revcom.us, August 17, 2020 through August 23, 2020 (#661)

Voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/659/bob-avakian_statement-on-the-immediate-critical-situation-en.html

STATEMENT BY BOB AVAKIAN
August 1, 2020

ON THE IMMEDIATE CRITICAL SITUATION,
THE URGENT NEED TO DRIVE OUT THE FASCIST TRUMP/PENCE REGIME,
VOTING IN THIS ELECTION,
AND THE FUNDAMENTAL NEED FOR REVOLUTION

| revcom.us

 

1The situation today holds truly unprecedented and momentous challenges, with profound implications not only for the people in this country but for all of humanity. Three years ago, I spoke to this reality—which has become even more pronounced, and even more dangerous, in the time since then:

We are confronted by—we are now being ruled by—a fascist regime: relentlessly assaulting civil rights and liberties and openly promoting bigotry and inequality; acting with callous disregard or cold-blooded malice toward those they consider inferior and a drain or stain on the country; on a mission to deny health care to millions who will suffer and many who will die without it; crudely degrading women, as objects of plunder, breeders of children without the right to abortion or birth control, subordinate to husbands and men in general; defying the science of climate change, attacking the science of evolution, and repudiating the scientific method overall; a regime brandishing an arsenal of mass destruction and threatening nuclear war; intensifying state terror against Muslims, immigrants, and people in the inner cities; unleashing and giving encouragement and support to brutal thugs spewing vile “America First,” white supremacist, male supremacist, and anti-LGBT venom—a regime that boasts of all this and declares its intention to do even worse.

This is a regime headed by “a demented bully” with his finger on the nuclear button. It is a regime that, without exaggeration, threatens not just greatly heightened suffering for the masses of humanity but the very existence of humanity itself, through its intensified moves to further the plunder of the environment and its boasts of unequaled weapons of mass destruction and its blatant declaration of willingness to use those weapons, including its massive nuclear arsenal.

I have also emphasized that it is this system of capitalism-imperialism which, through its “normal workings,” has brought forth this fascism, and that no fundamental change for the better can be brought about under this system, and instead this system must be overthrown and replaced by a radically different and far better system, in order to abolish and uproot all relations of exploitation and oppression, and the violent conflicts they give rise to—all of which is built into the foundations of this system and its ongoing functioning and requirements.

Right now, for everyone who is concerned with ending injustice and oppression, and with the question of whether humanity will have a future worth living—or will have a future at all—removing the Trump/Pence fascist regime from power is an immediate, urgent question and truly historic imperative.

And, for those who understand the need for revolution, for the overthrow of this system, as the fundamental solution to the continuing horrors this system causes for the masses of humanity (whether this system is ruled through an open fascist dictatorship, or the disguised “democratic” dictatorship, of the ruling capitalist class), the immediate struggle to oust the Trump/Pence regime from power must be approached not as a “diversion” from (or “substitute for”) building the movement for the revolution that is needed, but precisely as part—a crucial part and urgent requirement—of the overall work of building for this revolution.

Our fundamental goal, and guiding star, remains: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS! 

In everything we do, including in all the struggles we take part in that are themselves short of revolution, our consistent approach is, and must be, to make all this serve that fundamental goal of revolution and the emancipation of all humanity.

***********

Normally, we revolutionary communists argue that people should not vote in bourgeois elections, which serve to reinforce the existing system of capitalism-imperialism and feed popular illusions that exploitation, oppression and injustices can somehow be “reformed away” short of getting rid of the system that gives rise to these horrors in the first place. But is this the right position to take in relation to this particular election?

To answer this, we need to look at the whole picture.  [Read again]

2Already, in the nearly four years it has been in power, we have been forced to witness and endure the horrors already committed, and the grave danger posed, by the Trump/Pence regime. Trump ran his campaign in 2016 on what amounted to a straight-up fascist program, including blatant white supremacy and male supremacy, and xenophobic racism toward immigrants, particularly those from Mexico and other countries which Trump regards as “shit-holes,” as well as open advocacy of torture and thuggery by police and Trump’s “civilian” supporters. And, once in power, Trump has blasted ahead with the implementation of this program, steamrolling over any “institutional norms” that stood in the way of this, even in the face of impeachment—and with heightened arrogance and momentum once his fellow fascists in the Republican Party voted to acquit him in the Senate.

Essentially, everything that is described about this regime at the beginning of this statement is what Trump and those around him have carried out with a vengeance. This has become all the more flagrant and aggressive with the approach of the election scheduled for this November. And imagine what Trump will do if he is given a second-term “mandate” through re-election this coming November.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the response of Trump and Pence to this has also provided another graphic illustration of the anti-scientific nature of this regime and its utter disregard for the suffering of masses of people, especially those most despised by this regime and most vulnerable to and hit hardest by this pandemic.

But, as horrific as all this has been, it is not just a matter of horrific policies but of qualitatively different form of rule, based on brutal repression and violation of what are supposed to be the most basic rights.

Already we have seen Trump, in flagrant violation of Constitutional principles, send occupying storm troopers, from various federal government agencies, to criminalize dissent and suppress people protesting in Portland and other cities, and to add to the reign of terror against masses of people in the inner cities of Chicago and elsewhere.

We have seen Trump’s crude displays of “America First” jingoism, including his repeated calls for severely punishing those who, in his view, have failed to show the appropriate patriotic fervor, or who have dared to raise criticism and protest against some of the more glaring oppression carried out by enforcers of this system, in particular the ongoing brutality and murder of Black, Brown, and Native American people by police. We have witnessed his continual encouragement of white supremacist thuggery, by police and by “Second Amendment people” and other “very fine people.”

All this calls to mind the rise to power and the rule of Hitler and the NAZIs in Germany during the 1930s and early 1940s. As Hitler built his fascist movement, thugs would be mobilized to brutalize and terrorize people who didn’t show support for Hitler and the NAZIs—assaulting them on the street and in other public places. Once the NAZI fascist state had consolidated its power, any opposition was severely punished and crushed. All those who did not openly endorse and proclaim the official NAZI ideology were targeted. Large numbers of people were purged from public institutions—all those, in particular Jews but others as well, who were deemed “alien” to the “pure Germanic race” and an obstacle to the monstrous aims of the NAZIs. Beginning with the communists, but before long encompassing the Jewish population, Roma people, homosexuals, and others, concentration camps were filled with those who were considered a threat to the NAZIs or a “stain” on the German nation. And this led, before long, to the mass genocide of millions of Jews in Germany and countries conquered and occupied by the NAZIs.

All this did not happen all at once—but it took place within a relatively short period of time (a decade or so), and with an increasingly accelerating pace. The rule of law was not openly and formally abandoned altogether, but the “law” and “the rule of law” became the same as what Hitler and the NAZIs said it was. Much of what Hitler and the NAZIs did, during their reign of terror and genocide, was “in accordance with the law”—law that they had reduced to nothing more than their barbaric aims and means, murderously enforced by institutions which had been stripped of any meaning or purpose other than what conformed to and served the NAZI agenda, reduced to nothing more than instruments of NAZI atrocity.

In the whole of what Trump is currently doing—including his open calls to overturn Supreme Court decisions and precedents (for example, to outlaw abortion and punish flag burning), along with his repeated violations of the law and due process of the law and his insistence that he is the law—we can see the looming shadow of even more overt fascist dictatorship. For that is what fascism is: open and aggressive dictatorship, trampling on and perverting the rule of law, relying on violence and terror, on behalf of the predatory capitalist system and as an extreme attempt to deal with profound social division and acute crises (both within the country and in the global arena). And with the moves by Trump’s “Secretary of Education,” Betsy DeVos—who is herself a Christian fascist whose ultimate goal is to replace public, secular education with schools based on Christian fundamentalist indoctrination—we can see the outline of the Trump/Pence regime version of “official (Christian fascist) ideology.” We can recognize the looming shadow of a situation where not just school children, but everyone in society, will be required to pledge allegiance to a white Christian fascist America.

A statement from the organization Refuse Fascism (RefuseFascism.org) argues eloquently and powerfully:

Actual lines are being drawn, with catastrophic consequences for all of humanity. If we lose the right to protest—through legal or extra‑legal means—all bets are off. Fascism is not just the worst of a pendulum swing. It is a qualitative change in how society is governed. Dissent is piece by piece criminalized. The truth is bludgeoned. Group after group is demonized and targeted along a trajectory that leads to real horrors. All this has been happening for more than three years, yet with concentration camps at the border, Trump acquitted in a sham impeachment trial, and an executive order to protect monuments while First Amendment rights are criminalized with actual jail time, too many still want to bask in the comfortable delusions that this is not really happening. This is fascism. It is happening, and time is running out to stop it.

For far too long, those of us, including the diverse voices represented by Refuse Fascism, who have been pointing to the very real immediate danger—and potentially even greater danger—represented by the Trump/Pence regime were far too often met with arrogant dismissal by those who could not, or would not, see the reality and the trajectory of this regime; who dismissed the danger by ignoring or downplaying many of the terrible things this regime had already done; and who then pointed to whatever had not yet been done by this regime as supposed “proof” that it would not do those things. Now, at this late and crucial hour, to treat as “alarmist exaggeration” the fascist nature of this regime and its very real parallels with the horrors perpetrated by previous fascist regimes—this is to ignore not only vital lessons from history, but also the extremely dangerous reality of the current situation, including the significance of the fact that Trump—fulfilling his promise to Christian fascists—has stacked the courts, all the way up to the Supreme Court, with legions of Christian fascists and other extreme right-wing judges, who will move to “legally legitimize” the whole horrific program of the Trump/Pence fascist regime.

If this regime is able to further consolidate its power and make further leaps in implementing its horrific objectives, this will result in a devastating setback for any attempt to resist injustice and oppression, and will very likely lead to the brutal repression, and even annihilation, of defenders of democratic rights and proponents of any meaningful progressive reforms, as well as any organized forces fighting for fundamental revolutionary change.

In the most essential sense, the urgent need to mobilize masses of people around the demand to force the removal of this fascist regime is not in conflict with the mass outpouring against institutionalized white supremacy and police terror, or other mass movements against the outrages of this system, but is in basic unity with and is crucial for all these struggles, and all this can and must be understood, and built, in a powerful mutually reinforcing way.  [Read again]

3Simply relying on voting to oust this regime will almost certainly lead to very bad, even disastrous results. This is especially true given what this regime is already doing, and what Trump is saying, in relation to the election.

Through completely unfounded attacks on voting by mail, and preparation to intimidate and obstruct Black people and Latinos attempting to exercise their right to vote, moves are already underway by the Trump/Pence regime and its supporters to suppress the votes of those who are likely to vote against Trump. As he did in the 2016 election, Trump has already indicated his likely refusal to accept the result of the election this time if he is not the winner. And now Trump has openly “floated” the idea of “delaying” the election.

Given what Trump has already done, and what he has blatantly declared, as much as it is horrifying it is also very realistic to envision this regime stationing storm troopers, loyal to this regime, in cities all across this country—viciously moving to suppress any expression of resistance or opposition—with the approach of the election, and continuing beyond that.

The ongoing pandemic, or executive orders to quell “civil disorder” (i.e., protests) in many parts of the country, could also serve as pretexts to “postpone” the election, perhaps indefinitely.

And it is certainly not unthinkable that Trump would move to create a “national emergency”—for example, by carrying out acts of war, against Iran or possibly even China—in order to further institute even more extreme repressive conditions, with even greater numbers of para-military storm troopers occupying cities, in order either to cancel (or indefinitely “delay”) the election, or to control the voting and the results of the election if it is held.

It is of critical importance to continue to build resistance, right now and in an increasingly powerful way, against any and all repressive moves by Trump, including by building mass opposition to this regime’s attempts at voter suppression and through mass mobilization in support and defense of those who are targets of such suppression.

With the full awareness of what is represented by this fascist regime, and what it means that Trump is not only seeking to suppress the votes of people who will vote against him but is also preparing to utilize forceful, violent repression to remain in office if he is not declared the winner in the election, it is of critical and urgent importance to build now truly massive and sustained mobilization around the unifying demand that this regime must be OUT NOW!—with an orientation of being prepared to continue this even past the election, if the situation requires it.

From the first days of the Trump/Pence regime, Refuse Fascism has been calling out the fascism of this regime and calling for the mass mobilization to drive out this regime that is now, all the more urgently, required. It would have been very good—it could have made a real difference—if all those who hate this regime but failed, or refused, to recognize its actual fascist nature and the great danger to humanity it poses as such, had much earlier responded to and actively taken up this call by Refuse Fascism. Now, finally, there is a growing recognition, and increasing discussion, about the “authoritarian” nature of this regime, and even the use of the term “fascism” to describe it. (As I have pointed out, on the part of many, this is a case of “Oh, now they’re saying” this is fascism, as if that has just become the case. But, with an understanding of the profound stakes involved, it is important to recognize that now is better than never.) The hour is getting late—but it is still not too late to make this mass mobilization a reality. Relying on, and confining actions within, the “norms” and “regular channels” of this system, including the upcoming election, cannot solve this profound and urgent problem, especially when dealing with a fascist regime and its fanatical followers that are determined to trample on and tear up those “norms.”  [Read again]

4At this critical hour, every appropriate means of non-violent action must be utilized to remove this regime from power. And if, in spite of mass protest demanding the removal of the Trump/Pence regime, this regime remains in power when it is time for voting, then—without placing fundamental reliance on this—using all appropriate means to work for the removal of this regime must include voting against Trump (assuming the election is actually held). To be clear, this means not a “protest vote” for some candidate who has no chance of winning, but actually voting for the Democratic Party candidate, Biden, in order to effectively vote against Trump.

This is not because Biden (and the Democratic Party in general) have suddenly become something other than what they are: representatives and instruments of this exploitative, oppressive, and literally murderous system of capitalism-imperialism. The electoral process continues to be what we revcoms have called it—BEB (Bourgeois Electoral Bullshit). It remains the case that no fundamental change for the better can come about through this electoral process, and that, in general and overall, voting under this system serves to reinforce this system, especially if voting is seen as a way—and more so if it is seen as the (only) way—to bring about meaningful change.

But this election is different.

It is true that, with every election, the Democrats run the same basic con game—blackmailing people who hate injustice and oppression to vote for them as the “lesser evil”— insisting in effect that, “You may not agree with everything we say, you may even have serious differences and criticisms regarding what we’re all about—but do you want them to be in power?!” (the openly white supremacist, male supremacist, climate change-denying plunderers of the environment, and all-around reactionary Republican Party). And the Democratic Party has done this, time after time after time, while itself representing and seeking to preside over this system of capitalism-imperialism which has white supremacy, male supremacy, environmental plunder and wars for empire built into it, at the same time as the Democrats make noises about, and take some steps to implement, minor (and ultimately meaningless) reforms to supposedly address these outrages. All this has actually contributed to the development of things toward the terrible situation we are faced with now. It has politically paralyzed many who seek an end to such outrages, reducing them to passive dependents on the Democratic Party and its role in the electoral process, while adding fuel to the fire of the die-hard fascist sections of society that insist on absolutely no mitigation of these outrages—no concession to the struggle against this—and in fact demand the brutal reinforcement of this oppression and outrage, in extreme terms.

But, again, this election is different—in a crucially important way. The question is not whether Biden and the Democrats represent something “good,” or whether, in fundamental terms, the Democrats are “better” than the Republicans. Both of these parties are ruling class political parties, and none of their candidates represent anything “good” in the most basic and essential sense. Biden is not “better” than Trump, in any meaningful way—except that he is not Trump and is not part of the move to consolidate and enforce fascist rule, with everything that means.

To approach this election from the standpoint of which candidate is “better” means failing to understand the truly profound stakes and potential consequences of what is involved. The fact is that there can be one—and only one—“good” that can come out of this election: delivering a decisive defeat to Trump and the whole fascist regime. Doing this would create far better conditions for continuing to wage the struggle against everything represented by the Trump/Pence regime and all the oppression and injustices of this system, and would be a great gift to the people of the world.

Again, in these very particular, extraordinary circumstances, if the Trump/Pence regime is still in power by the time of the election, in spite of mass mobilizations demanding the ouster of this regime, then the struggle against this fascist regime needs to include voting against Trump by voting for Biden, while continuing to build sustained mass mobilization against this regime and everything it represents and concentrates, and being prepared to carry forward this mass mobilization if Trump loses the election but refuses to leave.  [Read again]

5In recognizing this, however, it is extremely important to stress once again, in the strongest terms, that, for the reasons spoken to here, relying on voting—without this mass mobilizationwill very likely lead to disaster.

There is the possibility that Trump could actually win the election—although whether he wins or loses, this election will involve unprecedented moves to suppress the votes of those opposing him and to use other illegal means to enable him to remain in power. And, even more essentially, with the clear understanding of the fascist nature of this regime, and the full implications of that, this regime is illegitimate, regardless of the means by which it has come to power and moves to retain and further consolidate power. Hitler and the NAZIs came to power in Germany in the 1930s through the “normal channels” of the “democratic system” there—including elections—but there was absolutely nothing “legitimate” about their rule and all the truly unspeakable horrors it led to. And the same basic principle applies to the Trump/Pence regime. By its very nature and content, there is no such thing as “legitimate” fascism.

Whatever happens with the election—and even if Biden wins and succeeds in actually taking office—there will be no “return to normalcy.” First of all, the fascists—those still in powerful positions, and the fascist “base” in the wider society—will not allow it. And, in any case, no one should want it. The “normalcy” of this system has always included the barbaric oppression of Black people and other people of color, with systematic terror, brutality and murder to enforce this oppression. It has always included vicious discrimination, bigotry and violence against immigrants, women, LGBTQ people, and any others regarded as inferior and “alien.” It has always included unjust wars for empire, and continuing crimes against humanity. It now poses a threat to the very existence of humanity through its increasing devastation of the environment and the ever present threat of nuclear war.

The many-sided struggle to oust the fascist Trump/Pence regime must be taken up not as a substitute for but as a part—a crucial part—of moving to get beyond all that is represented by and embodied in the “normalcy” of this system.  [Read again]

6Finally, regardless of what happens with this election, it remains profoundly true—and it is vitally important to recognize, and to act on the understanding—that no fundamental change for the better can come under this system. Even as sustained mass mobilization urgently needs to be built around the unifying demand of Trump/Pence OUT NOW!, all those who have come to see that institutionalized white supremacy, male supremacy and the many other outrages and crimes against humanity perpetrated under this system are in fact built into this system of capitalism-imperialism must work together, in an ongoing way, to build a continually growing movement and to strengthen the organized forces for an actual revolution to overthrow this system.

In summation: Given the truly monumental stakes involved, not only in terms of any particular issue, no matter how important, and not merely in terms of this country, but for the masses of people throughout the world and the future of humanity, there is a great need to approach things and act with the sophistication necessary to handle the complex and difficult contradictions involved in all this—having a broad vision, rejecting petty sectarianism and brittle dogmatism, and not falling into a paralyzing “either/or”: either we fight against white supremacy and police terror, or we fight to bring about the removal of the Trump/Pence fascist regime; either we vote in this election, or we build mass struggle against outrageous oppression and against this fascist regime; either we oppose this regime, by all appropriate means, or we work for revolution. In this extraordinary and very complex situation—and from the point of view of advancing the struggle toward the goal of finally eliminating all exploitation and oppression, everywhere—there is an urgent need to do all of thatand to do so with an understanding of the correct and necessary relation between the different parts of this overall approach: putting the main emphasis and reliance on mass mobilization, with voting in this extraordinary situation necessary and important but not the main thing to be relied upon; and, in fundamental terms, making all this contribute to creating more favorable conditions for, and building up the organized forces for, not only resisting the crimes of this system but finally carrying out the revolution that is needed in order to put an end to this monstrously criminal system and its domination in the world, in any form.  [Read again]

Promote BA's Statement "On The Immediate Critical Situation..."
With These Graphics

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Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

You’ve read this article and now you need to be part of making sure revcom.us is able to make an urgently needed leap and transformation.

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/633/bob-avakian-a-radically-different-leader-en.html

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.

| revcom.us

 

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.

Download poster and leaflet:

11x17 poster

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CONSTITUTION For The New Socialist Republic In North America

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Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

You’ve read this article and now you need to be part of making sure revcom.us is able to make an urgently needed leap and transformation.

 

Get a free email subscription to revcom.us:



 


 

Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/660/rnl-show-episode-21-announcement-en.html

Episode 21 of
The RNL Show—Revolution, Nothing Less!

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"Bob Avakian's Historic Statement, Fascist Election Fuckery,
Sept 5 Protests: Trump/Pence Out Now!"

The Revolution, Nothing Less Show

Bob Avakian's historic statement, "ON THE IMMEDIATE CRITICAL SITUATION, THE URGENT NEED TO DRIVE OUT THE FASCIST TRUMP/PENCE REGIME, VOTING IN THIS ELECTION, AND THE FUNDAMENTAL NEED FOR REVOLUTION," has entered into the high-stakes battle for humanity's future between the Trump/Pence regime fighting to consolidate fascism and those opposing this from different perspectives. We'll dive into the substance of the leadership BA's statement is providing for millions at this critical hour. We'll share the beginning impact and controversy this statement is opening up—from attacks from the official Trump campaign, to idiotic "left" snark, to serious engagement from guest, Reverend Bob Brashear, and others.

Plus, if you sense that Trump is not going to play fair during the upcoming election, just wait til you see the full array of fascist fuckery already underway that we will expose. If all this doesn’t drive you to want to act, you have morally flat-lined. But if it does, and it should, make you want to stop fascism before it is too late, good! Actor Jodie Sweetin will bring you the call from RefuseFascism.org for mass nationwide protests September 5 to demand: Trump/Pence Out Now!

 

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Subscribe to the YouTube channel, leave a comment, and spread the word all over social media to help extend the reach of The RNL Show — Revolution, Nothing Less!

 

 

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/650/bob-avakian_nothing-less-en.html

| revcom.us

 

A statement from Bob Avakian

revolutionary leader, author and architect of the revolutionary new communism.

 

To all those who have risen up so powerfully and are demonstrating to say “No More!” after the murder of George Floyd, and all the other cold-blooded murders by police.

To all those who have drawn inspiration from this righteous uprising.

To all those who have had the blinders forced from their eyes and have been provoked to think anew about what kind of country it is that we live in.

This has raised the biggest questions about what is needed for people everywhere to live fully as human beings:

AN END TO INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM
AND MURDER BY POLICE—NOTHING LESS!

AN END TO ANY WAY PEOPLE ANYWHERE ARE
USED, ABUSED, AND BRUTALIZED—NOTHING LESS!

We need a world without white supremacy and male supremacy—a world where no one is regarded as “alien”—a world without war, where people from all over the globe, with a beautiful flowering of diversity, act together for the common good and are truly caretakers of the earth.

THIS IS NOT JUST A DREAM.

The possibility for this is being powerfully demonstrated in this uprising of the people, of all different races and genders, from all parts of the world—refusing to remain silent or stay passive while all this oppression and brutality goes on.

To Make All This Real
We Need: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS!

A strategic plan for how to make this revolution, and a sweeping vision and concrete blueprint for a radically different and much better world, where all this can become possible—can be found in the work I have done, including the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.

You can learn more about this revolution and become part of making it a reality by going to revcom.us and joining with the revcoms.

We do not need to live in this world where so much of humanity suffers so unnecessarily under this system of capitalism-imperialism that cannot exist without exploiting and degrading people, suffocating their humanity and killing them without mercy.  We can do much better!  Don’t listen to talk about how “it can never happen.” 

Look around you—what seemed impossible yesterday is happening right now!  Revolution, why should we settle for anything less?

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Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/652/bob-avakian-racial-oppression-can-be-ended-en.html

RACIAL OPPRESSION
CAN BE ENDED—
BUT NOT UNDER THIS SYSTEM

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

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]

Watch BA's whole speech:

Watch clips from speech

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 here

 

Follow: @TheRevcoms
Read: www.revcom.us
Watch: youtube.com/TheRevComs

 

Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

You’ve read this article and now you need to be part of making sure revcom.us is able to make an urgently needed leap and transformation.

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/650/bob-avakian-revolution-roger-federers-tennis-en.html

REVOLUTION, ROGER FEDERER'S TENNIS:
WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER?
A LOT, ACTUALLY.

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

The title of this article will likely come as a surprise to many—not least Roger Federer himself, since he is clearly not an advocate of the kind of revolution I am talking about, a revolution to bring about socialism and ultimately communism throughout the world, in place of the current capitalist-imperialist system that now dominates the world. Federer himself is not merely a tennis player with world-class—and, as I will speak to, unrivaled—abilities; he is also a multi-millionaire, on the verge of becoming a billionaire, as a result of business deals and investments that his tennis achievements have made possible. (At the same time, Federer has devoted significant resources, and personal efforts, to charity benefitting children in southern Africa in particular, and he is widely respected and admired for being, at the risk of sounding corny, “a genuinely nice guy” on a personal level. Federer, from the small country of Switzerland, is one of the most recognized, and popular, athletes in the world, not only among tennis fans but more generally, and that is not just because of his accomplishments on the court, or simply because of successful “marketing of his brand,” but also because of what people perceive in his personality.)

What is put forward in the title of this article—that Federer’s tennis has a lot to do with revolution—can be understood to be profoundly true, once there is the necessary appreciation for both Federer’s unique, unmatched approach to and performance in tennis and what the revolution I am speaking of is, and needs to be, all about. Here, I am not going to enter directly into the debate about whether Federer, or on the other hand one of his current main rivals, Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal, is the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) in men’s tennis ( although I have made a case for why that title legitimately rests with Federer in an Appendix at the end of this article). What defines Federer’s tennis, and more than anything sets it apart from even his greatest rivals—more than all of his great accomplishments, playing at the highest level of men’s tennis for nearly two decades, from the time he was around 20 to the time, now, when he is approaching 40—is the artistry and beauty of his game. And the revolution I am talking about—a revolution guided by communism, in its further development with the new communism that has resulted from decades of work that I have carried out—this revolution, and the radically different society and world that it aims to bring into being, could not do without, and has as one of its main goals and requirements, precisely an appreciation of and the flowering of beauty and artistry, in many different dimensions of human endeavor.

As I have emphasized, one of the essential qualities that defines human beings is “the need to be amazed.”1 Certainly, in the tennis of Roger Federer there is a continual source of amazement. It is not simply that he can—and, in the course of his matches, repeatedly does—hit every conceivable shot (and many that seem inconceivable). It is not just the fact that, if you pay careful attention, you can see an incredible display of skill and artistry even when Federer hits a ball to a ball girl or boy (young people responsible for collecting and distributing balls to the players) between points in a match. It is, more than anything, the footwork, the movement—the flow—as Federer floats around the court to get himself in position to hit the ball. While with more or less everyone else among the world’s top men’s tennis players—including Djokovic and especially Nadal—their movement is broadcast with various noises, and their striking of the ball is often accompanied by audible, and often loud, grunts, Federer moves silently, seemingly effortlessly, and the only sound accompanying his strokes is that of the racket meeting and delivering the ball, with an incredible consistency, to just the spot where he intends it to go. Metaphors that could be invoked to describe this movement, such as those comparing it to ballet or other dance, are not, in this case, cliches but actually come close to capturing the fluidity and beauty of Federer’s movement.

Djokovic and Nadal are clearly great tennis players—legitimately considered among the greatest of all time—but one of the things that sets Federer apart from them (and this may seem ironic or even illogical at first) is the fact that their greatest strength is their consistency, while in the course of a match, or a tournament, Federer is likely to have more “ups and downs.” Nadal is relentless, intensely playing each point, and even each shot, as if the whole match depended on it; and, besides—or, in a real sense, even more than—his highly skilled shot-making, it is the wearing down of his opponents through this relentlessness that marks Nadal’s game and accounts for his great success. The key to Djokovic’s game is his defensive skill, which rests to a large degree on his considerable physical flexibility: he is able to return powerful (and/or well-placed) serves and great ground strokes by his opponent, time after time, in a way that puts Djokovic in at least a “neutral position,” and often at an advantage, in relation to the opponent, enabling Djokovic to eventually turn defense into offense and win the point. Here, again, although in a somewhat different way than with Nadal, it is Djokovic’s consistent relentlessness that is his greatest strength.

With Federer it is different. As more than one observer has commented, Federer is an artist, and with an artist you are going to have times of brilliance, beyond what others are capable of achieving, and you are also going to have times when that brilliance does not fully shine. Ironically again, to some degree errors on Federer’s part (and specifically what, in tennis terms, are considered “unforced errors”) stem from his tremendous abilities, particularly his movement and footwork, which allow him to be in position to hit a variety of shots at a given time, and his “racket skill” which enables him to execute so many different shots. There are many instances when Federer gets himself into a position where he has many options in terms of hitting a shot, and on some occasions having so many options—rather than being more limited and forced to just play quickly and “instinctively”—actually results in Federer “out-smarting” himself, including sometimes when he “changes his mind at the last second” about where and how to hit the ball, causing him to either hit an ineffective shot or to miss a relatively easy shot and lose the point. One of the things that makes Federer so uniquely great and breathtaking to observe is that we see the artist at work, trying things that others would not dare to try, willing to fall down at times, in the immediate, in order to find the way to reach the greatest heights.

