A Renewed Challenge: Searching For An Honest Liberal Or Progressive

 

January 24, 2022 What You Need to Know and Engage This Week About the World and Revolution This is a time of huge turmoil, when what people once thought were long-standing reforms are now being ripped away… when the threat of war sounds increasingly louder… when the earth itself burns and freezes in unprecedented ways … when the rights and humanity of women are under assault across the planet… a world in which the old arrangements through which society has been ruled by one or another set of oppressors are increasingly fraying and ripping.  A Declaration, A Call To Get Organized For A Real Revolution makes the point that: Revolutions are not possible all the time, but are generally possible only in rare times and circumstances, especially in a powerful country like this.  This is one of those rare times and circumstances.  This system is in real trouble, caught up in crisis and conflicts for which it has no easy or lasting solutions. Throughout this country the workings of this system have given rise to deep divisions which cannot be resolved under this system. Society is being ripped apart. Those who rule are locked in a bitter fight among themselves, and they cannot hold things together in the way they have in the past.  Although there are a lot of bad things connected with this and it could lead to something really terrible, it is also possible that we could wrench something really positive out of it—revolution, to put an end to this system and bring something much better into being. Bob Avakian, BA, in his new presentation, SOMETHING TERRIBLE, OR SOMETHING TRULY EMANCIPATING: Profound Crisis, Deepening Divisions—And The Revolution That Is Urgently Needed. A Necessary Foundation, A Basic Roadmap for This Revolution, provides a foundation for understanding and a road map for transforming that rare time into a revolutionary time.  This week, we are running a new article from BA, one that poses a sharp challenge that takes on acute meaning in this rare time and in this high-stakes context: In Light of the Urgency Spoken to in “Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating”: A RENEWED CHALLENGE: SEARCHING FOR AN HONEST LIBERAL OR PROGRESSIVE. Read this—and help get this read and engaged out beyond the current reach of this website, sending it to those you know who need to confront this message.  This talk, in people’s hands and most of all taken up and wielded, could change everything. In Something Terrible, OR Something Truly Emancipating, BA makes the following point: Here is another profound truth: Even with all the ways that the heavy chains of hundreds, and thousands, of years of oppressive tradition weigh down on the masses of people—and place a heavy burden particularly on the half of humanity that is female—there is a deep yearning to be free of all this, which not only leads to imaginary hopes of supernatural salvation but also erupts in unrestrained fury right in this real world. And that fury needs to be fully called forth, given a scientific, revolutionary expression—focused toward the emancipation of all the oppressed and exploited of the world, and ultimately all humanity—directed to fighting against the fundamental source of all the suffering: this system of capitalism-imperialism, with its suffocating and brutal, patriarchal male supremacy, along with all its other outrages. This takes on even more powerful meaning and urgent importance in the current situation in this country (and others), where the forceful assertion of raw misogyny (hatred of women) and patriarchal subjugation of women is becoming more blatant and unbridled, focused to a significant degree now in the escalating moves to even further deny women control over their own lives and their very bodies, with the right to abortion, and even birth control, being brought under mounting attack. Right now, this slogan and call needs to be taken up broadly and made a powerful material force:  Break the Chains, Unleash the Fury of Women as a Mighty Force for Revolution! Last week marked the 49th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision finding that women had a constitutional right to abortion. This right is now under direct and dire threat. Yet so many who purport to speak of the importance of this right turn out to be leading people to “adjust” to a life in which abortion is illegal.  But last Saturday, on the 49th anniversary of the decision granting this constitutional right, a new movement announced itself, aiming to do nothing less than bring millions into the streets in relentless struggle to defend this right and defeat the attempts to take it back or gut it. In this issue, we cover that movement’s “opening shot” with an account of their opening rally at the Supreme Court and important speeches from some of the initiators. We also speak to those figures now acting as if nobody saw these attacks coming or took seriously the prospect of actually losing the right to abortion. Go here and find out what BA has been saying on this question for decades. Relatedly, last week saw the fascist Republican Party go further in its attack on basic rights of Black people, as well as other “minority” nationalities and the rule of law overall. They killed a very basic bill that would have blocked some of the laws now being passed on the state level to make voting more difficult for Black people, other oppressed nationalities, and more generally people who live in cities. We have covered the many attacks of these fascists on this right because even though voting itself is ultimately almost always a meaningless exercise of voting for which section of the rulers will oppress the masses, the stripping away of the right to vote amounts to a vicious attack. It is a move to lock down an even more brutal fascist dictatorship, deepening the oppression of an already-oppressed people. We get into what happened in more depth here, and also take apart the “white supremacist veto” that they call the filibuster.  