The norms that have held U.S. society together are being torn apart. As Bob Avakian wrote in Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating: Profound Crisis, Deepening Divisions, The Looming Possibility Of Civil War—And The Revolution That Is Urgently Needed, A Necessary Foundation, A Basic Roadmap For This Revolution:

This 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.

Over the past several weeks, a juggernaut of fascism has gathered momentum in Texas. The Texas State Senate has unleashed a major onslaught to cement Christian fascism as state law. They have passed a series of measures to impose putrid, oppressive Christian fascist morality on children, promote white supremacy and hatred of immigrants, and prevent the fascists in control of the state from being voted out of power. A flurry of bills that seek to institutionalize ignorant Christian fascist fundamentalism as state ideology are almost certain to be approved in some form by the Christian fascist House of Representatives, and signed into law by the Christian fascist governor. And they provide a preview of what they and Christian fascists nation-wide fully intend to impose on the entire country.

In April, the Senate passed four bills and a Resolution injecting religion into the public schools.

• On April 20, SB 1515, which would require that the Ten Commandments be prominently displayed in every public school classroom in the state, beginning in August.
• On April 25, SB 763 which would allocate state funds for school safety to instead be used to hire chaplains as counselors. These chaplains would not need to be approved by the State Board for Educator Certification.
• On April 25, Senate Resolution 24, which calls for erecting an anti-abortion “life monument” on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol. The statue of a woman with a visible fetus in her womb would join the other statues on the grounds that celebrate the murderous history of Texas and America, as well as oppressive religious doctrine—from the Confederacy, Texas Rangers, and imperialist wars, to the Ten Commandments.
• SB 1396 which requires schools to designate a time for prayer and reading the Bible or other religious text.
• SB 1556 which allows school employees to “engage in religious speech or prayer while on duty.”   

Also from the Senate:

• On May 2, it passed SB 1993, enabling the governor to delegate his secretary of state to invalidate future elections in Harris County. The bill targets counties with 2.7 million voters or more. Harris County, which includes Houston, and has large populations of Black people, Chicanos, and immigrants from all over the world, is the only county in Texas that fits that category. On a similar note, the Christian fascist-controlled Texas Education Agency is slated to take over Houston’s School District in June, invalidating its legally elected school board. 

Not all the elements of the fascist onslaught originated in the Senate.

• On April 30, Governor Greg Abbott’s first comment on the mass murders in Cleveland, Texas, was to describe the dead as “illegal immigrants.” (He never offered his “thoughts and prayers.”)
• On May 2, pigs brutally beat youths protesting for trans rights on the floor of the Capitol rotunda. Being debated on the floor was SB 14, which would ban gender-affirming health care for trans youth. 

Bob Avakian (BA) wrote in “This Is a Rare Time When Revolution Becomes Possible—Why That Is So, and How to Seize on This Rare Opportunity”:

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. 

Think deeply about what BA is saying. Fought on the terms of this system, the trajectory conflicts in society are on will lead to a terrible future. Raise your sights to the emancipatory vision of the revolution that is possible. Seriously take up the broadsheet We Are the Revcoms, and become part of this revolution.