represented by the Democratic Party, has no real answer to this—except trying to maintain the “normal way” that the oppressive rule of this system has been enforced for hundreds of years, while the fascists are determined to tear up those “norms” and rule through more openly and aggressively oppressive means, without the traditional disguise of supposed “democracy for all.”

    The crisis and deep divisions in society can only be resolved through radical means, of one kind or another—either radically reactionary, murderously oppressive and destructive means, or radically emancipating revolutionary means. And this resolution could quite possibly happen, one way or the other, within the next few years. 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. In a situation like this, things that have basically remained the same, for decades, can radically change in a very short period of time. This rare time must not be wasted—it must be seized on to have a real fighting chance to bring about a truly emancipating revolutionary resolution, and not be subjected to a terrible, reactionary, murderously oppressive and destructive resolution.

    2   With the recognition of this rare time when revolution becomes (more) possible: wield the forces for revolution now to impact masses of people, in all parts of society—bringing to people the message of revolution, especially in short, powerful and popular forms, both online and “in real life”—setting forth why this revolution is necessary, and is possible, and how to be part of working to make it a reality. In hard-hitting, compelling ways, carry out ferocious struggle against ways of thinking that keep people chained to this system, winning growing numbers to break with all that, while also mobilizing masses of people to fight against injustices and outrages that are continually committed under this system and to stand up against the forces that perpetrate and enforce these injustices and outrages. Spread far and wide the inspiring vision of how much better life could be, for the great majority of people, if millions of people got behind this revolution and carried it through—making it possible to restructure all of society on a completely different foundation, with a radically different economic system (mode of production) and emancipating relations among people, as spelled out very concretely in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, authored by Bob Avakian.

    3   With “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating” as the basic guide, and utilizing the YouTube RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show and the website revcom.us as key resources, organize people who are drawn to this to grapple with why an actual revolution is necessary, what such a revolution involves, and what kind of society this is aiming for. Involve them in the process of building for revolution, in an organized way—in being part of carrying out point 2. Enable people in parts of the country where the revolution does not yet have an organized presence to link up with others and become part of this revolution.

    4   Through this process, build up the forces of revolution, first in the hundreds, in areas all over the country, and weld them together as an organized force. Develop and train revolutionary leaders, on the basis of the scientific method and approach of the new communism that has been developed by Bob Avakian.

    5   Wield these organized forces to repeat points 1-4 on an increasingly larger scale—reaching much greater numbers of people, in all parts of society, organizing thousands into the process of building for this revolution, while developing and training growing numbers of high-level revolutionary leaders. Powerfully impact society as a whole, awakening and influencing millions toward revolution. Keep clearly in mind, constantly popularize, and act on the understanding that:

    Everything depends on bringing forward a revolutionary people, from among the most bitterly oppressed, and all parts of society, first in the thousands and then in the millions, as a powerful revolutionary force, organized from the start and consistently with a country-wide perspective, impacting all of society and changing the terms of how masses of people see things and how every institution has to respond. Everything must be focused now on actually bringing forward and organizing this revolutionary force.

    6   Once this revolutionary force is brought into being, with a continually growing core of tested and steeled revolutionary leaders, and the crisis in society and the divisions, from top to bottom, are reaching a breaking point: everything would then be focused on how to actually organize and wield this revolutionary force to fight to win—to actually defeat the forces seeking to crush the revolution. This will mean carrying out the basic approach for how this could actually be done that is set forth in “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating.”

    7   Continually popularize these Key Points, while actively carrying them out, and involving more and more people, in an organized way, in doing so.

  • ARTICLE:

    ALLEGIANCE

    NO, to this Republic of the so-called “United States” of America, with its blood soaked red, white, and blue rag, and the system for which it stands—the economic and political system of capitalism-imperialism.

    A Republic whose “National Anthem” was written by a slave owner (Oh, oh say can you see... all the sla-a-ver-y...)!

    A Republic deeply divided, under the rule of oppressors, with liberty and justice denied.

    A Republic founded on slavery and genocidal robbery: keeping millions of Black people in chains for generations... killing off huge numbers of Native Americans and stealing their land... waging a war that ripped off half of Mexico, greatly expanding slavery.

    A system that, from the start and down to today, has been grounded in heartless exploitation, using and abusing masses of people to create wealth for the few, with violent white supremacy, male supremacy, and gender oppression built into and enforced by this system... plundering people in all parts of the world... destroying the environment, and waging unjust war after war, even to the point of threatening the very existence of humanity... killing off hope for a decent future, or any future at all.

    YES, TO A RADICALLY DIFFERENT REPUBLIC AND MUCH BETTER SYSTEMa new socialist republic, a system which will move to abolish and uproot all this madness and give the highest expression to people’s humanity, and a future corresponding to people’s highest aspirations.

    To PEOPLE EVERYWHERE, IN EVERY PART OF SOCIETY: The cause we should be dedicated to, and the allegiance we should hold, is represented NOT by the U.S. CONSTITUTION—a document written by and serving the interests of slave-owning and capitalist exploiters, from the founding of this country down to today... a document that elevates “property” and the “right” to enslave and exploit above and against the life and liberty of billions of people, here and throughout the world... a document that for nearly 100 years institutionalized owning Black people as property... a document that has been repeatedly used, and is used today, to “legalize” inequality, injustice, and oppression, with whole groups of people treated as “second class” and less than fully human. WE CAN DO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS!

    THE CAUSE WE NEED TO BE DEDICATED TO IS REVOLUTION: To abolish and uproot this system we are now forced to live under and bring into being a new system based on the CONSTITUTION FOR THE NEW SOCIALIST REPUBLIC IN NORTH AMERICA—which provides a sweeping vision, a firm foundation, and concrete blueprint for a radically different and emancipating society and world, with the abolition of all inequality, oppression, and exploitation.

    WE ARE THE REVCOMS (REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNISTS): working every day for the revolution that is urgently needed to bring down this system of capitalism-imperialism and bring into being a fundamentally different and far better systemworking to spread this revolution everywhere, organizing thousands and then millions into the ranks of this revolution, so that there is a real chance to win.

    TO PEOPLE EVERYWHERE, IN EVERY PART OF SOCIETY: JOIN US—as revolutionary emancipators of humanity, NOT murderous enforcers, or mindless accomplices, of the injustice, degradation, and devastation of this system of capitalism-imperialism and its terrible consequences for humanity.

    A CHALLENGE: If anyone wants to claim that what we have said here is not right, then let them have the courage to put that on the line, directly up against us and the knowledge we are bringing... and it will become even more clear that what we say is the truth—a powerful truth that people need to know about and take up.

     

  • ARTICLE:

    ALLEGIANCE: A Special RNL Show Dispatch

    Read and share the pledge; get posters
  • ARTICLE:

    BOB AVAKIAN: A RADICALLY DIFFERENT LEADER—
    A WHOLE NEW FRAMEWORK FOR HUMAN EMANCIPATION

    Bob Avakian (BA) is the most important political thinker and leader in the world today.

    Bob Avakian is completely different than the endless stream of bourgeois politicians who are put forward as “leaders,” whose goal is to maintain one variation or another of this system of capitalism-imperialism that is founded on and perpetuates itself through cruel and literally life-stealing exploitation, murderous oppression, and massive destruction, in all parts of the world. BA is a revolutionary who bases himself on the scientific understanding that this system must finally be overthrown through an organized struggle involving millions of people, and replaced with a system that is oriented to and capable of meeting the most fundamental needs of humanity and enabling humanity to become fit caretakers of the earth.

    Bob Avakian is the architect of a whole new framework of human emancipation, the new synthesis of communism, which is popularly referred to as the "new communism."

    BA is the author of the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, an inspiring application of the new communism—a sweeping vision and concrete blueprint for a new socialist society, whose fundamental goal is to bring about a world without classes and class distinctions, a world without exploitation and oppression, and without the destructive divisions and antagonisms among people: a communist world.

    Ardea Skybreak, a scientist with professional training in ecology and evolutionary biology, and a follower of Bob Avakian, speaks to the importance of what he has brought forward:

    Bob Avakian ... on the basis of decades of hard work [has been] developing a whole body of work—theory to advance the science of communism, to advance the science of revolution, to more deeply explain where the problems come from, what the strategy is for getting out of this mess, what the methods and approaches should be to stay on track and actually build a better world, to build a society that most human beings would want to live in. (From Science and Revolution, On the Importance of Science and the Application of Science to Society, the New Synthesis of Communism and the Leadership of Bob Avakian, An Interview with Ardea Skybreak)

    BA is a leader who is firmly convinced, on the basis of a consistently scientific method and approach, that the goal must be nothing less than all-out revolution, and who at the same time has emphasized:

    the new communism thoroughly repudiates and is determined to root out of the communist movement the poisonous notion, and practice, that “the ends justifies the means.” It is a bedrock principle of the new communism that the “means” of this movement must flow from and be consistent with the fundamental “ends” of abolishing all exploitation and oppression through revolution led on a scientific basis. (From Breakthroughs: The Historic Breakthrough by Marx, and the Further Breakthrough with the New Communism, A Basic Summary)

    As a revolutionary leader, BA also embodies this rare combination: someone who has been able to develop scientific theory on a world-class level, while at the same time having a deep understanding of and visceral connection with the most oppressed, and a highly developed ability to “break down” complex theory and make it broadly accessible.

    A leader like this has never before existed in the history of this country, and this leadership is of tremendous importance for the emancipation of all humanity.

    What is urgently needed now is for continually growing numbers of people—in the thousands, and ultimately millions—to become conscious and active followers of BA, building the revolutionary movement, based on the new communism, for which BA provides this unprecedented leadership.

    Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America cover 240

     

    "BA is the author of the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, an inspiring application of the new communism—a sweeping vision and concrete blueprint for a new socialist society, whose fundamental goal is to bring about a world without classes and class distinctions, a world without exploitation and oppression, and without the destructive divisions and antagonisms among people: a communist world."

    Click to read and download (PDF)

    Download poster and leaflet:

  • ARTICLE:

    STATE OF EMERGENCY:

    CHAINS ON PEOPLE

    WHO DESPERATELY NEED TO BE FREE

    A message from Bob Avakian, revolutionary leader, author and architect of a whole new framework for human emancipation: the new communism

    Audio URL

    STATE OF EMERGENCY. Masses of people are demoralized and disoriented: robbed of real hope... chasing after deadly illusions... desperately clinging to things that are not real... indulging in trivial pursuits while stubbornly refusing to face the biggest reality... striving to turn degradation into capital... bitterly divided and beefing over bullshit... trying to make a mark by mocking and even murdering each other.

    Chain, Chain, Chain—Chain of Foolishness

    Today so many are caught up in the “3M & P.”

    What is the “3M &P”? ME, me, me... MONEY, money, money... MISOGYNY and PATRIARCHY.

    All ways of thinking and acting that reflect and reinforce this system of capitalism-imperialism that so viciously oppresses people, here and all over the world. All constantly promoted and pumped out in the “popular culture,” including in Hip Hop. (How this came to dominate Hip Hop—and how it has actually perverted this creative art form, which could be and should be a powerful voice for liberation—that is another story, which has everything to do with how things are ultimately controlled by the ruling powers that dominate overall in this sick system of capitalism-imperialism.)

    These are real chains on people—especially those most terribly, murderously oppressed under this system.

    Misogyny: Hating women and subjecting them to degradation in countless ways.

    Patriarchy: Relations in which men are regarded as superior to women, and hold power over them, while LGBT people are treated as illegitimate and objects of hatred, abuse and scorn.

    Then there is the BEB. What is BEB? Bourgeois Electoral Bullshit: the ridiculous idea that you change this system that viciously preys on you—and millions and billions of people like you, in this country and all over the world—by voting for this group or that group of bourgeois (capitalist) vultures.

    And what is another big chain on people—supposedly easing but really perpetuating the pain of feeling hopeless and powerless to put an end to the suffering that so many are afflicted by today? 

    Religion.

    What is religion? Organized promotion of the belief that things have been created and are controlled by one or another god, which in reality does not exist and has been invented by people—with so many taught to believe that, if things are the way they are, it is “the will” of this supposed god.

    As I have written before: “while upholding people’s right to religion—and uniting with religious people who take positive stands in the fight against oppression—it is crucially important to consistently and resolutely struggle for a scientific, not a religious, method and approach to reality, and wage a fierce, relentless fight against anti-scientific poison spread among the masses of people in the name of religion.”*

    Learn to live in chains—bow down to those enforcing the chains, boast about and sing praises to the chains... or break all the chains.

    That is the choice.

    GOD, PREJUDICE, OPPRESSION, TERROR AND THE WAY OUT OF THIS MADNESS. Oppressed people who are unable or unwilling to confront reality as it actually is, are condemned to remain enslaved and oppressed, by Bob Avakian

     

    I know some people don’t like it when I say all this. But I am going to say it anyway, because as a revolutionary dedicated to the emancipation of humanity from every chain that holds people down, I recognize the responsibility to tell people the truth, even if it offends some, at first. And all you who also know this is true: you need to say it too—say it loud.

    It is time, and long past time, to break these mental chains, to get in position to break all the chains of the modern-day slavery of this system of capitalism-imperialism. It is time to take up the scientific outlook, method, strategy and program, morality and values that can lead people to finally get free: the new communism. It is time to become revolutionary emancipators of humanity.

    Hard truth, liberating truth.

    __________

    * The statement quoted above (indicated by the *) is from “GOD, PREJUDICE, OPPRESSION, TERROR AND THE WAY OUT OF THIS MADNESS...Oppressed people who are unable or unwilling to confront reality as it actually is, are condemned to remain enslaved and oppressed.” That article, and other important works by Bob Avakian—including those speaking to why this is a “rare time” when a real revolution has become more possible—can be found at revcom.us. [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    VIDEO:

    STATE OF EMERGENCY: CHAINS ON PEOPLE WHO DESPERATELY NEED TO BE FREE, By Bob Avakian

    from The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show, Episode 164

  • ARTICLE:

    A point in response to the (all too common) carping—especially from among people in “the educated middle class”—about our “promotion of one leader”:

    We very definitely do boldly and unapologetically emphasize the crucial, indeed truly historic importance of the role of Bob Avakian (BA) in bringing forward a new, more consistently scientific, synthesis of communism (the new communism) and providing practical as well as theoretical leadership for the actual revolution that is, now all the more urgently needed, and more possible.  But our orientation is certainly not that we need just “one leader.”  In opposition to that, as BA has repeatedly stressed, and as he powerfully expressed in the recent interviews with him, we need legions of critically and creatively thinking people to join the ranks, and to develop as leaders, of this revolution—we need continually growing numbers of strategic commanders for this revolution, based on applying the scientific method and approach of the new communism.

    Book cover: Science and Revolution... by Ardea Skybreak

     

    "Strategic Commanders of the Revolution"  by Ardea Skybreak, an excerpt from Science and Revolution, On the Importance of Science and the Application of Science to Society, the New Synthesis of Communism and the Leadership of Bob Avakian.   

  • ARTICLE:

    “Cult”—An Ignorant and Cowardly Slander

    On the internet (and elsewhere), there are people spreading the claim that we revcoms are a “cult.” In reality, we are a serious revolutionary force, basing ourselves on the scientific method and approach of the new communism brought forward by the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian (BA). This “cult” accusation is, among other things, an expression of the ignorance and cowardice of people who are afraid—or, in any case, who refuse—to confront the reality of what is actually going on in the world, the heavy stakes this involves for the masses of people in the world and ultimately all of humanity, and the actual, and urgently needed, solution to this through a real revolution—and how this is scientifically and compellingly brought to life through the leadership of BA.

    Bob Avakian has written articles, which can be found at revcom.us (here and here), answering in some depth this “cult” accusation—analyzing how this accusation is not just false, and ridiculous, but is a striking example of utter lack of honesty and intellectual integrity, and of any serious approach to bringing about a more just, and sustainable, world. And the interviews with BA on the YouTube RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show are themselves a powerful refutation of this whole “cult” accusation.

    This “cult” slander not only crudely distorts what we revcoms are actually about. It is also aimed at discouraging people from getting into what we are actively working to bring about: a real revolution, with all that means and all it would open the door to—a new and far better world, with the abolition of this system of capitalism-imperialism that we are now forced to live under, the truly horrific and totally unnecessary suffering it imposes on masses of people in this country and billions of people throughout the world, and the growing threat it poses to the very existence of humanity.

  • ARTICLE:

    Bob Avakian Speaks to “Cult”: A Ridiculous, Ignorant, and Irresponsible Accusation

    We Are Applying a Scientific Method and Approach to Understanding, and Transforming, the World To Emancipate Humanity

    Among some “progressives” and self-proclaimed “leftists,” as well as certain academics, students, and others, the accusation is thrown around that I am a “cult leader” and that those who follow and work to apply the leadership I am providing—the new communism I have brought forward—constitute a “cult.” This is plainly ridiculous. It is readily refuted by the actual reality of what we are all about. It is also highly irresponsible—all the more so in the extremely intense and continually intensifying situation in today’s world, with (as I have put it, in a recent work) the prospect of something terrible—or something truly emancipating: an actual revolution.39

    Any sincere examination of what the new communism is about will make very clear that it is the exact opposite of “cultism”: It is based on, continually emphasizes the importance of, and involves the comprehensive and systematic application of a consistently scientific method and approach to understanding reality and transforming it in an emancipating way.

    Science is an evidence-based process. It involves and requires accumulating evidence about different phenomena in nature and society, and then applying rational thought and logical reasoning to identify the patterns and synthesize the lessons from what the evidence acquired in this way reveals. Science does not allow for, and is completely opposed to, any notion of determining what is (supposedly) true on the basis of the mere opinions, wishes, etc., of anyone.  One of the necessary components, and essential qualities, of a scientific method and approach is critical thinking—which, among other things, means not accepting things on “faith,” or simply because they are asserted by someone who is supposed to (or even someone who actually does) possess a great deal of understanding about something, or many things. Once more, science is an evidence-based process, and relies on evidence as its basis for determining what is true or not true—what does, or does not, correspond to actual objective reality.

    A cult is a group of people who uncritically base themselves on dogma which they do not subject to, and which cannot withstand, critical scientific examination. This generally involves blindly following a “leader” who supposedly possesses (or is “blessed” with) “knowledge” and “wisdom,” and/or other “special qualities” which “ordinary people” are not capable of attaining.

    The accusation that to be a revolutionary, based on the new communism, somehow constitutes being part of a “cult”: This flies in the face of the actual reality, and is a despicable insult—not simply, or mainly, against me, as the alleged “cult leader,” but beyond that an insult to all those who, at great personal sacrifice, are also taking part in, and making important contributions to, the process of applying, and further developing, the new communism precisely as a scientific method and approach to the struggle for the emancipation of humanity from all systems and relations of exploitation and oppression.

    It is true that we revolutionary communists definitely do emphasize the great importance of the work I have done, and am continuing to do, in leading the process of developing and applying the new communism as a framework and guide for human emancipation. But, again, this is based on science, not “cultism.” It is based on a scientific evaluation of what is represented by the new communism—the breakthrough this involves, precisely in terms of a scientific method and approach to understanding the world and transforming it in an emancipating way.

    Of course, an important part of a scientific orientation and approach is the recognition that everyone—including those who make crucial advances in a particular sphere of human endeavor—will make mistakes. The notion that anyone is immune from making mistakes, or somehow possesses some kind of “supernatural” or “magical” powers, is an extremely harmful anti-scientific absurdity. Learning from one’s mistakes is an important part of the scientific method. That is why in a number of works of mine, including my Memoir, I have examined mistakes I have made, as well as mistakes made by previous leaders of the communist movement, and the lessons that should be drawn from this.40 This stands in sharp contrast, for example, to an institution like the Catholic Church, which claims that its leader, the Pope, cannot ever be wrong—is “infallible”—in matters of faith and morals.

    The Role of Individual Leaders and Their Relation to the Self-Emancipation of the Masses

    It is a profound truth, and fundamental principle, that in the final analysis the emancipation of the oppressed and exploited of the world (and ultimately all of humanity) must, and can, come about only as a result of the increasingly conscious struggle of those masses—of millions, and ultimately billions of people throughout the world. But to do that, those masses need leadership—leadership that is based on the most consistently scientific method and approach. In recognition of and accordance with this, my fundamental orientation and objective, and the orientation and objective of all those who are proceeding on the basis of the new communism, is precisely to enable exponentially growing numbers of people to themselves take up and apply the basic scientific method and approach of the new communism to guide the struggle for emancipation.

    In this connection, let’s look at what is actually rational, and irrational, thinking. It is a fact that people generally have no difficulty recognizing that, in many different fields, people come along who stand out as “head and shoulders above others”—for example in sports, music and other spheres of culture, or the natural sciences (hence, for example, the popular use of “Einstein” as a reference to someone who stands out in that kind of way). So, if one’s thinking is not distorted by prejudice, and instead one is proceeding rationally and logically, why should it be hard to recognize that the same applies to the understanding of human society, its historical development and its radical transformation? Why should it be surprising, or be seen as somehow upsetting or threatening—rather than a very positive thing—if leaders emerge who stand out in this dimension, and specifically in their ability to contribute to the cause of emancipating humanity?

    When someone makes important breakthroughs in a particular field of human endeavor, that is something that people broadly should know about. And especially when what is involved is the cause of human emancipation, why should that be any less the case? In fact, it is very important for people not only to know about this but to actively engage it and themselves become part of applying it.

    Of course, it is true, and important, that the determination of whether someone constitutes that kind of outstanding figure depends on the content of their body of work and what it represents in regard to human emancipation. In other words, once again it is a matter of science—a scientific evaluation of this.

    This leads me to another important truth about all this:

    This whole “cult” accusation—what does seem to be a concerted effort to paint us/me with the brush of “cult/cult leader”is spread especially by people who do not share, and in some way feel threatened by, the orientation of emancipating the oppressed of the world, and ultimately humanity as a whole, through a revolution whose goal is to finally abolish all exploitation and oppression, of everyone, everywhere. Judging from the content (or lack of substantive content) of this accusation, it is clear that many, indeed most, of these people have never seriously engaged my body of work (or may not even have read a single work of mine) and are also ignorant of the other important works that can be found at revcom.us. They are obviously not interested in, and apparently are not capable of carrying out, principled engagement about the profound and urgent situation confronting humanity—and specifically the big question of reform vs. revolution. And so, unable to deal with the substance of what I/we are actually saying and working for, they replace any attempt to do that with the crude slander—accusations of “cult”—relying on and promoting ignorance, intellectual laziness, cowardice and malice.

    Previously, I have issued the challenge to liberals and progressives to seriously engage some basic facts and fundamental analysis about the nature of this country and the system that rules in this country and dominates the world—the system of capitalism-imperialism—and then see if they are able, or are willing, to offer a defense of this country and this system.41 Here, I repeat that challenge. (See footnote 3 for reference to the article with that challenge.) And specifically to those who have spread, or have accepted as valid, the accusation that I/we are “cultists,” I am issuing a further challenge:

    Go to the website revcom.us, read and watch a significant sampling of written works and films on that website, including articles and other works of mine, and then see if you can make a reasoned defense of this accusation of “cultism.” Or, if not, then have the integrity and decency to not only refuse to accept or repeat, but on the contrary actively take on and refute, this accusation and emphasize the importance of people doing what is called for in this challenge—to seriously engage what the new communism is actually about.

    And beyond that:

    If you find yourself having to honestly acknowledge that what you have engaged on this website revcom.us is in fact a scientific analysis of the nature of this system of capitalism-imperialism... the horrific suffering it causes for masses of human beings throughout the world... the very real and increasing danger it poses to the very existence of humanity... and the possibility and urgent need for revolution, guided by the new communism, to overthrow this system and replace it with a radically different and emancipating system—then become part of this revolution and work, together with others, to increase and strengthen the organized forces for, and actively prepare the ground for, this revolution.

    Announcing New work by BA, SOMETHING TERRIBLE, OR SOMETHING TRULY EMANCIPATING:

     

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. “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,” 
    by Bob Avakian, Revolutionary Leader, Author of the New Communism. 

    The audio and the written text of this major work by Bob Avakian are available at revcom.us. [back]

    2. From Ike to Mao and Beyond, My Journey from Mainstream America to Revolutionary Communist, A Memoir by Bob Avakian, Insight Press, Chicago, 2005. [back]

    3. In Light of the Urgency Spoken to in ‘Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating’: A RENEWED CHALLENGE: SEARCHING FOR AN HONEST LIBERAL OR PROGRESSIVE. This article by Bob Avakian is also available at revcom.us. [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    PUTTING AN END TO EXPLOITATION,
    AND ALL OPPRESSION

    In a previous article, I analyzed what exploitation is, how exploitation is the basis of the capitalist system, and how exploitation can be ended by “making revolution to overthrow this system, and replacing it with a fundamentally different and far better system, based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.1 Here I am going to examine further some key dimensions of this.

    Economic systems (modes of production) that are based on exploitation are ones in which part of the labor of those who are exploited is remunerated (paid for, in some form), while another part of that labor is not remunerated (is unpaid), and the wealth created by that unpaid labor is appropriated (taken) by a force standing above and in effect dictating to those who are compelled to work under these conditions.

    Capitalism and Slavery

    Capitalism is not the only system based on exploitation. But it is a system in which the exploitation is not immediately clear. It is a system in which it appears on the surface that the labor is “paid in full”—that an “equal exchange” has taken place between the capitalist and the workers the capitalist exploits: the capitalist pays the workers a wage, and they carry out work for the capitalist. But, in fact, as in all systems of exploitation, part of the labor of the workers exploited under capitalism is paid and part is unpaid: the wage of the workers is equal to only a part of the value (wealth) they create while working for the capitalist, and the rest of the value created by their labor goes to the capitalist.

    Slavery is the opposite of capitalism in this regard: Under the slave system, it appears on the surface that all of the labor of the slaves is “unpaid,” because they are generally not paid in money. But the reality is that the slaves are “paid” in the fact that, with all the terrible cruelty of the slave system, the slave-owners do provide the slaves with the bare minimum requirements of life, such as some form of shelter, food, clothing, etc. If the slave-owners did not do this, then the slaves would quickly be unable to work, and the slave-owners would go bankrupt. What especially distinguishes slavery, as the horrific system it is, is not that the labor of the slaves is entirely “unpaid,” but that the slaves are literally the property of the slave-owners, with everything that involves—the terrible atrocities continually visited upon the slaves by the slave-owners—including mass rape, selling children away from their parents, whipping and other brutal punishment of slaves, not only for revolting against the slave-owners but for the mere attempt to escape, or simply for failing to meet constantly expanding demands on their labor (for example, how much cotton they are required to pick daily).

    Obviously, for the slaves, there is nothing good about the slave system—it is an absolute horror.

    To review: In both of these systems—the capitalist system and the slave system—those who carry out the labor that produces things are exploited, but in the one case (capitalism) it appears that the labor is entirely paid, with a wage, in a seemingly “equal exchange,” while in the other case (slavery) the appearance is that all the labor is unpaid. But, with the very real differences between these systems of exploitation, in both cases the labor is partly paid, and partly unpaid.

    This is the essential and defining feature of a system of exploitation: those who are exploited are compelled, by one means or another, to carry out labor that creates wealth beyond what is necessary for their survival and ability to work—and that wealth goes not to them, or for their benefit, but to the class of people that stands above and in effect dictates to them.2

    The essence of exploitation is not that people are compelled to work hard. Nor is it simply that they produce a surplus through unpaid labor. It is that they are compelled to do this under conditions that are oppressive and alienating: because those they work for have the power of life and death over them, in one form or another... because they have no say in what the purpose of their labor is, nor how the wealth they create is used, and for whose benefit... and because the appropriation, by exploiters, of the wealth that is created strengthens the position of those exploiters over those who are forced to work for them.

    Under slavery, the slave-owners’ power of life and death over the slaves is obvious. Under capitalism this power of life and death is less blatant and extreme, but it exists in a real sense because the exploited class of wage-workers (the proletariat) is in a position where they can only survive (can only acquire the means to live) by working for, and being exploited by, one capitalist or another—and those capitalists will continually drive them harder, or throw them out on the street, in accordance with the needs of the capitalists who are themselves driven by the relentless competition among capitalists. (The existence of significant numbers of people who cannot be profitably exploited, and are therefore unemployed, is a constant feature of capitalism; and the constant threat of unemployment strengthens the hand of the capitalists over the workers they do employ, and exploit.)

    Putting an End to Exploitation and Oppression

    To end exploitation, it is necessary to end the conditions on which exploitation rests. And this requires the radical, thorough transformation of society, and ultimately the world, as a whole. It requires, as the first great leap, overthrowing the economic and political system of capitalism, and bringing about its replacement by a socialist system, which will move to abolish the basis for exploitation. In the fundamental realm of the economy (the mode of production), this requires expropriating the capitalist exploiters: ending the capitalists’ ownership and control of the means of production (land, raw materials, factories, machinery and other technology used in production), converting these means of production into the common property of society, utilized by the socialist government, in a planned way, in the interests of the masses of people who have created these means of production, through their collective labor (even as that labor had been carried out under conditions of exploitation by capitalists).3

    But, as much as this is a crucial—and, in a real sense, historic—step, it is just the beginning. It is still the case that, for society to function, and to meet the needs of the people (basic material needs, but also political, social, intellectual and cultural needs) on a continually expanding basis, it is necessary for productive labor to be carried out, as the foundation for all this. To eliminate exploitation, it is necessary to transform the character of that labor. It must become labor that is not exploitative and not alienating for those who carry it out.

    There is a profound, fundamental difference between being driven to work hard by a force standing above you—in a real sense dictating to you—and on the other hand working hard together with loved ones, friends, and comrades to accomplish goals that you have arrived at and agreed upon in common. Many people have experienced this difference in their everyday lives. Expanded to the level of a country, and ultimately the whole world, this is the profound, fundamental difference between living under a system based on exploitation, such as capitalism, and living in a system whose goal is to eliminate exploitation, and all the oppressive relations that go along with exploitation.

    To achieve this historic transformation, the character of labor and the relations in which that labor is carried out (the relations of production) must be transformed, along with (and as the foundation for) transforming the character of the society as a whole. For any society to continue functioning, a surplus must be produced—beyond what people need to fulfill the essential requirements of life. A fundamental difference between an exploitative and non-exploitative system is in how that surplus is created, how it is utilized, and how decisions about this are made.

    In socialist society, people are guaranteed employment, and in that sense the individual struggle for survival has become a thing of the past—is no longer something that people have to be concerned with or worry about. But, beyond that, the surplus created in this socialist society must be utilized to continually expand the basis to fulfill the all-around needs of the people, including in the realms of education, culture, and so on; to deal with natural disasters and act as caretakers of the environment; to defend the socialist country from attack—and, crucially, to provide an expanding material foundation for the struggle to eliminate and uproot relations of oppression within the country and to support revolutionary struggle in the world overall—while also providing for future generations. So, once again, the decisive question is: how, under what conditions, is that surplus produced, and for what purposes is it utilized?

    To move beyond a system based on exploitation, not only must private ownership of the means of production by competing capitalists be eliminated, and replaced by socialized ownership by society as a whole, but oppressive divisions characteristic of the old, exploitative society must be overcome. This includes the division between mental and manual labor—the unequal relations between those whose labor is essentially intellectual (mental labor) and those who carry out labor that is essentially physical (manual labor). It also includes oppressive racial, sexual and gender relations, and other divisions which contain the basis for oppression and antagonism between different parts of society. All this is built into capitalism, and other systems based on exploitation. And all this must be transformed, in order for exploitation to be ended. At the same time, the masses of people must take part, in an increasingly conscious way, in determining the goals, and in the planning to meet the goals, in the development of the economy and the society overall, not only with the particular country in mind but with the fundamental orientation of contributing to the transformation of the world as a whole, toward the ultimate goal of communism, with the abolition of all exploitation and oppression everywhere.

    All this is the basis on which the labor that is carried out as the foundation for society becomes not alienating and exploitative, but instead contributes to emancipation on a fundamentally voluntary and increasingly conscious basis. Once again, what is involved is the profound difference between being compelled to work for a force standing above and dictating to you—which is the situation under capitalism and all systems of exploitation—and, on the other hand, working together with others to develop, in a continually expanding way, the material/economic basis to achieve goals which have been decided upon in common, and which continually expand human beings’ freedom from the mere struggle for survival, as well as from oppressive relations—a freedom that is increasingly brought about in socialist society, and achieved in even fuller dimensions once communism has been brought into being, on a world scale.4

    The basic orientation, and concrete guidelines, for bringing into being a society, and ultimately a whole world, where this can be made a reality, are set forth in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.5

    Everyone who hungers for, or dreams about, a world where human beings will no longer be exploited and oppressed—but instead can truly thrive, in the fullest of their humanity—needs to be consciously, actively, tirelessly working for the emancipating revolution that can make this a reality. And, for reasons I have analyzed in a number of works, this is a “rare time” when this revolution is not only urgently necessary but also more possible—and this “rare time” must not be wasted and thrown away but seized on, with conscious determination to bring about this emancipating revolution.6

    ****

    Notes, Further Explanations and Points to Explore

    by Bob Avakian

    1. The article, “Exploitation: What It Is, How to Put an End to It,” is available at revcom.us. [back]

    2. Karl Marx, the founder of communism, pointed out that in the feudal system the relation between paid and unpaid labor is more clear: In this system, serfs carry out labor on land that is owned by feudal lords; a large part of what the serfs produce goes to the feudal lord, while the serfs are allowed to keep only a small part for their very basic needs. The sharecropping system that existed in the southern United States for more or less a century after the Civil War—in which masses of Black people (and some poor whites) were viciously exploited—was essentially a form of this feudal system. But, once more, this feudal system of exploitation, in which the relation between paid and unpaid labor is more obvious, has in common with all systems of exploitation that part of the labor of those who are exploited is paid, in one form or another, and part is unpaid, and the value created by that unpaid part is appropriated by a force standing above, and in a real sense dictating to, those who are forced to labor under these conditions. [back]

    3. In Breakthroughs: The Historic Breakthrough by Marx, and the Further Breakthrough with the New Communism, A Basic Summary, I discuss the role of labor in creating the means of production. Breakthroughs is also available at revcom.us. [back]

    4 & 5. An observation on the following :

    Once again, what is involved is the profound difference between being compelled to work for a force standing above and dictating to you—which is the situation under capitalism and all systems of exploitation—and, on the other hand, working together with others to develop, in a continually expanding way, the material/economic basis to achieve goals which have been decided upon in common, and which continually expand human beings’ freedom from the mere struggle for survival, as well as from oppressive relations—a freedom that is increasingly brought about in socialist society, and achieved in even fuller dimensions once communism has been brought into being, on a world scale.

    Where it is said that the goals “have been decided upon in common,” this refers to an overall process which involves, on the one hand, mass forms for people to directly discuss and debate these goals, and how to achieve them, and elections at various levels of society, up to the central government level, through which people have input into the big questions regarding the development of the economy and the society overall. While some of this will take place at the level of the basic economic units and institutions of society (for example, schools as well as places of work), it will all feed into the different levels of government, up to the central government for the society as a whole. It is through this overall process—and not at the level of particular factories or other workplaces or institutions—that the ultimate decisions will be made concerning the goals, and the means for achieving the goals, with regard to the development of the economy and the society as a whole. While input from the basic levels of society is a necessary and crucial part of this process, if decision making is left at the level of particular economic units or other particular parts of society—rather than being ultimately determined by the institutions of government for the society as a whole, drawing on input from throughout society—then the result will be that the needs and interests of the different particular parts of society will come into conflict with each other, the larger common interests of people will be undermined, and society will be drawn back in the direction of reverting to a system based on exploitation.

    What is needed is an overall plan for the goals, and the means of achieving the goals, for the society as a whole, with all the different parts of society having a significant degree of input, and taking significant initiative, within this overall framework and plan. And the standard for this plan to embody and promote relations that are not exploitative, but emancipating, is that they contribute to continually expanding human beings’ freedom from the mere struggle for survival, as well as from oppressive relations.

    Once more: The basic orientation, and concrete guidelines, for bringing into being a society, and ultimately a whole world, where this can be made a reality, are set forth in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, which is available at revcom.us. [back to 4] [back to 5]

    6. See, for example,  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, which is available at revcom.us. [back]

    Finally: Food for thought, and further exploration. Another important requirement for advancing to a communist world—moving entirely beyond capitalism, and all relations of exploitation and oppression—is that the productive capacity of society has developed, on a non-exploitative basis, to the point where the essential needs of people for a decent life, and the overall needs of society, can be met without most people having to spend most of their waking hours in physical labor, and they are freed to take part in many other dimensions of work and life. Along with this, income inequality among the people must be eliminated and surpassed, with money no longer playing a role in the relations among people—a situation where money no longer determines or influences the production and exchange of things in society, and in fact money has been eliminated altogether in the functioning of society. What the necessary conditions are, and how society can function, in a way that enables human beings to live in a world where money has no role and has been eliminated, along with relations of inequality and oppression... where people’s needs can be met, on a continually expanding basis, without money, and without the need for people to calculate in the miserly terms of money relations... how society can function according to the communist principle “from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs,” where people contribute to society voluntarily, free from concern as to whether their needs will be met, and in turn people receive what they need for a decent life, without any exchange of money: All this involves complex questions, which are definitely worth digging into, even as this is beyond the scope of this particular article.

  • ARTICLE:

    EXPLOITATION: WHAT IT IS,
    HOW TO PUT AN END TO IT

    In a recent report, about revolutionary work in Chicago, one of the people there drawn to the revolution indicated that he did not know what the word “exploitation” means. Because this word “exploitation” describes something very basic about the system of capitalism that we are now forced to live under, and because many people do not have a clear understanding of this, it is important to explain what is meant by “exploitation.”

    In the most general sense, to “exploit” means “to take advantage.”  More specifically, it can mean taking advantage of—using—other people. And in terms of a scientific understanding with regard to the economy, “exploitation” refers to a situation where one person, or a group of people, accumulates capitalist wealth that is created by the labor of others. Capitalism is a system in which a relatively small number of people, the capitalists, own and control the major means of production (factories, land, raw materials, machinery and other technology, and so on), and are therefore in a position to force other people, who do not own or control means of production, to work for them. It is the labor of those exploited by the capitalists—and not the “brilliance” or “entrepreneurial genius” of the capitalists—that actually creates the wealth that the capitalists appropriate (take for their own profit and use)

    Once again, the capitalists are in a position to appropriate wealth that is produced by others, whom they exploit, because the capitalists own and control the major means of production—means of production which themselves were created through the labor of people exploited by capitalists. (For example, in a capitalist-owned factory, the machinery that people work on was produced by people, in other factories, working on raw materials to create that machinery; and those raw materials, in turn, were mined by people also working under conditions of capitalist exploitation.)1

    Under the capitalist system, there is always a “surplus population”—people who are unemployed because they cannot be profitably exploited. (And the existence of people in this position is something which the capitalists take advantage of in exploiting those they do employ—“if you don’t want this job at the wage I am paying you, there are plenty of other people out there who are desperate for work...”)

    Today, this system of capitalism has developed into a highly globalized system of exploitation, capitalism-imperialism, in which a relatively small number of capitalists own and control means of production on a massive scale and appropriate huge amounts of capitalist wealth, on the basis of exploiting billions of people throughout the world, including hundreds of millions of women and more than 150 million children who are most viciously exploited (super-exploited), especially in the Third World (Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia).2

    Once again, these billions of people are in a position where they can be viciously exploited because they do not own means of production (many of them, particularly in Third World countries, are people whose families previously owned small parcels of land on which they farmed, but they have been forced off the land, no longer able to survive by farming, in large part because of the domination of the politics and the economy of their countries by capitalists centered in imperialist countries like the U.S.).

    It is this system of capitalism-imperialism that is the root cause of all the horrendous, unnecessary suffering and madness that people throughout the world are subjected to, and the growing threat to the very existence of human beings as a whole.

    To get rid of exploitation—and all the oppression that goes along with it—it is necessary to get rid of the system of capitalism-imperialism. And that means making revolution to overthrow this system, and replacing it with a fundamentally different and far better system, based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.

    What this revolution and this radically new system are all about... why this revolution is possible... and how to carry out this revolution—all this is made clear in a number of works of mine, and others, at revcom.us, including the proclamation WE ARE THE REVCOMS, and the declaration from the revcoms WE NEED AND WE DEMAND: A WHOLE NEW WAY TO LIVE, A FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT SYSTEM, as well as the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America. This is also brought alive on the YouTube RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show.

    And here is the challenge:

    Everyone who can’t stand this world the way it is... who is sick and tired of so many people being treated as less than human... who knows that the claim of “liberty and justice for all” is a cruel lie... who is righteously enraged that injustice and inequality go on, and on, and on, despite false promises and honeyed words from people in power (or those seeking power)... everyone who agonizes about where things are headed and the fact that to be young now means being denied a decent future, or any future at all... everyone who has ever dreamed about something much better, or even wondered whether that is possible... everyone who hungers for a world without oppression, exploitation, poverty, and destruction of the environment... everyone who has the heart to fight for something that is really worth fighting for: YOU need to be part of this revolution.

    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?!3

     

    ********************

    Notes, by Bob Avakian.

    1. The bitter effects of being part of the exploited class—the proletariat—under the capitalist system is something people experience in their everyday life. In the book The New Communism, I spoke to this:

    You may be on the bottom of society—either you have no job and you’re scuffling the way you can, or you get a job and somebody exploits you. And to get that job, you have to go and sell yourself. That’s what you do. You go in for a job interview and they say, “Well, now, let’s get into your history,” and all that. Sometimes they want you to piss in a bottle, and sometimes they want to know everything about your personal history, they want to know if you have ever been arrested, or do you have a felony conviction. And you can’t say, “What the fuck, just give me the job, goddamn it, I’m hungry!” You’re out the door. You can’t even more politely say, “Excuse me, but that’s kind of a personal question, don’t you think?” No, because the person interviewing you is...working for the people who own the means of production, and you don’t own any, so you’re in a powerless position, because if you don’t satisfy them, they don’t hire you. (This is from “Introduction and Orientation, Foolish Victims of Deceit, and Self-Deceit,” pages 31-32, in The New Communism.)

    As for the foundation of the capitalist system, this was built up with a lot of violence. For example, in Europe, several centuries ago, large numbers of peasants (small-scale farmers) were driven off their land and forced into the position of proletarians, having to sell their labor power (their ability to work) to capitalists developing in the cities on the basis of their role as merchants, as the heads of early manufacturing associations, as money-lenders, etc. In the Americas, huge numbers of the original inhabitants, who had managed to survive the wars and disease brought by European invaders, were forced to labor, often under literally life-stealing conditions, to enrich exploiters who came to the Americas from Spain and other countries. And, let us not forget, the foundation for the wealth of this capitalist country—the “good ole USA”—was, to a very large extent, based on slave labor.

    As Karl Marx, the founder of communism, pointed out, with biting irony: The “rosy dawn” of capitalism was marked by the enslavement of massive numbers of Africans; literally working to death conquered people in South America forced to mine precious metals; and other monstrous means of accumulating wealth.

    It is a fact that some of the earlier societies in the Americas—such as the Inca empire in South America and the Aztecs in Mexico—were themselves based on exploitation of masses of people by the ruling classes in those societies; and it is true that there was slavery within Africa itself for some time before the invasion of that continent by European exploiters. But all this took on much greater and more horrific dimensions, beginning several centuries ago, with the conquest and colonization of these continents, the development of the international slave trade and the relentless machinery of capitalist exploitation, through which generation after generation of people, in the millions and millions, have been ruthlessly used up and killed off, quickly or more slowly, in the manic capitalist quest, and merciless competition among capitalists, for profit and more profit. [back]

    2. Besides those who are directly involved in exploiting people in the process of producing the wealth of the capitalist system, there are also other capitalist exploiters. For example, there are the banks and other financial institutions that make profit through loans to the corporations and other businesses that directly exploit people. (These loans have to be repaid, with an additional amount of money—the “interest.”)   Plus, often these financial institutions themselves invest in the corporations that are directly exploiting people. And, in turn, large-scale corporations also become involved in financial transactions. Finance capital becomes woven together with capital directly used to exploit people in the process of production. There are also merchant capitalists—for example, those who sell clothing, or food and other basic necessities. And then there are those who invest in the stock market—but that just amounts to a kind of gambling—betting on which capitalist enterprises will be more successful in exploiting people.

    Here is the most fundamental point: the source of the wealth that these different capitalists accumulate is the exploitation of people who are forced to work for one or another capitalist (or capitalist corporation, etc.) in the process of producing the things that people use. [back]

    3. Why this is a rare time when revolution, even in a powerful imperialist country like the U.S., becomes more possible, is examined in a number of works of mine, and others, at revcom.us, including Revolution: Major Turning Points And Rare Opportunities, as well as  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; and Organizing for an Actual Revolution: 7 Key Points. And, again, this is also brought alive on the YouTube RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show. [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    Killer Mike, Ice Cube,

    WHY CAPITALIST PROGRAMS and BOURGEOIS ASPIRATIONS 
    CANNOT LEAD TO LIBERATION

    and

    WHY WE NEED A REAL REVOLUTION

    To begin, in order to have the necessary foundation for what I am going to get into here, let’s get clear on some basic things. First, what is meant by bourgeoisie? It is another way of saying (it is a French word that means) the capitalist class. What do I mean by “class”? A “class” of people is a part of society that is defined by its position within the relations in that society, and in particular its position and role in the economy. So what is the capitalist class? As I pointed out in articles about exploitation, the capitalist class is a small part of society that dominates the rest of society on the basis of exploiting people—capitalists use the labor of other people to accumulate wealth for themselves.1 The capitalist class rules capitalist society as a whole, as a result of its dominant role in the economy.

    And then there is the petty (or petite) bourgeoisie. This literally means the “small” bourgeoisie, but it actually refers to the middle class—small-scale business people, people with degrees in higher education, people in the arts, teachers and preachers and others who occupy a middle position between the big-time exploiters (the ruling capitalist class) and the proletarians, the mass of people exploited by the capitalists.2

    With that as a foundation, let’s get into the heart of the matter. 

    In a recent article, I sharply called out chains on people who desperately need to be free, including the obsessive pursuit of money, and misogyny—hating women and subjecting them to degradation in countless ways. I talked about how all this is “constantly promoted and pumped out in the ‘popular culture,’ including in Hip Hop.” (I also referred to how this garbage has perverted this creative art form of Hip Hop, which could be, and should be, a powerful voice for liberation, but has been turned into something else under the domination of this system of capitalism-imperialism.)3

    In a guest appearance, as himself, in a recent episode of the fictional Showtime program Billions, the rapper and actor Killer Mike provided yet another striking example of exactly the profound problem I was pointing to. First of all, in a discussion with the character Mike Prince, a billionaire financial parasite, Killer Mike is not even ashamed to say that he “likes” strip clubs—which are a concentrated expression of the sexual degradation of women.

    Then, in the same discussion with the Prince character, Killer Mike goes on to demand that Prince (who is running for president) invest in some Black banks. (Prince promises to do that, and in turn Killer Mike promises to endorse Prince.) As portrayed in this program, Killer Mike is thinking and talking like a parasitic financier himself. And, importantly, as I explained in another article, in the capitalist system banks are institutions that make money on the basis of the exploitation of masses of people. The following applies to banks as well as all other capitalist enterprises: 

    Here is the most fundamental point: the source of the wealth that these different capitalists accumulate is the exploitation of people who are forced to work for one or another capitalist (or capitalist corporation, etc.) in the process of producing the things that people use.”4

    As opposed to what is put forward continually in this country, including through movies and television programs like Billions: “It is the labor of those exploited by the capitalists—and not the ‘brilliance’ or ‘entrepreneurial genius’ of the capitalists—that actually creates the wealth that the capitalists appropriate (take for their own profit and use).”5

    At the same time, capitalism is not only based on ruthless exploitation of masses of people, but this is driven by cutthroat competition among the capitalists themselves. The capitalists who win out in this competition are those who most effectively and ruthlessly exploit people. They either do this, or face the prospect of being eaten up or driven under by other capitalists. And, for the masses of people exploited by the capitalists, this means that the capitalists will continually drive them harder, or throw them out on the street, in accordance with the needs of the capitalists who are themselves driven by the relentless competition among capitalists. This is why, despite what a few individual capitalists might want to do, there is, and there can be, no such thing as “compassionate capitalism.”

    As Killer Mike insists, Black banks are no doubt subject to discrimination, like Black people in general—and such discrimination should be opposed—but they are nevertheless capitalist institutions, resting on mass exploitation and driven by the basic laws of capitalist economics.

    Apparently, the idea voiced by Killer Mike is that building up Black banks (and the Black bourgeoisie overall) will somehow lead to a significant improvement for the masses of Black people. This is a tired-out notion, propagated by the bourgeoisie and its representatives everywhere—that promoting its interests will serve the interests of the people more broadly. In fact, as I will get into further, the interests of the bourgeoisie, of any nation, are fundamentally different than the interests of the masses of people.

    But, before getting into this overall point more fully, it is necessary to point out that the whole Atlanta Hip Hop scene, out of which Killer Mike has emerged, is a cesspool in which rap music is intertwined with drug trafficking and the degradation of women, including through strip clubs. But the problem is not limited to Killer Mike and the Atlanta Hip Hop scene. In the context of the last (2020) presidential election, the rapper/actor Ice Cube came up with a program for Black capitalism and flirted with the idea of supporting the openly, blatantly racist Donald Trump, who expressed “interest” in this capitalist scheme.

    All this is a sharp illustration of the point I made in Breakthroughs, speaking to the situation among the masses of Black people and other oppressed people:

    [T]here is the phenomenon that in the realm of culture, for example, a certain, relatively small but influential, section of people has managed to rise from within these masses to basically a bourgeois position.... [T]his includes people who have not only utilized the realm of culture but also in some cases the realm of crime to wrench out a position in which they become quite wealthy, and then they invest in lines of cosmetics and clothes, and so on—they become real bourgeois, even as many of them are part of an oppressed nation or people. And they have the corresponding outlook to a very significant degree.6

    That “corresponding outlook” is not one which can lead the masses of Black people, or the masses of people overall, to get free.

    Why Bourgeois and Petty Bourgeois Programs and Aspirations Cannot Lead to Real Liberation

    It is important to keep in mind that the Black bourgeoisie and petite bourgeoisie are classes of people not only in this country overall, but more particularly within the oppressed Black nation in this country. On the one hand, these classes of Black people are subjected, in various ways, to the prejudicial and discriminatory treatment that is directed against Black people as a whole in this white supremacist society; and, despite their economic and social position, people within the Black petite bourgeoisie, and even the Black bourgeoisie, can still become the victims of brutality and murder by the police, enforcing the oppressive relations of this system as a whole. On the other hand, the Black bourgeoisie and petite bourgeoisie occupy positions above the masses of Black people—and, to varying degrees, they have privileged positions in the society overall, even with the discrimination they are subjected to—and their spontaneous outlook is fundamentally an expression of their class positions.7

    Along with the promotion of Black capitalism as the supposed “salvation” for Black people, there is the widespread promotion of “wokeness,” including by sections of the Black petite bourgeoisie (for example, many Black people in academia and the media). As we revcoms (revolutionary communists) have called attention to:

    “Woke” once meant righteous awareness of racial oppression but has long since morphed into fanatical lunacy and vicious mob mentality. A bloodlust to target and tear into individuals, while cowardly ducking, and often, actively obstructing the real and needed fight against the system, especially its overthrow through an actual revolution!

    And this “wokeness” involves

    Bizarre and capricious rules enforced by cancel culture threats. Puffed-up unscientific claims to “represent the marginalized.” Insisting that people “stay in their lanes” in fighting oppression. “Woke” lunacy manifests much that is harmful with the capitalist-imperialist system and its dominant culture, furthering the nightmare of humanity!8

    This is another expression of how, today, much of the outlook, and the actions, of the supposedly “progressive” petite bourgeoisie, including much of the Black petite bourgeoisie, is actually very harmful—opposed to and obstructing a real fight for the emancipation of Black people and all oppressed people.

    In the mainstream media, through the bourgeois electoral system, and in many other ways, representatives of the Black bourgeoisie and petite bourgeoisie—and many representatives of this system of capitalism-imperialism overall—try to present things as if these more privileged classes of Black people are “role models” for Black people as a whole (and people more generally), and what these classes are striving for is supposedly the way to overcome discrimination and inequality. But the truth is this: The goals and aspirations of the Black bourgeoisie and petite bourgeoisie cannot lead to the liberation of the masses of Black people—or oppressed people in general—for this basic reason: they do not see beyond, and are not striving to get beyond, this system of capitalism-imperialism, which mercilessly exploits and murderously oppresses masses of people, here and all over the world. Instead they are striving to get in on and get more for themselves out of this monstrous system (even if this is sometimes accompanied by the claim that improving their position will do good for, and improve the position of, the masses of Black people). But the fact is that this will not, and cannot, change the oppressed condition of the masses of Black people, and other oppressed people. It will not even change the fact that, despite their more privileged position, the Black bourgeoisie and petite bourgeoisie, as part of the oppressed Black nation, will still be subjected to, and will not be able to fully escape, the discrimination and brutality that Black people as a whole are subjected to under this system, which has white supremacy built into it. To do away with all that, requires doing away with this system of capitalism-imperialism, through an actual revolution.

    There is also a current among the Black bourgeoisie and petite bourgeoisie—for example, with someone like Farrakhan—to be seeking to establish a separate Black country, with themselves as the ruling class of that country. In this regard, there are important matters of understanding and principle. First, the right of self-determination of the oppressed Black nation, including the right to form a separate country, must be upheld—and is upheld in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, which I have written (this Constitution is available at revcom.us). At the same time, a separate Black country ruled by a Black bourgeoisie and operating according to the principles of capitalism could only function by exploiting the masses of Black people. And, as a capitalist country in a world dominated by the system of capitalism-imperialism and the major capitalist-imperialist powers, such a Black capitalist country could only occupy a subordinate and dominated position within that overall world system.

    All these are basic reasons why, despite their pretensions, the bourgeoisie and petite bourgeoisie, of any nation or country, cannot lead to the liberation of the masses of people, with the ending of all relations of exploitation and oppression. And, once again, the representatives of these classes are not even aiming to put an end to all relations of exploitation and oppression, but rather to establish, or improve, their position within such relations.

    Real Liberation—A Truly Emancipating Revolution            

    Karl Marx, the founder of communism, emphasized this very important point: The political and intellectual representatives of every class claim that the particular interests of the class they are part of, also represent the general interests of the people and the society overall. But the reality is that there is only one class whose interests—not in a narrow sense, but in the largest and most fundamental sense—represent the interests of the masses of humanity and ultimately humanity as a whole. That class is the proletariatof all races, nations and countries—the exploited class of people under this system of capitalism-imperialism, which can only put an end to its exploited condition by abolishing this system of capitalism-imperialism and uprooting all relations of exploitation and oppression, everywhere.9

    Once more, building up the Black bourgeoisie and petite bourgeoisie has not, will not, and cannot do away with discrimination, inequality and oppression—it will not and cannot do away with the situation of Black people as a whole as an oppressed people. This oppression cannot be done away with under this system for the basic reason that white supremacy is built into this system and into every part of this country—in employment, education, housing, and so on—and all this is enforced by the ruling institutions, including the murderous police and other violent enforcers of this system.

    It is both possible and important to win significant sections of the petite bourgeoisie to the revolution that is urgently needed to do away with exploitation and all oppression—and this definitely applies to the petite bourgeoisie, and even some among the bourgeoisie, of the oppressed Black nation. But these classes, and the interests they represent as such, can never lead a revolution that will be in the interests of the masses of oppressed and exploited Black people, and oppressed and exploited people overall.

    Once again this is because the spontaneous outlook, goals, aspirations and the strivings of these classes is to get a better place for themselves within this system of capitalism-imperialism, which is the fundamental source and cause of this exploitation and oppression—and abolishing this exploitation and oppression is impossible without abolishing this system.

    At the same time, a very important point in relation to all this is that people can, and do, take up the outlook and goals that correspond to the interests of a class other than the class to which those people belong. Right now, for example, it is unfortunately the case that among the exploited class of proletarians (and the oppressed overall) in this country (and others), masses of people have been conditioned to take up, and have taken up, the outlook and values of this putrid system of capitalism-imperialism. On the other hand, it is also true that, while the ruling class of this system will remain determined to maintain this system, through the most murderous and destructive means, masses of people—not only among the proletariat, but among other sections of society—can be won to recognize the urgent need, and the possibility, for the revolution to overthrow this system and bring something much better into being. Human beings are thinking beings, and as such people broadly can come to recognize that the only way to be rid of the madness and agony of living under this system—the only way to a future worth living for the masses of humanity, and ultimately for humanity as a whole—is to take up and carry through this revolution. But, especially given the heavy weight of this capitalist-imperialist system, and the ways it works to shape people, masses of people can be won to this only if those who do recognize the need for this revolution wage ferocious struggle to break people broadly out of the bullshit ways that this system has conditioned them to think and act, and win them to become conscious revolutionary emancipators of humanity, aiming for nothing less than ending, and uprooting, all exploitation and oppression, all over the world.

    To sum up and conclude with this crucial point: A truly emancipating revolution—actually aiming for the abolition of all exploitation and oppression—can only be, and must be, led by the growing ranks of revolutionary communists, representing the fundamental and largest interests of the exploited class under capitalism, the proletariat, in overthrowing this system of capitalism-imperialism and bringing into being a radically different and much better system—with a fundamentally different economic foundation (mode of production), and emancipating political institutions, social relations and culture—as set forth in both a sweeping and concrete way in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.

    _______________

    NOTES by Bob Avakian.

    The following refer to articles and other works of mine (except for #8, which was written by a writing group of revcoms). These works are all available at revcom.us.

    1. “Exploitation: What It Is, How to Put an End To It”; and “Putting an End to Exploitation, and All Oppression.” [back]

    2. There is discussion of the position and role of different sections of the petite bourgeoisie in Breakthroughs: The Historic Breakthrough by Marx, and the Further Breakthrough with the New Communism, A Basic Summary. [back]

    3. “State of Emergency: Chains on People Who Desperately Need to Be Free, A message from Bob Avakian, revolutionary leader, author and architect of a whole new framework for human emancipation: the new communism.” A video based on a recording I made of this article is also available as part of the YouTube The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show (episode #164). [back]

    4. “Exploitation: What It Is, How to Put an End to It,” footnote 2. That footnote also makes the following important points:

    Besides those who are directly involved in exploiting people in the process of producing the wealth of the capitalist system, there are also other capitalist exploiters. For example, there are the banks and other financial institutions that make profit through loans to the corporations and other businesses that directly exploit people. (These loans have to be repaid, with an additional amount of money—the “interest.”) Plus, often these financial institutions themselves invest in the corporations that are directly exploiting people. And, in turn, large-scale corporations also become involved in financial transactions. Finance capital becomes woven together with capital directly used to exploit people in the process of production. There are also merchant capitalists—for example, those who sell clothing, or food and other basic necessities. And then there are those who invest in the stock market—but that just amounts to a kind of gambling—betting on which capitalist enterprises will be more successful in exploiting people. [back]

    5. “Exploitation: What It Is, How to Put an End to It” (emphasis added). [back]

    6. Breakthroughs. [back]

    7. There is the fact that, even with the systematic discrimination and inequality that Black people as a whole are subjected to under this system, they still share, to different degrees, in the parasitic spoils of the American empire—the way American capitalism-imperialism feasts off the exploitation of people around the world, especially in the Third World of Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. (A parasite lives off—and literally or in effect sucks the blood of—other living beings. American capitalism-imperialism is a highly parasitic empire, whose functioning and accumulation of wealth and power is based on viciously exploiting people all over the world, including by super-exploiting huge numbers of children in the Third World.) Everyone in this parasitic USA receives some of the “benefits” (the spoils) of this worldwide exploitation, although this is distributed among different classes of people in a highly unequal way. The Black bourgeoisie and petite bourgeoisie, because of their position within the economic and social structure of this country, receive substantially more of these spoils than the people on the bottom of society, including masses of Black people, whose conditions of systematic and brutal oppression and deprivation far outweigh any spoils they receive as a result of living in this parasitic country. [back]

    8. A Seven Point Indictment: “WOKE” IS A DESTRUCTIVE FORCE in the political, intellectual, artistic and ethical life of society. [back]

    9. This important point from Marx is discussed in Hope For Humanity On A Scientific Basis, Breaking with Individualism, Parasitism and American Chauvinism, in the section “Particular Interests and General Interests—Differing Class Interests and the Highest Interests of Humanity.” This is available at revcom.us in the section BA’s Collected Works. (The work by Marx being discussed is The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte.) [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    THE TRIALS OF FASCIST DONALD TRUMP,
    AND THE CRIMINAL NATURE OF THIS WHOLE SYSTEM

    Or: Don’t Be Played for Suckers by Trump’s Posturing, or the Democrats’ Posing as Defenders of Justice—We Need a Revolution and a Fundamentally Different and Far Better System

    As I am writing this, Donald Trump is facing multiple criminal indictments and impending trials, relating to his attempt to pull off a coup and remain in power after he lost the 2020 election, and other accusations of serious crimes.

    Beyond just Trump’s hardcore supporters, some people—who look at things only in partial ways and on the surface—have fallen for the claim, loudly declared by Trump himself, that he is the victim of unjust prosecution, or persecution.1 This includes some among those bitterly oppressed under this system, who have been taken in by the superficial appearance that, since Trump is being gone after by people running the government, then there is something to identify with in Trump’s situation, even something to admire and respect in how Trump is defiantly denouncing these criminal charges and those bringing them. 

    In this regard, it is important to consider that Trump’s posturing—including his attempt to strike a “mad dog” pose in his mug shot in his “booking” for his trial in Atlanta—seems to be aimed at appealing not only to his openly and aggressively racist “base” but also to others who should know better, including Black and Latino men (Trump apparently calculates that at least some of them will be impressed by his macho posturing).

    This adds an additional dimension to why it is important to be clear about what it is that Trump actually represents, and what is actually going on with these indictments of him.

    On a certain level, there is the fact that, as I have pointed out before—and as I will get into further here—Donald Trump Isn’t “Tough,” He’s a Bloated Bag of Fascist Feces.2

    But it is necessary to go deeper, to get to the basics and the essence of the matter.

    First of all, Trump is a representative of the ruling class of this life-stealing, soul-crushing system of U.S. capitalism-imperialism, and he has the backing of a powerful section of that ruling class.

    Second, and more particularly, he is a fascist—a representative of the fascist section of that ruling class. And let’s be clear on what this means. In a recent article at revcom.us, the point is emphasized that Trump, and others pushing things toward outright fascist rule in this country, have

    unleashed an organized and armed social base of millions who believe they’re on a “mission from god” to impose an agenda of open white supremacy, the patriarchal subordination of women and the purging of LGBTQ people from public life, anti-immigrant terror and anti-scientific lunacy. To accomplish this, they need to and are itching to “blow up” the normal operation of political rule of this system.3

    Now, some people are so twisted in their thinking that they actually recognize what Trump represents—or at least that he is an open, blatant racist—but then they take the stance that it is somehow better to go with a known racist, like Trump, than with people who pretend not to be racist but actually are, like the leaders of the Democratic Party. This is an expression of a pitifully narrow vision and lowered sights—the failure to see beyond the confines of this system of capitalism-imperialism, and a failure even to conceive of things beyond a situation where the choice is between blatant and “disguised” racists. More specifically, this kind of thinking fails to understand that when a leading politician of one of the two ruling class parties (in this case, the Republicans) trumpets blatant racism, that is not just a matter of their “personal opinion” or “personal bias.” It is an open declaration of the intent to make that racism, and everything that is bound up with it, official government policywith the forceful backing of the full power of the state (the police, armed forces, courts, prisons, and so on), as well as racist “militias” and other armed fascist goons (the modern-day equivalents of the Ku Klux Klan and the lynch mobs of the era of open, “legalized” segregation and “second class status” for Black people). Among other things, this is why these fascists are determined to eliminate from public education even limited reference to the real history of this country, including the horrific nature and effects of slavery, the consequences of this, and the continuation of racist oppression, down to today.

    The fact is that Trump is not simply an “open” racist. As I put it in a series of articles in 2020, he is a genocidal racist, who would be more than willing not only to continue incarcerating, but to actually kill off, huge numbers of Black people, and other people of color, whom he clearly regards as less than human.4

    It also has to be said that the notion that it is somehow “better” to go with “open” racists is, at least in some cases, not only a reflection of gross ignorance but also what must be called out as foul ambition: the striving to somehow get in position to escape the consequences of this overt racism and get in on the “goodies” of this system, which rest not only on murderous oppression of Black people, and others, in this country but on vicious exploitation, and super-exploitation, of literally billions of people, here and all over the world, including more than 150 million children in the Third World (Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia). 

    What Is Really Going on with the Trials of Donald Trump and Conflicts “at the Top”

    In basic terms, the fascist section of the ruling class, represented by Trump and the Republican Party, is determined to tear up the “traditional norms” through which this country has been governed since shortly after the end of the Civil War in 1865, including the “peaceful transfer of power”—which in reality is the “peaceful transfer of power” between the different sections of the ruling class, through elections (with the winners in elections taking office, and the losers accepting the results). Tearing up these “norms”—while moving to take over, and utilize for their fascist program, key government institutions, including local school boards, election boards, state governments, the “intelligence” agencies and armed forces, as well as courts at every level, up to the Supreme Court—all this is crucial for the fascists in instituting unchallenged rule by them and eliminating even the appearance of allowing certain “civil and legal rights” that have been won through determined struggle against racist, sexist and gender oppression and other injustices.

    (The article at revcom.us to which I referred earlier gives a number of examples of the offensive by the fascists to tear up the “norms” of this oppressive system, including the move toward impeaching Joe Biden—in part as “payback” for the Democrats twice impeaching Trump when he was president, and in a larger sense as part of the Republican offensive to seize and consolidate a fascist form of rule in the country as a whole.)

    On the other side (that is, with the opposing section of the ruling class, generally represented by the Democratic Party) the determination is that maintaining the “traditional norms” and the way of ruling the country that has been carried out for generations—and making certain partial moves for “inclusion” and “diversity,” while continuing the illusion of “liberty and justice for all”—is the best way to maintain the stability of capitalist rule at home and to pursue the “national” (that is, imperialist) interests of the U.S. ruling class in the international arena. This section of the ruling class is firmly convinced that tearing up these “norms,” and openly reversing the partial concessions to the struggle against injustice, will seriously threaten the stability of American capitalist-imperialist rule “at home” and undermine its position internationally at a time when it is facing a serious challenge to its domination in the world, not only from Russia, as concentrated now in the war in Ukraine, but even more so from the rising power China (which still pretends to be “socialist,” with rule by a so-called “communist” party, but has long since become an actual capitalist-imperialist country).

    For the Democratic Party, and the section of the U.S. ruling class that it basically represents, it is necessary and vitally important to maintain, and to loudly propagate, the notion of the U.S. as a “shining city on the hill,” a great experiment in democracy, and (as they never tire of repeating) “the leader of the free world.” This is why, for example, Joe Biden has made a point of declaring that the U.S. has been a shining light of freedom and inspiration to the world for over 200 years.