This comes through in all aspects of Federer’s performance on the court. There is the unrivaled precision, combined with artful deception, in Federer’s game. This finds perhaps its most concentrated expression in Federer’s serve (starting the point), which is one of the very best and most impactful in the men’s game. In the case of Federer, this is not because of raw speed and power—there are many in the men’s game who significantly exceed Federer in those categories—but rather because of disguise (it is very difficult to tell where Federer is going to deliver his serve) and placement (he regularly succeeds in putting the ball right where, or very near to where, he intends to place it with his serve). With his ground strokes, once the point is underway (on his own serve or that of his opponent), it is the same—the same deception and precision, combined with effective power, or subtle “touch.” Watching Federer “paint the lines” (hit the ball right on, or very close to, a sideline or the baseline) is indeed like taking in a breathtaking painting. And there is no equal, anywhere in tennis, to his balance and racket skill at the net (volleying back a shot by the opponent from a position near the net) and here, too, he often makes even the most difficult of these shots seem effortless.

Once again, it is the movement that underlies all this and makes it all possible. As tennis author and journalist Mark Hodgkinson puts it, in a book analyzing not just Federer’s prowess and accomplishments but his unique presence on the court: Federer “Moves Like A Whisper.”2

To some, in particular those who have never concerned themselves with questions of this kind, this might seem “forced,” but in the way Federer is able to use his movement, and his other remarkable skills, to neutralize and overcome the raw power of the “heavy hitters” in men’s tennis, there is an analogy to how the stranglehold of the world’s most powerful oppressive forces could actually be broken and shattered, by the creative action of masses of people, freeing them to embark on the road of bringing into being a society and world free of oppression. But the comparison and relevance of Federer’s tennis to revolution cannot, and should not, be reduced to that. Beyond that, it is the fulfilling of profound human needs—“the need to be amazed,” the appreciation of artistry and beauty—that is the link between the tennis of Roger Federer and the revolution that humanity needs.

Federer’s tennis is not simply the product of a genetically-established high-level athleticism, but also of a great appreciation for the creative and innovative, beyond that of even his most highly skilled world-class contemporaries and competitors. Among the highest level tennis champions, it is only Roger Federer who will frequently experiment with shots, running the risk of losing a point, or even a game, during the course of a match in a high-stakes tournament. It is only Roger Federer who would feel, and at times say openly, that if he did not do this he could find such a match boring, even while he was winning. This is not a “lack of discipline” on Federer’s part, but once again a real appreciation for, and giving life to, an artistry and beauty that can and should characterize the sport of tennis—and does, in its highest form, in the game of Roger Federer. There are a few others near the top ranks of tennis who are willing, or who feel the need, to try “trick shots” and other displays of artistry, at the risk of losing a point, a game, or even a match. Nick Kyrgios, an athletic and highly-skilled young player from Australia, is the most striking example of this, but neither Kyrgios nor anyone else besides Federer has achieved the combination of brilliant artistry with the necessary focus and, yes, discipline—channeling and translating this into world-class level competitive tennis, with the consistency required to repeatedly win matches and tournaments, including the most prestigious and highly-prized Grand Slam tournaments (which involve all, or nearly all, of the world’s top tennis players and require winning seven consecutive matches, within the two week period of the tournament, in order to claim the title).

As much as there is a “magical quality” to Federer’s tennis, it is at the same time the product of consistent hard work—both off the court, in physical work-outs, to reach the peak of fitness, and on the court, in endless hours of practice. And there is the constant striving to increasingly master the game mentally. Federer is a great student of tennis. It has been noted, and demonstrated in practice, that he is very often able to tell (in observing the footwork and position, and knowing the “preferred tendencies,” of his opponent) where that opponent is going to hit a shot, even before that opponent has begun his stroke. And Federer possesses the greatest ability to adapt his game, including in the middle of a match—something that can be seen not only by serious students of the game but even by more casual observers in paying attention to the changes he makes in his approach, including the kind of shots he chooses to make, whether he “stays back” on the baseline or increasingly “comes to the net,” and so on.

All his mental as well as physical preparation and continual “refinement” of his game underlies and is the basis for Federer’s ability to both have tremendous success competitively and to do so with his unparalleled artistry. Hodgkinson writes that, early on, Federer was inclined toward the stand that doing things with artistry was even more important than winning, even as Federer has always had a very strong competitive drive. This was reflected, even fairly far into Federer’s success atop the men’s game, in the fact that Federer resisted using the “drop shot” (hitting the ball just a little ways over the net, especially when the opponent is far back in the court), believing that this shot was somehow a violation of the aesthetics (and perhaps the ethics) of tennis. But, not only did Federer change his mind on this and develop one of the game’s most effective, and yes artistic, drop shots, but more generally, and fortunately for Federer—and for everyone who appreciates the beauty with which the game of tennis can be played—Federer has achieved an unrivaled combination (or synthesis) of artistry and competitive achievement overall.

And he has continued to adapt to competitive challenges, and to technological changes that have affected the competitive challenges. For example, less than a decade ago, Federer was still playing with a racket that was smaller than those of nearly all of his major opponents, feeling that he possessed the necessary skill to hit the shots he needed/wanted to hit, and to avoid excessive errors, with this smaller racket. But the rising level of competition finally convinced Federer to increase the size of his racket, which has played a significant part in his finally gaining a decisive upper hand over his long-time rival and significant nemesis Rafael Nadal. In coming back from a knee injury and surgery in the latter part of 2016 and resuming competitive play in early 2017, aided by the increase in his racket size, Federer worked systematically to improve his backhand stroke, which was key in enabling him to overcome the tactics Nadal had used against Federer to force him on the defensive and out of position, making him more vulnerable to winning shots from Nadal. (For those interested in some of the more technical aspects involved in how Federer has been able to offset Nadal’s tactics and decisively gain the upper hand in matches with Nadal—or, as Federer himself has put it, “crack the Nadal code”—in a footnote below some of the details involved are discussed.*)

Federer has continued to play competitive tennis on a world-class level, vying still to be at the very top of men’s tennis, into his late 30s (which is extraordinary, since in terms of world-class tennis, this is definitely considered “old”). It is remarkable that Federer has been able to retain a powerful competitive spirit, and at the same time an unequaled “cool,” not only during the time when he was the undisputed “number one” in men’s tennis (and frequently referred to then as the Greatest Of All Time) but for many years after that as well. It is one thing to be “hungry” and “focused” when one is young and “rising,” striving to get to the very top of the rankings—or in the situation with Djokovic, who has yet to become, but has openly declared his intention to become, the holder of the most Grand Slam titles and presumably the honor of being declared the Greatest Of All Time—but it is a whole other matter to continue to strive for greatness at the highest level long after one has seemingly achieved all there is to achieve, as has been the case with Federer for some time now.

But, even as he was planning, after another knee injury and surgery, to return once again in the summer of this year (2020) to compete at Wimbledon, the most prestigious of the Grand Slams—and the tournament where Federer has had the most success, winning 8 times—with the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus, including the cancellation of this year’s Wimbledon tournament, it is unclear when Federer will return to tennis (interestingly, the French Open, normally held in the late spring, has been re-scheduled for the fall, and as of now has not been canceled—see below, in the Appendix, for the relevance of this to the “GOAT” question). In any case, before too long, Federer’s age will finally catch up with him, and he will retire from world-class level competition. When he does, it is likely that Djokovic and/or Nadal (who are both about 5 years younger than Federer) will continue playing for a few more years; and, if they have not done so already, it is possible that one or both of them will then surpass Federer’s Grand Slam titles record, which now stands at 20 (again, more on this, and how it relates to the question of Greatest Of All Time, in the Appendix below).

But, as truly great as Djokovic and Nadal are, and with whatever specific number of Grand Slam titles they ended up winning, when they leave tennis there will be others, young and hungry, who will rise to, or near, the level of play that has characterized the best of Djokovic and Nadal. With Federer, however, it is not a matter of quantity, not something that can be captured simply with statisticsthe number of Grand Slams and other tournaments won, the amount of time as the top-ranked player, and so on—but much more one of quality: the artistry and creative genius of Federer, which has no equal in tennis, in any era, including the present one. As much as the governing bodies of a sport—and the television networks and other financial institutions which profit from it—seem to feel the need to market things in terms of “rivalries,” and this is definitely the case with tennis, there really is no “rival” to Federer, no one whose approach to the game and performance on the court compares to his or gives expression to the same synthesis of artistry and accomplishment. When Federer leaves, it will be a long time, if ever, before someone comes along who will bring to tennis the beauty and, yes the awe and wonder, that Federer has embodied and inspired.

To return to the theme of this article, as expressed in the title, in the future being aimed for with revolution based on the new communism, tennis will not play the same role as it does in the world as it is now, dominated by the dynamics and dictates of the system of capitalism-imperialism and consequently restricted far too much to those with (or with backing from those with) a certain level of finances and resources. But, as spoken to in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America—a sweeping vision and concrete blueprint for a radically different and far better society and world—there will continue to be a need for and importance to sports, with an emphasis on basic sports activities involving the masses of people, to promote their health and recreation, but also providing for full-time (professional) sports, which will take place within the overall framework of the relations and values of this radically new society, and will serve to foster friendship and comradeship among those competing, and those following such competition, while promoting and giving expression to the joy, the beauty and the wonder that sports, at its best, can inspire.3

From this perspective, as we look forward to and work actively to make a reality of this revolution, and everything it will finally make possible, if we do not wish to diminish the vision and the goal to which this revolution must aspire, and the kind of society and world it must strive to bring into being, we cannot fail to appreciate beauty and wonder, in the natural world and in the creations of human beings, even now amidst the terrible conditions which this currently ruling system of capitalism-imperialism imposes on the masses of humanity. And from that standpoint, the tennis of Roger Federer has a great deal to do with the revolution we need, even as that revolution will give rise to beauty, and give expression to the need to be amazed, in ways beyond what can even be imagined today.

 


* Note on Federer’s Gaining Decisive Dominance Over Nadal:

Nadal is left-handed and, particularly with his forehand, he hits the ball with a lot of “top spin,” which causes the ball to bounce high after it lands (this is true on all tennis court surfaces but is especially so on clay, which is by far Nadal’s favorite surface, on which he is most effective—more on that below, in the Appendix). Both of these factors (Nadal’s “left-handedness” and his extreme top spin) for some time enabled Nadal to create a lot of problems for Federer in their matches, because (for various reasons, including the fact that the net is lower in the middle of the court than it is on the sides) hitting the ball cross-court is easier and less risky than hitting it “down the line” (over the higher part of the net, on the same side of the court the player is on when hitting the ball). So, in the course of points in matches against Federer, Nadal would repeatedly try, with a large amount of success, to hit the ball with his forehand cross-court, where Federer (being right-handed) would be forced to hit the ball, not with his own forehand—his stronger stroke—but with his backhand. And the extreme top spin with which Nadal hit his forehand cross-court—causing the ball to bounce up to shoulder height, or sometimes even higher, before Federer could “make contact” with the ball—often resulted in a situation where Federer either hit a weak shot, setting Nadal up to hit a “winner” ( a shot Federer could not return) or Federer actually “missed” with his backhand (hit the ball into the net or “out” of play), giving Nadal the point. And this was especially so in the frequent exchanges where Nadal would hit forehand after forehand with top spin to Federer’s backhand—something Nadal was often able to do, because it was difficult for Federer to “redirect” the ball “down the line,” to Nadal’s backhand, and in attempting to do so Federer would run a higher risk of mis-hitting the ball and either losing the point outright by hitting it out, or into the net, or hitting a weak shot in response to which it would be easy for Nadal to hit a winner.

In recovering from a knee injury and surgery, and in preparing to return to competitive tennis, in the latter part of 2016, Federer focused on improving his backhand—aided, again, by his now larger racket—which enabled him to “stand his ground” on the baseline (rather than being pushed back farther and farther behind it, in an increasingly defensive position) and, from that position on the baseline, “take the ball earlier” with his backhand (before it could bounce as high), giving him more control and the ability to hit winners with his backhand and generally to hit backhand strokes with more variety, including by “re-directing” balls “down the line” to Nadal’s backhand, his less imposing shot. This resulted in Federer beating Nadal in the final of the Australian Open (one of the four annual “Grand Slam” tournaments) in early 2017. Since then, in matches played between the two, Federer has beaten Nadal 4 out of 5 times—the only exception being a semi-final match in the 2019 French Open (another of the Grand Slams), a match on clay, played moreover in conditions so ridiculous, with such powerful gusts of wind, that it was impossible for Federer to come close to playing his normal game, which relies, much more than other top players, not so much on power but at least as much on finesse and “touch” and fundamentally on movement to get in position to hit an incredible variety of shots—all of which was effectively impossible under the conditions.  [back]

 


Appendix: The Greatest Of All Time

As spoken to in the main part of this article, in one sense the argument about who is the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) in men’s tennis (a debate that now centers around Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic) is mis-placed, especially if (as is generally the case) this debate focuses on matters of quantity—numbers of Grand Slam titles, etc.—because with Roger Federer it is above all a matter of quality: the unique and essentially irreplaceable artistry he brings to the game, playing on a world-class level. But, without abandoning that decisive understanding, let’s examine the question of quantity—in a scientific way, drawing on relevant evidence in its significant dimensions.

First of all, in what is generally regarded as the most essential measure of greatness and achievement, there are the totals of Grand Slam titles won. While, as I will speak to shortly, this number, taken by itself, is not adequate to determine the issue of greatness (or, specifically, Greatest Of All Time), it does provide one important part of the picture. The current Grand Slam title numbers are: Federer 20; Nadal 19; Djokovic 17.

Looking into this further, however, we see that a clear majority of Nadal’s titles (12 of the 19) have been won on one particular surfaceclay—at the French Open Tournament. It is true that a large number of Federer’s Grand Slam titles have been won on his most favored surface—grass, at Wimbledon—but the majority of Federer’s titles have been won on other surfaces. And it is not simply the case, as more than a few commentators are known to say: “Well, Federer is the best on his favorite surface, and Nadal is the best on his.” If we subtract from Federer’s total of 20 the 8 he has won on grass at Wimbledon and subtract from Nadal’s total of 19 the number he has won on clay at the French Open (12), we end up with this count: Federer 12, Nadal 7—a difference far greater than the total numbers (20 and 19).

Beyond that, clay is not just “another surface.” It is a very different surface than either grass or “hard courts” (courts consisting mainly of asphalt or concrete), the other surfaces on which Grand Slam Tournaments are played. Clay causes the ball to bounce higher and effectively “slows down” the game, with the result that hitting “winners” (either with the serve or other shots) is more difficult, and those players whose game relies to a large extent on lengthy rallies, wearing down opponents, have an added advantage. All this plays heavily into the strengths of Nadal’s game. That there is not just a minor but a qualitative difference between clay and the other main tennis court surfaces is reflected in the fact that, on the one hand, in the men’s game specifically, there are at least 10 people who have won the French Open but have never won another Grand Slam title, while there are a number of tennis greats, with multiple Grand Slam wins (on grass and/or hard courts), who have never won on clay at the French Open—including not only Pete Sampras (with 14 total Grand Slam titles) but also Jimmy Connors (8), John McEnroe (7), Stephan Edberg, and Boris Becker (6 each). (Also, among women, those who have won multiple Grand Slam titles but never won at the French Open include Venus Williams, Virginia Wade, and Martina Hingis. And, although she has won at the French Open, Serena Williams—who can legitimately be considered the greatest women’s tennis player of all time, and indeed is one of the world’s greatest athletes in any sport—has had much less success on the clay at the French Open than she has on other surfaces.)

This difference in surfaces is strongly reflected in the head-to-head competition between Federer and Nadal: On every surface except clay Federer has the advantage, while on clay Federer’s wins against Nadal are less than 15%!

There is also the fact that changes, beginning more than 15 years ago, in the other surfaces besides clay—and in particular the grass at Wimbledon—has meant that, even while it is still the case that on Wimbledon’s grass the ball tends to “skid” through the court, overall the courts at Wimbledon do not “play faster” than many of the hard courts. In short, these surfaces, other than clay, have become much more similar, with grass no longer significantly different than hard courts—and the difference is certainly nothing like that between grass, and hard courts, on the one hand, and clay on the other. Thus, Federer’s wins at Wimbledon—which have come after these changes began there—are in no way in the same category as Nadal’s at the French Open.

All this puts into perspective the actual significance of Grand Slam titles won by each. Even if Nadal were to equal Federer’s total of 20 by winning the French Open this year (assuming it is actually held), that would not change the reality that Federer’s total of Grand Slam titles is much more meaningful in terms of being representative of overall accomplishment.

In regard to Djokovic, his Grand Slam total of 17 titles is also more evenly spread out among the different tournaments, with most coming at the Australian Open, but also significant numbers at Wimbledon and at the U.S. Open, the last of the 4 Grand Slam Tournaments. (Notably, Djokovic, like Federer, has only won once at the French Open.) A number of commentators have offered the opinion that Djokovic, who is presently healthy and in “top form,” is likely (some even say “almost certain”) to catch or surpass Federer in number of Grand Slam titles.

This, however, is not certain. Federer won a majority of his titles before 2010, when he was in his 20s—although it is a measure of his greatness that he has won 3 titles in the last 3 years, at the age of 35 or older. Djokovic is now 33, and just as Federer faced very strong competition, from Nadal and then from Djokovic as he hit his prime just after 2010 (when he was in his early to mid 20s), as alluded to in the main part of this article, there are now a number of very talented younger players in the men’s game, who are just as hungry to win Grand Slams as Djokovic is to become the all-time Grand Slam title winner. Besides the question of age in general (and again, in terms of world-class tennis competition, being well past 30, and especially beyond 35, is “old”) there is also the fact that, with increasing age the likelihood of injuries, including more serious injuries, increases, and Djokovic has already not been free of injury during the overall period when he was at, or near, the very top of the men’s game. (It is another manifestation of Federer’s greatness that he has not only won a number of Grand Slam titles at 35 and older, but that he has done so after being sidelined with a knee injury serious enough to require surgery and then a period of rehabilitation.) For these reasons, among others, one is inclined to reply “not so fast” when hearing predictions that Djokovic will (almost) certainly surpass Federer, and overtake Nadal as well, in Grand Slam titles (besides the very real possibility that Nadal will win more Grand Slams, particularly keeping in mind his peculiar success at the French Open, there is also the fact that it would be a mistake—one which has been made before with regard to Federer—to discount the possibility of his winning one, or more, additional Grand Slam titles).

In terms of the GOAT argument, there is the fact that Djokovic has an overall narrow lead over Federer (27 to 23) in head-to-head matches. Here it has to be noted that this is the result of the fact that Djokovic gained the upper hand over Federer in head-to-head matches only after Federer was well past 30, while Djokovic was only in his 20s. Djokovic has continued this overall dominance in recent years, although a number of the matches he won were very close, and in 2 of their last 3 matches Federer has either beaten Djokovic—as he did convincingly in the end-of-the-year championships in 2019—or he has very, very narrowly lost to him, as happened in the 2019 Wimbledon final. (In that final Federer had two “match points”—a situation where he needed only to win one of the two next points in order to finish the match victoriously—on his own serve, but he was unable to finish Djokovic off and eventually suffered a heartbreaking loss in a classic match that was extended to nearly 5 hours. See the footnote below for some analysis of why Federer did not succeed in winning one of those two match points.**)

It was after this devastating defeat that Federer rebounded and decisively defeated Djokovic in two straight sets (2 sets to 0) in the end-of-the season championship (although Federer did not go on to win that tournament). It is true that Federer lost to Djokovic a couple of months later in the semi-finals of the Australian Open (a tournament won by Djokovic), but in that semi-final match Federer was clearly injured and not capable of playing anywhere near his best. Assuming world-class tennis is able to resume, in more or less its full dimensions, before so much time has elapsed that finally Federer has actually passed his prime, it remains to be seen whether, as he has with Nadal, Federer can gain a decisive upper hand over Djokovic, one more time, before Federer does finally decide it is time to give up competitively playing the sport he loves.

In any case, while Grand Slam titles and head-to-head competition are a significant part of the picture, in terms of determining who deserves the title of Greatest Of All Time, they are not the only factors that matter and they do not, by themselves, settle the question. As indicated above, the fact is that Federer has only been overtaken by Djokovic in head-to-head competition in more recent years when Federer has been in his 30s, even past 35—an age when, before Federer (and Serena Williams, in the women’s game), tennis players would have been considered well past their prime, certainly in terms of winning Grand Slam tournaments, something Federer has done as recently as 2018 (and very nearly did the next year at Wimbledon). Federer’s “longevity” is another important dimension to his greatness and to the argument for his status as the Greatest Of All Time. This is not just a matter of “hanging in there,” even at the very highest level, but of continually adding to an incredible record of accomplishment.

Looking at overall achievement, Federer has won far more tournaments overall (103) than either Nadal (85) or Djokovic (79). He has won far more matches (1,227) than Nadal (977) or Djokovic (893). He has gotten to more Grand Slam finals (31) than Nadal (27) or Djokovic (26). Federer has won more Grand Slam semi-finals (47) than Djokovic (36) and Nadal (33). Even more remarkably, Federer has far out-done both Djokovic and Nadal in consecutive appearances inGrand Slam semi-finals (23) and quarter-finals (33), accomplishments that are incredibly difficult to achieve.

It would be possible to go on at greater length into various statistics (and, while I believe the most relevant statistics strengthen the argument for Federer as the Greatest Of All Time, there are some that could be cited that are favorable to Djokovic or Nadal); but again, statistics, while part of the picture, do not give the full story, nor get to the essence of the matter. So, with regard to all that has been spoken to here, let me end with what I wrote near the conclusion of the main part of this article:

But, as truly great as Djokovic and Nadal are, and with whatever specific number of Grand Slam titles they ended up winning, when they leave tennis there will be others, young and hungry, who will rise to, or near, the level of play that has characterized the best of Djokovic and Nadal. With Federer, however, it is not a matter of quantity,not something that can be captured simply with statistics—the number of Grand Slams and other tournaments won, the amount of time as the top-ranked player, and so on—but much more one of quality: the artistry and creative genius of Federer, which has no equal in tennis, in any era, including the present one. As much as the governing bodies of a sport—and the television networks and other financial institutions which profit from it—seem to feel the need to market things in terms of “rivalries,” and this is definitely the case with tennis, there really is no “rival” to Federer, no one whose approach to the game and performance on the court compares to his or gives expression to the same synthesis of artistry and accomplishment. When Federer leaves, it will be a long time, if ever, before someone comes along who will bring to tennis the beauty and, yes the awe and wonder, that Federer has embodied and inspired.

 


** Note on Federer’s Narrow Loss to Djokovic in the 2019 Wimbledon final:

Federer’s failure to win one of the two match points he had on his serve in the 2019 Wimbledon final against Djokovic has to do, on the one hand, with Djokovic’s “grittiness” but even more, and more concretely, with minor mis-steps on Federer’s part. On the first of those two match points, Federer narrowly missed his first serve—which, if he had gotten it in play, would very likely have resulted in his winning the point, and the match—and on the second serve of that point, after Djokovic returned the serve to a spot deep in the middle of the court, Federer attempted to hit the ball back on an angle into Djokovic’s backhand corner, which if it had succeeded would likely have put Djokovic on the run and given the advantage to Federer, with the probable result that Federer would have prevailed. But, in attempting this, Federer “went for a little too much” (hit the ball on too sharp an angle), with the result that the ball landed out and Djokovic won the point. On the next point, Federer’s first serve was in and, in response to a fairly routine return by Djokovic, Federer chose to come to the net, with the aim of finishing the point off quickly with a successful volley that Djokovic could not return (or could return only weakly, setting up Federer to finish off the point with his next shot). But, in this case, Federer’s “approach shot” (the shot he hit to set up his coming to the net) did not have quite enough on it (it was hit toward Djokovic’s forehand corner, but not deeply enough or at a sharp enough angle to force Djokovic into a position where he could only hit a weak shot in return, enabling Federer to finish off the point, and the match, from a solid position at the net). Instead, in response to Federer’s approach shot, Djokovic was able to set up well and hit a forehand winner, which got past Federer at the net and landed securely within the court, beyond the reach of Federer’s attempted forehand volley. From there, a no doubt momentarily deflated Federer lost the next two points and the game—and the chance to finish the match off then and there—although he was far from “folding,” and in fact he continued to fiercely battle Djokovic for another 8 games, before losing the final match-deciding “tie-breaker.”

Again, credit definitely has to go to Djokovic for “hanging tough” and “refusing to fold” when he was on the brink of defeat. But, at least as much, this was a matter of Federer quite understandably feeling the great pressure of being “oh so close” to what would have constituted one of his greatest victories—winning a Grand Slam title, at this late point in his career, in a match against another great player who has dominated Federer for most of the last few years. The result was that, in a situation where literally inches decide things, Federer failed, by the thinnest of margins, to prevail. If Federer had played either of these two match points a little less anxiously, it is very probable that he would have succeeded in winning the match. (With the first match point, Federer could have “gone for a little less” with his first shot after Djokovic’s return of serve—hitting the ball toward Djokovic’s backhand corner but “leaving a little more margin,” to make sure the ball was “in,” while still being an effective shot—and then working from there to gain the advantage in the point and finish it off. With the second match point, here again having an aggressive approach, as Federer did, rather than passive one, is right and necessary—and also difficult, because in a situation like this it is very tempting, and seemingly easier, to just keep the ball in play and hope that the opponent will make a mistake and “give you the point.” But, instead of “coming into the net” right away, Federer could have again “worked the point” a little longer, in order to get a clear advantage and then finish the point by coming to the net or with a winning ground stroke. Or, if Federer were going to come to the net early in the point, as he did following his first shot after Djokovic’s return of serve, then it would probably have been better to hit an “approach shot” into Djokovic’s backhand corner, forcing him to hit a difficult “passing shot,” which could then be volleyed away for the win. Of course—of course!—it is easier to offer these opinions here and now, far removed from the court and the crucial moment of play, and without any of the pressure that inevitably accompanies such a momentous situation, in which a decision has to be made on literally a “split-second” basis; but observations removed from the heat of the moment can be valid and valuable—and, in any case, I could not resist offering these observations here, for whatever they are worth!)

As I wrote in the main part of this article:

It is remarkable that Federer has been able to retain a powerful competitive spirit, and at the same time an unequaled “cool,” not only during the time when he was the undisputed “number one” in men’s tennis (and frequently referred to then as the Greatest Of All Time) but for many years after that as well. It is one thing to be “hungry” and “focused” when one is young and “rising,” striving to get to the very top of the rankings—or in the situation with Djokovic, who has yet to become, but has openly declared his intention to become, the holder of the most Grand Slam titles and presumably the honor of being declared the Greatest Of All Time—but it is a whole other matter to continue to strive for greatness at the highest level long after one has seemingly achieved all there is to achieve, as has been the case with Federer for some time now.

Ironically, however, that very determination almost certainly results in a feeling of tremendous pressure, especially up against one’s major competitors, in a situation where beating them still has great significance, especially after they have for some time had the upper hand over you, as was the case for Federer in his 2019 Wimbledon championship match against Djokovic.  [back]

 

1. See "Materialism and Romanticism: Can We Do Without Myth?" This is an excerpt from Getting Over the Two Great Humps: Further Thoughts on Conquering the World, which is available in BA’s Collected Works at revcom.us.  [back]

2. Mark Hodgkinson, Fedegraphica, A Graphic Biography of the Genius of Roger Federer, Updated edition, Aurum Press; Revised edition, 2018“Moves Like A Whisper” is the title of the fourth chapter of this book.  [back]

3. The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, authored by Bob Avakian, is also available at revcom.us.  [back]

 

 

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The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

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So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/659/refusefascism-as-trump-threatens-the-elections-stay-in-the-streets-in-august-en.html

| revcom.us

 

Reposted from RefuseFascism.org:

Everyone, everywhere, all out for:

SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

Protest and Demand

TRUMP PENCE OUT NOW!

On September 5th we must make a LIVING DECLARATION to the world that we are uniting, we are organizing, we are determined, we are preparing to struggle with all we've got, starting now and not stopping until the Trump/Pence regime is driven from power and its fascist program brought to a halt.

 


July 4, 2020, New York City

 

 

Signup to Protest

Why Protest September 5th?
Read the Refuse Fascism Call for Mass Protest

We are speeding toward an election that Trump is already contesting and now threatens to delay.

This election, if there is an election, will be a showdown over the form of rule in this country. Will the Trump/Pence regime hold on to power and be given a “mandate” to violently suppress dissent and criminalize protest? Will a regime that brands as their enemy all those who struggle for a better world – whether for Black lives or the environment or immigrants’ rights – be unleashed to exact revenge aimed at destroying our ability to stand up again?

This and worse is unfolding now, and it has a name: fascism.

Now is the time to marshal the people for a determined struggle to demand the Trump/Pence Regime get OUT NOW. All who have been demonized and criminalized by this regime and the millions who hate Trump and what he stands for must unite with an unwavering resolve to remove this regime from power at the soonest possible time.

A fierce battle for the future is underway.

The energy that millions of people, from many different nationalities, backgrounds, and political beliefs, brought to the streets across this country after the horrific murder of George Floyd, and the determination that thousands brought to the streets of Portland to stand strong against Trump’s stormtroopers, can and must become the force to remove this hateful regime from power.

For more than three years, people have relied on the normal channels to stop this regime, only to watch them turn into dead ends. But the months of Black Lives Matter protests show how dread can be transformed into a force for hope. Our power is sustained, mass, non-violent protest in the streets. Our strength is our diversity. Our demand is for justice. These are the ingredients that have driven out hated regimes and corrupt leaders around the world, from South Korea in 2017 to Armenia in 2018 to Puerto Rico in 2019.

