In Defense of Principle and Leadership Based on That Principle

 

August 8, 2022 A Guide to This Issue of Revolution What You Need to Know and Engage This Week About the World and Revolution A Crucial Struggle in the Defense of Principle and Leadership Based on That Principle There is a struggle continuing to rage with deep implications for the whole direction of things in this society. This week another internet news platform—VICE—launched an attack on Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights (RU4AR), with a particular focus on the fact that some of its members follow the author of the new communism and revolutionary leader, Bob Avakian (BA). If that sounds familiar, it’s because this article repeated the unprincipled, baseless and very dangerous charges against Bob Avakian previously aired in outlets as seemingly disparate as the more-or-less mainstream Daily Beast, The Intercept (which styles itself as “progressive”), and the Daily Caller (a straight-up fascist site begun by Tucker Carlson). While giving some space to some of the refutations from Sunsara Taylor—who is a follower of BA—as well as RiseUp leaders Lori Sokol and Merle Hoffman (who are not), it also detailed a number of anonymous charges from those they claimed had left RiseUp and even dug up one really foul and, yes, utterly invented, unsubstantiated and totally unverifiable attack dating from 1979. And through it all, the one theme pounded on was “cult.” “Strangely enough,” none of these reporters at any of these outlets have thought to include any actual quotes from BA himself from articles specifically replying to the charges of “cult,” two of which were published in the past year and a half. ("Bob Avakian Answers Accusations of 'Cult': Ignorance, and Cowardice"; "Bob Avakian Speaks to 'Cult': A Ridiculous, Ignorant, and Irresponsible Accusation. We Are Applying a Scientific Method and Approach to Understanding, and Transforming, the World to Emancipate Humanity") Why do you suppose that might be? Fighting Back This barrage of attacks is one end of the struggle. Here it has to be said that there have been excellent and thorough refutations of the main lines of attack, both from RU4AR and from revcoms, including Sunsara Taylor. (For some of these replies go here, here, here, here and here.) At the same time, there is—and there has to be—another side to the fightback: one of people who from a variety of perspectives see the danger bound up in the campaign of defamation and slander and who feel the need to take a stand against the attackers. Something is growing here that needs to be encouraged, given direction and organized. Last week we published an initial round of such statements; this week we are publishing more, from a wider range of sources and a wider range of concerns. This has to grow. Here we want to highlight something that one person wrote last week: “[I]t’s important to immerse yourself in the knowledge of the movement of Bob Avakian and to support this leader. And to protect him at all costs. Protect him at all costs. Because they have killed enough of our leaders. So we have to form a strong web around him and protect him.” This is a correct and important sentiment. One big way to weave that web now is to spread these statements. Another important way is to take a stand, in your own words and in your own way, against the lies and worse that are being spread and share it with revcom.us and on social media. The Crucial Fight Over Method, Principle, and Standards There’s another struggle bound up in this—one over how we think about reality and how we sort through the real differences that inevitably come up in fighting for revolution. In this regard, we want to strongly call everyone’s attention to “Bob Avakian On Methods, Principles and Standards”—an excerpt from an interview from 10 years ago, What Humanity Needs: Revolution, and the New Synthesis of Communism, an Interview with Bob Avakian. BA in this interview discusses what it means to apply science to understanding and transforming society and, very importantly, what it means to have principled debate and struggle over different political analyses and positions… and what happens when principle is jettisoned or ignored. These are questions to wage real struggle over, right now; no one can stand aside. In this piece, BA’s method is as exhilarating as the conclusions he comes to—read it and spread it and discuss it. It stands in stark contrast to so much of what people are bombarded with in this society. Waging this fight—for the methods, principles and standards that will enable people to get to the truth and that will prevent the rulers from stirring shit up and then utilizing the stigma and divisions they’ve fostered to carry out really foul stuff—has to be a critical part of what we’re doing. And getting into this piece—reading it and coming back to it, reflecting on it, talking about it with comrades and friends, spreading it to others—is invaluable and necessary.   