    The answer to this is powerfully expressed in the following statement:

    Go search where you may, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.

    This was said by Frederick Douglass, former slave and determined abolitionist, in 1852, but this statement by Douglass boldly speaks the truth about this country right down to today, with the continuing massive crimes committed under this system, within this country and all over the world. 

    (In “AMERICA: Truly a Model—of DEPRAVED RACIST GENOCIDE, in light of the horrors perpetrated against Black people throughout the history of this country, I called attention to this blunt truth: “In terms of depravity, you can’t find anything Hitler and the Nazis did that was worse than this.” I challenge anyone who wishes to dispute this, to read that article, and other material at revcom.us exposing an endless chain of atrocities that have marked this country, from its beginning and throughout its history. And, in A Final Note, at the end of this article, I provide further exposure and analysis of some of the monstrous crimes of this “leader of the free world,” from its founding down to today.)

    Democrats and Republicans: Back to the Past, Destroying the Future

    Someone recently made an important and insightful observation: The Democrats, as well as the Republicans, each in their own way, are trying to restore a situation that existed in the past, while they both represent a deadly serious threat to the future of humanity.

    The fascist Republicans want, and are determined to bring about—with whatever violence they deem necessary—a return to the situation that had long existed in this country, before and even for some time after World War 2, where inequality was institutionalized and openly enforced, including racial, sexual and gender discrimination and oppression.

    For their part, the Democrats want a return to the situation where U.S. imperialism was the clear and essentially unchallenged dominant power in the world. (This is a situation which existed at the end of, and for a short time after, World War 2, which ended in 1945, and then again for a while after the disintegration and demise of the Soviet Union, which ceased to exist in the early 1990s.) And along with the way the policies of the Democrats, as well as the Republicans, and the ongoing functioning of this whole system, is destroying the environment at a rapidly accelerating pace, these Democratic Party imperialists are willing to risk the future and very existence of humanity in their determination to beat back the challenge to U.S. world domination, from a rising capitalist-imperialist China in particular. It is revealing, for example, that the last two presidential candidates of the Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, are open and aggressive war-mongers. Among other crimes, both Biden and Clinton supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, an international war crime, based on crude lies—an invasion that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and massive destruction and dislocation in Iraq, and unleashed a maelstrom of death and destruction in that part of the world. And now, Biden as president is aggressively pursuing, and continually escalating, U.S. involvement in a proxy war with Russian imperialism in Ukraine, while also actively preparing for war with China.5

    The two impeachments of Trump pursued by the Democrats while they controlled the House of Representatives reflect their basic differences with and serious concerns about Trump’s role and policies as president.

    The most recent impeachment of Trump followed after, and held Trump responsible for, the massive attack by his supporters on Congress as it met, on January 6, 2021, to officially certify Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. This attack on Congress was part of an attempted coup by Trump, with the aim of overturning the results of that 2020 presidential election and remaining in power in defiance of those results. The Democrats’ opposition to this, and impeachment of Trump over this, clearly involves the great concern of the Democrats to maintain the “traditional norms” of this system—in particular the “peaceful transfer of power” between different sections of the ruling class—along with the illusion of “democracy, with liberty and justice for all”: camouflage covering over the actual dictatorship (the monopoly of political power and “legitimate” armed force and violence) exercised by the capitalist-imperialist ruling class.

    The previous (first) impeachment of Trump, which began at the end of 2019, centered on the charge that, in order to undermine Joe Biden—who was probably going to be (and turned out to be) Trump’s Democratic Party opponent in the 2020 election—Trump was sabotaging military aid to Ukraine, which was then involved in a more limited war with pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine (which, with the Russian invasion in 2022, has increasingly become a major war in which the U.S., headed by the Biden administration, is ever more deeply involved). Along with the particular question of what Trump was doing as president in relation to Ukraine, there was the concern, particularly among the section of the ruling class represented by the Democratic Party, that Trump was undermining NATO and other military and political “alliances” that are headed by the U.S. One of the main focuses of Biden—overall and as concentrated in the war in Ukraine—is to “repair,” fortify, and expand such alliances.

    (Also, one of the major criminal indictments that Trump is now facing involves “endangering national security”—that is, U.S. imperialist interests and domination internationally—by illegally hanging onto and carelessly handling “classified” documents that relate to this so-called “national security.”) 

    It is important to understand that both sections of the ruling class of this capitalist-imperialist country agree on taking whatever extreme measures might be necessary in the attempt to keep China from surpassing the U.S. as the world’s most powerful imperialist country. But these opposing sections of the U.S. ruling class are deeply divided not only over how to rule the U.S. itself, but also how to achieve the perverse goal of maintaining the USA as “Number One”—number one exploiter, oppressor and plunderer in the world. The fascists (or at least some of them) believe that being involved in a lot of formal alliances with other (lesser) countries may restrict the freedom of U.S. imperialism to act—including with unrestrained violence and destruction—to enforce its interests, anywhere in the world. And, more specifically, at least many of these fascists strongly feel that the proxy war that the U.S., with Biden’s lead, is waging against Russia in Ukraine is a distraction from the necessary focus on opposing China and using whatever means may be necessary to prevent China from surpassing the U.S. as the world’s dominant imperialist power, militarily as well as economically. And these fascists see the war in Ukraine strengthening the ties of Russia with China, making the opposition to U.S. domination more powerful. On the other hand, Biden—and those allied with him in the ruling class—are waging, and continually increasing U.S. involvement in, a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine (using Ukrainians as “cannon fodder” in this war) because this part of the U.S. ruling class is convinced that delivering a defeat to and weakening Russia, and its ability to challenge U.S. dominance, is important in its own right and will also drive a wedge between Russia and China.

    It should not have to be said that these kinds of concerns, on either side, have nothing to do with the fundamental interests of the masses of people in this country, and in the world as a whole. But, if it does need to be said, the following is very important as a fundamental orientation and guideline:

    The interests, objectives, and grand designs of the imperialists are not our interests—they are not the interests of the great majority of people in the U.S. nor of the overwhelming majority of people in the world as a whole. And the difficulties the imperialists have gotten themselves into in pursuit of these interests must be seen, and responded to, not from the point of view of the imperialists and their interests, but from the point of view of the great majority of humanity and the basic and urgent need of humanity for a different and better world, for another way.6

    The Trials of Donald Trump, the Profound Conflicts This Reflects, and a Rare Time When Revolution Becomes More Possible

    Returning directly to the current trials of Donald Trump, as can be seen in what I have shined a light on here, what these trials represent is a certain concentration of the larger, overall conflict between the two sections of the capitalist-imperialist ruling class in this country—a conflict and struggle reflecting bitter and profound antagonisms between them, with each side increasingly feeling that what is represented by the other side is an existential threat and potentially fatal blow to the very nature and role of this capitalist-imperialist country and its position as the dominant power in the world. These divisions within this ruling class will continue to deepen and sharpen, with the result that they are increasingly unable to rule in a “unified way.” 

    As I have analyzed in depth and repeatedly emphasized, all this—what is happening within this country as well as in the larger world arena—is now heading toward, and could definitely lead to, something even more terrible than “normal life” under this system. But it is also very important to recognize that this also holds the potential for something truly emancipating—an actual revolution to overthrow this system, in this most powerful capitalist-imperialist country, and bring into being a radically different and far better system—a potential which has the possibility to become a reality IF the revolutionaries have been 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.

    It is crucially important to recognize the very real danger represented by Trump and the fascist section of the ruling class—and its “base” of lunatic racists, women-hating and LGBT-hating, anti-immigrant, and anti-scientific lunatics, itching for a new civil war—but it is also crucially important to recognize two basic things: 1) This fascism is not somehow “alien” to the “virtuous” nature of this “democratic leader of the free world,” but is an outgrowth of the fetid soil of this country—arising out of its putrid internal nature and historical development—as well as a response to the challenge to its dominant position in the world. Put another way, this fascism is an extreme expression of the vicious exploitation... the virulent, violent white supremacy, male supremacy and patriarchy... and the grotesque “American supremacy”—all of which is poured into the foundation and deeply embedded in the dominant relations, institutions, and culture of this country. These are the relations, institutions, and culture of a system that is completely putrid and outmoded, long since past its expiration date, spreading dangerous poison everywhere from its rotting core, and posing a very real threat to the future and very existence of humanity. And 2) The situation today “needs to be radically changed, to where there are masses of people prepared to defeat these fascists and to do so as part of getting rid of this whole system, which has bred these fascists, along with all the other horrors it continually perpetrates.”7

    To conclude, this must quickly become the basic understanding that masses of people, first in the thousands, and then in the millions, are won to take up, and act on, to make an urgently needed emancipating revolution a powerful reality:

    When conflicts among the different sections of the bourgeois (capitalist) ruling class become so deep and hostile that they are no longer able to rule in the “normal way” they have for generations, “that is a sign of extremely deep and acute cracks and fissures in the entire established order; and such a situation must be seized by the oppressed not to side with one section of the bourgeoisie against another... but instead to rise in revolutionary struggle to overthrow the rule of the bourgeoisie altogether.”8

    _______________

    NOTES, by Bob Avakian

    1. There is a certain similarity between some people who are drawn to supporting Trump and various figures who have endorsed and aided the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, out of a misguided belief that Kennedy represents some kind of positive opposition to “the establishment” (or the “established order”) when in fact Kennedy’s “opposition” is well within the framework of the existing system of capitalism-imperialism, and at the same time it is marked by anti-scientific lunacy, particularly but not only in opposition to safe, effective, and life-saving vaccines. There are, of course, differences between right-wing and “left-wing” populism. The right-wing variation generally is marked by hatred for intellectual elites, especially as these “intellectual elites” are seen to be giving undeserved benefits to “inferior people,” at the expense of “law abiding, hard-working, patriotic Americans.” The “left” variation of populism is likely to be characterized by opposition to corporate elites, or more generally to the super-rich (“the billionaire class”), with demands like a more “equitable” distribution of wealth under this system.

    Yet, it remains true that there is a significant area of overlap between right-wing and supposedly left-wing “populism.” Both include political forces and tendencies marked by a kind of irrational opposition to certain powerful figures and forces—whether the government (or parts of it) and “intellectual elites,” or big corporations and financial institutions—an opposition which lacks any scientifically-based understanding of the system in which all this is grounded, and an opposition marked by a big dose of “don’t tread on me” individualism, which rests on, and reeks of, the parasitism of American capitalist-imperialism (the fact that this country, as the dominant capitalist-imperialist power in the world, feasts off the exploitation and oppression of literally billions of people throughout the world, including the more than 150 million children who are super-exploited particularly in the Third World of Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia). 

    In relation to all this, it is crucially important to understand that the problem is not this or that financial or government institution, or the Democratic or Republican Party “establishments,” as such, but the system of capitalism-imperialism itself, which all of these different institutions and centers of power are part of, even with their different particular interests and roles and different approaches to maintaining and enforcing this system.[ back]

    2. The article “Donald Trump Isn’t ‘Tough,’ He’s a Bloated Bag of Fascist Feces is available at revcom.us.[ back]

    3. If You’re Hoping ‘It Will Work Out All Right In the End,’ You Better Read This: Three Ways Fascism Has Just Moved Closer. This article is also available at revcom.us.[ back]

    4. Donald Trump—Genocidal Racist, available at revcom.us. [ back]

    5. Go to revcom.us for extensive writings from Bob Avakian on this U.S. proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, including: The War in Ukraine and the Interests of Humanity: A Scientific Revolutionary Approach vs. Harmful Confusion and Chauvinist Delusion; "Don't Worry About Nuclear War—If There Is One, Russia Will Lose!" The Dangerous Demagoguery of Timothy Snyder on Behalf of U.S. Imperialism and Its Proxy War in Ukraine;  Ukraine: World War 3 Is the Real Danger, Not a Repeat of World War 2.[ back]

    6. BAsics, 3:8 (BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian, RCP Publications). [ back]

    7. This statement is cited in Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating. It was first put forward in From The Revcoms (Revcom.us): A Declaration, A Call To Get Organized Now For A Real Revolution, also available at revcom.us. Emphasis added.[ back]

    8. This is part of the important statement soon to be published at revcom.us, From The Revcoms (Revolutionary Communists), Revolution, Building Up The Basis To Go For The Whole Thing, With A Real Chance To Win: Strategic Orientation And Practical Approach[ back]

    A FINAL NOTE: On the Real Nature and Monstrous Crimes of This Country

    The American Crime series, at revcom.us, analyzes 100 of the worst crimes of this country, since its founding and down to today—a list that speaks not just to “isolated incidents” of wrongdoing but a whole pattern of atrocities, repeated over and over again, reflecting the essential nature of this country—a list that will continue to grow until a revolution overthrows and uproots the system of capitalism-imperialism that rules in this country and replaces it with a radically different and far better system, based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, which I have written.

    Concentrating much of the monstrous crimes of this country and its ruling class, there is the fact that this Republic of the so-called “United States” of America is:

    A Republic whose “National Anthem” was written by a slave owner (Oh, oh say can you see... all the sla-a-ver-y...)!....

    A Republic founded on slavery and genocidal robbery: keeping millions of Black people in chains for generations... killing off huge numbers of Native Americans and stealing their land... waging a war that ripped off half of Mexico, greatly expanding slavery.... 

    A system that, from the start and down to today, has been grounded in heartless exploitation, using and abusing masses of people to create wealth for the few, with violent white supremacy, male supremacy and gender oppression built into and enforced by this system... plundering people in all parts of the world... destroying the environment, and waging unjust war after war, even to the point of threatening the very existence of humanity... killing off hope for a decent future, or any future at all.

    (This is part of an important statement from the revcoms, Allegiance, which is available at revcom.us.)

    The USA is a country in which a woman is assaulted/beaten every 9 seconds. It is a country where huge numbers of women are raped and otherwise sexually assaulted every year; a country where the right to abortion has been ripped away from women, with the assertion of male supremacist control over their bodies, and their very being, constituting, in a very real sense, a form of female enslavement. This is a country in which LGBT people are discriminated against, persecuted, bullied, vilified and abused, brutalized and outright murdered.

    This is a system in which more than 40 million women are ensnared and enslaved in international sex trafficking and the so called “sex industry”; a system where hundreds of millions of women are cruelly exploited as a key part of the “supply chains” of the world economy and the overall capitalist-imperialist system, in which the U.S. has for decades been the dominant power.

    And there is the massive unjust violence perpetrated by U.S. imperialism in the “international arena”:

    In addition to the continuing crimes against humanity carried out by the U.S., just since World War 2, including the U.S. slaughter of millions of civilians in Vietnam, and before that in Korea, and the bloody coups it has engineered in Indonesia, Iran and elsewhere, in the period from 1846 to the present the U.S. has intervened in South and Central American countries—militarily, through CIA coups, or in other ways—at least 100 times, at the cost of literally hundreds of thousands of deaths and endless misery for the people of those countries. 

    (This is from my article “Shameless American Chauvinism: ‘Anti-Authoritarianism’ as a ‘Cover’ for Supporting U.S. Imperialism,” which is also available at revcom.us.) 

    And there is the fact that the U.S. is (up till now, at least) the only country to actually use nuclear weapons, with its atomic bombing of two Japanese cities at the end of World War 2, instantly incinerating hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians and subjecting many others to slow agonizing deaths from the effects of radiation. And then, in more recent times, there has been the illegal U.S. invasion of Iraq, built on blatant lies—and now the proxy war in Ukraine, along with active preparation for war with China, with the growing danger of nuclear annihilation.

    All this under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

    As for the claim by Biden (and the section of the ruling class that he represents) that the U.S. is engaged in an historic struggle, within this country itself and throughout the world, of “democracy” vs. “anti-democratic authoritarianism,” in “Anti-Scientific ‘Anti-Authoritarianism’ Serving American Imperialism and Promoting American Chauvinism,” I provided the following list of some of the countries where, just since World War 2, the U.S. has been allied with—and in many cases has installed, through invasions, bloody coups, etc.—oppressive governments that are “authoritarian” (that would have to be considered “authoritarian,” according to the “logic” of the “theorists” of “authoritarianism”):  

    Chile... Brazil... Haiti... Cuba (before the 1959 revolution)... El Salvador... Nicaragua... Guatemala... Honduras... Panama... the Dominican Republic... Greece… Poland... Indonesia... the Philippines... South Korea... South Vietnam... China (before the victory of the revolution in 1949)... Iran... Iraq... Turkey... Israel.

    Again, this is only a partial list of the “authoritarian” governments backed—and often installed through invasions, bloody coups, etc.—by the U.S. imperialists, just since World War 2.

    Beneath the outward appearance of “respectability” (and even the aura of “solemn dignity”) that surrounds many of the “leaders” of this country, there is the reality of the truly perverse, demented mentality that someone is required to have—or is compelled to acquire—in order to serve as top functionaries of this system. Besides the facts and analysis I have already provided clearly illustrating this basic point, there is the following, serving as a reminder that, for not only murderous but truly ghoulish mentality, you can look not only at Donald Trump, or other fascist Republicans, but also at someone like Hillary Clinton. As pointed out in a recent article at revcom.us (an updated version of American Crime Case #35: The 2011 U.S.-NATO War on Libya) in 2011, as Secretary of State in the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton was among the strongest and loudest advocates of the U.S./NATO bombing of the North African country of Libya, which led to the ouster of the government headed by Muammar Qaddafi, and at the same time the deaths of thousands of Libyans. The end of Qaddafi’s rule also led to widespread chaos and civil conflict within Libya, which has continued in various forms down to today—and which has greatly magnified the death and devastation that has resulted from recent massive flooding in Libya.

    As that revcom.us article points out, when the forces opposed to Qadaffi—benefitting from the months of U.S./NATO bombing of Qaddafi’s forces—finally captured, tortured, and murdered Qaddafi himself, Clinton laughed on TV, saying, “We came, we saw, he died.” But those who captured and killed Qaddafi did not just torture him in some vague sense: They sodomized him, in an especially brutal way. It is with knowledge of this, that Clinton gleefully made the ghoulish declaration: “We came, we saw, he died.” 

    And then there is Barack Obama himself, whose election as “the first Black president” is supposed to be regarded as a great achievement and “proof” that this country is continuing to advance toward “a more perfect union.” The following provides some, but only some, of the truth about the actual role of Obama, as the chief executive of this truly monstrous capitalist-imperialist power, and more fundamentally the truth about the nature of this country and this system as a whole.

    In 2012, Barack Obama spoke these words while praising the U.S. military for its role in Vietnam:

    [O]ne of the most painful chapters in our history was Vietnam—most particularly, how we treated our troops who served there.... [Y]ou wrote one of the most extraordinary stories of bravery and integrity in the annals of military history.  
    (Barack Obama, May 28, 2012, part of the Vietnam War Commemoration)

    There was, and there is, nothing “heroic” about the U.S. military. On the contrary, it is—without the slightest exaggeration—a machinery of massive, and unspeakable, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and its actions in Vietnam constitute a systematic concentration of this, with a level of destructiveness and depravity that is almost unfathomable:

    the slaughter of millions of Vietnamese civilians, with incessant bombing and shelling, including of schools, hospitals, dams and other crucial infrastructure, and widespread use of napalm, white phosphorous, Agent Orange, and millions of anti-personnel weapons, burning to death and maiming huge numbers of children and others;

    ruining the livelihood of millions of Vietnamese—destroying large parts of the soil and livestock so essential for the people in rural Vietnam;

    torture of people held as prisoners—including large numbers of civilians—male, female, old and young, including the very young;

    mutilating the bodies and wearing as “trophies” body parts of Vietnamese killed; mass rape of Vietnamese women and girls.

    All this, and more, by the U.S. military and its “heroic” soldiers.

    Included in the “American Crime” series is the account of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, in which U.S. soldiers wantonly murdered over 500 civilians, almost all of them old people, non-combatant women and children. And it is a well-documented fact that this massacre was not some kind of exception, or aberration, but represented the essential approach and means of the American war machine in Vietnam, fueled ideologically by a perverse, poisonous combination of ignorant, irrational anti-communism, American chauvinism, and grotesque racism and misogyny which regarded and treated the Vietnamese people as subhuman “gooks” and “slopes,” and females the lowest of all.

    This is the actual history of the U.S. role in Vietnam, which in the twisted minds of the heads of state of U.S. imperialism, such as Barack Obama, is considered, and praised, as “one of the most extraordinary stories of bravery and integrity in the annals of military history.”

    This not only reveals the thoroughly corrupt mentality of Obama—and anyone who would preside over this truly monstrous system—but it is also the case that Obama is here willfully, and viciously, rewriting history: He turns upside down the actual role of these “troops” in Vietnam. He complains that the “troops” who carried out these atrocities in Vietnam were not “thanked” for their “service” of horrific war crimes, but instead these war crimes were, rightly and righteously, condemned by masses of people in this country.

    And Obama fails (or refuses) to mention the fact that many of these troops (and former troops) came to openly rebel against what they were ordered to do in Vietnam and became an important part of the massive opposition to the U.S. role in that war. In opposition to what Obama perversely hails as heroic, that rebellion of U.S. troops against the government and the system that was encouraging and commanding them to carry out almost unbelievably horrific atrocities—that kind of rebellion is truly something to honor and encourage.

  • ARTICLE:

    CAPITALISTS, ANTI-COMMUNISTS:

    BLATANT HYPOCRISY,

    GLARING CONTRADICTION

    The representatives of the system that rules in this country are, and always have been, full of blatant hypocrisy and glaring contradiction. And so are others who slander—or simply refuse to seriously engage—communism, and in particular the new communism.

    Just a few striking examples:

    * The “founding fathers” of this country (and, yes they were “fathers”—men) proclaimed, in their Declaration of Independence, that “all men are created equal.” Yet many of these founding fathers—including the author of that Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson—were slave-owners. And four of the first five presidents of this “United States of America” were slave-owners.

    * These “founding fathers” led a War of Independence, declaring their determination to break free of the tyranny of the English monarchy, and they adopted as a fundamental principle their opposition to monarchies. Yet their political descendants today continually slobber over the British Royal Family, and all its ridiculous, pompous ceremony. This is a seemingly trivial but actually telling illustration of the fact that this system of capitalism-imperialism is profoundly outmoded—long past its expiration date, long past the time when it could be a positive force in the world.

    * Powerful political functionaries of this system, such as Joe Biden, repeatedly declare that this country has, since its founding, been a shining beacon of freedom for the world, and that today it is engaged in a world historic struggle of democracy vs. “autocracy.” Yet this country murderously oppresses people at home and has repeatedly installed and continues to support murderously oppressive regimes all over the world. In the words of the former slave and determined abolitionist Frederick Douglass, “for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival”—words which were spoken in 1852 but powerfully express the truth about this country, right down to today. This is another illustration of the fact that the guiding principle of Biden, and the rest, is not devotion to “democracy” but whatever they think advances the interests of U.S. capitalist imperialism, with all its horrific oppression and terrible destruction, of the environment and of people throughout the world.

    * In the dominant media serving this system, communists are continually slandered as worshipping a LEADER as an essentially religious icon. Yet these same media praise, in the most solemn terms, the Catholic Pope—who, according to official Catholic doctrine, is declared infallible (always right, not even capable of being wrong) in matters of faith and morals. Imagine if we declared that leaders of the communist movement are, as a result of the position they occupy, infallible in matters of politics and ideology!

    * We revolutionary communists, who actually base ourselves on a scientific method and approach to understanding and transforming reality—the new communism—are all too commonly dismissed as a “cult,” with myself as the “cult leader.” Yet, along with this ridiculous slander, there is the fact that the rulers of this country, and others who uphold the same basic positions, would never condemn Christianity as a cult, when it could legitimately be considered as such. Christianity’s exalted leader, Jesus, demanded the devotion of his followers in terms that we revolutionary communists would never apply:

    Whoever loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. (From the Bible, Matthew 10: 37-39)

    * Recently I wrote an article speaking to the reason why it would not do any good, but instead real harm, to debate Robert F. Kennedy Jr and his anti-scientific lunacy about vaccines (and other subjects); and why, on the other hand it is important to seriously engage many unconventional ideas and theories, including the new communism (“Robert F. Kennedy Jr... Quackery and Conspiracy... Unconventional Ideas and a Scientific Approach—To Debate or Not to Debate, That Is a Question of Principle and Method”). Yet the problem remains that far too many who claim to believe in the importance of airing and debating opposing viewpoints about important questions, especially when it is possible to do so in a rational framework, violate their own proclaimed principles and adopt shoddy methods in refusing to seriously engage the new communism, and instead stubbornly cling to the position that was crudely expressed in this response by an academic to my article: “RFK may be a quack, but so is anyone who calls himself a communist”a statement which ironically provides a striking example of exactly the smug, unthinking dismissal of communism that is all too common, among academics and others.

    Blatant hypocrisy, glaring contradiction.

    As I wrote in that article:

    Perhaps, along with the influence of the widely propagated disinformation about communism, one of the reasons why some people refuse engagement on this subject is because they know that they don’t actually have any substantial knowledge about communism and they lack a sound basis for their negative judgment about it. And some seem to have at least an inchoate sense (and fear) that such engagement will force them to give up what seem to be comforting prejudices—that serious engagement about communism will demonstrate precisely that the widely held, “everybody knows” judgment that communism has been a horror will be shown to be a vicious slander fundamentally out of keeping with reality; and that the new communism, in its indictment of this system of capitalism-imperialism and its vision, both sweeping and concrete, for a radically different and better world, represents something profoundly positive, something truly emancipating, that needs to be actively and urgently taken up and applied in the world.

    For many people, this requires facing seemingly inconvenient but actually liberating truths—and “moving out of one’s comfort zone.” Does it have to be said that this is not a legitimate reason or justification for a failure, or refusal, to seriously engage the new communism? Falling back on “flat earth” negative verdicts about communism, without serious engagement, particularly of the new communism, will not make such verdicts valid. It will not eliminate, but will contribute to perpetuating, the great harm done by such invalid verdicts. It will not erase the reality that, on the one hand, under the domination of this system of capitalism-imperialism—with its enforcement of horrific relations of exploitation and oppression, its accelerating destruction of the environment and its heightening danger of nuclear war—humanity is being dragged toward real disaster; and, on the other hand, that the new communism represents the only way out of this madness, toward a world and a future worthy of human beings and giving expression to humanity’s highest aspirations.*

     

    * This article (“Robert F. Kennedy Jr... Quackery and Conspiracy... Unconventional Ideas and a Scientific Approach—To Debate or Not to Debate, That Is a Question of Principle and Method”) is available at revcom.us. [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    GOD, PREJUDICE, OPPRESSION, TERROR
    AND THE WAY OUT OF THIS MADNESS

    Oppressed people who are unable or unwilling to confront reality as it actually is, are condemned to remain enslaved and oppressed.

    Recently, a report on carrying out revolutionary work in Harlem referred to the fact that some people there were coming out with a lot of “Anti-LGBTQ bullshit”—like “god gave men a penis and women a vagina, so that’s how it should be.”

    It is heartbreaking, and infuriating, to hear this “Anti-LGBTQ bullshit” from people, like those in Harlem quoted above, who have been so terribly oppressed under this system and should be uniting with others who have also been discriminated against, brutalized and terrorized, and whose very right to exist is being viciously attacked.

    This emphasizes the fact that, while upholding people’s right to religion—and uniting with religious people who take positive stands in the fight against oppression—it is crucially important to consistently and resolutely struggle for a scientific, not a religious, method and approach to reality, and wage a fierce, relentless fight against anti-scientific poison spread among the masses of people in the name of religion.

    To speak directly to this garbage that “god gave men a penis and women a vagina, so that’s how it should be,” it has to be said that, if some “god” had designed the human body, then that god would be a terrible designer. To give a sharp example: Why is the human body constructed in such a way that people can choke while eating food? If a “god” actually existed, that god could have “designed” the human body so that choking could not happen; and if a god had “designed” the human body the way it is, with this possibility of choking, that god would be a sick and twisted sadist.

    The fact is this: Human beings are not the product of “design,” or “creation,” by some god—they are the result of natural evolutionThe book by Ardea Skybreak The Science Of Evolution And The Myth Of Creationism—Knowing What’s Real And Why It Matters provides a substantial and lively explanation of the theory of evolution and refutation of the anti-scientific claims of Biblical “creationism.” Everyone who wants to get a real understanding of crucial things about reality, and the scientific method for understanding reality, would greatly benefit from reading this book.42

    Human society and its development is also not the result of some “design”—or the expression of the “will”—of some god. It is the result of human beings’ interaction with each other, and with the rest of nature, to meet their basic requirements of life and provide for future generations. Change in human society comes about through the actions of human beings—and major changes, in the whole way society is organized, come about through revolutions which overthrow the old order, and bring into being a new way of organizing society. (In a number of works, including Breakthroughs, I have explained, in basic terms, the dynamics that are involved in the development and revolutionary transformation of human society.43) And here it has to be said that the “terrible designs” of the supposed god of Christianity are not limited to the human body: they involve a whole long list of very real horrors that this “god” of the Christian scriptures advocates and insists upon. As I point out in the book AWAY WITH ALL GODS! Unchaining the Mind and Radically Changing the World, the Bible, in both the old and new testaments—and the “Judeo-Christian” tradition overall—advocates and insists upon all kinds of horrors, including slavery, and violent oppression of women and gay people. (The advocacy of cruel and violent oppression is also found in the Qur’an of Islam.44)

    A Scientific, Revolutionary Approach

    Throughout human history, with the many different ways that society has been organized, there have been different expressions of human sexuality, both heterosexual (involving people of the opposite sex) and same sex. The question, with regard to all this, is what is the character of the relations involved: are they an expression of equality and genuine affection, involving mutual pleasure on that basis, or do they involve inequality, domination and oppression, reflecting and contributing to degrading relations in society overall?

    Worshiping some supposed (but actually non-existent) god, and following the scriptures of one religion or another, will never lead to ending all the madness people are put through in this world. To do that requires taking up a scientific method and approach—the scientific method and approach of communism, as this has been further developed with the new communism that has resulted from years and decades of work I have carried out, learning from the previous experience of communist revolution, and human experience more broadly. This brings to light that the development of human society has arrived at a place where, through communist revolution, it is possible to bring into being new, emancipating relations among human beings, all over the world—a new way of organizing society that will make it possible to meet the essential requirements of a decent life for human beings, on a continually expanding basis, without any discrimination, inequality, oppression or exploitation, including in the intimate relations among human beings.

    To everyone who hates the way people are treated under this system of capitalism-imperialism... everyone who really wants to see an end to the madness that people here and all over the world are subjected to, and the growing threat to the very existence of humanity, through the destruction of the environment and the danger of nuclear war between the U.S. imperialists and their imperialist rivals in Russia and China... everyone who wants to be part of bringing into being a way of living, and a future, worthy of human beings—YOU need to become part of, and to work actively to help build, the organized forces for this urgently needed revolution.

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. The Science Of Evolution And The Myth Of Creationism—Knowing What’s Real And Why It Matters is available through Insight Press, Chicago, Illinois. [back]

    2. Breakthroughs: The Historic Breakthrough by Marx, and the Further Breakthrough with the New Communism, A Basic Summary is available at revcom.us. [back]

    3. A summary of the horrific oppression advocated and insisted upon in new and old testaments of the Bible is found in the section “The Bible, Taken Literally, Is a Horror,” in “Part One: Where Did God Come From... And Who Says We Need God?” in AWAY WITH ALL GODS! Unchaining The Mind And Radically Changing The World (published by Insight Press, Chicago, 2008). And Part Two of this book, “Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—Rooted In The Past, Standing In the Way of the Future,” as well as Part Three, “Religion—a Heavy, Heavy Chain” show how horrific oppression is upheld and advocated not only in the scriptures of the “Judeo-Christian” tradition but also in the Qur’an of Islam. [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    Resource Page on the Genocidal Assault on Palestine — And Israel as an Enforcer of Imperialism

    Updated

    Palestinian carries a boy injured from Israeli airstrike outside the entrance of the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, November 3, 2023.

     

    Boy injured from Israeli airstrike outside the entrance of the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, November 3, 2023.    Photo: AP

    Stop the U.S.-Backed Israeli Genocidal War Against Palestine! The Palestinian People Must Be Free!  

    Down With the Racist Apartheid State of Israel and Its Master, U.S. Imperialism!

    Stop the Repression, Censorship and Blacklisting of Pro-Palestinian Voices!

    From the Imperialist U.S.A. to Palestine the People Need Real Revolution Based on the New Communism!

    Hamas Is Not a Force for Liberation!
    U.S. Imperialism STOP Your Bloody Arming of Israel!

    Anti-Zionism Does NOT Equal Anti-Semitism!

     

    To put it in basic terms, Israel is a colonial-settler state which was imposed on the region of the Middle East, at the cost of great suffering for the Palestinian people (and the people of the region more broadly), Israel could not have come into being without the backing of imperialism, and it acts not only in its own interests but as an armed garrison and instrument of enforcement for U.S. imperialism.

     

    After the Holocaust, the worst thing that has happened to Jewish people is the state of Israel.

    —Bob Avakian, BAsics 5:12

    Bob Avakian on the Existential Crisis Facing Israel
    Bringing Forward Another Way cover 600

     

    BAsics-1-28-559-en.jpg

     

    BAsics 5-12

     

    Why is the U.S. supporting Israel's genocide of Palestinians?

    Taking on the “justifications” for Israel's genocide of Palestinians

    Israel and Palestine: a terrible ironic twist of history

    “Why should I care about Palestine when we've got problems here?”

    Bastion of Enlightenment… or Enforcer for Imperialism:

    The Case of ISRAEL

    The state of Israel is projected to the world as an outpost of democracy and tolerance in a sea of hostile, intolerant Islam bent on its destruction. To be considered a credible mainstream voice in U.S. politics, academia, or the media, one must present Israel as a front line of defense against Jihad, and a critical fortress defending "our way of life."

    Read on…

    Latest News and Analysis:

    Israeli and Palestinian deaths beginning October 7. Click to enlarge.

    The Situation In Gaza, The Responsibility To Act Now... and The Revolutionary Solution To All This
    REVCOMS: This ICJ ruling is NOT a victory. It leaves room for Israel to continue lying—that they don't INTEND to murder Palestinian civilians even tho the world sees the truth.

    Sunsara Taylor On Gaza... The Correct Way To Understand NEVER AGAIN... And The Need For Revolution
    Share this >>

    ISRAEL: A Colonial Project Since The Beginning... An Enforcer For U.S. Imperialism Today

    Dead-End Paths and Shackles:

    To those liberals who say they support the American proxy war in Ukraine because of (real) Russian war crimes, but say nothing about or are even supportive of Israel’s war against Gaza...

     

    Background: Gaza Strip after Israeli airstrike, November 16, 2023.   

    Leaflets and Other Materials

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    Stop the US-backed Israeli genocidal war against Palestine!

     

    Download Banner (PDF | PNG)   

    Stop the US-backed Israeli genocidal war against Palestine!

     

    Download Banner (PDF | PNG)   

    Why is Biden, and basically the entire government and ruling class of the U.S., supporting Israel in carrying out genocide against the Palestinian people, before the whole world? This is not because of “the power of the Jewish lobby”—or because of some ignorant, ridiculous and outrageous notion that “Jews are controlling everything.” It is because Israel plays a “special role” as a heavily armed bastion of support for U.S. imperialism in a strategically important part of the world (the “Middle East”). And Israel has been a key force in the commission of atrocities which have helped to maintain the oppressive rule of U.S. imperialism in many other parts of the world.
    —Bob Avakian

    Download:  Image (square) || PDF (8.5x11)

  • ARTICLE:

    A Timely Provocation from Bob Avakian

    The following is a companion to my statement that: After the Holocaust, the worst thing that has happened to Jewish people is the state of Israel.

    Israel has done something truly incredible—Israel has managed to turn Jews into Nazis!

    This is the terrible but unavoidable conclusion that has to be drawn from the whole history of Israel, in its murderous oppression of the Palestinian people, and the current genocidal actions of Israel, along with the statements of high officials of the Israeli government, as well as backers of Israel, in attempting to justify all this. 

    It also has to be said that none of this could have happened without the full, unwavering support of U.S. imperialism for Israel’s continuing crimes against humanity and war crimes: its ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, its apartheid rule over them for generations, and now the heightened genocidal slaughter in Gaza and the mounting violence of illegitimate settlers, backed by the Israeli army, against Palestinian people in the West Bank.

    Bob Avakian provocation quote on Israel.

     

  • ARTICLE:

    Essential writings from Bob Avakian On The Middle East, Israel and the Revolution — and the World — We Need

    To put it in basic terms, Israel is a colonial-settler state which was imposed on the region of the Middle East, at the cost of great suffering for the Palestinian people (and the people of the region more broadly), Israel could not have come into being without the backing of imperialism, and it acts not only in its own interests but as an armed garrison and instrument of enforcement for U.S. imperialism.

     

    After the holocaust, the worst thing that has happened to Jewish people is the state of Israel.

    —Bob Avakian, BAsics 5:12

    Bob Avakian on the Existential Crisis Facing Israel
    From the Q&A sessions for the film "Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution"

    Bob Avakian on the Two Meanings of “Never Again”
    An except from REVOLUTION AND RELIGION: A Dialogue Between CORNEL WEST & BOB AVAKIAN
     

    What we see in contention here with Jihad [Islamic fundamentalism] on the one hand and McWorld/McCrusade [increasingly globalized western imperialism] 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.

    While this is a very important formulation and is crucial to understanding much of the dynamics driving things in the world in this period, at the same time we do have to be clear about which of these “historically outmodeds” has done the greater damage and poses the greater threat to humanity: It is the historically outmoded ruling strata of the imperialist system, and in particular the U.S. imperialists.

    —Bob Avakian, BAsics 1:28
     

    Spread “Selected Quotations from Bob Avakian on the Middle East, Israel, Imperialism and Revolution” to campus departments like history, sociology or departments that focus on the Middle East, and to other places where controversy is breaking out.

    Bringing Forward Another Way cover 600

     

    Bringing Forward Another Way is a talk given by Bob Avakian to a group of Party supporters in 2006 and published in early 2007. This groundbreaking analysis, made during the George W. Bush years, continues to be very relevant, especially in the context of sharpening contradictions centered in the Middle East and aggressive U.S.-led moves against Iran. This work is an illustration of applying the scientific method to approaching international conflicts and understanding social and political contradictions—and identifying where the fundamental interests of humanity lie, providing concrete leadership and guidance for the strategic repolarization for revolution and a thoroughly internationalist orientation. Given the current situation in the world, we urge our readers to restudy this important work or to get into it for the first time.

    You cannot break all the chains, except one. You cannot say you want to be free of exploitation and oppression, except you want to keep the oppression of women by men. You can't say you want to liberate humanity yet keep one half of the people enslaved to the other half. The oppression of women is completely bound up with the division of society into masters and slaves, exploiters and exploited, and the ending of all such conditions is impossible without the complete liberation of women. All this is why women have a tremendous role to play not only in making revolution but in making sure there is all-the-way revolution. The fury of women can and must be fully unleashed as a mighty force for proletarian revolution.

    —Bob Avakian, BAsics 3:22

    The essence of what exists in the U.S. is not democracy but capitalism-imperialism and political structures to enforce that capitalism-imperialism. What the U.S. spreads around the world is not democracy, but imperialism and political structures to enforce that imperialism.

    —Bob Avakian, BAsics 1:3

  • ARTICLE:

    Take the Quiz! Israel: Perception & Reality

    Part 1. The Origins of the State of Israel, the Palestinians, and the Holocaust

    Updated

    1. Which of the following statements was made by David Ben-Gurion, a key figure in the founding of the state of Israel?

    a) "After the formation of a large army in the wake of the establishment of the state, we will abolish partition and expand to the whole of Palestine."

    b) "If I was an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. Sure, God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them? Our God is not theirs. We come from Israel, it's true, but two thousand years ago, and what is that to them?"

    c) "There has been anti-semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?"

    d) All of the above.

    e) None of the above.

    Answer

    1.   d

    Answers a, b, and c are all quotes from David Ben-Gurion available at mainstream sources. The first quote is from a statement made in 1938, 10 years before the establishment of the state of Israel. Answers b and c are from a comment Ben-Gurion made in 1956, to Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Jewish Congress.

    Close

    2. In a speech to the American-Israel Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Barack Obama stated that "It was just a few years after the liberation of the [Nazi concentration] camps that David Ben-Gurion declared the founding of the Jewish state of Israel." Which of the following two statements is an actual quote reflecting Ben-Gurion's views on the relationship between saving Jews from the Holocaust and establishing Israel?

    a) "If I knew that it was possible to save all the children in Germany by transporting them to England, but only half of them by transporting them to Palestine, I would choose the first—because we face not only the reckoning of those children, but the historical reckoning of the Jewish people." [emphasis added]

    b) "If I knew that it was possible to save all the children in Germany by transporting them to England, but only half of them by transporting them to Palestine, I would choose the second—because we face not only the reckoning of those children, but the historical reckoning of the Jewish people." [emphasis added]

    Answer

    2.  b

    Tom Segev, The Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust, New York: Henry Holt, 2000.

    Close

    3. Which of the following is an accurate quote from Moshe Dayan, a major figure in the founding of Israel?

    a) "Overwhelmingly, the areas settled by Jewish emigrants were not populated by Arabs."

    b) "One of the greatest myths is that we stole this country [Israel] from the Arabs."

    c) "Israel is truly a land without a people for a people without a land."

    d) "There is not a single place built in this country [Israel] that did not have a former Arab population."

    e) None of the above.

    Answer

    3.  d

    From Address to the Technion, Haifa, reported in Haaretz, April 4, 1969.

    Close

    4. What was the actual Palestinian Arab population compared to the Jewish population in Palestine at the beginning of World War 1 in 1914?

    a) 10,000 Arabs and 150,000 Jews

    b) 100,000 Arabs and 150,000 Jews

    c) 15,000 Arabs and 10,000 Jews

    d) 683,000 Arabs and 60,000 Jews

    e) None of the above.

    Answer

    4.  d

    “Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Primer,” by Joel Beinin and Lisa Hajjar (Middle East Research and Information Project). Over half of these 60,000 Jews were recent settlers.

    Close

    5. What percentage of the land of Palestine did the state of Israel seize in the 1948 war between Israel and Arab states?

    a) 95

    b) 50

    c) 77

    d) 15

    Answer

    5. c

    “Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Primer,” by Joel Beinin and Lisa Hajjar (Middle East Research and Information Project).

    Close

    6. The 1967 "Six-Day War" resulted in Israel occupying the remaining 23 percent of historic Palestine—the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem—along with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Syria's Golan Heights. After that war, Menachem Begin, who later became prime minister, made which of the following statements in a speech to the Israeli National Defense College?

    a) "The Egyptian Army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him."

    b) "The Egyptian Army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. The international community must be honest. We were defending ourselves."

    c) "The Egyptian Army concentrations in the Sinai protected terrorists who were endangering Israeli citizens without regard for the lives of children and civilians."

    d) "Our military operations in the Sinai were actions of last resort."

    e) None of the above.

    Answer

    6. a

    Address by Prime Minister Begin at the National Defense College, August 8, 1982 (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

    Close

    7. Ariel Sharon was Israel's prime minister from 2001 until suffering a stroke in 2006. Which of the following is he famous for?

    a) Leading a commando unit of the Haganah, a Zionist underground group, that carried out terrorist operations against Palestinian communities before the establishment of the Israeli state.

    b) Leading an Israeli army unit in the 1950s called Unit 101 which carried out armed attacks against Palestinians. In October 1953, this unit blew up the village of Kibya in the West Bank, killing 69 civilians.

    c) As defense minister, serving as the main architect of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon when, in a space of a few weeks, the Israeli military killed 20,000 Lebanese and Palestinians.

    d) Being charged with "indirect responsibility" by an official Israeli investigation for the September 1982 massacre of 2,000 people at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps outside Beirut, carried out by Israeli-backed fascist Phalange forces.

    e) All of the above.

    Answer

    7. e

    (a) answers.com, www.fact-index.com.

    (b) “Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem,” by Issa Nakhleh; “Israel: Massacre at Kibya,” Time, October 26 1983.

    (c) “Heckled Over 1982 Lebanon Move, Sharon Defends Invasion Role in Unusual Lecture,” by Dan Fisher (Los Angeles Times, August 12, 1987);.

    (d) "Final Report of the Israeli Commission of Inquiry," Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. XII, No. 3. Spring 1983.

    Close

    8. In which, if any, of the following major international events was Israel deeply involved?

    a) The Iran-Contra Affair, shipping arms to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Money from the arms sales was used to fund the "Contras" who were carrying out sabotage and violence against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

    b) The installation of the notorious General Idi Amin as the ruler of Uganda.

    c) The slaughter of at least 182,000 Mayan peasants by the death-squad regime in Guatemala during the period of 1978-1984.

    d) All of the above.

    e) None of the above.

    Answer

    8. d

    (a) Excerpts from the Tower Commission's Report.

    (b) “Revealed: how Israel helped Amin to take power,” by Richard Dowden, The Independent, August 17, 2003.

    (c) Guatemala: Memory of Silence, Report of the Commission for Historical Clarification.

    Close

    9. To which of the following countries has Israel not sold or transferred substantial military material?

    a) The government of South Africa during the apartheid era. Israel observed an international boycott of selling military weapons to that regime.

    b) The government of India over past two decades. Israel’s policy is to not support the Hindu-fascist Modi regime now in power in India.

    c) The Islamic Republic of Iran. For obvious reasons Israel has refused to sell or transfer military supplies to that regime.

    d) Israel has not sold or transferred weapons to any of the three countries listed above.

    e) Israel has sold or transferred weapons to all three of the countries listed above.

    Answer

    9. e

    Israel has sold or transferred weapons to all three regimes.

    (a) “Brothers in Arms—Israel’s Secret Pact with Pretoria,” by Chris McGreal, The Guardian, February 7, 2006.

    (b) Israel has long exported arms to India. Now it’s selling spyware too,” by Urvashi Sarkar, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, April 4, 2022.

    (c) Excerpts from the Tower Commission's Report.

    Close

    10. When did Joe Biden say that if Israel did not exist, the U.S. would have had to “invent” it?

    a) In 1986, when he was a U.S. senator.

    b) In 2015, when he was vice president under Barack Obama.

    c) In October 2023, as Israel began the genocidal war in Gaza after the Hamas attack in southern Israel.

    d) On all three occasions (and other times through the years).

    e) He never made such a statement.

    Answer

    10.

    (a) As senator, arguing for the importance of $3 billion in military aid the U.S. gives annually to Israel, Biden said that Israel “is the best $3 billion investment we make. Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interest in the region. The United States would have to go out and invent an Israel." (C-SPAN).

    (b) As vice president, at a celebration of the anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, Biden said, “As many of you heard me say before, were there no Israel, America would have to invent one. We’d have to invent one because… you protect our interests like we protect yours.” Office of the Vice President, April 23, 2015.

    (c) During his trip to Tel Aviv, Israel, Biden said, “I have long said: If Israel didn’t exist, we would have to invent it.” WhiteHouse.gov, October 18, 2023.

    Close

    11. From the 1948 founding of Israel and through the following decades, the Republicans have been much more vocal and aggressive compared to Democrats in pushing for U.S. military aid and backing for Israel. 

    a) True. 

    b) False.

    Answer

    11. False 

    Democratic President Harry Truman was the first head of state worldwide to recognize the new state of Israel—just 11 minutes after its official founding (Harry S. Truman Library/Museum). Support for Israel has been a pillar of U.S. policy ever since, under both Democrats and Republicans. In 1999, Democratic President Bill Clinton pledged to give Israel “at least $26 billion” in aid—mostly military—over the next 10 years. In 2007, Republican President George W. Bush pledged $30 billion for the next 10 years. In 2016, Democratic President Barack Obama signed a 10-year pledge for $38 billion, entirely for military aid. (U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel, Congressional Research Service, p. 8, March 1, 2023). Soon after Israel began its current massive war on Gaza, President Joe Biden sent Congress a request for $14 billion in additional military aid to Israel, as part of a $105 billion package including more aid for Ukraine in the U.S.’s proxy war with Russia and for Taiwan (as part of ramping up U.S. confrontations against rival imperialist power China) and further beefing up militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border. (New York Times, October 20, 2023).

    Close
  • ARTICLE:

    Take the Quiz! Israel: Perception & Reality

    Part 2: Israel and Comparisons to Apartheid South Africa

    Background note to this section of the quiz

    Under the white supremacist apartheid system, in effect in South Africa from 1948 to 1994, millions of South African people were driven out of their communities, deprived of citizenship, and violently herded into so-called “homelands” called bantustans. Education, medical care, and other services were rigidly segregated and abominable for black South Africans. Protests and uprisings were violently suppressed. The apartheid regime carried out proxy wars on behalf of the United States in opposition to Soviet-sponsored forces in Southern Africa during the “cold war.” In 1994, in response to international outrage, resistance in South Africa, and in the context of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the “cold war,” formal apartheid was ended.

    1) Until the early 1990s, the apartheid government of South Africa was isolated by a UN embargo on trade. During that period, Israel’s commercial relationship with South Africa consisted of…

    a) Trade limited to the export of oranges and other food.

    b) Trade limited to the export of eyeglasses and medical supplies.

    c) Trade centered on large scale, strategic military assistance including material and training to help the apartheid regime massacre protesters and assistance in developing a nuclear weapons program.

    d) All of the above.

    e) None of the above—Israel was one of the few countries in the world to strictly observe the boycott of trade with South Africa.

    Answer

    1.
    Answer: C

    The Israel-South Africa alliance began in earnest in April 1975 when then-Defense Minister Shimon Peres signed a secret security pact with his South African counterpart, P.W. Botha. Within months, the two countries were doing a brisk trade, closing arms deals totaling almost $200 million; Peres even offered to sell Pretoria nuclear-capable Jericho missiles. By 1979, South Africa had become the Israeli defense industry's single largest customer, accounting for 35 percent of military exports and dwarfing other clients such as Argentina, Chile, Singapore, and Zaire. There was nuclear cooperation, too: South Africa provided Israel with yellowcake uranium while dozens of Israelis came to South Africa in 1984 with code names and cover stories to work on Pretoria's nuclear missile program at South Africa's secret Overberg testing range. Foreign Policy, May 10, 2010; Rose M. Byrnes, ed., South Africa: A Country Study: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1996.

    Close

    2) When South African prime minister John Vorster—who had been jailed for his membership in a fascist organization in South Africa that sided with Hitler in World War 2—made a state visit to Israel in 1976…

    a) Israel allowed Vorster to visit, but in a close parallel to Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s reception at Columbia University in New York in 2007, Vorster’s speech at Tel Aviv University was introduced by Prof. Joseph Klafter (currently the university’s president) with scathing denunciation of Vorster’s “unacceptable past positions,” and “abhorrent current policies towards [South Africa’s] black population.”

    b) Israel allowed Vorster to visit, but Israeli authorities boycotted his visit.

    c) Israel’s Prime Minister at the time, Yitzhak Rabin, praised “the ideals shared by Israel and South Africa: the hopes for justice and peaceful coexistence” and declared both countries were threatened by “foreign-inspired instability and recklessness.”

    d) Vorster was detained at the Tel Aviv Airport and not allowed to enter Israel.

    Answer

    2.
    Answer: C.

    In 1976, Israel invited the South African prime minister, John Vorster—a former Nazi sympathizer and a commander of the fascist Ossewabrandwag that sided with Hitler—to make a state visit….Leaving unmentioned Vorster's wartime internment for supporting Germany, Israel's prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, hailed the South African premier as a force for freedom and made no mention of Vorster's past as he toured the Jerusalem memorial to the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis. At a state banquet, Rabin toasted "the ideals shared by Israel and South Africa: the hopes for justice and peaceful coexistence". Both countries, he said, faced "foreign-inspired instability and recklessness.” Chris McGreal, The Guardian, Tuesday 7 February 2006; The Jerusalem Fund, July 11, 2010, “Apartheid South Africa’s Secret Relationship with Israel”, Dr. Sasha Polansky.

    Close

    3) In apartheid South Africa, after the indigenous African people’s land was taken by force, they were declared illegal inhabitants of their own land. In Israel, the status of Palestinian people who own houses in Jerusalem, land seized by Israel in the 1967 war, has been addressed in the following way:

    a) Jerusalem has always been almost exclusively inhabited by European immigrants, and there is no issue of dispossessed Palestinian homeowners.

    b) Israeli court rulings protect Palestinians who own homes in Jerusalem.

    c) Palestinian property holders in Jerusalem are considered “illegally present people” in their own homes, without legal rights to live in their own houses. Thousands of Palestinians living in the West Bank who own land or homes in Jerusalem lost all rights to their holdings.

    d) None of the above.

    Answer

    3.
    Answer C

    Palestinian residents of Jerusalem face especially acute discrimination in the provision of municipal services and access to land for residential building. Those residing in East Jerusalem, seized by Israel in 1967, have been required to prove that Jerusalem constitutes their "center of life" and risk the loss of residency rights there. The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem characterized the set of pressures faced by native non-Jewish residents of Jerusalem as a form of "quiet deportation." Coupled with an aggressive campaign of Jewish settlement, Israeli policies amount to a form of 21st-century colonialism. Counterpunch, Intolerance at Jerusalem's Museum of Tolerance, George Bisharat; Asia!, Sheikh Jarrah: The Holy City's telling battle on two fronts (Part two), Dan-Chiyi Chuya, July 21, 2010. Baltimore IMC, September 13, 2010, East Jerusalem Palestinians Denied Basic Rights, Stephen Lendman.

    Close

    4) Speaking of the bantustans, remote, barren enclosures to which the indigenous African people of South Africa were confined, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Italian Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema that…

    a) The bantustan model was the most appropriate solution to the conflict with the Palestinians.

    b) The bantustan model was appalling, and drew parallels to the forced resettlement of European Jews in ghettos.

    c) The bantustan model was abandoned due to the struggle of the people of South Africa, and pressure from Israel.

    d)  The bantustan model might have been appropriate for South Africa, but was not appropriate for Israel.

    Answer

    4.
    Answer A

    Three years ago, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported the former Italian prime minister, Massimo D'Alema, as telling dinner guests at a Jerusalem hotel that, on a visit to Rome a few years earlier, Sharon had told him that the bantustan model was the most appropriate solution to the conflict with the Palestinians. When one of the guests suggested to D'Alema that he was interpreting, not repeating, Sharon's words, the former prime minister said not. "No, sir, that is not interpretation. That is a precise quotation of your prime minister," he said. With Sharon out of politics, his successor Ehud Olmert has pledged himself to carrying through the vision of carving out Israel's final borders deep inside the West Bank and retaining all of Jerusalem for the Jewish state. Chris McGreal, The Guardian, Tuesday 7 February 2006, Haaretz.com, Sun, October 03, 2010 Tishrei 25, 5771, Akiva Elder.

    Close

    5) The similarity between the Pass Laws under the South African apartheid regime and the identity cards carried by Palestinians in Israel is that …

    a) Israeli soldiers routinely humiliate and harass Palestinians at checkpoints.

    b) Israeli police stop people based on their apparent nationality and demand their identity cards as a matter of routine.

    c) Walls, checkpoints, and repression create an environment in Israel where much of the Jewish public is shielded from, doesn’t see, and avoids confronting the conditions of the Palestinian people.

    d) All of the above

    e) None of the above.

    Answer

    5.
    Answer: D.  

    The Report of the United Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, December 3, 1986, proposed that the UN General Assembly condemn a comprehensive collection of Israeli policies and practices. These included, among many oppressive Israeli actions, “Collective punishment, mass arrests, administrative detention and ill-treatment of the Arab population,” and “Interference with the freedom of movement of individuals within the Palestinian and other occupied Arab territories.” (United Nations, Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, December 3, 1986)

    The UN General Assembly voted to demand that Israel “cooperate with the Special Committee in implementing its mandate, and deplores those policies and practices of Israel that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories.” (United Nations General Assembly Report, GA 1092, December 10, 2009)

    Close

    6) Which of the following is a substantial difference between Israel and apartheid South Africa?

    a) Ideologists of apartheid invoked religious dogma to justify white supremacy, whereas defenders of Zionism do not.

    b) While these provisions are flawed in implementation, Israel’s Constitution guarantees equality to people of all races and religions, whereas no such protection existed in South Africa.

    c) Israel maintains a world-class arsenal of nuclear weapons and has the technology, intelligence capacity and delivery systems to launch a devastating nuclear attack—while apartheid South Africa never achieved nuclear weapons capacity.

    d) The South African regime provided military assistance, training, and materiel to pro-U.S. forces carrying out terrorist attacks, whereas Israel has not and is not involved in such actions.

    e) None of the above.

    Answer

    6.
    Answer: C

    Defenders of Zionism invoke religion; Israel has no Constitution and in any event does not promise formal equality to Palestinian citizens; Israel provided covert military assistance to the Nicaraguan “Contras” who carried out terrorist attacks on civilians, civilian property, and infrastructure as part of a campaign to overthrow the Sandinista government in the 1980s. Estimates of Israel’s nuclear weapons arsenal range from 75 to 200.

    The Federation of American Scientists states “Israel has not confirmed that it has nuclear weapons and officially maintains that it will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East. Yet the existence of Israeli nuclear weapons is a "public secret" by now due to the declassification of large numbers of formerly highly classified US government documents which show that the United States by 1975 was convinced that Israel had nuclear weapons.” (nuke.fas.org/guide/israel/nuke/)

    “Most experts estimate that Israel has between 100 and 200 nuclear warheads, largely based on information leaked to the Sunday Times newspaper in the 1980s by Mordechai Vanunu, a former worker at the country's Dimona nuclear reactor.

    “The U.S., a key ally of Israel, has in general followed the country's policy of "nuclear ambiguity", neither confirming or denying the existence of its assumed arsenal.

    “However, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert included Israel among a list of nuclear states in comments in December 2006, a week after US Defense Secretary Robert Gates used a similar form of words during a Senate hearing.”

    --BBC News, “Israel 'has 150 nuclear weapons'” May 26, 2008.

    Close
  • ARTICLE:

    Texas Anti-Immigrant Law Would Enable Every Pig in the State To Demand, “Show Me Your Papers!”

    Updated

    Update: Since we posted this article last week, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Texas could go ahead with putting into effect the extreme anti-immigrant bill SB 4. Then the fascist-dominated U.S. Supreme Court, in an order signed by Samuel Alito, pushed back the date that SB 4 could take effect until March 13. Even as this is going on, very similar bills are being pushed in Arizona, Iowa, Mississippi and West Virginia. And as we said last week, however this plays out in the courts, “SB 4 is a clear ‘statement of intent’ by the fascists to radically escalate their racist attacks on immigrants and their drive to consolidate all-out fascism on a national level.” Stay tuned to revcom.us for developments in this situation.

    Texas National Guard in camouflage, at the Mexican border

     

    Texas National Guard occupying a section of the U.S.-Mexico border, after forcing out the U.S. Border Patrol    Photo: AP

    Last November, Texas Senate Bill 4 (SB 4) was passed and signed by Republi-fascist Governor Abbott. This straight-up fascist bill should be called the “Unleash the Racist Pigs” law, or the “Show Me Your Papers Act.”

    SB 4 was supposed to go into effect on March 5, but on February 29, a Federal District Court judge issued a temporary order blocking it. Texas appealed that order to higher fascist-dominated courts, so what will happen with this is still to be determined. (More on this below.)

    Here are some of the main features of SB 4:

    • SB 4 is a blatantly unconstitutional and outrageous power grab by the fascist-run state of Texas. Under longstanding and reaffirmed decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Constitution gives the federal government exclusive control of immigration and the border. States cannot legally make their own immigration policies. Texas doing so—with this bill and other aggressive state-wide policies—is part of their attempts to hammer into place a fascist society while undercutting the power of their ruling class rivals in the federal government.
       
    • SB 4 instructs and empowers cops in Texas to detain anyone they “suspect” may have entered the state illegally in the last two years. This means every cop in the state (80,000 plus) will be able to strut around like the notoriously brutal and racist federal Border Patrol, enforcing laws designed to oppress immigrants—and to do that anywhere in the state, not just in the border region.
       
    • If the cops are not “satisfied” that the people they’ve targeted have a legal right to be here, they can charge them with “Illegal Entry” to Texas, a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail. If this is a second “offense,” or if the person has been previously deported from the U.S., they can be charged with “Illegal Re-entry,” a felony carrying 10 to 20 years in prison.

    Coco Das on choices

    Three things stand out about this. 

    One, this is an intense escalation of repression of immigrants. It puts a major emphasis on locking people up for months, years or decades for the “crime” of fleeing their imperialist-dominated homelands, of braving terrible hardship and danger for the basic ability to survive. It will make every immigrant, with or without documents, feel all the more demonized and hunted. And it is right in line with Trump’s “promise” to build huge concentration camps for immigrants if he takes power.

    Two, SB 4 is throwing the door wide open to racial profiling of all non-white Texans, and/or all those speaking Spanish or other “foreign” languages. Especially since, in the minds of fascist enforcers, none of “those people belong here” even if they were born here, or legally immigrated. SB 4 is giving pigs the excuse and authority to harass, humiliate and detain people pretty much at will. Faced with this, will “suspected immigrants” have to carry documents like immigration papers or birth certificates whenever they leave their homes? Will the ugly demand to “Show me your papers” reverberate through their communities, making them feel even more like occupied territory than they already do? 

    Three, the fact that Texas passed and is still fighting for this law is a sign that the “old order”—the “normal” and legal ways the capitalist-imperialist system worked for decades and even centuries—is being ripped apart “from within” by rival sections of the ruling class. And this also creates opportunities for it to be not only “ripped apart,” but overthrown by millions of the victims of this order, and a whole different and better world brought into being... not in some far off time, but in this time! Why this is true and how this can be seized on is broken down in a powerful series of social media dispatches from the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian, here.

    REVOLUTION NUMBER 14
    Follow, Listen and Share: @BobAvakianOfficial

    As we said earlier, the legality of SB 4 is now being fought out in the courts, and is likely to be settled by the fascist-dominated U.S. Supreme Court. So there is a real chance that it will still become law in Texas, and if that happens, it is very likely that other fascist-run states will pass similar laws. 

    But even if the Supreme Court does not rule their way, SB 4 is a clear “statement of intent” by the fascists to radically escalate their racist attacks on immigrants and their drive to consolidate all-out fascism on a national level.

  • ARTICLE:

    VIDEO

    Dueling visits to border by Biden and Trump. Same damn system!

    Dueling visits to border by Biden and Trump. Same damn system! We don’t need more murderous repression of immigrants. We need revolution for a whole new way to live!
  • ARTICLE:

    Storm Clouds Darken at the Border

    Texas Revcoms—February 19th bulletin from the border at Eagle Pass Texas. IG/@txrevcoms

    What do you think is the deadliest land route for migrants in the world? Maybe the Sahara Desert? Or maybe the treacherous Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama? No, and No. 

    Barbed wire barrier at Texas-Mexico border caused people to die.

     

    Barbed wire barrier at Texas-Mexico border, August 2, 2023.    Photo: AP

    The deadliest land route in the world is the U.S.-Mexico border.

    You may ask, “But how can that be? With all the wealth and resources in this country, don’t they have ways to keep people from drowning, or dying in the desert from thirst, or getting bitten by poisonous snakes, or suffocating in the backs of trucks?” 

    Of course they do. 

    So why do so many desperate migrants die? The migrants die by design—of the imperialists in the U.S.

    And now the world’s deadliest border just got deadlier.

    A Large Army in a Strategic Area

    On February 16, Texas governor Greg Abbott announced that Texas is building a “forward operating base” along the state’s border with Mexico, just south of the small city of Eagle Pass. 

    Construction of the new base has already begun. Three hundred soldiers are expected to be housed in it by mid-April. Three hundred more will be added regularly until it reaches full capacity. It will include three command posts, weapons storage rooms, and a helicopter pad. Vast amounts of advanced military gear are already in use against migrants along the border. Now more will pour in. Texas will apparently continue its military occupation of Shelby Park in central Eagle Pass, including the massive amounts of deadly razor wire in and along the banks of the Rio Grande, the river that separates the two countries.

    National Guard at Texas-Shelby Park Press Conference February 4, 2024.

     

    February 4, 2024: National Guard at the press conference where Gov. Greg Abbott announced that Texas is building a “forward operating base” along the state’s border with Mexico, just south of the small city of Eagle Pass.     Photo: AP/Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

    Texas has deployed National Guard troops and state police up and down the border since 2021 as part of “Operation Lone Star.” But this base solidifies the permanent presence of a large military force dedicated to “controlling” the border. As Abbott said in a press conference, it will be “a large army in a very strategic area.” 

    Rapid and Dangerous Escalations

    This base is a major escalation in two ways. 

    First, it's an escalation of the utterly illegitimate and violent repression of immigrants. Millions have fled to the U.S. for the basic ability to survive only to be met with barbed wire, detention centers and the increased danger of drowning. They are fleeing wars, droughts and violence caused by this system of capitalism-imperialism, only to be met with the repressive apparatus of this same system. 

    Second, it's an escalation of the open conflict between Republi-fascists spearheaded by Abbott, and Democrats led by Biden. This conflict is not over whether to have a militarized border and the mass deportation of migrants, but over how intensely and viciously these will be enforced. This conflict concentrates deeper differences over the fascist remaking of society.

    As the New York Times wrote, this military base “signals Texas’ commitment to a security role that previously belonged almost exclusively to the federal government.” “Commitment to security,” my ass, one might say! This is an act of usurping the rule of law in the service of fascist mobilization.

    So far Biden and the Democrats have “opposed” the fascist challenges mainly with lawsuits, some of which are working their way through fascist-dominated courts. We don't know what will happen if the federal government decides to openly confront the fascist defiance of their authority. Both sides control and lead large numbers of heavily armed and well-organized forces. Things could quickly accelerate to an unprecedented conflict, by accident or design. 

    The fascists are moving on other fronts, too. After recent fascist rallies in three border towns, one participant was quoted saying, “We’re illegal hunters. I’ve hunted a lot in my life, but I’ve never actually hunted people, and that’s what we’re doing now.” On March 5, a Texas law takes effect that enables any law enforcement officer in the state to arrest any person they claim to have "probable cause" to believe has entered the U.S. illegally.

    Extreme Danger... Revolutionary Potential

    February 4, 2024: Confronting fascists outside Shelby Park in downtown Eagle Pass, Texas.

     

    February 4, 2024: Confronting fascists outside Shelby Park in downtown Eagle Pass, Texas.    Photo: revcom.us

    This entire situation is intensifying. The sharpening divides among the rulers are part of a larger fight over the whole direction of society... a fight which holds both extreme dangers and revolutionary potential. But that potential can only be seized if there are growing forces for revolution acting now—bringing alive what is happening, why and the reality that there is a whole different way the world can beIn a revolutionary society, the masses of migrants fleeing their desperate conditions would not be demonized, hated, terrorized and exploited but treated as human beings... welcomed as a great resource to building a society that is moving to uproot exploitation and oppression, and the imperialist domination of the world.

