Revolution #013, August 28, 2005, posted at revcom.us
Bob Avakian is the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party and a pathbreaking Marxist thinker. He follows the truth wherever it goes--and he’s not afraid to put it out there, either. He calls out the powers-that-be with a fire, depth, and humor that is one-of-a-kind. He boldly defends the overwhelmingly positive experience and ideas of the communist project...and he just as boldly criticizes its shortcomings and points to a whole new vision for the future. He analyzes how a real revolution could be made in a country like this, in a time like today.
In short, Bob Avakian is bringing something really new onto the scene, and you’ve got to find out what it’s all about.
There’s two places to start the process. The first is the DVD/Video Revolution: Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s Possible, and What It’s All About. Bob Avakian breaks down those questions on this video, before a live audience. You’ll see him go at these things in a way that’s both very deep and very accessible. The second place is his memoir, From Ike to Mao and Beyond: My Journey from Mainstream America to Revolutionary Communist. You learn about the people, the experiences, and the times that shaped Bob Avakian. You see how he came to be a revolutionary leader, and how he’s managed to stay true to his revolutionary ideals through the challenges of over three decades. You come to know him as a person. And you learn a hell of a lot about communist politics and ideology in the process!
The next place to go is to your computer, to burn a few CDs off the Internet. Online, bobavakian.net contains speeches, complete with questions and answers, focusing on religion and democracy--and resistance, revolution, and liberation. You’ve never heard anyone call things out like this before. You can also listen to revolutionary journalist Michael Slate ask--and Chairman Avakian answer--the toughest questions about revolution and communism. Also, on the Revolution website, revcom.us, you can hear Carl Dix interview the Chairman shortly after 9/11 on war and revolution, and on being a revolutionary and changing the world.
To learn about how Bob Avakian has revived and re-shaped the whole idea of communist revolution, you need to download the talk "Dictatorship and Democracy and the Socialist Transition to Communism," available online at revcom.us. The Chairman gets into the great achievements of past revolutions, even as he critically sums up their weaknesses. Beyond that, he sets forth a vision of a society moving toward the elimination of all oppression and providing the vibrancy that would make it a place where people would really want to live.
Some similar themes--along with a whole range of philosophical and cultural issues--are taken up in the new book co-written by Bob Avakian and Bill Martin, Marxism and the Call of the Future: Conversations on Ethics, History and Politics --available from Open Court’s website at www.opencourtbooks.com.
Marxism and the Call of the Future: Conversations on Ethics, History and Politics and Observations on Art and Culture, Science and Philosophy are of special interest to students and professors in philosophy, history, social studies, art and literature, political theory, science and cultural studies.
Excerpted from talks as well as more informal discussions and conversations, Observations on Art and Culture, Science and Philosophy, offers a real treat. Many of the texts in this collection invite the reader to experience the freewheeling Bob Avakian as he continues to develop his extensive body of work.
You’ve also got to read or hear Bob Avakian’s analysis of the dynamics of the heavy events of today, the real forces shaping them.and the actual "fighting chance" that people may have to wrench a better future out of it all. In addition to the talks on bobavakian.net, check out the articles "The Truth About Right-Wing Conspiracy. And Why Clinton and the Democrats Are No Answer" and "The Pyramid of Power and the Struggle To Turn This Whole Thing Upside Down." And there’s the important new series "The Coming Civil War and Repolarization for Revolution in the Present Era," now appearing in Revolution newspaper, where the Chairman’s work appears almost every week. All of these are available at revcom.us.
And that’s just the beginning. He’s written a host of important books and pamphlets on a wide range of subjects, including Democracy: Can’t We Do Better Than That?, Preaching from a Pulpit of Bones (on religion and Christian fascism), Could We Really Win? (on military strategy), Phony Communism Is Dead.Long Live Real Communism!and many more.
A leader like this only comes along once in a great while. When we get one, we need to cherish him and defend him against the powers-that-be, and we definitely need to get into what he’s saying. That’s how we see Bob Avakian. So check him out, and see what you think.
One last thing. Don’t just read, or listen to, or watch this stuff alone. Get some people together who are also losing sleep over the future. Play the DVD. Talk about the memoir. Dig into it. Debate it. Share it with everyone you know who is thinking about where the planet is headed.