The Struggle Over Leadership and the Times We Live In This struggle over leadership is not some random occurrence. It takes place in a specific time and place—one analyzed in great depth in Bob Avakian’s extremely important talk, Something Terrible, OR Something Truly Emancipating: Profound Crisis, Deepening Divisions, The Looming Possibility of Civil War—And The Revolution That Is Urgently Needed, A Necessary Foundation, A Basic Roadmap For This Revolution. This is a time of high stakes for everyone—one in which this empire is in significant trouble around the world, in which the old ways of ruling which people have been conditioned to accept are coming apart at the seams, and where the possibilities of either something even more horrific emerging out of that OR something indeed “truly emancipating” being wrenched out of it are very immediate, in ways that are truly unprecedented. At this moment, the danger of this leadership—BA—connecting with much broader numbers of people is something that haunts not only opportunists, but powerful sections on both sides of the ruling class. It is not accidental that the flashpoint of this particular struggle has been the battle around the right to abortion. The overturning of Roe v. Wade, and all that it concentrates, is not simply a momentarily very acute contradiction. It is one that has ongoing, decisive bearing on the whole direction of things, including the prospects for something terrible, or for wrenching something truly positive and emancipating out of the continually intensifying contradictions. This is so because of the fundamental nature of what this concentrates—yes, the very real question of the enslavement of women... or a fight against this that can be of crucial importance for their real emancipation, and that of the masses of people overall. This would be true, even if the overturning of Roe were not accompanied, as it almost certainly will be, not only by continuing attacks on the right to abortion, anywhere/everywhere in this country, but also very likely attacks on LGBTQ rights, as well as other dimensions of this ongoing and escalating fascist juggernaut and the effective paralysis of the Democrats in the face of it. For those now on the attack, the great “offense” of Rise Up—and of the revcoms within it—is that they reached out and have continued to reach out as widely as they could with the real terms of things: that this was a fight against female enslavement and the oppression of women, not some vague notion of “bodily autonomy”… that people need to tell the unvarnished truth about what this will mean and to risk something to sound the alarm and wake up others… that a wide range of people and political forces were needed in this fight… and that the fascist beast that others would prefer to turn away from or deny must be confronted, and the conciliation of the Democrats with that monstrosity called out, opposed, and ridden over. July 30, Topeka, Kansas. Hundreds of people occupied the Kansas Statehouse to protest against an amendment that explicitly states that women do not have a constitutional right to abortion. Many women stepped forward to tell their own personal stories, including one woman who talked about how she needed an abortion when she got out of an abusive relationship. This same day, in Lawrence, Kansas, 60 people gathered at the Douglas County Courthouse to march downtown to protest the amendment. (The amendment was later defeated at the polls on August 2.)  Credit: Twitter @RosieRiveterDFW In this issue, we highlight important developments in this struggle: the referendum in Kansas which upheld abortion rights and the law passed three days later in Indiana which eviscerated them, and the battle over what that means; and a very good segment from The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show on YouTube featuring a bold action undertaken in Los Angeles by Rise Up. We also again highlight The RNL Show. We urge our readers to review Andy Zee’s commentary for the latest episode of the show and then rewatch the entire show with that in mind. Then work to spread this, joining with others if at all possible, to come up with creative ways to build the audience. Finally, in addition to other important articles, we call your attention to an outrageous—and ominous—raid that took place against the Black nationalist organization African People’s Socialist Party and the Uhuru Organization in St. Louis and St. Petersburg this past week. See the table of contents for other important articles this issue.   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 » FEATURED: BOB AVAKIAN BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian The Supreme Court Moves to End Abortion Rights: “Taking to the Streets,”  And Refusing to Let This Go Down Bob Avakian Speaks to This Critical Juncture in the Fight for Abortion Rights, The Road Forward, and Avoiding Dead Ends FEATURED: NEWS FROM THE REVCOMS (REVCOM.US): A DECLARATION, A CALL TO GET ORGANIZED NOW FOR A REAL REVOLUTION From the Revolution Club... The Supreme Court Ruling Overturning Roe v. Wade Is ILLEGITIMATE! We Need Resistance and Revolution! 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 AP photos are copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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.