    In light of that, we are ending this article with the following from a social media dispatch in which the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian breaks down why this revolution is more possible now:

    Everything will very likely be coming to a head and coming up for grabs this year, 2024, 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.

    This kind of deep division—and especially this bitter antagonism among the powers-that-be—has not been seen in this country since the time of the Civil War way back in the 1860s.

    This is not a time to be siding with one group of oppressors or another. This is a rare time—a very rare opening—a chance that may come only once in a lifetime—a chance to take advantage of the deep divisions among the ruling oppressors and go after their whole system, with the aim of bringing the whole thing down, and putting something much better in its place.

    This rare time must not be squandered—wasted and thrown awayIt must be actively and urgently seized on—to bring about a truly emancipating revolution.

    Stop The Demonization And Deportations Of Immigrants And The Militarization Of The Border!

    We Don't Have An Immigration Problem; We Have An Imperialism Problem!

    We Need And We Demand: Revolution, For A Whole New Way To Live, A Fundamentally Different System.

    We Need, We Demand: A Whole New Way to Live, A Fundamentally Different System

     

  • ARTICLE:

    STOP The Demonization, Criminalization and Deportations of Immigrants and the Militarization of the Border!

    Updated

    Stop the demonization, criminalization and deportations of immigrants and the militarization of the border

     

    “The demonization, criminalization and deportations of immigrants and the militarization of the border”

    An excerpt from Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, a speech by Bob Avakian

    Bob Avakian's Answer to People Who Complain about Immigrants Crossing Borders

    From a Q&A following the speech Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution.

    Bob Avakian

    “Why do people come here from all over the world?”

    From Revolution: Why It's Necessary, Why It's Possible, What It's All About, a film of a talk by Bob Avakian given in 2003


     

  • ARTICLE:

    Solidarity Statement from the International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners Now

    This statement from the International Emergency Campaign to free Iran's Political Prisoners Now was read at the Los Angeles rally for International Women's Day on March 9.

    Just as forced motherhood is female enslavement, so is forced veiling in the mandatory hijab that females in Iran must wear starting at age 9 according to its capitalist theocracy. An improper hijab, or having her hair partially uncovered, had cost Mahsa Jina Amini her young life at the hands of Iran’s morality police. This outrageous state murder provoked the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising in mid-September 2022. The furious rebellion lasted for almost half a year. Throngs of women, joined by crowds of men, danced around huge bonfires burning the hated hijab, with many women cutting their hair in protest. This was supported by people worldwide who saw it as a clarion call against all the vicious ways women are oppressed everywhere. But more, the uprising became a symbol of the cry of oppressed humanity.

    Iran’s reactionary mullah regime took revenge during and after the uprising—with mass and also targeted arrests, imprisonment, torture and executions of protesters, officially and unofficially. Artists who stood with the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising are being jailed such as Toomaj Salehi and now even the 2023 Grammy winner of the protest song “Baraye,” Shervin Hajipour. 

    As with the fight over abortion rights, women in Iran have fought against control of their lives and bodies in the draconian enforcement of hijab laws. Iran is the religious fascist handmaid’s tale society that their counterparts are fighting to enforce in this country with Trump’s MAGA rule and mobs. 

    But what stands out about Iran is not simply the unbearable degradation and brutality towards women that exists on every corner of our planet today. What stands out is the decades of persistent and fierce defiance, especially by masses of women. And nowhere does this shine more brightly than the heroism of over 100 women political prisoners, many imprisoned for being hijab rebels. These brave sisters go up against great odds and take great risks to stand in the forefront of fighting a patriarchal and misogynistic regime and society. 

    Women in Iran have been revolting repeatedly for over 45 years, a struggle that predates the rise of the Islamic Republic. The fury of women was part of toppling the CIA-installed US puppet Shah of Iran in 1979. People who sacrifice so much for a better world deserve to know the real way out.

    I want to share part of a statement by the CPIMLM or Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist. They are followers of revolutionary leader Bob Avakian, and are working to apply his new communism to making revolution in Iran. Their statement is titled March 8, the Global Day of Preparation for Revolution and Nothing Less! 

    During these 45 years, women's resistance had high points, such as the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising. But resistance has not been able to go over to a revolution to overthrow the Islamic regime. The question is, how long are we going to merely rebel against the conditions of enslavement? As we know, the most that these rebellions can achieve is to shake the slave chains, not break them. The need for revolution is crying out. 

    In unity with this International Women’s Day, our Emergency Appeal to Free Iran’s political prisoners is more relevant than ever: 

    The governments of the U.S. and Iran act from their national interests. And, in this instance, we the people of the U.S. and Iran, along with the people of the world, have OUR shared interests, as part of getting to a better world: to unite to defend the political prisoners of Iran. In the U.S., we have a special responsibility to unite very broadly against this vile repression by the Islamic Republic, and to actively oppose any war moves by the U.S. government that would bring even more unbearable suffering to the people of Iran.

    We demand of the Islamic Republic of Iran: FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW!

    We say to the U.S government: NO THREATS OR WAR MOVES AGAINST IRAN, LIFT U.S. SANCTIONS!

    The fury of our sisters inside Iran’s prisons, like women all over Iran and across our planet, must be unleashed as part and parcel of a mighty force to finally break all the chains of enslavement and oppression.

  • ARTICLE:

    From Atash/Fire, journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    On the Importance of Truth to Achieving Emancipation: A Letter to Narges Mohammadi from Somayeh Kargar

    Editors’ note: Somayeh Kargar is a former political prisoner in Iran. She was arrested in October 2020 and released in 2021. Among her five codefendants were Mehran Raouf and Nahid Taghavi who are still unjustly held in Tehran’s Evin prison. She was charged with establishing and running the Osyan Women's Collective15 and acting for the Communist Party of Iran (MLM). Narges Mohammadi is a long-time fighter against the reactionary Islamic regime of Iran and currently a political prisoner.16 This letter is posted in Farsi in Atash/Fire journal #146, January 2024 issue at cpimlm.org. It was translated to English by International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners Now (IEC) volunteers. Translators’ minor notations/edits for clarification are in brackets.

    Somayeh Kargar, screenshot from video message to screening of White Torture documentary by Narges Mohammadi.

     

    Somayeh Kargar, screenshot from video message to screening of White Torture documentary by Narges Mohammadi.    Photo: IEC

    Narges Mohammadi

     

    Narges Mohammadi    Photo: ReihaneTaravati

    Greetings to you and to the rest of the imprisoned comrades! With enthusiasm and attention, I read Angelina Jolie's interview with you,17 and listened to your message at the Nobel ceremony, which was read by your precious children. Again, as always, you tried to show the brutal, dark-mindedness and murderous nature of the Islamic Republic, to be a justice-advocate for all the prisoners, and to cry out against the suffering of the people, especially the women. Thank you for your persistent and breathtaking efforts to expose the regime’s repressive torture apparatus, for showing the centrality of the struggle to free the political prisoners to the way forward, and to the overthrow of this regime. In the face of the dirty attacks by reactionaries, and sometimes by ignorant friends, stay strong and hold your head high.

    We live in a world where reality is deliberately concealed, where facts are deliberately and methodically distorted and twisted, so that the truth about this obsolete world order that exists today and its horrifying outcomes appear to be “normal,” part of the human condition, and to make getting rid of this system seem impossible and unnecessary. In such a situation, where discovering the truth and understanding its relationship to emancipation and to fighting for it can be considered the biggest crime, there is no more powerful tool than seeing reality, discovering the truth and shouting it out, no matter the cost to us.

    Dear Narges: I well understand the limitations of prison, but you yourself made it clear that, “I will never let prison stand in my way.” And up to now, you have shown that these words are not just a slogan. Your voice and the voices of our fellow prisoners from behind the walls of Evin have great power and influence, and now with the Nobel Prize, they are being echoed worldwide. It is important that this get fused with the global movement against the Israeli genocide in Gaza. This Peace Prize is awarded at a time when we are witnessing the normalization of [war] crimes in the Middle East. Humanity is standing on the brink of an existential abyss, and the people of Iran and Palestine are part of this humanity that is at risk of being destroyed.

    Sometimes events outside of our control will part the heavens like a thunderbolt, revealing the truth to hundreds of millions of people in a way that talking to them for 20 years could not have achieved. The genocidal war on Gaza being waged by Israel and the U.S. did this. Twenty thousand people have been killed so far, and it is unclear how many more will die, and where else in the Middle East it might flare up. For 45 years, the Islamic Republic has been calling itself the protector of the Palestinians. This makes it our responsibility to expose the Islamic Republic’s deceit toward Palestine, and to tell the people that the national aspirations of the Palestinian people mean zilch to this regime.

    The Islamic Republic is a bloodsucker that has attached itself to the bodies of the Palestinian people. We must not allow them to wrap their rotten banner of Islamism around the cause of the Palestinian people, or use the blood of the Palestinian people and their 75-year-old displacement to showcase the might [of the Islamic Republic]. Our people have become indifferent towards the Palestinian people and their sufferings due to their deep hatred of the Islamic Republic. But, whatever its source, ignorance is ignorance. Ignorance about the realities of this world is dangerous, and a problem that must be solved.

    Today, “democracy” and “peace” deliver the bombs that fall on schools and hospitals in Gaza, Khan Yunis and Rafah, the dismembered body of a child protruding from the rubble, the body of a Palestinian woman burned alive by a white phosphorus bomb, the young child sobbing over her parents’ dead bodies. These are the true faces of the West’s human rights and democracy, and of Israel that is their military garrison. Today, truth in Palestine is soaked in blood by Western democratic bombs shot from the cannon-barrel of democracy.

    The democracies of Europe and the U.S. have banned looking at these truths and talking about them. Award ceremonies for Palestinian and Jewish novelists who have expressed these truths in their novels and articles have been canceled in the very democratic Germany. In the democratic U.S., fascist representatives in Congress ordered that the presidents of prestigious universities be removed [from the floor of Congress], because they refused to go along with the “prohibition of thinking.”

    This protracted deathbed of truth and humanity has revealed an important reality to people all around the world. The horrifying reality of bourgeois democracy becomes apparent as its pretense falls apart before our eyes—the revelation itself [as] a result of the workings of the very same global system that proclaims democracy. The system that has shaped and sunk its claws into people's intellectual life, that indoctrinates these ideas, has been forced to act contrary to its own assertions. Some of the people who sincerely believed in the assertions and claims of bourgeois democracy discourse and have been fighting for its realization, have been deeply shaken—or better put, are shedding their illusions. They have to choose between turning a blind eye to reality or taking a hard look at the discrepancy between reality and what is claimed, confronting the real consequences of this conflict on people’s lives. This is difficult to do, and maybe not everyone is up to the task, but searching for truth is a fundamental advantage that opens up pathways.

    This year's Nobel Peace Prize is granted at a time when nothing in the world is “routine.” The old world order is in shambles and the laws and principles that govern the world are not working as they once did. But something important is happening: the naked reality of democracy is being more explicitly revealed. Within these democracies themselves, large waves of people are questioning their beliefs about it. In the U.S., people have begun to learn about the relationship between democracy within the U.S. and its [global] pillaging and exploitation; about its support for military and torture regimes in all parts of the world; about its war crimes and domination on the three continents of Asia, Africa, and Latin America; about the 700 US military bases around the world and its support for the genocide of Palestinian people; along with its history of genocide against Native Americans and enslavement of Black people. This new awakening should be celebrated, while at the same time it needs to be deepened to reveal the roots and source in the economic, social and political system of imperialism-capitalism that prevails throughout the world, including in Iran.

    The war of survival that you mentioned is not limited to the people of Iran. The functioning of the global capitalist system constantly generates poverty, war, displacement and oppression for the majority of the world’s people. Only a minority in the Global North can enjoy a relative prosperity derived from the wealth produced by billions of adults and children in the Global South. In order for the technologists, scientists and artists in the U.S. to work and enjoy some leisure, children must go to work in the mines of the Congo. Peace is a bitter joke for billions of people around the world. The democracy, peace and human rights that exist in “Western” countries are made possible by exercising dictatorship and tyranny in the Global South, and by the benefits and profit derived from it. In fact, the existing world system is able to wear the mask of democracy in ordinary circumstances, and to remove it in times of crises, such as now.

    These facts have always been known to a few. I had the good fortune to meet revolutionary communists who introduced me to these truths in a deeply scientific and comprehensive way. But in order to change the world, it is necessary for hundreds of millions of people to grasp these facts—and the root source of destructive wars, the growth of fundamentalist forces, femicide, racism, the destruction of the environment, etc.—in order for them to come to the conclusion that this system must be overthrown, not just in Iran, not just in Turkey, Egypt and these types of countries, but even in the U.S. Yes, in the U.S., where making revolution will lift the heavy burden of oppression and exploitation from the backs of billions of people around the world.

    If I had an interview with Angelina Jolie, this is what I would have emphasized, because all the “good-hearted” people in the world deserve to know the whole truth, so they can serve the goals of such a revolution and live a truly meaningful life.

    This is an opportunity and a situation that simply must not be missed. Even the staff members in the Biden administration and in the U.S. Congress were shocked to see the contradiction between the ideals they believe in and the reality that is occurring. Some of them resigned and held a sit-in in front of the Congress to protest the ongoing massacre of the people of Gaza that is supported by Biden. As a former 2020 Biden campaign and Biden admin staffer wrote, “Yes, I still view Trump as a fascist. Yes, I still view Trump's potential 2nd presidency as inherently more dangerous than a Biden 2nd term. But, I cannot morally justify working for someone who is supporting a massacre, someone who is as out of touch with Israel's role in a genocide as he is. I can better spend my time working and advocating for a genuine cause. It's not just me. I know many people from the admin/WH and campaign who are feeling the exact same way: a knowledge of how close fascism is to us, and yet a refusal to cross the moral lines of working for an Admin's campaign that is actively lifting up a genocide.”

    As you rightly said, the uprising made the voice of our struggle global. But what was the uprising, and what does it have to do with the Islamic Republic and the global system? The Jina uprising is part of the global struggle of women against their conditions in this world.

    Male supremacy is woven into the fabric of the current global system. Under the rule of Islamic fundamentalists in Iran, its concentrated expression is the compulsory hijab. In the U.S., where the majority of the judges on the Supreme Court are Christian fundamentalist fascists, it takes the form of banning abortion. It is assumed that religious fundamentalism and the Islamic Republic are an awkward misfit with the body of the global system. But the Islamic Republic, and the spread of Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East and North Africa, are the product of the devastating economic policies and practice of Western imperialist powers in this region. The Western world, led by the U.S., does not export democracy around the world. Their achievement has been the export to the world of those production relations and infrastructures that spread exploitation and oppression, to serve their own interests.

    We still recall the catastrophe caused by the export of NATO-flavored U.S. democracy to Afghanistan, and the tragic consequences for the people of that country. Did the U.S. ever think about the interests of the Afghan people when they established the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and then handed Afghanistan back to the Taliban? Never!

    We have the experience of U.S. democracy exported to Iran in the form of the Pahlavi monarchy. Do we want that once again, or something similar to that? Many people incorrectly see the “free world of the West” on one side of the equation, and Islamic fundamentalism on the other side. But that is not the case. These are players at different levels of a global system of oppression and exploitation which the imperialist powers are at the head of, and they dictate the terms and conditions that keep this global order spinning. The Islamic fundamentalists who rule Iran have “quarrels” with the imperialists who rule the U.S. But they are different parts of a single system that has oppressive and exploitative relationships with workers and toiling masses, with women, with intellectuals, with LGBTQ and with various ethnic nationalities in Iran.

    Therefore, you cannot unite with one against the other, because that approach will end up benefiting both of them. Supporting one actually strengthens both, and neither one is a solution for our people, and the people of the Middle East. The choice between supporting one of these two forces has been imposed on the entire Middle East for decades, and we see its terrible consequences everywhere. The Islamic Republic is a theocratic capitalist state, not just a theocratic dictatorship. This reality necessitates a revolution for our society that will simultaneously destroy the theocratic form of the rule and its capitalist underpinnings, and this revolution can only be a communist revolution to establish a new socialist republic. Getting into “what is the problem and what is the solution” is vital for our society today, for tomorrow, and for the future of all societies, especially in a situation where the world is in the throes of great changes.

    During my debate tour last summer that we called the “War of Alternatives,” I said that the world situation has placed not only Iran but all of humanity at a decisive crossroads. And I repeated [revolutionary leader] Bob Avakian's statement that we face “A Truly Terrible or a Truly Emancipating Future.”18 In other words, either humanity will suffer the intensifying disasters created by the functioning of the worldwide capitalist imperialist system, or it must prepare and bring about the destruction of this system through communist revolutions, in order to reorient human society towards a fundamentally different future.

    The overthrow of the Islamic Republic is not only an objective necessity, but also an urgent requirement to chart a course toward the future. The present challenge in regard to the question of what alternative to choose is this: what must be changed so that not only the current problems are solved, but society can get onto a different road? How will this change be achieved? In the current situation, one of the most important methods is to differentiate ourselves from both old and new revolutionary programs, and to put forward the alternative of a real revolution and map out the coordinates and practices of the new socialist society. It is clear to us, the revolutionary communists, that if we are not bringing this forward, we are actually abandoning the field to right-wing alternatives, and the restoration of the bourgeois dictatorial state in another form.

    The character, principles and the practices of this alternative are carefully laid out by the Communist Party of Iran (MLM) in its draft “Constitution of the New Socialist Republic of Iran.” This “constitution” is based on universal principles formulated by Bob Avakian, for the society that will be established after the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.19

    One of the important lines of demarcation in the alternative we put forward is regarding the issue of human rights. Most people who speak about “human rights” are referring to the “rights” enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948, and other such declarations. But as Bob Avakian has correctly noted, “within the current power relations obtaining in the world, there is no real way to ‘enforce’ these rights—and, in a more basic sense, there is no real way to ‘effect’ these rights within the confines of a capitalist-imperialist world economy and political system.”20 The intellectual and physical capabilities of billions of people who produce the wealth in this world is crushed and destroyed by the daily workings of the capitalist system.

    When people rise up against this situation, branding irons, bayonets, imprisonment and torture await them. The challenge before us is to create a society that will break down these barriers and establish a government whose responsibility and existential necessity is to pave the way for the realization of the “four alls” (ending all class distinctions, all production relations that create such distinctions, all oppressive social relations that arises from those social distinctions and oppressive relations, and all the ways of thinking the flow from those social distinctions and oppressive relations), and to secure the freedom for the oppressed to put these “four alls” into practice, while at the same time, ensuring the freedom of critical thinking and dissent in society—even when they are in opposition to the principles of such a society.

    Dear Narges! War, terrorism and fundamentalism are not the result of a lack of the attributes of the Middle East’s “very rich historical civilizations.” The war-torn and fundamentalist Middle East was produced by the working of the capitalist system that rules the world. And the character of the future we need must be qualitatively different from any kind of “historical civilization.” Yes, all of us in Iran, in the Middle East, and in the world, are suffering from a very dangerous “lack.” The lack of taking up the potential of the available revolutionary theory needed to lead new waves of revolution. Your work and the work of your noble comrades are very important to building those waves of revolution.

    Within the opposition to the Islamic Republic, there are various political forces whose social outlooks and interests conflict irreconcilably with each other. But there are also various trends whose perspectives are close to each other. Such differences are very natural, because life is full of necessity. When tackling necessity in order to change it, human beings will always have varying opinions about how to assess those necessities and how to change them. These differences can and must become the source of the flowering of a rich intellectual life, and of practical unity. When we outline clearer alternatives for a truly better society and world, we will be able to open our arms wider for broader alliances.

    As the contradictions within society and the world intensify, the various hues of “we” will come closer together. That’s great, and it is the essence of a human response to unbearable disasters. But, starting today, we must grapple with the differences in the viewpoints and programs of those in opposition to the Islamic Republic, so that we can become more aware of demarcating programs that can only lead from catastrophe to catastrophe, [from that which] unites our alliances that are aiming for a totally different future. Only then can we together, by relying on each other's knowledge and art, victoriously sail this storm-tossed ship amid rocks and turbulences, and aim our fists as one toward the ramparts of the tower of oppression.

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1.  Osyan means rebellion in the Farsi language. It is a group of Iranian and Afghan women who are the voice of women’s rebellion to express the determination, and to serve the struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Taliban.  [back]

    2.  According to the International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners Now: “For some 30 years, Narges Mohammadi has been a fierce, courageous and selfless fighter against Iran’s Islamic Republic (IRI)—a misogynist theocracy. Over these years she’s been arrested 13 times, convicted in sham trials five times, and sentenced a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes (i.e., whipping). She’s now serving a 10-year sentence for ‘anti-state propaganda’ in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison." Mohammadi received the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.  [back]

    3. U.S. actor Angelina Jolie interviewed Narges Mohammadi for Time magazine after Mohammadi had won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2023. See the article “Imprisoned Nobel Winner Narges Mohammadi Tells Angelina Jolie Iran’s People Will Prevail,” Time magazine, time.com, November 2, 2023.  [back]

    4.  This is a reference to 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, by Bob Avakian, Revolutionary Leader, Author of the New Communism.  [back]

    5.  The Draft of the Constitution of the New Socialist Republic of Iran, available in Persian at cpimlm.org.  [back]

    6.  Avakian, “Human Rights in the Labor Chain,” April 11, 2022, available in Persian at cpimlm.org, and in English in “Interview with Bob Avakian,” at revcom.us.  [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    From the International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners Now (IEC)

    A Night of Cultural Revolt Full of Joy and Hope: Free Rebel Rapper Toomaj Salehi and ALL Iran’s Political Prisoners With Urgency

    Revcom.us editors’ note: We received the following from the International Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners Now (IEC).

    Hope you're doin' ok! Thank you for still supporting me, like you have from the first days (and hopefully not forgetting all the other loved ones in prison). In here, I am still getting the news channels, and sometimes even reading your tweets. Nothing can disconnect us—because our hearts remain connected.  [Translated by IEC volunteers]

    Poster for Feb. 24, 2024 Night of Cultural Revolt, for Iran political prisoner Toomaj

     

    Toomaj sent out this message from Iran’s Isfahan Prison to his social media on February 14. His caring about others infused the élan of the cultural program at Berkeley’s popular Starry Plough Pub on February 24. The evening promised to be—and indeed delivered—a fitting tribute in the fierce struggle to free Iran’s heroic political prisoners, among them the beloved people’s rapper known to millions as Toomaj. Hearts and minds indeed connected in the uplifting joy of resistance and collective hope in striving for a liberating world.

    It was standing room only, with over 75 people of different generations and backgrounds crowded into the pub. It included poets and dancers, long-time political activists and newbies to radical politics, students from nearby UC Berkeley, Iranian diaspora families and a few Palestinian activists. More than a few people wore keffiyeh scarves, showing support for the Palestinian people’s struggle. Afterwards, several people said there was “very good energy” in the crowd, and one felt it had “captured the seriousness of the situation while still being festive.” He also noted that the Women, Life, Freedom [uprising] had stirred him, but then Oct 7 had really woke him up politically. He added, “I had family members come from the South Bay suburbs, and the hope made them see things clearly, and that it was not blind optimism. They hadn’t had that realization.”

    Poetry on Fire

    The opening videos of Toomaj, his fiery, defiant songs against Iran’s reactionary regime such as “Battlefield” set the tone for the night’s passionate performances. Regrettably, here we can only highlight a few of the dozen powerful presentations of the artists who participated. 

    D.L. Lang began with a call and response verse: 

    Be like Toomaj and loudly proclaim the truth,

     Sparking revolutionary longing within the youth!

    Singing out justice is not a crime!

    No soul should ever do hard time/just for speaking the truth in rhyme!

    Free them all!

    With each “Free them all!” the audience roared the words and, along with D.L., threw their fists in the air.

    The MC had set the overall mood for the whole evening with his introduction:

    With worldwide tensions heating up from Gaza to Iran between the forces of reactionary Islamic fundamentalism and imperialism, US imperialism by far being the most dangerous gangster of them all—Toomaj in his music and lyrics, stands with the people and concentrates the spirit of resistance, not only against oppression in Iran, but all over the world. He has taken an art form that he has described as a “voice from the bottom of society,” and made it his own, carrying forward its spirit of “raise a storm”—the equivalent of “fight the power.” He sings to us in Farsi but his fiery lyrical poetry and raw emotions transcend the borders of geography and language.

    Many of the poets captured this same spirit in verses written especially for this occasion. Karen Melander-Magoon read her “Poetry for Imprisoned”:

    Toomaj Salehi

    Imprisoned in Iran for his words/ Imprisoned for his voice/

    Imprisoned for speaking out/Against the death of Amini/

    …Toomaj Salehi/ Is not alone/

    …The list of imprisoned voices/Extends beyond Iran/

    Extends around the world…

    Rafael J. Gonzalez and Mahnaz Badihian each read in their native tongues (he in Spanish, she in Farsi), then translated to English. Mahnaz read “Kisses”:

    We kissed under the bombs/in our homeland/
    under the thunder of fear and doubt/
    We kissed on the streets of diasporas/
    …We kissed so much/ that our lips joined eternally/

    under all the beliefs/under fire and blood/

    under the executioner’s sword… 

    Throughout the evening, the situation of Toomaj and Iran’s political prisoners was interwoven with outrage against the US-backed Zionist genocide in Gaza. This was reflected in the heartfelt response to poetry in solidarity with Gaza. There was an emotional response to a video of folk singer Seth Staton Watkins' song “Oh Palestine, Oh Palestine”51  and to a recorded poem sent by Raymond Nat Turner (excerpt below):

    Forked tongue/ dis-honest broker/ 
    fluent in ancient language.  
    Genocide/ trots tattered tropes for terror out/ 
    Swears another Offal Office./
     Oath on War House Bible—bathed in blood of 10s of millions—
    Wounded Knee to Trail of Tears; Tulsa to Hiroshima; 
    Korea to Vietnam to Afghanistan…
    Riddler/Joker—Dis-honest broker: 
    “You have a right to” 
          Be an aircraft carrier on the desert. 
         Acting as a weapons lab conducting trade shows; 
         Disguised as democracy, Acting as an apartheid state; 
    Concealing Third Reich real estate practices—
    Go on Step on the gas—and “Mow the grass!”

    The MC, Larry Felson, read his poem “No More of That,” which was inspired by BAsics 1:13,52 from revolutionary leader Bob Avakian, and ended his poem with a call to all brave resisters in the world: 

    No more fighting for liberation,/
    without a strategy and gameplan for revolution/
    and a vision of a whole new revolutionary world/
    No liberation without revolution/
    Revolution Nothing Less! 

    The political heart of the evening was a succinct message sent by IEC co-initiator Dolly Veale and read by an Iranian IEC supporter. The audience paid rapt attention, as she put a challenge to people living in THIS country in THIS time:

    Although I’m not fully sure of Toomaj’s views on revolution, I do know and support the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist who base themselves on Bob Avakian’s innovation of the new communism to making revolution in Iran. And I do know the good word of revolution may be coming to your neighborhood sooner than you think! It likely will not be televised, but it is currently on YouTube every Thursday evening—on The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show, and also at the website that I contribute to, revcom.us.

    We live in a truly rare time where GAZA is the new 4 letter word and the sickening horrors of this system are all too clear for those who refuse to look away. What is NOT obvious is the revolutionary crisis this may give rise to right here in this shithole country of Amerikkka, as those who rule over us in the US are at each other’s throats. All this promises to come to a head in the 2024 elections, if not before. To get the good news, pull up @BobAvakianOfficial on your phone tonight. It is THAT urgent. I urge you to go to these sites and to get with THIS revolution—to scientifically know the world so we can change it to emancipate all humanity.53

    This Is What Internationalism Looks Like

    An Iranian woman wearing a keffiyeh asked, “What did she mean when she asked us to take a big step into the revolution this March 8?” It was answered by two members of the Revcom Corps for the Emancipation of Humanity (famous flag burner Joey Johnson, along with John, a young comrade) who gave a solidarity statement and invited people to an upcoming meeting at Revolution Books in Berkeley to get organized into the Revcom Corps including marking International Women’s Day 2024 with real revolutionary content. 

    Several people let us know that the breaks between sets allowed folks to bond and develop a sense of camaraderie and community. People were hanging out together and having boisterous discussions feeling the humanity of Toomaj and their own in a shared concern for the people of the world. The pub was nicely decorated with posters of Toomaj, Iran’s other political prisoners, Free Gaza and photos of the Women, Life, Freedom uprising. 

    Many visited the book tables to ask questions, make donations, get IEC reprints, multilingual literature from Revolution Books, or books written by the poets. Revolution Books in Berkeley uniquely carries many Farsi titles by the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, and Farsi translations of key works by Bob Avakian and the revcoms, which invited browsing by Farsi speakers in the audience. Some people wrote heartfelt messages to Toomaj in the guest book or on cards. 

    Near the end of the night, a dance was performed by peace activist Sharat Lin to a recording of women prisoners from inside Iran’s notorious Evin Prison singing “Bella Ciao,” with the audience clapping along. People have since let IEC volunteers know how much this program meant to them. A Palestinian woman said she had never heard anything like the IEC statement showing how the struggle of the Palestinian and Iranian people are related. Others, moved by this cultural revolt against the horrific crimes of reactionary regimes in Iran, Israel and the US, told us this had given them a renewed energy and a sense of hope. They expressed looking forward to more of such events. 

    Like Toomaj, Iran’s political prisoners continue to sacrifice mightily and stand up heroically against injustice and theocratic oppression, especially that which is aimed at women (see "Evin Women Sit-in to Support Narges Mohammadi; Nagid Taghavi Sent Back to Evin"). One poet said he had participated because of the courage of Toomaj and the political prisoners and his own support for the Woman, Life, Freedom movement against Iran’s reactionary regime. But he felt the IEC statement raised his understanding to another level, linking the struggles in Gaza and Iran to the role of US imperialism and the need and potential for real revolution to develop in the Middle East and the US. 

    Let’s together carry this inspiring internationalist grassroots movement to free Toomaj and all of Iran’s political prisoners NOW! Adelante! 

    (Go to the IEC for text of the evening’s poetry, video links, fuller poet bio’s and more.)

    IEC organizers wish to thank all the awesome artists who performed at A Night of Cultural Revolt

    Mahnaz Badihian: poet, painter, and translator, author of two books of poetry; John Curl: poet, activist, historian, translator; Larry Felson: poet, supporter of revcom.us and Bob Avakian, volunteer with the IEC; Rafael J. Gonzalez: Poet Laureate of Berkeley, 2017-2022; Mike Jones: poet, violinist, longtime teacher in Oakland public schools; D.L. Lang: former Poet Laureate of Vallejo; Sharat Lin: dancer for solidarity and resistance; Kirk Lumpkin: poet, spoken word artist, environmentalist; Karen Melander-Magoon: poet, singer, social justice activist, ordained minister; Steve Rood: poet and practicing trial lawyer; Tolbert Small: legendary physician, poet, social activist, humanist; James Tracy: author, poet, activist, professor; Raymond Nat Turner: “The Town Crier,” Poet-in-Residence at Black Agenda Report.

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1.  Watch the subtitled version of “Oh Palestine, Oh Palestine which was projected at the Toomaj event.  [back]

    2.  BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian, RCP Publications, 2011.  [back]

    3.  Read the full “Message to A Night of Cultural Revolt to Free Toomaj Salehi and all Iran's Political Prisoners.”  [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    From Atash/Fire #143 

    Journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    The Reality of Communism

    Bourgeois Democracy Means Class Dictatorship of the Bourgeoisie 

    Part 1

    Editors’ note: This article below is posted in Farsi in Atash/Fire journal #143, October 2023 at cpimlm.org. It was translated by revcom.us volunteers.

    Starting with this issue of Atash/Fire journal, in the column “The Reality of Communism,” we will discuss democracy in a series of articles that draws on the work of Bob Avakian, and especially Avakian’s Democracy: Can’t We Do Better Than That? (1986). The point is this: without breaking with political illusions and big lies, we can never make revolution and build a fundamentally different society for the majority of the [world’s] population, in the service of the emancipation of humanity. One of these illusions is the illusion of democracy.

    “[D]emocracy is form of government. Democracy is a type of state power, and no government is at all neutral. At its core, every state has a class, and democracy is not free of class nature.” –Atash/Fire journal #143, Journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, October 2023

     

    Democracy: Can’t We Do Better Than That? (Banner Press, 1986).   

    It is equally important to break with bourgeois democracy as an ideal and the alternative to the theocratic fascist regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran [IRI], as it is to break the chains of the IRI’s intellectual enslavement to religion. In fact, in order to solve all our social problems and sufferings, including overthrowing the IRI, we must ask through what mode of production10 is this regime committing its crimes? In other words, “‘Through which mode of production will any social problem be addressed?’ ... ‘is the most fundamental thing ... because, in a fundamental sense, anything you’re doing in society is shaped and ultimately limited by whatever the economic system is (which, again, is another way of saying ‘the mode of production’).” (Bob Avakian. The New Communism, “Part 1—Through Which Mode of Production?” pgs 48-57).

    Today, when the issue of an alternative to the IRI has been raised seriously among a wide range [of people], all organizations, parties and programs from the left to the right are presenting “democracy” as an alternative. Although he avoids discussing the republic or the monarchy, [pro-U.S.] Reza Pahlavi talks about democracy with certainty. The [pro-U.S. fascists] MEK ( People’s Mujahideen-e-Khalq) speaks of a democratic republic. Even sections of the IRI, such as Mehdi Nasiri, have proposed secular democracy as an alternative after the “transition from the Islamic Republic” or [its] “collapse.”11 But none of them utters even one word about what relationship this “democracy” has to the socio-economic relations of capitalism. Everyone refers to it as an “ideal,” with no roots in the economic underpinnings of society. Meanwhile, the reactionary and opportunistic attacks on “Western democracy” by [Supreme Leader] Khamenei and other Islamic fundamentalists are used as an argument in defense of bourgeois democracy, and as proof of its “legitimacy.” The common thread of raising the banner of “democracy” can be seen even among the left and feminist groupings and parties that call themselves communists, and in statements such as the Charter of Twenty Organizations12. This emphasizes the importance and necessity of clarifying the content of democracy.

    What Is Democracy?

    First of all, democracy is a form of government. Democracy is a type of state power, and no government is at all neutral. At its core, every state has a class, and democracy is not free of class nature. In BAsics 1:22, Bob Avakian wrote, “In a world marked by deep class divisions and social inequality, to talk about ‘democracy’—without talking about the class nature of that democracy or which class it serves—is meaningless, and worse. So long as society is divided into classes, there can be no ‘democracy for all’: one class or another will rule, and it will uphold and promote that kind of democracy which serves its interests and goals. The question is: which class will rule and whether its rule and its system of democracy will serve the continuation, or the eventual abolition, of class divisions and the corresponding relations of exploitation, and oppression and inequality.”

    From the time of Aristotle and Plato down to the present day, theorists of democracy have sought to define universal and eternal principles for democracy, i.e., for the state and class structure that are historically conditioned and determined. By “historically conditioned and defined,” democracy is a social institution that arose in a specific historical context, in response to the needs of the exploitative classes. It does not exist outside of time and place, outside of a class-social framework and it cannot be invented as some eternal and classless principle, and any attempt to do so can only result in perpetuating class society and writing off the fundamental question of whether humanity can go beyond class society, the state and democracy.

    Although today's democracy, that is, bourgeois democracy in the era of capitalism-imperialism’s worldwide dominance, is different from early models of democracy in Greece and Rome during the era of slavery, they have an important feature in common. Under slavery, democracy was also used by the state to impose a class dictatorship on the exploited classes. Just as democracy of that time guaranteed the right to exploit, today the right of the capitalist to exploit the [proletariat] is within bounds, as is capitalist competition for the world and the exploitation of the world's people, the right to enslave women as an integral part of the capitalist social system, and the right to exploit nature to the point of extinction. It works. Throughout history, with the growth of the productive forces13, the method of exploitation shifted away from direct exploitation of the producer (of a slave or peasant) [by an individual slaveowner or landowner to whom the laborer legally "belonged"]. Thus, in proportion to the shift in the economic infrastructure from slavery to feudalism and later to capitalism, the institution of the state at the heart of the political superstructure also changed.

    Slavery-democracy and bourgeois-democracy, therefore, are types of class states which regulate the right to exploit the unprivileged class(es) that do not own the means of production.

    What distinguishes bourgeois democracy from the democracy of antiquity is that bourgeois democracy arose out of bourgeois revolutions, especially the French Revolution, and in opposition to the power of the church, the monarchy, and the hereditary privilege in the era of feudalism. The values, laws, and political superstructure theorized and applied to the new capitalist era by these revolutions corresponded to the economic underpinnings of the new mode of production, which served the interests of the bourgeoisie. Individualism was applauded against feudal collectivism and equality against hereditary privilege. [Peasants, slaves and serfs] were removed from the land and from owning land, turning them into ”free” workers—where what they “own” is their generalized “ability to work” as opposed to the labor required to produce a particular thing. They became “free” to alienate their labor, exchange it in the marketplace, thereby handing it over to the owners of the means of production.

    Thus, bourgeois democracy is not the distribution of “equal” rights. Rather, it is a social foundation, a complex organization of the practice of class dictatorship, to preserve the capitalist mode of production and its corresponding class and social relations, and culture.

    Theorizing Bourgeois Democracy

    In preparation for the birth and consolidation of capitalist society, many bourgeois theorists theorized about bourgeois democracy. Their theories of democracy were based on an “ideal” bourgeois society—in which atomized individuals act as separate units, according to a classless and immutable “human nature” within the confines and in accordance with commodity relations and production of commodities, making decisions for themselves and even for society on the basis of individual votes.

    However, in a society where the labor power of [a person] is exchanged for commodities, there is unremitting competition for everyone to surpass the other, and in any society where such competition and commodity relations exist, there is necessarily a division of society into unequal classes. That is, the same social framework that unceasingly forces each individual to compete for advantage over one another, divides society into unequal classes.

    Bourgeois democracy replaced the feudal divine-right laws that had been based on the “god-given” superiority and privileges of a small number of people in proportion to the majority of society, with social laws based on the formal equality of individuals before the law. This break with feudalism was revolutionary in its own time, but it perpetuated class society in a different form (the form of capitalism), and a formal equality before the law that guaranteed economic and social inequality [in reality]. Today, [bourgeois democracy] has become archaic and obsolete, an obstacle that must be overcome. It will never be able to transform society from what it is into something better. Humanity needs to get beyond the class system—for the oppressed and exploited majority of society, and for the emancipation of our species.

    THE NEW COMMUNISM: The science, the strategy, the leadership for an actual revolution, and a radically new society on the road to real emancipation

    This book consists of the major opening day presentation given by Bob Avakian to a conference held in the summer of 2015 which was attended by members and supporters of the Revolutionary Communist Party. Available at revcom.us. (Insight Press, 2016). Excerpts from the book are also available on revcom.us.

    The Form and Content of Legal Equality

    The form and content of equality before the law is entirely consistent with the capitalist mode of production. The basis for legal equality is not the equality of [the right to] work, but equality [in the marketplace] for the exchange of human labor power. The functioning of the capitalist mode of production always leaves out a large segment of the population. Therefore, the law of equality [to exchange] human labor power does not extend to equality of the stomach and equality to stay alive.

    When the advent of widespread commodity production and exchange (i.e. the capitalist system) became dominant in societies, it became possible to have an equal exchange of unequal [types of] human labor power. The means of [accumulating] wealth were concentrated in the hands of a few. The majority were separated from the means of production and, in order to live, had to sell and give their labor to the owners of the means of production. Under capitalism, the value of human labor is no longer measured by the concrete activity used to produce a certain product. Instead, [labor] is measured by the required average amount of labor time required in a society (and today, in the world at large), for the production of any given product: i.e., the socially necessary labor time. Exchange is not just a trade in the market, but a methodology that permeates everything and even dominates the worldview of [people]. Thus, the bourgeois view of equality cannot be separated from its source—the social and class relations [of capitalism].

    In a society founded on bourgeois relations of production, there is an irreconcilable conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. It is impossible for the superstructure (including laws and courts, police and military, bureaucracy and the whole state apparatus as well as ideas, values, ethics, etc.) not to support or strengthen the relations of production and the division of labor that characterize this society and inevitably is synonymous with it. [The superstructure] exists to support the exploitation and oppression of masses of people, and use widespread violence against them, in order to defend this system and the interests of its ruling class.

    Democracy and Elections

    Many [people] separate democracy from its class content and [think its essence is] literally majority rule. They try to prove that bourgeois democracy is the rule of the majority by pointing to how majority rule gets manifested in elections. However, every democratic process should be evaluated in relation to the dominant socioeconomic relations in society. An election is not an impartial arbitrator that mediates between classes and [political] parties representing different classes. Elections in bourgeois democracy are controlled by the bourgeoisie and under no circumstances are they a means of basic decision-making. In fact, the primary purpose of the elections is to give the imprint of “popular authority” to the system, the policies and actions of the ruling class, and to divert, restrict and control the political activities of the masses of the people. The electoral process itself tends to conceal the main class relations and class antagonisms in society, and to portray [elections] as expression of an institution that allows atomized individuals in society to engage in formal political participation to strengthen the status quo. This process not only reduces people to isolated individuals, but also reduces them to a passive political position and defines the essence of politics as atomized passivity: individuals can individually vote for one or the other option, while all options are formulated and presented by an active force above the atomized mass of “citizens.”

    Democracy and Violence

    Many have the illusion that democracy is a form of government beyond classes and therefore beyond violence. The political philosophy of capitalist democracy is [based on its state apparatus having a] a monopoly on violence. That is, it recognizes that violence is the [sole] right of the military forces of the state and its security apparatus. Bourgeois democracies were the first governments to use nuclear bombs to dominate the world. In a world ruled by these capitalist-imperialist democracies, hundreds of thousands of people die every day from hunger and related causes, and every day the number of child laborers and displaced migrants at the borders increases. Officially, the position of slave is imposed on women, half of the world's population. And all this is done under the deceptive banner of “equality” and “equal rights before the law.”

    Here is how [the late] Zandiyad Amir Hassanpour described the history of “Western” democracy and its performance in the countries of the “East” (countries dominated by imperialism):

    “Democracy theorists such as Michael Ignatieff (a journalist, university professor, and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada), have argued that in the fight against terrorism, democracy can be stopped, civil liberties can be suspended, and torture can be used. ... The U.S. [track] record in the 10 years since the invasion of Iraq [is that of] brutal torture of prisoners, arrests and abductions of dissidents, international traffic arrests, secret prisons abroad, civil liberties trampled on by law, all of which were justified [by these democracy theorists]. Even if one adds up every one of the West’s cornerstones of democracy that were created by fighting against their [own] citizens, killing [people in the] colonies, enslaving the people of Africa, and imposing two World Wars and dozens of other wars on the world’s people, the [track] record of the democracies of the East would not shine any brighter. ... Unlike in the United States, India’s democratic system, which was born in the process of campaigning, against occupation, genocide, genocidal slavery, and racial apartheid, and was founded with ideas and practices of nonviolence, independence, and decolonization at its heart. ... But sixty-three years after independence, slavery and feudal relations and flaws persist, and with it, newer forms of violence have turned the lives of the people of this subcontinent into hell: trafficking, men and women and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and the removal of organs, slave labor, forced labor and bonded labor, fetal killing (girls), infanticide (girls); violence against more than 40 million widows, the ‘world’s hungriest country’ with 230 million malnourished people, the highest percentage of children (48%) [suffering from malnutrition], and the deaths of two million children a year from starvation (6,000 per day).”14

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. “[N]ot only that things get produced but how they get produced. What relations do people enter into in carrying out the production of things? In other words, we’re back to the relations of production, what relations people enter into in producing and distributing and transporting these things. Another way to say that, once again, is what’s the mode of production through which all this is done? That sets the basic terms for everything that happens in society.” (Bob Avakian, The New Communism, Part 1, “Through Which Mode of Production,” page 53, excerpt and italics by Atash/Fire.) [back]

    2.  Mahdi Nasiri. The Islamic Republic's Narrative Is Over. [back]

    3.  Charter of Minimum Demands by 20 independent civil and trade union associations in Iran, February 16, 2023.  [back]

    4.  Productive forces are the set of means of production and knowledge of the producers. For example, self-exploration, spindle, land, factory, machinery, and knowledge related to the production by these tools. The productive forces of the feudal period were very low from the level of growth, but in the capitalist era, the direct producer (the worker) works with a variety of advanced means of production. The level of growth of these productive forces determines the relations of production. The relations of production include the three components of 1) ownership of the means of production, 2) the division of labor among those [involved] men in the process of production, and 3) how wealth is distributed among them. They form the “economic foundation” of society. And the political superstructure, which consists of government, culture and ideology, must more or less conform to the character of the economic underpinnings so that this complex [web of production] can spin and operate.  [back]

    5.  “Democracy and Violence,” Amir Hassanpour, Atash/Fire Journal, No. 105-106, March 2011, pp. 79-85.  [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    From Atash/Fire #144, Journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    The Reality of Communism

    The Reality of Democracy and the Ideal of Democracy

    Part 2

    Editors’ note: The article below is posted in Farsi in Atash/Fire journal #144, November 2023 at cpimlm.org. It was translated to English by revcom.us volunteers. Translators’ notations are in brackets. Part 1 of the article in English was posted at revcom.us October 2, 2023.

    The main source of this series of articles is Bob Avakian's book Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That? and his other works on democracy/dictatorship.

    In Part 1 of this series, we discussed how every democracy and state has a class content and to talk about democracy without talking about its class content is meaningless. We also said that bourgeois democracy is in fact the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie established on the basis of capitalism, namely capitalist oppression and exploitation (and specifically capitalism-imperialism). And, we said that democracy is actually only practiced within the ranks of the ruling class, while dictatorship is exercised over the oppressed class or classes. Military force is the concentrated expression of the domination of one class over another: the military represents the monopoly of the exercise of force by the ruling class, and all other institutions, including parliament [or Congress] and elections, are secondary or subordinate to it, and can even be dispensed with, when necessary. (Despite this, people generally identify democracy with [a parliament and elections].)

    In short, the state apparatus—especially the armed forces, but also the courts and legal system, the administrative bureaucracy, etc.—is in the hands of one class, a class that dominates the economic relations of the society. Even the ideas and values engendered by this state, ideas such as “equality,” correspond to the needs of this economic infrastructure, and all individual rights are conferred and restricted by the framework of this system. Thus, the state apparatus of bourgeois democracy is not and cannot be neutral, nor can any other state (including the democratic state/socialist dictatorship).

    Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That?

     

    Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That?

    2014 edition
    (originally published 1986)
    by Bob Avakian
    Price: $10.95
    Format: Paperback
    Order from:   RCP Publications
    PO Box 804956, Chicago, IL 60680-4111
    rcppublications@gmail.com
     
    With an Introduction by Raymond Lotta:
    “A Landmark Work of Heightened Relevance”

    In Part 2, we will examine existing illusions about democracy and also look at the arguments of theorists who try to reconcile the stark contradiction of the reality of democracy with the ideal of democracy.

    These illusions play an important role in the practice of turning a blind eye to the crimes against humanity committed by bourgeois democracies—which today include the destruction of the environment. All Western democracies unconditionally defended the Israeli army's genocidal war against the people of Gaza. They regard Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks on Israeli civilians as an obstacle to democracy—one which requires the murder of 2.5 million of the human beings on planet Earth, using technology that is far more advanced than the Auschwitz crematoriums!

    One of the illusions, when confronted with the undeniable realities of democracy, is the belief that [democracy] can be perfected, that it is an ideal that we have not yet achieved, but must keep moving toward. This is one of the arguments used by democracy advocates when confronted with the undeniable crimes of the major bourgeois democracies. Yes, they say, a lot of terrible things have been done in the name of democracy, but despite all its flaws, democracy is still the best possible form of government. This way of thinking is particularly popular among people in countries ruled by violently repressive authoritarian regimes (such as Iran, under both the [Shah] Pahlavi regime and the Islamic Republic).

    During the Jina uprising [in Iran], we witnessed a tendency among many young people to idealize democracy. For example, listen to the words of [the late] Sarina Esmailzadeh, who compares the situation in Iran and Ethiopia to that of Los Angeles in the U.S., and concludes that achieving “Los Angeles” is the ideal to strive for.59 But, this superficial glance can never reveal that Iran/Ethiopia and Los Angeles are two sides of the same coin. Here, we put “Los Angeles” in quotation marks, because the city of Los Angeles itself contains stunning poles of poverty and wealth, as can be seen in the contrast between its handful of gated communities that are home to a minority with legendary wealth, and the miles of encampments of homeless people along its roadsides. Or, to take another example, the slogan raised in Baluchistan [a province of Iran], “Neither Monarchy nor Theocracy! [We demand] Democracy and Equality!” proposes democracy as an alternative to decades of oppression and exploitation by the Shah and the sheikhs [mullahs].

    These examples illustrate people’s spontaneous tendencies to reach for such a solution when they are under the enormous pressure of authoritarian and fascist/religious governments such as the Islamic Republic that exercises absolute extra-legal power—and to superficially compare their own oppression and exploitation with “the other side of the world” in Europe and the U.S.

    But, in addition to this unscientific spontaneous tendency that keeps people from understanding the reality of the problem, there are others whose theorizing “justifies” this deadly, unscientific attitude, and uses instrumentalist logic to analyze history for their own benefit. They even promise that the struggle for democracy is merely a “first step” in overthrowing the Islamic Republic, and by relying on it higher goals can be achieved “later.”

    The Concept of Permanent Expansion and Improvement of Democracy

    One of the arguments that democracy, even if not perfect, is at least perfect-able and expandable, is based on the [mis] understanding of the history of the development of democracy from antiquity to the present, as a straight line from the Greek city-state to the democratic states of today, and [in the process] have expanded to include sections of society that were previously excluded or discriminated against—slaves, women, the poor, etc. And from this, they conclude that today we should stay on the same historical trajectory, expanding democracy to include countries that are not yet democratic, and in democratic countries we should try to extend democratic rights to immigrants, queers and other excluded populations, and integrate them into bourgeois society. But unfortunately, this understanding of the historical evolution of human societies is contrary to dialectical materialism: in other words, it is unscientific and contrary to reality.

    These types of arguments are not new. They were first put forward by French democrat Alexis de Tocqueville in the 19th century. “[T]he scene is now changed,” he writes. “Gradually the distinctions of rank are done away with; the barriers that once severed mankind are falling; property is divided, power is shared by many, the light of intelligence spreads, and the capacities of all classes tend towards equality. Society becomes democratic, and the empire of democracy is slowly and peaceably introduced into institutions and customs.”60

    This pretty picture has a “small” flaw: It is not true at all—it wasn't true then, nor is it true now! What happened with the dissolution of feudalism after the bourgeois revolutions was not the extension of democracy without class distinction, but the extension of the fundamental relations of capitalist exploitation replacing the relations of feudal exploitation. [It was] not an expression of the ever more broadly expanded sovereignty of the people regardless of social status, but democratic processes as an expression and necessary component of supremacy of the bourgeoisie’s dictatorship over the proletariat and other oppressed people for the ultimate purpose of ensuring and enforcing its domination over the basic economic system (capitalism, and later, the system of capitalism-imperialism, or global capitalism).

    However, it must be borne in mind that, to an extent, the “change of scene” was itself the result of a leap in human social organization through bourgeois revolutions, which in turn, arose as a result of the development of the productive forces coming into antagonistic contradiction with the feudal mode of production. [This leap] radically changed the political superstructure and its economic underpinnings, and was never a gradual and straight-line process.

    So, what makes the notion of “improving democracy” so important to the democratic worldview? As Bob Avakian writes, the democratic intellectual,

    …wants the existing social system but without its worst excesses, with room for reform and for accommodating the demands of the oppressed so long as they do not threaten to spring the established order into the air and overturn all existing social relations.61

    But regardless of the desires and aspirations of this [middle] strata, the reality is that this type of democracy (and all varieties of democracy under the capitalist system) cannot exist without [going to] violent “excesses,” without brutal exploitation, crisis, war and environmental destruction. If, at certain points in time and in some imperialist countries, an expansion of certain rights has been achieved—for example in the position of women—this has not been due to the expanding nature of democracy, nor even simply as a result of the struggle of women and groups to gain more rights. This view of the problem assumes that it was democracy which created this “possibility of struggle.” When applied to the countries of the global South, this same view reaches the chauvinist conclusion that the reason they have not achieved democracy and greater rights has been that they have not fought hard enough! While certain rights were expanded, this was primarily due to the privileged position of these countries in the imperialist capitalist system that allowed an economic and political stability based on the exploitation of the rest of the world, this is not something that has been or ever will be possible in democracies of the global South—from India to Brazil to Iran.

    Looking at the larger context, we see that the danger of revolutions and the existence of socialist countries in the world have had a significant impact, putting pressure on the governing bodies of [major] democracies to give some rights within the framework of their system—so that people would not see their backwardness compared to [real] socialism. A negative example of this is that, despite large popular protests such as Black Lives Matter, there has been no improvement in the situation of Black people in the U.S. On the contrary, under the pressure of the system's crises on a global scale, Republican-led fascism has gained strength, and they have launched systematic attacks against rights previously granted, which they intend to repeal.

    The Contradiction Between the Ideal of Democracy and the Reality of Democracy

    One of the roots of this problem, despite all the above-mentioned facts, [is that] most people still consider "pure democracy" as the ideal, even though the ideal of democracy is controverted by the actual practice of “the democracies.” On the one hand, we are inundated with the writings of democracy theoreticians, who present both the universal and eternal principles, and the professions of the bourgeois oppressors who rule in the name of democracy. And on the other hand, we have the reality of life under the rule of these democracies and in the world where, for decades, they have held the top positions. While this contradiction is an important source for exposing the system and for struggling against it, [the contradiction] is itself a recurrent source of illusions about the “perfectability” of the democratic system, or the “actual realization” of democratic ideals not yet realized.

    One result of this is that radical variants of bourgeois democracy constantly arise, one after another, among opponents of the system, and even socialist tendencies that include the idealization of democracy as a central component. The socialist state is also a democracy/class dictatorship [of the proletariat]. However, if this democracy does not move towards the dissolution of the state and classes (i.e., towards the dissolution of itself), and does not advance towards a communist world, if it sees socialism as an end in itself, it will surely lose its socialist character. (We'll discuss this issue in future articles.)

    THE NEW COMMUNISM: The science, the strategy, the leadership for an actual revolution, and a radically new society on the road to real emancipation

    This book consists of the major opening day presentation given by Bob Avakian to a conference held in the summer of 2015 which was attended by members and supporters of the Revolutionary Communist Party. Available at revcom.us. (Insight Press, 2016). Excerpts from the book are also available on revcom.us.

    As we mentioned, the distortion and lopsidedness of the world (i.e., the division of the world into imperialist countries and countries dominated by imperialism), and the advent of the era of imperialism that resulted from the globalization of capitalism, is a powerful material force fueling illusions about improving democracy and idealizing it. This contradiction finds an important political role in the world, within the framework of this distortion to shape thoughts and even oppositions and struggles. The political and ideological consequences of imperialism in this case have been multilayered and multifaceted. On the one hand, “normal times (which have existed for decades) in imperialist countries, have given rise to the “aristocracy” of a section of the proletariat—a strata of workers whose conditions are not desperate, who bargain for expanded democratic rights rather than for radical change. On the other hand, in countries dominated by imperialism, where conditions are constantly desperate, people generally want revolutionary change, [but] their hopes and dreams are shaped and colored by the position and privileges of the first group. This has led to a prominent tendency in imperialist countries towards social democracy in the sphere of politics and ideology, and towards bourgeois-democratic nationalism in the dominated countries.

    Fundamentally, this political and ideological tendency reflects the outlook of small-scale capitalists and proprietors, whose ideal of democracy is a state in which wealth and power is not concentrated in the hands of the few. [Such concentration of wealth] is seen as a form of corruption or a violation of a democracy that once was practiced, or at least was attempted. The petty-bourgeois ideal of democracy does not mean that all, or even most, of those who put this view forward are themselves small-scale proprietors, or are merely looking out for their own interests. [This outlook] coincides with the thinking of intellectuals who understand that when wealth and power are consolidated in the hands of a few, it will inevitably be misused. This class wants to revert back from the era of imperialist monopolies to the era of early capitalism. But they lack the understanding that it was precisely the functioning and dynamics of primitive capitalism that led to the development of monopolies, that imperialism grew from the foundations of capitalism itself.

    Another aspect of this problem is that the petty bourgeoisie sees self-styled “pure democracy” as being beyond classes. It sees its own interests as being the interests of all classes. Therefore it sees regulated capitalism, in which each person is able to exercise “direct democracy” in his or her own sphere, as being to the benefit of everyone! Such notions of freedom, equality and rights correspond to the position of small commodity producers.

    What is central to this worldview? It is the ideal of individual sovereignty—of “controlling one’s own space”—that reflects the atomization of people whose identity as commodity owners is at the same time subject to the dictates of capital and the driving forces of capital accumulation. That is, this ideal in reality is unattainable by the majority of the world’s people (though the majority themselves don't think so).

    So the problem is not that “real democracy,” “real human rights,” or “real equality” has not yet been implemented anywhere, but as Bob Avakian pointed out, talking about democracy without talking about its class content is meaningless and worse. He writes that even if all these bourgeois ideals and principles were implemented, [to paraphrase BA]

    The result would be the same as it is today. That is, a minority would use any opportunity to be able to exploit the majority, and in order to ensure this exploitation, it would use force directly to maintain these relations, as well as employing enforcers, and using divide and rule policies. That is, if the principle of equal opportunities for all is fully and consistently applied, no other result will be achieved. In other words, we would have nothing, but the bourgeois society we have now, which includes social inequalities and exploitation of the proletariat. In order to achieve another result that includes the abolition of social inequality along with the abolition of exploitation, it is necessary to go beyond the ideals and principles of bourgeois society and those material conditions that are its expression, and overthrow it. It is necessary to overthrow the bourgeois state and get beyond what Marx called “the narrow horizon of bourgeois right” (equal opportunity for all) and all the economic and other social relations that reflect and enable it.

    It is past time to let the dead bury their dead, as Marx put it, including, and indeed especially, in the idealization of democracy.

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1.  In a video, Sarina talked about her dreams saying  “I know that in the world, there's an Ethiopia and a Los Angeles, and because I am a perfectionist, I prefer Los Angeles."  She was 16 when she was killed by the Islamic Republic's mercenaries.  [back]

    2.  Alexis de Tocqueville, “Author’s Introduction” to Democracy in America (New York: Vintage Books), ed. Phillips Bradley, Vol. 1, p. 9.  [back]

    3.  Bob Avakian, Democracy, Can't We Do Better Than That?, p. 85, English edition.  [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    From Atash/Fire #145, Journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    The Reality of Communism 

    Democracy and Freedom of Expression—The Economic Base Is the Decisive Factor!

    Part 3       

    Editors’ note: The article below is posted in Farsi in Atash/Fire journal #145, December 2023 at cpimlm.org. It was translated by revcom.us volunteers. Bracketed words/phrases are added by translators for clarification. Part 1 and Part 2 were previously posted at revcom.us.

    The main source of these series of articles is the book, Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That? by Bob Avakian, and his other works on democracy/dictatorship. 

    In the previous sections, we discussed how in essence, bourgeois democracy is bourgeois dictatorship. We also examined how the contradiction between the ideal of democracy and its reality is the source of many petty-bourgeois illusions and theories for reforming and expanding bourgeois democracy, and that the limits of any state and its overall superstructure, including a democracy, is determined by its economic base. In this section, we will discuss why and how the economic underpinnings of any social system determines the content and parameters of [its] “rights,” and in particular how it shapes “freedom of expression,”  which is one of the most celebrated and admired features of bourgeois democracy. Finally we will show that to get beyond the narrow horizon of  “bourgeois right,” there is no way other than the revolutionary overthrow of the ruling class, and building a radically different [kind of] dictatorship/democracy.

    Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That?

     

    Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That?

    2014 edition
    (originally published 1986)
    by Bob Avakian
    Price: $10.95
    Format: Paperback
    Order from:   RCP Publications
    PO Box 804956, Chicago, IL 60680-4111
    rcppublications@gmail.com
     
    With an Introduction by Raymond Lotta:
    “A Landmark Work of Heightened Relevance”

    The most fundamental problem is that in every social system (e.g., the capitalist system or the socialist system), the political superstructure must serve its underlying economic base. This is not a mere theoretical abstraction, but has concrete meaning. That is, policies and actions that are against or undermine the economic infrastructure will lead to disorder, chaos and disruption of the entire system. If the laws (which are part of the political superstructure) conflict with fundamental property relations, the economic base will totally disintegrate, and society (regardless of whether the social system is capitalist or socialist) will not be able to function. 

    Imagine, for example, that the basic necessities of life continue to be produced as they are now produced in capitalist society—that is, the vast majority are produced by workers who sell their labor power in exchange for wages in factories [or farmland] owned by capitalists, with the capitalists selling the products which they [privately] own and control. Then, imagine in those circumstances, passing a law that says no one has to pay for their necessities and everyone can take [whatever and] as much as they need from what is produced! The fact that this seems absurd, and absolutely cannot be implemented, is the expression of one fundamental reality: the production relations (i.e., economic infrastructure) of society [sets the basic terms for] the ideological and political superstructure, including its laws.

    But not all theories that conflict with capitalism’s economic base are as clearly unrealistic as this example. For example, there are many theories of bourgeois democracy that envision a fair distribution of wealth, or even the equal distribution of the means of production [land, machines, factories, etc.]. They say, for example, that everyone can be given a piece of farmland to work, and if anybody starts getting way ahead of anybody else, the surplus can be taxed and redistributed equally again! But the problem is that commodity production and exchange will, on the basis of this very capitalist mode of production, inevitably lead to inequality and the polarization of society, even if you start working with an equal share of the means of production. In addition, there is the fact that equal farmland can never be absolutely equal, because some land is more fertile, or is closer to water, or has a better location, etc.—the products of these lands must be placed on the market in competition with other products, and [with] farmers from other countries. In this way, the law of value connects all these separate producers through the market, and imposes a certain standard of quality and efficiency on them. In the end, sooner or later, inequality will develop between these producers which, with government intervention to enforce equality [of ownership], will deepen divisions in society to the point where some will take up arms and rise up against the government that is preventing them from expanding production!

    If a government wants to prevent this process from leading to inequality, it must stop production for the world market, which is again unrealistic and impractical within the framework of the capitalist system. So it doesn't matter how good you are, or how much your policies and laws are made to promote equality. As long as you function within the framework of capitalist commodity production and exchange, and transform labor power into commodities, you will generate inequality.

    That is why, in the “real world,” namely in capitalist society, it is perfectly legal for a company to refuse to hire people on the grounds that it would not be profitable to employ them, even if that would cause the hunger and homelessness for people who are unemployed (and perhaps for their families). If these unemployed and homeless people occupy some place, or take food and clothes from a store without paying, they will be punished by the state’s [enforcement] apparatus—because, they have acted counter to the workings of the economic infrastructure of capitalism. That is why it is legal to evict people who are unable to make their rent or their mortgage payments. A power or water or gas company can cut off your electricity and water and gas if you don't pay the bills, and it's perfectly legal.

    These laws, which serve and conform to the principle of private property and the commodity exchange [in] production, are not just laws that relate to the financial and economic arena, nor do they directly reflect the mode of production. Rather, some laws are related to maintaining the political, cultural and military superstructure, and these, in turn, serve to protect and enhance the underlying relations of production. For example, the much-lauded freedom of expression in “democratic countries” is not in contradiction with the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, but rather exists within and is limited by that framework, for two reasons. One is that the ruling class dominates and monopolizes the shaping of public opinion. For this reason, what Marx and Engels wrote in the Communist Manifesto is more true than ever today: “the ruling ideas of every age, or every society, are ever the ideas of the ruling class.” Second, the ruling class dominates and controls the armed forces and uses them to crush ideas and practices that pose a serious threat to their system.

    This is happening right before our eyes today. Israel’s war against Palestine has led to acute polarization around the world. Millions of people cannot remain indifferent to the massacre of more than 11,000 people in just 40 days, and the streets and universities have become places of protest. But the reaction of the “bourgeois democracies” has not been to recognize freedom of expression by supporters of Palestine, but bans—from slogans to rallies, from carrying a Palestinian flag to the wearing a keffiyeh12—while the media and virtual networks widely distort or delete news and opinions of supporters of Palestine. They do this with such zeal, because Israel is an important ally for Western democracies, and not defending it means turning their backs to the fundamental interests of their system.

    They call Hamas a “terrorist” group, but neither Israel nor anyone who serves the interests of U.S. imperialism is labeled a “terrorist.” Although the media's silence has decreased, due to some extent to the polarization of society around the Palestinian issue and the intensification of divisions in the ruling class, the media has not yet been able to publicly address the question of whether the U.S. has a right to condemn “terrorism” at all, given the war crimes and brutal practices of the U.S. around the world. The control and management of the media by the ruling class, as we see in these examples, is an important aspect of the all-round exercise of dictatorship of the bourgeoisie in the superstructure of capitalist society. Liberty and equality for all do not exist, not in the sphere of political thought, nor in social relations, nor in the underlying economic relations. In all these areas, there is only class rule. Times like these reveal the bourgeois dictatorship concealed within the right to free speech.

    Within the framework of bourgeois democracy/dictatorship, the concept of free speech itself is also influenced by the economic base, commodity production and exchange, and the concept of a “marketplace of ideas” is an expression of capitalist property relations. One of the theorists of bourgeois rights, John Stuart Milldefended freedom of speech for everyone, including for unpopular opinions, saying that the arguments of any theory should be heard—not only from its opponents, but also from the best defenders of that idea. This statement can be divided into two: on the one hand, what John Stuart Mill advocates is the right of individuals to own intellectual property.13 Thomas Jefferson (the father of American democracy), regarded ownership of ideas and opinions as a form of private property, and the protection of property in any form as the most important duty of a government. 

     

    In the marketplace of ideas, freedom of speech means that everyone is the owner of their ideas. If they have a new idea, they must “register” it in a way that benefits themselves (such as patenting an invention) before going public with the idea, lest it be “stolen.” And after it is made public, it must “compete” with other ideas for the best price (even if this value is not directly financial). In this process, the only thing that doesn't matter is whether the idea serves to get a better understanding of the truth, to better understand the world, and to change it for the benefit of the majority of people. This is how ideas become nothing more than the property of their owners, so that challenging them in any way by comparing it to objective reality is considered an attack on the creator of the idea, because what matters is not the truth, but “my idea.”14

    On the other hand, what John Stuart Mill defends as freedom of speech is also very important from the communist point of view, and is a vital part of the process of deeper understanding of truth by the people and by communists themselves. The truth, related to a level of material reality (whether in society or in nature), is constantly moving and developing, and is impossible to know without dialogue and debate over opposing ideas—and with the best defenders of those ideas. Contention of opposing ideas generates a great deal of energy in society for discovery of the truth, in which correct ideas can again prove themselves, or rectify their flaws. Yes, everyone must be free—from oppression and from the bondage of private ownership of thoughts and ideas—to express their opinions. But this is not freedom for just a few individuals. More than anything, the broad masses of people must be free, through this process, to arrive at the truth about things and about the world, in its varied and deeper aspects, and be empowered to seek scientific knowledge and discover truth. Only in such a way can people come to truly run and be leaders of society.