Using voter suppression and gerrymandering, unfounded accusations of voter fraud (mainly by immigrants and Black people), attacks on mail-in ballots, and a plan to recruit ex-military and police as “poll watchers” to “challenge” voters they deem as suspicious, the Trump/Pence regime has shown its determination to maintain a stranglehold on power through legal and extra-legal means. Even talk of canceling or indefinitely “postponing” the elections is not outside the realm of possibility. Relying on the upcoming elections without a mass struggle now to demand the removal of the regime is a mistake with catastrophic consequences for people in this country and around the world.

We cannot wait for the Trump/Pence regime to further delegitimize and degrade the elections. Just as the German people could not have stopped their genocidal fascist program without driving out Hitler and the Nazi regime, we must act with all our resolve to drive this regime – a 21st century fascist regime led by a demented bully with his finger on the nuclear trigger – out of power. Allowing a regime like this to consolidate its rule in the most powerful country in the world is to foreclose on a future for humanity and the planet.

There is no painless resolution to this deepening crisis. In the words of the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass “If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. ...Power concedes nothing without a demand.”

To stop a vicious American fascism that threatens the very future of humanity, the necessary and unifying demand – for every struggle for justice to advance – is Trump Pence Out Now! The regime has already gone after the most vulnerable while continually expanding the groups of people in its crosshairs. Even if you survive that, what will you be forced to accept in the process? Who will you become as you accept the unacceptable?

We have everything to lose if we wait, but everything to gain if we act now to bring millions into the streets refusing to accept a fascist America.

There are two futures before us. Which one we get is up to us.

Everyone, everywhere, all out for:

SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

Protest and Demand

TRUMP PENCE OUT NOW!

Launch 60 Days of Struggle
Mass Nonviolent Protest Everyday

TELL THE WORLD: we are uniting, we are organizing, we are determined, we are preparing to struggle with all we’ve got, Starting Now and Not Stopping Until the Trump/Pence Regime is Driven from Power and its Fascist Program Brought to a Halt.

The Trump/Pence regime is moving fast to consolidate fascist rule and hammer in a nightmare for humanity.

Police gun down Black and Brown people. The Trump/Pence  regime backs the police; sends paramilitary forces against the people and calls for racist thugs to exact vengeance against the people. Peaceful protesters are run down and shot down.

We were millions demanding justice in June and July. We must rise again. The next 60 Days Must Be Our Time – Not Trump’s, Not His Fascist Goons.

If masses of people are in the streets every day by October, if every attempt by the regime to subvert the election, to repress protest, to implement new fascist measures are met with growing numbers demanding Trump/Pence OUT NOW! in nonviolent protest we could force a different political equation going into November, constraining Trump’s ability to easily postpone or subvert the election and we would already be mobilized and prepared if he did so on election day.

Every movement for justice must act on the understanding that we are at a “Both/And” moment – for every struggle for justice, for people’s lives, AND for demanding Trump/Pence OUT NOW! This is not a time for “Either/Or,” my struggle not yours.

Humanity all over the world and the survival of the planet depends on what we do. Will it be said, when facing an American fascism in the most powerful country in history, that people here could not put aside their differences to stop a great horror? Or will history tell that people rose, as many acting together, and stopped a great horror? 

In the Name of Humanity, We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America!

Printable flyer of the call for September 5 

All Protest! times & places

Share this call

RefuseFascism.org is a movement of people coming from diverse perspectives, united in our recognition that the Trump/Pence Regime poses a catastrophic danger to humanity and the planet, and that it is our responsibility to drive them from power through non-violent protests that grow every day until our demand is met. This means working and organizing with all our creativity and determination to bring thousands, eventually millions of people into the streets of cities and towns, to demand:

This Nightmare Must End:
The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!

RefuseFascism.org welcomes individuals and organizations from many different points of view who share our determination to refuse to accept a fascist America, to join and/or partner with us in this great cause.

Find out more about Refuse Fascism here.

 

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The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/660/operation-legend-fascist-wolf-in-pigs-clothing-part-1-en.html

Operation Legend: A Fascist Wolf in Pig's Clothing, Part 1

| revcom.us

 

Editors’ Note—In late July, we posted a letter from a reader titled, “Federal Pigs Deployed Against Protesters and Black Communities Across the U.S.: Two ‘Operations’—One Fascist Offensive.” The letter exposed two quasi-military operations launched by the Trump/Pence regime—Operation Diligent Valor and Operation Legend—which involve federal law enforcement forces being sent to different cities. As the letter analyzed, each of these operations “is an outrageous assault on the masses of people and on the constitutional rules and norms in the U.S.” This follow-up letter (which we are posting in two parts—part 1 here and part 2 to come soon) focuses on Operation Legend, which targets Chicago and other cities with large populations of Black and Latino people.

Operation Legend (OL) is an initiative launched by the Trump/Pence regime. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), its aim is to combat “disturbing increases in violent crime” by taking “the shooters and chronic violent criminals off of our streets,” and its method is to surge large numbers of federal agents into multiple cities to conduct joint operations with local police and sheriffs. OL also involves hiring hundreds more local pigs, and the purchase or maintenance of high-tech electronic surveillance systems.

OL began on July 8 with the announcement of a deployment of about 100 agents (later upped to 200) to Kansas City, Missouri. This was supposedly in response to the death of LeGend Taliferro, a 4-year-old Black child killed by a stray bullet while sleeping about a week earlier.1 But it expanded rapidly over the next 30 days, with hundreds more agents being sent to Chicago, and dozens more to Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Memphis and Albuquerque. Philadelphia and Baltimore have also been targeted by OL.

On July 24, Trump publicly threatened to escalate much more dramatically, raising the specter of sending 50,000 to 75,000 agents into cities around the U.S.

Using the disguise of opposing violence, Operation Legend appears to be the spearhead of a major leap in violent repression of Black and Brown communities by the fascist regime, and, a major step towards wrenching political control of the U.S.’s major cities from the Democratic Party officials who now run most of them.

Responding to Mass Opposition to Police Violence by Unleashing and Empowering the Police

On one level, OL is building on a vast structure of federal, state and local police collaboration created over many decades. According to The Marshall Project, there are already over 1,000 “task forces” in the U.S. where local police work with and under federal agencies. Many of these task forces were developed as part of the so-called “War on Terror,” and the very real war against immigrants, as well as the campaign of mass incarceration carried out by both Democrats and Republicans for decades.

These task forces are not simply about “cooperation” between different levels and agencies—when the feds are involved, the repressive power of local forces is amped up tremendously.

First, many alleged crimes can be charged under either federal or state law, but federal charges generally carry much longer sentences. U.S. Attorney’s offices often have greater resources for prosecution. And people sentenced under federal law may be sent to prisons thousands of miles from their homes and families.

Second, these federal agents can deputize dozens or even hundreds of local cops, giving them much more power. Deputized police:

Federal task forces are a way around local constraints. The Marshall Project report gives a number of examples of these federalized cops getting away with egregious murders. In Austin in 2017, a deputized detective killed a man who was being “investigated”—a local grand jury indicted him for manslaughter, but the case was thrown out because of federal immunity. In Atlanta in 2016, deputized cops fired 100 bullets into a schizophrenic suspect who had never been convicted of anything besides driving misdemeanors, and again were protected from prosecution.

Third, these federal agents are not just deputizing existing local cops but are funding the hiring of dozens or even hundreds more. And they also make available to local forces the most deadly advanced weaponry and high-tech surveillance systems that allow them to spy on huge sections of the city.

So in the wake of months of protest by millions of people against police brutality and systemic racism, the fascist regime aims to unleash an offensive of well-funded, high-tech cops on eight (so far) major cities. Some of what this will mean became clear within weeks of the start of Operation Legend. In Kansas City, cops dressed in camouflage drove up on the lawn of a Black couple putting their small children in a car, pointing rifles at them, over mostly old charges that involved no violence.

The Fascist Regime Is Working to Take Direct Control of the Cities from the Democrats

But Operation Legend even goes beyond this amping up of police power over Black and Brown people. It is also a key link in the drive to consolidate a fully fascist form of rule, with unchallengeable power over both the masses and the regime’s ruling class opponents.

A contradiction facing the fascist forces is that they mainly control the federal government at this point (the executive branch, the Senate, and by and large the courts), and all the police and military power that goes with that—but city governments are largely controlled by Democratic mayors and city councils, and often police chiefs who more or less share or at least carry out their approach to maintaining the capitalist system. And the cities are not only the main centers of population and economic activity in the U.S.; they are also the centers of Black and Brown people, youth, intellectuals and professionals… all sections that tend to be somewhat or very hostile to the fascist regime. Consolidating fascism requires “dominating the streets”—beating these masses into submission—and dominating those sections of the ruling class who aren’t down with the whole fascist program. This is why Trump mobs have been chanting “Lock her up” (meaning Hillary Clinton) for four years, and why Trump himself accuses the Democrats and Obama of “conspiracy,” “treason,” etc.

And this is why OL has been characterized by being done behind the backs of and imposed on the local Democratic authorities. For instance, the mayor of Kansas City found out that hundreds of agents were coming to his city on Twitter. In Chicago, the FBI agent in charge of Operation Legend “would not disclose how long the influx of federal agents would last,” while in Albuquerque a DOJ spokesman simply refused to say how many federal agents were in the city.

The mayor of Albuquerque issued a statement saying “Operation LeGend … makes us less safe,” and the mayor and police chief of Detroit issued a statement that pointedly noted that the surge of feds “was not initiated by the City of Detroit.” These and a number of other city officials who initially criticized and distanced themselves from OL are also going along with it, while warning against federal forces being used against street demonstrations. But this discord reflects the fact that Operation Legend is not about “collaboration” between different levels of government, it is about subordination of the local Democratic leaders to the fascist federal authorities… and it is succeeding at that!

Another important aspect of this is building up direct ties between fascist cops and organizations in the cities and the national fascist core of the regime. In addition to the hundreds of local cops working directly under the feds on OL, the fascists are more broadly networking with those elements they see as “reliable,” while icing out those they do not.

Prominent in that first category are the rank and file cops and sheriffs, and their unions, that are mainly strong supporters of Trump. In fact, in Chicago, it was the head of the local police union who “invited” the feds to the city, and the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the cops “welcome the support from the feds.” They quote a sergeant saying, “The tact and gun teams love it.” There are police brass too who are more “in tune” with the regime; in Albuquerque, while the mayor and police chief both expressed public opposition to OL, the county sheriff traveled to DC to participate in the its founding press conference.

Through systematically building up networks of relationships, while maintaining a strong core of federal agents in each city under the direct authority of the Barr and Wolf, the regime is developing the ability to deploy these local enforcers not only “against the wishes” of local authorities but perhaps against those officials themselves.

This kind of capacity is particularly important as the presidential election—and a potential constitutional crisis—approaches. For instance, such armed forces can play a role in intimidating and suppressing the vote in the cities. And if Trump loses the election but still insists that he remain president, the ability to have armed forces loyal to Trump in the streets of major cities could be crucial to putting down protests and resistance.

Coming Soon: Operation Legend Part 2: Focus and Contradictions of "Gun Violence"

 


1. Speaking about the naming of Operation Legend, a protester in Kansas City told a reporter that LeGend "... does not deserve to be the poster child for martial law." [back]

US Marshalls raid appartmentMembers of the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force raid an apartment in north Houston to apprehend a murder suspect. (Photo: AP)

Hundreds of federal agents for major leap in violent oppression of Black and Brown communitiesUsing the disguise of opposing violence, Operation Legend appears to be the spearhead of a major leap in violent repression of Black and Brown communities by the fascist regime. Here some of the hundreds of federal agents sent to Chicago. 

That's what fascism is...

What is Fascism?

See the full film, excerpts and Q&A of this film

 

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The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/658/bob-avakian-patriarchy-and-patriotism-the-danger-and-the-immediate-challenge-en.html

PATRIARCHY AND PATRIOTISM—
AGGRESSIVE MALE SUPREMACY AND AMERICAN SUPREMACY—
THE DANGER AND THE IMMEDIATE CHALLENGE

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

As I have emphasized before:

Where you have religious fundamentalism, you are going to have not only the forceful assertion of patriarchy and misogyny (hatred of women) but also aggressive patriotism—and notice that these two words have the same root, referring to allegiance to (and subordination to the authority of) the father(land). And, as we have seen, you are going to have white supremacy and racism.1

Let’s look more deeply at this connection between patriarchal male supremacy and patriotism— as well as white supremacy—and in particular how this is expressed in extreme and virulent ways with the Christian fundamentalist fascists in this country.

Christian Fascist Fanaticism for Trump

Kristin Kobes Du Mez grew up in a town in Iowa which was filled with religious fundamentalists (which she refers to as “evangelicals,” and more specifically “white evangelicals”) who voted overwhelming for Donald Trump in 2016. In her book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, she makes these important observations:

evangelical support for Trump was no aberration, nor was it merely a pragmatic choice. It was, rather, the culmination of evangelicals’ embrace of militant masculinity, an ideology that enshrines patriarchal authority and condones the callous display of power, at home and abroad....

More than any other religious demographic in America, white evangelical Protestants support preemptive war, condone the use of torture, and favor the death penalty.... White evangelicals are significantly more authoritarian than other religious groups...2

In Du Mez’s analysis, what comes through is not just the link (what I have emphasized is the “direct connection”) between aggressive white supremacy, male supremacy and gender oppression, rabid patriotism, xenophobic hatred of immigrants, and an overall support for violent repression at home as well as aggressive war abroad, but also specifically the role of “muscular” patriarchy—a “militant masculinity”—as the center and “pivot” in all this.

Du Mez also emphasizes that all this is rooted in beliefs that are not so much theologically but socially and culturally driven: a fundamentalist rendering of the Christian religion which is really based in and serves definite, oppressive and repressive, relations, and the corresponding ideological and political views and aims. I have pointed out before that a defining feature of Christianity itself, as well as the other two main “monotheistic” (one-god) religions, Judaism and Islam, is the fact that they are patriarchal religions and promote patriarchal, male supremacist social relations.3 But the Christian fundamentalists give particular, focused attention to, and insistence upon, the parts of Christian tradition and scripture (in the Old Testament of the Bible especially, but also in the New Testament) that most blatantly and aggressively promote the submission and subordination of wives to their husbands, and in general the domination of women by men. And, again, as expressed in the good old USA in particular, this involves an insistence on the domination of (in Du Mez’s words) militant white masculinity.”

A Special “Covenant” Relation with God 

In the book Away With All Gods! I pointed to this important analysis by Kevin Phillips:

Phillips reviews how, in the aftermath of the Civil War, although the South was defeated and the slave system was abolished, after the reversal of Reconstruction [in the 1870s] the South “rose again” in terms of political power and influence within the country as a whole. In connection with all this, Phillips points out, a religious mythology arose, and took root widely among white people in the South, that the (white) South had a special covenant with God and was the object of a special design by God to restore it to its proper place, righting the terrible wrong that had been done through the Civil War.4

But, for these “unrepentant” and “unreconstructed” southern white supremacists, and those who adhere to the same poisonous outlook, this notion of a “special covenant with god” is not limited to the South but is applied by them to the U.S. as a whole—and this is seen as both an extension of, and the highest expression of, “the superiority of western civilization” and a special mandate to extend its domination not only over the continent of North America but over the world as a whole and all the peoples of the world, particularly those from what Donald Trump has called “shit-hole” countries, in Africa and other parts of the Third World.

Listen to the words of Trump (in his speech at Mount Rushmore on July 3) on the superiority of white European “western civilization,” and the role of the American Revolution (“Seventeen seventy-six”) as the extension and highest expression of this:

Seventeen seventy-six represented the culmination of thousands of years of western civilization and the triumph not only of spirit, but of wisdom, philosophy, and reason.

And in a tweet sent out by the White House on July 7, this message is proclaimed:  

Americans are the people who pursued our Manifest Destiny across the ocean, into the uncharted wilderness, over the tallest mountains, and then into the skies and even into the stars.

In order to endorse this racist, European-supremacist version of reality, all that is necessary is to ignore the history of ancient, and more recent, civilizations in (among other places) China, India, the (“pre-Columbus”) Americas, Egypt and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the Islamic empires, and all their great achievements in agriculture, architecture, language and literature, astronomy, mathematics, and many other fields. While in fact benefitting from the historical experience and achievements of people from all parts of the world, over thousands of years, and the vicious exploitation of people in all parts of the world today, this grotesque American (and white-European) supremacy seizes on the top-dog position it has achieved through genocide and slavery, robbery, plunder and war, to proclaim its “superiority,” and its supposedly “god-given” right to rule, over all other peoples, within this country and in every part of the earth.

Christian Fascism and Rabid Anti-Communism

As Du Mez explains, confronted with the powerful movements of the 1960s against the Vietnam war and racial, sexual and gender oppression, “evangelicals”—and in particular “white evangelicals”:

clung fiercely to the belief that America was a Christian nation, that the military was a force for good, and that the strength of the nation depended on a properly ordered, patriarchal home. The evangelical political resurgence of the 1970s coalesced around a potent mix of “family values” politics, but family values were always intertwined with ideas about sex, power, race, and nation. Feminism posed a threat to traditional womanhood, and also to national security by removing from men their duty to provide and protect and opening the door to women in military combat. In similar fashion, Vietnam was not just a national security issue, but also a crisis of masculinity.5

The fact that, with all its military might and despite the horrendous death and destruction it rained down on Vietnam and its people, the U.S. failed in its attempt to subjugate Vietnam—and was forced to withdraw from Vietnam in defeat—this sent the Christian fundamentalist fascists into a frenzy. And, as the people leading the Vietnamese liberation struggle were identified as communists, this merged with and reinforced the Christian fascists’ fanatical hatred of “godless communism.” Here we see another “toxic combination” of mindless anti-communism and a sense of frustrated “muscular masculine militarism.”

Of course, the use of religion to promote enforced patriotism has not been limited to right-wing and outright fascist representatives of American capitalist imperialism. It was during the 1950s, under the “mainstream” president (the “moderate” Republican) Eisenhower that the words “under God” were added to the Pledge of Allegiance, as a direct part of the crusade against the threat posed by “godless communism” to American domination in the world, with all the horrors that had already been involved in achieving and maintaining that dominance. This included the actual use of two atomic bombs by the U.S. at the end of World War 2—ordered by the Democratic President Truman—which immediately incinerated hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (and subjected many more to excruciating suffering), ushering in the “nuclear age” which for generations now has continued as an ever-present existential threat hanging over human beings everywhere.

But today, the fascists now ruling in the U.S.—with the Christian fascists the driving force in this—are prepared to carry all these horrors to even greater and more monstrous extremes. Listen to Trump’s belligerent, bellicose hymns of praise to America’s power to destroy, in the following words from his statement on July 4th (the day after his celebration, at Mount Rushmore, of American “manifest destiny” and the genocide this has already involved):

No enemy on Earth stands a chance—$2.5 trillion, we’ve invested—all made in the USA. We’ve never had anything near the power and the equipment that we have right now. We did that over the last three years.... Everywhere these aircraft have flown, they’ve rained down American thunder, delivered American justice, and they have fiercely defended every square inch of American sovereignty.... In their steel frames, broad wings, and roaring engines, we see the story of America’s daring defiance, its soaring spirit, and undying resolve.”

In this, we need to recognize not just the more obvious, and odious, macho posturing of Trump but, on a deeper level, the close link and interconnection between unfettered male domination of the most brutal kind and the urge to war to defend “god’s chosen nation” (which in reality is the empire of U.S. capitalist imperialism). In this connection, the following from the book Jesus and John Wayne is very relevant (keeping in mind again that the author uses the term “evangelicals” or “white evangelicals” to refer to what must be scientifically identified as Christian fundamentalist fascists):

For evangelicals, domestic and foreign policy are two sides of the same coin. Christian nationalism—the belief that America is God’s chosen nation and must be defended as such—serves as a powerful predictor of intolerance toward immigrants, racial minorities, and non-Christians. It is linked to opposition to gay rights and gun control, to support for harsher punishments for criminals, to justifications for the use of excessive force against black Americans in law enforcement situations, and to traditionalist gender ideology. White evangelicals have pieced together this patchwork of issues, and a nostalgic commitment to rugged, aggressive, militant white masculinity serves as the thread binding them together into a coherent whole. A father’s rule in the home is inextricably linked to heroic leadership on the national stage, and the fate of the nation hinges on both.6

The fact is that the fate of humanity could very well hinge on a thorough repudiation of and a decisive defeat of this toxic combination of aggressive patriarchy and the patriotism of a white Christian America. This is concentrated in very immediate terms in the need for masses of people to act now on the urgent need to remove the fascist Trump-Pence from power, with the most powerful expression of this a massive, non-violent but sustained mobilization of people in the streets united around the unifying demand that this regime must be OUT NOW! 

And, in the most fundamental terms, all this ultimately depends on the overthrow and uprooting of the system, of capitalism-imperialism, that is the soil out of which this grotesque fascism has grown.

 


1. Fascists Today And The Confederacy: A Direct Line, A Direct Connection Between All The Oppression. This article by Bob Avakian is available at revcom.us.  [back]

2. Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, Liveright Publishing. The passages quoted here are from the “Introduction.”  [back]

3. See Morality Without Religion, Emancipation That Is Real. This article by Bob Avakian is available at revcom.us.  [back]

4. Bob Avakian, Away With All Gods! Unchaining the Mind and Radically Changing the World, Insight Press, 2008, pp, 141-42. The statements by Kevin Phillips cited here are from Kevin Phillips, American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century, Viking Press, 2006.

There is a definite irony in the fact that Phillips was one of the main people responsible for formulating the Republican Party’s “southern strategy,” which was based on the appeal to the racism of white southerners who are characterized by the very kind of views and sentiments that Phillips describes, critically, here. It seems that Phillips later came to regret at least much of where this “southern strategy” has led, and this book of his contains important exposure and analysis of this.  [back]

5. Jesus and John Wayne, the “Introduction.”  [back]

6. Jesus and John Wayne, the “Introduction.”  [back]

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

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See:

PATRIARCHY AND MALE SUPREMACY,
OR REVOLUTION AND ENDING ALL OPPRESSION?

by Bob Avakian

Read more

See also:

 

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The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/658/bob-avakian-patriarchy-and-male-supremacy-or-revolution-and-ending-all-oppression-en.html

PATRIARCHY AND MALE SUPREMACY,
OR REVOLUTION AND ENDING ALL OPPRESSION?

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

As I have emphasized (and it is important to keep emphasizing):

There is a direct line from the Confederacy to the fascists of today, and a direct connection between their white supremacy, their open disgust and hatred for LGBT people as well as women, their willful rejection of science and the scientific method, their raw “America First” jingoism and trumpeting of “the superiority of Western civilization” and their bellicose wielding of military power, including their expressed willingness and blatant threats to use nuclear weapons, to destroy countries.1

Kristin Kobes Du Mez has extensively studied the phenomenon of Christian fundamentalism, which is the driving force of this fascism. Referring to this as “evangelicalism” (or, more specifically, “white evangelicalism”) she speaks to the same kind of “direct connection” between many of these forms of oppression, and she makes this important point:

a nostalgic commitment to rugged, aggressive, militant white masculinity serves as the thread binding them together into a coherent whole. A father’s rule in the home is inextricably linked to heroic leadership on the national stage, and the fate of the nation hinges on both.2

There are some—like Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, and others—who insist that they are foremost opponents of white supremacy, while at the same time they have a great deal in common with the Christian fascists, including the promotion of all kinds of ridiculous and outrageous mythology and conspiracy theories, in opposition to science and the scientific method, and the insistence on many of the same oppressive relations that the fascists are determined to enforce.

To speak to one crucial dimension of this: There is no way to end white supremacy while clinging to, and insisting upon, male supremacy. Seeking to counter “militant white masculinity” with a Black version of the same “militant masculinity”—another variation of patriarchal male supremacy—this cannot lead to ending any form of oppression.

Just as there is a “direct connection” between all the oppressive and repressive relations and ways of thinking that bind together the program of the Christian fascists, there is no way to break any link in this chain without breaking them all.

And, going deeper, the whole chain of oppression and monstrous crimes against humanity—white supremacy, male supremacy, discrimination and brutality against LGBT people, American supremacist domination and wars for empire, xenophobic hatred of immigrants, plunder of the environment—all this is fundamentally rooted in this system of capitalism-imperialism.

Seeking to “get in on” (to “get your fair share of”) the spoils that come from American capitalist-imperialist plunder of the earth and exploitation of masses of people on every part of the earth—or seeking some “bargain” with the rulers of this system, in order to set yourself up as new overlords and exploiters of masses of people—this is not a road to emancipation, but something that contributes to perpetuating oppression.

Only through the revolution aiming to overthrow this system—to defeat and dismantle this system of capitalism-imperialism and all its institutions of oppression and violent repression, replacing them with institutions that can serve the cause of emancipating all of humanity and enabling human beings to become fit caretakers of the earth—only in this way can each and every form of oppression, plunder and exploitation be finally ended.

 


1. The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go! In The Name of Humanity We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America, A Better World IS Possible. Video of this speech by Bob Avakian is available at revcom.us.  [back]

2. Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, Liveright Publishing. This statement is from the “Introduction.” Emphasis has been added here.  [back]

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

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See also:

PATRIARCHY AND PATRIOTISM—
AGGRESSIVE MALE SUPREMACY AND AMERICAN SUPREMACY—
THE DANGER AND THE IMMEDIATE CHALLENGE

by Bob Avakian

Read more

 

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The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/658/support-members-of-the-national-revolution-tour-in-portland-en.html

Donate to Support the Members of the National Revolution Tour Now in Portland

| revcom.us

 

Editors’ Note: Some members of the Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution Tour are now in Portland. We received this first report from them—and we call on readers to respond to their call for donations and support.

We are here because we were inspired by the courageous people who have stood up against the fascist Trump/Pence regime’s deployment of federal pigs into Portland. We share the outrage and horror of the implications of what is promised by Trump—this being just the beginning of a heavier deployment of federal agents suppressing opposition and violating constitutional rights here and around the country. The Trump/Pence regime is attempting to make a disastrous leap forward in the consolidation of fascism, abducting protestors off the street, violently assaulting people with physical force, tear gas and “less than lethal” munitions. They are out to crush all dissent and opposition to the fascist program of white supremacy, male supremacy & Christian fundamentalism embodied in Trump's platform of making Amerikkka great. A serious struggle for the future is underway. The opposition to this fascist clampdown must immediately grow in size and strength, and thousands now must be brought into the ranks of the revolution as a part of this struggle to prepare to put an end to the system that commits atrocities against humanity and that gives rise to fascism through it’s normal working.

The Tour needs your support to join the struggle against fascism in Portland, Oregon and to organize and actively recruit the forces needed, taking up the revolutionary strategy and theory of the new communism to prepare for and hasten a revolutionary situation, preparing the ground, the people and the vanguard to lead an all-out struggle when those conditions have been brought into being. You can make this possible by donating to support the work of the Tour members here. We need funding for travel, housing, food, organizational material including literature, pamphlets, t-shirts, banners, etc. Donate to support the effort to build and grow this revolution. We need to raise $2,000 to sustain the Tour for one week. This includes the expenses listed above. You can donate on Venmo @RevolutionTour and on Paypal at Revcom.us.

We got here yesterday and joined the protest in front of the federal building. We, like many others, were inspired by the courageous actions of the protesters in coming back in the face of ugly repression. “We are at a crossroads” is a serious sentiment throughout the resistance of those on the ground in Portland. One woman we spoke with commented, “I feel there is a real need to continue the resistance to these federal agents here. I feel like people are looking to Portland as an example and we can’t let them get away with this.” She was underlining the seriousness of the fascist moves by the Trump/Pence regime. She and many others were sparked to come out in protest after being horrified at the sight of people being kidnapped by men in army fatigues, Trump’s gestapo. Fascism has become more widely recognized and called that by name. People come out in helmets with gas masks, some have body armor-like vests. People were passing out homemade shields, and the press looked fully suited for a war zone. “This is how we dress to protest police brutality, this is what is necessary and it’s sick,” said one protester we spoke with.

People have stood up time and time again against the crimes of their government only to have their anger & justified outrage funneled back into the very same system that produced it in the first place. To see an end to this system and get beyond the revolting barbarity it produces, we need a revolution—nothing less. As a part of this growing struggle in Portland and nationwide, there is a real urgency to organize thousands of people now, to lead a revolution to overthrow this system at the soonest possible time. The system that gave rise to fascism to begin with is the system of capitalism-imperialism that has no future for humanity. We have the tools for such a revolution in the work that Bob Avakian has done, developed in the new communism. People have the hope and fire to struggle for a better world, but not enough people know what it will take to put an end to the unnecessary suffering brought about by this system. Not enough people have the scientific understanding and strategy of the new communism. That has to change. You can be a part of this revolution by supporting the revolutionary work of the Tour members. Donate and share this call widely to grow this much needed revolution.


On day of arrival to #Portland, The National Revolution Tour makes this statement signed by many people in #LosAngeles. Photo: AP

Donate now to support the members of the National Revolution Tour in Portland:

Venmo: @RevolutionTour

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Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

You’ve read this article and now you need to be part of making sure revcom.us is able to make an urgently needed leap and transformation.

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/657/bob-avakian-capitalism-imperialism-the-suffocation-of-seven-billion-en.html

CAPITALISM-IMPERIALISM—THE SUFFOCATION OF SEVEN BILLION— AND THE PROFOUND NEED FOR A WORLD ON NEW FOUNDATIONS

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

The rulers of this country, and those who represent their interests, are forever boasting about the supposed “freedom, initiative and creativity” that, according to them, the capitalist system (and only the capitalist system) makes possible, and the great wealth this has created for people in this country especially. And they continually slander communism as a repressive system where people have no freedom and their initiative and creativity is not encouraged and rewarded but stifled and suppressed. All this is fundamentally wrong and completely upside-down.

