FIGHT THE POWER, AND TRANSFORM THE PEOPLE, FOR REVOLUTION Welcome to the site of REVOLUTION, revcom.us, after a week in which the United States escalated its threats against Russia, people got a giant wake-up shock on abortion, and revolutionary forces fought to bring something positive and emancipating out of it all. Our issue covers all of that and more, but first read, and reflect on, the following from Bob Avakian, with this past week in mind: Things are not as they were in the past, and the reality is this: The profound divisions, within the ruling class, and in the society overall, cannot be smoothed over—they are only going to become deeper and sharper, more acute and antagonistic. Here is the fundamental truth that needs to be clearly and deeply understood: These divisions cannot be resolved within the framework that has existed, and has held things together, for nearly 150 years, since shortly after the end of the Civil War which led to the abolition of slavery—they cannot be resolved on the basis of the capitalist “democracy” that has been the “normal” means of capitalist rule (dictatorship) for so long. |
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And: This rare situation, with the deepening and sharpening conflicts among the ruling powers, and in the society overall, provides a stronger basis and greater openings to break the hold of this system over masses of people. It is extremely important to deeply understand this: As this situation develops, and the ruling class is more and more unable to rule in the old way, society and daily life for masses of people, from different parts of society, can become increasingly unsettled and chaotic, with frequent “disruptions” of the “normal” way things have been. And as the “the normal way” society has been ruled is failing to hold things together—and society is increasingly being ripped apart—this can shake people’s belief that “the way things have always been” is the only way things can be. It can make people more open to questioning—in a real sense it can force people to question—the way things have been, and whether they have to stay that way. And this is all the more likely to happen if the revolutionary forces are out among the people shining a light on the deeper reality of what is happening, and why, and bringing out that there IS an alternative to living this way. |
This past week has borne out the great and ongoing relevance of this work, in particular around the two major social fault lines—the wiping out of the right to abortion and the threat of war in Ukraine escalating, including the possibility of world war—that we began this week’s guide with. Let’s start with abortion. |
For months revcoms united with others to sound the alarm and call on people to get mobilized. Those who came together to form Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights (RU4AR) fought the ignorance of this assault among the broad masses, the cover-up and capitulation-in-advance by the “pro-choice” movement, and the general despair in society by those overwhelmed by it all… and then something totally unexpected happened. Monday night someone—nobody knows exactly who—“leaked” the draft Supreme Court decision by the ultra-reactionary and fanatical fascist Justice Alito that not only overturned the right to abortion, but did so in the nastiest of terms. What’s more, the reasoning of Alito’s draft by implication threatened other critical rights like marriage equality and the basic rights of LGBTQ people altogether, the right for people of different races to marry (yes, interracial marriage was legally banned in 16 states as late as 1967!), and a host of other critical rights people now take for granted. Fortunately, a core of people—that is, RU4AR—had forged itself through hammering out together the stakes of this fight and daring to go up against the so-called leaders of the “pro-choice” movement who were intent on suffocating struggle. That core fought to become a presence in society—a magnetic political pole around which those who wanted to fight this could gather—by going into the streets, at first with at most a few hundred and usually a few dozen. They didn’t give up. Then the Alito leak hit. Nobody anticipated it, and the person who took the risk to do this could not know in advance the result. As it turned out, this “accident” occurred at a time when there was a force—RU4AR—that had been working and fighting and was ready to act on and give shape to and stoke the outrage and drive home the point that this fight is not over—it could be won… and the stakes are extremely high in winning it, for women… and for humanity. We cover this, principally through our link to the special “Revolution, Nothing Less Dispatch” here, as well as other stories and videos. Spread the link… and spread the fight. This week is crucial—RU4AR has called for National Week of Action May 8-14, climaxing in major marches on May 14. Go here to find out more. And go here to dig into the critical work on this from Bob Avakian (BA), “The Fight for Abortion Rights and the Emancipation of Women.” |
The second major development this week was in the Ukraine war, which has now devolved, in its main character, into a proxy war between Russia and the U.S.-headed NATO bloc. Not only did Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin shift the U.S. goal from “helping Ukraine defend itself” to “weakening the Russian army”… not only did top Democrat Nancy Pelosi declare that the U.S. would support Ukraine “until victory”… but it came to light—again, through leaks—that the U.S. provided the intelligence that enabled Ukrainian forces to kill a number of Russian generals and to destroy the principal ship of the Russian navy. This is really like using a high-powered firehose to spray gasoline instead of water on a fire already threatening to jump out of control, with potentially catastrophic—even civilization-ending—consequences: a nuclear war that escalates out of control. And yet in America, most people—including way too many people who in the past might have taken an antiwar position—are blindly following what could be a path into the nuclear inferno. What is needed is what BA called for in the extremely important recent article “World War 3 and Dangerous Idiocy”: …[I]t is vitally important for the masses of people, in this country, and other countries aligned with it, as well as in Russia—for people everywhere—to finally and fully wake up now, recognize the real, and profoundly heavy, stakes involved, and act in accordance with our actual interests—the interests of all of humanity: demanding that this war in Ukraine, and the involvement (direct and indirect) of the imperialists on both sides in this war, be STOPPED, before it not only causes even greater suffering for the people of Ukraine but possibly escalates into a far more terrible conflict which causes massive destruction and death, on a whole other level, and even possibly poses a threat to the very existence of humanity itself. |
Last week, one of our readers posted an earlier piece from BA, “Ukraine: World War 3 Is the Real Danger, Not a Repeat of World War 2,” on a listserve of former members of Students for a Democratic Society, a radical student movement of the 1960s. A number of people replied to this, and the overwhelming majority were negative. But BA’s piece had struck a nerve—they felt compelled to read through it and put out their arguments. And BA went to work on that. This week, our most important new article comes from BA, his in-depth reply to the critics: |
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On both these fronts and in different ways, the revcoms were acting on the situation, fighting to change how people think and winning them to act. One key way—the most key way right now—to change how people think is through The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show on YouTube. Last week, The RNL Show posted its 100th episode! This episode gives you the sweep of the show over these past two years and more, it connects you with those who watch the show, and it gives you ways to be part of the growing community around the show. It bristles with revolution! Watch this episode; spread it. There is nothing else like this on the internet. Boosting the audience for this 100th episode and for the show overall—winning new subscribers everywhere we go in this period of upsurge—is critical for the movement for revolution to bust out of its still way-too-narrow confines. Acting on the situation last week also meant taking to the streets on May 1—in Los Angeles and New York City, in several cities in Colombia, and in Berlin—around these slogans: NO US/NATO WAR WITH RUSSIA! NO WORLD WAR 3! IT’S THIS SYSTEM, NOT HUMANITY, THAT NEEDS TO BECOME EXTINCT! WE DON’T ACCEPT THEIR FUTURE IT’S TIME TO GET ORGANIZED FOR A REAL REVOLUTION In addition to coverage which we posted on Tuesday of last week, we have a story from Berlin and the speech given by Noche Diaz, national spokesperson of the Revolution Club, in Los Angeles. See the table of contents for other important articles this issue. And see you in the streets, all week long! |
| “...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 |
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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? 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 |
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