As COVID continues to rage across the world, a “second pandemic” also rages—the “pandemic” of ignorance and individualism spread by the fascists and those who are acting as their tools. We get into what these twin plagues have meant to Black people in Chicago, as one example; to the world of professional tennis (here and here); and to some of how this played out at a Los Angeles high school, all in the last week. This past week saw threats and counter-threats between the U.S. and Russia over the fate of the country of Ukraine. Go here to clearly see where the interests of humanity lie in contrast to what the U.S. propaganda organs of mainstream press trumpet; and here for a call-out on the poisonous chauvinism being peddled as progressivism. This week, we are also featuring a letter in response to controversy around the Tale of Two Scientists, of which revised and updated versions are now posted. We received news as we went to press of a heroic hunger strike going on now at Evin Prison in Iran. We urge you to go here to read about this hunger strike, and here for an account of a recent program going into the issues of this struggle. Finally, go here to learn about and connect with the Revolution Club and here to see the latest edition of The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show on YouTube. We want to call your attention to the Revolution Club section on this site's Home page, where articles by club members and about the club are posted. There are a number of new things up this time, including a report on an intervention in a struggle over vaccines and masking at a Los Angeles high school.   Follow: @TheRevcoms Read: www.revcom.us Watch: youtube.com/TheRevComs “...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!” —Bob Avakian START AT HOME PAGE BOB AVAKIAN: A RADICALLY DIFFERENT LEADER—A WHOLE NEW FRAMEWORK FOR HUMAN EMANCIPATION Learn more about Bob Avakian and the new communism The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show A weekly YouTube show about ACTUAL revolution, based on Bob Avakian’s new communism What Is the Revolution Club? Who Should Check Out the Revolution Club, Run with It and Join? What Does It Mean To Join? And How Do I Get Started? What do I do first? Wherever you are, sign up. Spread the word. Find out more about Revolution Club » Unbelievable as it may seem, in the 21st century there are still people—including people in positions of power and authority—who are determined to force women to bear children, regardless of the situation, the feelings, and the better judgment of those women themselves. That is a way of enslaving women to the dictates of an oppressive male supremacist, patriarchal system; and that is what the cruel fanatics who are determined to deny women the right to abortion are really all about. — Bob Avakian FEATURED: BOB AVAKIAN January 2021 NEW YEAR’S STATEMENT BY BOB AVAKIAN A New Year, The Urgent Need For A Radically New World — For The Emancipation Of All Humanity From Bob Avakian—Revolutionary Leader, Author of the New Communism: THIS IS A RARE TIME WHEN REVOLUTION BECOMES POSSIBLE— WHY THAT IS SO, AND HOW TO SEIZE ON THIS RARE OPPORTUNITY FEATURED: NEWS FROM THE REVCOMS (REVCOM.US): A DECLARATION, A CALL TO GET ORGANIZED NOW FOR A REAL REVOLUTION Reposted from RiseUp4AbortionRights.org: On the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, as the right to abortion that was established through that Supreme Court decision faces unprecedented threat, join in declaring: No Going Back! No Surrender! ABORTION ON DEMAND & WITHOUT APOLOGY! REVCOM FALL WINTER FUND DRIVE Fight for Women’s Full Emancipation – Give to Revcom.us! No Going Back! No Surrender! ABORTION ON DEMAND & WITHOUT APOLOGY! Boston supporters raised $575 & donated on Venmo today. Some was collected at a rally for women's right to abortion. Almost to $26,000, with $4,000 to go. DONATE NOW! Venmo: @RCP-Publications CashApp: $RCPPublications PayPal: WWW.REVCOM.US/REVOLUTION NEWSPAPER brings alive a scientific analysis of major events in society and the world—why they are happening, how different events and developments relate to each other, how all this relates to the system we live under, where people's interests lie in relation to all this, how revolution is in fact the solution to all this and what the goals of that revolution are, how different viewpoints and programs relate, positively or negatively, to the revolution that is needed, and how people can move, and are moving, to build toward that revolution. Revcom.us/Revolution is the guide, the pivot, the crucial tool in drawing forward, orienting, training, and organizing thousands, and influencing millions—fighting the power, and transforming the people, for revolution—hastening and preparing for the time when we can go for the whole thing, with a real chance to win. Subscribe to revcom.us | Donate to/Sustain revcom.us | Send your correspondence to revolution.reports@yahoo.com El periódico Revolución sale cada semana en inglés y en español. Haz clic aquí para leer la edición en español. La edición semanal en línea de Revolución en español se publica los miercoles por la noche.