First of all, the wealth that these people boast about is extremely unevenly distributed, even within this country, where a very small percentage of the people control the great bulk of the wealth. But, beyond that and more essentially, this wealth rests on a foundation of unspeakable crimes against humanity, historically and right up to the present time. To begin with:

The USA is a country which established its territory and built the foundation of its wealth through the armed conquest of land, genocide, slavery, and ruthless exploitation of successive waves of immigrants to America.1

And today, “the wealth and power of the U.S. rests today on a worldwide system of imperialist exploitation”—an international network of sweatshops, mines and corporate-controlled farms—“that ensnares hundreds of millions, and ultimately billions, of people in conditions hardly better than those of slaves.”2

This system of capitalism-imperialism—a system resting on ruthless exploitation, and super-exploitation, of masses of people, and marked by the cut-throat competition between major capitalist enterprises and financial institutions, and rivalry between capitalist states—suffocates the freedom, initiative and creativity of billions of human beings (the great majority of the more than seven billion people on the earth) including the huge numbers of children who are slaving away at near-starvation wages, and the vast masses of people who have been uprooted from the countryside, throughout the Third World (of Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia) and are crowded into swelling shantytown slums in rapidly expanding urban areas, where most can only survive by hustling in the “informal” economy, legal and illegal.

The freedom, creativity and initiative of literally billions of women is suffocated and suppressed, often with extreme brutality, under this system, with the patriarchal male supremacy that is built into it.

Tens of millions of people have died, and countries have been devastated, in wars directly waged by rival imperialists (such as World Wars 1 and 2), or wars in which they have backed contending local forces—all to gain (or maintain) control of strategic parts of the world, in the bloody pursuit of key natural resources, markets, and domination of populations whose desperation leaves them vulnerable to life-stealing exploitation.

Here is a “snapshot” of the ugly reality beneath all the grand talk about the “greatness” of this system of capitalism-imperialism:

we live in a world where large parts of humanity live in stark poverty, with 2.3 billion people lacking even rudimentary toilets or latrines and huge numbers suffering from preventable diseases, with millions of children dying every year from these diseases and from starvation, while 150 million children in the world are forced to engage in ruthlessly exploited child labor, and the whole world economy rests on a vast network of sweatshops, employing large numbers of women who are regularly subjected to sexual harassment and assault, a world where 65 million refugees have been displaced by war, poverty, persecution, and the effects of global warming.3

And the very future of humanity is seriously, and increasingly, endangered by this system with its accelerating destruction of the environment as well as its ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation.

Within the U.S. itself (this “richest of all countries”) tens of millions, especially in the inner cities, are living in conditions of severe deprivation, with many denied the opportunity to find work at a “living wage,” or denied the opportunity to be employed at all (in the regular “formal economy”) while they are also subjected to discrimination in education, housing, health care, and every other dimension of society—with all this enforced through continual police terror, punctuated repeatedly by outright murder.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has both highlighted and heightened the profound inequalities, in the world as a whole, and within this country, as people who were already bitterly oppressed and impoverished, and denied access to decent health care, have been hit hardest by this pandemic.

And, even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, with its crushing effects on the livelihood of masses of people, tens of millions in this country who had been regularly employed were living paycheck-to-paycheck, striving to provide for loved ones and hoping to provide a better future for their children, with many saddled with huge debt and only a serious health crisis away from financial ruin, while their work created wealth for a capitalist (or capitalist corporation) dictating the conditions of work, treating people as cogs in a machine or in many cases the extension of a machine—whether on an assembly line or a computer—work that, in these conditions, can only be alienating and mind-numbing.

In these (and countless other) ways, this system crushes and deadens the human spirit as well as grinding away the life—or outright stealing the life—of billions of people in every part of the world.

Think of the tremendous waste—and outright destruction—of human potential that results from all this. All this is the consequence of the fact that the world, and the masses of humanity, are forced to live under the domination of this system of capitalism-imperialism

All this is the basis on which a relatively small part of the people within this country, and a very small part of humanity as whole, has the conditions and the “freedom” to develop and apply their initiative and creativity—only to have this serve, under this system, to reinforce the “lopsided,” highly unequal and profoundly oppressive conditions in the world as a whole and for the masses of people in the world.

And all this is completely unnecessary.

Revolution, the New Communism and the Unleashing of Human Potential

Even under these conditions imposed by this outmoded, monstrous system of capitalism-imperialism, creativity bursts through repeatedly in many different ways—and notably in music, literature and other expressions of art and culture—from every part of society and every part of the world, including among those most downpressed and despised by this system and its rulers. Think of how much greater this creativity could be—and all the ways it could be unleashed to meet the needs of the masses of people, materially as well as culturally—if the ways in which billions are chained down and suffocated by this system were shattered and cast off through revolution.

Through the decades of work I have carried out, drawing crucial lessons from the previous experience (positive but also negative) of the communist movement and a wide range of human experience, I have developed a more consistently scientific communist theory, the new communism, which provides the basis for leading this revolution: the methods and principles, and the strategy for carrying out this revolution and, in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, a sweeping vision and concrete blueprint for a radically different and much better society, on an entirely new foundation—a radically different economic system (mode of production) based not on exploiting the masses of people but on unleashing their creativity and initiative to do away with exploitation and oppression of every kind.4 With this socialist mode of production the means of production (land, raw materials, machinery and other technology, factories and other physical structures, and so on) will be publicly owned (not privately owned by capitalist exploiters locked in chaotic and destructive competition and rivalry). This public ownership will make it possible to marshal and utilize the resources of society in a planned and flexible way, to meet people’s needs, both materially (for food, shelter, health care, and so on) and culturally and intellectually, in a continually expanding wayand to respond in a timely way to unforeseen developments and emergencies, while supporting the revolutionary struggle worldwide toward the goal of eliminating all exploitation and oppression everywhere with the achievement of communism throughout the world.

With this mode of production, people’s initiative and creativity will be encouraged and fostered, and there will be the basis for people to apply this initiative and creativity, in unprecedented ways, in the interests of the masses of people, and ultimately all of humanity: Everyone will be able to work and to acquire the basis for a decent life, while contributing to the development of society on the road to overcoming exploitation, inequality and oppression—contributing through their ideas as well as their work—without being forced into relentless competition with each other in order to survive, or striving to advance at the expense of others (a poisonous way of thinking that will be continually struggled against).

It is a fundamental understanding and principle of communism, which is given great emphasis in the new communism, that people are the most important productive force—not just as “producers” of the social wealth but also as conscious participants in the planning and overall development of the economy, not only for the benefit of the people in the particular country but most fundamentally to serve the revolutionary transformation of the entire world toward the goal of communism. And:

The development of the socialist economy has as its source and relies upon the initiative and work, intellectual as well as physical, of the masses of people, of the members of society broadly, in conditions which are increasingly freed from relations of exploitation, and with the aim of overcoming all vestiges and aspects of such relations, and the effects of such relations, not only in... [a particular socialist country] but everywhere on the earth.5

Along with, and fundamentally on the basis of, this radically different mode of production, there will be radically different political institutions and processes, and an ongoing struggle to transform the social relations which have embodied oppression, with the goal of abolishing and uprooting all relations of oppression as well as exploitation. There will be a radically different approach to education and culture—one which fosters and unleashes the scientific curiosity and artistic creativity of masses of people and “embraces” all this and enables it to contribute, “through many divergent paths, to the advance along a broad road toward the goal of communism.”6 There will be a radically different relation with the rest of the world—not exploiting and super-exploiting people around the world but supporting the struggle everywhere to throw off the rule of exploiters and oppressors and advance toward the goal of eliminating and uprooting all exploitation and oppression. And there will be a radically different relation with the environment—where human beings, instead of being chained to a system that plunders and destroys the rest of nature, are working together to be fit caretakers of the earth.

This will be a new society aiming for a whole new world, without the suffocation, suppression, and disfiguring of the potential for the masses of humanity to understand and change the world in accordance with what are in fact the fundamental interests of humanity—to live in a world where no part of humanity is subordinated to and dictated to by another part, and where all of humanity is no longer dictated to by the fundamental workings and dynamics of a system that requires antagonistic relations among people, enforced with the continual threat and use of massive violence, where the masses of humanity are no longer reduced to merely a means to make wealth for a small number who rule over them, or are cast off as “surplus” populations that can no longer be exploited in this way.

This new society and world will not be some kind of “utopia” where all problems and difficulties have “magically disappeared”—and it will not come as a “gift” from some non-existent god—but will be the result of the struggle of masses of people to cast off unbearable exploitation and oppression, and to transform themselves and their thinking in close inter-connection with this struggle to transform their conditions—struggle led by those who have taken up the scientific method and approach of the new communism and are winning growing numbers of people to themselves take up and apply this scientific method and approach to transforming the world in an increasingly conscious way on the basis of their voluntary initiative and cooperation.

All this will involve whole new dimensions of freedom, and unleashed initiative and creativity of the masses of humanity, on this whole new foundation, with radically different institutions and relations among people, and radically different ways of thinking that correspond to these emancipating relations among people.

 


1. From The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go! In The Name of Humanity We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America, A Better World IS Possible. Video of this speech by Bob Avakian is available at revcom.us.  [back]

2. BAsics 1:4 (Basics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian). This statement by Bob Avakian is originally from Communism and Jeffersonian Democracy, which is available in BA’s Collected Works at revcom.us.  [back]

3. This is from Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make RevolutionVideo and the text of this speech by Bob Avakian are available at revcom.us.  [back]

4. The strategy for revolution is spoken to in depth in the speech by Bob Avakian Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution (video and the text of which are available at revcom.us), and further thinking on this is contained in A Real Revolution—A Real Chance To Win, Further Developing the Strategy for Revolution (which is also available at revcom.us). The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, authored by Bob Avakian, is also available at revcom.us.  [back]

5. From Article I, Section 2, sub-section A2, page 19 of the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America. The principles and guidelines for the development of the socialist economy are more fully laid out in Article IV of this Constitution.  [back]

6. From the “Preamble” to the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America.  [back]

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

Get Into BA »

See also:

Four Months Into the Global COVID-19 Health and Economic Crisis...
Notes on the Utter Cruelty and Obscene Irrationality of Capitalism-Imperialism

by Raymond Lotta

Read more

The New Communism

Click to read and download (PDF)

CONSTITUTION For The New Socialist Republic In North America

Click to read and download (PDF)

 

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Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

You’ve read this article and now you need to be part of making sure revcom.us is able to make an urgently needed leap and transformation.

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/657/bob-avakian-police-prisons-reformist-illusions-revolutionary-solution-en.html

POLICE AND PRISONS:
REFORMIST ILLUSIONS
AND THE REVOLUTIONARY SOLUTION

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

In the course of the beautiful uprising against institutionalized white supremacy and police terror, the notion of “defunding,” or even “dismantling,” the police—replacing the existing police with a different kind of force, and accompanying this with a focus on meeting the social needs of the people who are now the main target of police violence—has been put forward as a “solution.” But does this idea of changing institutions and shifting priorities and funding, within this same system, really represent a way to put an end to police brutality and murder, and at the same time overcome the conditions of discrimination and poverty that cause people to be caught up in continual violence—both the violence carried out by the police and the violence among the people themselves, and in particular the youth in the inner cities?

No. In reality, this idea (of “defunding” or “dismantling” the police and shifting priorities and funding) is something that will not, and cannot, solve the problems it claims to be addressing. It is something that will not, and cannot, happen under this system of capitalism-imperialism. It is actually a dangerous illusion—or delusion—which will lead people to being disarmed ideologically in a demoralizing dead-end. This is because of the fundamental nature, functioning and requirements of this system itself. To end police terror you have to put an end to the system that needs police terror.

Let’s get into why this is true.

The “Priorities” of This System Are Determined by the Basic Nature of the System

Thinking about this, I was reminded of the days of the mass movement against the U.S. imperialist war in Vietnam, when groups like the tired-out “Communist Party” (which in fact was not about real communism or actual revolution) would raise demands like “Money for Jobs, Not War!” It had to be pointed out then that the reason that the U.S. imperialists were waging war in Vietnam was the same reason that there were unemployed people in this country: both of these things flowed out of the basic nature, functioning and requirements of this system of capitalism-imperialism.

People were unemployed within this country because they could not be profitably employed—that is, exploited—by the capitalists who rule this country (or they could not be exploited profitably enough, given the compulsions these capitalists faced in cut-throat competition with other capitalists, not just within this country but on an international scale). It was more profitable, and conformed to the competitive compulsions of the capitalists, to introduce technology to replace many workers in this country, and at the same time to super-exploit people, at much lower wages, in other parts of the world (in particular the Third World of Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia). And waging war in Vietnam was part of the same fundamental necessity of those who rule this system—in this case their need to control strategic parts of the world in order to maintain their dominant position in the world. For the capitalist-imperialist rulers of this country to have “shifted their priorities”—ending their war in Vietnam and using the money instead to create jobs for unemployed people in this country—would actually have gone against their fundamental needs and interests.1

And it is for the same basic reasons that, under this system, there will be no “dismantling” or real “defunding” (or changing of the essential role) of the police and no meaningful shifting of priorities and funds into the social needs of the people now violently targeted by the police.

The fact is that even the allocation of huge amounts of money for social programs in the inner cities could not overcome the desperate conditions of millions of people that has resulted from years, decades, generations and centuries of oppression, through slavery, segregation and ongoing discrimination. As I pointed out in Racial Oppression Can Be Ended—But Not Under 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.2

On the terms of this system, and from the point of view of its ruling class, to bring about the severe damage to the competitiveness of “American capital” and the massive “social upheaval” that would be caused by actually attempting to overcome the conditions of oppression and deprivation of masses of people in the inner cities of this country—and the inequality built into this—would be highly destructive and irrational. And that is why this will not happen under this system.

There Is Police Terror Because This System Needs Police Terror

Growing numbers of people have begun to get a basic sense that white supremacy has been built into this system in this country from its very founding. In a number of writings (and most recently in Racial Oppression Can Be Ended—But Not Under This System), I have analyzed scientifically and in some depth why the oppression of Black people (as well as Latinos and Native Americans) cannot be abolished under this system, but is bound to continue, as a result of the “toxic mix” of racism and capitalism. And this is a major reason why the police cannot be either literally “dismantled” or fundamentally “reformed” to function without terrorizing, and outright murdering, masses of oppressed people.

But the ruling powers of this system need this kind of brutal police force not only to violently enforce racial oppression, as significant as that is. This system rests upon, and continually gives rise to, social divisions and conflicts—between masses of people and the ruling class, and among the masses of people themselves—conflicts which hold the potential for, and frequently erupt into violence and “chaos,” which in some circumstances can reach dimensions that threaten the “stability” of the system. So the capitalist ruling class requires a force of organized institutionalized violence—the police (as well as the military)—to contain and control these conflicts, and to forcibly suppress them when they erupt into violence and “chaos” that does immediately, or potentially, threaten the “established order.” Even with real, and in some ways sharp, differences among them, about some of the particulars of how this should be carried out, the entire ruling class is in fundamental agreement on the need for this, because once again it flows from and corresponds to the fundamental nature and requirements of this system.

A serious contradiction in this society—something which is the result of the “workings” of this system itself but at the same time does cause real problems for the system’s ruling class—is the fact that there are large numbers of people among the oppressed who have been effectively “locked out” of the regular “formal economy,” and for whom, in the conditions and on the terms of this system, crime seems like the only means to make a way in the world, or for some the only means of survival, even with all the risks it involves. A heartbreaking part of this is the fact that, in this situation, large numbers of oppressed youth in the inner cities are killing each other. These days especially, there are all these fascist asses braying about “Black-on-Black” crime. These racists are complete hypocrites: They care nothing about the horrors that the masses of Black people suffer, and they raise “Black-on-Black crime” only to distract attention from, or to justify, the police terror and murder against Black people—to convey the “message” that Black people are “a bunch of animals” who need to be kept in check, as violently as necessary, by police. But the reality is that Black people, and in particular the youth, killing each other is a very real and serious problem, and a cause of deep anguish for all those who genuinely want to see an end to this and to the conditions (and ways of thinking) that have given rise to this and keep it going.

The way forward out of this terrible situation is not unleashing even more terror against these youth by police (or the National Guard or the army!), or simply preaching at them to stop the violence, but winning growing numbers of them to become part of the revolution aiming to put an end to their oppressed conditions, and all oppression, by putting an end to this system.

But, of course, crime is not committed only by some people in the inner cities. Crimes, including violent crimes, are and will be a significant phenomenon and problem, in the society as a whole, so long as society is marked by relations of exploitation and oppression and the divisions and conflicts they give rise to—all reinforced by the ideology (the way of thinking) of “getting yours” and advancing your own interests at the expense of others, which is widely promoted throughout this society, from top to bottom.

And here is a heavy contradiction: In this kind of society, on the one hand, without the police crime would be an even greater problem, not just for the ruling class but for the society and the people overall; while, on the other hand, the police will be directed to “selectively” enforce the law, and to use the fact of crime as a “justification” for terrorizing whole sections of people, especially masses of Black people (and others) whose mere existence, in conditions of systematic discrimination, oppression and deprivation, is seen as posing a threat to the system. There is no way out of this under this system.

To sum up the essential point: So long as society is founded on relations that embody exploitation and oppression, and give rise to antagonistic conflicts and violence, including violent crime—so long, in other words, as this system of capitalism-imperialism continues to rule and set the terms for how society functions—there will be a police force that will use violence and terror to maintain the “order,” and enforce the conditions and relations, that conform to the basic nature and requirements of this system. No illusions or wishful thinking can change this reality.

And the same applies to the existence and role of prisons.

Under this system, prisons can never and will never be abolished, or play any fundamentally different role than what they do now: to exercise control and, yes, terror, over those (both those actually in prison and those for whom prison is a real and ever present possibility) who might pose a threat to the “orderly functioning of this system,” in one way or another—through “subversive political activity,” or “common crime,” or merely because their oppressed condition itself, and the likelihood that it will lead to rebellion, is seen as posing a potential threat to the system.

For these basic reasons, under this system, the politicians who get into, and remain in, the seats of power will never actually adopt policies that will have the police (or the prisons) do anything fundamentally different. Even if (or where) someone might be elected to office on a platform of “re-envisioning the role of the police” (or “prison abolition”) they will be frustrated, defeated and turned away from any attempts to implement changes that seriously threaten or undermine the basic functions of these institutions and forces of violent repression and control—whose role and “mission” is to maintain the rule and “order” of this system—whether in more blatantly extreme forms (as with the fascist program, represented by the Trump/Pence regime and the Republican Party) or with minor and ultimately meaningless reforms (as with the “mainstream” section of the ruling class, represented by the Democratic Party).

The reason politicians pushing such platforms are bound to fail is not simply that they would be outnumbered by “outdated” and “behind-the-times” representatives of the “old status quo.” More fundamentally, it is because this system could not function—it would “come unraveled,” or be torn apart, actually descending into destructive chaos—without these institutions (the police and prisons) performing these repressive functions, as viciously and violently as necessary.

This is a system which cannot be “pressured” to become other than what it is, just because some people, or even many people, would like it to. It can function only in accordance with its fundamental nature, requirements and dynamics. And, sooner or later (most often sooner), anyone who tries to have things work in a fundamentally different way under this system—in a way that runs counter to its basic nature and requirements—will be reminded, often forcefully, of the impossibility of this.

All this can be ended—not, however, under this system, but only through the revolution to abolish this whole system and bring a radically different and much better system into being.

Revolution: A Radically Different Society, Radically Different Public Security

As set forth in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America—a sweeping vision and concrete blueprint for a radically different and emancipating society—in that new, socialist society there will still be a need for laws and institutions of public security (and armed forces), as well as prisons, because (in addition to the threats from remaining imperialist and other reactionary governments and forces in the world) there will still be contradictions within the socialist society itself that give rise to conflicts, including violent conflicts. Although “common crime” will no longer be a major social problem, it will not yet be possible to eliminate all such crime. There will be forces who will seek a return to the old society through violent means, and they will need to be defeated in this. But there will be no need for, and no tolerance for, police that trample on the rights of people and terrorize whole sections of the population—and, in fact, any such actions will themselves constitute a violation of the law, and will be punishable under the law. It will be a basic principle guiding the institutions of public defense and security that one of their main purposes is to safeguard the rights of the people in this new socialist society, including the right of people to dissent and protest. Even the right to oppose the new system and seek a return to the old, exploitative society will be protected, so long as this does not involve violence.

With regard to prisons, for the reasons referred to here (and spoken to more fully in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America), they will still be necessary for some time, in dealing with serious violations of the law. But prisons, too, will be radically different in this new society. Torture in any form, and cruel and unusual punishment of any kind, will be outlawed in dealing with people imprisoned (and in society as a whole). As this Constitution explains, the basic orientation with regard to people convicted of crimes and imprisoned will be to rehabilitate them, and to “release them and reintegrate them as productive members of the larger society, as soon as it may be possible to do so, in accordance with the judgment that this can be done without unacceptable risk and danger to society and the people, and where doing so would not be contrary to what is set forth in this Constitution.” And no one will be “kept in prison for a period longer than that provided for by law and through legal proceedings embodying due process of law.” Further:

To this end, education, in accordance with the principles set forth in this Constitution... including education in the communist worldview and values but also access to a wide variety of political and philosophical, scientific, literary and other works, expressing a diversity of views—shall be afforded prisoners, and they shall be provided with the means to engage in productive work which can make a contribution to society, under conditions which are not only humane but which conform to the general standards of work in society at large.3

Only with the advance to communism throughout the world—with the abolition and uprooting of all economic relations and social relations that contain elements of exploitation and oppression and give rise to antagonistic conflict, and with the revolutionary transformation of the culture, morality, and ways of thinking of the people—only then will it be possible to do away entirely with armed forces and institutions of public security as well as prisons. But, with the overthrow of the system of capitalist-imperialism, which is based on exploitation and oppression, it will be possible for these institutions to be radically different and to serve the process not of exploiting, oppressing and degrading people but of moving toward the goal of ending all exploitation, oppression and degradation.

If there is going to be a real dismantling of police that terrorize masses of people, this can only happen, and can only really lead to something positive, if it happens as part of the revolution that is needed. And, with this revolution, the institutions of organized repression and violence of this system (the police and the armed forces, as well as the prisons) will be replaced by new institutions which are led with a radically different outlook and are serving a radically different purpose and goal.

Does this mean that the only thing that can be done now is to wait for this revolution to somehow “magically” come about? NO. This revolution must be actively, consciously, scientifically worked for. And a big part of this is fighting back now against institutionalized white supremacy and police terror, as well as the other ways that this system oppresses, degrades, and slaughters masses of people, in every part of the world, while plundering the environment—building these struggles as powerfully as possible, linking them together on the basis of the recognition that they all have a common source in this system of capitalism-imperialism, and building up the basis to bring down this system through an actual revolution.

Working for this revolution—working now to Fight the Power, and Transform the People, For Revolutionthis is what is urgently needed. This means:

strengthening the resistance and rebellion of masses of people against the outrages and injustices of this system, while waging struggle to win people to the emancipating outlook, methods, goals, and morality of this revolution, based on the scientific understanding that only the overthrow, the defeat and dismantling, of this whole system, and all its oppressive and repressive institutions, can finally put an end to all these injustices and outrages;

organizing growing numbers of people into the ranks of the revolution on this basis;

moving to make the “political terrain” and the thinking of masses of people more favorable for revolution, in order to “hasten” the development of things toward the situation where this revolution becomes possible, and building up the organized revolutionary forces that will be capable of seizing on that situation.

This is what we revcoms are dedicated and determined to do, now and going forward.

In this we base ourselves on the new communism, which has further developed communism as a consistently scientific outlook, method and approach, program, strategy and guide to action, bringing alive the need, the possibility, and the means and goals of this revolution, whose ultimate aim is the emancipation of all humanity from every form of exploitation and oppression with the achievement of communism throughout the world.4

This is what everyone who really wants to see an end to institutionalized white supremacy and police terror, and all oppressive relations, needs to become actively involved in, now—casting off illusions and working for revolution.

 


1. The U.S. imperialists were eventually forced to withdraw from Vietnam, because they were unable to achieve their objective of defeating the Vietnamese liberation fighters and subjecting Vietnam to U.S. domination, and a “consensus” finally developed, among the political representatives of this system, that it was best to “cut their losses” in Vietnam before this fundamentally undermined and threatened their position in the world overall—and within the U.S. itself, where there was massive opposition to the war and militant protest and rebellion against the oppression of Black people and other outrages perpetrated by this system, a radicalization that reached right into the U.S. imperialist armed forces themselves. But neither this withdrawal from Vietnam, nor later the “victory” of U.S. (and allied) imperialists in the “cold war,” with the unraveling of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s—none of this produced the “peace dividend” (government spending for social programs, etc.) that various reformists had declared could be the result of ending these (“cold” and “hot”) wars. Why this did not happen is once again because of the basic nature, functioning and requirements of this system of capitalism-imperialism.  [back]

2. This article by Bob Avakian (Racial Oppression Can Be Ended—But Not Under This System) is available at revcom.us.  [back]

3. The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, authored by Bob Avakian, is available at revcom.us. The passages from this Constitution quoted (or referred to) are from Article III, “Rights of the People and the Struggle to Uproot All Exploitation and Oppression,” Section 2, “Legal and Civil Rights and Liberties.”  [back]

4. The substance of the new communism, brought forward by Bob Avakian (BA), is contained in BA’s Collected Works at revcom.us. This includes BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian, the handbook for revolution. Along with the sweeping vision and concrete blueprint for a radically different society in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, the strategy for the revolution leading to this radically new society is spelled out in BA’s speech, Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution (the text and video of which are available at revcom.us), and is spoken to in more recent writings by Bob Avakian, in particular A Real Revolution—A Real Chance to Win, Further Developing the Strategy for Revolution, which is also available at revcom.us. As the title suggests, a basic summary of the new communism, and its relation to the communism founded by Karl Marx, is found in BA’s work 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 there is a fuller presentation of the new communism in the book by BA, 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).  [back]

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

Get Into BA »

See also:

RACIAL OPPRESSION CAN BE ENDED—BUT NOT UNDER THIS SYSTEM

Read more

 

 

CONSTITUTION For The New Socialist Republic In North America

Click to read and download (PDF)

 

Follow: @TheRevcoms
Read: www.revcom.us
Watch: youtube.com/TheRevComs

 

Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

You’ve read this article and now you need to be part of making sure revcom.us is able to make an urgently needed leap and transformation.

 

Get a free email subscription to revcom.us:



 


 

Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/651/it-takes-science-and-leadership-to-truly-get-free-en.html

To Those Rising Up and Awakening:
It Takes Science and Leadership to Truly Get Free

| revcom.us

 

This is written especially to those who have been righteously standing up and fighting back against murder by police and the oppression of Black people more generally, and to all those who have taken heart and inspiration from this, who are newly encountering the Revolution. Welcome! We stand side by side with you in this struggle and unite with your outrage and fury against centuries of oppression that truly must be NO MORE. This outpouring of resistance must continue and it must grow. People must stay in the streets, and this upsurge must get bigger, broader, deeper, and even more determined. At the same time, the big question that now presents itself—one that literally millions of people are asking—is: What will it take to truly put an end to police brutality, murder by police, and the oppression of Black people, once and for all?

The answer is that it will take far more than just people staying in the streets and fighting back, as critically important as that is. And this oppression can never be ended by trying to make a few reforms to a system that is completely rotten to its core. As with any big problem—whether a natural disease like COVID-19 or a social disease like racial oppression—solving that problem will take a deep understanding of the cause of that problem and the solution to it. In other words: It will take science. And it will take leadership. So let’s talk about what science and leadership have to do with changing the world.

Many people hear “science” and think biology and ecology; climate change and the environment; chemistry and physics; labs and microscopes; medicine, technology and new inventions. All of these are very important examples of—or closely related to—science. But for some reason, many people don’t think you need science to understand and change human society as a whole, or even that you can apply science for this purpose. This makes absolutely no sense. Science means investigating reality, gathering evidence, analyzing that evidence, identifying patterns, and drawing conclusions about reality on that basis. Why would it possibly be that this scientific method can’t or shouldn’t be applied to understanding and changing society? Because human society is complicated? All the more reason you need science to understand it!

Many people hear “leadership” and think of an activist with a bullhorn or a person leading a protest. These can be important and necessary examples of leadership, but leadership in the most important sense is something much bigger than that: Leadership in that sense is a matter of identifying and leading others to see the most fundamental problems confronting humanity and the solutions to those problems. Leadership is a matter of saying “Here’s why we’re in this situation and here’s how we can get out of it.

In Bob Avakian (BA), we have the science, the leadership, and the understanding of problem and solution we need to not only emancipate Black people but all of humanity from centuries of oppression. Sound like a bold statement? GOOD. It’s meant to be. And it’s backed up with more than 50 years of substance.

BA came forward as a revolutionary in the 1960s, working and struggling alongside the Black Panthers. In the decades since he has been working tirelessly on bringing forward and continuing to develop the deep, scientific understanding of the need to NOT reform but rather overthrow and completely sweep away this system through an actual revolution; the strategy for bringing into being the conditions necessary to make that revolution and win in those conditions; and the vision for a completely new and radically different system, society, and world. Underlying all of this is BA’s scientific method, which he continues to apply to the biggest questions facing humanity while leading a movement for revolution. A deep understanding of and visceral hatred for the oppression of Black people and the ways that Black people suffer, and a burning desire to see Black people free of this oppression, is at the core of BA and everything he is about, and is a constant thread that runs through his life and work over decades.