    The other aspect of the problem is that the “unlimited freedom of expression” in John Stuart Mill's theory never actually existed. Even if there is no policy to outlaw specific ideas, not all ideas and outlooks in the world can be reflected equally in the media and publications due to objective constraints on time and resources. In actuality, what happens in capitalist class society is that sets of ideas that are in accord with the interests of the ruling class compete, while it is claimed there is no leadership in this process. But the programme in socialist society, taking into account objective limitations, is to project a wide range of varied and contradictory ideas. This process is led in such a way as to serve arriving at the truth at the highest possible level, rather than in a way that at any particular juncture would benefit the state, or even the communist party. Whatever is true is ultimately in the interests of the proletariat.

    Needless to say, although all laws and civil rights in bourgeois democracies are based on consolidating and stabilizing the dictatorship of the ruling class, the same laws are also interpreted, altered, and used against people by the police, the courts, and by the authorities in general. For example, it is not just in the Islamic Republic that “freedom of assembly” is recognized in the constitution15 but trampled in practice. During the Jina uprising, hundreds of people were murdered or blinded, and thousands of others were arrested. In the U.S., the law recognizes the same right for a Black man to carry a weapon and use it in self-defense as for a white man. But, if a Black man with a gun comes face to face with a cop, he is very likely to lose his life, and his death-by-cop will most likely be considered “justifiable homicide.” Repression, whether in the form of suppressing ideas or in the form of [physical] suppression by security or military forces, demonstrates the existence of class dictatorship, and the backbone core of this class dictatorship is its army and military forces. For this reason, there can be no such thing as a “peaceful revolution.”

    Revolution means the transformation of the economic base and the superstructure of society; this requires the replacement of the ruling class with another class. No era in history has seen a ruling class voluntarily “relinquish” its position to the class that wants to abolish it. Revolution means the replacement of one ruling class by another class. This is also necessary for the revolution of this era, the communist revolution. But the goal of a proletarian revolution, contrary to the goal of the bourgeois revolutions of 18th century, is to abolish all exploitative relations, all oppressive divisions of labor, and all political institutions and [traditional] ideas that represent the division of society into classes.16

    Despite all that has been exposed about the true nature of bourgeois democracy/dictatorship, the root of all the oppression, exploitation and war and genocide we experience today, is not separate from the material/underlying foundations of “democratic rights” and the horizons of bourgeois democracy. There is not and never has been anywhere, democracy for all, freedom of expression for all, and equality between the exploiters and the exploited. Within the system of capitalism-imperialism, we can never have a better world than what we have right now. But now, with a real revolution, it is possible to live in a totally different system. Yet to the majority of people in the world, revolution is still something alien, and many prefer to be busy fighting to achieve more and better “democratic rights,” even as climate change and the threat of nuclear war seriously threaten the existence of humanity.

    In the next issue, we will discuss that, although we will have a much superior type of democracy/dictatorship in socialist society, and a qualitatively different type of freedom, it will not be an expansion of, or improvement on, bourgeois democracy/dictatorship.

    Endnote from translators:

    For a basic explanation of the following scientific terms in the text—1) means of production 2) commodity production 3) law of value—please see “Commodities & Capitalism—and the Terrible Consequences of This System, A Basic Explanation,” by Bob Avakian.

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. For example, in regards to the ban in France: https://www.radiofarda.com/a/32635987.html [back]

    2. On intellectual property, Bob Avakian, 2008. Chapter on “Freedom of Conscience as Private Property, ‘The Free Market Place of Ideas’—and a Radically Different and Far More Unfettered Search for Truth.” [back]

    3. Ibid. [back]

    4. According to the 27th principle of Iran’s constitution, “The formation of gatherings and marches without carrying weapons is allowed, provided that it does not disturb the principles of Islam.” [back]

    5. Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That? Bob Avakian, Banner Press, 1986. [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    From Atash/Fire #146, Journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    The Reality of Communism 

    What Is Social Democracy and Why Is It a Capitalist Dictatorship?

    Part 4 

    Editors’ note: The article below is posted in Farsi in Atash/Fire journal #146, January 2024 at cpimlm.org. It was translated into English by revcom.us volunteers. Bracketed words/phrases, and some of the footnotes, are added by translators for clarification. Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 were previously posted at revcom.us.

    The main source of this series of articles is Bob Avakian's book Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That? and his other works on democracy/dictatorship.

    In previous issues of this series, we discussed examples of bourgeois democracies. In this issue we will discuss social democracy. After World War II, social democracy, also known as the “welfare state,” prevailed in most Western European countries. Social democracies have tried to portray themselves as different from bourgeois democracy of the kind that prevails in the U.S. Although social democracies have some important differences from other types of bourgeois state dictatorships, their similarities are more fundamental: social democratic states are bourgeois dictatorships.

    Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That?

     

    Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That?

    2014 edition
    (originally published 1986)
    by Bob Avakian
    Price: $10.95
    Format: Paperback
    Order from:   RCP Publications
    PO Box 804956, Chicago, IL 60680-4111
    rcppublications@gmail.com
     
    With an Introduction by Raymond Lotta:
    “A Landmark Work of Heightened Relevance”

    In this article, through analyzing these similarities and differences and examining the views of the defenders of social democracy, we show how democracy/dictatorship under socialism is qualitatively different from these models and from any expansion or improvement of bourgeois democracy/dictatorship. At the end, we will take a look at Karl Popper's social democratic theory.

    Social Democracy

    Today, defenders of social democracy as a desirable model for Iran's future are an active force on the political scene, and this idea has great influence among intellectuals. These intellectuals completely separate the history of democracy in Iran from the larger historical context of Iran's integration into the framework of global capitalism (capitalist imperialism). Like the other countries of the “global South,” Iran is a country “under the domination of imperialism.” It is subordinate to the requirements of capital accumulation in the “central” countries (the metropole) and, internally, its [development] is lopsided and fragmented.

    The development of capitalism in Iran has gone through various turning points, each of which was dependent on major changes in the global capitalist system. (For further discussion refer to the chapter on economics of the Manifesto and Program of the Communist Revolution in Iran-2017.) The defenders of social democracy in Iran reject this decisive fact. As a result, their “solution” for Iranto “extend” to Iran the political superstructure that prevails in the imperialist capitalist countries of the Westis futile and impossible to implement in Iran.

    Bob Avakian explains in his book Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That?, the tendency of social democrats can be divided into two groups: one of these focuses on various reformist schemes to achieve “economic democracy” in Europe (the so-called social democrat defenders of the welfare state). Those in this first group, who became partners-in-power inside their own bourgeois states, emphasize that democracy is impossible without economic justice. Therefore, the distribution of imperialist plunder among wider sections of the population is at the center of their program. In relation to democracy, the practice and essential role of this group has been to defend and advocate for bourgeois society and its traditions in the West—against the challenge of Soviet social imperialism in the past, and now against genuine revolution and revolutionary communism.

    The other group of social democrats tries to distinguish themselves from the usual cheerleaders for Western imperialism by presenting their views on democracy with a more radical, and even “Marxist,” formulation. But, in the final analysis, their attempts to make Marxism align with bourgeois democracy are futile, as well.

    Let's look at some of the views of Iranian supporters of social democracy. One of the most well-know names among these intellectuals is Mohammad Reza Nikfar. During the Jina uprising, he theorized and idealized how this type of democracy could counter theocratic and monarchic rule. “Ultimately, there are no more than two ways to deal with the current chaos and disarray: an integration [of the populist movement with the existing system] based on equality and participation, or consolidation based on authoritarian power, repression and control. This is a choice between the honor and dignity of [being] a citizen versus the historical degradation and indignity of [being] a peasant.”11 Apart from the fact that the historical conditions of degradation and subjugation of the Iranian people have not been so “selective” as all that, we must emphasize that Nikfar’s ideal of equality and citizen participation—the essence of the bourgeois democratic ideal—has already failed.

    Because Nikfar ignores the larger context of Iran's integration into the global capitalist system (though he is well aware of its history), he cannot factually and scientifically explain why all bourgeois-democratic efforts have failed in Iran, and continue to fail. There are two world-historical obstacles: first, in an imperialist world, bourgeois democracy cannot be extended to the countries it dominates (especially of the kind of “welfare state” specific to a handful of countries). To do so would require radical changes in the relationship between the countries of the “Global North” and the “Global South,” and any such attempt would disrupt the internal cohesion of the imperialist countries (aside from the fact that bourgeois democracy in these countries itself is today threatened by fascist forces).

    What makes social democracy—and bourgeois democracy more generally—possible in those very few countries is their plunder of countries in the “Global South.” Dictatorial regimes [in the dominated countries] are synonymous with the relative prosperity and domestic political stability needed for the existence of bourgeois democracy in the imperialist countries.

    Second, although a large part of what was considered the “communist movement” in Iran thinks that the era of bourgeois revolutions in the “Global South” is still ongoing, the reality is that the era of bourgeois revolutions has ended. This kind of thinking—that the bourgeois revolution has not yet been “exhausted” because it has yet to become “pure” in the “Global North” and because the “Global South” has not yet benefited from the many blessings it has conferred on the “Global North”—can be seen in the ideas formulated by the likes of Habermas,12 and are fostered by many intellectuals of the “Global South.”

    However, any problem that remained unresolved in the era of bourgeois revolutions can no longer be solved within that same framework, because in practice (and not in fantasy), that framework has become the globalized framework of capitalist imperialism. And today in particular, any attempt at bourgeois democracy turns into an outpost for imperialism, which ultimately contributes to the spread of the influence of Islamic fundamentalism (and elsewhere, Christian fundamentalism), as an alternative. Simply put, to solve all the “leftovers from the past,” such as the horrible return to dark-age ideology and more traditional social relations, requires the two radical ruptures that Marx emphasized, breaking with traditional property relations and breaking with traditional ideas.

    In order to validate his political theory of social democracy, Nikfar turns an important fact upside down. He writes: "The duality of situations in the world result from discrimination which leads to the duality of position and to the conditions that are a result of exploitation. Discrimination precedes exploitation, from an analytical and logical standpoint, and also from a historical standpoint.13 But in reality, unlike what exists in someone's mind, the relation between discrimination and exploitation is the other way around. Not necessarily in a one-to-one way, but in a complex relationship, exploitation “ultimately” lays the foundation for a system that is an inseparable part of all forms of oppression and discrimination.

    The relationship between discrimination and exploitation is multifaceted and multilayered. When Marx formulated the “4 Alls,”14 he explained their inner and dialectical relationships. He also clarified which is primary and their interval [what proceeds from what]. By turning this reality upside down (saying that discrimination precedes exploitation), Nikfar concludes that it is possible to solve the problem of discrimination within the framework of capitalism, and sees no need for a revolution with the aim of crushing the capitalist system and replacing it with a socialist system working to abolish the “4 Alls.”

    Other defenders of social democracy also see such a revolution as unrealistic. For example, Mehrdad Darvishpour, borrowing from Frederic Jamison,15 writes that “defending the achievements of the welfare state—rather than romantic and unrealistic declarations about the abolition of classes and abolition of wage labor—is the important task of Left forces today.”16 He considers the project of social democracy to be “integrating the defense of democracy with social justice, the defense of the environment, gender equality and the elimination of discrimination (including combating racism and ethnic discriminations)” that “has stood opposed to classical Left projects, such as the negative expropriation of private property and the establishment of state socialism.”

    But expropriation of private ownership of the means of production and the establishment of socialism (proletarian democracy/dictatorship), which he calls a “classical” project, is a vital requirement for creating a material basis for social justice and for ending discrimination and protecting the environment. Because in reality, despite what anyone thinks, the source of these problems is the actual workings and dynamics of capitalism. Although it is a necessity for socialism, today and in the future, to rupture with the practices of early socialism in the Soviet Union and China (as Bob Avakian did by summing up the first wave of communist revolutions and laying the foundations of the new communism), this never was and never will be possible with a social democratic outlook. Expecting to achieve the “4 Alls” within a bourgeois democracy, by something called “intertwining,” is not realistic, but utopian—something we revolutionary communists are accused of.

    Of course, Darvishpour writes that his pet project, “both from the point of view of making progress and [to maintain] it in the long-term, is a far more effective way to simultaneously defend and expand the public welfare.”

    Similarly, Faraj Sarkohi, in a program called “The Necessity of Social Democracy in Iran,”17asserts that “the survival of society, its sustainable development, and even the growth of capital in it cannot be based on discrimination.” In his statements, we see a more honest example of social democracy and its purpose: to make capitalism rational! This project attempts to prove to the capitalist system and its uncontrollable driving force of “expand or die,” that it will be more effective and sustainable to take into account the rights of women, blacks, immigrants and the environment. He intends to use the capitalist mode of production based on the exploitation of labor power, but make profits “more fair,” and thereby reduce the oppression that is woven into this system.

    Occasionally, he borrows sayings from Marxist literature, like “the final goal is to eliminate exploitation.” But how does he intend to achieve this goal? By “simultaneous emphasis on socialism and on democracy, and implementing them step by step, until the majority of the workers become conscious” (according to Faraj Sarkohi). This type of analysis and his proposals are examples of separating the political superstructure from society’s economic base.

    One of the most important theorists of this kind of error is Agnes Heller.18 In her collection of essays, she—like other theorists of the Budapest school—sought a democratic socialism that would be the opposite of what Bob Avakian calls the “mechanical and economist socialism” of the Soviet bloc. But instead of rupturing with it, she gets caught up in idealism. She misconstrues the relationship between society’s economic base and its political and ideological superstructure. This ultimately leads her to regard democracy as an ideal that can be grafted onto either a capitalist economic infrastructure or a socialist one!

    Agnes Heller writes, “[T]he same democratic principles, to the extent that they are formal principles, can serve as fundamental principles in the constitution of either a capitalist or a socialist society,” and adds: “formal democracy, indeed, can be transformed into socialist democracy without undergoing the slightest modification. The principles of formal democracy prescribe how to proceed in dealing with the affairs of society, how to find solutions to problems, but in no way do they impose a limit on the content of various social aspirations.” (Emphasis added by Atash)

    In contrast to the idealist fantasy of Agnes Heller, Avakian emphasizes:

    ….[D]emocracy, as a set of formal principles, cannot be made to service socialism as well as capitalism “without undergoing the slightest modification”.... to repeat the most basic point, democracy under socialism must undergo a qualitative, radical transformation from what it was under capitalism—it must be inverted—so that democracy is practiced among the ranks of the new ruling class, the proletariat, while dictatorship is exercised by the proletariat over the former ruling class, the bourgeoisie.

    Without the two radical ruptures Marx and Engels spoke of as decisive… without the uphill battle that must be waged for it after socialism is first established… there is no socialism, let alone the ultimate achievement of communism. What are needed in the political realm are principles that reflect this and serve the struggle to overcome the resistance of the overthrown bourgeoisie (and newborn bourgeois class forces) and to enable the masses of people to become masters of society in every sphere…. what is needed is the application of democracy (and dictatorship) with an open, explicit, class content, and not the principles of formal democracy “without the slightest modification.”19

    Karl Popper

    Another of the social democratic theorists is Karl Popper (a philosopher of Austrian descent). He laid out his theory, a critique of Marxism, in his well-known book The Open Society and Its Enemies.20 Popper's criticism of Marxism is that it takes an “essentialist” approach to capitalist exploitation and the state, because it doesn’t consider them to be reformable. In the 1990s, the reformist wing of the Islamic Republic zealously promoted Popper's theory and this book. In fact, it became a major theoretical prop of their policy of “reforms” and was used to mobilize a section of the intellectual community around a belief in the “reformability of the Islamic Republic.”

    According to Popper, the Marxist theory—that any form of state, without exception, represents the dictatorship of this or that class, and that even the most “democratic” of them is in fact a class dictatorship—is an “essentialist” theory. In his view, it is possible for a state to exist that is not a dictatorship. Popper sees democracy and dictatorship as two different planets, saying that where democracy is there is no dictatorship and vice versa. One of his important criteria for a state to be “democratic” and “non-dictatorial” is that people can “vote out” their political leaders. In a very important critique of Popper's comments, Bob Avakian responds:

    …the people can “dismiss” (vote out of office) particular politicians, they cannot by this means—or any means, other than revolution—"dismiss” the capitalist class (the bourgeoisie) which in reality rules society, which exerts control over the electoral process itself, and which in any case dominates the political decision-making process, and, most essentially, exercises a monopoly of “legitimate” armed force… no serious—and certainly no genuinely scientific—analysis of the dynamics of political power and of the political decision-making process in “democratic” countries, such as the U.S., can lead to any other conclusion than that all this is, in reality, completely monopolized and dominated by the ruling class of capitalist-imperialists, and that others, besides this ruling class, are effectively excluded from the exercise of political power and meaningful political decision-making, notwithstanding the participation of the populace in elections.21

    Ultimately, Popper's solution is this: instead of asking “what class is ruling,” Marxists should ask “how to contain it”! But there is no experience to show that the masses of people can “contain” the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, which has a security and military apparatus. The existence of such illusions (which have always been promoted by the ruling class) have always dealt irreparable blows to the opponents of capitalism and to freedom fighters on the path to liberation.

    Popper's “solution” to capitalist exploitation is also to “contain” it. He opposes the “unlimited freedom of capitalism,” saying: “Under an unbridled capitalist system, the economically strongest person is free to bully the economically weak and steal his freedom.... We must demand that the policy of unlimited economic freedom be replaced by state-planned economic intervention.”22

    Here we are up against a theoretical bait-and-switch, in which Popper shifts words around to distort the nature of capital. As Raymond Lotta writes, “Capital is a social relation and a process, whose essence is indeed the domination by alien, antagonistic interests over labor.” (Raymond Lotta, America in Decline.)23 And the bourgeois state (whether its form is social-democratic or liberal-democratic or fascist), is vital to the imposition of this [social] relation. Without it, the bourgeoisie can never dominate the labor force. No demand can stop “unbridled capitalism,” because the law of “expand or die” is the “intrinsic” law of capitalism, and physical violence the inevitable result: even to the extent of causing devastating wars and the destruction of the environment.

    All the countries that the Iranian social democrats present as “examples” and “models” of social democracy—including the Scandinavian countries—are imperialist capitalist countries that as a result of the plunder and super-exploitation of the “Global South,” to some extent and for a period of time, are able to provide welfare and certain political rights in order to secure their own headquarters.

    But today, we are seeing these same countries take off their “democratic” gloves and openly show their fascist iron fist. And it is astonishing to see so many of our social-democratic intellectuals adopt a deafening silence toward Israel's genocidal crime against the Palestinian people—that is much like their deafening silence about the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 [in Iran]!

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1.  Radio Zamaneh, “The Dignity Movement”, Nikfar, Mohammad Reza, May 17, 1401 [From 2011 through July, 2023 Mohammad Reza Nikfar was Radio Zamaneh’s editor-in-chief. He continues to work closely with Radio Zameneh, and to write and teach.].  [back]

    2.  Jürgen Habermas is a prominent 20th century social-political theorist. For decades he has been a major figure in the Frankfurt School, which is known for revising the revolutionary heart out of socialism. One of his most widely read books is The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society, a detailed social history of the development of the bourgeois public sphere from its origins in the 18th century salons up through modern, capital-driven mass media. His writings have been translated into more than 40 languages. Sources: Wikipedia and Library of Congress. [footnote added by translators] [back]

    3.  Website Critique of Political Economy "belonging, not belonging," Nikfar, Mohammad Reza.  [back]

    4.  Bob Avakian: "To review: Marx said specifically the dictatorship of the proletariat is the transition to the abolition of all class distinctions, of all the production relations on which those class distinctions rest, of all the social relations that correspond to those production relations, and the revolutionization of all the ideas that correspond to those social relations."  [back]

    5.  Frederic Jamison is a "Western" Marxist, in the tradition of the Frankfurt School. He is best known for his critique of post-modernism, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991) and his research on critical theory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/  [footnote added by translators] [back]

    6.  “In Defense of Social Policy of the Social Democratic Welfare State” by Mehrdad Darvishpour, 2022. [Darvishpour is an Iranian-Swedish sociologist, and a Stockholm activist.)] [back]

    7.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14s95RjRjE&list=PLWDzMTmOOMFr3gwPQg5KTLP_Qd2bgRD6L, 09 May 2023.  [back]

    8.  Agnes Heller, [quoted in Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That? Chapter 6: “Bourgeois Socialism and Bourgeois Democracy.”] Bob Avakian, 1986.  [back]

    9.  Ibid.  [back]

    10.  The Open Society and Its Enemies, Karl Popper, 1945. Its Persian translation by Ezatollah Fouladvand was published in 2005.  [back]

    11.  Avakian. “Making Revolution and Emancipating Humanity, Part 1.” In the section titled “Marxism as a Science—Refuting Karl Popper: Marxism’s 'falsifiability,' Popper’s falsehoods, and a scientific approach.2007.  [back]

    12.  The Open Society and Its Enemies, Volume II in English pp. 124-125.  [back]

    13. "Capital is a social relation and process whose essence is the domination of labor power by alien, antagonistic interests and the reproduction and expanded reproduction of that relation. The most fundamental law of the capitalist mode of production is the law of value and production of surplus value. The most important production relation of capitalism is the relation of capital to labor. And exploitation of wage-labor is the basis of the creation and appropriation of surplus value." From "On the 'Driving Force of Anarchy' and the Dynamics of Change—A Sharp Debate and Urgent Polemic: The Struggle for a Radically Different World and the Struggle for a Scientific Approach to Reality," by Raymond Lotta [footnote by translators] [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    From Atash/Fire #147, journal of the Communist Party of Iran, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist

    The Reality of Communism

    Revisionist Democracy: 
    Socialism in Name, Capitalism in Essence

    Part 

    Editors’ note: The article below is posted in Farsi in Atash/Fire journal #147, February 2024 at cpimlm.org. It was translated into English by revcom.us volunteers. Bracketed words/phrases, and some of the footnotes, are added by translators for clarification. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 were previously posted at revcom.us.

    In Part 4 we wrote about social democracy and the welfare state, the dominant form of bourgeois democracy in the capitalist-imperialist countries of Northern Europe. Alongside these, we must include “revisionist democracy,” which was the form of rule in countries where there had been communist revolutions and socialism — which were later reversed, and capitalism restored. Two prominent examples are the form of ruling state in the Soviet Union between the restoration of capitalism in 1956 and its collapse in 1991, and the form of ruling state in China from the restoration of capitalism in 1976 until now.10 

    Before the restoration of capitalism and their transformation into capitalist-imperialist countries, both had a history of socialist rule (proletarian dictatorship/democracy). Once they became capitalist countries, the class content of the state and its form [of rule] changed. But because of their socialist histories, they repurposed some of the features of the socialist era into the new capitalist system and the necessity that it faced. This is why “revisionist democracy” is the most fitting name for this model. 

    Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That?

     

    Democracy: Can't We Do Better Than That?

    2014 edition
    (originally published 1986)
    by Bob Avakian
    Price: $10.95
    Format: Paperback
    Order from:   RCP Publications
    PO Box 804956, Chicago, IL 60680-4111
    rcppublications@gmail.com
     
    With an Introduction by Raymond Lotta:
    “A Landmark Work of Heightened Relevance”

    These revisionist democracies, much like the social democracies, try to portray themselves as different from bourgeois democracies of the type that prevails in the U.S. And in fact, [they do] have some differences. But what makes it important to examine this model is not just the experience of the Soviet Union and China. This is the model aspired to by “left” trends around the world, in Iran, and even by some parties that have the word “communist” in their name — some of which will be discussed below. In this article, we examine the differences between revisionist democracy and other types of bourgeois democracy, and finally what they share in how they exercise bourgeois dictatorship.

    Revisionist democracy, which at one time was seen mainly in the theory and practice of defenders of Soviet social imperialism (after 1956) is promoted today by the defenders of capitalist-imperialist China as “socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics.” These revisionist democracies have obvious differences with the U.S. model. For example, Soviet revisionist democracy lacked any institutionalized decision-making by the masses, such as the [sham] U.S. elections. In China today, mass expressions of discontent over civil liberties are much less likely than in Europe and the United States, despite the fact that in the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (Article 35), citizens’ freedom of expression, press, assembly, marches and demonstrations are officially recognized. 

    Pointing to these differences, opponents rule these [revisionist democracies] out-of-bounds, beyond the scope of democracy. Meanwhile, to the contrary, their proponents view them as far more democratic than the “Western” democracies. Both sides fail to get to the essence of these [revisionist Soviet and Chinese] states and their democracies. By “essence” we mean that, before its collapse in 1990, the Soviet Union had the characteristics of an imperialist capitalist state, and after the collapse it simply discarded its “socialist” mask. Today, Russia is the principal heir of that capitalist-imperialist country. And, despite the fact that China’s form of state differs from those in imperialist capitalist countries such as the U.S. and Western Europe, its “essence” is that of a capitalist-imperialist country. 

    It should be noted that the reasons for these differences are both the fact that the Western capitalist-imperialist countries have a more massive share of plunder from the Third Word, and thus greater “freedom” to grant more rights to their citizens, as well as historical differences (the path that produced bourgeois democratic institutions such as elections and civil society in Europe and the United States differs from historical developments in Russia and China). Revisionist democracies advertise their superiority, saying that workers and the masses are drawn into participation in administration of social and economic life to a much more extensive degree than are workers and the masses in the West. This, they say, is because “in China, electoral democracy goes hand in hand with council democracy.” When the Chinese imperialists refer to “electoral democracy,” they mean their national elections — where one billion people have a direct vote to elect nearly 2.6 million delegates for the “National People's Congress,” or legislative assembly, and “council democracy” refers to the institution of the “Conference of Chinese People’s Councils.” 

    It is also claimed that along with these elections, there is a “democratic meritocracy.” According to Daniel A. Bell, in his book The China Model,11 this model doesn’t suffer from the weaknesses of “everyone has a vote” democracy, which makes it morally preferable and politically more stable! He then elaborates on the much more “democratic” process of electing, for example, the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (which should be read as the “Communist Party of Imperialist Capitalists Disguised as Communists” in China), which consists of several steps: a vote [on candidates] by lower officials, a publicly supervised written exam on questions of political economy and political philosophy, an oral exam in the presence of the secretary-general’s cadres and staff members and inspection of that candidate’s record for any sign of corruption. The final decision is made by vote of a committee of 12 ministers. According to Bell, all this ensures that those who are democratically elected are worthy of elected office, but in Western democracies — which consider themselves to be the democratic antithesis of autocratic Russia and China — such a process does not exist. Of course, this claim is also untrue. In the imperialist states of the West, just as in all bourgeois dictatorships/democracies, individuals who enter the state, security and military apparatus at the local and national levels must work their way through training and testing channels for years. Upon reaching a certain level, if they were to act contrary to the fundamental principles and functioning of the capitalist system, the system would give them the boot. 

    Thus, the class content of both forms — bourgeois democracy and revisionist democracy — is bourgeois dictatorship. The Chinese people work under appalling conditions of wage slavery, to enrich Chinese capitalists and their international partners. China's economic infrastructure is exploitative, not only in the general sense (capitalist appropriation of surplus-value). The “super-exploitative” conditions [e.g., sweatshops] that are characteristic of “Third World” countries exist on a wide scale in China. Moreover, China is an imperialist capitalist country which carries out brutal exploitation and plunder across three continents (Asia, Africa, and Latin America), from Indonesia and Vietnam, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan... to Nigeria, Congo, Venezuela, Colombia, etc. 

    Chinese democracy, like all imperialist democracies, is democracy for the capitalist class, and dictatorship against those who the capitalist class oppresses and exploits. What is different about China’s democracy is that its rulers cloak its essential character in the mantle of China's socialist past. But, its true nature is quite clear in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, Article 13, which says: a citizen’s legal right to own private property cannot be violated.

    Thus, contrary to popular belief, the Chinese bourgeoisie does believe in democracy, no more and no less than its counterparts and rivals in the West. But due to their specific necessity and histories, they employ a specific form of democracy which makes it more possible for them to exercise capitalist class dictatorship (the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie) in their specific conditions.

    In the Soviet Union after the restoration of capitalism (1956), the imperialist bourgeoisie was unable to grant Russian workers the same wage level as their counterparts in the U.S. and the imperialist countries in the West, as much leeway to stray from the official line, or as much laissez faire for small businesses. Instead, they emphasized lifetime employment, healthcare, meeting the basic living requirements, and “involvement” of the masses of people in the functioning of economic and social life, especially through the trade union apparatus, which itself functioned as part of the state machinery, keeping the workers in line. Also, there was autonomy for the governments of the Asian republics [within the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)], etc. All of these differences were, and are, used by the defenders of Soviet social-imperialism as proof of the superiority of revisionist democracy over bourgeois democracy. In Iran specifically, this includes [both non-revolutionary] Tudeh Party and Fedayeen Khalq (Majority) and their spinoff groups and individuals.

    In examining the Soviet model of revisionist democracy, Bob Avakian looked at one of the major Soviet research works called the Political Economy of Revolution, and its chapter on democracy. The author of this research, K. Zarodov, writes, “Bourgeois ideologists claim that socialist reconstruction is nothing more than the antithesis to democracy. By fair means and foul, they belittle and even discount the role played by the revolutionary forces of the working class, the Communists’ fight to exert and extend the peoples’ democratic rights and freedoms.”12 (Emphasis by Atash.

    For this author — like revisionist Soviet theorists generally — democracy under socialism is simply the full assertion and extension of democracy under capitalism. Instead of demonstrating the historical limits of bourgeois democracy and its ideals (as discussed in previous articles), they want to act as the true champions of these ideals and to make them last forever.

    The “Left” Party in Iran — composed of the union of the Fedayeen Khalq (Majority), the United People's Fedayeen Organization in Iran,13 and other left activists — reflects exactly this attitude in its documents. The [“Left”] Party writes that “socialism is intertwined with democracy,” so it considers its duty to be “deepening and expanding participation in representative democracy and various forms of direct democracy, including self-governance and self-management.” In the documents of this [“Left”] Party, we see that socialism has been reduced to a series of “socialist values,” and those values are nothing more than those that are packaged into the capitalist system: “including peace, freedom, equality, social justice, solidarity, democracy, equality of rights for women and me, ... and other values upholding human rights, democratic redistribution, etc.” The bourgeois opposition parties of the Islamic Republic, including the [pro-U.S. Reza] Pahlavi trend, paste together more or less of these words as their “alternative” goals, without saying what mode of production will form the underlying infrastructure: the capitalist or the socialist mode of production.

    And where they do talk about economics, like all bourgeois theorists, they talk about shapes and formats without clarifying the class content of that economy. For example, the “Left” Party writes: “Mixed economy — the state, the cooperative and the private — is the appropriate form to organize the country's economic system.”14 But a mixture of all these forms already exist in all imperialist capitalist and dependent capitalist countries, such as Iran, Turkey, etc. 

    All these sleights of hand are meant to signify that, in order to be formally recognized, we will stay within capitalism, and recognize equal rights under the banner of “democratic socialism” on the basis of exploitation — which is at the heart of the deep and pervasive inequality in today’s societies, and inevitably generates deep social inequalities. This is phony socialism! 

    Real socialism is the result of a revolution that overthrows the capitalist state in all its forms (liberal democracy, social democracy, revisionist democracy, Islamic democracy, etc.), and establishes a state whose existential necessity is the abolition of class distinctions, the abolition of the relations of production that produce these distinctions, the abolition of all social relations that correspond to capitalist production relations, and the abolition of all the ideas which serve the rule of the exploiting classes [“4 Alls”], in order to open the way for all humanity to move towards the international communist society, and to finally relegate the state itself (democracy/dictatorship) to the Museum of History.

    Socialist democracy exists to serve this orientation, namely the abolition of the above-mentioned “4 Alls,” and to achieve these ends it will exercise dictatorship against the process of restoration of capitalist dictatorship. In this way, the socialist state, like the capitalist state, is both a democracy and a class dictatorship. And it is precisely this orientation that is decisive for the preservation of the socialist character of society, not the “more complete exercise and extension of rights and democracy,” as claimed by the “Left” Party and godfather of the process as theory, K. Zarodov.

    Zarodov and the many other defenders of revisionist democracy are trying to merge two things that are in fact locked in struggle with each other. [Revolutionary leader] Bob Avakian explains that there is a unity between the socialist democracy/dictatorship and the advance to communism (where there will be no class rule and no democracy/dictatorship). There is a unity, but it is a unity of opposites. And in the final analysis, the most important aspect of this relationship is the struggle between them, socialism must move towards the establishment of communism (which can only be realized on a world scale) and the “withering away” of the state (even the socialist state). And this requires eradicating all the material, political and ideological conditions that make exploitation and class division possible in the world as well as the existence of states (both bourgeois and socialist). 

    It is clear that no need for any state also means no need for democracy, and that the eradication of all conditions for the division of society into classes will lead to the “withering away” of democracy itself. This is not an objective that can be achieved by “democratizing working conditions” or by expanding democratic rights.

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. The Soviet Union was a real socialist society from 1917 when Lenin led the first communist revolution, and China was a true socialist country from 1949 when Mao led the communist revolution there. For more, see the Interview with Raymond Lotta at revcom.us, “You Don't Know What You Think You ‘Know’ About... The Communist Revolution and the REAL Path to Emancipation: Its History and Our Future. [back]

    2. The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy, Daniel A. Bell, 2016 [back]

    3. K. Zarodov, The Political Economy of Revolution (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1981)as quoted by Bob Avakian in Democracy, Can’t We Do Better Than That? (Banner Press, 1986, pages 155-157).  [back]

    4. The United People's Fedayeen Organization in Iran is another of many factions of the original “Organization of Iranian People's Fadai Guerrillas” which existed from 1971 until 1980. [back]

    5. Charter of the Left Party of Iran (Fadaiyan Khalq) [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show Podcast!!

    A PODCAST for a time when revolution has become more possible...

    The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show podcast begins on Monday, September 11, 2023. Look for it wherever you stream your podcasts. Listen, and spread the word.

    The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show podcast

     

    A podcast for a time when revolution has become more possible...   

    Every week The RNL Show exposes and digs deep into the roots of the problems that the people here and around the world face and it brings to life the solution through a real revolution to emancipate humanity.

    The RNL Show brings people the revolutionary leadership of Bob Avakian and the understanding of why revolution is necessary, possible and what the goals of the revolution are.

    The RNL Show is a show to rear a new generation and a movement for revolution at a moment when the future of humanity is at stake.

  • ARTICLE:

    A World in Flames: Imperialist Bloodbath in Ukraine Expands, War Preparations in East Asia Intensify

    U.S. and Russian imperialism are inflicting massive, horrific death and destruction in Ukraine. U.S. officials estimate that almost 500,000 Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the 18-month-long war between Ukraine—armed and trained by the U.S./NATO—and Russia.

    The U.S. and its NATO allies have poured in billions of dollars of weaponry, provided intelligence and training, and rendered other support to Ukraine. They do not do this to “defend democracy,” or because they oppose unjust invasions (and to be clear, this was an unjust and imperialist invasion by Russia). The U.S. itself holds the record for imperialist invasions and supports outright butchers in power from Egypt to India to Saudi Arabia. No, the U.S. utilizes this “aid” to wage a proxy war and to advance its interests as the most powerful imperialist empire in the world. It is cynically using Ukrainian troops and the Ukrainian people as cannon fodder in this horrible war, to advance its interests against Russia, an imperialist rival. The interests of the people of Ukraine, Russia, and the entire world—especially people in the U.S.—are to oppose this war.

    Now, a much-hyped Ukrainian “spring counteroffensive” has become a bloody slog. It is grinding up the lives of still more thousands. But the war continues to expand and escalate, and in so doing increases the danger of a direct U.S.-Russia confrontation, which could well go nuclear and put all life on this planet in peril. Last week the Biden administration announced that it has “cleared the way” for F-16 fighter jets to be delivered to Ukraine. This marks a significant deepening of the U.S. commitment to the Ukrainian military. A retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general told reporters that “at the strategic level, this ties Ukraine to the Western way of war … for 20 to 30 years. … [A] country that gets our weapon systems [gets] exercises, education, training, and upgrades to those systems. So, it just gives them this long term relationship with the West and the United States.” You can almost hear this blood-thirsty motherfucker licking his chops.

    F-16 military fighter jets over Baltic Sea, for Ukraine.

     

    America's vast military empire is the leading institutional carbon emitter on the planet. Here, F-16 military fighter jets over the Baltic Sea, May 2023.    Photo: AP

    The war is also threatening to spill over into other countries. Poland and Belarus share a border with each other, and each border both Russia and Ukraine. But Poland is part of NATO, and Belarus is allied with Russian imperialism. Recently both Poland and Belarus have been moving thousands of troops towards their shared border, and are verging on open conflict. Poland’s ambassador to the U.S. said recently, “You can only imagine how volatile the entire region is nowadays.”

    Poland and Belarus share a border with each other, and each border both Russia and Ukraine.

     

    "Both Poland and Belarus have been moving thousands of troops towards their shared border, and are verging on open conflict."   

    East Asia on the Brink

    Tension and war preparations are also rising between the U.S. and China in East Asia. The U.S. regards China as its biggest imperialist threat. During his State of the Union address this year, days after the U.S. shot down a Chinese weather balloon for supposed spying, Biden issued a “dramatic warning” to China and its president, Xi Jinping, not to threaten American sovereignty. As CNN reported, this presidential warning to a world power in such a public event was “a remarkable moment that underlined a grave geopolitical shift.”

    Under Biden the U.S. has put tremendous and escalating effort into confronting China in the region of the South China Sea and Taiwan, and building alliances to oppose China there. Last week Biden held a “historic” summit meeting with Japanese and South Korean leaders aimed at developing an alliance in Northeast Asia, to “contain” and confront China and North Korea. Biden said the three leaders agreed to hold military exercises to deepen their alliance, “not just this year, not just next year, forever.”

    This situation is extremely perilous. Shortly before this summit, two nuclear-capable U.S. Navy ballistic missile submarines docked at ports in South Korea, for the first time in over four decades. North Korea, an ally of China, launched several ballistic missile tests soon after the U.S. visit. North Korea also issued a statement “reminding” the U.S. that the U.S. nuclear submarines may “fall under the conditions of the use of nuclear weapons”—meaning that North Korea considered this crossing a red line and could respond in kind. The point is that these nuclear-armed powers are in a protracted face-off full of risk.

    NO U.S./NATO WAR WITH RUSSIA! STOP U.S. THREATS AGAINST CHINA! 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

     

    Think about it: nuclear war carries the potential of exterminating all human life (as well as permanently poisoning the entire planet). Yet these imperialists are willing to risk this in dangerous high-stakes maneuvers to dominate the planet.

    Are you?

    We can no longer afford to allow these imperialists to dominate the world and to determine the destiny of humanity. They need to be overthrown as quickly as possible. 

    —Bob Avakian, in the Bob Avakian Interviews

    (Note: Revolution will be reporting on these developments more fully. Readers should go to Revolution’s Resource Page on the war in Ukraine and threats against China for more background and history of these conflicts, including crucial analysis in several articles by Bob Avakian.)

    We Need, We Demand: A Whole New Way to Live, A Fundamentally Different System

     

  • ARTICLE:

    War in Ukraine: Frequently Asked Questions

    For more analysis and history of this situation, including several important articles by Bob Avakian (BA), go to The War in Ukraine: A Resource Page at revcom.us, and articles linked in each response.

    What started this war?

    The war in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, when Russia staged a massive invasion of the neighboring country of Ukraine, and the U.S. and its imperialist allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) soon began to send tens of billions of dollars of military and intelligence support to Ukraine.

    But “The actual roots of the present conflict are framed by the restoration of capitalism in 1956 in the Soviet Union and its emergence as a global capitalist-imperialist power in conflict with the capitalist-imperialist U.S. empire in what is called the ‘Cold War’. … The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact [a military alliance led by the Soviet Union], and the establishment of many independent nations out of what had been the Soviet Union. In 1991, Ukraine became an independent country. …

    “Despite promises made by the U.S., NATO began expanding to the east. … The expansion of NATO, and the U.S. insistence on the ‘right’ to bring Ukraine into the NATO military alliance in Europe, is a major factor in the Ukraine crisis. Expanding NATO into Ukraine would potentially put U.S. forces and nuclear weapons on the borders of Russia.”

    (FromRevolution’s “Background and Historical Timeline: A Hellish War in Ukraine: Where the Hell Did This Come From? See the section What is the immediate background to the current crisis?” for a thorough examination of events leading to this war.)

    Is this war a “showdown between democracy and autocracy”?

    Something which cannot be stressed too many times—especially given the lies and distortions in the relentless propaganda offensive by U.S. imperialism and its media—is the reality that the confrontation between the U.S./NATO on the one side, and Russia on the other, is not a conflict ‘between democracy and autocracy’ but between rival imperialists.

    (From: Sean Penn’s Delirious Madness And the Danger of Nuclear War,” by Bob Avakian.)

    It must be said and repeated: the U.S. imperialists are not acting, as they proclaim, as ‘guardians of democracy against authoritarianism’. No, they are pursuing their exploitative and murderous global imperialist interests. Doing so in our name. Seeking to rally our support for their crimes and for their empire. … Ukraine is not a battleground for democracy but a conflict zone of imperialist rivalry between Russian imperialism and U.S. and Western imperialism. … (the Russian) invasion is designed to bolster Russia's rivalry with the U.S.: to command more influence and create a rival Russian pole of power focused in Europe, central Asia, and the Middle East. For its part, the U.S. is arming Ukraine in order to weaken Russia and prevent Russia from consolidating further imperialist strength and posing greater imperialist challenges to the current world order that the U.S. dominates and of which it is the main beneficiary.”  

    (From:Piercing the Lies, Digging Beneath the Surface—The Larger Dynamics of the World Imperialist System Driving the War in Ukraine... And a Lesson from When There Was a Genuinely Socialist Soviet Union,” by Raymond Lotta.)

    Why is the U.S. involved in this war?

    The motivation of the U.S. in supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia is not to help a weaker country defend itself against a more powerful aggressor (again, the U.S. itself by far holds the record for invading and waging war against weaker countries throughout its history, including the wars in recent years in Iraq and Afghanistan). The U.S. and its ‘allies’ are extensively arming Ukraine in order to use Ukraine as a means of furthering their own imperialist interests—weakening Russia (and those allied with it), while strengthening the ‘western’ imperialist alliance (NATO) headed by the U.S., which is itself a vehicle for military aggression”.

    (From:Sean Penn’s Delirious Madness And the Danger of Nuclear War,” by Bob Avakian.)

    The U.S. has armed the Ukrainians to fight the Russians, it has sent troops and advanced weapons systems to surrounding countries, and it is now moving to isolate and cripple the Russian economy. All this has nothing to do with ‘seeking peace,’ but is part of a strategy to both weaken Russia through enabling Ukraine to put up resistance while America, for now, stays out of direct battle; and it is a way for the U.S. to strengthen its grip on its alliance.”

    (From Revolution’s “Background and Historical Timeline: A Hellish War in Ukraine: Where the Hell Did This Come From?)

    Why shouldn’t we support a country fighting invaders?

    “Of course, this act of imperialist aggression by Russia deserves to be condemned. But especially for people residing in this country—which, again, by far holds the record for such acts of aggression—it is a matter of basic principle and profound importance not to be echoing the positions and serving the aims of ‘our’ imperialists, and instead to be making very clear our opposition to the aims and actions of these (U.S.) imperialists, who are using opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, not as a way of promoting ‘peace,’ or ‘the right of nations to self-determination,’ but as means of furthering U.S. imperialist interests, in opposition to the rival Russian imperialists. So, in keeping with this crucial principle, any opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, particularly by people in this imperialist country, should be accompanied by a clear and definite stand of also opposing the role of the U.S. in the world, including the wars it continually wages, and other ways it violently interferes in other countries.”

    (From: “Imperialist Parasitism and ‘Democracy’: Why So Many Liberals and Progressives Are Shameless Supporters of Their' Imperialism,” by Bob Avakian.)

    Bob Avakian: Free Yourself from the GTF! The Great Tautological Fallacy

    “As for the claim that it is wrong to see the Ukrainians now as mere ‘pawns’ in this present war between imperialists, it is unfortunately the case that this is what they have essentially become. Or, as Raymond Lotta has very sharply put it—in an interview in episode 99 of the YouTube RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Showthe Ukrainians have now become ‘cannon fodder’ for U.S. imperialist aims in the war in Ukraine (which, again, threatens to become a much wider and far more destructive war). This is one very important reason why everyone who really cares about the Ukrainian people, as well as humanity as a whole, should be actively demanding that this war, and the actions of the imperialists on both sides in this war, be stopped, before the destruction and terrible suffering it involves become far greater.”

    (From: “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).”)

    Could this end up in nuclear war?

    Regardless of intentions, however, as has been shown over and over again, events—especially the dynamics of war itself, once entered into—can ‘overtake intentions’ and lead to circumstances and consequences that neither side wanted or anticipated at the start. In the current situation, with the war in Ukraine, there is a very real danger that such a dynamic could ‘take over’ and lead to truly terrible consequences—the very real possibility of war between the U.S./NATO and Russia, with the use of nuclear weapons which could pose a very real threat to human civilization as a whole.

    (From: “UKRAINE: WORLD WAR 3 IS THE REAL DANGER, NOT A REPEAT OF WORLD WAR 2,” by Bob Avakian.)

    “The U.S. is now fighting a ‘war by proxy’ with Russia—waging economic war (through ‘sanctions’ against Russia), while at the same time massively arming Ukraine. And this involves a serious risk of things leading to direct warfare between the U.S./NATO and Russia—warfare that could set in motion a dynamic that neither side could really control, leading very possibly to a devastating nuclear war that could put an end to human civilization entirely.”

     (From: “‘LEGIT GANGSTERS’— GANGSTERS WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS,” by Bob Avakian.) 

    Ukraine is so far away—why should anyone here care about it?

    “Instead of ‘staying in your lane,’ and ‘going for self,’ while this system is moving to even more decisively crush any hope for a world worth living in, people need to be looking at the bigger picture, focusing on the greater interests of humanity and the possibility for a far better world—and acting to make this a reality.”

    (From: THIS IS A RARE TIME WHEN REVOLUTION BECOMES POSSIBLE—WHY THAT IS SO, AND HOW TO SEIZE ON THIS RARE OPPORTUNITY,” by Bob Avakian.)

    “Stay in Your Lane? WTF UP!” from the Bob Avakian Interviews
    from
    The Bob Avakian Interviews on The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show.

    What should people who care about this and want this war to stop do?

    “…what I want (and what I have called for in the article in question, and others as well) is for the masses of people, on ‘both sides’ of this conflict—and in the world as a whole—to act in their own interests, as opposed to those of the imperialists on both sides of this conflict. As I strongly argued in another recent article:

    All this emphasizes why it 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.

    (From: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).”)

    “What is called for, and urgently now, is to oppose all imperialist marauders and mass murderers, and all systems and relations of oppression and exploitation, while giving particular emphasis to opposing ‘our own’ imperialist oppressors who commit their monstrous crimes ‘in our name’ and seek to rally us to support them on the basis of a grotesque American chauvinism, which we must firmly reject and fiercely struggle against.” 

    (From:A Basic Principle on the War in Ukraine,written by Bob Avakian shortly after the war began.)

    The slogans below, which were raised in four cities across the U.S. in protests on April 2, 2023, concentrate what Bob Avakian expressed in the above quote and elsewhere. They can and must be raised and promoted by growing numbers of people, and are important in setting dividing lines around which masses of people should be rallied. 

    No U.S./NATO War with Russia!
    Stop U.S. Threats Against China!

    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

    (From:National Protests: Sunday, April 2”; also see videos from the rally in Los Angeles, and pictures from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York here.)

    Can this horrible situation really be changed?

    “Shaping up before us now are two fundamentally opposed futures: Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating. And this truth rings out now more powerfully than ever: Which future we get depends to a great extent on what we do.

    “So we are determined:

    “To seize on this ‘rare time’ to develop the basis to actually make revolution—to finally defeat the violent enforcers of this monstrous system. This means organizing for this revolution now, among the most bitterly oppressed, and from all parts of society, first in the thousands and then in the millions, and doing so consistently with a country-wide perspective... politically impacting all of society and changing the terms of how masses of people see things and how every institution in society has to respond... developing the conscious, organized revolutionary forces to the point where, with millions won to revolution, it will then be possible to have a real chance to win.”

    (From the Proclamation:WE ARE THE REVCOMS (REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNISTS) ... To everyone who can’t stand this world the way it is... who is sick and tired of so many people being treated as less than human...”)

    WE ARE THE REVCOMS (revolutionary communists)

     

  • ARTICLE:

    Piercing the Lies, Digging Beneath the Surface
    The Larger Dynamics of the World Imperialist System Driving the War in Ukraine...

    And a Lesson from When There Was a Genuinely Socialist Soviet Union

    Editors’ note: The following is the text of a talk given by Raymond Lotta at the emergency forum on Ukraine on March 4 at Revolution Books in New York City. Lotta spoke after Andy Zee.

    Raymond Lotta at Revolution Books Emergency Forum on Ukraine

     

    Raymond Lotta   

    Andy has spoken about the war mongering and hypocritical, self-righteous condemnation of the Russian invasion by the U.S. imperialists and media. It must be said and repeated: no other imperialist power holds a candle to the U.S. when it comes to unjust invasions, violation of national sovereignty, and regime change. As Andy also emphasized, anyone with heart and conscience should oppose the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine. But we in the “belly of the beast” have a special responsibility to mainly expose and oppose our own imperialist rulers, to expose and oppose their aims and actions. They are the greatest exploiters and oppressors of the people of the world.

    It must be said and repeated: the U.S. imperialists are not acting, as they proclaim, as “guardians of democracy against authoritarianism.” No they are pursuing their exploitative and murderous global imperialist interests. Doing so in our name. Seeking to rally our support for their crimes and for their empire.

    The War in Ukraine: Not Democracy vs. Autocracy, but Conflict Between Rival Imperial Powers

    This brings me to the heart of this talk. I want to pull the lens back and address how it is that Ukraine is not a battleground for democracy but a conflict zone of imperialist rivalry between Russian imperialism and U.S. and Western imperialism. I want to talk about the global developments and dynamics shaping this conflict. 

    Before getting into this, let me say that the history of Ukraine and Russia is both very unfamiliar to most of us AND what we do know is distorted through a certain pro-US imperialist lens.  It would take more time than I have tonight to unravel that history—but you can go to www.revcom.us to get the basics of this.

    First, some background. Ukraine is a country of some 44 million people with a rich history. It is the second largest country in Europe. Ukraine shares an almost 1,500-mile land border with Russia. Ukraine also borders Poland, Hungary, Romania, among other countries. On its south is the Black Sea, which is highly important for trade for Ukraine, Turkey, and especially Russia. For Russia as an imperialist power, this region is important economically—for shipping oil and natural gas, as well as grain, and thereby gaining leverage over countries that depend on importing those materials. The Black Sea region is also critical for projecting Russian military power: to Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Russia has a major naval-military base in a Black Sea port in Crimea—a region that used to be part of Ukraine but which Russia seized in 2014.

    As for U.S. imperialism, since the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1990-91, the U.S. has drawn other Black Sea countries, like Romania and Bulgaria, into the European military alliance that the U.S. heads up—called NATO. And Ukraine with its large border with Russia, has become more closely entwined with the U.S. America has provided Ukraine with great amounts of military and economic aid since the early 2000s. And the U.S. had a big hand in an uprising that took place in Ukraine in 2014 that put in power a government friendly to the U.S. and aiming to become part of NATO.

    For sheer imperialist hypocrisy: imagine how the U.S. imperialists would react, if Russia or China had a military alliance with large parts of South America... and if Russia then brought Mexico into such close alliance. 

    The Russians, for their part, have, and especially since 2014, backed sections of  Russian-speaking Ukraine to break away and ally or merge with Russia. In 2016-17, the U.S.-led NATO deployed battle groups with advanced weapons to Poland and other Baltic states like Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia that border Russia (and very close to Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg). Meanwhile Ukraine has been moving closer to the U.S. and trumpeting its determination to join the U.S.-dominated NATO military alliance. This is the immediate backdrop to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February.

    The Russian invasion is not about de-nazifying Ukraine, as Putin proclaims. This invasion is designed to bolster Russia's rivalry with the U.S.: to command more influence and create a rival Russian pole of power focused in Europe, central Asia, and the Middle East. For its part, the U.S. is arming Ukraine in order to weaken Russia and prevent Russia from consolidating further imperialist strength and posing greater imperialist challenges to the current world order that the U.S. dominates and of which it is the main beneficiary.

    So this is a first cut into why it is the case that Ukraine is a conflict zone between rival imperialist powers and their clashing strategic aims. But we have to pull the lens back further to take in the larger picture.

    The world imperialist system and the world imperialist economy have undergone big shifts in the last 30 years... and this order is undergoing further shifts and major changes today.

    The U.S. is still the strongest imperialist power, economically and militarily. The U.S. commands a vast, integrated global network of exploitation; it dominates international financial institutions like the IMF (International Monetary Fund)—which uses loans and imposes economic policies on countries of the global South to twist their development to serve the needs of U.S. and Western imperialism; the dollar still plays a central, dominant and privileged role in the world economy (oil is denominated in dollars). The U.S. spends astronomically more on weapons than any other country in the world. The U.S. has over 700 overseas military bases in 70 countries.

    But the U.S.'s economic strength, its share of world production, is declining relative to capitalist-imperialist China—a rising power. And China is mounting a growing and all-round challenge to U.S. imperialism: economically, financially, and militarily. For instance, China has entered into all kinds of economic agreements with African countries, and made substantial investments in raw materials extraction in Africa. At the same time, the U.S. imperialists are facing Russia as another competitor which has grown more powerful economically and militarily under Putin. Western Europe has become highly dependent on Russia to supply oil and natural gas to power its imperialist economies.

    Each of these imperialists has its particular strengths and advantages, each has a certain freedom to act. But each also faces necessity, the need to act and react to defend and extend empire. Putin cannot allow the U.S. and Western Europe to surround Russia with hostile alliances and advanced military weapons systems. The U.S. is facing the prospect not only of a newly assertive Russian imperialism, but the potential of Russia and China joining together in an alliance against U.S. imperialism.

    Putin's invasion of Ukraine is a move to bring Ukraine back into its imperialist bloc. This is to strengthen Russia's ability to compete with and challenge the U.S., especially in the area of Europe and Asia.

    The U.S, on the other hand, is arming the Ukrainians to weaken Russia, and hoping to bog Russia down. The U.S. is using this war to tighten its leadership and grip over the West European imperialist countries. The U.S. is imposing harsh sanctions on Russia. You hear that term sanctions: That refers to economic measures and penalties to deny your adversary access to markets, to financial institutions and mechanisms that world trade is carried out through, and blocking access to financial holdings by Russia's capitalists in other countries. The U.S. is using sanctions to strangle the Russian ruling class and economy.

    This is a dangerous situation. This conflict could rapidly escalate and spiral into an all-out confrontation between the U.S. and Russia. And here is a sobering fact: The U.S. and Russia own and command 90 percent of the world's nuclear warheads. That's some 8,000 nuclear weapons. 2,000 of these weapons are on high operational alert. Both of these powers deploy these weapons in reach of battle zones of this war and its possible spread. This is an existential threat to humanity.

    Now we can get more into this in the discussion. But there are three things to keep in mind:

    1) This conflict in the Ukraine is not about Russian autocracy versus American democracy. It is about rivalry between imperial powers.

    2) As Bob Avakian has written recently, none of these powers represent the interests of humanity. We must oppose all of them as the monsters and modern-day slave masters that they are. But we in the U.S. must give particular emphasis  to opposing “our own” imperialists who have brought incalculable suffering to the people of the world... carried out endless wars of empire... and caused more damage to the environment than any country on the planet.

    3) And this war is not happening at any time. As Bob Avakian has analyzed, humanity stands at a crossroads—when the possibilities exist for something terrible... OR something truly emancipating. He has shown how this is one of those rare times when revolution in the U.S. could actually be possible. That is what we must be preparing for.

    Announcing New work by BA, SOMETHING TERRIBLE, OR SOMETHING TRULY EMANCIPATING:

     

    When the Soviet Union Was Actually Socialist—an Important Lesson from History

    In closing, I want to take a few minutes to talk about an important lesson and experience of history that widens our lens of understanding.

    One of the ways that the U.S. imperialists and their media systematically misinform people is when they talk about an unbroken thread of “Russian tyranny”: the Russian emperor-czars of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries; Lenin and Stalin; the rulers of the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s; and Putin. But this idea of an unbroken thread of “Russian tyranny” erases the reality that there was an era of Russian history and society that was truly liberatory. This was the time of genuine socialist revolution in Russia: from 1917 until the early 1950s, but especially in the 1920s and early 1930s. The Soviet revolution inspired the oppressed and exploited throughout the world.

    The earthshaking, liberatory revolution of October 1917 in Russia, led by the communist leader V.I. Lenin, created the world's first socialist society. This liberatory revolution also created the world's first multinational state based on equality of nations, cultures and languages. Russia before the revolution was often described as the “prisonhouse of nations”—because of the savage  oppression of minority nationalities. (The U.S. today with mass incarceration directed at Black and brown people could be described as a “nation of prisonhouses”.)

    The policy adopted and insisted on by Lenin was self-determination for the formerly oppressed nations and minorities who joined together in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), meaning that the unity of the new socialist state had to be voluntary. Putin by the way condemns Lenin for proclaiming and applying the principle of self-determination!

    The socialist revolution of 1917 involved the people of Ukraine; and so too the civil war that followed in the years 1918-21. By 1922, the new Soviet state became a Union of Soviet Socialist Republics... the shortened name is the Soviet Union. Ukraine was one of the 12 large founding republics of this Union (which also included a great number of self-governing/autonomous territories of formerly oppressed nationalities).

    The Soviet revolution under Lenin's leadership, and later Joseph Stalin’s, instituted bold and radical measures to overcome inequality and discrimination. Education in minority republics and regions was carried out in native languages (that had been forbidden under the old oppressive Russian empire); efforts were made to bring forward indigenous, local leadership in the formerly oppressed nations, and the Soviet state financed the mass production of books, journals, newspapers, movies, operas, folk ensembles and more in non-Russian languages.

    At the same time, the Soviet state launched education and ideological struggle against what was called Great Russian chauvinismthe belief in the superiority of the Russian people and their right to dominate and oppress other nationalities, like white supremacy in the U.S..

    So, all this history and lesson-filled experience has been erased. I can get into that—and I can also discuss why and how some of these policies got reversed later, how that fit into the actual weakening of socialism in the Soviet Union, and what Bob Avakian has summed up about that period—in the q-and-a. Or you can go to revcom.us to read an extensive and in-depth interview with me about this history and also go to The Real History of Communist Revolution section at revcom.us and do a much deeper dive into this.

  • ARTICLE:

    The War in Ukraine and the U.S. Threats Against China: A Resource Page

    Dangerous Developments, Imperialist Power Moves, Rank American Hypocrisy

    Updated

    U.S. embassy delegation led by Army military attaché reviews map with Ukrainian officers who are conducting military operations against pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.

     

    Donetsk, Ukraine, November 19, 2021, three months before Russia invaded Ukraine: U.S. embassy delegation led by Army military attaché reviews map with Ukrainian officers who are conducting military operations against pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.    Photo: AP

    The War in Ukraine: Dangerous Developments, Imperialist Power Moves, Rank American Hypocrisy

    Dig Beneath the Surface to Understand Why This War Is Happening

    Crisis in Ukraine: Biden and Putin Hold Humanity Hostage, Threaten "Armageddon"—WE NEED REVOLUTION!

    The Cuban Missile Crisis: World In The Balance — an excerpt from Bob Avakian's memoir

    Steps Toward Oblivion: the Threat of Nuclear War

    Dangerous Escalation in Ukraine— A conversation between Andy Zee & Lenny Wolff

    Basic Principles

    Bob Avakian speaks on War, Capitalism-Imperialism, and Revolution

    "Wars of Empire, Armies of Occupation & Crimes Against Humanity"
    An Excerpt from Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, a speech by Bob Avakian

    Escalations, Inching Towards An Abyss

  • ARTICLE:

    BOB AVAKIAN FOR THE LIBERATION OF BLACK PEOPLE
    AND THE EMANCIPATION OF ALL HUMANITY

    Bob Avakian for the liberation of Black people

     

    WATCH THIS VIDEO   

    One of the things that comes through most powerfully in Bob Avakian’s memoir1 is that a profound hatred for the oppression of Black people has been a defining part of Bob Avakian’s life from the time, as a teenager, he learned about the lives of the Black people with whom he developed deep ties of friendship. Never feeling that, because he is white, “it is not his place” to be involved in the struggle against this oppression—but, on the contrary, determined to contribute whatever he could to this struggle—Bob Avakian (BA), from the time he worked closely with the Black Panther Party in its revolutionary days in the 1960s, has made the liberation of Black people a defining part of his life’s commitment and work. As he developed as a revolutionary communist, and emerged as the foremost revolutionary leader and thinker in the world, this commitment has become even deeper and has been strongly interwoven with a dedication to the emancipation of all humanity from every form of oppression and exploitation.

    As BA has written about his life’s work:

    Why was I doing the work I was doing? Once again, we’re back to for whom and for what. I wasn’t doing this work for myself. When I was young, in middle school and then even more so in high school, my life got changed in a very major way by coming into contact with people that I hadn’t really known that much before, in particular Black people. I started learning about their situation and how that relates to what goes on in this society as a whole. I was drawn to the culture—not just the music and the art overall, but the whole way of going through the world—of the Black people who became my friends, and the world they introduced me to. And I came to the point of recognizing: these are my people. Now, I knew they had a different life experience than I did. But these are my people—I don’t see a separation—it’s not like there are some other people “over there” who are going through all this and somehow that’s removed from me. These are my people. And then I began to recognize more deeply what people were being put through, the oppression they were constantly subjected to, the horrors of daily life as well as the bigger ways in which the system came down on them. And as I went further through life and began to approach the question of what needs to be done about this, and was introduced to taking up a scientific approach to this, I realized that my people were more than this. I realized that my people were Chicanos and other Latinos and other oppressed people in the U.S.; they were people in Vietnam and China; they were women...they were the oppressed and exploited of the world...and through some struggle, and having to cast off some wrong thinking, I have learned that they are LGBT people as well.

    These are my people, the oppressed and exploited people of the world. They are suffering terribly, and something has to be done about this. So it is necessary to dig in and systematically take up the science that can show the way to put an end to all this, and bring something much better into being. You have to persevere and keep struggling to go forward in this way. And when you run into new problems or setbacks, you have to go more deeply into this, rather than putting it aside and giving up.

    So this is why I’ve been doing the work that I’ve been doing.2

    memoir-front.jpg

     

    Bob Avakian grew up in Berkeley, California. Unable, because of a life-threatening illness, to be directly involved in struggles taking place against racial oppression for several years after graduating from high school in 1961, BA nevertheless closely followed and strongly supported the civil rights movement in the early 1960s, and at the same time was influenced by and supportive of the militant stand and role of Malcolm X. This was reflected in an article that BA wrote at the age of 19 in 1962 supporting the struggle of Black people. (This article was submitted to the liberal magazine Saturday Review. Although the article was not published, the editor-in-chief of the magazine, Norman Cousins, personally replied—indicating that, although the magazine had chosen not to publish this article, he recognized that the article spoke, in a strikingly compelling way, to very important questions.)

    Having recovered from his illness, in 1964, BA became actively involved in the Free Speech Movement at the University of California in Berkeley, where he was a student. The central issue of this movement was the right of students to carry out activity on the campus in support of the civil rights movement. BA was among the 800 who were arrested during the occupation of the university administration building, which was the high point of the movement and led to winning its demands.

    As the civil rights movement increasingly gave way to a more militant Black liberation movement in the second half of the 1960s, BA was strongly influenced by this. He left the university and dedicated his life to working for radical change. As a result of direct contact and discussions with Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the founders of the Black Panther Party, and getting to know Eldridge Cleaver (who also became a leader of the BPP), BA worked closely with the Black Panther Party from its earliest days and at the height of its revolutionary role and influence.

    In 1967, BA attended rallies, and spoke at one of the rallies, held by the BPP in North Richmond to protest the killing there of Denzil Dowell, part of the long and continuing chain of murders of Black people by police.

    In 1968, when Huey Newton was facing murder charges as a result of a shoot-out with Oakland cops, BA spoke—along with a number of key figures in the Black liberation movement, including Stokely Carmichael, Rap Brown, James Forman, and leaders of the Black Panther Party— at a Free Huey rally held in the Oakland auditorium on the occasion of Huey Newton’s birthday.

    BA worked tirelessly to build support, including among white people, for the demand to “Free Huey!” At a “Free Huey” rally at the courthouse in Oakland where Huey Newton’s trial was being held, BA was arrested for “desecrating” (burning) the American flag.

    During this time, at the invitation of BPP leaders, BA wrote a number of articles for the Black Panther newspaper.

    At a rally of thousands, led by the Black Panther Party, on May First, 1969, BA spoke of the need for revolution and called on white people in particular to more actively take part in movements for revolutionary change in the U.S., and to support such movements throughout the world.

    By the beginning of the 1970s, millions of people in this country were in favor of some kind of revolutionary change, but they faced profound challenges. How could this revolution be made—or was it even possible to make a revolution here, up against such powerful forces of oppression and repression? Which were the key forces that had to be mobilized to have a real chance to carry out such a revolution? What kind of leadership was needed, and what methods and approaches should that leadership be based on? The difficulties in confronting and seeking the answers to these hard questions, combined with brutal and often murderous repression by the powers-that-be, led many revolutionary organizations, including the Black Panther Party, to split and end up departing from the road that could lead to real revolution.

    By this time, partly because of the influence of the Black Panther Party, which had popularized the “Red Book” of quotations from the Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong, BA had become convinced not only that revolution was necessary, and was possible, but that it had to be led by a vanguard force that based itself on the scientific method and approach of communism, as it had been developed initially by Karl Marx, then further developed by V.I. Lenin, the leader of the Russian Revolution in the early part of the 20th century, and then in turn further developed by Mao, who led the Chinese revolution and the new, socialist society in China, until his death in 1976. BA led in the formation of the Revolutionary Union at the end of the 1960s, with the aim of working toward the establishment of the vanguard party of revolution, based on the science of communism. During the first part of the 1970s, BA was both the practical leader and the leading theoretician of the Revolutionary Union, writing much of the essays and polemics for its theoretical journal Red Papers. This included major articles, particularly in Red Papers 5 and 6, that involved groundbreaking scientific materialist analysis of the situation of Black people, historically and down to the present—how and why their particular conditions of oppression had changed, from the time of slavery to the present era, and how this objectively put Black people in a potentially powerful position to be a driving force not only for their own liberation but for the communist revolution whose fundamental aim is the abolition of all oppression and exploitation. These articles included powerful polemics, arguing against positions and programs that would not lead to, but would actually work against, this liberation and the revolutionary transformation of the world as a whole.