Truths We Need To Get Free

 

January 17, 2022 What You Need to Know and Engage This Week About the World and Revolution

We begin by calling your attention to the recent crucial presentation from Bob Avakian, “SOMETHING TERRIBLE, OR SOMETHING TRULY EMANCIPATING: Profound Crisis, Deepening Divisions, The Looming Possibility Of Civil War—And The Revolution That Is Urgently Needed, A Necessary Foundation, A Basic Roadmap For This Revolution.” At a time when the fascist threat looms ever larger and the Democrats are increasingly disarrayed, a time when all too many give in either to the nausea of despair, the drug of long-haul fantasies, or the bitter “I-gotta-get-mine” of the mean city streets … Bob Avakian leads you to confront reality full-on, in all its depth. And he leads you to wrest real hope out of that confrontation.  This presentation demands our study and our wrangling with others to grasp the scientific analysis that reveals the source of that hope: a split among the rulers that gives rise to a once-in-a-lifetime chance to actually make revolution … and to take the first giant steps to abolishing all systems of exploitation, all forms of oppression, and all the backward and people-destroying ideas that flow from and reinforce those systems.  This presentation demands that we work to spread it, to find those who are hungering for a real chance for an emancipatory future. This presentation demands even more that we actually implement the road map he’s laid out to winning that future—to move now in very concrete ways to realize this goal: Everything depends on bringing forward a revolutionary people, from among the most bitterly oppressed, and all parts of society, first in the thousands and then in the millions, as a powerful revolutionary force, organized from the start and consistently with a country-wide perspective, impacting all of society and changing the terms of how masses of people see things and how every institution has to respond. Everything must be focused now on actually bringing forward and organizing this revolutionary force. To that end, this week we are publishing a new piece by Bob Avakian entitled “Some Key Points Regarding ‘Something Terrible, Or  Something Truly Emancipating’: TRUTHS WE NEED TO GET FREE.” We recommend you go right now to dig into that; and we’ll be referring to it a little later. Last week we talked about a big advance in popularizing the presentation—its posting on the website of La Opinión, the largest-circulation Spanish-language newspaper in the U.S., along with an op-ed by Michele Xai, a leader of the Revolution Club in Los Angeles. This week we’re running a TikTok that she did, encouraging people to seek out more ways to popularize this—even in what at first glance may seem unexpected places. It’s a different moment, things are being shaken up, and this can present different openings. Of real importance in getting out the word on revolution is “A REVOLUTION RHYME FOR THIS HISTORIC TIME,” by a revcom poet. We’re starting a page devoted to getting this rhyme way out there, with different people doing versions and sharing experience and ideas in popularizing this. This new page contains two very good versions, by Miles Solay and by Roosevelt, from the Revolution Club in Chicago—and this time it also contains word of a brainstorming session held by that club to popularize it. The report tells of a club member who spoke of the potential power of the rhyme; he said “a lot of people got a wall up…. It’s very important to get creative with this.” This Saturday will mark the launching of a major initiative to bring forward massive opposition to the attack on abortion rights, concentrated in the momentum toward getting rid of the constitutional right to this altogether. We strongly urge everyone to go to the panel on this, read or watch Sunsara Taylor’s interview on this initiative, and to read—and spread—the statement which she has initiated with a number of other fighters against the oppression of women to launch massive, in-the-streets, uncompromising opposition to this extremely serious attack. Sunsara’s interview lays out how she sees this as a follower of BA—working to both beat back this attack and to radically repolarize the political climate FOR revolution. This week, as always, we cover important and relevant events from around the world and around the country. These include coverage of the heroic hunger strike by prisoners at Rikers Island in New York City (see here, here, and here); how the police force in “liberal” Portland