People throughout society and throughout the world need to know about BA. Thousands now and ultimately millions need to follow him in order to make an actual revolution to get free of this monstrous system and bring a far better society, world, and future into being.

See for yourself. Start with BA’s powerful new statement, “NOTHING LESS!Read it and spread it to everyone you know. Go to revcom.us to see the latest articles from BA on an incredibly broad range of topics related to revolution and radically changing the world, and learn more about and find out how to get involved in the revolution BA is leading. Check out BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian, the handbook for revolution, and the film Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Could Really Make Revolution. Go to the BA portal to get deeper into his extensive works. Learn more as you get involved in spreading this throughout society. Write to us to find out how you can specifically learn more and get involved. Write to us with your questions and let us know what’s on your mind.

One last thing: Make no mistake—hell yes, this is controversial. Once again, we say: GOOD. Think about this: Could there ever be a genuine movement for an actual revolution that didn’t offend anyone or make them uncomfortable!? There are all kinds of people out there who might talk a big game but are scared of an actual revolution, who want to get in on this system and try to get a better deal for themselves, or who just plain don’t know what they’re talking about. There are people who would have you believe that if the skin color of a person who has a way out for humanity is white, you shouldn’t listen to that person. Needless to say, these people are not going to like BA and what he stands for. And they’re going to come up with all kinds of lies, cheap shots, and slander to attack BA and cover their own asses. This kind of behavior is despicable, it is very harmful and it must be taken seriously and fought against. But it is not at all surprising.

So let’s end with a question back to you: Are you going to listen to lies and bullshit from the mouths of people who—in one form or another—want to keep the world basically the way it is? Or will you have the courage, integrity, and intellectual honesty to go directly to the source, get into BA, and see for yourself? Just how badly do you want to end oppression, change the world, and get free once and for all?

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.

Read more         

Watch BA's whole speech:

Watch clips from speech

 

Follow: @TheRevcoms
Read: www.revcom.us
Watch: youtube.com/TheRevComs

 

Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

You’ve read this article and now you need to be part of making sure revcom.us is able to make an urgently needed leap and transformation.

 

Get a free email subscription to revcom.us:



 


 

Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/646/bob-avakian-on-emancipation-from-mental-slavery-all-oppression-en.html

Bob Avakian On
EMANCIPATION
FROM MENTAL SLAVERY AND ALL OPPRESSION

| revcom.us

 

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?!

We have seen the possibility of a world without oppression powerfully expressed in the not-too-distant past, during the radical upsurge that took place within this country and throughout the world during the 1960s and early 1970s.1 Within this country, the struggle of Black people was at the forefront of all this, and as that struggle became more radical in opposition to the system itself, and groups like the Black Panther Party, driven by the impatience and daring of Black youth, grew and gained influence, the advanced role of the struggle for Black liberation exerted an even more powerful positive role. And, as a very significant part of the widely and strongly held conviction that it was not only necessary but possible to put an end to the nightmare that had been endured for so long:

among Black people—who we’re always told are just sort of inherently religious—there was a massive turning away from religion, especially among the youth. Why? Because people were filled with hope, they didn’t believe that there was no hope for a better world. They were full of hope for a better world right in this world. And so, among Black people, there was, on the part of the youth in particular, a major turning away from religion and from all the old conventions that went along with religion that were conservatizing influences holding down the people.2

Hard Truths, Emancipating Truths

But the great promise of the 1960s radical upsurge, and the hopes that it raised, were not realized—fundamentally because things did not go all the way to an actual revolution. And, over the decades since then, through conscious policy by the ruling powers to foster the growth of more bourgeois and petit bourgeois strata among Black people, while at the same time maintaining and containing the masses of Black people in conditions of deprivation, oppression and vicious repression, this bitter reality has resulted:

Among the basic masses of people, including Black people (not the more middle class strata being developed through conscious ruling class policy, but the masses of oppressed people), there was a tremendous amount of demoralization and sense of defeat, and the introduction (including through deliberate ruling class policy and action) of massive amounts of drugs further intensified the desperate conditions of the basic masses and further reinforced the sense of demoralization. A lot of people were dying or being reduced to broken wretches on the basis of turning to drugs out of despair—the lack of hope, or the death, in immediate terms, of the hope that inspired so many people, on a real basis, through the course of the 1960s upsurge, which had now ebbed and been transformed. And this situation was made even more desperate and demoralizing with the growth of gangs in the ghettos and barrios of this country (as well as internationally), with youth drawn to the gangs in conditions of increasing deprivation and desperation and what was for most the illusion of getting rich, with the orientation of “get rich or die trying,” fueled by the growth of the drug trade and the influence of the putrid culture promoted throughout society that fostered and extolled the exploitation and degradation of others as the means for making it big, whether on Wall Street and on the world stage, or on the streets in the neighborhoods of the inner city.3

In the face of all this, amidst a feeling of fatalistic hopelessness, there has been, on the part of large numbers of Black people, a retreat into religion. It is often claimed that religion is what has allowed Black people to endure and persevere through all the trials and tribulations—the very real horrors—they have been subjected to throughout their experience in America, and that this remains the case now. But this is a logic of defeat—it rests on the underlying assumption (spoken or unspoken) that the system will basically remain as it has been, and that Black people will continue to be despised and discriminated against, persecuted, brutalized and terrorized, and the best they can hope for is to somehow survive, and strive to thrive, through all this—or, if you suffer in this life but you “get right with the Lord,” or submit to Allah, you will be rewarded in some “next life.”

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.

As I have put it, expressing a simple and basic truth: “in fundamental terms, 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—ormake revolution!”4

And, in relation to this, I have also spoken to this profound truth:

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.5

But here is another way that, in fundamental terms, there are two choices: either cling to the mental slavery of religion and remain oppressed, or cast off the mental chains of religion while rising up to fight with a real chance to get finally and fully free, in putting an end to all oppression and exploitation.

Religion may seem to give people comfort in the face of the oppression and anguish they are forced to endure, or to make people feel that with religion they can keep from “doing wrong”—or, even though they may “do wrong,” they still have some worth. And it is true that, for some people, their religious views are a motivation to fight against various forms of oppression, and many people who approach things from a religious standpoint have insights and knowledge that it is important to know about and learn from. But it is also true that, as a way of thinking and a guide to acting, religion relies on the invention of supernatural beings that do not exist but which are said to ultimately shape and control reality, including the fate of human beings. Religion calls on people to submit to those imaginary supernatural beings (or, to very human authorities speaking in the name of those imaginary supernatural beings) and to follow scriptures that in reality do not lead to ending oppression but actually promote and reinforce all kinds of degradation and horror. (This is something I have illustrated very concretely in the book Away With All Gods! Unchaining the Mind and Radically Changing the World, particularly with regard to the three main monotheistic [one-god] religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.6) In this way religion stands in direct opposition to taking up a consistently scientific approach to understanding reality and waging a scientifically-grounded fight to end all oppression.

This is why the powers-that-be, whose very existence, wealth and power rest on oppression and exploitation, continually promote religion. It is why the very same slavemasters who prohibited Black people from learning to read (and severely punished those who did) actively encouraged their slaves to take up religion and get down on their knees in prayer. And it is why today, the ruling powers in this country are only too willing to provide a platform for, and parade around, any Black people who are inclined to engage in passionate “god-talk.” This may be painful to hear, but the question is: is it true, or not? Think about it.

It is neither possible nor principled—and no one should ever try—to force people to give up beliefs they hold at any given time. In the most fundamental terms, emancipation—from every form of slavery and oppression—must be the voluntary and conscious act of people. But there is a great need and importance to waging ideological struggle, in a principled way but as sharply as necessary, to win people to take up a scientific approach to understanding, and changing, the world and break with ways of thinking that actually contribute to keeping them, and others, oppressed.

Again, it is true that many religious people take part now in important struggles against oppression; and it is also true that many religious people will be among the millions taking part in the revolution to do away with this whole oppressive system. But this revolution, and the continuing struggle to end all oppression and bring about real and complete emancipation, must be led by those, among the most oppressed, and others as well, who have taken up a scientific approach to changing the world and have cast off the mental slavery of religion, along with every other way of thinking that promotes, or at least rationalizes and objectively justifies, oppression.

A bitter truth is this:

Oppressed people who are unable or unwilling to confront reality as it actually is, are condemned to remain enslaved and oppressed.7

But, an even greater, emancipating truth is this:

The notion of a god, or gods, was created by humanity, in its infancy, out of ignorance. This has been perpetuated by ruling classes, for thousands of years since then, to serve their interests in exploiting and dominating the majority of people and keeping them enslaved to ignorance and irrationality.

Bringing about a new, and far better, world and future for humanity means overthrowing such exploiting classes and breaking free of and leaving behind forever such enslaving ignorance and irrationality.8

 


1. In HOPE FOR HUMANITY ON A SCIENTIFIC BASISBreaking with Individualism, Parasitism and American Chauvinism (available at revcom.us), Bob Avakian speaks to this major change taking place during the 1960s:

In the 1960s, masses of people all over the world, including in this country, were filled with hope and determination about the prospect of bringing into being a radically different and better world. Throughout the Third World, there were liberation struggles aimed at throwing off the yoke of colonial oppression that had been imposed on them for decades, generations and even centuries. And in the imperialist countries themselves—including, in particular, the U.S.—the generation that came of age in the 1960s had both the understanding of the need and a real belief in the possibility of bringing a radically different and better world into being, and was not interested in hearing all the arguments about why things had to be the way they are.  [back]

2. HOPE FOR HUMANITY ON A SCIENTIFIC BASIS.

In Bob Avakian Responds to Mark Rudd on the Lessons of the 1960s and the Need for an Actual Revolution (available at revcom.us), this point is emphasized:

in moving from the limitations of the civil rights movement to the more advanced position of demanding Black liberation and linking this with liberation struggles in the Third World, those Black revolutionaries exerted a powerful positive force in influencing the movements of those times, including among educated youth, toward a more revolutionary orientation, even as that orientation was (in the parlance of those times) a “mixed bag,” involving a complex of conflicting tendencies, including the revolutionary communism that was coming from China as well as various revolutionary nationalist and other contradictory trends.  [back]

3. HOPE FOR HUMANITY ON A SCIENTIFIC BASIS.  [back]

4. In the speech Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, from which this quote is drawn, Bob Avakian speaks to those crucial questions. The text and video of this speech are available at revcom.us. And in the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, authored by Bob Avakian, (available at revcom.us) there is a sweeping vision and a concrete blueprint for a socialist society aiming for the final goal of communism throughout the world.  [back]

5. This statement, along with other works by Bob Avakian speaking to the oppression of Black people and the road to their full emancipation, is available at revcom.us.  [back]

6. Bob Avakian, Away With All Gods! Unchaining the Mind and Radically Changing the World, Insight Press, 2008.  [back]

7. BAsics 4:1 (BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian).  [back]

8. BAsics 4:17, emphasis added.  [back]

Download leaflet (PDF)

 

 

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/661/throw-the-bum-out-richard-nixon-1974-en.html

"Throw the Bum Out!"

When a U.S. President Was Driven from Power—
Richard Nixon, 1974

| revcom.us

 

The people in the U.S. face an urgent historic necessity—to drive the fascist Trump/Pence regime OUTNOW, in the interest of humanity.There are examples of hated rulers being forced out by mass upsurge—including right here in this country. This picture story gives an idea of the times and development leading to the 1974 ouster of President Richard Nixon.

Losing the War in Vietnam, Facing Upheaval on the "Home Front"


There were fierce mass protests against the war in the U.S. and around the world. October 15, 1969, more than two million people took to the streets to protest the Vietnam War during the national Moratorium, a national one-day strike.

When Nixon was elected president in 1968, the U.S. was losing its genocidal war in Vietnam against the national liberation forces. Nixon ran as a staunch proponent of the war, in which the U.S. would slaughter three million people. There were fierce mass protests against the war in the U.S. and around the world. On October 15, 1969, more than two million people took part in the Moratorium—a one-day national strike against the war. A month later, more than half a million flooded the U.S. capital for the Mobilization—and 100,000 rallied simultaneously in San Francisco. 

As the antiwar struggle raged, there were massive inner-city uprisings of Black people. After the 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. assassination, rebellions broke out in more than 100 cities. The revolutionary Black Panther Party drew many Black youths. The Black liberation struggle inspired others: women demanding liberation, Native people fighting against past and present horrors, tens of thousands marching against the war in the 1970 Chicano Moratorium. Revolution was in the air, and new revolutionary and communist organizations were forming and growing, like the Revolutionary Union, forerunner of the Revolutionary Communist Party, led by Bob Avakian.

Throughout society, there was a broad cultural revolt against the status quo of the system’s wars and racism, its fashions and music, and its sexual “morals.” Millions were transforming their thoughts and lives, and the political terrain was changing dramatically.


In 1968, Nixon ran as a staunch proponent of the genocidal war in Vietnam in which the U.S. would slaughter three million people. Here, South Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, which contributed to growing opposition to the war. (Photo: AP)


As the antiwar struggle raged, there were massive inner-city uprisings of Black people. The Black Panther Party attracted many Black youths to its ranks. 1969, San Francisco. Photo: Agnes Varda

Escalating War in Southeast Asia, New Upsurge of Protest Across the U.S.


The bombing of Cambodia in 1970 (shown above) sparked more resistance.


At Kent State University, the National Guard fired into a crowd of protesters, killing four and wounding nine.


In 1971, hundreds of Vietnam veterans threw their medals on the Capitol steps in Washington, DC. One declared, "If we have to fight again, it will be to take these steps."

Faced with protests here and worldwide, Nixon pledged to “de-escalate” the war. In reality, in March 1969, he ordered a new operation: secret carpet bombings of Cambodia, a country bordering on Vietnam. A year later, the U.S. began a ground invasion of Cambodia. 

This huge escalation sparked more resistance. Protesters at Ohio’s Kent State University burned down the ROTC building. One thousand National Guard troops occupied the campus and, on May 4, 1970, fired into a crowd, killing four and wounding nine. Eleven days later, cops opened fire on protesters at Mississippi’s Jackson State University, a historically Black school, killing two and wounding 12. The violent repression was answered by more anger and protest. Four million students went into the streets in college towns across the country, and 450 campuses were shut down. Throughout society, broad swaths of the population were turning against the war and, in many cases, the government.

The resistance was also spreading within the U.S. military. Many units in Vietnam refused to fight. Returning GIs formed Vietnam Veterans Against the War and exposed the atrocities they carried out. In 1971, hundreds of veterans threw their medals on the Capitol steps in Washington, DC, and declared, “If we have to fight again, it will be to take these steps.”

Pig Repression Targets Protesters, Radicals, and Masses of People


Under Nixon, the U.S. government carried out intense repression against the people and the movement leaders. COINTELPRO agents worked with Chicago police in the 1969 assassination of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton.

The U.S. government carried out intense repression against the people and movement leaders. One key instrument in this was the FBI’s COINTELPRO program. In just one example of the targeting of Black revolutionaries, COINTELPRO agents worked with Chicago police in the 1969 assassination of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton. By 1970, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney General had issued more than 40,000 intelligence reports about “civil disorders and campus disturbances.” The FBI and local cops went after activists by arresting them on bogus “conspiracy” charges carrying heavy penalties.

The “war on drugs” was launched under Nixon and, in the following decades, would ruin millions of lives, especially Black and Latino. John Ehrlichman, a top Nixon official, admitted years later that this was really a war on the people. Noting that the Nixon White House “had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people,” he said that “by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

Aiming the Fire at Political Rivals


Nixon carried out illegal operations against people he saw as opponents. One involved trying to steal personal information about Daniel Ellsberg, who had exposed the "Pentagon Papers," government documents containing hidden facts about the Vietnam war. Here Ellsberg speaks to an anti-war crowd in Pennsylvania. (Photo: AP)

Nixon also used the power of the executive branch against rivals within the ruling class and their political and literary representatives, as well as people within the government apparatus who rebelled against what the U.S. was doing. His staff compiled an “enemies list” of people in government, media, and other spheres. A unit known as the “plumbers” carried out illegal operations against opponents. One operation involved breaking into the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist in an attempt to steal personal information in order to discredit him. Ellsberg, a government contractor, had risked life in prison to expose secret government documents (known as the Pentagon Papers) revealing important truths about the U.S. war in Vietnam. 

In June 1972, as Nixon campaigned for re-election, several men broke into the offices of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate complex in Washington, DC. They were caught in the act and arrested. The men were connected to Nixon’s re-election campaign, and they were trying to install phone wiretaps and steal documents.  

In August, Nixon lied in a speech that the White House had nothing to do with the Watergate break-in. In November, Nixon was re-elected in a landslide.

Watergate Scandal Blows Up


Opening day of the Watergate Hearings.

After the “bump” he received from his re-election, Nixon ordered the “Christmas bombing” of densely populated cities in North Vietnam in December 1972—the most intense and devastating air offensive of the war. But as bloodthirsty as these military operations were, the U.S. was obviously heading for defeat. At the same time, there were the antiwar protests that had been rocking the country for years, as well as the increasingly radicalized Black liberation and other anti-system movements. And among broad sections of the people, anti-government feelings and alienation from the system was spreading widely.

All this fueled and sharpened conflicts within the ruling class. In this context, Watergate blew up into a major scandal through 1973 and into the following year.


For 12 days, from December 18 to 29, 1972, U.S. round-the-clock bombing pounded and decimated North Vietnam's densely populated capital city of Hanoi as well as its nearby seaport and industrial center of Haiphong.

"Throw the Bum Out" Demand Resonates, and Nixon Is Forced Out


In April 1974, 10,000 people marched in Washington, DC, with signs saying "Thrown the Bum Out."

The contradictions at the top gave further openings for struggle “from below” on the part of the people. Bob Avakian wrote in his memoir that as the situation heated up around Watergate, he and others in the Revolutionary Union “thought it was good to add fuel to the fire by popularizing the slogan, ‘Throw the Bum Out, Organize to Fight,’ and actually mobilizing people in that spirit and with that orientation. This was taking advantage of a crisis that was becoming very acute within the ruling class, in order to advance our struggle.” 

There was a range of protests and opposition. In April 1974, 10,000 people marched in Washington, DC, with signs saying “Thrown the Bum Out” and “Jail to the Chief.” A week earlier, 21 youths from the Attica Brigade demanding Nixon get out occupied the Statue of Liberty for 21 hours. The AFL-CIO published a 19-point list of charges for which Nixon should be impeached and mailed four million copies to union members across the country. An anonymous government whistleblower—referred to as “Deep Throat”—provided information to Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein for their widely read articles exposing Nixon’s illegal actions and attempts to cover them up. 

When some White House aides testified to a grand jury that Nixon taped every conversation in the Oval Office, the battle over the tapes became a major focus. A Senate committee, a judge overseeing the trial of the Watergate burglars, and independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox all demanded Nixon hand over the tapes. In October 1973, Nixon ordered the firing of Cox, and several Justice Department officials resigned in protest—this was the infamous “Saturday Night Massacre.” 

In March 1974, a grand jury appointed by a new special prosecutor indicted seven former Nixon aides on charges related to Watergate, naming Nixon himself as an “unindicted co-conspirator.” In July, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Nixon to turn over the tapes. After trying to delay for a while, Nixon was forced to turn over the tapes—which made clear his direct involvement in various illegal activities. By this time, many Republicans had abandoned Nixon—and the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach him for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, criminal cover-up, and several violations of the Constitution. Faced with a certainty of being found guilty in the impeachment trial, Nixon resigned on August 8 and left office the next day.


In response to Watergate, protesters march in Washington, DC, with signs calling for the impeachment of President Nixon, Oct. 23, 1973. (Photo: AP)


August 8, 1974, newspapers around the world carried similar headlines.

***

The driving out of Nixon gives a sense of how something like this could happen again. There are, however, important differences in the situation now compared with those times. The Republican Party has become a fully fascist instrument, with the hard core represented by the Trump/Pence regime rabidly determined to keep their grip on power and completely transform society according to their horrific Christian fascist aims—even as conflicts among the rulers are in many ways even sharper today. There is also the added element of an aggressive fascist movement, well-armed and increasingly taking to the streets with aggressive and often violent and even murderous action.  

It’s still possible to drive this regime out—but it is going to take a truly massive and sustained mobilization of the people across the country, from all walks of life, determined to throw these fascists out. And given where we are at today, this will need to happen in the span of months and weeks, not years.

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/661/check-it-out-immigration-nation-en.html

Check it out: Immigration Nation

| revcom.us

 

From a reader:

Immigration Nation, a six-part documentary currently showing on Netflix, presents a comprehensive picture of the “zero tolerance” anti-immigrant policy being carried out by the Trump/Pence regime—and its horrific impact on millions of people born outside this country. Watching this series will enrage you, and bring you to tears. Try to watch all of it, because it brings together a great deal of their fascist program, and its consequences. (The Trump/Pence regime tried to force redactions in the documentary, threatened legal action, and demanded that it not be shown until after the election.)

The filmmakers, Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau, spent nearly three years on the project (from early 2017 to fall/winter 2019). They were able to spend time with and film ICE agents as they did their work in places like New York City, Charlotte, North Carolina, and the border near Tucson, Arizona. And they filmed inside immigrant detention facilities, including the massive one near the Mexico-U.S. border in El Paso, Texas.

At the same time, the filmmakers were able to spend considerable time speaking with the immigrants targeted by ICE and the Trump/Pence regime. Their work brings the cruel, brutal, and often illegal actions by the ICE agents to screen at length and up close—and you also see and hear from the immigrants being physically and emotionally tortured in such horrible and despicable ways.

The series is organized into episodes focusing on different parts of the immigration system: parents in tears, in chains after a routine check-in with ICE, denied the chance to even say goodbye to their children; undocumented construction workers organizing to get justice after their contractor refuses to pay them for weeks of work; Marine veterans deported for marijuana possession; an elderly woman seeking asylum in the U.S. after fleeing El Salvador with her 12-year-old granddaughter who was facing death because she refused to “marry” an MS-13 gang-member—the child is reunited with her mother, but the grandmother, after 17 months in detention, is deported back to near-certain death.

In the first episode, the viewer rides along with ICE gestapo agents in New York City as they knock on doors, lie about who they are and why they’re there to manipulate their way in, and arrest their “target”—along with other “collaterals.”1

“The Right Way” episode shows what happens to refugees who present themselves at the border for asylum. We see how under Trump’s “Stay in Mexico” plan, 50,000 asylum seekers are forced to wait months, even years, in Tijuana or Juárez, with no way to support themselves, after showing they’re eligible for an asylum court hearing.

In the episode “Voting,” we see ICE carry out their promise to retaliate when North Carolina’s Mecklenburg County elects a sheriff (a former veteran cop) who had promised to end the 287(g) program (which lets local cops act as ICE agents and enables ICE to screen and deport people in jail for any reason). ICE floods the area with agents riding in unmarked vans, stopping and taking immigrants off the streets. Here we meet Stefania, a teenage immigrant activist from El Salvador, who leads the battle to shut down 287(g), and then we see her overcoming her own fear to go out in the streets, following and videotaping the ICE agents at work.2

Several times, we’re reminded that many of the policies Trump has ratcheted up were begun or carried out by previous Democratic administrations. But I kept thinking, the Trump/Pence regime hasn’t just made things worse; this is a qualitatively different—fascist—form of rule.

In the final episode, which takes place in the Arizona desert, we see how Trump has shut down any legal options for immigrants and refugees, and more and more border crossers are forced to attempt deadly treks across the unforgiving Sonoran desert. We watch border agents searching for the scattered remains of immigrants who died while desperately trying to cross. We learn that one way this government measures the success of its “prevention through deterrence” is by counting how many migrants have died in the attempt to cross.

Near the end of the series a border agent says,I put my personal feelings aside, which, yeah maybe that’s what every Nazi said, right?” He adds, “I actually believe in the cause of trying to enforce some sort of sovereignty over our borders...”

 


 

1. The film shows some agents complaining they’re being “unfairly” portrayed, while others are openly happy they are “finally able to do their jobs.”  [back]

2. In a Los Angeles Times interview, Christina Clusiau describes Stefania:

She’s a warrior. She’s something else, that one. She just keeps on going. She never gives in. She was able to build enough support in her community that she was like the leading force for other people to stand up. And I think [there’s] really something to be said [for her] to step in front of the line and say, “Yes, I’m vulnerable. I could get caught up in this. But it’s more important to me to make sure that my community is safe.” It’s pretty incredible.  [back]

BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian is a book of quotations and short essays that speaks powerfully to questions of revolution and human emancipation.

"You can't change the world if you don't know the BAsics."

Order the book HERE
Download the book in ePub format HERE

 

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Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

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Trump/Pence Barrel Ahead with Fascist Offensive

Armed Thugs Attack BLM Protests; Attacks on November Elections and Mail-in Voting Escalate; Trump/DeVos Promote Government-Funded Religious Education; Executive Orders Aim at Restructuring Government to Serve Fascism

| revcom.us

 

The fascist Trump/Pence regime has been moving rapidly, aggressively, and in many dimensions to develop and implement fascism. Below are some measures taken or that came to light in the past week alone.

On August 8, about 25 teenagers and BLM supporters protesting in Minden, Nevada, "were immediately attacked and harassed by dozens of counter protesters who were heavily armed, dressed in military fatigues and carried assault rifles, bats, hand guns and shotguns...." (Photo: AP)

Armed Fascists Attack Black Lives Matter Protests in Rural Nevada and California: A violent movement is increasingly engaging in street combat against what it perceives as opponents of the fascist Trump/Pence regime. On August 8, about 25 mostly teenaged Black Lives Matter (BLM) supporters who protested in Minden, Nevada, “were immediately attacked and harassed by dozens of counter protesters who were heavily armed, dressed in military fatigues and carried assault rifles, bats, hand guns and shotguns….” The website CarsonNow reported that “no deputies stepped in during any of the numerous assaults witnessed by protesters as well as this… reporter.” The protesters had been holding weekly BLM demonstrations in nearby Carson City but came to Minden because the local sheriff was infuriated at the library board for drafting a “diversity statement”; his threats on the library got national media attention.

The following day in the same mountainous region, in Nevada City, California, there was another assault on a peaceful BLM protest. The Sierra Nevada Daily reported that “enraged men wearing Trump regalia pushed, shoved, slapped, and destroyed the signs of BLM protesters marching on Broad Street.” As in Minden, uniformed police allowed the assaults on protesters to continue, and at least one cop not in uniform was with the fascist mob.

 


 

The USPS, under direction from a Trump ally and "mega-donor," has instituted major cutbacks in personnel and disruptive organizational changes, and decommissioned hundreds of pieces of essential equipment, such as these mailboxes in Wisconsin. (Photo: @tomaskenn)

Trump Escalates Threats on November Election, Postal Service, Vote by Mail: The Trump/Pence regime is systematically and relentlessly working to further consolidate its fascist stranglehold on power as the November election approaches. The regime is both trying to suppress as much of the vote as possible, especially of Black and Latinx people, and to declare in advance that the election is a “fraud.” In an interview on Fox “News,” Trump defended massive cuts for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), including funding intended to support mail-in ballots during the pandemic: “That means they don't get the money. That means they can't have universal mail-in voting, they just can't have it.” Under the direction of a Trump ally and campaign “mega-donor” as postmaster, the USPS has instituted major cutbacks in personnel and disruptive organizational changes, and decommissioned hundreds of pieces of essential equipment. These have already slowed down mail delivery in many places. The Washington Post reported that in late July the USPS sent letters to 46 states and Washington, DC saying it can’t guarantee that all ballots cast by mail for the November election will arrive in time to be counted. This week Trump repeated that if there is large-scale voting by mail, the November election will be “the greatest fraud in history.” And he boasted, “We have many lawsuits out there [to challenge the legitimacy of vote-by-mail and the November elections].” Trump is essentially announcing that he won’t accept the legitimacy of an electoral defeat.

 


 

Attorney General Barr, August 10.

Attorney General Whips up Hate, Organizes Repression: U.S. Attorney General William Barr unleashed a threatening, deceitful tirade against Black Lives Matter protests, Antifa, and the Democratic Party in a long interview on Fox “News.” He claimed Black Lives Matter is “a revolutionary group that is interested in some form of socialism, communism.” Barr also called Antifa “highly organized” as it wages a “new form of guerilla warfare” and said the Democrats believe in “tearing down the system.” These are deliberate, conscious lies. Barr’s rant was aimed at justifying in advance the escalating repression of protest his Department of “Justice” is spearheading, and at inflaming the audience of fascists who watch Fox to associate these groupings (and other protesters) into one target of their seething, increasingly violent hate. Refuse Fascism, and the protests it is calling for, are included in that target, at least by implication and inference.

 


 

***


Read more

 


 

A suburban Atlanta county opened its schools on August 3. After four days, nearly 1,200 students and staff were ordered into quarantine because of COVID-19 infections. The photo shows a hallway packed with students with no masks at one high school; the student who took the photo and put it on social media was suspended. (Tweeted photo)

Trump Threatens Public Schools, Promotes Increased Funding for Religious and Private Schools: In a White House ceremony, Trump, Pence, and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos called for opening up schools. Trump and DeVos also announced a proposal to reduce federal funding for public education and send more money to private schools. Trump asked, “Why are we paying if a school is closed?… [Federal funds] should follow students so parents can send their child to the private, charter, religious or home school of their choice.” DeVos, a Christian fascist, added that a bill now in Congress “would do just that.… And with the President’s bold leadership, I think we can get it done.” As Bob Avakian has pointed out, Christian fascists like DeVos ultimately want to eliminate public education and replace it with Christian fundamentalist indoctrination. And right now, the fascist regime is working diligently toward that goal by undermining public education and building up private and religious—in particular Christian—schools.