    In 1975, with BA’s leadership, the Revolutionary Communist Party was founded, with the aim of being the vanguard force for the revolution that was, and continues to be, profoundly necessary. Over the decades since then, BA has fought to keep that Party on the revolutionary road and to bring forward new revolutionary forces to revitalize and strengthen the vanguard forces for the revolution that is now, all the more urgently, required. While continuing to provide practical guidance to the revolutionary forces, BA, through summing up the experience (positive and negative) of the communist movement, and drawing from a broad range of human experience, has brought forward a new synthesis of communism (also referred to as the new communism) which, most decisively, has established communism on an even more consistently scientific basis. As BA’s Official Biography explains, the new communism “is a continuation of, but also represents a qualitative leap beyond, and in some important ways a break with, communist theory as it had been previously developed. It provides the basis—the science, the strategy, and the leadership—for an actual revolution and a radically new society on the road to real emancipation.”3

    A defining part of this new communism is the emphasis it gives to the struggle for the liberation of Black people, and the relation of this to the ending of all oppression. And this has continued to stand out in BA’s leadership role and work over the decades, up to the present.  At revcom.us there is a special section, Bob Avakian on The Oppression of Black People & the Revolutionary Struggle to End All Oppressionwhich contains clips from films and selections from the writings of BA on this question. The following are just a few examples of important works and leadership by Bob Avakian, over the past few decades, that speak to this decisive question.

    The book Reflections, Sketches & Provocations, written by Bob Avakian during the 1980s, contains a number of commentaries, speaking in a number of dimensions to the oppression of Black people and the struggle against this oppression, including support for rebellions following the murder of Black people by police. This book begins with the essay “Hill Street Bullshit, Richard Pryor Routines, and the Real Deal,” which powerfully exposes how terror against Black people, and other oppressed people, is “part of the job” of the police—and is “a reward” for carrying out the role of maintaining the “law and order” that keeps the oppressed in their desperate and miserable conditions. Going deeper, it speaks to how this is rooted in this system of capitalism-imperialism, which has had this oppression built into it from the very beginning.

    In the 1990s, BA raised the idea that there should be a day, every year, when people mobilized to protest police brutality, mass incarceration and repression by the government. This proposal was taken up and a broad coalition, including family members of people killed by police, was formed to initiate, in 1996, the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation. At its height, over the next decade, this National Day of Protest, held every October 22nd, rallied thousands of people in dozens of cities across the country. And activities by people who have been part of this coalition have continued since then.

    During the past two decades, BA has given a number of filmed speeches, and written articles, essays and books, in which the liberation of Black people and its crucial relation to the communist revolution, aiming for the emancipation of all humanity, has been a major question.

    BA’s 2003 speech Revolution: Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s Possible, What It’s All About, begins with a searing exposure and condemnation of lynching, and speaks to the horrific reality of slavery and the oppression of Black people down to today, including the continual murder of Black people by police.3

    In 2006, BA gave a series of 7 Talks, in which once again the oppression of Black people, and the struggle for their liberation, is a major theme. One of these 7 Talks, Communism and Jeffersonian Democracy, begins by speaking to the experience of Black people in this country; and the question of slavery and the overall oppression of Black people is, of course, a major part of this talk. It is in Communism and Jeffersonian Democracy that the following is clearly stated:

    There would be no United States as we now know it today without slavery. That is a simple and basic truth.

    (This is also the very first statement in BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian, the handbook for revolution.)3

    At the beginning of BA Speaks: Revolution—Nothing Less!, in 2012, this point is stated emphatically:

    Let’s start with just one great crime of this system: police murder—after murder—after murder—of Black people and Latinos, especially youth.3

    This is part of the powerful exposure in this speech of the role that continuing murders by police play in enforcing this monstrous system of exploitation and oppression, the system of capitalism-imperialism.

    At the beginning of his October 2017 speech The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go! In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America, A Better World IS Possible,  BA speaks powerfully to the horrors of slavery in this country—including the rape by slavemasters of huge numbers of enslaved women. This speech shows how the murderous oppression of Black people, continuing down to today, is one of the main roots of the fascism that has come to power in this country with the Trump/Pence regime; and, in this speech, BA repeatedly returns to the critical importance of the fight against this oppression.3

    BA’s 2018 speech Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution begins this way:

    In 2012 in Revolution—Nothing Less! I talked about the outrageous murder of Ramarley Graham earlier that same year—shot down in his own house in the Bronx by the New York City police. He was only 18 years old. Do I have to tell you what “race” he was?! His mother kept saying: “This has to STOP!” And his father repeated over and over: "WHY did they kill my son?! WHY did they kill my son?!" New York cops then loudly rallied around their fellow pig who murdered Ramarley in cold blood, viciously taunting Ramarley's family and loved ones, demonstrating yet one more time the ugly truth that, in the way this country has been built, and for the powers-that-be in this country, the humanity of Black people has never counted for anything—they have never been valued as human beings, but only as things to be exploited, oppressed, and repressed. Six years later, and with cold-blooded murders by police continuing in an unbroken chain, I will say again what I said then: How many more times does this have to happen? How many more times do the tears and the cries of anguish and anger have to pour forth from the wounded hearts of people?! How many more times, when another of these outrageous murders is perpetrated by the police, do we have to hear those words that pour gasoline on the already burning wounds: “justifiable homicide, justified use of force” by police?! How many more?!3

    In that 2018 speech, BA not only powerfully exposes once again the horrific oppression that this system of capitalism-imperialism inflicts on Black people, and on other oppressed people in this country and throughout the world, and the grave danger this system poses to the very future of humanity; he also lays out in this speech (and in a more recent article A Real Revolution—A Real Chance To Win, Further Developing the Strategy for Revolution3) the strategic approach that could make it possible for this system to be finally overthrown through a revolution in which millions and millions of people are led to fight to put an end to this system and bring a radically different and much better system into being.

    In the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, authored by BA, a sweeping vision and concrete blueprint for that radically different and much better system is set forth. And the principles and means for finally putting an end, at long last, to the oppression of Black people is a major part of that Constitution.3

    This year (2020), BA has written as many as 30 articles in which this decisive question—the oppression, and the struggle for the liberation, of Black people—is a recurring subject.3

    In the speeches and writings of BA overall, there is not only powerful, penetrating exposure and uncompromising condemnation of brutal and murderous oppression but, even more importantly, there is scientific analysis of how all this is rooted in this system of capitalism-imperialism and of the need, the possibility, and the means for making revolution to overthrow this system and finally put an end to all the outrageous and unnecessary suffering that the masses of humanity are continually subjected to under this system.

    ***

    It is a very precious thing for the oppressed of the earth when they have a leader whose life is dedicated to their emancipation, and who has the determination, and the scientific method, developed over decades, to point the way, and continue to carve out the path, to achieving that emancipation. BA is such a leader. As emphasized in the article Bob Avakian: A Radically Different Leader—A Whole New Framework For Human Emancipation:

    As a revolutionary leader, BA also embodies this rare combination: someone who has been able to develop scientific theory on a world-class level, while at the same time having a deep understanding of and visceral connection with the most oppressed, and a highly developed ability to “break down” complex theory and make it broadly accessible.3

    One of the things that most distinguishes BA’s role as a revolutionary leader is his willingness—indeed, his insistence—on telling people the truth, even when they may not want to hear it. This comes through in the way BA exposes and refutes unscientific ways of thinking—all kinds of “conspiracy” theories and superstitious ideas—that lead people, including the most bitterly oppressed people, away from understanding the world as it actually is, and keep them from seeing not just the need, but the possibility, of radically changing the world, in a way that will lead to ending oppression. A big problem that BA has taken on, straight-up, is the role of religion as a mental chain on the masses of Black people, and other oppressed people, and the need to break this chain in order to most powerfully wage the struggle to finally be free of all oppression. BA has repeatedly emphasized that, in order to end oppression, “you have to want revolution badly enough to be scientific about it.”

    Science means judging whether something is true, or not, by whether there is evidence that it actually corresponds to reality—and not believing something because it makes you feel good to believe it, or not refusing to believe something because it makes you uncomfortable. In the article Conspiracy Theories, Fascist “Certitude,” Liberal Paralysis, Or A Scientific Approach To Changing The World, BA has spoken directly to this problem:

    many of the basic masses, who are bitterly oppressed under this system, also are suspicious of and even are inclined to reject science and scientifically-grounded analysis. But this also leaves you vulnerable to all kinds of unfounded “conspiracy theories” and other wrong and harmful ideas, including the notion that nothing people do will make a difference because “it’s all in god’s hands.”3

    In the 2014 Dialogue with Cornel West (REVOLUTION AND RELIGION: The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion), which took place during the upsurge of protest and rebellion in response to the murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, while speaking to the importance of uniting people broadly in the struggle against oppression, including people who hold religious views, BA also emphasized that the revolution that is needed to finally put an end to oppression must be led with a scientific, not a religious, outlook and method.3

    From the start of the article Bob Avakian On Emancipation From Mental Slavery And All Oppression, written this year (2020), BA does not hold back in speaking to these critical questions:

    In 1863, mid-way in the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln finally issued the Emancipation Proclamation and, as a result of the Civil War, Black people were formally freed from literal, physical slavery. But today the question is: When, and how, will Black people finally be free from all forms of slavery and oppression? And this poses straight-up this big question:

    When will Black people finally emancipate themselves from the mental slavery of religion?!....

    Once more, the question is sharply posed: How can Black people be finally and fully emancipated from centuries of oppression, and how does this relate to ending all oppression, of all people, everywhere?

    The answer is that the possibility of this is real, but it can happen only on the basis of a scientific approach to changing the world and the scientifically-grounded understanding that this oppression is rooted in and caused by the system of capitalism-imperialism—the same system that is viciously exploiting and murderously oppressing people not just in this country but all over the world and is plundering the natural environmentand that this system must and can be overthrown through an actual revolution and replaced by a radically different and far better system: socialism, whose final goal is a communist world, without any oppression or exploitation of anyone, anywhere.3

    ***

    From his early years, forging close personal ties with Black people and increasingly learning about their lived experience, to his development as this rare leader who has brought forth the most advanced scientific revolutionary theory with the new communism—a defining part of the life and work of Bob Avakian has been the liberation of Black people from centuries of oppression, and the understanding of how this relates to, and is a crucial driving force in, the communist revolution to finally abolish every form of oppression and exploitation, everywhere.

    BA himself has expressed this in the following poetically powerful statement:

    There is the potential for something of unprecedented beauty to arise out of unspeakable ugliness: Black people playing a crucial role in putting an end, at long last, to this system which has, for so long, not just exploited but dehumanized, terrorized and tormented them in a thousand ways—putting an end to this in the only way it can be done—by fighting to emancipate humanity, to put an end to the long night in which human society has been divided into masters and slaves, and the masses of humanity have been lashed, beaten, raped, slaughtered, shackled and shrouded in ignorance and misery.

     

    Bob Avakian (BA) is the most important political thinker and leader in the world today.

    Get Into BA »


    1. From Ike to Mao and Beyond, My Journey from Mainstream America to Revolutionary CommunistA Memoir by Bob AvakianInsight Press, 2005. [back]

    2. Bob Avakian, THE NEW COMMUNISM: The science, the strategy, the leadership for an actual revolution, and a radically new society on the road to real emancipation, Insight Press, first printing, 2016, pp. 321-22. In addition to THE NEW COMMUNISM, in other recent works by BA—in particular Breakthroughs: The Historic Breakthrough by Marx, and the Further Breakthrough with the New Communism, A Basic Summaryand Hope For Humanity On A Scientific Basis, Breaking with Individualism, Parasitism and American Chauvinism—the oppression and the struggle for the liberation of Black people, and its relation to the emancipation of humanity as a whole, is a prominent subject. These works are available at revcom.us.  [back]

    3. All of these works are available at revcom.us. (Information about how to acquire the print and e-book editions of BAsics can be found at revcom.us. Audio of the 7 Talks is available in BA’s Collected Works at revcom.us; and Communism and Jeffersonian Democracy has been published in a print edition, the text of which can also be found in BA’s Collected Works at revcom.us.)

    The film of the Dialogue between Cornel West and Bob Avakian, REVOLUTION AND RELIGION: The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion, is also available in BA’s Collected Works at revcom.us.

    The article Conspiracy Theories, Fascist “Certitude,” Liberal Paralysis, Or A Scientific Approach To Changing The World (longer and shorter versions) is available at revcom.us as well.

    The importance of Bob Avakian as a revolutionary leader, who has further developed communism as a consistently scientific method and approach, is a central theme in SCIENCE AND REVOLUTION: On the Importance of Science and the Application of Science to Society, the New Synthesis of Communism and the Leadership of Bob Avakian, An Interview with Ardea Skybreak. Ardea Skybreak is a scientist with professional training in ecology and evolutionary biology, who is also the author of the important book THE SCIENCE OF EVOLUTION AND THE MYTH OF CREATIONISM, Knowing What’s Real And Why It Matters. Each of these books by Ardea Skybreak is published by Insight Press, and the Interview with Ardea Skybreak (SCIENCE AND REVOLUTION) is also available at revcom.us

    The following articles, written by Bob Avakian this year (2020), which speak to the oppression of Black people and the struggle to end this oppression, are available as well at revcom.us:

    Donald Trump—Genocidal Racist (Parts 1-10) 

    Racial Oppression Can Be Ended—But Not Under This System

    Police And Prisons: Reformist Illusions And The Revolutionary Solution

    Anything But The Truth—Bob Avakian Exposes Lies, Distortions, Distractions and Evasions About the Murderous Oppression of Black People

    Lynching, Murder By Police—Damn This Whole System! We Don’t Have To Live This Way!

    Bob Avakian On Emancipation From Mental Slavery And All Oppression

    Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James And The Whole Truth

    Donald Trump Isn’t “Tough,” He’s A Bloated Bag Of Fascist Feces

    Bloated Bag Of Fascist Feces Trump Isn’t “Tough”—Part 2: Who Really Has Heart?

    Trump And Pigs: A Racist Love Affair

    Fucker Carlson, Fascist “Fox News” And The Broadcast Of White Supremacy

    Bob Avakian on Black Trump Supporters: What If Jews Had Supported Hitler?!

    Bob Avakian On: A Beautiful Uprising: Right And Wrong, Methods And Principles

    On Statues, Monuments, And Celebrating—Or Ending—Oppression

    Fascists Today And The Confederacy: A Direct Line, A Direct Connection Between All The Oppression

    Patriarchy And Male Supremacy, Or Revolution And Ending All Oppression

    Sounding Like Southern Segregationists: It’s Not Just Trump—It’s Democrats Too

    Bob Avakian Brings Out the Truth: Barack Obama Says Police Murdering Black People Should Not Be Normal—Unless He’s President

    Bob Avakian On Ugly Words & Phrases

    Bob Avakian On Tulsa Racist Mobs

    A Real Revolution--A Real Chance To Win: Further Developing the Strategy for Revolution

    [back]

     

  • ARTICLE:

    American Crime Case #12: The 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the Destruction of Black Wall Street

    Bob Avakian has written that one of three things that has “to happen in order for there to be real and lasting change for the better: People have to fully confront the actual history of this country and its role in the world up to today, and the terrible consequences of this.” (See “3 Things that have to happen in order for there to be real and lasting change for the better.”)

    In that light, and in that spirit, “American Crime” is a regular feature of revcom.us. Each installment focuses on one of the 100 worst crimes committed by the U.S. rulers—out of countless bloody crimes they have carried out against people around the world, from the founding of the U.S. to the present day.

    See all the articles in this series.

    Tulsa_Race_Massacre-1921-600px.jpg

     

    Systematic killing, looting, and burning of the entire district of Greenwood during Tulsa Race Massacre, 1921.

    Oklahoma’s statehood in 1907 coincided with the discovery of oil, and the boom years that followed saw its population grow from 10,000 in 1910 to 100,000 a decade later. This included a significant number of Black people, looking for a better life, and hoping to escape the worst of Jim Crow Mississippi, Georgia, and other states of the Old South. In 1921, Tulsa was strictly segregated; Black people could work in town, but all Black residents were required to live and shop in the Greenwood District of Northern Tulsa. In time, Greenwood’s segregated economy, self-contained and self-sufficient, was so successful that it became known nationally as the “Black Wall Street.” About 11,000 Black residents lived in the Greenwood neighborhood. Black-owned grocery stores, banks, libraries, hotels, restaurants, movie theaters, and more lined Greenwood Avenue.

    THE CRIME

    On May 30, 1921, Dick Rowland, a 19-year-old Black shoe shiner working downtown, entered the elevator of the only building with a restroom Blacks could use in the area. Sarah Page, a white 17-year-old, was the elevator operator. When the door closed, Page cried out, and Rowland ran off. The most common explanation is that Rowland just stepped on Page’s foot. But Rowland was alleged—without evidence—to have assaulted Page. He was arrested the next morning and held in a jail cell above City Hall.

    That afternoon, the Tulsa Tribune ran the headline “Nab Negro for Attacking Girl in Elevator,” suggesting that Page had been raped, and editorialized: “To Lynch Negro Tonight.” Within an hour of the paper hitting the streets a lynch mob in the hundreds descended on the courthouse.

    Word spread throughout Greenwood that whites were storming the courthouse and Rowland was in danger. After debating how to respond, at 9 pm a group of 25 armed Black men, some veterans of World War 1, drove to the courthouse determined to stop the lynching. They got out with their rifles and shotguns, and offered their support to the local authorities. Their offer was refused, and they left.

    But the white mob was incensed, and grew into the thousands in no time as word spread, more and more coming with weapons. At 10 pm a group of 75 Black men returned to the courthouse after new rumors that a lynching was imminent. They marched single file to the courthouse steps. Again, their offer of help to protect Rowland was refused. A white man approached an armed Black army veteran and demanded he turn over his gun. A fight broke out, and a gun went off.

    Historian and author Scott Ellsworth wrote: “While the first shot fired at the court house may have been unintentional, those that followed were not. Almost immediately, members of the white mob—and possibly some law enforcement officers—opened fire on the African American men, who returned volleys of their own. The initial gunplay lasted only a few seconds, but when it was over, as many as a dozen men, both black and white, lay dead or wounded. Out numbered more than twenty-to-one, the black men began a retreating fight toward the African American district, with armed whites in close pursuit.”1

    “They tried to kill all the black folks they could see,” a survivor, George Monroe, recalled in the 1999 documentary The Night Tulsa Burned.

    Shortly after the fighting broke out at the courthouse, a large number of whites—many who’d been part of the lynch mob—gathered outside police headquarters nearby. There, as many as 500 white men and boys were sworn in as “Special Deputies” and told to “Get a gun and get a nigger.” Weapons were passed out by other deputies from a sporting goods store across the street. White rioters began firing on Blacks and setting fire to Black-owned homes and businesses late into the night.

    black-man-burned-Tulsa-Race-Massacre-1921-600px.jpg

     

     

    A black man being burned on a bed of lumber during the Tulsa Race Massacre, 1921. Photo: Unsourced Archive

    “Tuesday night, May 31, was the riot, and Wednesday morning, by day break, was the invasion.” (Unidentified observer to a reporter)

    As dawn approached, thousands of armed whites—some estimated as many as 10,000—gathered in three locations on the edges of Greenwood. A siren sounded at daybreak, and the mobs of white terrorists launched their invasion.

    These armed white mobs included over 150 Tulsa police. They set about systematically killing, looting, and burning the entire district of Greenwood, block by block. Armed whites broke into Black homes and businesses and forced the people outside, where they were led away at gunpoint to internment centers set up by the authorities. Anyone who resisted was shot. If guns were found inside, the occupant was shot. The homes and businesses were looted, then set on fire with torches and oil-soaked rags. House by house, block by block, Greenwood was demolished. Airplanes were used to shoot Black people from the air and drop kerosene bombs on buildings, setting them ablaze.

    Tulsa-1921-600px.jpg

     

    House by house, block by block, Greenwood, Tulsa was demolished.

    Throughout this assault, Black Tulsans, while tremendously outnumbered, fought back. Riflemen took positions atop the belfry of a newly built church to temporarily halt the advance of the white invasion. But the church was burned to the ground. These attempts at resistance could not be maintained because the deputized police and the National Guard units arrested 6,000 Greenwood residents. Black Tulsans did not go down without a fight, but they were out-gunned and out-numbered. “Survivors recounted black bodies loaded on trains and dumped off bridges into the Arkansas River and, most frequently, tossed into mass graves.”2

    By noon on June 1, these white mobs had murdered more than 300 Black Tulsa residents. They had turned 40 square blocks of Greenwood into a scorched wasteland. This included 1,256 homes destroyed, along with virtually every other structure—including churches, schools, businesses, even a hospital and library. “Not one of these criminal acts was then or ever has been prosecuted or punished by government at any level, municipal, county, state, or federal.” (Tulsa Race Riot: A Report by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921)

    Mt.-Zion-Baptist-Church-Tulsa-Historical-Society-and-Museum-600px.jpg

     

    Mt. Zion Baptist Church burns during Tulsa Race Massacre, 1921. Photo: Historical Society and Museum

    After order was restored, the Black people who’d been detained were released, but only if signed for by a white person, who also had to agree to accept responsibility for that detainee’s subsequent behavior. More than 10,000 residents were left homeless. Thousands of Black Tulsans spent the winter living in tents. Many left for good, having had enough of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

    THE CRIMINALS

    The racist mobs of thousands of white Tulsans were directly responsible for the horror inflicted on the people of Greenwood.

    The Tulsa police chief and Tulsa deputies had a direct hand in arming, deputizing, and directing the mobs from the very start of the killing of Black Tulsans.

    The Tulsa city officials played a decisive role by refusing to take any action to stop the racial massacre. And shortly afterwards, these same officials passed a zoning ordinance that made it too expensive for the Greenwood residents to rebuild their homes.

    The local units of the National Guard, by arresting every Black resident of Tulsa they could find and taking them into “protective custody,” left Greenwood property unprotected and aided the “special deputies” who came to burn it. The after-action reports by the local guardsmen show they saw their job not as protecting the people of Greenwood, but putting down the supposed “Negro uprising.”

    The Oklahoma State Troopers did not arrive from Oklahoma City until the annihilation of Greenwood was over; arriving earlier could have prevented some of the worst crimes from taking place.

    The governor of Oklahoma, from the very start, treated the events in Tulsa as a Black “insurrection.”

    The extent of the Ku Klux Klan’s involvement and possible lead role in this heinous act of terror hasn’t been proved, but “Tulsa’s atmosphere reeked with a Klan-like stench that oozed through the robes of the Hooded Order.” (Tulsa Race Riot report.) At that time many of the city’s most prominent men were Klansmen, including the lawyer assigned to represent Dick Rowland. Photographs of the Tulsa massacre were made into postcards, including a close-up of a charred Black body; and another of the Greenwood District in ruins.

    BAsics 3-2 English

     

    THE ALIBI

    The blame for the Tulsa Massacre was, from the very start, fully put on Greenwood’s Black residents—calling it a “Negro Uprising,” or “Insurrection.” A grand jury investigation organized by Oklahoma’s governor in the days after the massacre concluded:

    We find that the recent race riot was the direct result of an effort on the part of a certain group of colored men who appeared at the court house on the night of May 31, 1921, for the purpose of protecting one Dick Rowland ...There was no mob spirit among the whites, no talk of lynching and no arms. The assembly was quiet until the arrival of armed Negroes, which precipitated and was the direct cause of the entire affair.

    THE REAL MOTIVE

    The economic success of the people of Black Tulsa—including home, business, and land ownership—fueled resentment, fear, and jealousy within the white community. Many of Greenwood’s Black residents were living more successful lives than white Tulsans. In a community, and a country, where white supremacy was taken for granted—and counted on—the success of the people of Greenwood was seen as a provocation.

    The Tulsa Massacre, and the 1919 “Red Summer” of anti-Black violence that preceded it (see American Crime Case #15), took place at a time when the U.S. rulers needed to maintain the brutal oppression of Black people and white supremacy under changing conditions. The beginning of the Great Migration saw Black people leaving the rural South to find work in the cities of the North. Among them were Black veterans of World War 1, returning with a defiant spirit and less willingness to put up with open Jim Crow degradation and terror. Those in power faced the “need” for Black people to be beaten into submission through terror, their defiant spirit suppressed, and white people (including oppressed white people) enlisted to serve and identify with the exploitative, white supremacist order.

     

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    Resources:

     


    1. “The Tulsa Race Riot,” by Dr. Scott Ellsworth, an essay in Tulsa Race Riot: A Report by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.  [back]

    2. Washington Post, September 18, 2018.  [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    RACIAL OPPRESSION
    CAN BE ENDED—
    BUT NOT UNDER THIS SYSTEM

    Everywhere we go, and in everything we do, we revcoms boldly put forward: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS!

    This is not just a slogan—though it is a very good and very important slogan. It is the concentrated statement of a very profound truth, which is also captured in our slogan: This System Cannot Be Reformed—It Must Be Overthrown!

    But what do we mean in saying that this system cannot be reformed, and why is that true? In Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, I speak to the “5 STOPS”—deep and defining contradictions of this system—and all the terrible suffering to which this system of capitalism-imperialism subjects the masses of humanity, and why all this cannot be ended under this system.1 Here I am going to focus on the systematic and murderous oppression of Black people, and racial oppression overall—which has been sharply exposed with the outpouring of outrage sparked by the murder of George Floyd—and discuss the basic reasons why this oppression cannot be eliminated under this system, but can (only) be ended through revolution.

    The continuing terror and murder carried out by the police particularly against Black people (as well as Latinos and Native Americans) is not fundamentally because the police are racist—although, speaking of the police overall, that is certainly true. The fact that the police are racist is itself an expression and a function of the fact that terror and murder against Black people (and other people of color) is required by this system—is necessary in order to maintain the “order” of this all-around oppressive system—and this would be much more difficult to carry out if the police were not racist.

    The Fundamental Causes of This Oppression

    But, going deeper, why is this terror and murder necessary for this system, in order to ensure its “order” and its ongoing functioning? The answer is that, from the beginning of this country, white supremacy has been poured into the foundation and built into the institutions and the ongoing functioning of this system. Specifically with regard to Black people, the centuries of oppression they have suffered—from slavery days to the days of Jim Crow segregation and Ku Klux Klan terror, to the present time, with the continuing systematic discrimination against Black people, in every part of society (employment, housing, education, health care, and on and on)—all this has resulted in a situation where masses of Black people today, and in particular youth, have been robbed of a means for a decent life, with many maintained in conditions of desperate poverty and deprivation. This, again, is not simply because those who are in the seats of power and deciding government policy are racist (though that is true of most of them). It is fundamentally because of the nature of the system itself and the historically-evolved requirements and dynamics of this system of capitalism-imperialism.

    Now, that is a big mouthful (“the nature of the system itself and the historically-evolved requirements and dynamics of this system of capitalism-imperialism”), so let’s break it down. This country was founded on the enslavement of masses of African people, as well as the genocidal subjugation of Native Americans and theft of their land (and its further development involved the conquest of huge parts of Mexico, reducing people of Mexican origin to second-class status as well). This required the propagation of racism to “justify” all the horrific oppression. Then, when the Civil War broke out over the question of slavery, and even when slavery was abolished as a result of that Civil War, given that white supremacy had been, and remained, such a crucial part of the “glue” holding the country together, the only way to “put it back together,” on the foundation of the capitalist system, was to once again forcefully assert white supremacy. That is why, very soon after the end of the Civil War, Black people were subjected to the system of Jim Crow segregation (backed up by systematic terror, punctuated by repeated lynchings), while the genocidal aggression against and theft of the land of Native Americans was stepped up, and immigrants from Mexico were subjected to ongoing discrimination and violence by the enforcers of this system.

    Generations later, during World War 2, because of the needs of the rulers of this country in waging that war, large numbers of Black people were able to migrate to the North and get jobs in industries that served the war effort. And then, largely as a result of the fact that the U.S. was on the winning side of that war—and the fact that the war was not fought on its territory and it experienced no damage to its industrial facilities and infrastructure—there was an expansion of the economy in this country after the war. In this situation, significant numbers of Black people were able to continue getting employment in large numbers, including some better-paying jobs in factories (making steel, cars, and so on).

    But, at the same time, because of the white supremacy built into the system over centuries—and the fact that really moving to overcome this would tear apart the fabric of the system and crack its very foundation—Black people continued to be subjected to systematic discrimination, including in employment (with “last hired and first fired” an accurate description of the situation of Black people with regard to employment). To cite another ugly example, government policy with regard to housing involved conscious, deliberate discrimination: after World War 2, loans were given to white people to enable them to buy their own homes, and increasingly move to the suburbs, while this was denied to Black veterans (and others) and instead Black people were piled into segregated housing projects in the inner cities. And this was part of the continuing systematic segregation and discrimination to which Black people were subjected.

    As a result of the Civil Rights movement and then the more radical Black liberation movement in the 1960s, some concessions were made, and there has been an increase in the number of “Black faces in high places” and a growth of the Black middle class, although their situation is far more precarious than that of white middle class people (something which was cruelly demonstrated in the 2008 crisis, which resulted in large numbers of Black people losing their homes and much, if not all, of any savings they had). And, in more recent times, huge numbers of factories and other sources of jobs for people in the inner city have closed down, often moving their operations elsewhere—particularly to countries in the Third World (Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia) where the desperate situation of masses of people, including children, has left them vulnerable to being super-exploited, at near-starvation wages.

    All this, together with increased automation and “cybernation” of production, when combined with the ongoing segregation and discrimination built into this system, has led to a situation where huge numbers of Black people, and especially youth, have, for generations now, not only been unemployed but are left with no prospect of meaningful employment in the regular (“formal”) economy.

    The “Toxic Combination” of Capitalism and Racism

    Here we see the “toxic combination” of systematic, historically-evolved segregation and discrimination, enforced with brutal violence by the powers-that-be, together with the basic functioning and requirements of the capitalist economy—which involves the greater and greater concentration not just of wealth, but of the means of production (technology, factories and other physical structures, sources of raw materials, and so on) in the possession and under the control of large-scale capitalist enterprises and financial institutions, which are locked in cut-throat competition with each other, not just within a particular country but increasingly on a global scale, and are therefore driven to ruthlessly exploit people and constantly search for ways to even more viciously super-exploit large numbers of desperate people, including children, in a worldwide network of sweatshops. (For example, cell phones and computers depend on the mineral coltan which is mined under horrific conditions by people, including large numbers of children, in the Congo in Africa; and a large part of the clothes that are bought in the U.S. are produced by huge numbers of women working in horrific conditions in the Asian country of Bangladesh.)

    In this situation, and especially with the growth of the international drug trade, and its deep penetration into the U.S., many of those, in particular youth, who found themselves locked out of the “formal economy,” have turned to drug-dealing, as well as other criminal activity—something which has been encouraged by government policy that has actually resulted in the movement of large amounts of drugs into the inner city, even as the authorities seize on this situation to carry out systematic repression against the youth in particular, with such things as “stop and frisk.” The result of all this has been a huge increase in mass incarceration, as well as the continual murder of large numbers of “minority” youth by police.

    At the same time, the way that the U.S. has continued to dominate Mexico, as well as other parts of Latin America, and to distort the economies, corrupt the governments and bring ruin to the social relations among the people in those countries—all this has resulted in large numbers of people being forced to flee those countries and migrate to the U.S., where they are vulnerable to being viciously exploited in factories and farmlands, and other parts of the economy of this country. And large numbers of the younger generations of these immigrants have also formed (or joined existing) gangs and become involved in the drug trade and related crime.

    More recently, however, in at least many of the inner-city neighborhoods, for a number of reasons—including the fact that the “crack epidemic” had taken a terrible toll on people—there has been a decrease in the trade in cocaine and the high profits this brought for the relatively small number of “higher-ups” in the drug trade hierarchy. For a period, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s, given their desolation and desperation, the drug trade was a “major employer” of youth in the inner cities, female as well as male, and a major source of at least a basic income for many (even if the promise of “getting rich” remained an illusion for most). Now, even this source of employment and income—as perverse and harmful as it is—has dried up or greatly diminished for many. This has further added to the miserable situation of massive numbers of inner-city youth in particular who have no future—under this system—no future but prison, an early death or a life of desperate hustling, in one form or another, in the attempt to survive and care for loved ones.

    All this cannot be changed—cannot be transformed and overcome—within the confines of this system. Despite what any politician (“liberal” or outright fascist like Trump) may say, there is no way that this system could “reverse itself,” bring large parts of industry back to the inner city and provide meaningful employment, with “a living wage” for all those it is now depriving of this. Even if the government had the “political will” to try to do this, doing so (with the employment of millions of formerly unemployed or “underemployed” people at a “living wage”) would seriously undermine the competitive positions of American capitalists in the global economy. And, if they attempted to do this while at the same time trying to seriously overcome the whole historically-evolved relations of white supremacy, this would completely disrupt the social “cohesion” that “holds this country together,” with white supremacy a crucial part of this.

    It is one thing for “good-hearted people”—and in particular many white people—to say (and sincerely mean) that it is wrong for the police to just wantonly, cruelly murder people, and to mobilize in protest against this. But imagine what would happen if, under this system and with the way its economy functions, the government tried to adopt policies that would deal with the long-term unemployment of Black people in the inner cities, who have not only been denied jobs but also the training for the jobs that do exist—imagine what the reaction would be of many white people who would in fact lose their better-off positions as a result of these policies. Imagine what would happen if these kinds of policies were applied not just to employment, but to education, and on down the line. (We have already seen the “backlash” that was fostered in response to even minimal efforts to implement “affirmative action” programs in employment and education.)

    Again, this is not simply a matter that “white people are racist.” Many are racist, although many do not want to be. But the deeper problem is that given the basic way the capitalist economy works, and how everyone is encouraged to be “out for yourself”—and, more fundamentally, the fact that people are actually driven and compelled to compete with each other in every significant part of life, including employment and education—it would actually create destructive chaos and conflict among the people, and tear apart the “cohesion” of the society, to try to really and fully undo and overcome the reality and effects of centuries of racist oppression—under this system.

    This most definitely and emphatically is NOT an argument for holding back from struggling against every form of discrimination, inequality and oppression in every part of society. Fighting back against oppression, and wrenching concessions from the powers-that-be, is very important—in enabling masses of people to feel their own strength in standing up and standing together in opposing oppression, and drawing people from all parts of society to join in this struggle—rather than feeling isolated, beaten down and hopeless. And it is important in contributing to the ability of masses of people to gain the understanding and build up the organization necessary for the final all-out struggle to bring down the whole oppressive system. But that is just the point—as important as these mass struggles are, if they are not built toward, and do not finally get to the point of, taking on the whole system, with the aim of bringing it down, and bringing something much better into being, then, as I have emphasized before, even where concessions are won, “so long as this system remains in power, there will be powerful forces who will move to attack and undermine, and seek to reverse, even these partial gains,” and people will remain oppressed and once more weighed down with a feeling of demoralization, as they are once again divided and pitted against each other.2

    The basic and crucial point is that the fight against racial oppression (and all oppression) must not remain confined within the limits of this system, and instead must be carried out and carried forward as part of the overall struggle toward the goal of abolishing this system. The fact that this oppression cannot be abolished under this system is not a reason for giving up in despair—it is a compelling reason why this system must be and can be abolishedand it is the fundamental basis for why people can be won to wage the revolutionary struggle to finally bring it down!

    All this is why there will not be any real and meaningful move by the powers-that-be (and any of its politicians and political parties) to overcome the centuries-long experience and legacy of brutal racist oppression and the situation it has led to today, where millions and millions of Black youth and other youth of color have no prospect of a decent future—under this system.

    As I have pointed out before: “So what does this system do with youth that have no future and no prospects? It contains them.... contains them violently.”3

    And all this is why there is systemic and systematic police terror directed at Black people and other people of color. It is why this is brought down not only on the youth (and others) in the inner cities, but why it can and does lead to harassment, brutality and murder of any Black person, anywhere, even those with more education and status in society. If the system needs the police to “violently contain” the masses of people in the inner cities—and it does—then this is bound to “spill over” and be applied to Black people, and other people of color, more generally. The police have neither the interests, nor the ability, nor the will to make distinctions between “good” ....... (fill in the blank as to what racist terms they use) and “bad” ones. And, beyond that, the “random” nature of the brutality and murder makes it all the more effective in terrorizing people—making everyone, even the “better off,” feel, correctly, that they could be a target of this.

    There IS a Solution: Revolution and a Radically New and Different World

    It is for all these reasons that racist oppression will continue so long as people are living under the domination of this system of capitalism-imperialism. It is not only right but crucially important to rise up and wage a determined fight against this, but it is also crucial to recognize that this racist oppression will never be, can never be, eliminated under this system—and, to finally put an end to it, we need a radically different system.

    We need a radically different economic system—a socialist economic system (mode of production) that is geared to and proceeds by developing and utilizing the means of production collectively, to meet the needs of the masses of people, materially (for employment, food, housing, health care, and so on) as well as their needs intellectually and culturally, and to provide them with the means not only to live a life worthy of human beings, but also to scientifically understand the basis and need, and to more and more consciously take part in, carrying forward the transformation of society to finally and completely eliminate all relations of oppression and exploitation, and to support that struggle throughout the world. And, as one of its highest priorities and goals, this will involve the determined struggle to overcome and finally eliminate racial oppression in every aspect of society.

    The radically different socialist economy (mode of production) will provide the foundation on which the ongoing process of uprooting racial oppression, and all oppression, can be waged on favorable ground, and can finally succeed in overcoming all this. The following from my work Breakthroughs speaks to this key relation and process:

    Ultimately, the mode of production sets the foundation and the limits of change, in terms of how you address any social problem, such as the oppression of women, or the oppression of Black people or Latinos, or the contradiction between mental work and manual work, or the situation with the environment, or the situation of immigrants, and so on. While all those things have reality and dynamics in their own right, and aren’t reducible to the economic system, they all take place within the framework and within the fundamental dynamics of that economic system; and that economic system, that mode of production, sets the foundation and the ultimate limits of change in regard to all those social questions. So, if you want to get rid of all these different forms of oppression, you have to address them in their own right, but you also have to fundamentally change the economic system to give you the ability to be able to carry through those changes in fundamental terms. To put it another way: You have to have an economic system that doesn’t prevent you from making those changes, and instead not only allows but provides a favorable foundation for making those changes.4

    The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America provides a sweeping vision and concrete blueprint for such a radically different economic system, and for government institutions, laws and a legal system, as well as an approach to education, science, art and culture that go along with this mode of production and contribute to its continual development, opening the way to finally eliminating all oppression and exploitation.5 And in Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution (as well as other works of mine) the basic strategy is spelled out for carrying out the revolution that will make it possible to apply this Constitution in working to bring about a world free of all the unnecessary suffering and madness to which the masses of humanity are subjected under the domination of this system of capitalism-imperialism.

    This is why, and this is how, racial oppression, and all the oppression, which is built into this system of capitalism-imperialism, can be ended—but only through a revolution to abolish this system.

    This is why we continue to emphasize this basic truth: we have two choices: either, live with all this—and condemn future generations to the same, or worse, if they have a future at all—or, make revolution!

    This is why we continue to boldly raise the slogan: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS!

     

    1. The text and video of this speech by Bob Avakian (Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution) is available at revcom.us. [back]

    2. The statement quoted in this part of this article is from Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution. [back]

    3. Bob Avakian On Police Brutality And Murder: Consent Decrees Won’t Stop This—We Need A Revolution! This excerpt from a Question and Answer Session with Bob Avakian, after his presentation in 2018 in Chicago of the speech Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, is also available at revcom.us. [back]

    4. This statement is contained in Breakthroughs: The Historic Breakthrough by Marx, and the Further Breakthrough with the New Communism, A Basic Summary, by Bob Avakian, which is available at revcom.us. It originally appeared in the book by Bob Avakian, The New Communism: The science, the strategy, the leadership for an actual revolution, and a radically new society on the road to real emancipation, Insight Press, 2016. Italics in the original. [back]

    5. The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, authored by Bob Avakian, is also available at revcom.us. [back]

    Communism and Jeffersonian Democracy cover

     

    The New Communism

     

    Read THE NEW COMMUNISM

    The science, the strategy, the leadership for an actual revolution, and a radically new society on the road to real emancipation

    by Bob Avakian

    Download PDF of book

  • ARTICLE:

    A Resource Page:

    The Oppression of Black People & the Revolutionary Struggle to End All Oppression

    Updated

    Bob Avakian on The Oppression of Black People & the Revolutionary Struggle to End All Oppression

     

    There is the potential for something of unprecedented beauty to arise out of unspeakable ugliness: Black people playing a crucial role in putting an end, at long last, to this system which has, for so long, not just exploited but dehumanized, terrorized and tormented them in a thousand ways—putting an end to this in the only way it can be done—by fighting to emancipate humanity, to put an end to the long night in which human society has been divided into masters and slaves, and the masses of humanity have been lashed, beaten, raped, slaughtered, shackled and shrouded in ignorance and misery.

    Bob Avakian

    an illustrated excerpt from the film
    THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO!
    In The Name of Humanity,
    We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America
    A Better World 
    IS Possible
    A Talk by Bob Avakian

    Watch the entire film here

    The Oppression of Black People and Other People of Color, by Bob Avakian, an excerpt

    Watch the whole speech here

    What will it take for masses of white people to break from white supremacy? A Q&A with Bob Avakian

    Watch the whole speech here

    WATCHING FRUITVALE STATION WITH BOB AVAKIAN

    This article was originally published in 2014. We believe that it is particularly timely now to either return to this or, for those who have not read it before, to read it for the first time.

    Download printable PDF

    BOB AVAKIAN FOR THE LIBERATION OF BLACK PEOPLE
    AND THE EMANCIPATION OF ALL HUMANITY

    One of the things that comes through most powerfully in Bob Avakian’s memoir is that a profound hatred for the oppression of Black people has been a defining part of Bob Avakian’s life from the time, as a teenager, he learned about the lives of the Black people with whom he developed deep ties of friendship. Never feeling that, because he is white, “it is not his place” to be involved in the struggle against this oppression—but, on the contrary, determined to contribute whatever he could to this struggle—Bob Avakian (BA), from the time he worked closely with the Black Panther Party in its revolutionary days in the 1960s, has made the liberation of Black people a defining part of his life’s commitment and work. As he developed as a revolutionary communist, and emerged as the foremost revolutionary leader and thinker in the world, this commitment has become even deeper and has been strongly interwoven with a dedication to the emancipation of all humanity from every form of oppression and exploitation.

    Read the entire article.

    Historic Pieces from Bob Avakian during the Beautiful Rising in the wake of George Floyd's murder by the police

    The Revolutionary Potential of the Masses and the Responsibility of the Vanguard

    One of the things that I see, something that I haven't lost sight of, is this: I see all the strength of the ruling class, but I also see all the way through all this shit, all the contradictions in society—I actually see a force in this society that, if it were developed into a revolutionary people, actually could have a go at it, could have a real chance of making a revolution, or being the backbone force of a revolution, when the conditions were ripe. I see a force of millions and millions and millions—youth and others—for whom this system is a horror: It isn't going to take some cataclysmic crisis for this system to be fucking over them. The ruling class, ironically, sees them too. It is those who once had but have lost—or those who never had—a revolutionary perspective...it is they who can't see this.

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    The New Communism

     

    From “Part III. The Strategic Approach to An Actual Revolution,” an excerpt from the section: 

    National Liberation and Proletarian Revolution
    Learn more about the book.
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    BAsics from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian   

    There would be no United States as we now know it today without slavery. That is a simple and basic truth.
    Bob Avakian, BAsics 1:1
    The Oppression of Black People & the Revolutionary Struggle to End All Oppression

     

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    Communism and Jeffersonian Democracy

     

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    American Crimes — The Ugly History of This Country

    From the revcom.us series American Crime:

    American-Crimes-logo-350-en.jpg

     

    Read the entire American Crime series

    There would be no United States as we now know it today without slavery. That is a simple and basic truth.

    BAsics 1:1

    ~~~~~

    There is a semi-official narrative about the history and the “greatness” of America, which says that this greatness of America lies in the freedom and ingenuity of its people, and above all in a system that gives encouragement and reward to these qualities. Now, in opposition to this semi-official narrative about the greatness of America, the reality is that—to return to one fundamental aspect of all this—slavery has been an indispensable part of the foundation for the “freedom and prosperity” of the USA. The combination of freedom and prosperity is, as we know, still today, and in some ways today more than ever, proclaimed as the unique quality and the special destiny and mission of the United States and its role in the world. And this stands in stark contradiction to the fact that without slavery, none of this—not even the bourgeois-democratic freedoms, let alone the prosperity—would have been possible, not only in the southern United States but in the North as well, in the country as a whole and in its development and emergence as a world economic and military power.

    BAsics 1:8

    ~~~~~

    Determination decides who makes it out of the ghetto—now there is a tired old cliché, at its worst, on every level. This is like looking at millions of people being put through a meatgrinder and instead of focusing on the fact that the great majority are chewed to pieces, concentrating instead on the few who slip through in one piece and then on top of it all, using this to say that “the meatgrinder works”!

    BAsics 1:11

    ~~~~~

    If you want to talk about who owes whom—if you keep in mind everything the capitalists (as well as the slaveowners) have accumulated through all the labor Black people have carried out in this country and the privileges that have been passed out to people on that basis—there wouldn’t even be a U.S. imperialism as there is today if it weren’t for the exploitation of Black people under this system. Not that the exploitation of Black people is the whole of it—there has been a lot of other people exploited, both in the U.S. and internationally, by this ruling class. But there wouldn’t be a U.S. imperialism in the way there is today if it weren’t for the exploitation of Black people under slavery and then after slavery in the sharecropping system and in the plants and other workplaces in a kind of caste-like oppression in the cities.

    BAsics 1:12

    ~~~~~

    No more generations of our youth, here and all around the world, whose life is over, whose fate has been sealed, who have been condemned to an early death or a life of misery and brutality, whom the system has destined for oppression and oblivion even before they are born. I say no more of that.

    BAsics 1:13

    ~~~~~

    The Black people, the youth, with their pants hanging down around their knees, their hats on backwards, their swagger, much of which I admire, weren’t the ones who picked the jobs up and took them out of the ghetto. The people filling the prisons, the people in the gangs weren’t the ones who took the jobs and moved them away. They were not the ones who, when Black people went chasing jobs, relocated them over the decades, discriminated against them, brought the police out to harass them and made it very difficult for them to get a job and keep a job under those circumstances.

    None of that was done by the masses whom Bill Cosby so cheaply chooses to attack in this way. These were conditions that were caused by the dynamics of capitalist accumulation in its international dimension as well as within the country and by conscious policies of ruling class politicians in line with this.

    BAsics 1:18

    ~~~~~

    The role of the police is not to serve and protect the people. It is to serve and protect the system that rules over the people. To enforce the relations of exploitation and oppression, the conditions of poverty, misery and degradation into which the system has cast people and is determined to keep people in. The law and order the police are about, with all of their brutality and murder, is the law and the order that enforces all this oppression and madness.

    BAsics 1:24

    ~~~~~

    An Appeal to Those the System Has Cast Off

    Here I am speaking not only to prisoners but to those whose life is lived on the desperate edge, whether or not they find some work; to those without work or even homes; to all those the system and its enforcers treat as so much human waste material.

    Raise your sights above the degradation and madness, the muck and demoralization, above the individual battle to survive and to “be somebody” on the terms of the imperialists—of fouler, more monstrous criminals than mythology has ever invented or jails ever held. Become a part of the human saviors of humanity: the gravediggers of this system and the bearers of the future communist society.

    This is not just talk or an attempt to make poetry here: there are great tasks to be fulfilled, great struggles to be carried out, and yes great sacrifices to be made to accomplish all this. But there is a world to save—and to win—and in that process those the system has counted as nothing can count for a great deal. They represent a great reserve force that must become an active force for the proletarian revolution.

    BAsics 3:16

    Editor’s note: Tyisha Miller was a 19-year-old African-American woman shot dead by Riverside, California police in 1998. Miller had been passed out in her car, resulting from a seizure, when police claimed that she suddenly awoke and had a gun; they fired 23 times at her, hitting her at least 12 times, and murdering her. Bob Avakian addressed this.

    If you can’t handle this situation differently than this, then get the fuck out of the way. Not only out of the way of this situation, but get off the earth. Get out of the way of the masses of people. Because, you know, we could have handled this situation any number of ways that would have resulted in a much better outcome. And frankly, if we had state power and we were faced with a similar situation, we would sooner have one of our own people’s police killed than go wantonly murder one of the masses. That’s what you’re supposed to do if you’re actually trying to be a servant of the people. You go there and you put your own life on the line, rather than just wantonly murder one of the people. Fuck all this “serve and protect” bullshit! If they were there to serve and protect, they would have found any way but the way they did it to handle this scene. They could have and would have found a solution that was much better than this. This is the way the proletariat, when it’s been in power has handled—and would again handle—this kind of thing, valuing the lives of the masses of people. As opposed to the bourgeoisie in power, where the role of their police is to terrorize the masses, including wantonly murdering them, murdering them without provocation, without necessity, because exactly the more arbitrary the terror is, the more broadly it affects the masses. And that’s one of the reasons why they like to engage in, and have as one of their main functions to engage in, wanton and arbitrary terror against the masses of people.

    BAsics 2:16

    ~~~~~

    People say: “You mean to tell me that these youth running around selling drugs and killing each other, and caught up in all kinds of other stuff, can be a backbone of this revolutionary state power in the future?” Yes—but not as they are now, and not without struggle. They weren’t always selling drugs and killing each other, and the rest of it—and they don’t have to be into all that in the future. Ask yourself: how does it happen that you go from beautiful children to supposedly “irredeemable monsters” in a few years? It’s because of the system, and what it does to people—not because of “unchanging and unchangeable human nature.”

    BAsics 3:17

    ~~~~~

    Even with very real changes in the situation of Black people, as part of the larger changes in the society (and the world) overall—including a growth of the “middle class” among Black people, an increase in college graduates and people in higher paying and prestigious professions, with a few holding powerful positions within the ruling political structures, even to the extent now of a “Black president”—the situation of Black people, and in particular that of millions and millions who are trapped in the oppressive and highly repressive conditions of the inner city ghettos, remains a very acute and profound contradiction for the American imperialist system as a whole and for its ruling class—something which has the potential to erupt totally out of the framework in which they can contain it.

    BAsics 3:18

    ~~~~~

    There will never be a revolutionary movement in this country that doesn’t fully unleash and give expression to the sometimes openly expressed, sometimes expressed in partial ways, sometimes expressed in wrong ways, but deeply, deeply felt desire to be rid of these long centuries of oppression [of Black people]. There’s never gonna be a revolution in this country, and there never should be, that doesn’t make that one key foundation of what it’s all about.

    BAsics 3:19

    ~~~~~

    Oppressed people who are unable or unwilling to confront reality as it actually is, are condemned to remain enslaved and oppressed.

    BAsics 4:1

    ~~~~~

    During that time and on the way back after the game I was sitting with some Black friends of mine on the football team, and we got into this whole deep conversation about why is there so much racism in this country, why is there so much prejudice and where does it come from, and can it ever change, and how could it change? This was mainly them talking and me listening. And I remember that very, very deeply—I learned a lot more in that one hour than I learned in hours of classroom time, even from some of the better teachers.

    BAsics 4:23

    ~~~~~

    The “Bible Belt” in the U.S. is also the Lynching Belt.

    BAsics 5:5

    ~~~~~

    Do Black people need to take responsibility?
    Responsibility for what?

    Responsibility for REVOLUTION—DEFINITELY! We all need to take responsibility for making revolution—to emancipate all of humanity from this whole system of oppression.

    BAsics 5:21

  • ARTICLE:

    Minstrels for Trump

    Bootlicking rappers Kodak Black, Waka Flocka Flame, Azealia Banks, Lil Pump, Benny the Butcher, Sexyy Red and more are shucking and jiving for Donald Trump. These clowns come dirt cheap. All they needed was a get out of jail free card and some COVID checks from massa. They’re willing to be Trump’s minstrels, while lining the masses of Black people up for his genocidal slaughter. 

    They front like Trump is hard. Bullshit! 

    As the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian (BA) said, “Donald Trump isn’t ‘tough,’ he’s a bloated bag of fascist feces.”

    If you’ve had it with all this enslaving foolishness, this degradation and self-degradation, the leader you need to check out is Bob Avakian (BA). In calling out this “State of Emergency: Chains on People Who Desperately Need to Be Free,” BA says straight up:

    Learn to live in chains—bow down to those enforcing the chains, boast about and sing praises to the chains... or break all the chains.

    That is the choice.

    STATE OF EMERGENCY: CHAINS ON PEOPLE WHO DESPERATELY NEED TO BE FREE — A Message from Bob Avakian

  • ARTICLE:

    IMPORTANT NOTICE:

    Nominations Now Open for Bootlickers Hall of Shame

    banner bootlickers gallery Snyder

     

    You’ve seen the bootlickers. Some of them are teachers, preachers, writers and wannabe politicians scrambling to justify and normalize the everyday murderous exploitation of the system. They get boosted especially in those times when the outrage cries out and masses of people threaten to erupt in struggle. We don't mean the ones who really stand with the people, but the posers who really just want “a place at the table” of this rotten system. Sometimes you can catch these bootlickers online, doing podcasts or guesting on shows or tweeting out their bullshit. Some of them get on MSNBC or CNN. They claim to be “progressive,” or even “radical.” They come in every “race,” nationality, and gender, to bolster their credibility with different sections of the people. And they all have one thing in common:

    They are fronting for the capitalist-imperialists who really control things. They provide the rulers with cover and credibility for whatever foul shit they are up to, giving “progressive” excuses to normalize and cover for their crimes. They do their best to mislead, confuse, stupefy masses of people and otherwise serve the capitalist-imperialist system.

    They need to be called out for what they are: BOOTLICKERS!

    And we’re calling on you to help do it. If you have an example of an egregious, consistent bootlicker, send it in to us at Revolution Reports (revolution.reports@yahoo.com). We’ll put a portrait of that bootlicker, along with examples, and report on whatever crimes they are covering up, on the wall of our online Bootlickers’ Hall of Shame. Send the link or the clip of the bootlicker in question, and give a little report on the crime that they are covering for (or provide links to it), etc. If you want to, you can compose the nomination yourself; but if you don’t want to do all that, just provide us the links and information and we’ll do our best.

  • ARTICLE:

    Rich and Lively Engagement About “‘Woke’ Lunacy vs. Real Revolution” at Two Universities in North Carolina

    A Letter from a Professor 

    I recently hosted, and helped build for, Rafael Kadaris’s “’Woke’ Lunacy vs. Real Revolution” campus tour at two North Carolina universities: UNC Greensboro and North Carolina State. Each talk was attended by about twenty people and followed by a rich and lively question and answer session. 

    Rafael Kadaris at Revolution Books NYC

     

    Rafael Kadaris at Revolution Books, NYC   

    The promotion and preparation for these talks came right in the midst of Israel’s genocidal bombardment of Gaza. This horror has served as a “jolt” which is disrupting the “normal routine” on campuses and society generally and has the potential to awaken large sections of society. At such a moment, this tour is as important and timely as ever. It is “woke” identity politics which has hegemony among the decent people right now. This “wokeness” presents itself as the solution to oppression, while it in fact disarms, demobilizes, and diverts people from a scientific understanding of the cause of this oppression, and the revolution required to end it. 

    So, not only is this tour and campaign—taking on “woke” from the perspective of the new communism—absolutely essential to making revolution in these times, but it is very relevant in terms of how people understand and act on what’s unfolding in Israel and Gaza right now. As Rafael addressed in his talk, the state of Israel is the logical extension of “woke” identity politics: Oppressed people who pit their interests against the interests of all oppressed humanity, and who are willing to collaborate with the powers-that-be for a slice of the pie. Further, why is it that so many “woke” so-called “leftists” refuse to criticize Hamas? Rafael also got into this in his talk: One reason is the ridiculous, harmful notion that you cannot criticize or speak about something if you’re not directly experiencing it. So, with that as backdrop, I want to talk a little bit about the experience of building for, and participating in, this campus tour, share some of my initial summation, and encourage you to bring this tour to your area.

    I want to start by giving a sense of the events themselves. While neither talk was as well-attended as we’d hoped, the people who came were very engaged. During Rafael’s speech, the audiences at both schools were largely rapt and immersed. Students and others asked substantive questions—about the relationship between communism and human nature, about Bob Avakian’s new communism, of whether things such as safe spaces can play a positive role among the oppressed, how it could be possible to make revolution in a society where so many people support capitalism, and much more. While Rafael fielded most of the questions, I helped facilitate the engagement with the audiences, and weighed in on some of them. In response to a group of students’ questions about why the revcoms make such a big deal about Bob Avakian (BA), and the relationship between his leadership and the initiative of his followers, I challenged them to do the work of seriously engaging BA and the breakthroughs of the new communism, and on that basis decide for themselves whether to become a critically thinking follower of BA. After the Q&A ended at both schools, several students stuck around to engage further with Rafael and I, and a number of them expressed interest in watching the BA Interviews together. 

    There is nothing remotely like this “Woke” Lunacy vs. Real Revolution Tour on campuses right now. Virtually no one is taking on “woke” identity politics from the left (besides a few crusty “class reductionist” reformists) and certainly not from the vantage point of total revolution and emancipation. There are many on college campuses who hate aspects of this suffocating cancel culture, and who grumble about how it shuts down critical thinking and intellectual engagement, but there is no one taking it on frontally, excavating its philosophical roots, its noxious methods, and its poisonous effects other than Bob Avakian and the revcoms. This is both because there is a tremendous amount of intimidation and fear of the wokesters; AND because even those who vehemently dislike aspects of it are still trapped within the “deadly dance” between “wokeness” and fascism—what Bob Avakian has called the new two outmodeds—and share much of “woke’s” ideological framework. 

    Bring this tour to a campus in your area! Pass out and post flyers on “Woke” Lunacy vs. Real Revolution, or the 7-point indictment. Go out with a big, provocative display. Talk to professors and students about hosting this event. Raise funds. Stir up some controversy and intrigue. We were able to do this with very limited time, resources, and people. It matters to project this tour, and all the big questions it opens up, onto campuses around the country. There will be no revolution without masses of students and intellectuals whose allegiance to this system has been ruptured, and who become emancipators of humanity. And that will NOT happen without frontally, boldly, and substantively taking on this “woke” identity politics madness! Check out the “’Woke’ v Rev” resource webpage for materials, contact information, and guidance. 

  • ARTICLE:

    “Woke” Lunacy vs. Real Revolution National Tour Hits Houston

    For the seventh stop of the “Woke” Lunacy vs. Real Revolution national campus speaking tour, Rafael Kadaris led a lively evening at the University of Houston on November 8, giving students something they’ve never heard before and fielding their questions with science and passion. Twenty-one students and 30 people altogether attended the talk.

    For days leading up to this event, a team of revcom supporters was out on campus spreading the word and attracting attention from all demographics on this vibrantly diverse campus. Many people took the flyers and stopped to talk, intrigued by our title and shaken up by the genocide in Gaza and the other horrors in the world. This was not, for the most part, a case of people staring into their phones, thinking they’ve heard it all, or being so steeped in woke-ism that they missed the “real revolution” part. Students stopped because they were challenged by the flyer and a large display of the 7 Indictments on “Woke,” and they were curious about who we were and what we were bringing.

    A diverse group of students did come and listen with rapt attention. For 45 minutes they were nodding, taking notes, and showing a willingness—and even an eagerness—to be challenged. Rafael started with a deep provocation on the state of Israel, the genocide in Gaza, the reactionary character of Hamas and the refusal of so much of the “left” to criticize Hamas as a very stark and heartbreaking illustration of the logical extension of “woke” lunacy. He took us on a journey through the dregs of identity politics to the vision of what is possible in a new socialist society. He held up the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, written by Bob Avakian, and asked the audience to imagine a world, with very concrete examples ranging from education to healthcare to the climate, where we could actually go to work on meeting the needs of humanity instead of the needs of profit.

    Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal)

    Authored by Bob Avakian, and adopted by the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, 2010

    Then, for the next hour and a half, students asked questions in a really vigorous and rapid-fire discussion, exactly the kind of energy and ferment we need on a larger scale. The first questions asked for more clarity on what we mean by a real revolution, and why we were pitting the question of pronouns against the global problems—can’t we do both. At the end of that back and forth, the student said that maybe it could be understood as a mismatch of energy—which showed a real wrangling and engagement with the contradiction.

    Someone who identified himself as part of the left asked whether the “woke” lunacy really had that much power. He saw it as more fringe. Rafael talked about the outsized influence this framework has on the decent people—the very people who should be rising up in resistance to injustice and especially the accelerating fascist threat but are instead paralyzed into inaction by this framework.

    There was a cluster of questions about voting: 1) Do we take a stance on voting while waiting for the revolutionary conditions to develop if that can mitigate some of the harm for oppressed communities? 2) What’s the next steps after we have millions of people who agree with the revcoms? Since we’re not going to make revolution in the next few years, do we vote in the meantime? 3) If we know elections aren’t how things are decided and we’re not going to vote anyway, would it be worthwhile to do a protest vote for a third party? 4) What do you think of Bernie Sanders? Each question helped open up the discussion on elections and the nature of this system and its unreformability in different ways. Rafael gave substantial answers to all of them in ways that were very clarifying and challenged people to break out of the terms of this system and see how getting with this revolution, spreading this revolution, can put us in position to really win when things come to a head, potentially very soon. The whole question of how much is up in the air right now and how fast things can change was a key part of answering these questions. In the answers, the uprisings of 2020 against the police murder of George Floyd, and the situation in Egypt in 2010, were offered as examples of how fast things can change, but why rising up alone cannot end the oppression that is fundamentally caused by this system. People need to consider, too, the tremendously positive factor that we do have—the leadership of BA.

    Bob Avakian: Woke is a Joke, a Bad Joke
    From The Bob Avakian Interviews

    One student raised his staunch defense of capitalism, saying that profit is just a measure of the market value of an idea or product and the “entrepreneurs” are risk-takers that should be compensated and rewarded for that. Rafael’s answer began with resetting the terms in a big way: The biggest risk these capitalists are taking is with the future of humanity. Underlying the argument the capitalist-defender was making was that it’s only entrepreneurs, not all of humanity, that has this creative potential. There was a substantive back and forth with some fierce struggle—and another student chimed in saying that this person’s defense of capitalism is the same way people defended slavery.

    In some ways, there was simplicity to how this evening came together. We found out how to get a room, we made flyers, we made a plan to saturate and agitate, and we pushed against objective conditions to get an audience. We have the goods. We have the substance. We have something students are not going to hear anywhere else. So bring this tour to your campus!

    "Woke" Lunacy vs REAL REVOLUTION-headline from leaflet

     

  • ARTICLE:

    “WOKE” IS A DESTRUCTIVE FORCE
    in the political, intellectual, artistic and ethical life of society

    Bizarre and capricious rules enforced by cancel culture threats. Puffed-up unscientific claims to “represent the marginalized.” Insisting that people “stay in their lanes” in fighting oppression. “Woke” lunacy manifests much that is harmful with the capitalist-imperialist system and its dominant culture, furthering the nightmare of humanity!

    “Woke” once meant righteous awareness of racial oppression but has long since morphed into fanatical lunacy and vicious mob mentality. A bloodlust to target and tear into individuals, while cowardly ducking, and often, actively obstructing the real and needed fight against the system, especially its overthrow through an actual revolution!

    Woke Lunacy and the fascist steamroller moving through society are in a deadly dance, mutually opposing, while fueling and feeding off the other. Fascism is by far the greater danger, but in this dynamic, brazen white supremacy and misogyny feast on and defeat the brittle bravado of “woke.”

    At a time of unprecedented change—as the “powers that be” clash and as cohering norms of the U.S. are ripping—there is a much greater chance to bring this whole oppressive edifice down. We have a chance to aim for something radically different; we have a responsibility to fight for something actually liberating. We must seize this chance and rise to this responsibility.

    Out of love for humanity and the planet, out of a profound respect for truth and science, and out of a necessary revolutionary determination for the emancipation of all of humanity, we will defend and debate the following, in the public square and in public discourse:

    ***

    Woke Lunacy: Insisting there is no objective reality; each person “owns” their “truth”

    Woke Lunacy denies an objective reality, while at the same time brutishly dictating which parts of reality people of different “identities” are allowed to discuss or act upon. If objective reality is just a “white European” or “masculinist” construct, try crossing the interstate at rush hour without getting hit by the reality of speeding cars.

    Truth is not a composite of “narratives.” Truth is what corresponds to objective reality. This can be determined through scientific, evidence-based methods. Direct lived experiences can contribute to this process, but science, and the scientific method, is decisive for determining what is true—and acting on that basis to radically change the world.

    2  Woke Lunacy: An obliterating obsession with changing words—and an ugly erasure of women

    Woke Lunacy does not differentiate between malicious, neutral, or benign intent. The ritual humiliations of well-meaning people for using “wrong” words are the petty power plays of schoolyard bullies. Word changing is no substitute for WORLD changing.

    Nowhere is this more destructive than the erasure of women. Increasingly relentless and vicious attacks on trans people must be vigorously fought! But the substitution of dehumanizing non-synonyms like “people with uteruses” and “chest-feeders” for the word “woman,” ostensibly for “trans-inclusivity,” does harm. In the face of the greatest assault on women’s lives in generations—the overturning of the right to abortion—the woke establishment’s refusal to even use the word “woman” muddied the heart of this attack, blunted its danger and demobilized resistance. This strengthens the Christian fascist crusade to cement forced motherhood and traditional gender roles.

    3  Woke Lunacy: “Me, Me, Me”—cocooned in an American Empire that savages the world

    The one privilege wokesters rarely call out is American privilege. Indeed, many want all they can get of that privilege.

    The woke mob tweets their accusations of “privilege” and “colonization” from cell phones brought to them by the blood and tears of children in Congo, mining for the cobalt those phones require. To those whose horizons don’t extend beyond mere “inclusion” and “equality” within the most blood-soaked empire ever known, we dedicate these lyrics from Bob Dylan: “We looted and we plundered on distant shores. Why is my share not equal to yours?”

    4  Woke Lunacy: Hiding from reality with “trigger warnings,” “safe spaces,” and “trauma culture”

    Terrible things happen to people under this system. Exposing this is not “trauma porn.” Everyone needs to learn about and confront the barbaric history of slavery and white supremacy and the continuing reality of racial oppression.

    Acting as if oppressed people are fragile beings who will fall apart at a “triggering” phenomenon is the hallmark of condescending saviors. Trauma from this system is real and harrowing, but needs to, and can, be directed towards fighting the source of oppression and injustice.

    The best things to happen in college are intellectual challenges, debate and critical thinking, learning about the world… standing up for a great cause even at the risk of one’s safety, and radically changing the world with revolutionary joy.

    5  Woke Lunacy: Firestorms of woke-mob “cancel culture” to tear down individuals

    Instead of righteous struggle to expose and transform oppressive institutions, woke culture unleashes cruel witch hunts to destroy the reputations, careers, and lives of people. This is revenge, not justice. Woke Lunacy judges people by a single mistake, or even a mere accusation, rather than by the arc of their lives. Imagine if this criterion were applied to all of you!

    The world of woke invokes the Red Queen of Alice in Wonderland, “Sentence first—verdict afterwards.” Rule of law, presumption of innocence, and evidence out the window. With regard to centuries of horrific sexual assault, what is sorely needed is an atmosphere where women can come forward, be taken seriously, and where there is due process, all as part of getting to a radically different world.

    6  Woke Lunacy: Accusations of “appropriation” to censor artistic expression

    Identity hustlers have turned censoring art into an art form of its own. Cancelling authors, blacklisting fiction, covering murals, censoring art because the creator is of the “wrong” identity—or because it's not “their” story to tell. Woke Lunacy treats the diverse fluorescence of cultures and struggles of our planet as property to be owned and commodified, miserly guarded against “appropriation.If art and fiction were restricted to direct experience alone, would there be any left?

    7  Woke Lunacy: Insisting all follow “BIPOC leadership”—when there is no such thing!

    Who is “BIPOC leadership,” pray tell? AOC? Kamala Harris? Candace Owens? Clarence Thomas? When children in Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan were afraid to look at a clear blue sky because of Obama’s drones raining down bombs and terror, do you think they gave a fuck that he was the first Black president?

    Leaders should be evaluated not based on “identity,” but on whether they are correctly identifying the source of the problem, pointing the pathways to getting humanity free, and bringing forward others who can do the same.

    ***

    In the words of Bob Avakian, revolutionary leader and author of the new communism:

    Instead of “staying in your lane,” and “going for self,” while this system is moving to even more decisively crush any hope for a world worth living in, people need to be looking at the bigger picture, focusing on the greater interests of humanity and the possibility for a far better world—and acting to make this a reality....

    Instead of snarking and sniping at each other, and being divided by “identities,” people should be working to unite everyone, from every part of society, who can be united in the fight against oppression and injustice, with the goal of putting an end to this system that is the source of this oppression and injustice.

     

    Watch: youtube.com/therevcoms
    Read: www.revcom.us
    Follow: @therevcoms

  • ARTICLE:

    SCIENTIFIC COMMUNIST THEORY

    AND THE PROBLEM WITH “MASS LINE”

    Mao’s Contributions to Communist Theory and Human Emancipation Are Truly Profound—
    But the “Mass Line” Is Wrong

    The Chinese revolution, and in particular the revolutionary upsurge of the Cultural Revolution in China (a revolution within socialist society itself!) and the role of Mao Zedong as the leader of that Cultural Revolution, in the 1960s and into the early 1970s, had a major positive impact on masses of people around the world. This included large numbers of oppressed people and educated youth in the U.S. The Red Book of quotations from Mao was in the hands of literally millions of people in countries all over the world, including in the U.S., as well as providing basic revolutionary orientation for the masses of people in China itself.

    (I am speaking of the actual role of Mao and the essential emancipating character of the Cultural Revolution in China, not the crude distortions of this by people speaking out of gross ignorance and those anti-communist political functionaries engaging in deliberate and systematic distortion. A serious, scientific analysis of the necessity, the objectives, and the course of the Cultural Revolution in China—including the contradictions it was seeking to address and the contradictions characterizing the process of this Cultural Revolution—can be found in works of mine, and others, at revcom.us.)

    Mao’s further development of communist theory was expressed in a number of dimensions, most of all in the understanding of the danger and basis for revolution to be reversed and capitalism restored in a socialist country—and the means for combating this, which was given concrete expression in the Cultural Revolution.

    One significant aspect of Mao’s thought (and a chapter in the Red Book) was what Mao referred to as the “mass line.” This was taken up as a significant tool by those of us who, in those times, became not just revolutionary-minded in some general sense but revolutionary communists inspired and influenced above all by the Cultural Revolution in China. Yet, as has become clear in the decades since then, this concept of “mass line” is not correct and actually runs counter to Mao’s overall adherence to, and further development of, communist theory.

    As I have learned in a continually deepening way, communist theory must be taken up and applied as a scientific method and approach to understanding and transforming reality. It must continually develop as the larger world continues to develop and change—and this must involve the ongoing interrogation of communist theory itself, in light of the accumulation of experience and knowledge, not just in the realm of revolutionary practice but in the broader dimensions of human endeavor, including the natural as well as the social sciences, the realm of art and culture, and so on. As part of this process—beginning after the defeat of the Cultural Revolution and the ending of the revolution overall in China, and the restoration of capitalism there after the death of Mao in 1976—I have been engaged in and leading a process of subjecting communist theory to critical scientific interrogation, including my own previous understanding of this theory in its development beginning with Marx (and Engels) and carried forward by Lenin and then Mao. The result has been the development of a new synthesis of communism—popularly referred to as the new communism—which is a continuation of, but also represents a qualitative leap beyond, and in some important ways a break with, communist theory as it had been previously developed. This has involved criticism and ultimately rejection of the “mass line” as a basic method and a means for carrying forward the communist revolution.

    What Is Wrong with the “Mass Line”

    In examining here how the “mass line” does not represent a correct, scientific method and approach to revolutionary strategy and policy, I am going to focus on the concentrated representation of Mao’s thinking about “mass line” in the Red Book of quotations from Mao.

    In the chapter on the “mass line” in the Red Book, there are points of orientation that are definitely correct and important—for example, arguments against standing aloof from and having contempt for the masses of people, and criticism of attempting to carry out lines and policies without involving the masses. But the basic method of the “mass line” is contained in the following from Mao:

    In all the practical work of our Party, all correct leadership is necessarily "from the masses, to the masses." This means: take the ideas of the masses (scattered and unsystematic ideas) and concentrate them (through study turn them into concentrated and systematic ideas), then go to the masses and propagate and explain these ideas until the masses embrace them as their own, hold fast to them and translate them into action, and test the correctness of these ideas in such action. Then once again concentrate ideas from the masses and once again go to the masses so that the ideas are persevered in and carried through. And so on, over and over again in an endless spiral, with the ideas becoming more correct, more vital and richer each time. Such is the Marxist theory of knowledge.

    But, in fact, this is not the Marxist theory of knowledge. This theory of knowledge—as it was developed in the first place by Marx (working together with Engels), and has been further developed since—has drawn from a much wider range of experience and knowledge than “the ideas of the masses.” (And, in different works of Mao, addressing questions other than the “mass line,” he puts forward a more correct presentation of the actual communist theory of knowledge.) And, as I wrote in Breakthroughs: The Historic Breakthrough by Marx, and the Further Breakthrough with the New Communism, A Basic Summary (which is also available at revcom.us and as an e-book): The application of the “mass line” was not actually how Mao proceeded in a basic sense in developing lines, policies, and strategies in carrying forward the revolutionary struggle. That was mainly done by Mao on a scientific basis, and not by drawing from and then concentrating the ideas of the masses and returning that to them. It was done by Mao by analyzing the contradictions that had to be confronted and transformed—to quote Breakthroughs, it was done by “determining which contradictions were essential to concentrate on at a given time.”

    (In a Note below, I have listed some of the major decisions by Mao regarding strategy and policy, during the course of the Chinese revolution—before and after the seizure of nationwide power in 1949—that were arrived at not through the application of the “mass line,” but on the basis of the method and approach that I have summarized in Breakthroughs, as cited here. And I have spoken not only to correct lines and policies that Mao led in adopting and applying, but also some secondary but significant erroneous lines and policies.)

    To emphasize once more this important point, the “mass line”—“take the ideas of the masses (scattered and unsystematic ideas) and concentrate them (through study turn them into concentrated and systematic ideas), then go to the masses and propagate and explain these ideas until the masses embrace them as their own, hold fast to them and translate them into action, and test the correctness of these ideas in such action”—is not the means for arriving at a correct line (strategy, policy, etc.). This, again, is because taking the ideas of the masses as the starting point of lines and policies—and even a process of “concentrating” the ideas of the masses (“through study turn them into concentrated and systematic ideas”)—is too narrow a source of knowledge and too limited a process for arriving at a correct understanding of what needs to be done to advance the revolution and overcome the obstacles to that advance.

    Here, I have to say that for some time I myself tried to render “more profound” what Mao says about the “mass line” by reinterpreting this to mean something like applying the scientific method of communism in a broad sense to concentrate what is correct in the ideas of the masses... there was just no help for it. No matter how you twist and turn it, the fact remains that the ideas of the masses—and even the most “advanced” ideas of the masses—are just too narrow a source, and “concentrating the ideas of the masses” too limited a process, for arriving at correct line and policy.

    Tailing, Instead of Struggling Against, Backward Ideas Among the Masses

    The following statement by Mao concentrates the essential problem with the “mass line:”

    Twenty-four years of experience tell us that the right task, policy and style of work invariably conform with the demands of the masses at a given time and place and invariably strengthen our ties with the masses, and the wrong task, policy and style of work invariably disagree with the demands of the masses at a given time and place and invariably alienate us from the masses.

    This statement—and this does get to the heart of the matter—is wrong, in terms of the theory of knowledge it puts forward and specifically in its basic assertion that “the demands of the masses at a given time and place” are the standard and criterion for whether lines and policies are correct (or not). It is one thing, it is important, to be aware and mindful of the sentiments of the masses (including the fact that those sentiments will not be “uniform” and static: different people among “the masses” will have different sentiments, and the sentiments of masses may significantly change with changing conditions). It is another thing—it is not a correct approach—to make the sentiments (or “demands”) of the masses the basis for communist policy at any given time.

    The reality is that, under this capitalist-imperialist system (or any system of exploitation and oppression), the sentiments and demands of masses are to a very large extent shaped by the operation of this system—its economic system of exploitation, its social relations of oppression, and the political institutions and dominant culture that constantly and massively rationalize and reinforce this exploitation and oppression. (Even in socialist society, it will be the case that among the masses there will be ideas which still reflect, to varying degrees, the influence of exploitative and oppressive relations, which it is not possible to entirely eliminate within socialist society, and which will continue to characterize much of the world during what will be a protracted process of advancing to communism throughout the world.)

    It is not hard to see how “taking the ideas of the masses” as the starting point for communist strategy, policy, etc.—and operating according to the standard that “the right task, policy and style of work invariably conform with the demands of the masses at a given time and place”—can easily lead to tailing very wrong ideas and “demands” that masses of people may have at any given time. More than a few communists have fallen precisely into this kind of tailing by applying the “mass line.” In opposition to that, one reason why it is important to be aware and mindful of the sentiments of the masses is that this is necessary in order to effectively struggle against sentiments and demands of (at least many of) the masses, in different situations—rather than simply seeking to “concentrate” the ideas of the masses at any given point. And here it is important to emphasize that it is possible to determine, and act in accordance with, what are the real objective interests of the masses of people—in particular situations and overall in fundamental terms—not by tailing the masses, but by making a scientific analysis, and applying that scientific analysis.

    Resolving a Critical Contradiction—Between the Erroneous Concept of “Mass Line” and the Actual Basis for Advancing Communist Revolution

    It is fortunate that applying the “mass line” is not how Mao actually developed the decisive lines—strategy, policy, etc.—in leading the Chinese revolution to victory in 1949 and then carrying forward the revolution, in the conditions of the new socialist society, reaching its highest peak in the Cultural Revolution, before this was reversed after Mao’s death in 1976. As emphasized above, in citing Breakthroughs, this was done by Mao by analyzing the contradictions that had to be confronted and transformed—by “determining which contradictions were essential to concentrate on at a given time.”

    Yet, there is a critical contradiction here, between the actual method and approach Mao applied in developing line and policy, and what he puts forward in the “mass line” as the basis for doing this. This contradiction needs to be resolved—and can only be positively resolved—by adopting and systematically applying a scientific method and approach to understanding and transforming reality, in the development and application of a communist line (including strategy and policy at any given time), in opposition to the incorrect method and approach of “mass line.”

    And this transformation of reality will include, as a very significant aspect, waging ideological struggle to transform wrong ways of thinking among masses of people, winning them to a revolutionary outlook and objectives, based on the scientific approach to reality which, in the main, has characterized communism from its beginning, and which has been further developed, in a more consistently scientific way, with the new communism.

    *****

    An Important Note

    As alluded to above, the following are (some of the) major decisions—correct and important decisions—regarding strategy, policy, etc., that were adopted by Mao, in the course of the Chinese revolution, not through the application of the “mass line,” but by analyzing the contradictions that had to be confronted and transformed—by “determining which contradictions were essential to concentrate on at a given time.”

    * Initiating the revolutionary armed struggle in the late 1920s against the ruling forces concentrated in the Kuomintang government, headed by Chiang Kai-shek (and backed by the major “western” imperialists).

    * In the mid-1930s, in the context of the invasion and occupation of China by Japanese imperialism, the shift from fighting against the Kuomintang to the United Front with the Kuomintang against Japan.

    * The decision to negotiate with the Kuomintang at the end of WW 2, in 1945... and the resumption of people’s war—now directed against the Kuomintang—after the breakdown of those negotiations.

    * The decision to enter the Korean War in 1950, after the invading imperialist forces, led by the U.S., were occupying parts of North Korea and advancing toward the Chinese border with North Korea (and the commander of those imperialist forces, MacArthur, was threatening to directly attack China).

    * The initiation and the course of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and early 1970s.

    Once again, none of these—and other major decisions, involving the adoption (and changing) of strategy and policies—were based on the mass line, but on an analysis, and ranking, of contradictions.

    At the same time, it is necessary to recognize that, although in the main and overwhelmingly through the course of the Chinese revolution—both before and after the achievement of nationwide victory in 1949—the lines and policies adopted with Mao’s leadership were correct and led to crucial advances for the revolution, a sharp example where that was not the case is the policy adopted by China in the early 1970s which could be characterized as an “opening to the West.” This involved not simply the establishment of relations with the U.S., in order to make use of contradictions between the U.S. and its main rival at that time, the Soviet Union. In reality the Chinese approach to international relations and developments, in this period, flowed from an incorrect analysis that the Soviet Union was then the main enemy of the people of the world. There was a definite tendency to evaluate and approach things internationally in terms of how they contributed, or not, to opposing the Soviet Union’s goals and moves in the international arena. (Since the 1950s, the Soviet Union had no longer been a socialist country but had become a capitalist-imperialist power, even as it continued, for some time, to present itself as socialist. Mao and the Chinese Communist Party he led very correctly and importantly analyzed that the Soviet Union had become “social imperialist”—socialist in name but imperialist in fact—but it was not correct, and did real damage, to single out the Soviet Union as the main enemy of the people of the world, and to act—and encourage others to act—in line with this ill-founded analysis.)

    One of the most harmful dimensions of this was the support given by China to terribly oppressive governments in the Third World, such as the regime of torture headed by the Shah of Iran and the Marcos regime in the Philippines (a country where, ironically, Maoist revolutionaries were then waging an armed struggle against that very regime).

    These serious errors were a reflection and expression both of real necessity—not least the actual threat of a major attack on China by the Soviet Union—but also of nationalist tendencies on Mao’s part (tendencies to evaluate things principally in terms of their effect on China) which were posed, secondarily but significantly, against Mao’s overall communist/internationalist orientation.

    In my Memoir (From Ike to Mao and Beyond), I recount a situation where, in the course of a visit to China in 1974, I (together with another person who was part of that visit) raised criticism and waged struggle with representatives of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party over these very wrong and harmful policies. And, beginning with Conquer the World and Advancing the World Revolutionary Movement: Questions of Strategic Orientation in the 1980s, I have made a critical analysis of this wrong policy. (Conquer The World? The International Proletariat Must and Will and Advancing the World Revolutionary Movement: Questions of Strategic Orientation are both available at revcom.us in BA’s Collected Works.)

    At the same time, this necessary, scientifically-based criticism has been made in the context of the equally scientifically-based analysis that even while this very wrong policy was being carried out and did real harm, in the first part of the 1970s, Mao and those following his leadership in the Chinese Communist Party did continue to support various revolutionary struggles in different parts of the world during that time, while also giving leadership to the Cultural Revolution within China itself—which, as I have spoken to here, was not only an unprecedented revolutionary movement of masses of people in China itself but was a profound inspiration to literally hundreds of millions of oppressed and revolutionary-minded people throughout the world.

    Once more, despite these significant errors, in the main and overwhelmingly, through the course of the Chinese revolution—both before and after the achievement of nationwide victory in 1949—the lines and policies adopted with Mao’s leadership were correct and led to crucial advances for the revolution in China while making crucial contributions to this revolution in the world as a whole. As emphasized at the beginning, as an overall assessment it is true that Mao’s contributions to communist theory and human emancipation are truly profound.

  • ARTICLE:

    ANTI-SCIENTIFIC “ANTI-AUTHORITARIANISM”

    Serving American Imperialism and Promoting American Chauvinism

    In a previous article I examined how the misleading concept of “authoritarianism,” like the closely related “theory” of “totalitarianism,” is an anti-scientific “theory” which serves American imperialist interests and promotes American chauvinism (the sickening belief in the superiority of Americans and “the American way of life”).* As analyzed in that previous article, this “theory” of “authoritarianism” has been wielded on behalf of U.S. imperialism in its contention with its imperialist rival China, and in the service of U.S. rivalry with Russian imperialism as focused now in the war in Ukraine. Here, I am going to speak further to the actual meaning and purpose of the “theory” of “authoritarianism.”

    First, there is the fact that the concept of “authoritarianism,” in itself

    has no particular ideological, political or social content, and in fact serves to cover over or obscure actual social, political and ideological content.... speaking of “authoritarianism,” without reference to the actual ideology and political and social content of the “authoritarians,” allows for the pretense that “extremists” of the “right” and the “left” are essentially the same.*

    The “theory” of “authoritarianism” divorces the exercise of political power from the fundamental nature of the society in question, and in particular the foundation of that society in its economic system (the mode of production) and the corresponding social relations (for example, racial, sex and gender relations). With this wrong-headed approach, ignoring (or covering over) the fundamental nature of the society, it is impossible to come to any real understanding of how that society actually operates, how and by whom it is ruled, why that is the way things are, and what could be done to change this in a positive way.

    “Authoritarianism” and Bourgeois (Capitalist) Dictatorship

    What the “theoreticians” of “authoritarianism” mean by this term is that there is a small group (or sometimes they imply that it is just one person, for example Putin in Russia) that dictates to everybody else in society. But to the degree that the concept of “authoritarianism” could be understood to have any real meaning, it is essentially this: a restricted group of representatives of the ruling class exercises state power while excluding other representatives of this ruling class from effective participation in the exercise of that state power.

    The word “state” here (in the formulation “state power”) does not refer to the kind of geographical and political units that exist in the United States (such as the states of California, New York, Texas and Florida). It refers to the key institutions of government that represent the concentrated power of the ruling class, and in particular its monopoly of “legitimate” armed force and violence. “Legitimate” armed force and violence means armed force and violence that is exercised by official institutions, like the police and the military—institutions to which the Constitution and the laws give the right to utilize armed force and commit violent acts in the interests of the existing system and as authorized and ordered by the political representatives of this system, such as the president (or other officials, at various levels of government, with the ability to legally authorize the use of violence). In this country, where the existing and dominating system is capitalism-imperialism, the political representatives and the governing institutions—especially the institutions of state power—are instruments of this system of capitalism-imperialism; and, in the international arena, they represent and seek to enforce the interests of the capitalist-imperialist ruling class of this country.

    State power exercised in an “authoritarian” way is a particular form of the dictatorship of the ruling class. Understanding this is crucial in order to see what is really the essence of the difference between the “democratic” form of bourgeois dictatorship that has generally existed in this country and, on the other hand, the fascist bourgeois dictatorship that the Republican Party is now actively seeking to bring about, with itself as the decisive force in this fascist bourgeois dictatorship, and its rivals in the ruling class (in the Democratic Party) excluded from effective participation in this dictatorship. As also analyzed in the earlier article on “authoritarianism” to which I have referred here, this fascism involves “a very definite content: hatred and violent suppression of Black people and other people of color, immigrants, women and LGBT people, unrestrained plunder of the environment, grotesque American chauvinism, crude anti-intellectualism and anti-scientific lunacy.”

    To be very clear, the oppression of Black and other people of color, immigrants, women and LGBT people, and plunder of the environment, as well as wars of aggression and crimes against humanity: All this is built into and required by this system of capitalism-imperialism. All of its representatives are American chauvinists. All of them will ignore, or crudely distort, science and scientifically grounded truths in pursuing and enforcing the interests of the capitalist-imperialist ruling class of this country. The difference is that the “bourgeois-democratic” functionaries of this system (as represented by the Democratic Party) recognize the need for certain limited concessions to the struggle against these different forms of oppression, a certain language of “inclusion,” and a certain adherence to rational thinking—up to a point—while the fanatical passion and goal of the fascists is forcefully imposing a situation where there is no such pretense of “inclusion” and there is undisguised and unrestrained enforcement of all this oppression and madness.

    To get a fuller understanding of all this, the following from the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America is very important:

    Regardless of differences, even very great and qualitative differences, in their political structures, institutions and guiding principles, all states have a definite social content and class character: they are an expression of the prevailing social relations, and most fundamentally the economic relations (relations of production), which have a decisive and ultimately determining role in regard to how the particular society functions and is organized. The state serves to protect and expand those relations and to enforce the interests of the social group—the ruling class—which holds the dominant position in society, as a result of its role in the economy, and in particular its ownership and control of the major means of production (including land, raw materials and other resources, technology and physical structures such as factories, and so on). In capitalist society, it is the capitalist class which holds this dominant position: the government structures and processes—and above all the organs of the state as an instrument of class rule and suppression (the armed forces, police, courts and prisons, the executive power, and the bureaucracies)—are controlled by this capitalist class as a means of exercising its rule over society and its repression of forces whose interests are in significant opposition to, and/or which resist, its rule. In short, all states are an instrument of dictatorship—of a monopoly of political power, concentrated as a monopoly of “legitimate” armed force and violence—exercised by, and in the interests of, one class or another. Any democracy which is practiced in this situation is democracy on the terms of, and fundamentally serving the interests of, the ruling class and its exercise of dictatorship.**

    With regard to the exercise of state power—dictatorship—by the bourgeois (capitalist) ruling class, the criticism of “authoritarianism” by “bourgeois democrats” actually amounts to this argument:

    Bourgeois dictatorship is better exercised by having political structures and processes that allow for participation of representatives of the capitalist class broadly in the exercise of this dictatorship (in the U.S., Democratic Party as well as Republican Party representatives of the ruling class), rather than restricting the effective exercise of this dictatorship to a smaller group within the ruling class. And the argument:

    This bourgeois dictatorship is also better exercised through maintaining “bourgeois democracy”—democracy on the terms of, and restricted within the confines of, rule by the capitalist class—where people are allowed to vote, so long as the choices for which they can vote are strictly limited to those representing the interests of the capitalist ruling class, and where people are allowed certain other rights, so long as the exercise of those rights does not threaten the interests of this ruling class.

    Socialist State Power—Radically Different and Emancipating

    The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America makes clear that, in fundamental opposition to the dictatorship of the capitalist class, socialist state power, the dictatorship of the proletariat,

    in its essential character and its basic principles, structures, institutions and political processes ... must give expression to and serve the fundamental interests of the proletariat, a class whose exploitation is the engine of the accumulation of capitalist wealth and the functioning of capitalist society and whose emancipation from its exploited condition can only be brought about through the communist revolution, with its goal of abolishing all relations of exploitation and oppression and achieving the emancipation of humanity as a whole.**

    At the same time, through the work I have done over decades summing up the previous experience of the communist movement and socialist society in the Soviet Union and China (before capitalism was restored in the Soviet Union in the mid-1950s and in China after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976), and by learning from a broad range of human experience, a new communism has been brought forward, which is a continuation of, but also represents a qualitative leap beyond, and in some important ways a break with, communist theory as it had been previously developed. As applied to socialist society, this involves an emphasis on the importance of dissent, intellectual and artistic ferment, and protection of the rights of the people, particularly against government abuse, within the framework of, and as an important part of, the exercise of the dictatorship of the proletariat. This is an application of the principle and method of “solid core, with a lot of elasticity”—which, as set forth in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, means that

    on the one hand, there must be a continually expanding force in society, with the revolutionary communist party as its leading element, which is firmly convinced of the need to advance to communism and deeply committed to carrying forward this struggle, through all the difficulties and obstacles; and, on the basis of and at the same time as continually strengthening this “solid core,” there must be provision and scope for a wide diversity of thinking and activity, among people throughout society, “going off in many different directions,” grappling and experimenting with many diverse ideas and programs and fields of endeavor—and once again all this must be “embraced” by the vanguard party and the “solid core” in an overall sense and enabled to contribute, through many divergent paths, to the advance along a broad road toward the goal of communism.**

    This principle and method of “solid core, with a lot of elasticity” is applied throughout the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, with regard to all the governing institutions and important spheres of society including education, science, culture, and the media. The following statement of mine, about the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, is profoundly true and crucially important:

    It is a fact that, nowhere else, in any actual or proposed founding or guiding document of any government, is there anything like not only the protection but the provision for dissent and intellectual and cultural ferment that is embodied in this Constitution, while this has, as its solid core, a grounding in the socialist transformation of the economy, with the goal of abolishing all exploitation, and the corresponding transformation of the social relations and political institutions, to uproot all oppression, and the promotion, through the educational system and in society as a whole, of an approach that will “enable people to pursue the truth wherever it leads, with a spirit of critical thinking and scientific curiosity, and in this way to continually learn about the world and be better able to contribute to changing it in accordance with the fundamental interests of humanity.”***

    Of course, with regard to the exercise of political power by the representatives of this radically different system of socialism—that is, the exercise of socialist state power, the dictatorship of the proletariat—bourgeois “theoreticians” of all stripes are opposed to that revolutionary state power in any form, for the basic reason that this socialist state power empowers and gives institutionalized backing to the masses of people to uproot the relations of exploitation and oppression on which the capitalist system rests.

    This socialist state power aims for the emancipation of humanity as a whole, in every part of the world, from all relations of exploitation and oppression, with the achievement of communism throughout the world—whereupon the need and basis for any part of humanity to exploit, oppress and exercise dictatorship over any other part, will have been eliminated and abolished, and a world community of freely associating human beings will replace the profound divisions, with their horrific consequences, that now characterize the world, under the domination of the system of capitalism-imperialism.

    ****

    A Final Point: The U.S. Imperialists Are World-Class Hypocrites, and Big Time Backers of “Authoritarianism” When It Serves Their Interests

    In the original article exposing the anti-scientific nature of the “theory” of “authoritarianism,” and its use in the service of U.S. imperialism, I made the point that “the U.S. is today, and has historically been, allied with many ‘authoritarian’ governments throughout the world (and, in fact, has forcibly installed such governments in many countries).”*

    The following is a list of some of the countries where, just since World War 2, the U.S. has indeed been allied with—and in many cases has installed, through invasions, bloody coups, etc.—governments that are “authoritarian” (that would have to be considered “authoritarian,” according to the “logic” of the “theorists” of “authoritarianism”):

    • Chile
    • Brazil
    • Haiti
    • Cuba (before the 1959 revolution)
    • El Salvador
    • Nicaragua
    • Guatemala
    • Honduras
    • Panama
    • The Dominican Republic
    • Greece
    • Poland
    • Indonesia
    • The Philippines
    • South Korea
    • South Vietnam
    • China (before the victory of the revolution in 1949)
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Turkey
    • Israel

    Again, this is only a partial list of the “authoritarian” governments backed—and often installed through invasions, bloody coups, etc.—by the U.S. imperialists, just since World War 2.

    World-class hypocrites, world-ravaging oppressors.

     

    NOTES

    * The article by Bob Avakian, “Shameless American Chauvinism: ‘Anti-Authoritarianism’ as a ‘Cover’ for Supporting U.S. Imperialism, with an ADDED NOTE by Bob Avakian, Spring 2023, is available at www.revcom.us. In the article “Bob Avakian on Impeachment, Crimes Against Humanity, Liberals and Lies, Provocative and Profound Truths” (also available at www.revcom.us), Bob Avakian speaks to the “theory” of “totalitarianism” and how it, too, promotes, anti-scientific thinking particularly in the service of U.S. imperialism.

    ** The quotes from the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America are from the Preamble of this Constitution. This Constitution, written by Bob Avakian, is also available at www.revcom.us.

    *** This statement by Bob Avakian, on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, originally appeared in NEW YEAR’S STATEMENT BY BOB AVAKIAN, A New Year, The Urgent Need For A Radically New World—For The Emancipation Of All Humanity, January 2021, which is also available at www.revcom.us.

  • ARTICLE:

    Reality and Distortions of Reality—Objective Truth and Subjective Influences

    Updated

    EDITORS' NOTE: The theory of evolution—how and why very primitive one-celled organisms gave rise to the wondrous variety of life we have today and, as part of that, how we humans came into being—is one of the greatest and most important achievements of human knowledge. It is a joy to understand and an extremely important part of knowing—and changing—the world. Ardea Skybreak’s The Science of Evolution and The Myth of Creationism: Knowing What’s Real and Why It Matters goes deeply into this in a way that is both very accessible and captures the awe that comes from understanding how life came to be. 

    In addition, there is no better introduction to the scientific method—a method that enables people to get to the truth. This method can and must be applied to all natural processes and spheres of activity, including human society, to grasp how things came into being and how they can change. At a time when the scientific method is under attack from all sides—from Christian-fascist lunatics to woke post-modernists, not to mention liberal relativists—this book is more important than ever.

    Reality and Distortions of Reality—Objective Truth and Subjective Influences

    From The Science of Evolution and The Myth of Creationism Knowing What's Real and Why It Matters (pp. 216-18)

    The philosopher Robert Pennock, who has written a very useful and interesting book showing what’s wrong with the Intelligent Design and other creationist arguments from both a scientific and philosophical/methodological perspective (The Tower of Babel: The Evidence Against the New Creationism) makes the point that the “Intelligent Design” Creationists (IDCs), in their attack against “scientific naturalism,” fall into classic “postmodernist” deconstructionist misinterpretations of the work of Thomas Kuhn. Thomas Kuhn was an influential philosopher and historian of science who argued, starting in the 1960s, that the way scientists choose what conceptual and theoretical framework (what “paradigm”) they should apply in framing their scientific questions and in seeking to resolve scientific puzzles is necessarily heavily influenced by subjective factors, including prevailing social norms and conventions. Unfortunately, some people misinterpreted that to mean that therefore there is no objective scientific truth at all, that all truth is necessarily subjective and therefore that any one scientist’s theory is pretty much as good as any other’s.

    As Pennock points out, Kuhn himself didn’t agree with that and tried to point out that this is not at all what he meant to say, and that scientific truths themselves are objective (not subjective), and truth itself is not relative—he clarified that he simply meant that scientists are necessarily influenced by subjective factors, even in the choosing of what kind of conceptual framework and method they use to try to get at the objective truth of things. Nevertheless, despite Kuhn’s protestations, it is, according to Pennock, that initial misinterpretation of Kuhn’s views which seemed to spread widely throughout academic circles, where it went on to influence the development of “deconstructionism” in literary circles. Deconstructionism refers to a method of reading and discussing texts that emphasizes the multiplicity of possible readings and interpretations of any given text and the subjective influences which any reader (as well as any author) can bring into any text. For the deconstructionist there can therefore be many possible “truthful” interpretations of any one text or work of art (“your truth” can be different from “my truth” in deconstructionist approaches).

    The so-called “post-modernist” deconstructionists took this even further, basically arguing that there is no such thing as “objective” truth, because the fact that each person brings their own subjective interpretations to things makes it impossible to ever know anything other than through this distorted subjective lens. As Pennock points out, the post-modernist deconstructionists argue that when people think something is true “it is only because one or another particular group—because of their position, prestige or power—has been able to establish and enforce their own view.” In such a view all truth is relative, and “power relations” determine what we call truth at any given time. (For more on this see Pennock’s Tower of Babel: The Evidence Against the New Creationism.)

    By contrast, the method of dialectical and historical materialism (which is the viewpoint and method upheld and applied by communists) agrees that subjective influences (including social values and conventions and class-influenced outlooks and methods, especially when concentrated in the hands of people wielding power) can and do distort perceptions of the actual truth of things and that it is important to recognize and identify these subjective distortions; but that doesn’t mean that all truth is relative or that it is not possible to discover the actual objective truth about the way things really are in nature and society. The notion that all truth is relative is a recipe for idealist paralysis that just gives up on trying to deeply understand how reality really is (independently of people’s notions of it) and how people might consciously attempt to affect that reality.

    To get at the objective truth of things, what is required is the application of a consciously and consistently scientific method which repeatedly grapples with objective reality and tests and transforms it to see whether or not it conforms to predictions we make about how it actually is at any given point, and in what ways it may be changing and developing. Yes we do all bring our subjective influences and outlooks to the task; but the actual truth of things (in actual objective reality) is there, whether we interact with it or not, and regardless of any of our subjective opinions and preconceived notions. In contrast to subjective idealism or other forms of philosophical idealism (which includes beliefs in a supernatural realm existing above and beyond the sphere of actual material reality), it is science—a scientific outlook and method—which we must apply if we want to find out the actual truth of things. 

    Unfortunately, as Pennock explains, postmodernist relativism tends to view science itself as just another “narrative and interpretive activity” (much like the writing of literary texts or other artistic pursuits) and these relativists conclude from this that scientific truths “are not objective but are constructed by power relations and prejudices.” Here again, two things are being confused, or “jumbled together”: the reality that human beings bring subjective outlooks and interpretations to everything they do, including in science, and that we should try to consciously sort these out; and, on the other hand, the basic fact that objective reality does exist independently of human beings and that by becoming more fully conscious of what constitutes a genuine scientific method and aware of methodological errors to avoid, human beings can actually zero in more and more closely (even if never perfectly) on the actual truth of things. How could we ever make concrete scientific advances and transform reality in line with our intended objectives (as in the development of antibiotics, to use just one example) if objective reality didn’t really exist and if human beings were totally powerless to determine with a fair degree of confidence the objective truth corresponding to that actual reality?

    The more traditional “scientific Creationists” try to argue as if they believe it’s OK to use the usual methods of scientific investigation because when you do that you can come up with “evidence” that evolution didn’t happen, so therefore the story of a Creator god told in Genesis must be right. In reality, they don’t apply a genuinely scientific method, nor do they have any legitimate scientific evidence that could possibly support their viewpoint (they mainly make up absurd claims based on nothing, such as the idea that the order of the fossils in different rock layers represents the order in which different animals drowned during the Biblical Flood!). They mainly try to make people take their word for it that evolution isn’t a solidly supported theory in the hopes that people will allow them to propose their religious alternative in the science classrooms. But they’d still like people to believe that their creationist views are compatible with modern scientific methods.

    But a number of the Intelligent Design Creationists are actually even more fundamentally anti-science than some of their Biblical literalist brethren, even though this may not always be immediately obvious. However if you study what they say and write, you will see that some of them at least (especially Phillip Johnson and his followers) actually want to overthrow the whole way science is usually done! They want scientific knowledge to somehow be attained “through” religion, and therefore they want scientific methods to reflect this goal by incorporating the idea of God right into the pursuit of science—the replacement of the methods of standard “naturalistic science” with “theistic science” (science driven by God) is the openly stated goal of at least their preeminent ideologue, Phillip Johnson. And they want access to the science classrooms of high schools and even universities in order to accomplish this stupendous “paradigm shift.”

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    The philosopher Robert Pennock makes a convincing case for the notion that this new breed of Creationists have been very much influenced by postmodernist relativism.*

    Phillip Johnson himself is a law professor who identifies himself as a “postmodernist deconstructionist” and denies that natural science can get to the actual objective truth of anything. He sees the theory of evolution as just one subjectively interpreted story, which happened to become dominant since Darwin’s time simply because the scientific community managed to politically suppress the teaching of alternative theories such as the theory of divine design. He calls on people to free themselves from the supposed tyranny of naturalistic science and its materialist rules of evidence. He argues that we can’t get at the truth of things through “naturalistic” science—that this can only be done in the end through knowing God. “Truth” in his view does exist, but it is only the truth of divine revelation!

    It is important to realize that this is what the Intelligent Design Creationists want to smuggle into the science classrooms, to be given “equal weight” with the theory of evolution, a scientific theory which, unlike “Intelligent Design,” has been repeatedly tested and verified (over and over and over again!) through concrete scientific observations and experiments. It is completely unconscionable to allow the obviously religious theory of “Intelligent Design” (which has never produced even a single legitimate scientific research article in a single legitimate peer-reviewed scientific journal) to be taught to our children as science. Today, the proponents of “Intelligent Design” (supported by people in positions of highest authority, right up to the president) have succeeded in confusing many people into thinking that the theory of evolution is on shaky ground and is controversial in the scientific community (when nothing could be further from the truth!); they have successfully lobbied to get some textbooks rewritten to reflect their crackpot theory; they have rammed their program through some school boards; they have launched lawsuits to try to undermine the separation of church and state; and, increasingly, they are succeeding in getting the mainstream media to grant them legitimacy and treat their theory as if it were serious science. But none of this changes the simple fact that “Intelligent Design” is not and has never been science. It is religion. And any political successes its proponents may achieve in connection with the advance of a reactionary social agenda cannot change the fact that Intelligent Design does not have a shred of scientific credibility.

     _____________________

    * The article “Marxism and the Enlightenment,” by RCP Chairman Bob Avakian, also contains a very interesting and relevant discussion of this and related questions. [This article appeared in the Revolutionary Worker #1029 (December 2, 2001), and is posted at revcom.us; and it has been included in the book Observations on Art and Culture, Science and Philosophy by Bob Avakian (Insight Press, 2005)] [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    “DON’T WORRY ABOUT A NUCLEAR WAR—

    IF THERE IS ONE, RUSSIA WILL LOSE!”

    The Dangerous Demagoguery of Timothy Snyder

    On Behalf of U.S. Imperialism and Its Proxy War in Ukraine

    by Bob Avakian

    Recently, the New York Times (Sunday, May 14, 2023) published an article by Timothy Snyder, a professor of history at Yale University. Snyder did not directly say “Don’t Worry About a Nuclear War—If There Is One, Russia Will Lose!”—but he might as well have said that. The actual title of his article is “Putin Is Fighting, and Losing, His Last War,” and this article is a shameless apology for U.S. imperialism, overall and specifically in its proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.

    Snyder’s arguments, reeking of American supremacist arrogance, are despicable, and they are dangerous—not simply downplaying the possibility of nuclear war but concluding the article with the claim that the threat of nuclear war must be ended with Russia’s swift defeat (or, in the words of Snyder’s final sentence: “When Russians talk about nuclear war, the safest response is to ensure their very conventional defeat”).

    Snyder makes the specious (seemingly logical but deceptive) argument that since nuclear powers, including the Soviet Union as well as the U.S., have lost wars without resorting to the use of nuclear weapons, there is no significant danger now of nuclear war arising out of the conflict in Ukraine. Besides the fact that nuclear war could erupt out of accident or miscalculation by either or both sides in the Ukraine conflict, this argument of Snyder’s ignores, or glosses over, other particular dangers of this situation.

    The U.S. is very heavily involved in the war in Ukraine—massively arming Ukraine, increasingly providing training, as well as intelligence and planning, for the Ukrainian forces, and using Ukrainian troops as cannon fodder in this war. The U.S. has openly declared that its objective in this war is a defeat for Russia, reducing Russia’s power, status and influence in the world, and preventing Russia from posing a significant challenge to the “international order” in which U.S. imperialism is the dominant power. (Another objective of the U.S., and in particular the Biden administration, is to solidify and strengthen NATO as a powerful military force of “western” imperialism, headed by the U.S.—and to repair the damage that was done to this NATO alliance by Trump during his presidency.) The U.S. actions in Ukraine also seem to have the aim of “sending a message to China,” which the U.S. imperialists, in both ruling class parties, regard as the most serious challenger to U.S. world dominance. Delivering a defeat to Russia in Ukraine could, the U.S. imperialists hope, issue a warning to China about the danger of confronting U.S./NATO military power and could undermine an alliance between China and a significantly weakened Russia. Such are the calculations—the “gangster logic”— of imperialist oppressors.

    More Ridiculous—and Reckless—Argument from Snyder

    Listen to this “logic” from Snyder:

    If Russia detonated a [nuclear] weapon, it would lose that jealously guarded treasure of superpower status.

    Really—that is all (or the most essential thing) that would happen if Russia used nuclear weapons?! Here Snyder is truly blinded by his American supremacist arrogance—and he seems set on obscuring reality for the rest of us. The actual reality, in contrast to the dangerous delusions Snyder is spreading, is that the use of nuclear weapons by Russia in the context of the war in Ukraine—even “tactical” nuclear weapons—would lead to a massively destructive response by the U.S./NATO. And even if that U.S./NATO response itself were non-nuclear, it would very likely provoke a further escalation by Russia. This dynamic could very easily lead to strategic nuclear war between the two sides, with the prospect of wiping out human civilization as we know it.

    Here is more demagogic and dangerous “logic” from Snyder:

    By taking nuclear blackmail seriously, we have actually increased the overall chances of nuclear war. If nuclear blackmail enables a Russian victory, the consequences will be incalculably awful. If any country with nuclear weapons can do whatever it likes, then law means nothing, no international order is possible, and catastrophe beckons at every turn.

    This from a craven apologist of U.S. imperialism, which has established and enforced an “international order,” with itself as the dominant imperialist power, through repeated invasions, coups, and other violent interference in countries all over the world, at the cost of millions of lives and massive destruction. The U.S. imperialists by far hold the record for violent aggression against other countries and peoples. And, as instruments of this continuing violent aggression, the U.S. maintains hundreds of military bases in countries all around the world and a military budget greater than Russia and China combined.

    As for nuclear blackmail, that is what the U.S. has, for decades, done to the rest of the world, with its ongoing threat of using nuclear weapons, whether that threat is openly stated or not—a threat that is all more ominous because, let us not forget, the U.S. is the only country ever to have used nuclear weapons, dropping atomic bombs on two Japanese cities at the end of World War 2, incinerating hundreds of thousands of civilians, and causing horrific suffering and slow, agonizing deaths for many who, at least for a time, survived the initial blast. The U.S. imperialists have never acknowledged that it was wrong to carry out these atomic bomb attacks—and, of course, they have not renounced the use of nuclear weapons, and they continue to “upgrade” their massive “nuclear arsenal.”

    (Exposure and analysis of many of the egregious crimes of the U.S. ruling class, around the world, as well as within the U.S. itself, are contained in the “American Crime” series, and other works, at revcom.us.)

    Of course, one of the scenarios that Snyder posits is possible—that Putin would pull back from Ukraine while declaring “victory” because Russia faced (and faced down) the U.S./NATO in Ukraine, fighting them to a standstill. But there is certainly no guarantee of things going that way! And what if Putin is serious about the orientation that a nuclear power does not lose wars, especially if that loss poses a serious threat to its existence, or its status in the world? This must be viewed in the context where the U.S. has declared and is determined that Russia must suffer defeat in this war—a major war in a country (Ukraine) right on the border with Russia. (This analogy has been made before, and it definitely helps to sharpen things up: What would the U.S. rulers do if they invaded Mexico, then Russia massively intervened on the side of Mexico, with the result that this became a major showdown between these two world powers, each possessing thousands of nuclear weapons, and Russia declared its determination to deliver a defeat to the U.S. in this war?)

    The Way Out of This Madness

    It is true that, so long as there are nuclear armed imperialist (and other reactionary) states, the people of the world will be subject to nuclear blackmail. That underscores once again the profound, and acute, importance of my statement that the people of the world can no longer afford to allow these imperialists to dominate the world and determine the destiny of humanity—they need to be overthrown as quickly as possible. (This statement is part of interviews that were done with me last fall on the YouTube RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show.)

    As I have also emphasized, those who hunger for a more just world need to oppose all imperialist wars, and all oppressive actions and relations carried out and enforced by ruling classes everywhere. And more specifically, those living in one imperialist country or another need to be, first and above all, opposing their own imperialist ruling class—that is the only morally and politically justified position. This means that people in Russia need to be primarily concerned with opposing Russian imperialism and its unjust role in the war in Ukraine. In this imperialist country (the “good ole USA”) it is our responsibility not to be craven apologists for “our own” imperialist ruling class but, in opposition to that, firm and determined opponents of these imperialists and their monstrous crimes, while also opposing other imperialist and oppressive forces. This is not only a matter of fundamental principle, in a general sense—it takes on even greater importance given that U.S. imperialism has, for decades, been the dominant oppressive power in the world, wreaking havoc on people all over the world (as well as the environment).

    In this process of fighting for a more just world—and most essentially in carrying forward the work of revolution toward the ultimate goal of a world without imperialist (and other reactionary and oppressive) forces and relations—it will be necessary to expose and refute the shameful (or shameless) and highly dangerous demagoguery of their defenders and apologists, like Timothy Snyder.

  • ARTICLE:

    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)

    Recently, the article of mine “Ukraine: World War 3 Is the Real Danger, Not a Repeat of World War 2” was sent to a number of former members of SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), which developed into a major radical movement during the 1960s that strongly opposed the U.S. imperialist war in Vietnam. In response, several people raised arguments in opposition to my article—arguments which reflect the thinking today of all too many people in this country with “liberal,” “progressive” and “social democratic” views.1 While some of this involved petty “snark,” there were also points of substance made, which (unlike the “snark”) do deserve a serious response. Here I am going to speak to some of the more relevant and substantive points that were raised.

    Let’s begin with the following disagreement with my article:

    Here's my reaction: let's stipulate that the U.S. has a shameful history of imperialist wars and shouldn't have dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan. Also there is a reasonable case to be made that NATO should not have welcomed into membership former Soviet-controlled Republics. However, it's also true that NATO membership is exactly what large majorities in those countries wanted. As for Yemen, I'm not sufficiently informed to have an opinion on whether the U.S. role there is equivalent to the Russian role in Ukraine. I'll look into it, but I'll be surprised if it is.

    Here's the main thing: the inevitable result of the U.S. policy you advocate in the current conflict would leave the Ukrainians to the tender mercies of Putin. Is that what you want?

    In what is an all too typical line of argument, from those who do not care to defend America’s “shameful history of imperialist wars” (and the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan at the end of World War 2), this “shameful history of imperialist wars” is acknowledged—and then effectively ignored, or discounted. This amounts to saying: “All that shameful history has nothing to do with what is going on now, and all we need to do is look at the terrible things that Putin/the Russians are doing in Ukraine.” In answer to this, it is necessary to point out that this “shameful history” is not just “history”—it has everything to do with what the U.S. is doing now with regard to Ukraine (and more generally). Most importantly, this “shameful history” has to do with the very nature of the system that rules in the U.S., the system of capitalism-imperialism, and with the dominant position of U.S. imperialism in the world, and its necessity and determination to retain, and fortify, that dominant position.

    In another article, drawing from the insight of a friend of mine from back in the day, I referred to the imperialists, on both sides of this conflict in Ukraine, as “legit gangsters”—gangsters who are fighting not just over “turf” in a city but over domination in the world as a whole—and, very significantly, gangsters with massive arsenals of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons that could wipe out human civilization.2 If this analogy is valid—and it is—then it is relevant to ask: Would we regard as legitimate an argument by someone who was a part of one Mafia “family” (or criminal cartel) saying, “Yes, we have done very bad things, but what counts now is what another bunch of gangsters is doing over there, and how we are helping the victims of their murderous criminal activity”? Would we take the position that the criminal nature of the organization to which this person belongs has suddenly become irrelevant to what is going on—or even that, in this case, this organization had somehow ceased to be criminal, or to be acting in a criminal manner? Or, would we—very correctly—recognize that the declarations and actions of this criminal organization were a continuation of its whole criminal history, and flowed out of its whole criminal nature?

    I will come back to that point.

    Next, there is another argument that “giveth with left hand” and “taketh away with the right”—the argument that maybe it was bad for the U.S.-led imperialist military organization NATO to expand into countries that were very close to, or even bordered on, Russia—but “it’s also true that NATO membership is exactly what large majorities in those countries wanted.”

    This line of argument is a very dangerous one—and it involves a standard and criterion that I doubt justice-minded people would actually like to consistently apply and make into some kind of general principle. For example, it is almost certainly true that, up until the 1960s (at least), a majority of people in this country wanted to have segregation and discrimination against Black people continued. Or, to return to an historical example already cited, it is a terrible reality that a majority of people in this country supported the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan when that happened (and far too many still uphold this, as does the government of this country, which has refused to acknowledge that it was wrong). Many other examples could be cited, but the point should be clear that this kind of “populist” argument can lead to upholding, or at least rationalizing, all kinds of terrible things. (This also relates to arguments that, in the name of “realism,” end up supporting this capitalist-imperialist system, and in particular the Democratic Party, which, as a representative of this system, has perpetrated some of its most horrendous crimes, including the atomic bomb attacks on Japan. This, too, is something I will return to later. But here let’s get back to the arguments cited above.)

    The statement is made: “As for Yemen, I’m not sufficiently informed to have an opinion on whether the U.S. role there is equivalent to the Russian role in Ukraine. I'll look into it, but I’ll be surprised if it is.”

    Well, objectively, there is no doubt that the U.S. role in Yemen is not simply “equivalent” to the Russian role in Ukraine, but the devastation and suffering it has caused is even far worse. First of all, not as a personal attack but as a commentary on the dismal state of things among “progressive” people in this country who like to think of themselves as caring about and relatively informed about significant world events, it is striking that so many actually do not know about what has been going on, for years now, in Yemen, and the U.S. role in this. If you seriously “look into” this (and do not simply rely on the same U.S. media that are now waging a massive propaganda offensive to justify U.S. actions in Ukraine) you will find that the war waged by Saudi Arabia in Yemen—which has been supported and provided with heavy military and other aid by the U.S., since the time of the Obama/Biden administration—has caused almost unbelievable suffering for the people of Yemen, in particular children, who have died in massive numbers as a result of conditions created by this war, including a terrible cholera epidemic. (In addition to other sources, significant analysis of the war in Yemen, the horrendous suffering of the people there, and the responsibility of the U.S. in all this, can be found at revcom.us.)

    And then we get to this argument: “Here's the main thing: the inevitable result of the U.S. policy you advocate in the current conflict would leave the Ukrainians to the tender mercies of Putin. Is that what you want?”

    No, what I want (and what I have called for in the article in question, and others as well) is for the masses of people, on “both sides” of this conflict—and in the world as a whole—to act in their own interests, as opposed to those of the imperialists on both sides of this conflict. As I strongly argued in another recent article:

    All this emphasizes why it 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.3

    A War for National Independence, or a “Proxy War” Between Imperialists?

    At the heart of this is the question of the actual nature of the war in Ukraine now, and the application, yes, of science to this question, as opposed to muddled thinking strongly influenced by American chauvinism and its distortion of history. This is concentrated in the following argument:

    Putin may not be Hitler, but what he’s doing in Ukraine does bring back memories. FDR was right to save Europe from the Nazis, and I’d say Biden is right to do what he can, short of WWIII, to save Ukraine from the Russians. Proxy wars vs. wars of national liberation? Why is Ukraine a proxy for NATO imperialists any more than the NLF and the North Vietnamese were a proxy for Russian and Chinese imperialists? History forces messy choices on us, As I see it, the Ukrainians are fighting for their country as fervently as the NLF fought for theirs. Finally, Bob, I'd like to know what there is in the lived history of revolutionary communism that's worth striving for now.

    This is truly a “treasure house” of wrong-headed thinking, strongly influenced precisely by anti-scientific, anti-historical American chauvinism (with a pungent dose of rancid anti-communism). To answer this fully is beyond the scope of what is possible here, but the substance of what is argued here does demand a response. First, in my article with which this argument is disagreeing, I spoke to important reasons why comparing Putin and his actions now to what Hitler did leading into World War 2 is wrong, and involves a significant distortion and ignorance (or deliberate ignore-ance) of crucial differences between the situation then and now. I won’t repeat all that here, although one point is definitely worth emphasizing again: both the U.S. and Russia possess thousands of nuclear weapons—weapons which did not exist in the period leading into (and for almost all of) World War 2. But I cannot let pass the statement that “FDR was right to save Europe from the Nazis.” Here is another striking “blind spot” created by the glare of American chauvinism.

    If we are going to put things in the rather crude terms of this argument, it was not FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the U.S. president for most of World War 2) who “saved Europe from the Nazis”—it was much more that old bête noire of anti-communists everywhere, Joseph Stalin. The reality is that it was the Soviet Union, led at that time by Stalin, which broke the back of the NAZI war machine and effectively created a turning point in the war that led to the final defeat of the German NAZIs and their Japanese (and Italian) allies. This is a matter of historical fact (and it was alluded to, for example, by the British leader during the war, Winston Churchill, who acknowledged that the decisive fighting against the NAZIs took place on the eastern front, where the great majority of the NAZI forces were concentrated, against Soviet forces, during the crucial part of the war in Europe).

    The NAZI attack on the then-socialist Soviet Union, and the Soviet resistance and repulsion of the NAZI invasion, cost the lives of somewhere between 20 and 30 million people in the Soviet Union, along with massive destruction in the Soviet Union itself. Although I have my criticisms of how this war was conducted by the Soviet leadership—including, significantly, that it was waged essentially on a nationalist (and even Great Russian chauvinist) basis, rather than a revolutionary basis—if we take the standard that, mistakenly, attributes to FDR the “saving of Europe from the Nazis,” then the actual defeat of the NAZIs should certainly count among the things that should be celebrated in “the lived history of revolutionary communism,” in this case the Soviet Union. (In fact, there is much in this “lived history” that is “worth striving for now,” even as, with the new communism I have developed, this is, as it needs to be, critically analyzed with a consistently scientific method and approach, identifying in this way both its principal, definitely positive, aspect as well as its secondary but real, and at times even grievous, negative side. I will speak further to this point a little later here.)

    This leads me to an argument made by another critic of my article:

    Without engaging in polemic with Chairman Avakian, god forbid—given that he’s the greatest theorist of communism since Mao Tse Tung and I’m just a humble social democrat not remotely confident in my socio-political analysis as “science”—my take is he entirely sidesteps any agency on the part of Ukrainians. That’s deeply problematic.

    Moving beyond the “snark” at the beginning of this statement, there is actually something very important from Mao that has definite bearing on the questions in contention here, in particular the decisive question of what is the actual nature now of the war in Ukraine.

    In the course of leading the Chinese revolution over several decades, Mao made significant contributions to, yes, scientific communist theory, in particular his discussion of contradiction, in society and life generally. More specifically, Mao’s approach to understanding the relation between the main (or principal) aspect of a contradiction, in opposition to the secondary aspect, is very relevant here. The principal aspect of a contradiction, Mao pointed out, determines the essence, or the basic character, of that contradiction at any given point. However, he also emphasized that, since all of life is constantly in motion—and any particular thing (or contradiction) is constantly interacting with other things—the principal aspect of a contradiction can change, and what was secondary can become principal, and vice versa. (To illustrate this with a simple example from everyday life, if it is cloudy and raining heavily while the sun is just beginning to “peek through” the clouds, at that point the condition of cloudiness and rain is principal, while the sun’s appearance is secondary; but, if things change in such a way that the sun fully emerges and the rain is reduced to a mere drizzle, then it is the case that the sunshine has become the principal aspect, and it is quite possible that the rain will stop altogether.)

    This basic understanding has definite, and very important, application to the war in Ukraine—and particularly in answer to this argument (cited earlier):

    Proxy wars vs. wars of national liberation? Why is Ukraine a proxy for NATO imperialists any more than the NLF and the North Vietnamese were a proxy for Russian and Chinese imperialists? History forces messy choices on us, As I see it, the Ukrainians are fighting for their country as fervently as the NLF fought for theirs.

    The answer is that it could be argued that, at the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the principal aspect, on the side opposed to Russia, was the resistance of Ukraine to the Russian invasion (in that sense, a war for national independence on the part of Ukraine), while the role of the U.S./NATO, in supplying arms to Ukraine and waging economic war against Russia through sanctions, was at that point secondary. Even from very early on in this war, however, Volodymyr Zelensky, the head of the Ukrainian government, repeatedly and insistently called for the direct involvement of the U.S. and its NATO “allies” in this war—through the imposition by the U.S./NATO of a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine—that would qualitatively, and quickly, change the war into one whose character was overwhelmingly a conflict between rival imperialists (the U.S./NATO vs. Russia). And, as the war has gone on, even without such a “no-fly zone,” the essential character of the war has changed into one between imperialists. This is mainly because the actions and aims of the U.S. imperialists (and their NATO “allies”) have significantly escalated, particularly with their increasingly massive arming of Ukraine, while also providing intelligence to the Ukrainian forces, and so on—all with the now openly declared goal of weakening Russia and its ability to challenge U.S. dominance. As a result, the principal aspect has become warfare between imperialists, with the U.S./NATO so far waging war “by proxy” with Russia but at the same time the very real and growing danger that this could become a direct war between these opposing imperialists, with all the terrible consequences, even a very real existential threat to humanity, that this could involve.

    By contrast, the war in Vietnam, on the side opposed to imperialism, was from the beginning, and remained throughout, principally (and in its essential character) a war of national liberation: a country (Vietnam) fighting to free itself, first from the French imperialists who had colonized Vietnam, and then from the U.S. imperialists, who went from heavily backing the French to becoming directly and massively involved in attempting to subjugate Vietnam and its people—a war which cost the lives of 2 million Vietnamese civilians and was marked by American atrocities on a scale way beyond what Russia has done in Ukraine.

    As for the claim that it is wrong to see the Ukrainians now as mere “pawns” in this present war between imperialists, it is unfortunately the case that this is what they have essentially become. Or, as Raymond Lotta has very sharply put it—in an interview in episode 99 of the YouTube RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Showthe Ukrainians have now become “cannon fodder” for U.S. imperialist aims in the war in Ukraine (which, again, threatens to become a much wider and far more destructive war). This is one very important reason why everyone who really cares about the Ukrainian people, as well as humanity as a whole, should be actively demanding that this war, and the actions of the imperialists on both sides in this war, be stopped, before the destruction and terrible suffering it involves become far greater.

    In terms of the essential character of a war, what is decisive is not how “fervently” the people involved in that war (on one side or the other) are fighting. (To cite an extreme example to drive home the point, it could be said that, at least for much of World War 2, the soldiers of the NAZI army were fighting very “fervently.”) Even if we were to allow that “the Ukrainians are fighting for their country as fervently as the NLF fought for theirs,” that does not necessarily mean that this is the defining character of the war that the Ukrainians are now involved in. Rather, it is a matter of what is the actual, objective character of the war, as determined by its principal aspect—and that principal aspect can change, and has changed in the concrete reality of the war in Ukraine, into principally a war between imperialists.

    Once again, in the case of Vietnam, the aid supplied to the Vietnamese war of liberation, by China and the Soviet Union, was a secondary factor. And, very importantly, at that time China was most decidedly not an imperialist country but in fact a revolutionary socialist country, and its self-sacrificing aid to Vietnam was in the service of supporting the Vietnamese struggle for national liberation, as part of promoting revolution against imperialism throughout the world. (Capitalism was only restored in China in 1976, beginning with a coup d’état by “capitalist roaders” in China shortly after Mao died. This is analyzed in depth in works of mine, and other important material, which can be accessed at revcom.us.) And, while the Vietnamese Party itself was already sharply contradictory during the period of the war there—with a kind of eclectic combination of communism and revolutionary nationalism—there is no comparison, and it is obscene to make any comparison, between the revolutionary character of that Party at that time and what is represented now by the ruling class of Ukraine, which actually includes an element of extreme right, actually fascist forces, and in any case constitutes a thoroughly uninspiring bourgeoisie (even if its resistance against the Russian imperialists could be supported—so long as that resistance, and not the involvement of U.S./NATO imperialism, essentially defined the opposition to the Russian invasion—which is now no longer the case).

    Before ending this discussion of the difference between the present war in Ukraine and the war in Vietnam during the 1960s and 1970s, and how this relates to the essential nature of the war in Ukraine now, and the responsibility of people in this country toward that war, it is necessary to underline that there is the reality—and the very important difference—that the imperialist war in Vietnam was being waged by the U.S. ruling class, while the invasion of Ukraine has been carried out by one of the main rivals of this U.S. ruling class. For people in Russia, their responsibility is to mainly oppose their own ruling class in this war; while, for people in the U.S. (and “aligned” NATO countries) the responsibility is the reverse: to make a point of opposing the aims and actions of “their own” imperialists in this war, while also opposing Russian aggression. Or, as I have put it previously:

    Of course, this act of imperialist aggression by Russia deserves to be condemned. But especially for people residing in this country—which, again, by far holds the record for such acts of aggression—it is a matter of basic principle and profound importance not to be echoing the positions and serving the aims of “our” imperialists, and instead to be making very clear our opposition to the aims and actions of these (U.S.) imperialists, who are using opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, not as a way of promoting “peace,” or “the right of nations to self-determination,” but as means of furthering U.S. imperialist interests, in opposition to the rival Russian imperialists. So, in keeping with this crucial principle, any opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, particularly by people in this imperialist country, should be accompanied by a clear and definite stand of also opposing the role of the U.S. in the world, including the wars it continually wages, and other ways it violently interferes in other countries.4

    Here it is also necessary to respond to the assertion, by one of the critics of my article, that it contains only minimal mention of Putin’s actions against the Ukrainian people (“Putin’s actions against them goes almost entirely unmentioned except with a bit of throat clearing”). Assuming this is not a deliberate mis-reading of my article, it is yet another example of being blinded by American chauvinism, however conscious or unconscious. In this article (and in a number of others) my opposition to Russian aggression is very clear—and my emphasis on the point that the suffering of the people in Yemen is even far worse than that suffered by the people in Ukraine is not a way of denying the terrible suffering to which the people in Ukraine are being subjected in this war, but of emphasizing the utter hypocrisy on the part of the U.S. imperialists (and those who echo them) in portraying Russian atrocities in Ukraine as some kind of “unprecedented” war crimes, when these U.S. imperialists themselves are guilty of being responsible for even far worse atrocities, as evidenced in Yemen. And it is true that I put a great deal of emphasis on opposing the way the U.S. imperialist ruling class is seizing on Russian aggression in Ukraine, and the suffering of the people there, to further its own imperialist aims—which is exactly what someone should do in a situation like this: put emphasis on opposing the imperialist aims and actions of “their own” imperialist ruling class. Also, the article of mine that is being criticized for supposedly being “soft” on what Russia is doing in Ukraine contains a section, “Actual Aims of Putin/Russian Imperialism,” which examines those aims in some detail, precisely with the understanding and characterization of them as the aims and actions of Russian imperialism (and it hardly needs saying that I regard imperialism as a very negative, not somehow a “positive,” or “neutral,” phenomenon!).

    Finally on the subject of the war in Ukraine, and just to clarify a point around which there could be confusion (or deliberate distortion): In the article in question, I did not say that there is no basis for believing that Putin might invade other countries. Rather I said—and this is a very crucial distinction—that there is no evidence to back up the claim that Putin intends to invade, or attack, other NATO countries (something which, as I emphasized in that article, would “trigger” an immediate military response by the U.S.). This was part of an analysis that both sides in this conflict—that is, both Russian imperialism and the U.S./NATO imperialist bloc—are attempting to achieve their objectives without getting into direct military confrontation with their imperialist adversary. But, as I also pointed to, there is the very dangerous reality that the dynamics of this war could actually lead to a direct military confrontation between Russia and the U.S./NATO:

    Regardless of intentions, however, as has been shown over and over again, events—especially the dynamics of war itself, once entered into—can “overtake intentions” and lead to circumstances and consequences that neither side wanted or anticipated at the start. In the current situation, with the war in Ukraine, there is a very real danger that such a dynamic could “take over” and lead to truly terrible consequences—the very real possibility of war between the U.S./NATO and Russia, with the use of nuclear weapons which could pose a very real threat to human civilization as a whole.5

    The Actual, Principally Very Positive “Lived Reality” of Revolutionary Communism

    Since this question was sharply posed, in one of the responses to my article, it is necessary to respond directly to this: “Finally, Bob, I’d like to know what there is in the lived history of revolutionary communism that’s worth striving for now.”

    Of course, as I indicated at the start, it is not possible here to go into this at the length and in the depth that is necessary to answer all the lies, slanders and distortions that have been, and continue to be, spewed forth by the propaganda instruments of this capitalist-imperialist system and its intellectual accomplices—and which have been uncritically swallowed down, and often regurgitated, by far too many people who should know better (and perhaps once did). With that in mind, while touching on just some of the outstanding achievements of the “lived reality of revolutionary communism” (and while noting the importance of a scientific assessment of not only its principally positive experience but also its actual shortcomings and mistakes, some of them quite serious and in some cases even grievous) I will refer anyone genuinely seeking a further, serious and substantive answer to this question to the website revcom.us, and in particular the special issue that can be found there: You Don't Know What You Think You “Know” About... The Communist Revolution and the REAL Path to Emancipation: Its History and Our Future, Interview with Raymond Lotta.

    But, briefly, with regard to the Soviet Union (the world’s first socialist state, brought into being through the Russian Revolution of 1917), during its first period, up until the early 1930s, there were tremendous liberating transformations, freeing masses of people from remaining elements of feudal oppression and imposed ignorance and superstition, particularly in the vast countryside, while at the same time moving to end capitalist exploitation centered in the cities. An outstanding example of this was the emancipation of women from brutal and suffocating patriarchal oppression, in ways that were unprecedented at that time. And all this was accompanied by a flowering of creativity and revolutionary content in the realm of art and culture.

    It is true that, even during this period, from the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917 to the early 1930s, mistakes were made, even some serious errors—which is hardly surprising given that this was the first attempt at socialist transformation of society, in the context of bitter opposition from remaining reactionary forces within the Soviet Union itself and antagonistic encirclement by powerful imperialist countries. And, particularly after the early 1930s, many of the earlier inspiring transformations and expressions of revolutionary enthusiasm, in many different spheres of Soviet society, were undermined, or even reversed, and a certain suffocating atmosphere, politically and culturally, began to take hold to a significant degree. A major turning point in relation to all this was the triumph of fascism in Germany in the early 1930s, with the crushing of the Communist Party in that country, which had constituted the most powerful direct opposition to the NAZIs and was the first target of massive, concentrated repression and murder by the NAZI regime. It was particularly in the face of the threat of outright invasion by the German NAZI regime, and in the preparation and maneuvering by the Soviet government to deal with this increasing threat throughout the second half of the 1930s, that serious errors and violations of communist principle were made by Stalin and the Soviet leadership, including a campaign of severe repression against people perceived and denounced as enemies, many of whom were not actual enemies. And then came the NAZI invasion in 1941, with the terrible destruction and massive loss of lives in the Soviet Union (with the number of Soviet civilians and soldiers dying in that war approximately 50 times that of U.S. deaths).