used a vicious Proud Boys poem to train its officers; how 20 years after being opened, through presidents both Republican and Democratic, the literal U.S. torture chamber of Guantanamo, where people are held for decades with neither proof nor trial nor even charges, still goes on; and the way in which the accusations and threats between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine ooze hypocrisy and deceit… while threatening war that could easily turn catastrophic. Read all that, and in light of all this then read again “Some Key Points Regarding ‘Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating’: TRUTHS WE NEED TO GET FREE” on democracy and dictatorship. Last Tuesday Joe Biden suddenly jerked to life to recognize the attempts to strip Black people of the right to vote and the overall attacks by the fascists on conducting “free and fair” Presidential elections. This attack is very real indeed, as we make clear this week and as we have made clear over time (see here, here and here, for example). But Biden’s opposition, though high in rhetoric was empty on concrete action, and seems to have folded by the end of the week (at least for now). There’s some complexity to this. While the right to vote is meaningless to making basic change, there is still meaning to the fascist juggernaut moving to take even this right away, lock in permanent rule and institute a form of oppression where even the trappings of citizenship and rule of law are ripped away. Bob Avakian on the direct line from the Confederacy to the fascists of today Create a great offer by adding words like "free" "personalized" "complimentary" or "customized." A sense of urgency often helps readers take an action, so think about inserting phrases like "for a limited time only" or "only 7 remaining"! “Some Key Points Regarding ‘Something Terrible, Or Something Truly Emancipating’: TRUTHS WE NEED TO GET FREE” makes the point that the fascism now moving for total control must be thoroughly defeated—as part of making revolution. That includes the right to vote. “Something Terrible, OR  Something Truly Emancipating,” in a critical section on “supporting, and defending, people who are constantly being subjected to unjust attacks on their rights and their very being [and] calls for defense of this right,” says this: There are continuing moves, including with the threat or use of violence, to once again prevent Black people and other oppressed people from even exercising what are supposed to be basic rights, such as voting. (With a scientific method and approach, it is both possible, and important, to actively oppose attempts to deny people the right to vote, and at the same time win people to see that their efforts need to go, not into voting for representatives of this system that is oppressing them, but working to build up the basis to overthrow this whole system.) We are also covering this week a number of events in the arts (Billie Eilish and Check it Out!) which bear on the fight for a whole new, and emancipated world. This fight is completely bound up with the need for a thoroughly scientific approach to reality, and in this context, we feature the “Tale of Two Scientists”—observations from a reader on the recent deaths, within the span of a week, of two prominent scientists, Richard Leakey and E.O. Wilson.   Follow: @TheRevcoms Read: www.revcom.us Watch: youtube.com/TheRevComs

“...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!” —Bob Avakian START AT HOME PAGE BOB AVAKIAN: A RADICALLY DIFFERENT LEADER—A WHOLE NEW FRAMEWORK FOR HUMAN EMANCIPATION   Learn more about Bob Avakian and the new communism The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show A weekly YouTube show about ACTUAL revolution, based on Bob Avakian’s new communism What Is the Revolution Club? Who Should Check Out the Revolution Club, Run with It and Join? What Does It Mean To Join? And How Do I Get Started? What do I do first? Wherever you are, sign up. Spread the word.   Find out more about Revolution Club » Unbelievable as it may seem, in the 21st century there are still people—including people in positions of power and authority—who are determined to force women to bear children, regardless of the situation, the feelings, and the better judgment of those women themselves. That is a way of enslaving women to the dictates of an oppressive male supremacist, patriarchal system; and that is what the cruel fanatics who are determined to deny women the right to abortion are really all about. — Bob Avakian FEATURED: BOB AVAKIAN