 


 

New Orleans, scene in front of eviction court. (Photo: AP)

Trump’s Pandemic Executive Orders: On August 8 Trump signed four executive orders he claims will cut through congressional stalemate and provide much-needed aid to tens of millions of people who are out of work, out of money, and on the edge of homelessness because of the economic crisis triggered by a rampaging pandemic. This is bullshit. Trump has a long and despicable record of not giving a damn about people in this country and around the world upon whom his regime has inflicted enormous misery.

Taxing and funding policy are among Congress’s constitutionally mandated powers. Trump’s move is aimed in part to discredit and disempower Congress (where his Democratic Party opponents dominate the House), concentrate more power in the hands of the president, and further break down the “separation of powers” that has been a cornerstone cohering the U.S. political system since the country was founded. It also is intended to further shred what remains of the “safety net” that is supposed to keep people from utter destitution, while pretending to prop it up for a few months. For example, the postponement of payroll tax payments Trump proposes would do nothing for the tens of millions of people officially unemployed now, and it would undermine long-term funding for Social Security and Medicare, programs fascists have had in their crosshairs for years. And whatever meager benefits people may receive from his orders will need to be repaid in full when they expire.

Whether or not Trump’s orders will take effect is uncertain. But what is clear is that the Trump/Pence regime is rapidly and aggressively consolidating its fascist domination of the federal government, and moving to reorganize and redirect how the government functions, to serve those fascist ends.

***

An Impending Disaster and an Urgent Challenge

The above is some of the damage done by the fascist Trump/Pence regime—in one week! The consequences to humanity and the planet if this regime remains in power worsen daily, and will be disastrous if it isn’t stopped.

As Bob Avakian wrote in his recent statement, “Right now, for everyone who is concerned with ending injustice and oppression, and with the question of whether humanity will have a future worth living—or will have a future at all—removing the Trump/Pence fascist regime from power is an immediate, urgent question and truly historic imperative.”

***

SOURCES

 

Follow: @TheRevcoms
Read: www.revcom.us
Watch: youtube.com/TheRevComs

 

Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

You’ve read this article and now you need to be part of making sure revcom.us is able to make an urgently needed leap and transformation.

 

Get a free email subscription to revcom.us:



 


 

Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/661/india-what-happens-when-a-fascist-leader-is-re-elected-en.html

What Happens When a Fascist Leader Is Re-Elected?
A Flashing Red Warning Sign from India

| revcom.us

 

Editors’ Note: This week, we are bringing to our readers the following article about developments with the fascist regime in India headed by Narendra Modi. This experience (and others, such as with Recep Erdoğan in Turkey) illustrates how fascism takes a leap either through an election “mandate” or freedom seized by fascists out of necessity—and the serious implications of this for the masses of people. Although what we face with the Trump/Pence regime is not identical, the example of India helps illustrate the reality that if Trump is able to come through the next months and declare “victory”—whether through an election win, a delayed or canceled vote, or some other way—that will not simply be a matter of things getting somewhat worse. It will be a leap—a definite leap toward consolidation of fascist rule in the U.S. Thus, as Bob Avakian states in his recent statement, “Right now, for everyone who is concerned with ending injustice and oppression, and with the question of whether humanity will have a future worth living—or will have a future at all—removing the Trump/Pence fascist regime from power is an immediate, urgent question and truly historic imperative.” (Read the whole statement, ON THE IMMEDIATE CRITICAL SITUATION, THE URGENT NEED TO DRIVE OUT THE FASCIST TRUMP/PENCE REGIME, VOTING IN THIS ELECTION, AND THE FUNDAMENTAL NEED FOR REVOLUTION.)

In May of 2019, Narendra Modi was reelected as prime minister. A coalition of parties led by Modi’s BJP won 44% of the vote, trouncing a coalition led by the Indian Congress Party (the main ruling class party since India’s founding), which got only 25%.

This victory empowered and emboldened Modi’s regime to accelerate the Hindu-fascist transformation of India, which began with Modi’s first election in 2014.1

Modi has always been an open Hindu supremacist, but during his 2014 campaign and through part of his first term he downplayed this in favor of “carefully moderated public positions ... in line with his projected image as a pro-development leader and global statesman.” Modi sought to reassure “minority groups” that India remained a multi-national and secular society. And he implemented some popular reforms, including building a hundred million toilets in a country in which lack of sanitation is a source of widespread disease and humiliation.

Simultaneously Modi moved to consolidate power throughout Indian society, getting control of the courts and most mass media, and appointing Hindu nationalists to leading positions in universities and the government—BJP figures who took the lead in promoting open and virulent racism against Muslims and other minorities.

Modi appointed Amit Shah, the president of BJP, as Home Minister. Shah regularly referred to Muslims as “termites” who BJP would “throw into the Bay of Bengal.” He also appointed, Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu priest, as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state. Adityanath was jailed in 2007 for inciting anti-Muslim riots, after a speech in which he threatened, “If one Hindu girl marries a Muslim man, then we will take 100 Muslim girls in return ... If they [Muslims] kill one Hindu man, then we will kill 100 Muslim men.” He publicly defended a Hindu mob that killed a Muslim man suspected of slaughtering a cow (cows are sacred in Hinduism) and suggested that the murdered man’s family should be prosecuted instead. (He has also praised Trump’s ban on Muslim immigration!)

This in turn unleashed BJP activists to carry out attacks on Muslims for such crimes as herding cattle. Dozens were killed and hundreds injured in these attacks during Modi’s first term; BJP leaders responded by saying things like “We will hang those who kill cows,” and “I will break the hands and legs of those who do not consider cows their mother and kill them.”

The BJP also waged a broad ideological campaign to literally rewrite the history of India to extol the “greatness” of Hinduism and its alleged persecution by Muslims. They even went so far as to insist that Hindus were using airplanes, stem-cell research and the Internet in 1000 A.D.! And as renowned Indian historian Romila Thapar pointed out, the Hindu nationalist version of reality “has the patronage of the government, is well financed, and is popularized in a variety of ways. Those critical of this Hindutva history are already being labeled anti-national in an attempt to subvert historical research.”

But all of this, terrible as it was, was only a prelude to what the Modi regime would do once he was reelected in 2019 and could claim a “mandate” for fascism. Fifteen months later, an Indian commentator described the results as a “systematic and ruthless action toward rewriting the constitution and ushering in a new grammar of state power.” The New York Times reported that “Critics are deeply worried that Mr. Modi is trying to wrench India away from its secular, democratic roots and turn this nation of 1.3 billion people into a religious state, a homeland for Hindus. ‘They want a theocratic state,’’ said B.N. Srikrishna, a former judge on India’s Supreme Court.”

Here are four examples of Modi’s post-reelection fascist offensive:

Invasion and occupation of Jammu and Kashmir: Jammu and Kashmir is the sole Muslim-majority state in India. Under India’s constitution (Article 370) it is guaranteed full autonomy, except for matters of defense and security.

On August 5, 2019, without warning Modi abrogated (violated) Article 370 and invaded. Revcom.us described what happened next:

August 5 Kashmir woke up caged. Every home was turned into a jail with a statewide curfew.... Over five hundred Kashmiri politicians were jailed and thousands more arrested in one swoop. Any spontaneous protest was crushed with an iron fist, and people were beaten, maimed, jailed and killed mercilessly. ...young boys, 10 to 13 years old, were kidnapped and abducted from families in night raids by Indian forces, and are being held in jails without charges... Kashmiri jails are full, the children are now taken to jails of other states. The aim is clear—to eliminate Muslims from Kashmir, perform an ethnic cleansing, and change its demographics forever.

India also completely shut down the Internet in Kashmir for five months, as well as barring all foreign journalists. A year later, heavy repression continues.

New “Citizenship Law” Threatens Muslim Population with Loss of Rights, Deportation—or Concentration Camps:  In August 2019, in the state of Assam, the government initiated a process compelling everyone to produce documentary proof that they or their ancestors were born in India prior to 1971, or lose their citizenship. Under this law a person of immigrant heritage who was born in India 58 years ago could lose their citizenship. Two million Assamese “failed the test.”

This process was openly aimed at finding undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh, India’s predominantly Muslim neighbor, millions of whom fled to India during Bangladesh’s War of Independence from Pakistan in 1971. This new citizenship test unleashed great fear among Muslims, which only grew as “foreign tribunals” were thrown together to “judge” citizenship and detention camps built for the newly-created “non-citizens”—at least 10 camps are planned. (India has no treaty under which it can deport people to Bangladesh, so “non-citizens” of Bangladeshi heritage are subject to indefinite detention.) Dozens of people committed suicide, including a 14-year-old girl.

On November 19, 2019, the BJP Home Minister announced in parliament that it would go nationwide with the hunt for Muslim “illegals.” Then, to make the anti-Muslim character of this completely clear, on December 11, 2019, BJP passed a law providing Hindu, Christian and Buddhist immigrants—but not Muslims—a path to citizenship. A human rights activist got to the heart of what BJP was doing: “Muslims are the enemy. It’s a war on the Indian Constitution.” 

(Go here and here for more on the citizenship laws.)

Police Brutality and Unleashing Pogroms to Suppress Protests: Protests erupted against the new citizenship laws, starting among Hindu students in Assam but quickly spreading to all faiths and across the country. The government responded with the same savage brutality as in Kashmir, shooting one Christian protester to death, teargassing students in a library, and surrounding and beating protesting Muslims in New Delhi. A nine-year-old boy riding his bicycle was crushed in a stampede of people fleeing police attack. The Internet was shut down, curfews were imposed. On January 30, a gunman opened fire on protesters in the capital city of Delhi, wounding one student, as police stood by and casually watched.

According to the New York Times, although the traditional ruling class opposition parties were “fractured” and on the sidelines, the defiance of the protesters posed “a threat to [Modi’s] ideological agenda.” The Times quotes a professor in the city of Varanasi: “I’m hearing it all over town: People are fed up with this regime.” The protests continued to spread in the face of severe repression until at least late February. For the first time since his election, the Times noted, Modi was on the defensive

Then on February 23, 2020, Kapil Mishra, a local BHP politician, called a counter-protest against mostly women demonstrators who were blocking a road in Delhi. According to the Times, he gave “a fiery speech in which he issued an ultimatum to the police: either clear out the demonstrators, who were blocking a main road, or he and his followers would do it themselves. Within hours, the worst Hindu-Muslim violence in India in years was exploding. Gangs of Hindus and Muslims fought each other with swords and bats, shops burst into flames, chunks of bricks sailed through the air, and mobs rained blows on cornered men.” 

By the time it was over, at least 46 people were dead and terror gripped Muslims in the capital. Not long after, Modi locked down all of India in a disastrous response to the coronavirus pandemic. At least for a time, the “threat” of people of different religions uniting to oppose Hindu-fascism had been quelled.

Building a Hindu Temple on the Ruins of a Mosque Destroyed by Hindu Nationalists:  In November of 2019, in a mark of the growing subservience of India’s judicial system to the Hindu-fascist regime, the Supreme Court ruled that Hindus could build a temple at the site of a destroyed mosque in Ayodhya. Muslims had built a mosque there in the 16th century. Hindu nationalists—claiming that it was on the birth-site of the Hindu god Rama—destroyed it in 1992, setting off religious violence that killed 2,000 people. Ever since the fascists have wanted to build a Hindu temple there.

Modi chose August 5, 2020—the first anniversary of his invasion of Kashmir—to offer “holy water” and to set the ceremonial cornerstone for the new temple, declaring, “The wait of centuries is coming to an end”! 

According to the Times, this was “an unmistakable milestone in [Modi’s] efforts to shift India’s secular foundations toward a more overtly Hindu identity” and “another decisive step toward an India that officially favors its Hindu majority.” And they quote another expert saying it “symbolized Mr. Modi’s ‘total domination over India.’”

So, “What Happens When a Fascist Leader Is Re-elected?”

Shashi Tharoor, a liberal politician says Modi “delegitimised dissent and criticism as hostile to the national interest, and every liberal thought and contrarian idea as undermining national pride and unity.” And Tharoor quotes political scientist Suhas Palshikar saying Modi “formalised the peripheralisation of the Muslims both spatially and politically, while the celebrations openly involving state machinery underscore the officialisation of the status of Hindu religion as the basis of the new republic.” 

Or to put it simply, when fascists are allowed to remain in power, they use their power to implement fascism—in his case a Hindu-fascist theocratic state.

Does any of this seem familiar?

 


1.  India is a country of 1.3 billion people. 80 percent are Hindu, 14 percent—200 million—are Muslim, and there are many other religious minorities, including Christians, Sikhs, and Buddhists. 

The area that is now India and Pakistan was colonized by Britain for hundreds of years. The British used contradictions between Muslims and Hindus to maintain their own domination. When they were forced out of the region in 1948, they divided it into India—predominantly Hindu—and Pakistan—predominantly Muslim—as a way to weaken the newly independent countries and keep the region under imperialist control. That partition process set off sectarian violence in which hundreds of thousands were killed

The founding Constitution of India established it as secular (not based in religion) and non-sectarian (not favoring any religious group over another.) But within this legal framework, reactionary forces have continued to stoke religious differences to gain power and to weaken and oppress the masses, and bloody outbreaks of religious violence spatter across India’s history. This is also bound up with contention between India and Pakistan to be the dominant power in the South Asian region, and with the machinations of various imperialist powers backing one or the other (or both) of them.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (the BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a Hindu fascist party. Similar to the Christian fascists in the U.S., BJP’s objective is to transform India into a Hindu country, period. As one India scholar put it: “He sees himself as the architect of a new India, built on a foundation of technological, cultural, economic and military prowess, and backed by an ideology of Hindu nationalism.” This can only be done by violently oppressing Muslims and other minorities, suppressing dissent, and discarding or ignoring the existing Constitution.  [back]


Map of India


Protests erupted against the new immigration law, starting among Hindu students in Assam but quickly spreading to all faiths and across the country. (Photo: AP)


The government responded with savage brutality against protests. (Photo: AP)


On August 5, 2020—the first anniversary of the invasion of Kashmir—Modi offered "holy water" to set the ceremonial cornerstone of the new temple, shifting India's foundations toward a more Hindu identity. Police guard the scene. (Photo: AP)


Trump visited India in February 2020. The two fascists, Trump and Modi, embraced.

See also:

Bob Avakian on: The Need to Drive Out the Fascist Trump/Pence Regime and the Fundamental Need for Revolution

Videos and articles

 

Follow: @TheRevcoms
Read: www.revcom.us
Watch: youtube.com/TheRevComs

 

Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

You’ve read this article and now you need to be part of making sure revcom.us is able to make an urgently needed leap and transformation.

 

Get a free email subscription to revcom.us:



 


 

Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/661/september-5-beginning-60-days-of-struggle-trump-pence-outnow-en.html

September 5, 2020...
beginning 60 days of struggle to demand:
Trump/Pence OUTNOW!

| revcom.us

 

To state the situation we face truthfully and simply:  

The future depends on you being on a mission now to move heaven and earth to arouse and organize people to take to the streets and prepare to stay in the streets to demand the Trump/Pence Fascist Regime Must Go Now!

Take the time now to sit, read, and think about two different visions of the next 75-plus days. Consider where one or the other vision leads. Then decide where you stand and what you will do.

One: The Trump/Pence regime wins the election, steals the election, and/or refuses to leave office, and the people like you who oppose this have not been mobilizing, organizing, and already coalescing into the streets and as a force demanding that this fascist regime is illegitimate and must go now.   

Two: From now through September and October, more and more people from all walks of life and different political persuasions are on a mission to spread the word and organize so that masses of people are repeatedly taking to and staying in the streets—in the way millions did in response to the wanton racist police murder of George Floyd—raising the unifying demand and objective: TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!.  

Bob Avakian, in his statement On The Immediate Critical Situation, The Urgent Need To Drive Out The Fascist Trump/Pence Regime, Voting In This Election, And The Fundamental Need For Revolution, plainly and sharply lays out the stakes of the coming period:

If this regime is able to further consolidate its power and make further leaps in implementing its horrific objectives, this will result in a devastating setback for any attempt to resist injustice and oppression, and will very likely lead to the brutal repression, and even annihilation, of defenders of democratic rights and proponents of any meaningful progressive reforms, as well as any organized forces fighting for fundamental revolutionary change.

He goes on to say:

Simply relying on voting to oust this regime will almost certainly lead to very bad, even disastrous results.

The stakes are devastating setback, brutal repression, even annihilation. Is this true? Is it hyperbole?   Ask the immigrants in concentration camps. Ask the paramilitary fascist forces mobilized by the regime and the police unions around the country, or Trump’s fascist MAGA mobs who refuse to wear masks, what they are preparing for. The truth of these stakes is concisely made in Bob Avakian’s statement (cited above) and amply documented on this website1 and on the website RefuseFascism.org. If you think this is exaggeration, make your case—you can write us at revolution.reports@yahoo.com. But, do not turn away without a full confrontation and reckoning.

What is mainly happening now is vision #1—waiting. What needs to happen now,is #2.

Trump has said that if he loses, he will declare it to be a fraud and theft. Fox News will echo this, enraging and mobilizing millions of MAGA forces. Trump has told and shown that he is already subverting the U.S. Postal Service so millions of people can’t vote by mail, and he has called for recruiting cops and former Navy Seals and Special Forces to “watch [i.e.: intimidate at] the voting polls.”

Organizations, writers, and even former military are sounding the warning of this subversion,2 but thus far these people are saying we will do something if and when he does this at election time. This is as dangerous as it is foolish. 

Four points:

[1] The Trump/Pence regime is already fascist3 and has implemented fascist measure after fascist measure and is already stealing the election at the national and state levels. Every move towards doing so should be opposed in the course of building an overall struggle that raises the overarching demand: The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go Now!

[2] The logic of protesting only once they have fully stolen the election and/or refused to leave office is the logic of playing by the rules, and defending the very norms and institutions they are now in the process of, and by then may have succeeded in, obliterating.

[3] They have their forces out in the streets and being hardened within the government and sections of their armed forces already. They are gaining strength and initiative on their side and intimidating the people’s side. Trump sent paramilitary forces to cities like Portland and Seattle to brutally crush legitimate dissent and has launched plans to go into the big inner cities like Chicago.4 The MAGA fascists have been holding armed rallies around the country. This could contribute to the regime actually “winning” the election “legitimately.” If this happens, and we do not have an aroused and mobilized people in the streets, where will we be and what will you do then?5

[4] The last point is that there is another way: for you and hundreds and thousands more to be on a mission now to spread the word far and wide and organize like the future depends on it for September 5th—a day that launches an autumn of growing mass nonviolent struggle of many different kinds to demand the Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!

We should spread a vision of what could be possible if we mobilize and unite now for September 5th and then be on mission to make it so.

In the struggle around the murder of George Floyd we saw what is possible when a determined people come into the streets over and over around a just cause. The struggle of the masses of people ripped open the reality of this country’s white supremacy as statues were torn down and institutions everywhere were forced to begin to confront their roots in slavery and its continuing legacy in discrimination, bigotry, police murder, mass incarceration, and shortened lives of Black people. The head of the U.S. military was forced to apologize to the people in opposition to his commander in chief, Pig Trump.

We are at a “stop everything” moment in history. September 5th needs to be a significant outpouring inspiring 60 days of struggle. If every attempt by the regime to subvert the election, to further repress protest, to implement new fascist measures is met with growing numbers demanding Trump/Pence OUT NOW! we could force a different political equation going into the election, constraining Trump’s ability to easily postpone or subvert the election.

If masses of people are already in the streets over the 60 days running up to the election and then the regime attempts to discount, challenge, or dismiss the results, we would be a people organized and mobilized to act in defiance that this not go down. And, if we launch this struggle and increasingly tap into and mobilize the deeply held desire of millions to see the ouster of the fascist Trump/Pence regime, no one can say how far this can go or how fast.

This has to be our vision-mission: a vision of broad, deep, and determined resistance, and the mission that we must all be on—from many different viewpoints—united and acting in sustained nonviolent protest demanding that this regime must go.

We don’t have a crystal ball to predict just how these events will unfold, but we can, with a great deal of certitude, say that this is already a highly contested period with confrontations already afoot. That is not going away without an organized, mobilized opposing force. Trump and Pence, the fascist forces that back them, and the virulent fascist base they have mobilized are not going away without a mass, determined struggle. It is on each and all of us to make September 5th a broad-based united day launching 60 days of struggle before the election.

 


1. See "Trump/Pence Regime Accelerates Fascist Juggernaut" at revcom.us.  [back]

2. See "This Presidential Election A ‘Dozen Floridas,’ a ‘Vast Array’ of Lawsuits, a ‘Lot of Mischief’...." at revcom.us.  [back]

3. The following definition of fascism appears frequently at revcom.us:

Fascism is the exercise of blatant dictatorship by the bourgeois (capitalist-imperialist) class, ruling through reliance on open terror and violence, trampling on what are supposed to be civil and legal rights, wielding the power of the state, and mobilizing organized groups of fanatical thugs, to commit atrocities against masses of people, particularly groups of people identified as “enemies,” “undesirables,” or “dangers to society.”

At the same time—and this can be seen through studying the examples of Nazi Germany and Italy under Mussolini—while it will likely move quickly to enforce certain repressive measures in consolidating its rule, a fascist regime is also likely to implement its program overall through a series of stages and even attempt at different points to reassure the people, or certain groups among the people, that they will escape the horrors—if they quietly go along and do not protest or resist while others are being terrorized and targeted for repression, deportation, “conversion,” prison, or execution.  [back]

4. See "Operation Legend: A Fascist Wolf in Pig’s Clothing, Part 1" at revcom.us.  [back]

5. Trump/Pence will invoke a second term as a mandate to go on a rampage. Look at the fascistic ruler of India in his second term, who on the heels of his reelection put an entire region of the country (Kashmir) under brutal martial law, and initiated a process that threatens the citizenship of tens of millions of non-Hindu people in India.  [back]

See also:

Bob Avakian on: The Need to Drive Out the Fascist Trump/Pence Regime and the Fundamental Need for Revolution

Videos and articles

The Call from RefuseFascism.org:

As Trump threatens the elections and sends fascist stormtroopers into cities:

Stay in the streets in August Build for UNITED NATIONWIDE MASS PROTEST Saturday September 5 DEMAND TRUMP PENCE OUT NOW!

Read more

September 5 Events by City:


Refuse Fascism, Philadelphia.

RefuseFascism.org is a movement of people coming from diverse perspectives, united in our recognition that the Trump/Pence Regime poses a catastrophic danger to humanity and the planet, and that it is our responsibility to drive them from power through non-violent protests that grow every day until our demand is met. This means working and organizing with all our creativity and determination to bring thousands, eventually millions of people into the streets of cities and towns, to demand:

This Nightmare Must End:
The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!

RefuseFascism.org welcomes individuals and organizations from many different points of view who share our determination to refuse to accept a fascist America, to join and/or partner with us in this great cause.

Find out more about Refuse Fascism here.

 

Follow: @TheRevcoms
Read: www.revcom.us
Watch: youtube.com/TheRevComs

 

Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

You’ve read this article and now you need to be part of making sure revcom.us is able to make an urgently needed leap and transformation.

 

Get a free email subscription to revcom.us:



 


 

Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/661/gary-leupp-unprincipled-attack-in-counterpunch-en.html

A Measly and Collaborationist Defense of Trump-Fascism: On Gary Leupp's Unprincipled Attack In Counterpunch

| revcom.us

 

Editor’s note: On August 13, Counterpunch published “The RCP, Fascism, and Chairman Bob’s Endorsement of Biden for President” by Gary Leupp, an attack on Bob Avakian’s statement, ON THE IMMEDIATE CRITICAL SITUATION, THE URGENT NEED TO DRIVE OUT THE FASCIST TRUMP/PENCE REGIME, VOTING IN THIS ELECTION, AND THE FUNDAMENTAL NEED FOR REVOLUTION. The following is a reply to Leupp.

Gary Leupp’s apologia—or defense—for Trump-fascism on the website Counterpunch is intellectually dishonest, morally contemptible and dangerously harmful. Five points: 

* Leupp claims that Trump is too incompetent to be a fascist. Wrong. While Trump may say many stupid things, he has now assembled an efficient team of fascists and “accomplished” much of the fascist agenda.

Leupp states, “...Trump has had four chiefs-of-staff (one acting), one of whom, John Kelly, famously called him ‘unhinged’ and an ‘idiot.’ He has had four secretaries of state (two acting), of whom Rex Tillerson called him ‘a fucking moron.’ He has had six national security advisors (two acting), of whom Jim Mattis likened him to a ‘fifth or sixth-grader,’” and goes on to argue, “The man has shown himself incapable of managing the White House, much less imposing martial law or a New Order.”

Contrary to Leupp, this is precisely symptomatic of the sledgehammer approach taken by Trump—his revolving door of staff who were not sufficiently primed or willing to bust the norms of liberal bourgeois democracy as required by fascism or implement the fascist program and agenda with gusto—until he got the people who are!

Leupp does not mention Bill Barr, a Christian fascist Attorney General who is willing to enshrine Trump’s word as law and bend the law to Trump’s will; or Chad Wolf, the head of Homeland Security who is assembling and retooling federal law enforcement into paramilitary forces deployed into cities controlled by Democratic lawmakers; or Ken Cuccinelli, the head of U.S. Immigration who has forged and unleashed thousands of Gestapo-like ICE and Border Patrol agents against immigrants, a qualitative escalation documented, for example, in the Netflix series Immigration Nation; or Mike Pompeo, his Christian fascist Secretary of State, who champions the ultra-chauvinist America First policy. 

This is the assembling of a fascist cabinet ready to implement the program, to do Trump’s bidding unconstrained by law or opposition within society or from other sections of the ruling class. It is precisely the departures of more mainstream conservatives and generals like Tillerson, Mattis and Kelly that further reveal the fascist mission that determines the cabinet and the regime.

In terms of Leupp’s statement that Trump has “shown himself incapable of managing the White House, much less imposing martial law or a New Order,” there is complete ignore-ance of what Trump and his fascist regime have already done! Contrast Leupp’s wishful thinking with what Bob Avakian (BA) describes: 

Already we have seen Trump, in flagrant violation of Constitutional principles, send occupying storm troopers, from various federal government agencies, to criminalize dissent and suppress people protesting in Portland and other cities, and to add to the reign of terror against masses of people in the inner cities of Chicago and elsewhere.

In addition, Trump has effectively stacked the federal courts with an army of reactionary judges. Spare us your crowing, Leupp.

* Leupp claims that because Trump is not literally like Hitler in every aspect, he poses no threat. Wrong again—absurdly wrong.

Leupp informs that Trump has “legions of potential supporters among the neo-NAZIs and Klansmen,” but he immediately reassures us that “they do not constitute a disciplined fascist party like Mussolini’s National Fascists1 or Hitler’s National Socialists.” We suppose that fascist thugs mobilized and manifesting nationwide, including at Stone Mountain, Georgia, and in Kalamazoo, Michigan, this weekend in defense of the Confederacy and open white supremacy—or against Democratic lawmakers in Michigan—are simply not “disciplined,” even if armed to the hilt with automatic rifles, dressed in full combat gear and backed by the highest office of the land. They get support from police and law enforcement, whose unions overwhelmingly back Trump. 

Leupp prophesizes that “No Reichstag fire or Kristallnacht looms,” referring to nodal points of fascist consolidation in NAZI Germany with Hitler.This is an almost textbook case of Avakian’s examples of “...arrogant dismissal by those who could not, or would not, see the reality and the trajectory of this regime; who dismissed the danger by ignoring or downplaying many of the terrible things this regime had already done; and who then pointed to whatever had not yet been done by this regime as supposed ‘proof’ that it would not do those things.”

Avakian goes on to say: 

Now, at this late and crucial hour, to treat as “alarmist exaggeration” the fascist nature of this regime and its very real parallels with the horrors perpetrated by previous fascist regimes—this is to ignore not only vital lessons from history, but also the extremely dangerous reality of the current situation, including the significance of the fact that Trump—fulfilling his promise to Christian fascists—has stacked the courts, all the way up to the Supreme Court, with legions of Christian fascists and other extreme right-wing judges, who will move to “legally legitimize” the whole horrific program of the Trump/Pence fascist regime.

Leupp, in his ridiculous soothsaying that “No Reichstag fire or Kristallnacht looms,” poses as an oracle of serenity against and in the face of the widespread concern and alarm2 about Trump attempting to postpone or steal the elections with an “October surprise.” There is concern about him calling out his fascist thugs to stay in power in the event of an electoral loss if the elections were to be held. Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell, has described this possibility on Bill Maher’s Real Time show as leading to “blood in the streets.” 

Leupp’s apologia for—indeed, his facilitation of and collaboration with—fascism would be a joke if it was not so dangerous, downplaying the danger of fascism consolidating in the U.S. with the fascist Trump/Pence regime, and the stakes for humanity. Leupp’s screed in a progressive site is aimed to “calm the masses” and rationalize paralysis and inaction. As such, it is morally bankrupt. Methodologically, by saying that one historical phenomenon must literally track another in every aspect, Leupp would make it impossible to draw lessons from things with similar dynamics that would obviously and naturally differ in certain particulars.

* Leupp implies that Trump is some kind of a secret pacifist—despite breaking or pulling out of three nuclear or nuclear-related treaties, stepping up the drone wars, assassinating a general in a country with which the U.S. is not at war, and other unprecedentedly aggressive acts.