    In the aftermath of that war, socialism in the Soviet Union was, in effect, hanging by a thread—a thread that was cut by Nikita Khrushchev and other leaders of the Soviet Union in the mid-1950s, setting the Soviet Union on the course of restoring capitalism.

    As should be obvious even from what I have only been able to touch on here, this is a very complex history (and, again, for a fuller discussion of this, I refer people to the special issue I have mentioned), but there is no doubt that an honest, scientific evaluation of this experience in the Soviet Union, when it was socialist, leads to the conclusion that, even with serious mistakes that were made—and even as it is necessary, and possible, to do even better in communist revolution, going forward—there was definitely much that was positive in the “lived experience” of this first socialist state that is “worth striving for now.”

    And that is all the more true—and true in a far greater dimension—with the experience of socialist China, during its all-too-short existence, from 1949 to 1976. It is striking that this question, of what there is “worth striving for now” in the “lived experience” of revolutionary communism, would be raised by someone (a veteran of SDS) who lived through the period of tremendous revolutionary upsurge in the world, during the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s, in which the revolutionary experience in China was the most outstanding and inspiring example. Have you, who raised this “question,” forgotten (or did you somehow fail to notice at the time) the tremendously liberating transformations that were carried out, in just a few decades, in socialist China, reaching its high point in the Cultural Revolution there?

    Are you not aware of the way that the Chinese revolution, and the socialist transformations it brought about, freed hundreds of millions of Chinese peasants from unspeakably bitter feudal exploitation and deprivation, including situations where families were forced to sell their own children, especially girls, in a desperate attempt to survive?

    Did you not become aware of how terrible diseases, and massive opium addiction, were ended, through campaigns that involved masses of people in consciously struggling to overcome these scourges in a way that would contribute to the revolutionary transformation of society as a whole?

    Did you somehow miss, or ignore, the fact that these liberating transformations particularly freed women from centuries, even millennia, of terrible oppression, including the degradation of prostitution, which was eliminated as a significant social phenomenon in socialist China (but which has reappeared as a major social phenomenon since capitalism has been restored in China)?

    Did you not learn that life expectancy was doubled in China during the socialist period (from an average of 32 years to 65) and that the infant mortality rate in the major city of Shanghai was lower then than it was in New York City?

    Have you forgotten (or did you somehow miss) the revolutionary culture that was brought forward through the Cultural Revolution in China, including the revolutionary ballets in which women, for the first time in history, played a leading role in productions of high artistic value and inspiring revolutionary content?

    Have you forgotten (or did you somehow miss) the radical transformations in the economy of socialist China, particularly through the Cultural Revolution, where remaining aspects of capitalist management and exploitation were abolished, and replaced with the new forms of emancipating socialist relations—as concentrated in the slogan and approach “grasp revolution, promote production,” which directed the development of a planned socialist economy, geared to meeting the needs of the masses of people, and supporting the world revolution, instead of being based on alienating labor, under cruelly exploited conditions, in the service of the relentless profit drive of competing capitalists?

    Did you somehow miss the fact that the Cultural Revolution in China involved the greatest flowering of truly mass democracy in human history? This literally involved hundreds of millions of people, with huge numbers of youth especially, but others as well, producing “big character posters” and other forms of mass expression that criticized officials and policies of the government that were promoting capitalist exploitation and oppressive social relations. This was a process of mass debate and ideological struggle over questions regarding revolutionary transformation, in China and in the world overall. And the revolutionary leadership, headed by Mao, gave backing to this mass outpouring. Yes, this involved some excesses. When has there ever been a truly massive revolutionary upsurge that did not contain some excesses? But these excesses have been greatly exaggerated (and other “excesses” invented) by the mouthpieces of the imperialists and others who hated and opposed this revolutionary upsurge. And the fact is that Mao criticized and provided concrete guidance to oppose these excesses and to direct the struggle toward its main objectives: to carry out further revolutionary transformations in the economy, the political structures, the social relations and the ideology and culture, and to defeat moves, by people in positions of authority, to restore capitalism.

    Apparently you are aware of the aid that China gave to the Vietnamese people in their war of liberation against U.S. imperialism—although you slander this as an act of imperialism, instead of an inspiring, self-sacrificing act of revolutionary internationalism.

    I could go on further—but the point should be clear.

    Yes, once again, mistakes were made, and there were shortcomings in the orientation and method, as well as the practical actions, of the leadership; but there is no question that an objective, scientific analysis leads to the conclusion that this “lived experience” was definitely, and overwhelmingly, very positive, historically so. And the point is that, in approaching this with a scientific orientation and method, it has been possible to draw crucial lessons from this overwhelmingly positive experience, but also its negative aspect, and this has resulted in a new synthesis of communism (popularly referred to as the new communism) which enables the struggle for the emancipation of humanity to proceed on an even stronger foundation and to have the basis to do even better in striving for the goal of communism in order to bring about that emancipation.

    The Politics of the “Possible” IS the Politics of Monstrosity

    Finally, it is important to respond to the following, from one of the disagreements provoked by my article:

    Truth be told I hate the fucking Democratic Party but it’s the only usable electoral formation that exists in the US for serious national politics from my pragmatic social democratic perspective. And while certainly not my sole organizing focus, electoral politics in the existing terrain is critical, especially for those most vulnerable and not engaged in intellectual debates over theories. Anything from the left more grandiose and disconnected from actually existing contests for power among broad, complicated coalitions suggests a primacy of doctrinal religious faith that I react to with the same indifference I have to Jehovah’s Witnesses.

    The only part of this statement that can be united with, by anyone seriously seeking a more just society and world, is the sentiment expressed at the beginning: “Truth be told I hate the fucking Democratic Party.”

    As has also been amply demonstrated in extensive material at revcom.us, the Democratic Party—as one of the two ruling parties of the U.S. capitalist imperialists—is, and always has been, an instrument of repeated, massive and monstrous war crimes and crimes against humanity, right down to today. Especially for someone who declares that they actually hate the Democratic Party—and in this case it can only be assumed that this has to do with its role in enacting and enforcing injustices of many kinds—to then insist that the Democratic Party is, somehow, the only practical vehicle for supposed positive change, requires deliberately ignoring the actual role of the Democratic Party and the terrible crimes of which it has been repeatedly guilty. More fundamentally, it is to lower one’s sights and narrow one’s vision to the truly horrific terms of this system, and to insist that political activity remain within the confines of this system—all in the name of “realism.” This is a perfect illustration of my statement that the politics of the “possible” is the politics of monstrosity. And it also underlines the truth of my “companion” statement that if you try to make the Democratic Party be what it is not, and never will be, you yourself will end up being what the Democratic Party actually is. And it has to be said that, particularly for anyone who knows at least some of the truth about the crimes committed by the Democratic Party in presiding over this system of capitalism-imperialism, to then insist that it is necessary to work with and through the Democratic Party to effect some kind of supposedly meaningful change—this is to become complicit with the truly monstrous crimes of this system.

    I can certainly identify with the spirit of the following criticism of much of the so-called “left”—and this should be applied to the “woke phenomenon” as well:

    Lived in the Bay Area for over 50 years and have come to hate its pretentious “progressive” bullshit. The high pro “left” mostly has a base in the foundation world-liberal wing of the ruling class. Keeps the org’s and a certain brand of “leadership” going no matter how incompetent.

    But the answer to such phony “left” and “woke” bullshit is not to fall into another variation of what Lenin very aptly described as “the striving to come under the wing of the bourgeoisie,” in particular its “liberal” wing, as represented by the Democratic Party.

    And, as for the declaration that everything that is “disconnected from actually existing contests for power” within this system is somehow irrelevant—that statement is not only another expression of the reality that the politics of the “possible” is the politics of monstrosity, it is a graphic expression of the utter bankruptcy of this supposed “realistic” approach to politics.

    Remember that this declaration is being made now, in the situation where this system of capitalism-imperialism, and the rivalry between imperialist powers, is not only causing tremendous suffering for the masses of humanity but is definitely, and increasingly, posing an existential threat to humanity, through its accelerating destruction of the environment and the heightening danger of war between the imperialists of Russia and those of the U.S./NATO bloc. Here, in opposition to the snide assertion that any politics that does not rely ultimately and fundamentally on the Democratic Party (and the system it serves) is as disconnected from reality as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the truth is that it is profoundly unrealistic, and definitely disconnected from reality, to think that working within this system can somehow lead to its becoming a force for good in the world, a force that will act in the interests of the masses of people, not only in this country but in the vast world outside this country, including the billions of people in the Third World (Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East) who are ruthlessly exploited and plundered by this self-proclaimed “champion of democracy” but actually parasitic imperialist USA.

    What, after all, is the approach now of the Democratic Party, headed by Biden? It is to put overwhelming emphasis on crippling the rival Russian imperialism, and strengthening the “western” imperialist alliance, through war, fought at least for now as a “proxy” war that, yes, is reducing the people of Ukraine to “pawns” and “cannon fodder” and which is increasingly posing the danger of escalating into a direct war between the U.S./NATO and Russia, with the terrible consequences of that.

    And, in spite of congressional hearings regarding the coup attempt by Trump/the Republicans in relation to the last presidential election, the Democrats—and in particular Biden and the leadership of the Democratic Party—are not only failing but in effect refusing to seriously oppose the escalating fascist moves by the Republican Party. Apparently Biden’s “strategy” ( if he has one) for opposing this fascism and “overcoming the divisions in the country” is to rally people behind his imperialist aims with the war in Ukraine—something which, unfortunately, has had all too much success, so far at least. And, while for the most part the politicians of the fascist Republican Party are perfectly happy to support U.S. imperialist aims in the war in Ukraine, this has by no means been accompanied by a lessening of their aggressive fascist offensive—which, on the contrary, is being repeatedly intensified and accelerated, in many dimensions.

    If people, like the former SDS members voicing these disagreements with what I have analyzed about the war in Ukraine, want to wage a fight against a very real, and continually intensifying, threat of fascism, they need look no further than their own country. And if they really want to bring about a more just society and world, they need to dig deeper, down to the fundamental nature of this system of capitalism-imperialism and the terrible present, and even more horrendous future, it involves and portends for humanity—and become part of what is, yes, the very difficult but urgently necessary, and possible, revolutionary struggle, against all imperialism, with a special emphasis on opposing “their own” imperialist ruling class, and with the fundamental goal of finally ridding humanity as a whole of this system, and bringing something much better into being: a socialist system, aiming for the ultimate goal of a communist world, free from all exploitation and oppression, all wars and other antagonistic conflicts among people.

    In this regard, I am compelled to strongly disagree with the following, which is contained in one of the arguments stimulated by the article of mine in question:

    Chairman Bob and I were both in high school at the time and I dare say neither one of us has come up with a more coherent or usable political strategy than [Martin Luther] King’s. I have no problem admitting it—distasteful as associating with the establishment Dems tends to be.

    Let me make very clear that I am acutely aware of the great, truly daunting challenges that must be confronted if one is serious about bringing about change that would really address the profound injustices and very real dangers in the world as it is today (and as it is threatening to become). And I definitely share the frustrations that anyone sincerely seeking to bring about a more just world cannot help but feel at the seemingly intractable obstacles that one encounters in working to bring this about—including, it must be said, resistance from among those who definitely, and many who desperately, need this radical change. It is precisely for these reasons that I have continued to apply myself to forging, and leading a collective effort to continue developing and applying precisely an approach that can confront the very real problems and actually overcome the extremely powerful forces arrayed in opposition to the urgently needed, and emancipating, radical change.

    And the truth is that, through this process and as a result of determined work spanning many decades (if not quite as far back as high school!), I have developed a strategic orientation and approach not for appealing to, and seeking to win reformist concessions from, ruling class politicians (as Martin Luther King did in relation to the then president Lyndon Johnson) which can at most temporarily alleviate some of the atrocities of this system but can never put an end to, and uproot the basis for, them. Instead, I have developed the approach that is really necessary to abolish all this: a strategy for how to make an actual revolution—yes, up against the powerful ruling class of this system—as well as a framework, and concrete guidelines, for a radically new, emancipating socialist system, on the road to a communist world.

    This strategy is spoken to in a number of speeches and writings of mine, most recently and extensively in “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating.”6 (This work was written before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but it contains essential analysis and strategic direction in terms of actually making revolution in this powerful country, and the basic principles and methods it speaks to are definitely applicable to the current situation, following this Russian invasion and the events that have unfolded in relation to it.) And a sweeping vision and concrete blueprint for a radically new and emancipating society is contained in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, which I have authored.7

    It is this revolutionary approach that, with all the very real and profound challenges, represents the only “realistic” alternative to the truly terrible present and the potentially disastrous future that will be the fate of humanity, so long as it is confined and enchained within the realities and dynamics of this system of capitalism-imperialism. It is this truly emancipating revolutionary “alternative” that needs to be seriously engaged by anyone who really cares about the state and the fate of humanity—and it needs to be actively taken up by all those who can recognize that it represents the only real, and “realistic,” possibility of bringing something fundamentally different and much better into being.

     

     

     

    Bob Avakian

     

    BOB AVAKIAN:
    A RADICALLY DIFFERENT LEADER—A WHOLE NEW FRAMEWORK FOR HUMAN EMANCIPATION

    Learn more about Bob Avakian and the new communism
  • ARTICLE:

    Shameless American Chauvinism:
    “Anti-Authoritarianism” as a “Cover” for Supporting U.S. Imperialism

    New: Added Note by Bob Avakian

    Updated

    Editors’ Note: The following article was written by Bob Avakian at an earlier stage of the war in Ukraine. Because it remains highly relevant to the situation today, we are featuring it now, with a new Added Note by Bob Avakian at the end of this article, which speaks further to the massive war crimes and crimes against humanity continually committed by U.S. imperialism, and the way this is glorified and celebrated by representatives, functionaries and enforcers of this system, with Barack Obama a notable example.

    “Go search where you may, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.”

    –Frederick Douglass, former slave and determined abolitionist, 1852.

    In recent years, there has been lot of talk, and a lot written, about the growing danger of “authoritarianism” in the U.S., as represented by Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Now, in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and U.S. moves in response to this, there is the spectacle of a number of supposed “experts” on “authoritarianism” rallying around the flag of U.S. imperialism in the face of the challenge to its dominance posed by Russia, with China lurking as perhaps an even more serious challenge. (Russia and China have not been “communist” for a long time—and instead have, for decades, been capitalist-imperialist countries and, as such, represent a significant challenge to the imperialist interests of the U.S.)

    If we listen to these “experts,” the powerful force with imperial ambitions that we should be most concerned about now is Russia and its “authoritarian” leader, Vladimir Putin. Suddenly, the expression of high-minded principle about how wrong and dangerous it is for one country to invade another, on the basis of flimsy pretexts and outright lies, applies only to Putin (and, of course, to other “authoritarians” that “we” do not like), and most certainly not to “us.”

    Certainly, the big power bullying and aggression by Russia, with its invasion of Ukraine a clear example, is something that all decent people should oppose. But no decent person should be joining in with the U.S. imperialists in their rivalry with Russian imperialism. For reasons I will get into here, it is utter, disgusting hypocrisy for the U.S. imperialists, and their media mouthpieces and other representatives, to be self-righteously condemning this Russian invasion, when the U.S. is the country which has, by far, carried out the most invasions and other acts of violent interference in other countries.

    Somehow, these “learned people” have “forgotten” about the U.S. invasion and occupation of another “sovereign country,” Iraq, in 2003—on the basis of flagrant lies about Iraq supposedly possessing “weapons of mass destruction” and being closely linked with Islamic fundamentalist terrorists like Al Qaeda. This U.S. invasion was a blatant international war crime, which set in motion events which have cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, created millions of refugees, and unleashed a maelstrom of death and destruction in that part of the world. (One of the most disgusting spectacles on the “mainstream” media these days, such as CNN, is the presence of government officials who are “veterans” of this U.S. war crime in Iraq, and who arrogantly denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine as the illegal act of a powerful country aggressing against a weaker country! Somehow, the outrageous irony of these American war criminals denouncing the war crimes of others is “lost” on, or deliberately ignored by, these media.)

    Somehow, these “experts” are ignorant of (or they are deliberately ignoring) the fact that the U.S. by far holds the record for violently interfering in the affairs of other countries: In addition to the continuing crimes against humanity carried out by the U.S., just since World War 2, including the U.S. slaughter of millions of civilians in Vietnam, and before that in Korea, and the bloody coups it has engineered in Indonesia, Iran and elsewhere, in the period from 1846 to the present the U.S. has intervened in South and Central American countries—militarily, through CIA coups, or in other ways—at least 100 times, at the cost of literally hundreds of thousands of deaths and endless misery for the people of those countries.

    Somehow, these “enlightened historians” have lost sight of the fact that the country they are living in (the “good old USA”) established, and repeatedly expanded, its territory on the basis of predatory violence on a massive scale, including genocidal “military campaigns” against the indigenous peoples of this continent (repeatedly breaking treaties in the process), and an expansionist war of aggression which resulted in ripping off a huge part of the territory of Mexico, in the middle of the 19th century, largely for the purpose of expanding slavery. And, after all, this is a country where a “manifest destiny” was declared—to conquer territory “from sea to shining sea” (and beyond).

    American Chauvinism and the Uses and Misuses of “Authoritarianism”

    The notion of “authoritarianism,” as wielded by these “scholars,” “pundits,” and others, is a misleading concept, which serves American imperialist interests and promotes American chauvinism (the sickening belief in the superiority of Americans and “the American way of life”). “Authoritarianism,” in itself, has no particular ideological, political or social content, and in fact serves to cover over or obscure actual social, political and ideological content. For example, to refer to Donald Trump and the Republican Party as “authoritarians” makes it seem as if what defines them is simply the urge to ill-gotten and tyrannical power. It tells you nothing about what they are seeking to do with that power—what ideology and what political and social program they are upholding and seeking to implement and enforce. The fact is that they are fascists—which has a very definite content: hatred and violent suppression of Black people and other people of color, immigrants, women and LGBT people, unrestrained plunder of the environment, grotesque American chauvinism, crude anti-intellectualism and anti-scientific lunacy.

    Refusing to call these fascists what they actually are—and instead just referring to them as “authoritarians”—serves a number of objectives, all in line with American chauvinism.

    First, it covers over the fact that these fascists have been bred by the system that has ruled in this country, from the days of slavery to the present, with blatant inequality and blood-soaked oppression poured into its foundation and its ongoing functioning. This has been nurtured by the putrid and poisonous soil of this country—a country that, from the start, has regarded and treated Black people as sub-human beings created by “god” to be beasts of burden, or destined by their “nature” to become dangerous criminals; women as lesser beings, fit only to be subordinate servants of men, objects of their sexual domination and mere breeders of their children; and LGBT people as essentially non-human “deviants.” Forcefully imposing a situation where that is the unchallenged state of things is the fanatical passion and goal of the fascists. And, since these fascists have indeed sprung forth out of the soil of this country, what does that say about this country: how is it then possible to maintain the farcical notion of “American exceptionalism,” the idea that there is something “exceptionally good” about this country?—a notion that the actual history, and present reality, of this country shatters to pieces and reveals as vile mockery—which is why so many “historians” and “scholars” do not want to really, scientifically examine this history and reality.

    Second, speaking of “authoritarianism,” without reference to the actual ideology and political and social content of the “authoritarians,” allows for the pretense that “extremists” of the “right” and the “left” are essentially the same. Thus, with the label of “authoritarianism,” communists can be thrown into the same camp of “very bad people” with fascists—when, in reality, communists are the exact opposite of, and the force most fundamentally opposed to, fascism. This can be readily seen through any objective, scientific analysis of the ideological outlook and aims of genuine communists, who, on a scientific basis, stand for and are fighting for the abolition of all exploitative and oppressive relations, while the fascists are fanatically determined to impose the most horrific expressions of these very relations, and seek to justify this with all kinds of lunatic conspiracy theories and anti-scientific distortions of reality.17

    And this notion of “authoritarianism of the left and right” serves to propagate and perpetuate American chauvinism in this way: If the problem and danger is “authoritarianism,” of the left, as well as the right, then of course, according to this perverted logic, it is “American democracy” that is the “center”—the center of all that is good and righteous—in opposition to the evils of “authoritarianism.”

    Here we are back to what I have referred to previously as the GTF, the Great Tautological Fallacy, the “round and round in a circle argument” that America is a force for good in the world—and whatever it does is good, or at least done with “good intentions,” because America is... a force for good.18 This GTF is a “great escape mechanism” for all these anti-authoritarian “historians” and other American chauvinists, allowing them to explain away (or neglect as irrelevant or insignificant) the horrific crimes committed by this country throughout its history, and down to today, to which I have referred in this article.

    “We may have founded a country on slavery and genocide,” some might admit; but, they insist (while ignoring or discounting the life-stealing, soul-crushing oppression to which masses of people are subjected day after day) “we have been continually moving toward a more perfect union.”

    “We may carry out wars of conquest, invasions, coups, and other acts of violent interference in the affairs of other countries”; but, they claim, “We do this for some greater purpose, or at least in opposition to some greater evil.”

    “We may live in the only country that has actually used nuclear weapons”—the atomic bombs that were dropped on two Japanese cities, instantly incinerating hundreds of thousands of civilians, at the end of World War 2—but, the argument goes, “We did this to save lives, especially the lives of American soldiers.”

     Such are the ridiculous, and outrageous, rationalizations.

    Free Yourself from the GTF!

    And now, with Russian, and Chinese, challenges of various kinds to U.S. dominance in the world, the argument of the U.S. ruling class, and those who parrot its American chauvinist rationalizations, amounts to essentially nothing more than this: “We have established, through massive force and violence, an ‘order’ in the world that is favorable to our ‘national’ (that is, imperialist) interests, and no one has the right to use force to change this in a way that threatens those interests.”

    In short, “we” are the “good guys” in the world, so things “we” do that would be “evil” if others did them are after all “good”... because “we” are the “good guys.” And now especially, a particular variation of this is the claim that, in the rivalry and confrontation between the imperialists of this country, on the one hand, and those of Russia, or China, on the other hand, “we” must stand with “our own” (U.S.) imperialists because the governments of “those” countries are “authoritarian,” while “our” government is not (yet) “authoritarian.”

    That all this is completely bankrupt, both logically and morally, should be obvious to anyone who is not blinded by the American chauvinist GTF.

    For those of us who are not willing to be blinded by this, we can and must confront and analyze reality as it actually is, and draw the necessary conclusions. Besides the fact that the U.S. is today, and has historically been, allied with many “authoritarian” governments throughout the world (and, in fact, has forcibly installed such governments in many countries), the even more fundamental fact is that the essence of the conflict between the U.S. and countries like Russia and China is not one between “democracy” and “authoritarianism,” but is a matter of rivalry among imperialist powers, all of which are monstrous oppressors of masses of people, and none of which represent or act in the interests of humanity. What is called for, and urgently now, is to oppose all imperialist marauders and mass murderers, and all systems and relations of oppression and exploitation, while giving particular emphasis to opposing “our own” imperialist oppressors who commit their monstrous crimes “in our name” and seek to rally us to support them on the basis of a grotesque American chauvinism, which we must firmly reject and fiercely struggle against.

     

    ADDED NOTE BY BOB AVAKIAN, Spring 2023

    In the “mainstream media” (such as CNN and MSNBC), there is a continual parade of former military officers, CIA operatives, and so on, trotted out as “expert commentators” on the war in Ukraine. One of these “expert commentators” is William Taylor. Taylor was a witness in the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump, which centered around the charge that, in pursuit of his own political ambitions and objectives, Trump had undermined U.S. military support for Ukraine (even before the Russian invasion in 2022). Taylor was also an officer in the U.S. military during the war in Vietnam. Of course, not once during these appearances by Taylor is he held accountable for the almost unbelievably monstrous crimes carried out by the U.S. military in Vietnam—including the gruesome ways in which at least 2 million Vietnamese civilians were slaughtered by the U.S. in that war—nor is the fact of those monstrous crimes ever referred to. For this reason—and because the actual history of the Vietnam war and the role of the U.S. in that war has been suppressed, or “whitewashed,” by the dominant institutions in this country, including the “mainstream media”—I am reproducing here some relevant facts about that war, and how this has been grotesquely distorted by political representatives of the U.S. ruling class, notably Barack Obama.

    First, there is the following (from my article “Bob Avakian on Impeachment, Crimes Against Humanity, Liberals and Lies, Provocative and Profound Truths,” also available at revcom.us), referring to that first impeachment trial of Donald Trump:

    Adam Schiff, the most eloquent of the “House Managers,” positively invoked Ronald Reagan, speaking of the USA as “a shining city on the hill,” when in reality this is a  country founded on slavery and genocide, which has continued to viciously exploit and oppress people—and to carry out murderous invasions and coups, while ravaging the environment—with terrible consequences for the masses of people, in every part of the world.  And, throughout the impeachment hearings in the House and then the Senate trial, Schiff and other Democrats made a point of praising witnesses who have been part of the U.S. military, repeatedly referring to William Taylor as a “hero” for his “service” in the U.S. army in Vietnam.  There was, and there is, nothing “heroic” about the U.S. military.  On the contrary, it is—without the slightest exaggeration—a machinery of massive, and unspeakable, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and its actions in Vietnam constitute a systematic concentration of this, with a level of destructiveness and depravity that is almost unfathomable:

    the slaughter of  millions of Vietnamese civilians, with incessant bombing and shelling, including of schools, hospitals, dams and other crucial infrastructure, and widespread use of napalm, white phosphorous, Agent Orange, and millions of anti-personnel weapons, burning to death and maiming huge numbers of children and others;

    ruining the livelihood of millions of Vietnamese—destroying large parts of the soil and livestock so essential for the people in rural Vietnam;

    torture of people held as prisoners—including large numbers of civilians—male, female, old and young, including the very young;

    mutilating the bodies and wearing as “trophies” body parts of Vietnamese killed; mass rape of Vietnamese women and girls.

    All this, and more, by the U.S. military and its “heroic” soldiers.

    Previously, I have challenged “liberals” in particular to seriously engage the “American Crime” series on revcom.us, which chronicles and outlines many of the most horrific crimes of the U.S. ruling class, going back to the beginning of this country and right up to the present, carried out under Republican and Democratic administrations. Included within that series is the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, in which U.S. soldiers wantonly murdered over 500 civilians, almost all of them old people, non-combatant women and children. And it is a well-documented fact that this massacre was not some kind of exception, or aberration, but represented the essential approach and means of the American war machine in Vietnam, fueled ideologically by a perverse, poisonous combination of ignorant, irrational anti-communism, American chauvinism, and grotesque racism and misogyny which regarded and treated the Vietnamese people as subhuman “gooks” and “slopes,” and females the lowest of all.

    Nothing good will ever come from denying or ignoring these essential truths about this country and its role in the world, or by limiting oneself to condemning the blatant lies of Trump and his fellow fascists in the Republican Party while excusing, or even taking up, the profound lies of Democratic Party defenders and apologists of this monstrous system of capitalism-imperialism.

    And finally, keep in mind what is summarized above about the actual role of the U.S. military in Vietnam, as you read the following words by Barack Obama  praising that same military for its role in Vietnam:

    “One of the most painful chapters in our history was Vietnam—most particularly, how we treated our troops who served there.... [Y]ou wrote one of the most extraordinary stories of bravery and integrity in the annals of military history.”

                —President Barack Obama, May 28, 2013, part of the Vietnam War Commemoration

    Here Barack Obama is willfully, and viciously, rewriting history: He turns upside down the actual role of these “troops” in Vietnam. He complains that the “troops” who carried out these atrocities in Vietnam were not “thanked” for their “service” of horrific war crimes, but instead these war crimes were, rightly and righteously, condemned by masses of people in this country; and he fails (or refuses) to mention the fact that many of these troops (and former troops) came to openly rebel against what they were ordered to do in Vietnam and became an important part of the massive opposition to the U.S. role in that war.

    And think about this: If Obama can call what these “troops” actually did in Vietnam “one of the extraordinary stories of bravery and integrity in the annals of military history,” that is a profound exposure not only of Obama himself but, more fundamentally, of the truly monstrous system of U.S. capitalist imperialism, of which Obama is a blood-soaked representative and functionary.

    _______________

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. For a concentrated discussion of the profound difference between communism and fascism, see the article “Fascists and Communists: Completely Opposed and Worlds Apart” by Bob Avakian, which is available at revcom.us. [back]

    2. Bob Avakian speaks more fully to the GTF in the speech THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO! In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America, A Better World IS Possible, a film of a talk by Bob Avakian in 2017. For more on this film, and to view the film, Q&A sessions, and clips, go to BA’s Collected Works at revcom.us. [back]

  • ARTICLE:

    Translated into English, by revcom.us, from the blog Aurora Roja, of the Revolutionary Communist Organization, Mexico:

    REVOLUTIONARY HOPE

    New Possibilities Are Opening Up for Liberatory Revolution In the Midst of Acute Crises and Upheavals of the Capitalist System — It Is Urgent to Organize the Fight For Revolution

    Revolutionary Communist Organization, Mexico

    Editors' Note: The following is the English translation of a new book from the Revolutionary Communist Organization, Mexico (OCR). According to the description of this book at Aurora Roja, voice of the OCR: "An important new book on the new possibilities for a liberatory revolution in the midst of the acute crises and upheavals of the capitalist system, as well as what needs to be done and what can be done to organize and fight now for this revolution that the people and the planet so urgently need. The pdf of this book is available in English (8.5x11") and in Spanish booklet 5.6x8.74" and 8.5x11" sizes.

    La Esperanza Revolucionaria cover spanish

     

    Revolutionary Hope
    Revolutionary Communist Organization, Mexico   

    Among people there is debate about whether things are going to continue badly, as usual, or if they are going to get worse. The truth is that in the country [Mexico] and in the world, things are going from bad to worse. The misery and unnecessary suffering of millions is increasing and we face existential threats to the future of humanity from the environmental emergency and the threat of war, including world war. However, it is precisely in the midst of the acute crises and upheavals of the current system that new possibilities arise for the liberatory revolution that will open the way to a hopeful and emancipatory future.

    The relentless intensification of global warming and the overall environmental crisis caused by capitalism, as well as the extinction and threat of extinction of many species, including possibly our own, arouses anguish, repudiation and growing protest in many parts of the world. This is particularly the case among young people and also among many scientists. The ravages of the environmental crisis, as well as imperialist domination and wars, force millions to migrate, through Mexico and the world, desperately seeking how to survive.

    Wars provoked by the imperialist powers in their increasingly intense contention for redividing the world are tearing apart the stability of the current world imperialist order. They bring immense dangers while potentially opening up new revolutionary possibilities for the future of humanity and the planet. The most recent war, in Ukraine, has been provoked by the U.S. and Russian imperialists. This war, in the short term, has given rise to a big nauseating wave of pro-imperialist chauvinism in the West, although there are also those who denounce the provocations of the Western imperialists by expanding NATO, without making apologies for the Russian invasion. On the other side of the conflict, in Russia, facing the wave of imperialist chauvinism in favor of the invasion, thousands of Russians, mainly young people, despite the consequences, have dared to go out and protest against the invasion of Ukraine. And, all over the planet, there are those who question why there has to be so much death and suffering from wars launched by interests alien to the vast majority of people, which lead us towards the precipice of nuclear war and the danger of extinction of many forms of life on the planet, including the human race.

    The possibility of a revolutionary situation in the United States has arisen in the midst of the intense internecine struggle in the U.S. ruling class, between the Republican Party, which seeks to impose fascism, and the Democratic Party, which tries to preserve the forms and illusions of bourgeois democracy. It is more than evident that the big breakthroughs of revolution in the “belly of the beast” would have an enormous impact on the world, and particularly in Mexico.

    The righteous rebellion of women throughout the world, and notably in Mexico, has called into question the festering patriarchy, in the face of reactionary efforts to defend and strengthen male dominance. This contention can only be resolved either through radically reactionary transformations or through radically revolutionary and liberatory transformations.

    The anger of the indigenous peoples rises as they live, behind new honeyed promises, the harsh reality of new and old megaprojects of death, ethnocide and ecocide: Mining, the so-called “Maya” Train, the transoceanic project on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the Morelos Comprehensive Project, and the Independencia aqueduct, among many others.

    The desperation of more and more people is spreading, in the face of the bloody conflicts and the collusion that exists between the cartels, the government and the big capitalists, which has resulted in more than 100 thousand murders and more than 30 thousand disappeared, just in the three years of the current government, as well as tens of thousands of people forced to flee their homes.

    More and more people see their hopes for real change defrauded with the so-called “Fourth Transformation” [“4T”], while President Andrés Manuel López Obrador vituperates, attacks and accuses radical women and indigenous people, environmentalists, students at a normal school [normal school refers to teachers' colleges in Mexico], teachers, scientists, independent journalists, and others of being “conservative and corrupt.” At the same time, the internal struggle in the ruling classes is intensifying between the true “conservatives”—the reactionary and discredited parties of the PAN, PRI and PRD—and the reactionary project of a new hegemonic party, with Morena as a sort of renewed PRI, which seeks to sustain itself through a threatening escalation of the country’s militarization, among other means.

    In the world and in the country, these and other contradictions of the world capitalist-imperialist system are intensifying more and more, posing two possibilities: Live with these horrors and worse, even the possible extinction of humanity, or make revolution.

    The very intensification of the upheavals of the system and of the unnecessary suffering of the people also opens up, in addition to great dangers, new possibilities for a truly liberatory revolution and a much better world. However, these possibilities of opening up a new emancipatory dawn in the country and in the world can only become a reality with a growing organized nucleus of people who apply the science of new communism to guide determined and conscious revolutionary struggle of the masses.

    Let us therefore analyze in greater depth the big dangers and the new revolutionary possibilities inherent in the current situation, as well as the urgent need to bring forward and train new revolutionary communists who will fight for the liberatory revolution in Mexico and the emancipation of all humanity.

    The Environmental Emergency of Capitalism Is Destroying the Planet: Revolution Is the Only Hope for Humanity

    Global warming and other environmental destruction carry the threat of extinction of many species, including our own. According to a report from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the world has lost more than two-thirds of vertebrates (animals with backbones) since 1970. This includes a 94 percent loss in tropical areas of Central and South America. And the rate of extinction is accelerating (La Jornada [LJ], 01/16/2022).

    Global warming is intensifying, which is caused by greenhouse gases, mainly due to carbon dioxide emitted from the burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal). Its ravages are becoming more than evident in the world with dramatic climatic disasters of unusual and intense heat waves and droughts in some parts and very strong hurricanes, storms and floods in others. In Mexico, just in 2021 (and now continuing especially in the north of the country) the Conagua [National Water Commission] declared a state of emergency due to the conditions of extreme and severe drought that three quarters of the country suffer in which there is some degree of drought, which undermines agriculture, damages ecosystems and erodes soils. In the same year, the number of cyclones almost doubled, leaving thousands of victims who had to block highways and even break into a conference of the president to demand from the government the aid that had supposedly already arrived, according to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), who always has “other data.”

    Despite the rhetoric of bourgeois politicians and their international conferences, since 1990 when global warming caused by human activity was well established as scientific fact, global greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 50 percent. The global temperature is already around 1°C above pre-industrial levels. The Paris Agreement purportedly seeks to limit this to 1.5°C, but even if all of their promises are met, an increase of about 2.7°C is projected and the vast majority of countries are not keeping their promises. The recent report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) revealed that the warming has progressed even faster than predicted. What’s more, the 15 largest producers plan to produce more than double the amount of oil, gas and carbon needed to meet the supposed goal. Mexico is among the countries that do not comply with the Paris Agreements and Mexico’s government has opted to increase the use of fossil fuels instead of restricting them. The country is one of the 15 largest emitters of greenhouse gases, and Pemex [Petróleos Mexicanos, state oil monopoly] is among the ten most polluting companies in the world.

    This environmental crisis also causes and will cause more and worse pandemics and epidemics in the world. The destruction of the habitat of other species breaks down “the natural barriers that allowed humans to keep us safe from viruses and bacteria found in nature,” explains Dr. Gerardo Ceballos González, a researcher at the UNAM Institute of Ecology (Gaceta UNAM, “Amenaza la sexta extinción masiva de vertebrados” ["The threat of sixth mass extinction of vertebrates"]). And this is a cause of the COVID-19 pandemic that we are experiencing, as well as the nearly 50 outbreaks of emerging, viral or bacterial diseases that have affected human beings in the last 30 years. If capitalism-imperialism and its destruction of the environment continue, more and worse epidemics and pandemics await us.

    The cause of global warming and of the destruction of the environment is the world system of capitalism-imperialism and the only way to seriously be able to fight to reverse this race towards environmental disaster is revolution. For the capitalists, global warming and the destruction of the environment are “externalities,” that is, they do not figure in their production costs, although there is a very high cost for people and nature. Competition among capitalists forces them to ignore these social costs, under penalty of being bankrupted by the more profitable (and destructive) measures by other capitalists. Something similar happens with respect to the rivalry between the imperialist powers, but not only economic competition enters into this relationship, but also geopolitical and military contentions for world domination. Due to all of the above, we have had decades of empty promises from the authorities and the situation is only getting worse. In several aspects, the destruction caused so far is irreversible, although in others it is not.

    What will happen if we allow the ecocidal capitalist system to continue driving global warming and the destruction of the planet’s ecosystems?

    • More and more terrestrial and marine species will become extinct and the ecosystems on which human life depends will be destroyed.
    • More and more regions of the planet will become uninhabitable due to intense heat and drought, especially in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and parts of Asia.
    • The level of the oceans will continue to rise with the melting of the polar glaciers, leading to major flooding on the coasts and the sinking of several coastal cities and island nations under the sea.
    • There will be more and more frequent and devastating storms and hurricanes, alternating with heat waves and forest fires.
    • Water for human use and agriculture will become increasingly scarce. The destruction of the necessary conditions for agriculture will lead to people suffering from hunger and famine, especially in the countries of the Global South who are most affected.
    • The desperate migration of millions of more people due to the impossibility of surviving in their countries of origin will increase, and they will collide with the walls and repressive forces of the imperialist countries of the northern hemisphere that are less affected by global warming.
    • New pandemics, diseases and health crises will occur, as well as many additional deaths from extreme weather events.

    This doesn’t have to be our future, but scientists are warning us that the “window of opportunity” to stop global disaster is closing. There’s not much time. Revolution is urgent.

    With revolution and socialism, society will be freed from the shackles of capitalism’s relentless pursuit of maximum profit, and it will be possible to put the needs of people and the environment in command. The triumph of such a communist revolution in one country or group of countries would be a beacon of inspiration for the people of the rest of the world, and the triumphant revolution would immediately call for a determined struggle throughout the world until it is possible to rapidly put an end to the use of fossil fuels and other forms of environmental destruction.

    This revolution is possible and the very dimensions of the ongoing environmental emergency are leading more and more people, especially young people and scientists, to question the system that causes and will cause more and more of these disasters. It is urgent to bring to these people and others the truth about the only real solution to all this madness.

    The Contention Between the Imperialist Powers for the Redivision of the World Is Taking Us to the Precipice of a World War: We Must Face Imperialist War and Aggression With Revolution to End Capitalism-Imperialism

    The danger of war, including nuclear war, is increasing due to the intensification of the rivalry among imperialist powers, such as the United States, China, Russia, various European countries, and others. This danger has been greatly increased with the more direct clash between U.S. imperialism and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), on the one hand, and Russian imperialism, on the other, with the invasion of Ukraine. However, this has been intensifying since before this war. For example, these imperialists stirred things up in support of opposing sides in the civil war in Syria, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people, with millions of displaced people and refugees. On the other hand, not long ago the United States and Japan conducted provocative military exercises in a disputed area of the South China Sea; while China has held military exercises with fake U.S. ships as their targets.

    The big capitalists and their political representatives in the oppressed countries subordinated to imperialism in Africa, Asia and Latin America, are trying to take advantage of the conflict between the imperialist powers to see if they can increase their share of the exploitation of “their” workers. The president of Mexico, López Obrador, at the summit with the presidents of the U.S. and Canada in 2021, warned of the danger that “by 2051, China would dominate 42 percent of the world market and we, the United States, Mexico and Canada, would end up with 12 percent, which, in addition to being an unacceptable disproportion in the economic sphere, would keep alive the temptation to bet on resolving this disparity with the use of force, which would endanger us all.” So he called for “strengthening ourselves commercially in North America,” "strengthening," by the way, in that the economic role of Mexico as an oppressed country lies largely in the super-exploitation of cheap labor and as a source of raw materials.

    Other bourgeois politicians like Evo Morales, former president of Bolivia, advocate for associating with China for the best terms it could offer. And among the Latin American “left” in general there is no shortage of those who praise China and Russia. Such a point of view, when expressed by people who are not representatives of the bourgeoisie, is usually due to a narrow nationalism that does not see beyond the fact that the U.S. is indeed the main imperialist oppressor in the region (and the world) and their blindness to the revolutionary potential of the masses. Russia has been an openly capitalist power for more than 30 years. Although China maintains a flimsy façade of “socialism,” capitalism was actually restored there as a result of the coup after Mao’s death in 1976. Profits are in command of both the state and private Chinese economy, and this so-called socialist country boasts one of the main stock exchanges in the world, in Shanghai.

    The fundamental interests of the masses of people are not in choosing which is the best imperialist power to exploit and dispossess us, but in freeing ourselves from all imperialist domination and the capitalist system itself.

    The growing rivalry between these powers is rooted in the very nature of the capitalist-imperialist system. The competition between capitalists for maximum profits moves to the international stage as the competition between the imperialist powers for world domination. They all need to expand in a world already divided up, which leads to confrontations and wars for a new division of the world. Although U.S. imperialism has been the dominant power since the end of World War II, it faces a growing challenge from China and Russia, all three imperialist powers which have been expanding and modernizing their weapons systems, including nuclear weapons. The growing danger of war between these imperialists bring dire threats for humanity, as a nuclear war would cause catastrophic death and destruction and leave large parts of the planet radioactive and uninhabitable.

    The Problem Is the Capitalist-Imperialist System, the Solution Is Communist Revolution

    Revolution, communist revolution, is urgently necessary in the face of the aforementioned serious threats against the existence of humanity, as well as patriarchy and the barbaric oppression of women; the dispossession, racism and oppression of indigenous peoples; the terror and invasion of daily life by organized crime everywhere; and the exploitation and poverty of the majority of the people; among other horrors.

    Bob Avakian, revolutionary leader and author of the New Communism, very concisely summarizes (in Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating) the following basic truths:

    We live under a system—the system of capitalism-imperialism (capitalism is an economic and political system of exploitation and oppression, and imperialism refers to the worldwide nature of this system).

    It is this system which is the basic cause of the tremendous suffering that people, all over the world, are subjected to; and this system poses a growing threat to the very existence of humanity, in the way that this system is rapidly destroying the global environment, and in the danger of war between nuclear-armed capitalist-imperialist powers, such as the U.S. and China.

    All this is reality, and no one can escape this reality. Either we radically change it, in a positive way, or everything will be changed in a very negative way.

    To be very clear once more: Changing it in a positive way means making revolution—a real revolution, to overthrow this system of capitalism-imperialism and replace it with a radically different and emancipating system. For it is also a basic truth that: In today’s world, to fundamentally change society, you must seize power—overthrow the existing state power and establish a new state power.

    Such a revolution is not only urgently needed, but is becoming more possible in the current situation, while the threat of even more terrible things is very clear.

    A Rare Time: Revolution Becomes Possible in the United States

    Bob Avakian has discussed that this is a rare time when revolution becomes possible in the United States. This is a rare time when the three necessary conditions for a socialist revolution in that country could arise:

    A crisis in society and government so deep and so disruptive of the “usual way of things,” 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.

    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.

    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 is grounded in, and is working systematically to apply, the most 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.

    —Bob Avakian, Something Terrible, or Something Truly Emancipating

    Avakian analyzes that revolution in the United States becomes possible, in important part, because of the deep crisis in the capitalist ruling class and in all of society in that country. This crisis is expressed in the increasingly acute conflict between, on the one hand, one section of the ruling class grouped in the Democratic Party that seeks to maintain the current bourgeois-democratic order and, on the other hand, the section of the ruling class represented by the Republican Party that seeks to impose fascism.

    The bourgeois democracy advocated by the Democratic Party represents a dictatorship of the capitalist-imperialist class over the masses, although they disguise it with democratic forms such as elections, the peaceful transition of power and certain legal rights. This façade has always been a cruel lie for people at the bottom of society, but the ruling class has been forced to concede certain limited reforms due to the fight against white supremacy (oppression and racism against people of color), male supremacy (patriarchy and machismo) and other oppressive relations, especially since the rise of revolutionary struggle in that country and the world in the 1960s of the last century.

    The fascism that the other section of the ruling class represented by the Republican Party seeks to impose is, instead, an open form of the capitalist dictatorship, ready to use violence, not only against the masses but also against their opponents in the ruling class. The Republican Party, which has become a fascist party, seeks to defend and enforce the most extreme forms of white supremacy, male supremacy, xenophobia (hatred of foreigners), and completely unbridled plundering of the environment, as well as throwing out the rule of law. And they have mobilized to fight for this a reactionary and lunatic social base in society, steeped in all kinds of conspiracy theories and Christian fundamentalism, openly calling in many cases for a civil war to impose their extreme reactionary program.

    Fascist forces have already attempted a coup by storming the federal Capitol on January 6, 2021 to try to impose Trump as president, even though he had lost the election. Now the Republicans are changing laws in the states so as to restrict the vote of Blacks, Latinos and others, while they prepare their armed followers and organize their fascist forces in the police and the army, all with the purpose of seizing power and not letting go of it, imposing a fascist form of bourgeois dictatorship, most likely in the context of the 2024 elections, if they are not able to do so sooner.

    While the fascists take the offensive, mobilize their followers and do not accept the bourgeois-democratic “rules of the game,” the Democratic Party wavers, seeks to reach “agreements” with the Republicans and refuses to mobilize people who hate the fascists, for fear of what might happen if the masses rebel. So, if things continue on their current course, it is very likely that fascism will prevail in the United States, either through elections with the dice increasingly loaded in favor of the Republicans, or through a coup or through a civil war.

    On the other hand, this profound crisis also opens up the rare possibility of a liberatory revolution on the other side of the Río Bravo / Grande. The potential for revolution among the people has been seen in the beautiful uprising of protest against police murder and racist oppression by millions of people in the U.S. and around the world in the summer of 2020, following the brutal murder of George Floyd by uniformed pigs. This potential has also been seen in the outbreaks of rebellion of women, the struggle and anguish over the environmental emergency that threatens the future of humanity, as well as in other ways.

    Fully appreciating the revolutionary potential of the masses requires science to penetrate below the surface of what undergirds this system and its values. In Mexico and other countries oppressed by the United States, another obstacle to appreciating this potential in the United States is the nationalist tendency not to draw a clear distinction between the ruling class and the masses in the U.S., confusing the righteous rejection of imperialist domination with a rejection of anything that has to do with that country in general. This contrasts with the correct internationalist understanding that the ruling classes in the U.S., Mexico and the other countries in the world today are strategic enemies of the liberatory revolution, the proletariat in all countries is in essence one single international class with the fundamental interest of abolishing all forms of exploitation and oppression, and the masses of people on both sides of the border and around the world are potential driving forces of this revolution. From a nationalist point of view, rather than an internationalist point of view, there is a tendency to not recognize the revolutionary potential of the masses and the possibility of revolution in the colossus to the North. Many times the history of the struggle of millions there against the imperialist wars of “their” rulers, as well as the struggles against the oppression of women, Black people, Latinos and others, is ignored. It is overlooked that the United States is a society divided into classes with a large population of oppressed nationalities, in which inequality between the powers that be and those at the bottom of society is increasingly intensifying, and there is an antagonism between the interests of the capitalist-imperialist ruling class and the fundamental interests of the oppressed masses in the United States.

    Ironically, failing to grasp the revolutionary potential of the oppressed masses in the U.S. leads many towards capitulation to U.S. imperialism. They try to justify, for example, AMLO’s shameless praise of Trump during his visit to Washington, as well as his slavish obedience to Yankee demands to contain and repress migrants, with the argument of avoiding negative consequences for Mexico due to the possible economic retaliation exerted by the colossus to the North. But the reality is that it is a colossus with feet of clay, because the U.S. capitalist-imperialist class exploits and oppresses people in its own country, as well as superexploiting, oppressing and dominating masses around the world.

    Revolution in the U.S. undoubtedly faces enormous difficulties. By scientifically analyzing with the New Communism the current crisis in that society, Bob Avakian has been able to penetrate below the surface of appearances to show that the crisis itself entails not only the danger of even more terrible horrors, but also the possibility of a truly emancipatory revolution. Facing this reality as it is, our comrades, the revolutionary communists in the U.S., are struggling to rise to the occasion. The “revcoms” are fighting and striving increasingly to build the leading organized revolutionary force for that revolution and to transform the revolutionary potential of the people into a revolutionary people of millions to make revolution in the U.S.

    As things are, the crisis in the United States brings with it, in turn, the all-too-clear danger of fascism, the imminent possibility of civil war, and the inspiring potential for socialist revolution. As Avakian analyzes, “as this [situation] unfolds, this profound truth will be more and more forcefully demonstrated: The crisis and deep divisions in society can only be resolved through radical means, of one kind or another—either radically reactionary, murderously oppressive and destructive means or radically emancipating revolutionary means” (our emphasis, from 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, by Bob Avakian, which everyone should study in depth to understand the current crisis in the U.S. and its implications for the world).

    The Possibilities of Fascism, Civil War and Revolution in the U.S. in the Near Future Have Profound Implications for Mexico and the World

    This critical situation in the largest imperialist superpower today is of enormous importance for Mexico and the world.

    The possible triumph of fascism would bring unspeakable horrors: An even more brutal and murderous hunt for migrants; rampant racist attacks against Blacks, Latinos, and other nationalities; more repugnant patriarchal subjection of women (such as the suppression of the right to abortion that just happened) with attempts to impose this in other countries as well; the further accelerated destruction of the environment throughout the U.S. empire; and the strengthening of fascist forces throughout the world. This would also entail even cruder, more brutal and direct forms of imperialist domination of Mexico. Although it is not possible to predict the exact forms of this, Trump’s characterization of Mexicans as “murderers and rapists” and his "offer," when he was president, to send military personnel to Mexico to "put things in order" give us some indication of what the consolidation of fascism in the U.S. could mean for Mexico.

    The position of various “amlovers” [lovers of AMLO] that Trump was better than Biden represents a false and deadly illusion. Apparently, this position is due, in part, to his attempt to justify the aforementioned shameless servility by AMLO before Trump. There are also certain similarities between the two, such as their demagogic speeches, their unprincipled attacks on anyone who opposes them, their insistence that the world is as they say, and not as the evidence indicates, and the fact that the two lead mass movements aimed at strengthening the capitalist system, although with different bourgeois programs. (Trump is a fascist, AMLO is not, although he was a collaborationist when Trump was president). Whatever the reasons, favoring Trump over Biden is a deeply misguided position. Both Trump and Biden, both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, are deeply reactionary representatives of U.S. capitalism-imperialism that exploits and oppresses people in the U.S. and around the world. The only difference of importance for the people is that Trump and the Republicans represent the attempt to impose fascism, and Biden and the Democrats do not share that program. If the experience of fascism in Nazi Germany, Spain under Franco, or Chile under Pinochet is to teach us anything, it is that the fascist program is not the “lesser evil” for the masses, as various AMLO supporters argue about Trump.

    Equally wrong is the idea that fascism will be good for the revolution because it will drive people to rise up. Experience everywhere has shown that, if it is able to consolidate itself, fascism entails the bloodiest repression that seeks to exterminate revolutionary and progressive forces.

    A civil war in the United States would cause a lot of instability in the world system and particularly in Mexico. The possibility of even armed incursions into Mexico could not be ruled out, but even without that, if the crises in supply chains during the COVID pandemic have taught us anything, it is that the productive and economic process in general has become so interrelated between the two countries, such that it does not work on one side of the border if it does not work on the other side. The big Mexican capitalists and the Mexican government would lose in such a situation the big rock of stability for their system, which is U.S. imperialism; and their political representatives would engage in even more intense infighting over how to deal with such a crisis and with which faction of the dismembered U.S. ruling class (or other imperialist power) to hook up with. Such events would very likely bring about new possibilities for the advance of revolution on both sides of the border, as well as new dangers. In any case, we revolutionary communists in Mexico need to redouble our efforts to advance as much as possible now in preparing for the revolution and rise to the opportunities and challenges that may arise from the unfolding of this crisis in the United States.

    It will be a tremendous inspiration and impetus for communist revolution throughout the world if the revolutionary communists in the United States come to represent a major force in the struggle there, not to mention the cataclysm for the world imperialist system and the big historic breakthrough for the oppressed that would be represented by the triumph of socialist revolution there. Even with such a victory, there would still be other imperialist and reactionary countries around the world that would unite in holy war against such audacity by the “plebs” to free themselves from their chains. However, this would shake the entire world capitalist-imperialist system to its foundations and open up a bright dawn of hope for the masses and oppressed peoples of the world.

    There exists a deep interrelation between the revolutionary processes in Mexico and the United States, due to the strong, although highly unequal, ties existing between the two countries in economic, political and social matters. It is our unwavering internationalist duty to firmly support and boldly promote the struggle of the revolutionary communists and oppressed masses in the United States as an integral and essential part of accelerating and intensifying preparations for the liberatory revolution in Mexico and promoting this throughout the world. Imagine the amazing hope for the future of humanity that would be represented by the establishment of socialist republics in North America, which would be base areas for even greater advances of the world revolution! We must dream of this, and work selflessly, conscious of all the great difficulties and the powerful forces that act against such an objective. To transform those dreams into reality, we must analyze the changing situation scientifically and wisely and boldly tap into the deep cracks in the current system, which are beginning to erupt forcefully on the surface and tear apart daily life, now concentrated in the neighbor to the North, but also in Mexico.

    The Mexican Ruling Classes Are Immersed in Internecine Struggles Between “Conservatives” and “Morenistas”—Neither One Nor the Other Represents the Interests of the People

    Although in Mexico things have not yet reached the level of antagonism of the internecine struggle that exists in the U.S. ruling class, here the struggle between the political representatives of two poles between the big Mexican capitalists and landowners is intensifying. On the one hand, there are the parties of the discredited previous governments: The National Action Party (PAN) that launched the supposed “war against organized crime” that in reality was and continues to be a war against the people; the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the sole ruling party for many decades and responsible for so many massacres of the people; as well as their cronies in what remains of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). On the other hand, there is the supposed “Fourth Transformation” (“4T”), which is nothing of the sort, of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena) and its shills, a party that AMLO is apparently trying to transform into a renewed version of the hegemonic party in the style of the old PRI, which he comes from.

    There exist real differences between the two factions. Most notable is the relative weight they assign to state capitalism. For example, while the previous governments of the PAN and the PRI undermined the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), by favoring private companies in the sector, and took PEMEX to the “point of sale,” AMLO seeks to strengthen these parastatal companies, ignoring, except in occasional rhetoric, the country’s supposed commitments to reduce its impact on global warming.

    However, this does not represent any opposition to big private capital, as alleged by certain cynical “conservatives” and some deluded followers of the so-called 4T. In case anyone doubts this, there are his praises for several big capitalists whom he previously called “the mafia in power”: his delivery of the management of Welfare cards to extremely reactionary and big exploiters like Salinas Pliego; the conciliatory words for Larrea (speaking of his “good relations” with this criminal businessman [LJ, 02/12/2022]), without denouncing him or prosecuting him for the enormous environmental crimes and bloody repression of the workers of his Grupo México mining company; his praise and support for Carlos Slim, one of those guilty, among other crimes, of the 26 deaths caused by the collapse of Line 12 of the Mexico City Metro; just to mention a few of many examples.

    On the other hand, PEMEX and the CFE are in no way, as they tell us, “the property of all Mexicans.” They are state capitalist property, governed by the same capitalist need to maximize profits with the same resulting destruction of the environment, exploitation and high-handed treatment of their workers and the public they supposedly serve. The discrepancies among the ruling classes between “conservatives” and “Morenistas” are not about whether capitalism is necessary or not, but about how best to promote capitalist development in Mexico, which, regardless of its forms, necessarily means exploitation., oppression, dispossession, and ecocide.

    As AMLO himself has said, in the context of promoting the disastrous megaproject of the so-called “Maya” Train, “We are a leftist group, which is even establishing, more than anything else, true capitalism, beyond the good-old-boys capitalism that exists in Mexico…” (Animal Político, 02/5/2019). Moreover, he has recently come to declare, regarding the privatization of water, that “it is not bad per se for a company to manage the distribution of water” and even that “if the neoliberal model were applied without corruption, it would not be all bad.” As commented by economist Julio Boltvinik, who has long pointed out the “neoliberal” nature of many of the current government’s policies, “Just as the principle ‘with an admission by a party, no proof is required’ is applied in law, so the criticisms become unnecessary that point out that the AMLO government is neoliberal, since he himself confesses that affinity”. (LJ, 05/27/2022).

    Fascism in Mexico has so far not gained as much strength neither among the ruling classes nor among sections of the population in general as is the case in the United States and several other countries in the world today. However, fascist forces like El Yunque have long been entrenched in the PAN, and recently fascist forces associated with that party have come out more publicly and openly than they used to do in the past. A group of senators from the PAN and a couple from the PRI, summoned by the PAN coordinator in the Senate, Julen Rementería, met with Santiago Abascal, leader of VOX, a Spanish fascist party, in September 2021, to sign the Madrid Charter “against communism.” Abascal, in addition to defending male superiority and the oppression of women, is a representative of the most repugnant chauvinism of Spanish imperialism against migrants and towards what he calls the “Iberosphere,” in reference to Latin America. On the 500th anniversary of the fall of Tenochtitlan, he defended the genocide caused by the Spanish Conquest and incited racism by tweeting that “Spain was able to free millions of people from the bloodthirsty regime and terror of the Aztecs. Proud of our History” (El País, 09/04/2021).

    This reactionary event caused a certain division in the ranks of the PAN, and in the face of the widespread indignation it caused, Rementería was forced to apologize publicly and argue that there was no agreement with VOX and Abascal, despite the signatures of the legislators on the Madrid Charter. Fascism is a latent danger in Mexico that deserves further investigation.

    Although there is some real contention and discrepancy between the two current basic political poles among the ruling classes in Mexico, much of what comes out in public discourse is sheer hypocrisy and theater. The PAN tries to portray itself as great defenders of women, taking advantage of the multiple patriarchal sayings of López Obrador and the withdrawal of government support for daycare centers, help for battered women and other services. It is sheer hypocrisy, since the PAN has spent years praising the traditional patriarchal family and firmly opposing the right to abortion and the rights of LBGT+ people, among other reactionary positions. Just like it is sheer hypocrisy and misogyny when López Obrador (who also does not promote the right to abortion) denounces as “conservatives”—as if they were equal to the PAN—the brave women full of righteous courage who pounded on the barricades erected in front of the National Palace by the federal government and painted them with the names of so many victims of femicides and disappearances; while the guilty remain in absolute impunity, regardless of which bourgeois party is in power.

    The same thing can be said about all the theater around the referendum to supposedly put on trial former presidents. On the one hand, the PAN and the PRI have no legitimate right to speak, since the former presidents of those parties have been, rightly so, big criminals hated by millions and they should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. However, neither Morena’s leaders nor the federal government had, nor have to date, any real intention of prosecuting any of these criminals; despite their differences, they are all political representatives of the same ruling classes. They do not do so, among other reasons, because it is an open secret that there was an at least tacit agreement with Enrique Peña Nieto, as acting president, to clear the way for AMLO’s electoral campaign for the presidency in exchange for the latter not pursuing him for his crimes. The referendum was just a show to make millions of Mexicans, who justifiably hate previous presidents, believe that something was going to be done, that this government “is not the same thing.” It was a lie and deception.

    The two contending forces between the electoral parties of the big bourgeoisie assure us that they are the only real alternatives for Mexico. AMLO attacks everyone who does not support him or even disagrees with him, calling them “conservatives” and “defenders of neoliberalism and corruption,” even if they are radical young women fighting against patriarchy, indigenous people opposing megaprojects of death, dispossession and destruction, students at normal schools trying to prevent the government from continuing to eliminate rural normal schools, independent journalists, ecologists and scientists alarmed by the environmental crisis, women, relatives and human rights activists demanding justice for the murdered and disappeared, or democratic teachers fighting for their labor rights, among others. The true “conservatives” of the PAN, PRI and PRD, for their part, assure us that they are the only real alternative to the “populism and authoritarianism” of AMLO and Morena.

    Despite their differences, neither one nor the other represents the interests of the people: The leaderships of all these bourgeois electoral parties are political representatives of the ruling classes and defenders of the current capitalist system of exploitation, oppression and death. They do not represent any real hope for the masses of people. Nor are they the only alternative. There is the possibility and the basis for a real hope and another future that many would like to see. As AMLO well knows when he cynically attacks the most radical and revolutionary people as “conservatives,” there are thousands and thousands of people who continue to fight for a better world without subordinating themselves to the bourgeois electoral bandwagon of Morena. And most of the people who still believe in the false illusion of the so-called 4T, would like to see an end to so many femicides, deaths, disappearances, organized crime in cahoots with the authorities everywhere, dispossession and racism against indigenous people, hunting down of migrants as if they were animals, destruction of the environment, and other crimes.

    Such a world, such a future, that many would like to see, cannot be brought into being and is not going to be brought into being under this system of capitalism or under the domination of the bourgeois electoral parties of this system that is the fundamental cause of these evils and horrors. Such a world that we would like to see, free of the horrors, anguish, hunger, and insecurities that this system makes the great majority of people live in, can only be brought into being and will only be brought into being by overthrowing this system and building another radically and much better system. For this reason, the real alternative does not lie in choosing between one bourgeois electoral party or another; the real alternative is liberatory revolution.

    The Mexican State Continues to Be a Repressive Apparatus At the Service of the Capitalist System—The Only Possible Liberatory Transformation Is With Revolution

    Despite the change in rhetoric that the government of AMLO and Morena has meant, as well as certain changes in the government’s policies in contrast to previous governments, the Mexican state is and continues to be a repressive apparatus at the service of the capitalist system.

    The López Obrador government is promoting a growing and dangerous militarization of the country, which represents a notable leap compared to the policies of previous governments. Previous governments committed and covered up all kinds of horrendous crimes by the armed forces, from the massacre of hundreds of students in 1968 to their participation in the operation against the students at the Ayotzinapa normal school that resulted in six people being killed and 43 students disappeared. However, such a large expansion of the role of the military had not occurred before; though the armed forces have played a growing role in the supposed fight against organized crime in recent six-year presidential terms, in open violation of the country’s Political Constitution. 

    Under the current government, the role of the armed forces has been greatly expanded with an ever-increasing militarization of national life. The Army, the Navy and the militarized National Guard increasingly assume police duties, both in containment/collusion with the cartels and in the repression of the people. In the decree published on May 11, 2020, “The Permanent Armed Forces Are Ordered to Participate... with the National Guard in Public Security Duties,” despite AMLO’s campaign promises to “return the soldiers to their barracks within a period of no more than six months” (“¿Militarización en México? Sí, y militarismo” ["Militarization in Mexico? Yes, and Militarism"], LJ, 08/20/2021). AMLO also promised that the National Guard would have a “civilian” character, but it is already under the military command of the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena) and the vast majority of its members come from the army. The army is taking on not only a good part of the construction but also the administration and economic control of the so-called “Maya” Train (ethnocidal and ecocidal project), the new CDMX [Mexico City] airport and three airports on the Yucatan Peninsula. This is also expanding the economic power of the armed forces. The military is not only building 266 National Guard barracks but also 2,700 branches of the Welfare Bank.

    The Navy is taking control of customs and ports and assuming the administration and economic control of the ethnocidal and ecocidal transoceanic megaproject in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The military is actively participating in the delivery of social programs, fertilizers, textbooks, vaccines against COVID, and much more, as taught in counterinsurgency manuals to show their supposed “kind” side to the population. The military budget is growing enormously, virtually without external control, while austerity is being imposed on other parts of government. And the military commanders are already openly intervening in politics, as when the Secretary of National Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, in a public act expressed his support for the AMLO government, with the ominous declaration that “As Mexicans, it is necessary to be united in the nation project that is underway,” in reference to the so-called 4T (Animal Político, 11/21/2021).

    The armed forces are continuing to murder and repress people under the current government, although they have tried to avoid larger massacres, which would be disastrous for their attempts to present themselves as “different” from the hated previous governments. To the delight of U.S. imperialism, the Mexican National Guard (GN) has been deployed to repress migrants with particularly brutal force, savagely beating and imprisoning people from the caravans, both on the southern and northern borders; murdering a Cuban migrant passing through a checkpoint in Chiapas; detaining, raping and deporting two Honduran women in Ciudad Juárez (LJ, 02/03/22). The GN has also been used to repress protests, such as when they murdered a person in the mobilizations of farmers for water at La Boquilla Dam in Chihuahua in September 2020. They also kill people for simply eluding them, such as when the GN killed a truck driver and a street vendor in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, in April 2021, provoking a confrontation with the locals (Proceso online, 04/08-09/2021) or when the Army opened fire in the same city on March 10 of the same year against a vehicle in which a pregnant woman and her husband were traveling, killing him and then chasing and threatening her (Proceso online, 04/08/2021). In the city of Nuevo Laredo alone in 2021, the Army and the GN were responsible for at least one execution, one rape, and three cases of torture, all well documented by the Human Rights Committee of Nuevo Laredo. However, the federal Attorney General’s Office has refused to even investigate these crimes (LJ, 02/12/2022). More recently, in Irapuato [in the central State of Guajanuato], the National Guard murdered a student from the University of Guanajuato and shot and wounded another student for allegedly “leaving the site” when the GN arrived, which according to the official report “provoked confusion and uncertainty among the members” of the GN, two of whom began to shoot at them (Animal Político, 04/27/2022).

    The so-called 4T government continues to cover up crimes against humanity committed by the armed forces, as in the case of Ernestina Ascencio Rosario, a 73-year-old indigenous Nahua woman raped and murdered by members of the army during the government of Felipe Calderón. In 2020, at a hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the official delegation of the Mexican state repeated the same brazen lie by Calderón that she died of “chronic gastritis,” despite all the evidence to the contrary. Although public outrage forced the government to promise to “reopen” the case, they proposed assigning it to the same Veracruz prosecutor’s office that fabricated the lies. To top all of this off, nothing is happening in this regard—more than a year later, the anemic Mexican National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) continues to “recommend” that they reopen the case (El Informante de Veracruz, 01/30/2022).

    A similar outcome can be seen in the case of Digna Ochoa, a lawyer and brave human rights defender, murdered in 2001. The capital city attorney general’s office, with AMLO at the head of the Mexico City government at the time, tried to cover up the crime with an outrageous ruling of “pretend suicide,” apparently to cover up the likely role in the crime by the army and the caciques [indigenous and/or peasant chiefs in league with landowners] from Guerrero, among others. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has determined that the case should be reopened; because the investigation by the authorities was full of irregularities, intimidation of witnesses, public defamation of the victim, and “gender stereotypes,” among other barbarities. Although the Mexican government says it agrees to reopen the case, the current head of the capital city government, Claudia Sheinbaum, cynically praises Digna Ochoa and also Bernardo Bátiz, the prosecutor responsible for this criminal cover-up.

