Raymond Lotta is opening up great debate about the past and future of communist revolution, and the future of humanity. He is opening people's eyes to the new communism—a whole new framework for human emancipation—developed by the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian.

Think about it. At a time when the abject failure of capitalism to deal with the climate, with war, with immigration, with gender and racial equality stands out... in a world where 150 million child laborers form an essential part of capitalism's global supply chains... at a time, in short, when humanity’s need for an emancipating revolution cries out as never before… communist revolution has been ruled off the agenda.

But wait, doesn't everyone know that the Russian and Chinese revolutions were “utopian projects” that turned into “totalitarian nightmares.” Well, that's what people think they know—when in fact it's what's been drilled into their heads by this system's “experts” and ideologues... and reinforced by highly promoted memoirs of hardship and suffering. This would be like trying to understand the Civil War by relying on the sob stories of dispossessed plantation owners.

The “verdict” that communism has been a disaster is built on distortions and slanders. It has become a kind of institutionalized “conventional wisdom”—including and especially in academia. This puts a lid on people's capacity to conceive of a world beyond capitalism—precisely when revolution is so urgently needed... and more possible.

Yet because of the work done by Bob Avakian, there is not only a way to scientifically understand the momentous, liberatory breakthroughs, as well as the errors, even grievous errors, of the socialist revolutions in the Soviet Union (1917-56) and China (1949-76). There is now a way to go beyond them... to a qualitatively more emancipating future. A core feature of the new communism is the importance in socialist society of intellectual and cultural ferment—and the protection and promotion of dissent, including opposition to socialism—on the foundation of a socialist economy and in the framework of a society moving to end all exploitation and oppression. 

Raymond Lotta will refute lies about Mao and the Cultural Revolution. He will expose the nonsensical equating of Stalin with Hitler conveyed by notions of “totalitarianism” put forward by liberal anti-communist writers like Timothy Snyder, as well as Hannah Arendt. And he will challenge people to raise their sights to the revolution guided by the new communism to abolish this system and its horrors. A revolution to change everything and protect the planet!

Tuesday, September 19, 7 p.m.
Revolution Books

437 Malcolm X Blvd./Lenox Ave. @132nd St.,
New York, NY
Email: revbooksnyc@yahoo.com
Phone: 212-691-3345