Leupp asserts, “Through his tweets he daily exudes misogyny, racism and ignorance. But what about war? Trump (not necessarily knowing what words mean) proclaims himself the ‘most militaristic’ president ever. But this has been all words, no action.”

First, it has to be said in reducing the misogyny and racism to tweets and rhetoric, Leupp has nary a word about the millions of immigrants in terror from the thousands of ICE agents hired to cleanse this nation of what Trump called Mexicans in his campaign announcement, “rapists.” Not a word about his anti-women programs and policies against the right to abortion and birth control, or stacking the federal judiciary across the board with Christian fascists. 

On Trump being “all words, no action”on military and war, as demonstrated in the accompanying expose by Raymond Lotta, The Absurd and Dangerous Fantasy That Donald Trump Is Not a War Monger,” this notion of Trump as a secret pacifist would be farcical were it not so dangerous. 

Trump is led by his America First agenda with its rhetoric of “restoring” American supremacy in the wake of supposed “cheating” and taking advantage by other powers, with an underlying compelling necessity and logic. He has escalated military spending including on new generation nukes, and is reported to have asked, “If we have nukes, why can’t we use them?” He truly is a demented bully with a finger on the nuclear button, as Avakian called him—a danger especially heightened in the wake of his withdrawing from arms treaties and escalating aggression and war threats against Iran and even China. On actual acts, what about Trump’s tearing up the Iran nuclear deal, ratcheting up of sanctions causing horrific suffering for millions, and the blatant assassination of Qassim Suleimani, the high-ranking Iranian official, that could have escalated to all-out war?3 

* Leupp’s definition of fascism: “ummm, it is what I say it is... except when it isn’t.”

Leupp asks: “What is fascism? .... Fascisms generally seek to merge corporate and state power, suppress democracy, promote racist ideologies, and MAKE WAR. Some say fascism requires a mass-based party, and a charismatic ruler. Through class discussion [that Leupp teaches] we note what aspects of European fascism pertained or didn’t in Japan; it requires some intellectual exertion. This is what’s missing in the RCP.”

What a fucking joke! For all the talk of intellectual exertion, has Gary Leupp read anything that BA has written about fascism going back decades—not only on what is fascism, but what its roots and underlying driving forces are, what its particular forms and manifestations are in America in Christian fascism, concentrating open white supremacy, misogyny and American chauvinism? As a mere sample, here is a basic primer with some of the works: Bob Avakian on: The Need to Drive Out the Fascist Trump/Pence Regime and the Fundamental Need for Revolution.

But let’s go back to Leupp’s definition as criteria and apply them to this regime:

If you add in Leupp’s criteria of making war, by which he presumably means invading countries, by this logic NAZI Germany would not have been fascist until 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, nor would Mussolini’s Italy. And Franco’s Spain,4 which sat out the war, would fail the test altogether!

In the statement, Avakian writes: “... it is not just a matter of horrific policies but of qualitatively different form of rule, based on brutal repression and violation of what are supposed to be the most basic rights.” As Avakian writes:

In the whole of what Trump is currently doing—including his open calls to overturn Supreme Court decisions and precedents (for example, to outlaw abortion and punish flag burning), along with his repeated violations of the law and due process of the law and his insistence that he is the law—we can see the looming shadow of even more overt fascist dictatorship. For that is what fascism is: open and aggressive dictatorship, trampling on and perverting the rule of law, relying on violence and terror, on behalf of the predatory capitalist system and as an extreme attempt to deal with profound social division and acute crises (both within the country and in the global arena). And with the moves by Trump’s “Secretary of Education,” Betsy DeVos—who is herself a Christian fascist whose ultimate goal is to replace public, secular education with schools based on Christian fundamentalist indoctrination—we can see the outline of the Trump/Pence regime version of “official (Christian fascist) ideology.” We can recognize the looming shadow of a situation where not just school children, but everyone in society, will be required to pledge allegiance to a white Christian fascist America.

What makes Leupp blind to this reality? For all his invocations of history, perhaps Leupp has such a deeply held American-exceptionalist belief in liberal bourgeois democracy and its institutions that he viscerally believes that it—fascism—can’t happen here, and remains fundamentally locked into the confines of bourgeois democracy with its choices?! 

Perhaps unable to see beyond his own entrapment in the logic of bourgeois elections, Leupp seems to be misinterpreting Bob Avakian to be putting Biden forward as better than Trump in the narrow terms of that contest. 

Actually, in stating the need to vote for Biden, Avakian states: 

The question is not whether Biden and the Democrats represent something “good,” or whether, in fundamental terms, the Democrats are “better” than the Republicans. Both of these parties are ruling class political parties, and none of their candidates represent anything “good” in the most basic and essential sense. Biden is not “better” than Trump, in any meaningful way—except that he is not Trump and is not part of the move to consolidate and enforce fascist rule, with everything that means. 

To approach this election from the standpoint of which candidate is “better” means failing to understand the truly profound stakes and potential consequences of what is involved. The fact is that there can be one—and only one—“good” that can come out of this election: delivering a decisive defeat to Trump and the whole fascist regime. Doing this would create far better conditions for continuing to wage the struggle against everything represented by the Trump/Pence regime and all the oppression and injustices of this system, and would be a great gift to the people of the world.

But Leupp does not reference or quote this, and no reader of Leupp’s screed would know this!

* Leupp: not only wrong, but intellectually dishonest and unprincipled.

Leupp’s intellectual dishonesty is starkly manifest in his complete absence of any actual reference to or quote from BA’s actual statement, ON THE IMMEDIATE CRITICAL SITUATION, THE URGENT NEED TO DRIVE OUT THE FASCIST TRUMP/PENCE REGIME, VOTING IN THIS ELECTION, AND THE FUNDAMENTAL NEED FOR REVOLUTION, even as he claims it to be a refutation of BA’s position. The entire statement with a comprehensive analysis of what we confront with the fascist Trump/Pence regime and the upcoming elections, and what is to be done, is reduced merely to “vote for Biden,” a simplified distortion that Leupp shares with the fascist media and petit-bourgeois social democratic reformists whose visions and horizons shrink even further as history accelerates.

No reader of Leupp’s screed would know of Avakian’s emphatic and repeated calls for mass political resistance to drive out this regime, including early in this statement:

If this regime is able to further consolidate its power and make further leaps in implementing its horrific objectives, this will result in a devastating setback for any attempt to resist injustice and oppression, and will very likely lead to the brutal repression, and even annihilation, of defenders of democratic rights and proponents of any meaningful progressive reforms, as well as any organized forces fighting for fundamental revolutionary change.

In the most essential sense, the urgent need to mobilize masses of people around the demand to force the removal of this fascist regime is not in conflict with the mass outpouring against institutionalized white supremacy and police terror, or other mass movements against the outrages of this system, but is in basic unity with and is crucial for all these struggles, and all this can and must be understood, and built, in a powerful mutually reinforcing way.

Simply relying on voting to oust this regime will almost certainly lead to very bad, even disastrous results. This is especially true given what this regime is already doing, and what Trump is saying, in relation to the election.

It is a sad state that this complete lack of intellectual standards, rigor or integrity can pass muster in today’s discourse. 

Leupp’s distorted evocation of the RCP’s former position on homosexuality is another case in point. First, this is gratuitous non sequitur.5 Second, it is an utter distortion of the actual positions and the rigorous excavation of the methodological errors by the RCP under Avakian’s leadership, going back and continuing further for 17+ years, which is available here and here. Third, the actual point of including this early in Leupp’s hit-piece is cynically targeted slander in the age of “cancel culture” to discourage engagement with the actual content of BA’s statement. 

This is intellectually and morally dishonest at a moment of great danger.

In sum, Leupp’s attack does a grave disservice to humanity. At a time of acute danger, when Bob Avakian has come out with a deep analysis of the character of that danger and how to fight it, Leupp uses his platform to turn readers away from and distort Avakian’s statement. It is a harsh term that describes this, but it must be said: active collaboration.

 


1. Mussolini waged war against Libya and Ethiopia in the 1930s (and fascist Italy was involved in World War 2). But Mussolini had been in power—and his fascist regime had been ruling in Italy—for some time before these wars in the 1930s, having come to power in 1922 and consolidating fascism through removing political opposition in about five years after that. Fascists are fascists—and fascist regimes are fascist regimes—before, or even whether or not, they invade other countries. [back]

2. See This Presidential Election A “Dozen Floridas,” a “Vast Array” of Lawsuits, a “Lot of Mischief”... at revcom.us.  [back]

3. See “America—the Lying, Deal-Breaking Aggressor in the Persian Gulf” and “On the U.S. Assassination of Soleimani and the Heightened Danger of War” at revcom.us.  [back]

4. Francisco Franco was a general who led the overthrow of the Spanish government and headed a fascist regime from 1939 to 1975.  [back]

5. Non sequitur, Latin for “it does not follow,” means a conclusion or statement that does not follow logically from the argument or statement made previously.  [back]

See also:

Bob Avakian on: The Need to Drive Out the Fascist Trump/Pence Regime and the Fundamental Need for Revolution

Videos and articles

See also:

The Absurd and Dangerous Fantasy That Donald Trump Is Not a War Monger

by Raymond Lotta

Read more

See the full film, excerpts and Q&A of this film

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/661/hundreds-block-ICE-gestapo-to-try-to-stop-deportation-en.html

Hundreds of People in Bend, Oregon Block ICE Gestapo for Hours to Try to Stop Deportation

| revcom.us

 

On the morning of Wednesday, August 13, two immigrant men were snatched off the streets of Bend, Oregon, a small city southeast of Portland, by ICE agents. They were longtime residents of the area. But when ICE tried to take away the arrested men in two unmarked buses, people took action. One activist with the Central Oregon Peacekeepers stood in front of the buses in a parking lot and livestreamed what was happening—and soon, dozens and eventually hundreds of people converged to try to halt the abduction. And they did, for almost 12 hours.

Among the protesters was Bend City Council member Barb Campbell, who parked her car and set up a lawn chair in front of one of the buses. She told reporters, “I am here because people are being picked off the streets and detained for the crime of wanting to work hard.” People held up homemade signs like “Stop separating families” and “It ain’t right” and shouted “Let them go!” and “Feds go home!” A local district attorney tweeted later in the day, “I’ve never been so disgusted with my government, and so proud of my community.”

Among those gathered around the ICE buses were family members of the arrested, including children. Janet Llerandi-Gonzalez of the Latinx rights group Mecca Bend read a statement from family members, saying, “Consider the emotional trauma being inflicted not only on us as adults, but also on our children who witness this injustice. We are hard-working members of the community that have lost our jobs due to Covid, and our husbands are put at risk daily. We are simply trying to provide for our families, but because of the color of our skin and because of our country of origin that does not justify what has happened here today.”

Immigration lawyers demanded to speak to the arrested men. ICE agents denied the request and told them the men would be sent to Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, and then deported.

As night fell, federal Border Patrol agents in riot gear arrived in formation. They used pepper spray and violently pushed aside the protesters, including the children, and took the men away in unmarked vans. According to the Central Oregon paper The Bulletin, a district federal judge denied a nonprofit law firm’s motion for a temporary restraining order to keep the arrested men in Oregon. The judge denied the motion—and said,“It’s not been made clear that [ICE] did something wrong or even out of the ordinary.”

The action taken by the people of Bend was courageous and righteous. And it is an example for people everywhere to get into the streets—and stay in the streets—in these coming weeks against this fascist regime and their gestapo forces in order to DRIVE THEM OUT.


As night fell, federal Border Patrol agents in riot gear arrived in formation. They used pepper spray and violently pushed aside the protesters, including the children, and took the men away in unmarked vans. (Photo: @EmilyCureton)

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/661/green-light-for-genocide-against-the-palestinian-people-en.html

Trump Orchestrates UAE Recognition of Israel:
A Green Light for Genocide Against the Palestinian People, Ominous Dangers for the Middle East and the World

| revcom.us

 

On August 13, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced the establishment of full diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by Trump. This has immediate and ominous implications for the Palestinian people, and for humanity.

The state of Israel was never “a land without a people for a people without a land” as Israel’s supporters claim. It was established in 1948 by Jewish European settlers on land inhabited for centuries by Arab Palestinian people. In 1948 and into 1949, almost a million Palestinians were violently driven from their land, villages, and homes through systematic rape, torture, and terror (for documentation, including references to accounts of these atrocities in pro-Israel sources, see Bastion of Enlightenment... or Enforcer for Imperialism: The Case of ISRAEL). Those Palestinians who remained in what became the state of Israel continue to be subjected to overt discrimination, arbitrary confiscation of their land, and brutal repression.

In the Palestinian region of Gaza, two million people are locked down in a massive outdoor prison, with 70 percent youth unemployment, lack of access to basic necessities like drinkable water, and a health care system that has been destroyed by Israeli blockades. And Israel has launched repeated one-sided “wars” on Gaza over the past 12 years, purposely massacring hundreds of children and other non-combatants.

In the West Bank region of Palestine, Israeli “settlements” include upscale suburban housing surrounded by walls and connected by highways from which Palestinians are banned. And they include highly militarized encampments of violent, genocidal Jewish fundamentalists who have declared their determination to drive all Palestinians out of Palestine. On May 28, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu declared, with Trump’s backing, that he was committed to annexing Israeli settlements and the areas that connect them. This could amount to up to 30 percent of the West Bank, home to 2.8 million Palestinians, and an area mandated by UN resolutions as the core of a future Palestinian state.

A Stab in the Back

Israel is widely and correctly seen in the Arab world as an outpost of Western domination in a region with a long history of subjugation by colonialism and imperialism. For that reason, most of the reactionary regimes in the Middle East, even those with extremely close relationships with the United States and Israel like Saudi Arabia, have found it necessary to not establish formal diplomatic relations with Israel and to take stands in international bodies like the U.N. condemning Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians.

While this diplomatic isolation of Israel by most of the regimes in the Arab world has been transparently flimsy and symbolic for decades, the formal recognition of Israel by the UAE serves as a green light for Israel to intensify the oppression of the Palestinian people. And the recognition of Israel by the UAE may well pave the way for Saudi Arabia, the richest Arab state, to recognize Israel. Trump said, after the announcement, “Now that the ice has been broken I expect more Arab and Muslim countries will follow the United Arab Emirates.”

As a fig-leaf to cover the betrayal of the Palestinian people, the U.S., Israel, and the UAE packaged recognition of Israel with claims that Israel is dropping plans to formally annex the West Bank settlements. But Netanyahu announced he only agreed to delay the annexation plans as part of the normalization deal with the UAE, and annexation was Israel’s right and remains “on the table.”

A Complex Mix of Contradictions and Dangers

Trump’s orchestration of the UAE-Israel deal is meant to shore up the interests of the U.S. as top dog in a strategic region of a dog-eat-dog world of imperialist exploitation and oppression. But the move also carries with it potentially explosive consequences for all involved.

  1. In Israel, Netanyahu, arguably Trump’s closest international ally, is beset with serious scandal investigations and crises. UAE recognition (and the possibility of more to come) bolsters his position within the Israeli ruling class, and bolsters the position of the most virulent, rabid Zionists aligned with him.
  2. In the region, Israel as well as U.S.-aligned Arab states are confronted by the rising influence of Iran and forces aligned with it. Many pro-U.S. Arab states, many with vast oil reserves, are ruled by obscenely corrupt lackeys who stay in power on the basis of hangings, torture, and promotion of draconian Islamic fundamentalism. The UAE-Israel agreement creates further openings for Iran to advance its own predatory ambitions under the guise of championing the cause of the Palestinians; Iran’s foreign ministry declared the Israel-UAE agreement would “undoubtedly strengthen the resistance axis [forces aligned with Iran] in the region.”
  3. Hovering over this volatile mix are global challenges to the U.S. empire posed by the rise of capitalist-imperialist China, which relies on the Middle East for much of its oil and is contending economically and diplomatically with the U.S. in the region and around the world. In this situation, the U.S. rulers, specifically Trump, are operating like a mob boss tightening up his alliance with underlings as he confronts emboldened rivals big and small, and perhaps prepare for an all-out war. The Trump/Pence regime has ripped up pretenses of looking out for the interests of the Palestinian people and has put pressure on Arab states to more openly cooperate with and lend legitimacy to Israel.
  4. Add to all this the reality that there is a fascist madman in the White House with his finger on the nuclear button, who is moving frantically to fix or even postpone the upcoming election under some pretext, which could include a war with Iran or a blow-up with China. If war does break out, whatever the instigating incident or rationale on the part of the U.S., people need to understand that this would be an unjust war on the part of the U.S. to enforce its position atop a world of brutal oppression.

So how can people act in the interests of humanity here?

For over 70 years, the very existence of the Palestinian people has been a thorn in the side of capitalism-imperialism, and their resistance an inspiration to oppressed people everywhere. Today, it is critically important that as people challenge this system in the streets, and as students in particular (but others too) are beginning to learn about the reality of the crimes this system has committed here and around the world, the true history of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people and the role of the U.S. in enabling that needs to be exposed, and opposed as part of organizing for an actual revolution in the U.S.


Palestinians burn pictures of Donald Trump, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protest UAE's deal with Israel, in the West Bank city of Nablus, August 14. (Photo: AP)


Read more

Bringing Forward Another Way

The following, on why Israel is such a key ally for the U.S. in the Middle East, is from Bringing Forward Another Way, a talk given by Bob Avakian in 2006. 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 study, discuss and share the entire important work.

If you look at any other regimes in the region, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are big allies of the U.S. But in Saudi Arabia and in Egypt, the situation is very unstable and potentially very volatile: there are serious tremors beneath the throne, so to speak—there is the growing danger of "social earthquakes" that could threaten to topple, or actually topple, those regimes. You don't have that in Israel. Hopefully, as things develop overall, there will not be just a "loyal opposition peace movement" among Israelis but the development of a much more powerful progressive movement with a much more radical view in Israel—and this is something that progressive people in Israel, or with ties to people in Israel, should work to foster and develop. But right now a positive and truly radical movement of that kind does not exist in Israel, and the dynamics with regard to Israel are not now such that the more that the regime in Israel is hard-core, the more it is going to run into antagonism with the bulk of its population. In the short term, the dynamic is essentially the opposite, unfortunately.

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/661/mass-siege-to-terrorize-arrest-fighter-against-police-terror-en.html

NYPD Lays Mass Siege to Terrorize, Arrest Fighter Against Police Terror
Derrick Ingram Livestreams, He & Supporters Stand Strong, Turn Pigs Back

| revcom.us

 

So this is how the pigs still operate under this system – despite all their talk of “change,” “hearing the protesters,” and wanting “good community relations.”

On August 7 some 50 NYPD, some in tactical gear with shields, and a helicopter surrounded Derrick Ingram’s apartment in Manhattan – blocking off the streets with two dozen police vehicles, bringing pigs and dogs into the hallway outside his apartment, banging on his door – supposedly to arrest him for yelling in a cop’s ear with a bullhorn at a protest in Bayside.

Derrick is a founder of Warriors in the Garden, which has organized many protests against police violence and white supremacy around New York City since forming in June.

The NYPD – whose union recently endorsed Trump! – demanded Derrick open up and let them in or come out.  Derrick righteously refused and began livestreaming the whole five-hour siege on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/iamdwreck/ -- / https://www.instagram.com/p/CDo7FOClMXp/ while consulting with lawyers over ZOOM.

“What did I do? What did I do?” he said on a livestream posted on Instagram. “I was born Black, that’s what I did.”

Derrick later said the police hadn’t produced a warrant and had “used threats and intimidation tactics...This was an attempt to silence our movement.”

His courage and quick thinking were decisive, including in rallying supporters.  According to the New York Times, the police withdrew – empty handed – “after protesters arrived.”

This very inspiring example of people standing strong and coming together to defend resisters is an important lesson for the people to learn from.

@Warriorsinthegarden wrote on Instagram:

The NYPD forced a stand-off with one of our lead organizers and co-founder, Derrick “Dwreck” Ingram, and held hostage for 5 HOURS in his own home. NYPD arrived to his door stating they had a warrant for his arrest in regards to BAYSIDE and he needed to open the door immediately , he asked for the warrant to be slid under the door then they quickly shifted their words to “We’re working on getting one.” This entire process was very traumatic for Dwreck as they began to bang on his door, have K-9’s scratching at his door, sharpshooters pointing into the window, drones flying to his window, police officers stationed in the building next door and 2 helicopters flying above his head. We are NON-VIOLENT PROTESTORS and the work and dedication we have all put into this movement displayed this type of reaction. We will keep fighting and we will keep being the voice for the people. Dwreck has made the executive decision to turn himself in tomorrow morning and he will explain why! We are asking for all supporters from organizers to NYC citizens to please join us at 42ND STREET BRYANT PARK 8AM SHARP.

**WILL BE PLANNING TO MARCH AT 8:15AM, PLEASE ARRIVE BETWEEN 7:50-8:00AM**
#earlybirdgetstheworm

One officer states in the video posted “Why don’t you be the WARRIOR that you state you are and come out and let’s face the system.”
And to that, we say, #TAKEITTOTHESTREETS #ANDFUCKTHEPOLICE #nojusticenopeace

It turns out the NYPD had hunted Derrick down using facial recognition technology and Derrick’s social media posts.  The Gothamist reports, “In a video shared online by FreedomNewsTV, an officer can be seen outside Ingram’s apartment holding an ‘Informational Lead Report’ from the NYPD’s Facial Identification Section. The report also shows a photo of Ingram... a spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed that facial recognition software was used during the course of the investigation.”

Afterward, the Manhattan DA’s office claimed they didn’t “condone” the NYPD’s siege tactics, while New York’s Democrat Mayor, Bill DeBlasio staunchly defended the pigs:  “This police department is never going to interfere with people's rights to protest,” he said. “It is a fundamental right and in fact, New York City over the years has done a damn good job in protecting that right.”

View this post on Instagram

All of this for an unarmed, non-violent, black organizer. This is where our taxpayer dollars are going. 6 hours. No warrant. Tag @nypdshea. Tag @coreyjohnsonnyc. Tag your elected officials. Video: @spotnews.tv

A post shared by WARRIORS IN THE GARDEN (@warriorsinthegarden) on

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/661/march-against-voter-suppression-demanding-trump-pence-out-now-getting-organized-for-revolution-en.html

Revolution Club, Los Angeles:

March at Post Office and Through South Central Against Fascist Voter Suppression, Demanding Trump/Pence Out Now, and Getting Organized for Revolution

| revcom.us

 

The Revolution Club rallied in front of LA’s main post office calling for struggle to stop fascist voter suppression, projecting the demand Trump/Pence Out Now! and getting organized for revolution, nothing less. The day before, Trump openly boasted of sabotaging the U.S. Postal Service in order to discount mail-in votes in the election, something that is part of overall efforts on the part of Trump to either “win” the election in this way, or to discredit and reject the results if he loses.

The march was an inspiring and powerful presence of a diverse group of 20 people, mainly young, some walking in formation in Revolution – Nothing Less! T-shirts and a big, beautiful banner, with a drum beat and chants calling people into the streets: “Fuck Donald Trump, fuck his racist feds, fuck him caging kids, fuck his handmaid’s tale, fuck his fascist world! We are fighting for a whole new world, we are fighting for humanity, we are the nasty women and the refugees, we are the George Floyds and the LGBTQ, so get in these streets and let’s stop this mess, we gotta make revolution, nothing less!”

The march started at the Post Office and went through the streets of the South Central neighborhood. It stopped many times to talk to people over a loudspeaker, drawing people out of their houses, opening up debate and discussion, and bringing people into the march and into the revolution.

At the opening rally, Noche Diaz spoke, calling out the attacks on the Post Office as part of Trump’s attempt to consolidate fascism. He said we are organizing people for revolution to get to a whole different world, free of all oppression, and that the fight for this future could be foreclosed unless we bring forward masses of people now to drive this fascist regime from power. Noche said we are building this as part of making revolution and that Bob Avakian is giving leadership for everyone with his new statement on the immediate situation, providing “clarity of understanding to have clarity of action.”

One stop on the march was in front of a center where a gang truce has been hard-fought for in the area, to call out the lie that sending feds into the inner cities like Chicago has anything to do with stopping violence. Federal authorities recently arrested and are threatening with life in prison Doc Wallace, someone who has played an important role over the last year in struggling for the truce in this neighborhood to STOP a cycle of revenge and violence, including between Black and Latino gangs.

At another stop, a high school student, speaking in Spanish, told people she had watched a documentary about ICE taking people’s children from them. She said her parents are immigrants who have tried to give her a better life and talked about what immigrants are fleeing from and then how hard it is to live HERE for Black and Hispanic people. She told people the reason she is marching with the revolution and put on the RNL shirt is because she wants to make a difference in the world and make a better world for her children. Her younger relative followed up with a call for people to join us.

At another point, a Black woman, who recently moved to South Central from another city where she was very active in struggles against injustice, challenged people to be part of driving the Trump/Pence regime from power, voting them out and getting in the streets with us now. She emphasized to all the people listening, “This is bigger than your neighborhood,” and the attack on the postal service is not just about your mail being affected, this is a fascist regime taking Black and Brown bodies and has children in cages today. She led people to chant “Trump/Pence Out Now!”

At one stop, a Latino family who came out to listen started shouting that they are in support of Trump. When this was called out on the mic, Black and Latino neighbors of the Trump supporters cheered, grabbed posters to hold up in support of the march, and chanted with us, “Fuck Donald Trump!”

At another stop, Revolution Club members on the mic put forward a vision of a world without all this oppression, including where men, women and differently gendered people are equals and comrades, and called on people to step forward and put on the Revolution – Nothing Less T-shirt on the spot. Nobody here was ready to walk in front of everybody to do that, but a young woman on the side said she was listening to what was being said about the Points of Attention for the revolution, especially what was said about women, and bought two T-shirts, saying she would have joined the march on the spot if she didn’t have a bunch of young kids she had to stay with.

At one of the final stops, a member of the Revolution Club captivated the whole busy intersection when she began to sing verses of a Salvadoran resistance song, and then went on in Spanish to say that in the 1980s, people were killed in El Salvador just for singing that song, that this is what fascism looks like and what we are facing here now and have to step forward to stop. As we turned back into the neighborhood, Latino men hanging on the corner hearing her speak yelled out their support and one joined in momentarily to shout “Fuck Trump” over the microphone.

When meeting afterward to look at how we did and make further plans, one of several young women from the area who have been active since meeting the revolution 2+ weeks ago, said, “It was fun. We may not have been that big in terms of numbers, but we were MIGHTY!”

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/661/absurd-and-dangerous-fantasy-that-donald-trump-is-not-a-war-monger-en.html

The Absurd and Dangerous Fantasy That Donald Trump Is Not a War Monger

by Raymond Lotta

| revcom.us

 

It is truly amazing how some progressives and self-described radicals pull the wool over their own eyes when it comes to Donald Trump’s foreign policy. They blithely buy into and peddle the dangerous myth that, for all his ravings and unpredictability, Trump is an “antiwar” isolationist who wants to shrink the U.S. global military footprint and is ill-disposed to getting bogged down in endless wars. Describe him as you will... but a war monger he is not, they say. Wrong, deadly wrong.

In fact, Donald Trump has matched bellicose rhetoric with acts of provocation against designated adversaries that could have led, and could still lead, to war—Iran is prime example. The U.S. military under Trump has been guided by and is operating according to a new National Security Strategy enunciated in 2018 that is nothing less than a dark vision for U.S.-China conflict.1 From day one of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Trump has pounced on it to whip up racist anti-China hysteria and escalate economic warfare with China. And Trump’s insane euphoria for nuclear weapons has a more calculated counterpart in a major build-up of America’s nuclear war waging capacity.

America first” is not an agenda of “anti-globalist” retrenchment. At its foreign policy core, “America First” is an aggressive, unilateralist (“we go our own way, fuck the strictures of traditional imperialist alliances and diplomacy”) imperial project. It is a project infused with an ideology of fascistic, white Christian civilizational superiority.

Let us count the ways of Trump the war monger. 

Exhibit #1: U.S. military spending, nukes, and drones

The so-called “antiwar” Trump has presided over massive levels of military spending. Outlays for the 2020 fiscal year were at near-record levels (adjusted for inflation), and the military budget Trump submitted earlier this year was the largest since World War 2 (in comparable dollars).2

The biggest single-category increases called for involve nuclear weapons, including expanded weapons-production facilities. Take note: The administration’s 2018 Nuclear Posture Review lowered the threshold for the U.S. to drop a nuclear bomb on an “enemy” (this includes U.S. responses to non-nuclear attacks and threats).3 And in February 2020, the U.S. put its first (and newly developed) low-yield nuclear weapons on submarines at sea.

Here’s a pop quiz for the “Trump for peace” connoisseurs. When it comes to Barack Obama’s drone wars (one of the monstrous war crimes of that administration), Donald Trump has: a) ended them; b) continued them; c) escalated them. The answer is c. The Trump/Pence regime not only surpassed the volume of drone strikes under Obama in its first two years... it made drone wars in countries like Somalia, Yemen, and Pakistan more secretive than ever.4

Exhibit #2: The end of arms control as the imperialist powers have known it

Donald Trump has pulled the U.S. out of three nuclear weapons-related treaties. He took the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018; in 2019 he exited from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty; and in late May of this year he withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty, which allowed observation flights over Russia and Alaska.5 Trump does not want the U.S. to “tie its hands down” in nuclear weapons production, stationing, and deployment, especially in conducting its rivalry with China.