    Also in the case of Ayotzinapa, despite a different rhetoric from the current government for a time, they continue to cover up the participation of the Army in this horrendous crime. AMLO saved Salvador Cienfuegos—then head of Sedena on that bloody night in Iguala, and responsible at least for the cover-up of the crime against the students from the normal school—from a probable prison sentence in the U.S. on drug trafficking charges. He continues now as an advisor to the Sedena.

    With its recent Ayotzinapa Report III, the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) revealed a video that proves that the Navy, the Sedena, the then prosecutor Murillo Karam, and others cynically and illegally planted in the Cocula dump the alleged “evidence” of their discredited “historical truth,” as Tomás Zerón, then head of investigation of the case, also did on the San Juan River. The report also documented the systematic application of torture (documented in more than 60 videos), the falsification of documents and alleged “evidence,” and the destruction of evidence to fabricate the lie that the students from the normal school were burned in the Cocula dump. It was proven that the Army monitored the students from the normal school in real time before, during and after the deadly police attacks, contrary to the repeated lies of the Sedena in this regard. It was also documented that the Army had two spies among the students from the normal school, one of whom was among the 43 disappeared.

    The purpose of the fabrication of the “historical lie” was to cover up the central role played by the Army in this state crime and its role continues to be covered up. Faced with the explosive revelations by the GIEI, to date nothing of importance has been done. AMLO, commander in chief of the armed forces, has not explained why the aforementioned video was hidden for three years under his government. He lied in response to the GIEI Report by saying that “all the information is being turned over,” when that Report specifically documents that the Army and others continue to hide documents and evidence in the case.

    The supposedly “different” government of the so-called 4T still represses the students from the Ayotzinapa normal school and their families. On January 28, 2022, the National Guard and the Guerrero police forcibly prevented leafleting and collecting funds at the Palo Blanco toll booth on the Autopista del Sol, a place where family members regularly collect funds to support their movement, more than seven years after cover up by the real perpetrators of this state crime. Their lawyer, Vidulfo Rosales, reports that “‘Attack as if you were at war!’ was the order of the superior officer to the National Guard... The use of force, used against mothers and fathers of the 43 disappeared students, is not exercised against the organized crime groups that impose terror and death in large areas of the state of Guerrero.”

    When the students from the normal school returned to the same toll booth seven days after the official attack, a spectacular deployment of the National Guard and the state police had been waiting for them for hours before to prevent their political action. A confrontation broke out, with a result of at least two hospitalized students. At their press conference afterwards, the students asked, “Why do they treat us like criminals and thieves? Before criticizing, look at how we live in the Sierra de Guerrero, where drug traffickers walk along and control the roads, but for the government we are the enemy” (LJ, 02/05/2022). AMLO defended the repression of parents and students, throwing out the baseless accusation that there are “infiltrators” of “organized crime... in the leadership” of the students at the Ayotzinapa normal school (LJ, 02/08/2022). Thus, AMLO repeats the same type of lies that the criminal government of Enrique Peña Nieto used to try to criminalize the students at the normal school in the face of this crime by the bourgeois state.

    The supposed new government policy against organized crime of “hugs not bullets” actually means bullets for the people and hugs for (some) cartels. Military operations continue to leave more civilians dead than injured or detained (Animal Político, 11/24/2021), with several cases of extrajudicial executions. The collusion between the three levels of government and organized crime continues, as revealed, for example, by a high commander of the National Guard in an interview with Proceso (06/26/2022). Organized crime is the real local power in major parts of the country and its tentacles already encompass virtually the entire country, with its fee collections for use of territory, trafficking of women, drug trafficking, kidnappings, etc. More than 100,000 people have been killed and more than 30,000 disappeared in the first three years of the current government of supposed transformation. Almost all these crimes remain in absolute impunity. The recent report of the Committee on Forced Disappearance of the United Nations, based on official data, documents that of the total as of 2021 of almost 100,000 disappearances since 2007, only “36 sentences have been issued in cases of disappearance of persons nationally.” The total number of disappearances has already exceeded the figure of 100,000, with more than 30,000 during the current six-year presidential term (print edition of Proceso, 06/12/2022). The report also documents that, in addition to the disappearances carried out by organized crime with almost absolute impunity, “forced disappearances continue to be committed directly by public agents at the federal, state and municipal levels.” With much cynicism, AMLO argued in the opposite sense by stating that this was a problem of the past, of the “neoliberal period,” and accused the Committee of lying, saying that “they are not acting in accordance with the truth” and “What can they do? Nothing, invent, that’s for sure” (print edition of Proceso, 04/17/2022).

    The Inter-American Court, also based on government data, has documented the murder of at least 68 human rights defenders and 43 journalists under this government as of December 2021 (not counting the 11 journalists murdered during the first five months of 2022). The Secretariat of the Interior itself acknowledged the murder of 68 activists from 2018 to July 2021, but when a Mexico City newspaper reported an even lower figure, AMLO denounced it as “propaganda by our adversaries” (Animal Político, 07/12/2021).

    In many of these cases, the government and the big capitalists (both the “legal” capitalists and organized crime capitalists) use hitmen to eliminate opponents. This seems to be the case of Samir Flores, a Nahuatl indigenous leader murdered in 2019 after being threatened by the federal government agent Hugo Eric Flores for his opposition to the government thermoelectric project in Huexca, Morelos. And they just murdered Francisco Vázquez, another peasant activist opposed to the project, in February of this year (LJ, 02/12/2022).

    There are hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Mexico due to violence, either by organized crime, or by operations of the Army which in several cases acts in coordination with hitmen. One activist against these forced displacements, Teodomira Rosales, reports on conversations with organizations that support the displaced in several states that have detected that “the vast majority of displacements occur in areas where there is an enormous wealth of minerals and forests or where megaprojects are being built. In these places, in general, there are agreements between the government and companies, such as mining or logging companies, and organized crime is in charge of evicting the inhabitants of those areas” (Printed edition of Proceso, 01/09/2022).

    The armed forces are not and have never been “the people in uniform,” as López Obrador says, but rather the repressive backbone of the capitalist state, in charge, together with the police, of repressing the exploited and oppressed people so as to defend the ruling classes and its capitalist system. More and more people are realizing that the government of the so-called “4T” is not very different in this and other aspects from previous governments, despite its rhetoric, more crumbs from its social programs to try to calm people down, and the implementation of certain different policies. The real lesson is not that AMLO “has betrayed us,” but that the state in a capitalist society is always and can only be in essence the dictatorship of the capitalists to maintain and defend their system of exploitation and oppression, regardless of who is at the head of the government. Because of this, and also because of the nature of the capitalist system as a whole, no truly liberatory transformation can result from simply trying to reform the system. It is necessary to shatter the current repressive capitalist state as an essential initial step; revolution is needed.

    The Capitalist System Itself Has Created Both the Basis and the Need for a Much Better System: Socialism as a Transition to Communism

    The liberatory revolution is not simply a good idea or a pipe dream. The capitalist system itself has created both the basis and the need for a much better system, socialism as a transition to communism. This was discovered by Marx and Engels by consistently applying for the first time the scientific method to understand the nature of capitalism and the historical development of human society in general.

    Through a process of scientific investigation and analysis, they discovered that the fundamental contradiction of capitalism is the contradiction that exists between socialized production and private (or capitalist) appropriation. What does this mean? On the one hand, capitalism gives rise to an increasingly socialized production process, that is, a process in which people work together in a coordinated and organized way to produce the things that are finally sold on the market. This contrasts with the individual or family production that predominated in the feudalism of the past; which still persists in several peasant areas of Mexico. In our times, this socialization of production has reached a point where it is a question not only of socialized production at the level of hundreds or thousands of workers working according to a common plan and process in a factory, but also a whole internationally coordinated production process or, as it is now commonly said, a globalized process. You can see this in what you buy: The label on your clothes may indicate that it comes from Thailand or China, your apple may come from Chile, your phone may indicate that it is made in China. In several cases, the things that are produced come from an even more complicated and interrelated process. For example, cars assembled in factories in Mexico for sale in the United States often consist of parts that have been manufactured in half a dozen or a dozen countries: Some in Mexico, others perhaps from Brazil, France, Korea, the United States, and other countries.

    However, although production has become highly socialized, and in several cases production requires the common efforts of millions of people around the world, the appropriation, that is, who gets to keep what is produced, is private: Who gets to keep the socially produced product is the capitalist. For example, the iPhone might contain cobalt mined even by superexploited children in the Congo, lithium from mines in another country, components manufactured in China or Taiwan, but who keeps the income from its sale is the Apple corporation (and other suppliers for Apple who have intervened in the process keep the income coming from selling what their workers produced for Apple).

    This fundamental contradiction of capitalism, between socialized production and private appropriation, is expressed in two basic forms of movement: The contradiction between anarchy and organization, on the one hand, and the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, on the other. Let’s look at what this means.

    The contradiction between anarchy and organization is expressed, on the one hand, in the fact that the production and distribution of what is produced is highly organized, not only in specific factories but, nowadays, on an international level, as we have already mentioned. For example, companies like Volkswagen, Telmex or Microsoft organize a vast network of supplies, production and distribution among a whole series of countries. However, they are in competition with other capitalists when they sell their products or services on the market where anarchy prevails, as there is no overall plan for production and distribution in society. On the contrary, what prevails is a fierce competition between different blocs of capital in a market that no one controls. Competition between the different blocs of capital periodically leads to overproduction, in which more is produced than can be sold on the market, either for certain commodities, such as steel and aluminum in recent years, or in the economy as a whole, as in the Great Recession of 2008. In this fierce competition, some win and are able to sell more of their products, and others do not. On the market and in production in society as a whole, anarchy reigns.

    This contradiction between anarchy and organization in capitalism has several consequences. On the one hand, competition forces all capitalists, not only to make a profit, but to seek maximum profits so as not to be left behind in the competition with other capitalists. They seek maximum profits by exploiting their workers more, developing new and more efficient machines and processes, ignoring the environmental damage caused by their production, dispossessing people of their land and resources, etc. If they do not do so, they are in danger of losing out in competition with other capitalists who do. In this way they are absorbed by others, such as the Aurrerá company, founded by two Mexican capitalists in 1958, which was later bought up by Walmart in 2000. Or else, they simply go bankrupt, like Mexicana de Aviación.

    What is important to understand here is that capitalists do not exploit, dispossess and pollute simply because they are greedy or bastards; the very functioning of the capitalist system forces them to act like this under penalty of ceasing to be capitalists by losing out in the competition with other capitals. Although the struggle of the people and certain reforms can sometimes put certain temporary limits on this, it is not possible to change this in a fundamental way under this system, because it is part of the very nature of the system. Therefore, to put an end to the exploitation and dispossession of people and the destruction of the environment, reforms are not enough, revolution is needed.

    Other consequences of the contradiction between anarchy and organization and competition between capitalists are economic crises and reactionary wars. Economic crises have been occurring since the beginning of capitalism, and continue to occur, although now they do not occur simply at the level of one country but often at the international level, such as the Great Recession of 2008. On the other hand, the competition between capitalists and blocs of capital is also expressed as competition between countries, especially between imperialist countries to divide up the world among themselves and dominate it, which has led to two world wars and countless smaller reactionary wars. As we discussed, the current competition and contention between U.S., Russian, Chinese, and other imperialists has already expressed itself in reactionary wars of various kinds and threatens humanity with the possibility of a larger conflagration between nuclear powers. Nor can economic crises and wars be abolished without ending their essential source in today’s world: The world capitalist-imperialist system.

    Another expression of capitalism’s fundamental contradiction between socialized production and private appropriation is the contradiction that exists between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, that is, between wage workers and capitalists. The workers are exploited by the capitalists. Where do the profits of the capitalists come from? Some capitalists work, but their profits do not come from their work but from their capital. This is most clearly seen in the case of capitalists who do not work but still receive profits from their stocks, bonds and other financial securities. On the surface it is as if their money has the property of generating more money just by itself. But money itself is just paper money, notes (and, increasingly, electronic data). You can keep your money under your mattress, but no matter how long you wait, it’s not going to grow. Money only generates more value when it becomes capital, that is, when it enters into the process of production and sale of merchandise, products and services. Who produces those products and provides those services? Workers. Although they use machines, installations, means of transport, and anything else that is the property of the capitalist or capitalist company that employs them, these means in turn were produced by other workers. The profits of the capitalists are the product of the exploitation of the workers. Their control of the means of production (machines, installations, transport, etc.) allows them to pay workers in wages an amount equivalent to only part of the value they have created, and to keep the other part as their profit.

    Capitalism, which first arose mainly in Europe, has expanded to form the world system of capitalism-imperialism. This happened during the last decades of the 19th century and began in Mexico in an important way during the Porfiriato [government of president Porfirio Díaz], when several foreign companies came into Mexico to develop a capitalism dominated by and subordinated to their countries of origin, such as the United States, England and France. As a result, today most of the countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, although formally independent, are dominated and oppressed by the imperialist countries, such as the United States, Russia, China, various countries in Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, etc. This domination and oppression makes possible not only the exploitation but also the superexploitation of the majority of the workers in the oppressed countries. It is estimated, for example, that a male or female worker in Mexico earns something like one-eighth or less of what their counterpart earns in the United States.

    There are other contradictions of much importance in the world and in Mexico, such as the oppression of women and the oppression and racism regarding indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants. These contradictions arose long before capitalism. The oppression of women arose at the time of the first class societies, of exploiters and exploited thousands of years ago. The national oppression of indigenous people for being indigenous has its roots in colonial conquest and domination, although classes, exploitation and oppression existed in these lands before these lands were invaded, their original inhabitants were conquered and almost exterminated by the Spanish colonialists. Black people were kidnapped from Africa and brought here by Spanish colonizers to work as slaves. However, the capitalist-imperialist system in the world has incorporated and maintained the oppression of women, indigenous people and other types of oppression, while changing some of the forms of this oppression to suit the needs of the system.

    The patriarchal family, in its various forms, has been a foundation of a whole society based on exploitation, since the division of societies into classes, and is an essential institution for the oppression and control of women, the reproduction of the workforce and atomized consumption in capitalist society. In the family and in society in general, patriarchy (male supremacy) is essential for the social and political stability of this system, including the privileges of men over women which, in general, make them participants in their oppression or at least beneficiaries of this oppression. And the oppression of women also serves to generate huge profits from their superexploitation in the workforce at large, as well as the lucrative “sex industry.” For these and many other reasons, the oppression of women is a fundamental pillar of the capitalist system and can only be overcome through the most radical revolution in human history, communist revolution.

    To go deeper into a scientific understanding of the fundamental role of the oppression of women in all class societies, as well as the central role of the struggle against this oppression throughout the process of transformation of the world capitalist-imperialist system towards world communism, we recommend reading, among other works, Break ALL the Chains! Bob Avakian on the Emancipation of Women and the Communist Revolution; The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, by Friedrich Engels; as well as, from the Revolutionary Communist Organization, Mexico (OCR, M), ¡Desencadenar el coraje y lucha de las mujeres contra las causas y los responsables de tanta violencia e injusticia!; y Apoyar y extender la revuelta contra la violencia machista [Unleash the fury and struggle of women against the causes and those responsible for so much violence and injustice!; and Support and extend the upheaval against sexist violence].

    The mostly capitalist system in Mexico today has another fundamental pillar in the oppression of indigenous peoples. The systematic structure of oppression, racism and disdain for “dark-colored” people in general is deeply rooted throughout society. The superexploitation of indigenous and peasant labor plays an essential role in agriculture, construction and other sectors, while the dispossession and theft of land and resources from indigenous peoples is an important engine of capital accumulation. There will be no real revolution without eradicating the oppression of indigenous peoples and racism, and there will be no true liberation for indigenous people without communist revolution.

    For more analysis of the oppression of indigenous peoples and the prominent role they are to play in the liberatory revolution, we recommend La opresión y la emancipación de los pueblos indígenas [The Oppression and Emancipation of Indigenous Peoples], also from OCR, Mexico [Revolutionary Communist Organization, Mexico]. OCR, M publications are available in Spanish without cost electronically at http://aurora-roja.blogspot.com.

    What we are emphasizing here is that the oppression of women and the oppression of indigenous peoples are fundamental and integral parts of the current capitalist system and that all capitalist relations will not be abolished without abolishing these forms of oppression, nor will it be possible to abolish the oppression of women and indigenous peoples without overthrowing capitalism and eradicating all the economic and social relations characteristic of capitalism, as well as the corresponding ideas.

    To put an end to capitalism and all the ills it brings, it is necessary to overcome the fundamental contradiction of capitalism between socialized production and private appropriation. This fundamental contradiction is and can only be overcome by socializing appropriation, so that it corresponds to the socialized character of production. This is achieved through communist revolution and through it alone. In this way it is possible to begin a great liberatory process to finally end all forms of exploitation and oppression, as well as end the destruction of the environment. The first essential step, as we have seen, is to overthrow, to shatter the capitalist state, which is what serves to defend and reproduce the capitalist system. With this, it will be possible to begin to socialize the appropriation, turning the big companies and means of production into the property of the whole people. In the specific conditions of Mexico, it will also be necessary to distribute agrarian lands and carry out a process of voluntary collectivization of the widespread small production and commerce in the countryside and the city. To learn and study more about the program of this revolution in Mexico, please see La revolución liberadora: orientación estratégica y programa básico [Liberatory Revolution: Strategic Orientation and Basic Program] by the OCR, M.

    By socializing the main means of production, it becomes possible to plan the economy to serve the needs of the people and the protection and restoration of the environment, rather than serving the maximization of capitalist profits. The experience of the first socialist societies in the world, in Russia from 1917 to 1956 and in China from 1949 to 1976, basically confirmed Marx’s theses, that this revolution makes it possible to start making big transformations to eliminate exploitation, raise the economic, social and cultural well-being of the people, liberate women and oppressed peoples, and much more.

    Through more than 50 years of work, Bob Avakian has learned from the big breakthroughs and has also identified and criticized scientifically important shortcomings and secondary errors from those early experiences. The in-depth study, and above all the criticism and rupture that Avakian made with certain important methodological errors in previous communist theory, has made it possible to develop a new synthesis of communism, which includes a new vision and understanding of socialism that is even more revolutionary, scientific, dynamic, and liberating. This guide for a new socialist society is importantly embodied in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America. Although this is a draft proposal of the Constitution for what is now the United States, it sets out many principles and policies for a new liberatory socialist society that have universal application in today’s world.

    Bob Avakian, learning from Mao’s great theoretical contributions, has also further deepened Marx’s understanding that socialism, while a breakthrough, is and can only be a transition to world communism. Even after basic socialist transformation, many economic and social relations and inequalities inherited from the old society, as well as corresponding ideas, persist. The capitalist-imperialist system also persists in other parts of the world, which continues to exert relentless pressure on the new socialist society or societies. People have to be mobilized to transform all this more and more, in specific countries and finally in the whole world, to finally reach communism, society without classes, throughout the world. Throughout this period of socialist revolution, classes, class struggle and the danger of capitalist restoration persist. In fact, capitalism was restored in Russia as of 1956, and in China as of 1976. What has been learned from those experiences is reflected in the New Communism, whose application will make it possible to advance more and better in the next wave of proletarian revolutions in the world. (For more on the history of socialism and the class struggle under socialism, see, among other titles You Don't Know What You Think You “Know” About... The Communist Revolution and the REAL Path to Emancipation: Its History and Our Future, Interview with Raymond Lotta (This work, as well as the aforementioned Constitution, other works by Bob Avakian, coverage, and other revolutionary materials, are available at revcom.us).

    With the immense development of production, technology and science, a product of the socialized production of capitalism, no material need exists for anyone to go hungry, or lack housing or many other things that the operation of this system denies billions of people in the world, as well as 43.9 percent of the Mexican population living in poverty, according to official government figures (or 72 percent, according to another methodology, see Boltvinik, LJ, 02/04/2022). If people continue to suffer unnecessarily, this is only due to the capitalist appropriation of the fruit of socialized production, as well as the capitalist state that defends this appropriation.

    By establishing socialism, as a process of transition to communism, through revolution, not only can rapid progress be made to satisfy the material needs of the population, other big transformations that can only be dreamed of now will also be possible and necessary. Science, culture and the arts will be widely promoted in society and the participation of the basic masses who are generally excluded from these spheres will be encouraged. At the same time, a great boost will be given to the contributions of professional scientists, especially in the face of the environmental emergency, but also in other fields. New possibilities, resources and freedom will be opened up to artists, writers and other cultural professionals to foster a vibrant and inspiring new culture. Dissent and debate in society will not only be allowed but encouraged, which the communist party will strive to learn from and promote in a way that will help mobilize and enable more and more people to grapple with the big challenges of the socialist transformation towards communism. The masses will be mobilized in their millions to grapple with and struggle to overcome the big inequalities inherited from the old society (as well as the corresponding ideas that seek to justify them): The inequalities between men and women, between indigenous and non-indigenous people, between intellectual work and manual work, between the city and the countryside, etc.

    Not only will the impunity of femicides, rapists and harassers end, but the fury of women will be unleashed as a big revolutionary force to transform society overall and to fight for equality and full participation of women in all spheres of society, criticize and combat all manifestations of sexist and patriarchal ideology, transform the family and gender stereotypes, and free LGBT+ people from the oppression they suffer under the current order. Indigenous people will have played a decisive role in the triumph of the revolution and will make immense contributions to the socialist transformation in general, the rescue and protection of the environment and the elimination of their own oppression. Indigenous regional autonomy will be established and their languages and the development of their cultures will be promoted in the socialist context so as to create and enrich a truly multinational and revolutionary culture. A determined struggle will be undertaken throughout society for full equality, and racism against indigenous and Afro-Mexicans, as well as any expression of white or mestizo supremacy, will be criticized and combated. Internationalism and the cause of the emancipation of all humanity will be upheld, supporting and promoting liberatory revolution throughout the world, while forging unity with as many people as possible to fight resolutely to stop and reverse as far as possible the current environmental disaster.

    In short, capitalism, by developing socialized production in the world, has created the basis for being able to build a superior society, socialism, by means of a true revolution. This socialism will create a new liberatory and much better society in which we would all like to live. It will be a transition and an integral part of the struggle for communism throughout the world, ultimately completely eliminating all forms of exploitation, oppression, war, and environmental destruction.

    The Essential and Firm Material Basis for Communist Revolution Is In the Contradictions of the Capitalist System Itself

    Capitalism has not only created the basis and the need for another superior society, socialism as a transition to communism. Also the contradictions of the capitalist system are the firm material basis for the revolution that is needed to establish this new liberatory society. This fact contrasts with what is commonly assumed, that the basis for revolution is what people are thinking or doing at any given moment.

    We have already discussed several of these essential contradictions of the capitalist system that are the firm material basis for revolution: The fundamental contradiction of capitalism between socialized production and private appropriation, with the driving force of anarchy and the exploitation of workers by the capitalists; the domination of an oppressed country like Mexico by imperialism; the patriarchal oppression of women; the oppression of indigenous peoples; the environmental emergency; and the danger of reactionary wars. There is also the contradiction between the peasants and the landowners and caciques; the persistence of certain semi-feudal relationships, especially in the countryside, and other contradictions.

    As Mao said (in “A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire”), if you want to know the perspectives of the revolution, you need to analyze whether the main contradictions of the current system, which are the material basis of the revolution, are intensifying or lessening. Or as Bob Avakian points out “the basis for revolution lies in the very contradictoriness of the system that needs to be overthrown, the capitalist-imperialist system—that it’s the basic contradictions of this system... contradictions which this system cannot resolve in any way, in any fundamental sense, and certainly not in the interests of the masses of people and ultimately all of humanity. This is the basis for revolution, not what people are thinking or doing at any given time, how many people are with it or against it at any given time, whether people give it thumbs up or thumbs down at any given time—all that is not the basis for revolution, but the basis lies in these contradictions of the system itself” (The Strategic Approach to Revolution and Its Relation to Basic Questions of Epistemology and Method).

    This is the scientific understanding of the material basis for revolution, which is based on the real contradictions of the system in its development. It takes science, the science of the new communism, to penetrate below the surface in order to understand the need for and actual possibilities of revolution. This scientific understanding contrasts with the all-too-common approach that Bob Avakian (BA) calls “Facebook ideology” or “populist epistemology” (epistemology means the theory of knowledge or how you come to know whether something is true or false). If you do not apply the science that Marx and Engels founded and that has been developing now into BA’s new communism, “you are, to use Lenin’s phrase, continually whipped around by the chops—the petty chops and changes of daily life. And this is what we see happening way too often, not only to people among the masses broadly, but also among the communists. People are whipped around by the petty chops and changes of daily life. ‘Oh, we went out today and people’—it’s like Facebook, they have Facebook ideology, you know, ‘We went out today and people gave us a thumbs up. Yaaaaay! Maybe we could have a revolution in some millennium in the distant future.’ Or, ‘We went out today and nobody liked what we were doing and a bunch of assholes, nationalists, or opportunist petit bourgeois social democrats, or counter-revolutionary anarchists attacked our literature table, so I guess there’s no basis for revolution.’ I mean, I’m being a little bit hyperbolic, but not that much. This is way too common a way of looking at it, rather than looking at the material world—looking at the material world and its actual contradictions.” [The Material Basis and the Method for Making Revolution]

    This populist epistemology or “Facebook ideology” considers that, if there is not a high level of struggle or a broad revolutionary ferment among the people at a given moment or period, the revolution must be a very distant prospect or outright impossible. This is not true. Revolutions are fundamentally the product of the intensification of the underlying contradictions of the system, which can come to the surface even suddenly in periods of apparent calm. One example, among several, that illustrates this is the 1910 Revolution in Mexico, although it was not a socialist revolution. As we point out in “La revolución y el trabajo revolucionario” [Revolution and Revolutionary Work] in Aurora Roja No. 15:

    The idea that, due to the lack of revolutionary ferment among the masses right now, revolution is either not possible or is very distant, reflects a mistaken understanding of how revolutionary crises arise. Revolutions are imagined to be the product of a slow accumulation of forces, of more and more people feeling the need for revolutionary change, and of a progressive growth of mass struggles until revolution finally breaks out. With this logic, if the revolutionary forces are small now and the level of combativeness of the masses is limited, it is concluded that the revolution would happen who knows when...

    But in reality, revolutions don’t happen like this, except in some people’s imaginations. Let’s take the example we know most about here, the 1910 Revolution. It suddenly erupted in the middle of the political crisis when Madero ran for president, was imprisoned, did not accept the official results, and called for people to rise up. Although there were antecedents in previous struggles and movements, the more than three decades prior to the Porfiriato were a period of relative stability. As summed up by one historian, with the rise of Porfirio Díaz to power in 1876, the country entered “a long period of political stability that lasted until 1910” and the prevailing political system in that period was characterized, among other aspects, by “a political culture of conformism and apathy, and an incipient and scattered opposition. All of this was based on a relatively successful economic development that fundamentally benefited the oligarchy and foreign capital, but that offered certain expectations of social mobility to some sections of the population” (Facundo González Bárcenas, “Estabilidad politica” [Political Stability] in Léxico de la política, FLACSO [Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales; Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences]).

    With the theory of the “slow accumulation of forces,” in the period before 1910, the chances of revolution would have been considered remote. In the years before the revolution, Villa was running around being a bandit, Zapata’s political activity was largely confined to local demands, Carranza was governor of Coahuila, Madero was a businessman who was participating in relatively small and scattered liberal clubs, where the Flores Magón brothers were also acting with a program of democratic reforms. Outbreaks of discontent, such as strikes in Cananea and Río Blanco, as well as various agrarian struggles and indigenous rebellions, were teaching-moment outbreaks that were nonetheless ruthlessly crushed.

    It is in this situation of apparent relative stability of the regime that a revolution broke out in which millions came to participate. Why? Because beneath the surface of the apparent stability and strength of the regime, the underlying contradictions in society were sharpening up. In the world, capitalism had reached its imperialist stage, with the result in Mexico of a significant increase in capital investment from the imperialist countries, mainly the United States and Great Britain, which stimulated a certain capitalist growth and intensified the domination by the foreign capital, exacerbated the conditions of exploitation of a new working class, and drove the voracity of the haciendas [big farms] that engulfed the peasant lands. This is the intensification of these contradictions below the surface that erupt with the political crisis due to the internal struggles between “powers that be” around the presidential elections.

    It is particularly important now to understand that the material basis for revolution is in the contradictions of the system and not in what people do or think at a given moment. Because we live in a situation in which the capitalist-imperialist system dominates the world even more than in the past, during the times of the first great experiences of socialism in the Soviet Union and China. As Bob Avakian (BA) points out, “Even then the imperialist system was still dominant in the world, but it’s much more—at this point it’s much more dominant. So, you could say, ‘Oh, well, things are just going back—they’re going away from the revolution we’re working towards, there’s less and less basis for it.’ Well, those are two different statements....”

    The first statement is true: “things have gone away from the revolution we’re working for over the past several decades” due to the restoration of capitalism in China in 1976 and various other events that have had a mainly negative impact on the situation. But it would be very wrong to conclude from this that there is less and less basis for revolution. Thus “you’d be seeing the more surface, not insignificant, but more surface phenomenon.” Despite various unfavorable factors in the current world situation, the basic contradictions of the capitalist-imperialist system lay “a very real and very strong basis to actually transform things in the radical direction of communist revolution.” (Bob Avakian, The Material Basis and the Method for Making Revolution, our emphasis.)

    Actually, there is more and more a basis for revolution now, because the basic contradictions of the system are becoming more and more acute, even to the point of threatening in various ways the future existence of the human race, as we have been pointing out since the beginning of this book.

    The defeat of the first experiences of socialism in Russia and especially in China was not due mainly to the errors of the communists but to the stronger domination of capitalism-imperialism in the world. Yes, there were mistakes, even some very serious mistakes, which have been summarized and learned from with BA’s New Communism, but they were not the main cause of capitalist restoration.

    However, the defeat of the initial experiences of socialism, among other negative events of the last decades, as well as a whole ferocious anti-communist offensive on the part of the defenders of the capitalist system and the very exhausting and dehumanizing dynamic of the daily struggle to survive under capitalism, have led to a situation in which a part of the people thinks that revolution is not desirable and even many of those who do want revolution tend to think that it is not possible.

    If you are relying on populist epistemology, on what people think or do in “normal” times, you will easily conclude that revolution is not possible because this is not what the majority of people are thinking or doing. But this is totally false: So, among other things, you tail the propaganda of the ruling classes who obviously have a very material interest in convincing people that a revolution is neither desirable nor possible which might end the ruling classes’ “paradise” of exploitation. This leads very directly to capitulation and making peace with the existing system.

    On the other hand, understanding the need, the bases and the possibility of communist revolution requires science, the science of Marxism, today the science of the new communism. People who really want to get out of this system of horrors have the responsibility to acquire and apply this scientific understanding. It is also our responsibility to take this to the people to enable them in turn to understand the world as it really is and get organized to make the revolution that will transform it, instead of tailing all sorts of lies, deceptions and delusions that are propagated under this oppressive system.

    As we have indicated, regardless of what anyone thinks, it is a scientific fact, discovered by Marx and basically verified by all historical experience, that capitalism has created the basis, the need and the possibility of a much better society, socialism as a transition to communism. This is true, and the truth is powerful. The truth does not convince in and of itself, it has to contend with many wrong, erroneous and even extremely reactionary ideas and approaches. However, since it is true, it corresponds to the world as it really is and can be verified with facts. With struggle it is possible to convince people, especially in these times those who abhor the horrors of living in this system and yearn for radical change, to get organized for an actual revolution. However, this can only be achieved if the communists apply science and take on “Facebook ideology.”

    On the other hand, from oppression at certain moments resistance and rebellion arise and the intensification of the contradictions of the system repeatedly leads to moments of increased crisis and rebellion of the masses in which the situation can change very quickly. In many cases, almost literally from one day to the next, thousands and even millions of people, previously apparently dormant, suddenly burst into radical political life. We have seen this in the recent uprisings in Chile, Colombia and Myanmar, among other countries, as well as in Mexico in Oaxaca in 2006, in the face of the state crime against Ayotzinapa or with the inspiring rebellion of women. Only if the revolutionary communists fight hard to advance as much as possible, even at a time when there is not much political ferment among the people, will it be possible to develop the necessary understanding, capacities and revolutionary forces to take advantage of such more favorable moments for the further advance of the revolution.

    The intensification of these basic contradictions of the system, in dialectical relation with the work and the struggle of the revolutionary communists to raise the consciousness, organization and revolutionary struggle of the masses, leads at certain moments to critical points, to revolutionary crises in which the ruling classes cannot continue to govern in the same way as they did before and the masses cannot continue to live in the same way and the possibility opens up to defeat the old state, seize state power and advance to socialism. For this to happen, a leadership nucleus that is sufficiently scientific, experienced and trained to lead, learn from the masses and unleash them in their millions is needed so that the possibility of revolution becomes reality.

    The material basis for communist revolution lies in the contradictions of the system itself. The masses make revolution. However, if there is no scientific approach for revolution and no group of people applying the science of the new communism to raise the consciousness of the masses and guide the complicated struggle to make revolution and establish socialism, either the opportunity, as in the uprisings in Egypt and many other cases, will be squandered, or revolution will be diverted and it will not get out of the capitalist system, as in Nicaragua, among other examples.

    “Waiting for better times” to do revolutionary work only guarantees the squandering of the revolution’s chances of victory when such conditions arise.

    This is why it is so important to repudiate the populist epistemology or “Facebook ideology,” understand and deepen the scientific analysis of the situation, and struggle with people for the scientific understanding that the basic contradictions of the system are the firm material base for revolution, and not what people may be thinking or doing at any given moment.

    You May Not See the Revolutionary Potential of the Masses, But the Ruling Classes Do See It—Correct Leadership Is Needed to Fully Unleash It

    These basic contradictions of the capitalist system define its nature as a system of exploitation, oppression, misery, and destruction of the environment. And precisely because of this exploitation and oppression, in various forms, of millions of people in Mexico by a small handful of big domestic and foreign capitalists and landowners, latent among the masses there exists great revolutionary potential.

    Although many of the masses today do not realize their revolutionary potential, the most conscious representatives of the ruling classes are very aware of this and are always maneuvering, using both repression and reformist illusions to suppress, suffocate and control this revolutionary potential.

    As Lenin says, “in every country the bourgeoisie inevitably devises two systems of rule, two methods of fighting for its interests and of maintaining its domination, and these methods at times succeed each other and at times are interwoven in various combinations. The first of these is the method of force, the method which rejects all concessions to the labor movement, the method of supporting all the old and obsolete institutions, the method of irreconcilably rejecting reform... The second is the method of ‘liberalism,’ of steps towards the development of political rights, towards reforms, concessions, and so forth.” (“Differences in the European Labor Movement”). He points out that the latter is, in a certain sense, a “more crafty” policy of the bourgeoisie to dupe the masses and which tends to reinforce revisionism (false Marxism) and conciliation among revolutionaries. We can see this at several critical moments in Mexico’s history.

    This history demonstrates the revolutionary potential of the masses and also shows that this potential has been repeatedly squandered due to a lack of correct scientific leadership. It is noteworthy, in particular, that even many people who have bravely fought against the ruthless repression of the reactionary state, have allowed themselves to be duped when the ruling classes resort to the method of “liberalism,” of reforms. To fully unleash the revolutionary potential of the masses, a correct revolutionary communist leadership is needed.

    The Revolutionary Potential of the Masses, Repression and Reforms under Calles and Cárdenas, and the Capitulation of the PCM

    The Revolution of 1910 ended with the triumph of the bourgeois forces of Carranza and Obregón, who murdered Zapata and Villa and drowned their armies of peasants and other poor people in blood. A dictatorship of the big bourgeoisie and landlords was re-established, although in another form.

    Millions were not content with the outcome. Many, especially among the peasants, kept their weapons and resorted to them in various cases in their struggles for land. Inspired by the victorious socialist revolution of 1917 in Russia, the Communist Party of Mexico (PCM) was formed in 1919, which participated in two attempted armed uprisings in this period. Faced with the revolutionary potential of the masses and the expansion of the influence of the PCM among them, the governments of the “Maximato” of Plutarco Elías Calles applied a policy of harsh repression and outlawed the PCM.

    The potential for a new revolutionary uprising of the masses in Mexico grew in the context of the profound crisis of the world capitalist-imperialist system with the Great Depression of the 1930s, the advances of socialism in the Soviet Union and the growth of the communist movement in the world. Faced with these dangers for the ruling classes in Mexico and their system, a shift occurred in the policy leading the bourgeois state shortly after the arrival of Lázaro Cárdenas to the presidency.

    He was not opposed to the use of repression by the bourgeois state itself: Cárdenas himself had reached the rank of general in combat against the Zapatistas and in the war of extermination against the Yaqui Indians. Rather, he clearly saw the danger that the growing revolutionary potential of the masses posed for the system. The government moved from emphasizing the “method of violence” (to use Lenin’s term) to defend the rule of the bourgeoisie under Calles’ “Maximato” to greater emphasis on the “method of liberalism, of reforms” to defend that same rule. Faced with the strike of the oilmen and many other workers, Cárdenas nationalized oil; faced with bloody struggles, even with weapons, of the peasants, he distributed part of the land, although it was, for the most part, land of lower quality.

    Cárdenas was not a “hero of the people” as we are taught, but a political representative of the big bourgeoisie who saved the system of exploitation and oppression faced with the revolutionary potential of the masses. This outcome was not simply due to these government tactics, but also to the capitulation of the PCM, which came to apply a policy of “unity at all costs,” supported this government of the ruling classes and even proposed building the “popular front” within the official party, the National Revolutionary Party, the forerunner of the hated PRI that we know today. (The serious errors of the line of the “United Front against Fascism” of the Communist International also influenced this outcome).

    The PCM relied more on the supposedly “progressive” bourgeoisie than on the revolutionary potential of the masses and sold out the possibilities for a liberatory revolution for a mass of pottage of reforms under the domination of the imperialists, big capitalists and landowners.

    Something very different happened in the same period in China, which shared some characteristics with Mexico, although there were also many differences. Both countries were semi-colonial and semi-feudal countries, dominated by imperialism and with large exploited and oppressed peasant populations. Both had gone through bourgeois-democratic revolutions that did not achieve a fundamental revolutionary transformation: Mexico in 1910, and China in 1911. Unlike the PCM, once Mao Zedong’s line won the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the party maintained its independence from the bourgeoisie and fought to unleash and give full expression to the revolutionary potential of the workers and peasants. He led them in a people’s war that finally triumphed in 1949. This victory marked the beginning of a great liberatory transformation of China, breaking the imperialist yoke, struggling to fully resolve the needs of the people, advancing in the liberation of women and formerly oppressed national minorities, increasingly reducing inequalities, transforming oppressive relations and ideas inherited from the old society, and much more.

    The Revolutionary Upsurge of the 1960s and 1970s: Massacres, Dirty War and Electoral Reform; Rise and Disorientation of the Maoist Movement

    In the 1960s, revolutionary struggles and sentiments were growing again among the masses in Mexico in the context of the worldwide upsurge of revolutionary struggle. There were several outbreaks of guerrilla struggle, some with a certain Maoist influence, such as the assault on the army barracks in Madera, Chihuahua, in 1965, led by Arturo Gámiz, and the guerrilla struggle in the Chinantec area of Oaxaca led by Florencio “el Güero” Medrano; and later the federal army repressed, in 1973, the Colonia Proletaria Rubén Jaramillo [Rubén Jaramillo Proletarian Community], created from a land seizure in the State of Morelos.

    The response of the bourgeois state to this situation was ruthless, with the massacre of hundreds of students and others by the Army in Tlatelolco in 1968, the massacre of hundreds more by the Halcones [Hawks], a paramilitary group at the service of the state, in 1971, as well as with the dirty war in which the armed forces tortured, disappeared and murdered thousands of people. The bourgeois state combined this bloody repression with certain reforms, notably the 1977 electoral reform, which allowed the PCM and some other forces of the supposed “left” to participate in the elections.

    The PCM had already degenerated into a completely opportunist and revisionist party (that is, with a bourgeois ideology expressed in “Marxist” verbiage): It supported state capitalism with a “socialist” signboard in the Soviet Union after the restoration of capitalism there in the mid-1950s; it expelled sympathizers with Mao’s revolutionary line in 1963; and it betrayed the movement by calling for students to “return to classes” after the Tlatelolco massacre.

    In contrast to the repugnant opportunism of the PCM, a very broad Maoist-inspired movement arose at that time, in which thousands of young people went to the workers, peasants and other masses with the intention of organizing a revolutionary movement. However, disdain for the importance of the theoretical struggle prevailed. They did not forge a correct line regarding the big struggles against revisionism in the international communist movement in the face of the restoration of capitalism first in the Soviet Union and later in China. Neither was a correct line developed for revolution in Mexico. They never formed the revolutionary communist party needed to start people’s war, and the movement eventually abandoned its revolutionary leanings and degenerated into efforts to organize a broad mass movement fighting for reforms. Another revolutionary opportunity was lost due to the lack of a correct science-based guiding understanding of communism and a core capable of unleashing and giving full expression to the revolutionary potential of the masses.

    The Indigenous Uprising of 1994, More Massacres, “Democratic Transition,” and the Birth of the OCR, M

    Mass hatred and discredit of the PRI, the political party which had been at the forefront of the repressive bourgeois state since its formation in 1929, led to a split in this bourgeois party in 1987, with the departure of leaders such as Andrés Manuel López Obrador himself, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and others. They would soon unite with the remnants of the putrid PCM and others to form the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

    AMLO, Cárdenas and other former PRI leaders now make claims of denouncing the massacres and the dirty war of the government led by their party. Did they leave the hated PRI because only in 1987 did they realize that their party had massacred hundreds of students in 1968 and 1971, as well as many more people in the dirty war? Obviously not. Everyone knew of the PRI’s history of crimes against humanity at the service of the system of exploitation and oppression. Rather, they left “because they realized, like many others in the ruling classes, that the PRI was sinking and that another alternative had to be created to confuse the people and save the system from the revolutionary struggle of the masses of people” (Aurora Roja No. 6).

    The revolutionary potential of the masses erupted with the largely indigenous armed uprising in Chiapas in 1994. Across Mexico, a sentiment expressed by many basic masses, students, and others was “If it gets this far, I’ll join in.” With the indigenous uprising, the opposition and struggles against the government had the initiative for several years. A big boost was given to feelings and the search for revolutionary alternatives in Mexico, despite the fact that the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) stopped the armed struggle a few days after it began and did not have and does not have a consistent revolutionary program. (For a critical analysis of the EZLN, check out Hace falta tumbar el sistema capitalista, no tratar de “democratizarlo”: AMLO, el EZLN y la revolución que se necesita, by the OCR, M [See English translation at: We Need to Overthrow This System, Not Try to “Democratize” It: AMLO, the EZLN and the Revolution We Need, Revolution #551, July 9, 2018]).

    The Revolutionary Communist Organization, Mexico (OCR, M), despite having a very small number of militants at that time, grew rapidly, attracting people seeking a more consistently revolutionary alternative to the EZLN and other forces. The organization was founded in 1989, inspired by advances in the science of communism being developed by Bob Avakian, chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, as well as by the people’s war led by the Communist Party of Peru and the regrouping of these and other Maoist forces at the time in the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM). A year after the formation of the OCR, M, an economist faction split the organization, opposing its guiding line of building the revolutionary communist party to start the people’s war and advocating, on the contrary, the organization of a broad peaceful mass movement, repeating, in essence, the same mistakes of the old PCM and of a large part of the Maoist movement of the 1960s which abandoned the struggle for revolution by centering the struggle on the “most felt needs of the masses.” The biggest need of the masses is revolution to free themselves from this obsolete and criminal system, not just a few reforms. The struggle for reforms is necessary, but revolutionary communism “subordinates the struggle for reforms, as the part to the whole, to the revolutionary struggle for freedom and for socialism” (Lenin, What Is to Be Done?). Limiting the revolution to struggles for immediate demands and failing to prepare the ground, the people and the vanguard to make revolution only leads to prolonging this inhuman system of exploitation and oppression.

    The response of the bourgeois state to the indigenous uprising and the growing protest and rebellion of the masses in Mexico was, on the one hand, bloody repression. In 1995, the Guerrero state police massacred 17 peasants in Aguas Blancas. In 1997, PRI paramilitaries trained by the federal government, the army and the police murdered 45 Tzotzil indigenous people while they were praying in Acteal, Chiapas. This was part of the counterinsurgency plan of the Secretariat of National Defense, revealed by the magazine Proceso (No. 1105), to “Secretly organize sections of the civilian population... who will be used under orders to support our operations,” with “training and support from…paramilitary organizations, which may be the basic beginning of mobilization for military operations….” The current government continues to use these and other paramilitary forces, already well involved with organized crime, to attack base areas for the EZLN and other communities in Chiapas.

    The Acteal massacre, instead of suffocating the struggle, fueled it further. The insidious crime provoked a wave of condemnation against the government, with 200,000 people marching in Mexico City, among other protests. More massacres carried out directly by the army followed, in El Bosque, Chiapas, and El Charco, Guerrero. Mass anger only grew more. Faced with this explosive situation, a section of the ruling classes in Mexico, with the participation of representatives of U.S. imperialism, devised the so-called “democratic transition,” abandoning the system of electoral fraud to a sufficient degree so as to allow Vicente Fox, of the National Action Party [PAN], to win the federal presidency in 2000.

    This maneuver disoriented many people who had been fighting against the so-called “PRI government,” thinking that the fundamental problem was the PRI, and not the entire oppressive system that this party and the other bourgeois parties represent and defend. An important section of the people stopped fighting and several leaders even entered into the new government. This was interrelated with earlier setbacks in the revolution worldwide due to several factors. One was the restoration of capitalism in China, as a result of which there were no longer any socialist countries in the world. Another was the collapse of the Soviet Union, which, although it had already been capitalist and imperialist for a long time, was used by the Western bourgeoisie to proclaim the supposed death of communism. The situation was also influenced by the unfavorable polarization in the world between the imperialists of the United States and Western Europe, on the one hand, and various fundamentalist Islamic forces on the other. Finally, the people’s wars in Peru (started in 1980) and Nepal (started in 1996), which raised the hopes of millions around the world, collapsed when the communist parties that were leading them deviated off track into opportunism when faced with new difficult problems. In this context, the struggle for the revolution in Mexico entered a period of relative ebb.

    Growing Revolutionary Potential of the Masses and Attempts to Suffocate This Potential With the War Against the People, Ayotzinapa and Other State Crimes, as well as the So-Called “4T”: People Must Get Organized for Revolution

    It soon became clear that the so-called “democratic transition” and the replacement of the PRI by the PAN in the federal government did not represent any fundamental change in the repressive nature of the state. As we noted at that time “in matters of repressing the people, the federal government and the PAN are not far behind, as evidenced by the bloody repression in Cancún orchestrated by the Presidential General Staff against opponents of imperialist globalization, the torture and rapes of women in Guadalajara in 2004 on the orders of the then governor and current Secretary of the Interior, Francisco Javier Ramírez Acuña, the death of the Pasta de Conchos miners due to the insistence of the company and the consent of the federal government in maintaining highly unsafe conditions for the sake of greater profitability, the murder of two Sicartsa workers, two murders and rapes and sexual abuse of two dozen women in Atenco in May 2006, the whole repugnant dirty campaign to impose Felipe Calderón as president, the direct intervention of Calderón to cover up the rape of the elderly indigenous woman Ernestina Ascencio Rosario by soldiers from the army, etc., etc.”

    In this context, the righteous rebellion in Oaxaca broke out in 2006: “In the face of a governor, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (URO), who wanted to crush any opposition to this system and to his own crimes and corruption with a wave of repression and assassinations, hundreds of thousands of Oaxacans took to the streets and forcefully declared ‘enough is enough!’ This mass rebellion put the Oaxaca state government in check and shook the foundations of the power of the rich and powerful throughout the country. URO, in barely concealed collusion with the federal government, launched ‘death convoys’ that attempted to impose their bloody ‘order’ at gunpoint. The barricades that the people erected in self-defense response created a kind of liberated territory in the center of the city of Oaxaca, in which the government forces only dared to enter heavily armed, and where the seeds of a new people’s power in the making bloomed like wild flowers after the rain” (Oaxaca. La lucha política independiente del pueblo, heraldo de una nueva revolución [Oaxaca. The independent political struggle of the people, harbinger of a new revolution]).

    There were dozens of martyrs of that people’s rebellion, which was finally crushed by the intervention of the federal police. Shortly afterwards, the new head of the bourgeois state, by means of electoral fraud, Felipe Calderón, announced the “war on organized crime,” which in reality was and continues to be, despite changes in rhetoric and tactics, a true preemptive counterinsurgency war against the people. As we have analyzed, this war “does not seek to put an end to drug trafficking but rather to put in order and control the illegal drug market and, above all, to prop up the state and its ability to protect the prevailing social order” with “major interpenetration between the cartels and the government at all levels” in which “both the government and the cartels commit horrible crimes against the people” with a huge toll of murders, disappearances and torture throughout the country. (For more analysis and documentation, see “El auge del crimen organizado y la decadencia criminal del Estado mexicano: frutos gemelos de un sistema completamente podrido” ["The rise of organized crime and the criminal decline of the Mexican state: Twin fruits of a completely rotten system"] in Aurora Roja No. 15)

    Massacre after massacre against the people followed: The murder of two Ayotzinapa students by the government in 2011; the massacre by the army in Tlatlaya, State of Mexico, of 22 civilians who had surrendered to the army, with orders to “kill criminals in hours of darkness”; the massacre of demonstrators in an operation by federal and state police in Nochixtlán, Oaxaca, in 2016; the massacres by the government in Apatzingán and Tanhuato, Michoacán; among others.

    The state crime that finally provoked a mass explosion of protest and repudiation throughout the country was the murder of six people and the forced disappearance of 43  students from the normal school of Ayotzinapa on September 26, 2014 in a joint operation involving the Army, the federal, state and municipal police, as well as elements of organized crime. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in powerful protest, not only throughout Mexico, but also in many other parts of the world. The brave fight for justice on the part of the students from the normal school and their parents, with the support from many other people, has collided with the insistence of the bourgeois state, first under the criminal Peña Nieto, and now under AMLO, not to touch even one rose petal on the clear coordinator of the operation on the night of the crime and in its cover-up: the Army. The foregoing illustrates once again that a real fundamental change is only possible by overthrowing and dismantling the current state, including its backbone, the armed forces.

    With these crimes and rampant corruption, not only did Peña Nieto’s popularity plummet—“I know they are not applauding me,” he once confessed—but more and more people came to hate the government and everything it stood for. A critical point was being reached for the stability of the system in the face of growing mass anger.

    It is in this situation that López Obrador warns his opponents in the ruling classes that they are playing with fire. In front of a banking convention in March, prior to the 2018 elections, he declared: “If they dare to commit electoral fraud, I am also going to Palenque and to see who is going to tie up the tiger.” “Regardless of whoever may release the tiger, or whoever may tie it up, I will no longer be arresting people after electoral fraud, that is clear” (Forbes online, 03/09/2018). With this he takes “credit” for having contained the anger of the people due to the electoral frauds of 2006 and 2012, pointing out to the bankers their great service and usefulness in maintaining the stability of the system.

    In effect, López Obrador also expressed that, if his opponents in the ruling classes did not allow mass anger to be channeled towards his election, there would be a social explosion that would be very difficult to control. This was very true and played a role in his electoral victory, which raised hopes for real change among many people. This was a false way out, another false illusion for the masses, as we have pointed out throughout several decades and as the facts of his mandate have been proving more and more. No election, no change in the personnel at the head of the current bourgeois state is going to lead to a real change in the interests of the people. “Because the current state is a structure at the service of current economic and social relations. These relations function according to a logic, the logic of capitalist relations, and without destroying this state and radically transforming these relations, those in power, whoever they are, even if Karl Marx himself were the president, would inevitably end up serving the logic of those relations and this system” (La revolución liberadora, Orientación estratégica y programa básico [Liberatory Revolution, Strategic Orientation and Basic Program]).

    All the history that we have outlined here shows that there is large latent revolutionary potential in the people. Although many people doubt it, the ruling classes and their political representatives are well aware of this and are always maneuvering, using both repression and reformist illusions to suppress, suffocate and control this revolutionary potential.

    This brief history also illustrates the fact that several revolutionary opportunities have been lost due to the lack of correct guiding scientific understanding and a leading force capable of applying it. And this is precisely what is needed to give full expression to the revolutionary potential of the masses of people.

    False Hopes in the So-Called 4T Begin to Fade; New Outbreaks of Protest and Rebellion Arise

    As we analyzed with the beginning of the new government headed by AMLO in 2018:

    López Obrador, as the representative of a section of the big capitalists that he is, essentially seeks to follow the same path of capitalist development subordinated to imperialism with a little more economic intervention by the state and a few more crumbs for the masses. As he himself says, the “model” he seeks to re-establish is “stabilizing development” (the period of relatively rapid economic development subordinated to imperialism and administered by the PRI in the 1950s and 1960s, which was marked, among other things, by several bloody repressions to maintain the “stability” of the system and of the investments of big domestic and foreign capital). This program is in no way going to solve the big problems of the oppression of women and indigenous peoples, global warming and environmental destruction, imperialist domination, enforced disappearance and rampant reactionary violence, hunting down, detention and deportation of migrants, exploitation, poverty and misery of the majority of the people, among others. On the other hand, the “Programa revolucionario para un país socialista, independiente e internacionalista” [Revolutionary Program for a Socialist, Independent and Internationalist Country] outlined in La revolución liberadora, correctly points out the revolution necessary to emancipate us from all these evils...

    The government of López Obrador and Morena poses new challenges and opportunities for those of us who are fighting for that liberatory communist future for humanity. In the short term, it mainly poses greater difficulties by stirring up more illusions among broad masses that there can be significant change by reforming the current reactionary system. We must not exaggerate the situation: It is not true that “everyone is with AMLO and Morena”… However, this is a real problem that we have to face. Although the very functioning of the system is going to show that actual profound changes for the majority of the people are not possible under this system, in the absence of the struggle for the real revolutionary alternative, the spontaneous unfolding of this is going to either settle for small changes in an intolerable situation, or cynicism and the idea that “nothing can be done, they are all the same thing” among many who see that AMLO/Morena are not the solution. That is why it is so important that we promote revolution, new communism, and the analysis of what AMLO represents… (Empuñar el Nuevo Comunismo para avanzar hacia el partido y la revolución liberadora [Wield the New Communism to Advance Towards the Party and Liberatory Revolution])

    Events have confirmed that this analysis was correct. Indeed, the false illusions among many people have posed difficulties for revolution, not to mention the shameless staunch defense of the crimes of the current government by several people who previously played a more critical role when their electoral bourgeois party was not in power. On the other hand, the very functioning of the system and the crimes of the government are beginning to dispel false illusions among some people, and new outbreaks of protest and rebellion are arising.

    The revolts of women are shaking the world, among which the very radical wave of protest that broke out in Mexico starting in 2019 stands out. The righteous rage of women has given rise to an insurgency, driven above all by young women, which has inspired millions and awakened yearnings for real change. The response of the “government of change” has been repression, “reforms” that at bottom do not change anything, and cynical smearing of the women’s movement in the voice of Mexico’s president, describing the rebellious women as “conservatives.”

    There is an increasing awareness, especially among young people, that global warming and other environmental destruction constitute a real environmental emergency that is already causing the extinction of many species and threatens the future and even the very existence of humanity. There is protest and resistance in many parts by indigenous peoples against the megaprojects of death, ecocide and ethnocide. The response of the government and the big capitalists, in collusion with organized crime, has been the murder of critical-thinking activists and journalists, the repression of protests, and the same snarking, as supposed “conservatives,” by AMLO, against indigenous and peasants environmentalists and fighters.

    The students of normal schools and democratic teachers continue to be a problem for the system, which is why they are also attacked from the presidency and repressed, not only by the PAN and PRI governments, but also by Morena governments in Chiapas, Michoacán, Puebla, Guerrero, and other states. Students and professors protest in several cases against the attempts of the bourgeois state to centralize and control more directly the universities and research centers.

    Migrants from Mexico, Central America, and many other nationalities who refuse to succumb to hunger, extreme violence, and the ravages of climate change caused by the system itself also represent a very serious problem for the system. In the face of “containment” and repression by the National Guard and their cronies in the police and organized crime, migrants bravely resist and rightly declare that “We are not criminals, we are international workers.”

    Mothers and fathers of so many disappeared people bravely fight for justice, despite attacks and smearing by the authorities in many cases, and are forced themselves to search for their loved ones among the macabre clandestine graves scattered throughout Mexican territory.

    Discontent is growing among the people throughout the country due to the criminal handling of the pandemic, the economic crisis, the shortage of medicines after three years of empty promises, as well as the malignant cancer of collusion between authorities, businessmen and organized crime with their bloody toll of murders, torture and disappearances.

    As the false hopes in the so-called “4T” begin to dissipate and as new outbreaks of protest and rebellion emerge, better conditions are being created for the advance of the movement for revolution. But, these possibilities for advance can only be materialized if we revolutionary communists struggle deeply with the people to see the scientifically proven fact that communist revolution is the only real alternative to all this madness. Otherwise, as we have already pointed out, in the absence of revolutionary science, people will come to settle for small changes in an intolerable situation, or fall into cynicism, demoralization and the idea that nothing can be done. And so Mexico and the world are going to enter into an escalation of major disasters and atrocities.

    A Terrible Future, or a Liberatory Future? This Depends Now on Forging a Growing Nucleus Organized and Guided by New Communism

    In Mexico and in the world, we face the choice between two possible futures: An even more terrible future, including the possible extinction of the human race, or a liberatory future in a radically different society in which we all would like to live.

    We have two options: live with the crimes and horrors caused by this system that threaten the very survival of humanity, or make revolution and bring into being a radically different and much better system.

    As we have already pointed out, in the world and in Mexico, the main contradictions of the capitalist-imperialist system are intensifying. The environmental emergency caused by the capitalist-imperialist system is posing a growing threat to the future of humanity and life on the planet and is already increasing the desperate migrations of millions from the Global South. The dispute for world domination between the main imperialist powers is intensifying, thus increasing the danger of war, including nuclear war, which represents another threat to the survival of humanity. Economic and social changes in the role of women are undermining traditional forms of women’s oppression while exacerbating new forms, all of which is leading either to a radically reactionary transformation reinforcing patriarchy and traditional forms of women’s oppression, or to a radically revolutionary transformation to knock down patriarchy and the capitalist system that keeps it afloat, advancing towards the complete emancipation of women and all of humanity. The aggressive expansion of big capital is leading to ruin and seizes territory and resources from peasants and indigenous communities, at the same time as the enormous growth of “illegal” capitalism of organized crime in collusion with the government and big capital in general at all levels is transforming large parts of the country into a veritable hell. The crises and enormous difficulties of the system are leading important sections of the ruling classes to struggle to establish the open form of the bourgeois dictatorship, fascism, in various parts of the world.

    All these contradictions are the material basis for communist revolution, which is more urgent now than ever, and whose material basis is also firmer than ever. It is the masses in their millions who will make this revolution or there will be no real revolution. For their revolutionary struggle not to get off track into dead ends and for it to actually lead to a real revolution, to a liberatory socialist society in transition to communism, science is needed, and a growing organized core armed with and guided by this science is needed.

    As Bob Avakian emphasizes, “whether or not there is going to be a scientific approach to revolution and a group of people, a growing group of people, organized to apply that science to really transforming the world toward an actual revolution—that makes all the difference for the masses of people” (The New Communism, p. 8).

    First and foremost, a scientific method and approach is needed. In other words, an understanding of how the world really is and how it can really be changed in the interests of the masses, which has been developed from analyzing the evidence in history and in the world, and not from simple wishes or speculations. A correct scientific approach is needed to guide the complicated struggle to make revolution and establish socialism. Without this, either the opportunity will be squandered, as in Egypt and many other cases, or revolution will go off track and will not get out of the capitalist system, as in Nicaragua, among other examples. Without a scientific method and approach, no matter how many people you have, you will never get out of the oppressive confines of the capitalist system.

    Bob Avakian’s New Communism is a qualitative development of the revolutionary science founded by Marx and Engels, and represents a breakthrough for the international communist revolution. He has developed this based on more than 50 years of work to scientifically sum up the breakthroughs, as well as the errors, of the first experiences of socialism of the last century, as well as the scientific analysis of many other struggles, of the changes in the contemporary world and many other sources. Thus, he has forged a guide to advance more and better in the next wave of proletarian revolutions in the world and create new, even more liberatory socialist societies, with a level of dissent and ferment never seen before, as well as guidelines for the struggle to advance in abolishing all forms of exploitation, oppression and social inequality, as well as revolutionizing the corresponding ideas.

    The Revolutionary Communist Organization is applying this breakthrough in the science of communism to the concrete conditions of Mexico in the world context and has forged strategic orientations and a basic program for the revolution that is needed, while at the same time this needs to be further developed and deepened.

    On the other hand, it is necessary to forge a growing nucleus of people organized and guided by this science, by applying this science to make a real revolution. In our conditions, this means fighting to build the revolutionary communist party guided by the New Communism, since such a party, indispensable to guide the struggle of the broad masses to make revolution, does not yet exist in Mexico.

    For this, it is essential to study thoroughly this science. Or as Engels said, “socialism, since it has become a science, demands that it be pursued as a science, i.e., that it be studied” (quoted by Lenin in What Is To Be Done?). It does not matter if at a given moment you understand a lot or a little, whether study is easy or difficult for you. The important thing is to understand that the possibility for people to get out of so much unnecessary suffering in this system of horrors depends on learning to master and apply this science. “It is also profoundly true that anyone who applies themself to this, and does the work, can take up this scientific method and approach, can continually deepen their grasp of this theory and the ability to apply it and popularize it, learning and doing in a dialectical—a mutually reinforcing—relation between theory and practice” (The New Communism, p. 9).

    It is also necessary to bring revolution and the New Communism to the masses: Promote this revolutionary theory, develop communist exposures and mobilize the masses in a combative struggle against the crimes of the system. It is urgent to win more and more people for this liberatory revolution, without which the possibilities of liberation from this bleak world would be wasted. It is not easy, especially in these times, to win people over to revolution and communism. It requires debating and struggling with people, sometimes even developing sharp struggle, though in a good way. This is the case, on the one hand, because of the setbacks in the world revolution that we have analyzed. On the other hand, it is because the propaganda of the ruling classes and other forces, as well as the very dynamics of trying to survive in this system characterized by competition and the struggle of all against all, lead people to internalize ideas and values that do not correspond to reality and, in fact, go against their deepest interests.

    For this reason, it is necessary to argue and struggle with the masses with the firm orientation that the masses not only need, but can break with all this, and be recognizing their true interests and transforming themselves in the course of revolutionary struggle, as long as there are those who struggle with them and bring them a scientific understanding of the problem and the solution. Therefore, we have strategic confidence in the revolutionary potential of the people, and we bring them the scientific truth about the horrors of this system and about the real possibility of a much better world.

    It Is Necessary for You to Break With and Help Others to Break With the Values And Ideas that Serve to Perpetuate This Oppressive System

    People need to break with the narrow individualism of “worry about yourself and your people and to hell with everybody else,” and dare to fight for a better future for the people and the emancipation of humanity.

    Instead of looking for excuses to not fight, people need to get into knowing how we can really fight and win.

    People need to break with the degrading values that this system inculcates, such as machismo, racism, homophobia, and others, and embody the communist values expressed, among other places, in the Puntos de orientación [Points of Orientation] of the Movimiento Revolución [Movement Revolution].

    People need to stop snarking, fighting among themselves and even killing each other, and unite against the actual common enemy, the imperialists, the big capitalists and the landowners.

    People need to break with the false hopes that AMLO and Morena are going around selling, and undertake the revolutionary struggle against the capitalist system and all its political representatives.

    And people need to get beyond “anti-capitalism” and decide to fight for the only real liberatory alternative to capitalism, communist revolution.

    It is our responsibility, the responsibility of the revolutionary communists, to share with the people the science of the new communism and to help them, with fraternal struggle among the people, to break with the values and lies of this system, to identify the true problem and the true solution, and thus unleash their initiative in the struggle for liberatory revolution and the emancipation of humanity.

    Cast Away False Illusions, and Prepare for Revolution! Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win!

    The future is not written, and this future depends, importantly, on what is done by every person who has ever dreamed of a better world. A terrible future, or a liberatory future? The clock is ticking and you have to decide. Passively accept the atrocities, injustices and existential threats of this system? Try to reform it a little bit? Or dare to fight with heart and science for liberatory revolution?

    The big crimes, crises and upheavals now and to come hold great dangers for humanity. At the same time, they open up new possibilities to make revolution and to begin a new and bright era for humanity and the planet. Let us each take on the responsibility of fighting together to achieve victory and open up this new era of revolutionary hope.

     

    Selected Bibliography

    Publications of the Revolutionary Communist Organization, Mexico, available free-of-charge on the Aurora Roja site: aurora-roja.blogspot.com.

    • Apoyar y extender la revuelta contra la violencia machista
    • “Combatir la represión, preparar la revolución”, Aurora Roja No. 6
    • ¡Desencadenar el coraje y lucha de las mujeres contra las causas y los responsables de tanta violencia e injusticia!
    • “El auge del crimen organizado y la decadencia criminal del Estado mexicano: frutos gemelos de un sistema completamente podrido” en Aurora Roja No. 1
    • Hace falta tumbar el sistema capitalista, no tratar de “democratizarlo”: AMLO, el EZLN y la revolución que se necesita
    • La opresión y la emancipación de los pueblos indígenas
    • La revolución liberadora: orientación estratégica y programa básico
    • “La revolución y el trabajo revolucionario”, Aurora Roja No. 15
    • Oaxaca. La lucha política independiente del pueblo, heraldo de una nueva revolución
    • Puntos de orientación del Movimiento Revolución (flier)

    Publications available on the revcom.us site:

    • Avakian, Bob, 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
    • Avakian, Bob, Break ALL the Chains! Bob Avakian on the Emancipation of Women and the Communist Revolution
    • Avakian, Bob, The Strategic Approach to Revolution and Its Relation to Basic Questions of Epistemology and Method
    • Avakian, Bob, The Material Basis and the Method for Making Revolution
    • Lotta, Raymond, You Don’t Know What You Think You “Know” About... The Communist Revolution and the REAL Path to Emancipation: Its History and Our Future
    • Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal), authored by Bob Avakian

    Other Marxist titles

    • Engels, Federico, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State
    • Lenin, Vladimir, “Differences in the European Labor Movement,” Complete Works, Volume 16
    • Lenin, Vladimir, What Is To Be Done?
    • Mao Tsetung, “A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire,” Selected Works, Volume I