Exhibit #3: Iran in Trump’s murderous crosshairs... unstinting military support for Israel and Saudi Arabia

It was Trump, not Iran, who broke the agreement the two countries and other world powers signed in 2015 limiting Iran’s nuclear program. The agreement had lifted economic sanctions (measures that prevent a country from buying and selling goods on the world market, getting loans, etc.). Since tearing up the agreement, the U.S. has imposed even harsher sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy. When the pandemic hit earlier this year, Trump doubled down—preventing medical supplies from coming into Iran. This has exacerbated an already devastating public health crisis in Iran. A revcom.us article rightly described this as “medical terrorism.”6

Since the spring of 2019, the Trump/Pence regime has built up the U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf and stepped up threats against Iran. This took a leap in January 2020 with the U.S.’s illegal assassination of Iranian general Soleimani at Iraq’s Baghdad International Airport, bringing the Middle East to the precipice of a major new military conflict. If this is not war-mongering, than what is it?

Trump has brought U.S. support for Israel and its war on the Palestinian people to new heights. He has increased U.S. military aid, recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and worked to shield the Israel Defense Forces from international criminal prosecution for war crimes. He sent U.S. troops to Saudi Arabia as part of the confrontation with Iran and stepped up arms sales. And there’s been no pulling back from U.S. imperialism’s support for Saudi Arabia’s savage air war in Yemen that started in 2015. The U.S. continues to share intelligence and sophisticated weapons, as the Saudis target Yemeni schools and hospitals. 

Exhibit #4: The accelerating war drive against China.

In 2018, the Trump Pentagon issued a National Security Strategy report declaring that “great power competition,” not the “war on terror,” is now America’s main security priority. Russia and China, especially China, were identified as the chief rivals to America’s dominant position in the world. The report breaks from the past in emphasizing the usability of nuclear weapons: “the fear of [nuclear] escalation will not deter the United States from defending our vital interests.”

The “pivot to Asia” began under Obama. But it has gone to a whole new level under Trump. The assessment has been widely broadcast: China’s growing economic might (illicitly and unfairly obtained) is not only challenging America’s global economic dominance but also translating into threatening military capability and reach. The take home message is none too ambiguous: We, America, are the main rulers and exploiters of the world, and China must be stopped.*

U.S. imperialism is facing new necessity in the world. Intensifying rivalry with China presents new challenges to America’s hegemonic position in the world. This is the main factor behind U.S. efforts to reach an accord with the Taliban in Afghanistan, and to draw down forces elsewhere. Trump is not on a peace, or “bring the troops home” jag. His Pentagon is “repositioning” forces around the world, especially to confront China. A different kind of warfare from the past—what’s called “high-intensity warfare” in the air, sea, ground, space, and cyberspace—is being planned for.7 And, ominously, preparations are well underway, including on China’s side.

Trump has encouraged and cheered on India in its military clashes with China, and is putting pressure on countries like Australia and Japan to firm up partnerships with the U.S. against China. U.S. and Chinese warships regularly encounter each other in the East and South China Sea. Flashpoints for military conflict are multiplying.

So if Donald Trump is not a “war monger,” then what is he?

 

* China is not a socialist country today. It is now an imperialist rival to the U.S. See Raymond Lotta, “Four Months Into the Global COVID-19 Health and Economic Crisis... Notes on the Utter Cruelty and Obscene Irrationality of Capitalism-Imperialism” at revcom.us. [back]

NOTES

1. See the Summary of the 2018 National Security Strategy, https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018-National-Defense-Strategy-Summary.pdf [back]

2. See Fred Kaplan, “Trump’s Gargantuan Military Is Full of It,” Slate, February 12, 2020. [back]

3. See, https://www.armscontrol.org/issue-briefs/2018-02/new-us-nuclear-strategy-flawed-dangerous-heres-why [back]

4. S.E. Cupp, “Under Donald Trump, drone strikes far exceed Obama’s numbers,” Chicago Sun-Times, May 8, 2019. [back]

5. Julian Borger, “Trump to pull US out of third arms control deal,” The Guardian, 21 May, 2020. [back]

6. “Medical Terrorism—American Style: U.S. Sanctions and Military Threats Escalate Iran's COVID-19 Death Toll and Threaten the World,” revcom.us, April 6, 2020 [back]

7. Michael Klare, "The US Military Is Preparing for a New War," The Nation, June 1, 2019.  [back]


Read more

 

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So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/661/we-are-the-only-force-left-to-stop-a-fascist-regime-en.html

Reposted from RefuseFascism.org

We Are the Only Force Left to Stop a Fascist Regime

By Sarah Roark

| revcom.us

 

Is anybody still unclear on this point?

I’m not saying don’t game out all the scenarios for

1) How Trump/Pence can and will sabotage the election

2) Whether and how Trump/Pence can be made to leave office after a loss

3) Whether the various armed bodies in the picture will side with the people or with the fascists.

Of course we have to game all that out. But if you do just a few of those, what you quickly realize is that shit is complicated; that a lot of this is ‘norms, not laws,’ or ‘a law, if you can enforce it;’ and that lawyers can make a case for just about anything to be legal or illegal, if they’re willing to do the contortions.

History has taught us this before, of course. But the last four years have been showing us in real time, in 4k HD, exactly how it will work in the 21st century.

NOBODY should still be unclear on the fact that power—neither law nor norm nor Reason nor human decency, but sheer raw naked power—will control the outcome of all this. And then the laws and histories will be written to retroactively conform to it.

This is, to be honest, how it usually works with humans anyhow. But when you have fascists in the picture, doubly so.

Lemme say that once again: Power, and only power, will determine the outcome here. All those other mechanisms will be employed to sanctify it after the fact.

I acknowledge this is the exact reverse of how society and democracy are supposed to work—i.e., laws, norms, decency and Reason determine the correct choices, and then power comes in (justified only by its principled submission to the democracy and its people) to enforce them. But never mind how things are supposed to work. This is how they do presently work.

I bring this up not to be more-cynical-than-thou but to make the case that if we want the human outcome, the humane outcome, the rational outcome, We the People in our sheer numbers are literally the only force left now that still has enough raw power to nonviolently make it happen.

Everything else can be and has been suborned, corrupted, and eviscerated by usurped state and ‘soft’ power. The bad guys are the ones with the greater will and ability to use unblinking, unthinkable violence to alter the balance of power in their favor. The only nonviolent counter that can outweigh that is us and our collective, flat refusal to go along. All other roads end in devastation. Our direct intervention is the one thing left that can actually prevent...well, horrors we frankly haven’t been able to imagine yet.

(Don’t scoff at me. How many of you have already said to me that you “never imagined” it would get as bad as it is right now? And somehow you still think your imagination can’t easily be exceeded again in the future?)

The good guys only prevail if we have the sheer raw naked power that...again...is what will truly determine the outcome here. The best means we have for claiming that power—the least damaging means, with the best potential for actually getting us all out of this mess—is sustained, nonviolent direct resistance from a true mass movement of the people. Should other methods also be employed? Of course. Harm mitigation? Yes. Procedurally delaying the worst? Fine. Voting? Oh, you bet your ass. But don’t kid yourself. None of those efforts can’t be wiped right back out by the fascists, if the masses aren’t standing up to stop them.

Look, it’s no use shooting moi the messenger on this, I’m just conveying the facts. The facts don’t care what is convenient. They don’t even care what’s just, or kind, or reasonable. They don’t care what preconceptions you need nurtured, or what positive illusions you’re desperate to cling to. They don’t care about ANY of our entirely understandable objections to being thrown into this horribly unfair situation that most of us never, ever asked for, and damned few of us deserve.

They don’t care. It’s annoying, but yeah. They’re just sitting there, being facts. What can still be altered is our response.

But we’re running out of time, gang.

RefuseFascism.org is a movement of people coming from diverse perspectives, united in our recognition that the Trump/Pence Regime poses a catastrophic danger to humanity and the planet, and that it is our responsibility to drive them from power through non-violent protests that grow every day until our demand is met. This means working and organizing with all our creativity and determination to bring thousands, eventually millions of people into the streets of cities and towns, to demand:

This Nightmare Must End:
The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!

RefuseFascism.org welcomes individuals and organizations from many different points of view who share our determination to refuse to accept a fascist America, to join and/or partner with us in this great cause.

Read, Sign and Donate to the Statement of Conscience; Call to Act

Find out more about Refuse Fascism here.

 

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The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

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So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/660/refuse-fascism-has-given-me-courage-en.html

Reposted from RefuseFascism.org

Refuse Fascism has given me courage

by Lillian Forman

| revcom.us

 

A fascist has wormed his way into my Refuse Fascism page on Facebook. I know how fascists think; I’ve been in enough demonstrations to which they’ve turned up, spouting irrational ideas and insults, but this man shocked me by stating ideas that had a false veneer of rationality and contradicted both democratic precepts and the humane social structure put forth by Bob Avakian in his book Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America. Having another point of view on my page should be an advantage—giving dynamic new facets to the subjects I post about. But these ideas are not dynamic. They are nihilistic and lead to hatred and death.

For example, my first exchange with my Facebook fascist “friend” A.L. began by a discussion of the COVID-19 shutdown. He declared that we shouldn’t have gone into lockdown in the first place. I replied that then a lot of people would have died unnecessarily. He said that that was the point, that old weak, sickly people should have died so that the strong and healthy could use the financial resources customarily wasted on useless, moribund creatures so likely to die during a pandemic. I pointed out that I am 84 and have no intention of dying, that I live a good, useful life and plan to keep on living and working.

He then demanded that I die for his sake of him and that of his children. The following are his exact words: “You had a good long life, Madam. Time to step aside, Our Children are more important. As it should and as it (h)as always been.” Apparently, no effort should be made to save the elderly since that would be using money and other resources that belong to the young. I didn’t bother telling him that I have made a living will requiring that if I enter a persistent vegetative state or any other state in which life is meaningless, I must be removed from all life extending equipment. I’m sure he wouldn’t have felt this effort was enough. He probably thinks I and other oldsters should suffer—cheaply—through an isolated death from suffocation. A.L. made it totally clear that “post-modern Liberal Humanism is getting out of hand.”

The pedantic phrase ‘post-modern humanism’ brings us to the plight of humanity in general. I’m sure that many old people feel as I do; that their life is their own to do with as they please as long as they act in moral and responsible ways. Most have earned the pride that they feel about the ethical choices they make and the responsibility to pass the standards they base these choices on to younger people. Consider Dr. Fauci, who in his old age and in spite of the hostile, fascist Trump, is courageously battling this deadly pandemic. Probably A.L and his cronies feel he should get out of the way as well as minor people like me. After all since they don’t pay attention to his ideas and discoveries, they must consider him valueless. Like the Nazis, who would, if they could, have let Einstein and Freud die in concentration camps, these modern Nazis would also wantonly destroy modern day world treasures.

When I began this brief essay, I felt a little guilty defending my right to live. It seemed a bit self-serving. But all humans have the right to a sense of their own dignity—the black, the brown, the yellow, women, homosexuals, people with differently oriented sexual identities, even me. And they all should feel free to assert this dignity as long as they respect the self-respect of others. What good is life without it?

It takes some courage to assert one’s dignity, especially when one is all skin and bones, four feet eight inches tall, has shaky hands, falls easily, and forgets simple words as I do. I think belonging to Refuse Fascism has given me this courage. It has helped me see my worth in setting an example for younger people, it has helped me love others to the point where I would be willing to sacrifice my safety for the sake of the world and its people, it has helped me to see clearly in a time of terrible confusion and obfuscation. These are valuable qualities, so vital to one’s sanity and necessary to one’s sense of worth when the world has become a witches’ cauldron. Everyone in such a time really needs to be a part of Refuse Fascism. So, for the sake of humanity, come out to the streets to fight back against the bleak, ugly world of A.L before it overwhelms us. It’s almost too late.


Lillian Forman (in "NO!" shirt)

RefuseFascism.org is a movement of people coming from diverse perspectives, united in our recognition that the Trump/Pence Regime poses a catastrophic danger to humanity and the planet, and that it is our responsibility to drive them from power through non-violent protests that grow every day until our demand is met. This means working and organizing with all our creativity and determination to bring thousands, eventually millions of people into the streets of cities and towns, to demand:

This Nightmare Must End:
The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!

RefuseFascism.org welcomes individuals and organizations from many different points of view who share our determination to refuse to accept a fascist America, to join and/or partner with us in this great cause.

Read, Sign and Donate to the Statement of Conscience; Call to Act

Find out more about Refuse Fascism here.

 

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Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

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The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/657/3-questions-on-resistance-to-federal-crackdown-in-portland-en.html

Reposted from RefuseFascism.org:

3 Questions on "Resistance" to the Federal Crackdown in Portland

by Coco Das

| revcom.us

 

  1. What the hell is political theater and “performative authoritarianism?”
  2. Why are you waiting for this to come to your city instead of flooding the streets now to say no to a fascist police state?
  3. What makes you think you can vote this out?

The Trump/Pence regime has sent in a federal occupying army into Portland to “quell” ongoing protests. Overseen by the Department of Homeland Security and cobbled together from a number of federal agencies, including Customs & Border Patrol and the Coast Guard, these anonymous thugs in camouflage, looking virtually indistinguishable from right-wing militias, have seized the authority to kidnap protesters.

This is Trump’s Gestapo and secret police, but the regime has hardly been secret about its intent. Trump himself, who once said he longs for the days when protesters are carried out on stretchers, said, “I’m going to do something—that, I can tell you. Because we’re not going to let New York and Chicago and Philadelphia and Detroit and Baltimore and all of these—Oakland is a mess. We’re not going to let this happen in our country.... Look at what’s going on—all run by very liberal Democrats. All run, really, by radical left. If Biden got in, that would be true for the country. The whole country would go to hell. And we’re not going to let it go to hell.”

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said, “You’ll see something rolled out this week as we start to go in and make sure that the communities—whether it’s Chicago or Portland or Milwaukee or some place across the heartland of the country.”

Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of DHS, said, “You can expect that if violence continues in other parts of the country, the president has made no secret of the fact that he expects us where we can cooperate or have jurisdiction to step forward and expand our policing efforts there to bring down the level of violence.”

Clearly the regime only supports states’ rights when they are defending the Confederacy.

Using any allegation of “threats to federal facilities and officers,” or a “spike in crime,” these fascist law and order forces can be “rapidly deployed” to anywhere they see fit. In his July 22 press conference, Trump said, “...Portland’s a very different place than Chicago, but Chicago should be calling us. And so should Philadelphia and Detroit and others to go in and really help them. Because when you’re losing many people a weekend, many, many people, you see the same numbers as I do. When you’re losing these people, they should call us and they should say, ‘Come on in.’ And it’s incredible to me, but they’re not doing it. At some point, they will. At some point we may have no other choice, but to go in.”

In fact they are going in, sending a “surge” of 150 federal agents to Chicago, 35 to Albuquerque, 200 to Kansas City. Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot said she will cooperate with these agents as long as it’s an “actual partnership,” not a “dictatorship.” Trump has targeted Chicago as the bogeyman of urban violence since his campaign in 2016 and has been threatening to take it over for years.

It is tragic that the Black and Brown masses of these cities are killing each other in such large numbers, but a white supremacist regime has no intention of fixing it in a way in which those communities will not suffer even more. Like “free speech” and “freedom of religion,” “public safety” is a mantle for advancing their program. A regime that routinely calls for violence to deal with their enemies does not actually care if the people they hate take their violence out on each other. Fascist law and order means the regime and the “volk” they represent are the law, and can legitimately use as much violence as they see fit to enforce their power.

Portland is different from the more diverse cities Trump is targeting now, and if they’re kidnapping the mainly white protesters and tear-gassing moms and the mayor there, imagine what they can do to thousands of Black and brown youth around the country, already facing severe repression from local police, under a regime that has unleashed open white supremacy and called on cops to be more brutal.

And while Portland mayor Ted Wheeler rightly said on CNN that “sending federal troops into cities based on the political affiliation of the people who run the cities” is a “blatant abuse of federal policing power,” he also ended a different interview with this message to the protesters: “You’ve been heard...but let’s stay safe and let’s remember we’re in the midst of a pandemic. It’s time to end it.”

No, it’s not time to end it but to grow to a nationwide uprising of millions of people in the streets refusing to accept a fascist police state. These are not just any federal troops. They are Trump’s federal troops infused with his fascist fervor and lunacy. As Jamelle Bouie wrote in the New York Times, “...Trump actively cultivated both the leadership and the rank-and-file of the border police and ICE. In turn, they gave him his support — unions for both agencies endorsed Trump for president. Under his leadership, these agencies have shown themselves to be deeply simpatico with the administration’s draconian approach to immigration at the southern border, with aggressive action against migrants, asylum-seekers and unauthorized immigrants.”

Considering all this, I have 3 questions for those who are alarmed by the federal crackdown on Portland but see no need to get in the streets everywhere now to demand the removal of a fascist regime consolidating its ability to use every tool and lever of power at its disposal to kill the right to dissent and eliminate all opposition to its program.

What the hell is political theater and “performative authoritarianism?

To all those calling this a political stunt, political theater, performative authoritarianism, and whatever other cute phrases you can think of to hide the danger of kidnappings by secret police, enough already. These are not actors, this is not a stage play, and this is not a stunt just to see Trump through the election or encourage more protests to be used as campaign ads. Actual lines are being drawn, with catastrophic consequences for all of humanity. If we lose the right to protest—through legal or extra-legal means—all bets are off. Fascism is not just the worst of a pendulum swing. It is a qualitative change in how society is governed. Dissent is piece by piece criminalized. The truth is bludgeoned. Group after group is demonized and targeted along a trajectory that leads to real horrors. All this has been happening for more than three years, yet with concentration camps at the border, Trump acquitted in a sham impeachment trial, and an executive order to protect monuments while First Amendment rights are criminalized with actual jail time, too many still want to bask in the comfortable delusions that this is not really happening. This is fascism. It is happening, and time is running out to stop it.

A special note to those who say Trump must be doing this because he wants us to protest. Someone who wants protest doesn’t attack football players who kneel for the national anthem, encourage his followers to use violence against protesters, call for criminal penalties for protesting, and clear out protesters with hovering helicopters and the military. You are drawing the conclusion you want to based on an unintended outcome—the “dictator’s dilemma” – that heightened repression sometimes creates more resistance—with no evidence from Trump’s actual history to support that claim. Stop with the intellectual laziness and start connecting some actual dots.

Why are you waiting for this to come to your city instead of flooding the streets now to say no to a fascist police state?

The people of Portland have responded appropriately. Resistance has grown, with the Wall of Moms and others taking a righteous stand against the divide and conquer slander that the feds have to “go and take over” liberal cities to protect its citizens from “domestic terrorists.” Too many outside of Portland, while taking inspiration from this, have said the equivalent of “Get ready for when this happens to your city.” This is a hammer coming down on your right to dissent, and the time to stop it is now. The forces cohered around Trump have seen him accomplish what they’ve wanted for decades—confirming a record number of pro-fascist judges and voicing the “grievances” of a population that can’t stand the social progress of the last fifty years, and they will not give up power easily. What’s happening in Portland should tell you that you’ve waited long enough.

What makes you think you can vote this out?

How many hints do you need that Trump may not step down if he loses the election? Ever since he won the last election, the regime has been laying the groundwork to declare any defeat illegitimate. He just did it again in his Fox News interview with Chris Wallace. And if the results are contested, whose hands will be on the levers of power to enforce his removal? They are showing you now that those levers of power will be deployed not to stand by the Constitution or maintain peace by marching Trump and Pence out of the White House but to brutally put down any uprising of the people. The Democrats cannot be relied on to stop this – even now, as they come under ruthless political attack and face constant erosion of the rule of law, the Democratic Party leadership will not call for Trump’s resignation and will not call their base into the streets to demand an end to all this.

And what will you do if he wins?

Our power is in the streets. Dangerous regimes all over the world have been driven out by the people in sustained, non-violent protest demanding the removal of the regime and refusing to go home until their demand is met. To stop an American fascism that threatens the very future of humanity and the planet, the necessary demand is Trump Pence Out Now! This must grow to millions, and we must not stop until our demand is won.


Heavily armed Federal police forces – authorized and deployed by Trump—invaded Portland, Oregon. They have shot and teargassed protestors, and carried out military-style operations where unidentified cops in unmarked vans snatch people off the streets. (Photos: Doug Brown, ACLU/Oregon)

Protest Trump's Gestapo
Saturday July 25 and Beyond

No Terrorizing Black Communities,
No Fascist Police State

TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!

Learn more at RefuseFascism.org

RefuseFascism.org is a movement of people coming from diverse perspectives, united in our recognition that the Trump/Pence Regime poses a catastrophic danger to humanity and the planet, and that it is our responsibility to drive them from power through non-violent protests that grow every day until our demand is met. This means working and organizing with all our creativity and determination to bring thousands, eventually millions of people into the streets of cities and towns, to demand:

This Nightmare Must End:
The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!

RefuseFascism.org welcomes individuals and organizations from many different points of view who share our determination to refuse to accept a fascist America, to join and/or partner with us in this great cause.

Read, Sign and Donate to the Statement of Conscience; Call to Act

Find out more about Refuse Fascism here.

 

Follow: @TheRevcoms
Read: www.revcom.us
Watch: youtube.com/TheRevComs

 

Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

You’ve read this article and now you need to be part of making sure revcom.us is able to make an urgently needed leap and transformation.

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/660/chicago-who-are-the-real-criminals-en.html

From the Revolution Club, Chicago

Chicago:
Who are the real criminals?
Who is really violent?
Who/what really needs to be held accountable?

| revcom.us

 

On August 9 pigs shot a young man in the neighborhood near Moran Park in Englewood. The Chicago Police Department has a long and ugly history of murdering, brutalizing and harassing Black youth. The pigs occupy this area and keep people penned in and locked down. Revolution Club Chicago members have been arrested numerous times near the same park. The authorities do not want youth there to get with the revolution. Yesterday, at the scene we saw how angry people were that yet another young man was shot running from the police. The police response? Flood the area with at least 100 pigs leading to a tense standoff. Later that night, there was an eruption of looting in the downtown and near north.

The authorities say over and over. People must be held accountable. These are criminals. This was violence that cannot be tolerated.

Let’s be real. The police shoot, abuse, torture and murder and are almost never charged. So we ask, who needs to be held accountable?

Let’s be real. This is the most violent system the world has ever seen. Besides wars for its empire, there is its history of slavery and genocide, Jim Crow and now a new Jim Crow of mass incarceration, its KKK, racist police and now an open white supremacist in the White House. So we ask, who needs to be held accountable?

Let’s be real. This is a system that robs people all around the world of a future. Think about it. We live in a society where expensive brands are what everyone is supposed to strive for. Gold jewelry from where? Mines in Africa. Fancy handbags from where? Sweatshops in China and Vietnam. Here at home, whole sections of Black and brown people worked for generations to create the wealth of this country, yet today people are trapped at the bottom of society... left with little or nothing, demonized and then blamed for their own oppression. The high-end shopping areas stand in sharp contrast to huge sections of the city that have nothing, not even grocery stores. This is the system of capitalism-imperialism. So we ask again, who needs to be held accountable? 

The Revolution Clubs (@therevcoms) are working to make a revolution at the soonest possible time to build a radically different and better system. This is not a revolution for revenge or about a few people getting paid. It is about emancipating all humanity. We are calling on the youth, too many of whom are killing and maiming each other, to get with this revolution. We say—raise your sights above the degradation and madness, above the dog-eat-dog individual struggle to survive, to “get mine” and “be somebody” on the terms of this system. There's truly something worth living and dying for: putting an end to this murderous system and bringing into being a whole new world so future generations are not condemned to more of the same. This is the only way out of this nightmare. And as part of getting there, we need to be part of driving Trump/Pence fascist regime out NOW. 

As the leader of the revolution, Bob Avakian, says in BAsics, the handbook for this revolution: 

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 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 task to be fulfilled, great struggles to be carried out, and yes great sacrifices to be made to accomplish this. But there is a world to save—and to win—and in that process those this system has counted as nothing can count for a great deal. They represent a great reserve force that must become an active force for proletarian revolution. (BAsics 3:16)

 

Follow: @TheRevcoms
Read: www.revcom.us
Watch: youtube.com/TheRevComs

 

Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

You’ve read this article and now you need to be part of making sure revcom.us is able to make an urgently needed leap and transformation.

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/661/a-letter-on-gary-leupp-counterpunch-article-en.html

Reprinted from CounterPunch:

A Letter on Gary Leupp's "The RCP, Fascism, and Chairman Bob's Endorsement of Biden for President"

by Larry Everest et al

| revcom.us

 

Lies, slanders, distortions, and ad hominem attacks don’t constitute substantive discussion, debate and controversy – they prevent it.

Dear CounterPunch,

We, the undersigned have all written for CounterPunch. We come from different perspectives, but we all greatly value your work for its edge, willingness to engage controversy, and openness to a diversity of views and expression.

However, we were shocked and outraged to read Gary Leupp’s dishonest, unprincipled, hit piece on Bob Avakian, his August 1 Statement, and the RCP.

We call on you to publish Bob Avakian’s Statement in its entirety so that readers can assess the original statement and decide for themselves if Gary Leupp’s opinion piece is accurate or a grab-bag of distortions – on matters of great import for humanity at this perilous moment.

It would have been one thing – a very good thing as a matter of fact – if Leupp had seriously and honestly engaged Avakian’s Statement and the questions it addresses – the current moment, the nature of the Trump/Pence regime, the issue of fascism, the urgency of mass non-violent protest, the role of the elections, and the ongoing need for a revolution to overthrow this system – and critiqued Avakian’s analysis based on what he actually says.

These are serious questions that have enormous implications for the lives of literally billions around the world, questions that demand serious engagement and argument, questions people of good will and conscience can certainly differ on.

But serious, fact-based disagreements are not what we get in Leupp’s screed, starting with the headline. (No, Bob Avakian has not “endorsed” Joe Biden, as the rightwing media reported, and “Chairman Bob” is not a term used by the RCP, but a snarky put down based on decades old, anti-communist stereotypes.)

A reader would never know, for example, that Avakian’s whole Statement is focused on the grave danger Trump/Pence poses for the world and all of humanity, beginning with its very first sentence: “The situation today holds truly unprecedented and momentous challenges, with profound implications not only for the people in this country but for all of humanity.”

And the blatant misrepresentations and distortions go on from there. In fact, there’s no evidence that he actually read Bob Avakian’s Statement, and certainly made no effort to allow readers to see the Statement and assess it themselves:

* Did he link to or list the title of the Statement which speaks volumes about its content — ON THE IMMEDIATE CRITICAL SITUATION, THE URGENT NEED TO DRIVE OUT THE FASCIST TRUMP/PENCE REGIME, VOTING IN THIS ELECTION, AND THE FUNDAMENTAL NEED FOR REVOLUTION? No.

* Was there a single quote from the 4,000-plus word statement in Leupp’s piece? No. (Even the rightwing correctly, if selectively, quoted Avakian.)

* Did he accurately characterize Avakian’s views, and for example his analysis of fascism – in the Statement and dating back to the Clinton years? No.

* Did Leupp make clear that Avakian primarily emphasized mobilizing masses to drive out the Trump/Pence regime, not relying on voting? No, a reader would never have guessed that.

* That Avakian argued Biden was no “better” than Trump? No.

* That stopping Trump/Pence fascism was an essential element in preparing for an actual revolution? Again no.

Instead of engagement and yes, serious criticism and analysis of what Avakian actually argues – again, which we all would value and encourage at CounterPunch — we get distortions, outright lies of omission and commission, and ad hominem snark.

We do not all see eye-to-eye on Bob Avakian, his Statement, or the RCP, but we all stand against dishonest, unprincipled attacks on anyone, especially those fighting for humanity, or dishonest, unprincipled means of intellectual engagement, discourse and debate.

In that spirit, again, below is Bob Avakian’s Statement in its entirety so that its readers can decide for themselves, and so we can all keep our focus on the momentous issues facing humanity and our world.

In solidarity,

Ron Jacobs

Prof. David Orenstein, City University of New York

Sunsara Taylor

Coco Das

Paul DeRienzo

Paul Street

Larry Everest

 

This letter was published in CounterPunch on August 17 along with the full statement by Bob Avakian—
"ON THE IMMEDIATE CRITICAL SITUATION, THE URGENT NEED TO DRIVE OUT THE FASCIST TRUMP/PENCE REGIME, VOTING IN THIS ELECTION, AND THE FUNDAMENTAL NEED FOR REVOLUTION."

 

Follow: @TheRevcoms
Read: www.revcom.us
Watch: youtube.com/TheRevComs

 

Together, WE passed $40,000 in revcom's Winter fundraising campaign to “Transform Revcom.us’ Web Technology and Presence”!

Reaching this goal is a real achievement and a victory for the people of the world, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many people working creatively and collectively to meet this pressing need: those who donated whether large or small contributions, who fundraised, who spread the campaign, who sent statements, who raised comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions – and of course those who worked so hard on modernizing and upgrading our web technology and presence. It all made a difference!

The Ongoing Need for Sustainers

During this four month fund drive, Revcom.us continued to incur thousands of dollars of costs each month for our office, maintaining our existing site and other expenses. But thanks to our existing monthly sustainers we were able to meet these expenses and use all the funds raised in the drive to transform the website.

So we encourage all our donors and those who’ve not yet donated to become monthly sustainers at whatever level you can afford.

Remember, humanity’s fate truly hinges on millions taking up the revolutionary science, strategy, and new communism brought forward by Bob Avakian which they can find at revcom.us.

You’ve read this article and now you need to be part of making sure revcom.us is able to make an urgently needed leap and transformation.

 

Get a free email subscription to revcom.us: