Revolution #222, January 16, 2011
Discussion on the CONSTITUTION For The New Socialist Republic In North America (Draft Proposal)
It gives me great heart
We greatly appreciate receiving letters from prisoners, like the one below, and encourage prisoners to keep sending us correspondence. The viewpoints expressed in these letters are those of the writers and not Revolution newspaper.
December 6, 2010
Dear Family,
Greetings once again from the Texas gulag! I received the Draft Proposal for the RCP,USA Constitution, and I’m very thrilled to see, and be a part of, a group of far-sighted and sensitive individuals with the cojones to actually put themselves “out there” by putting forth such a proposal. It gives me great heart to realize there’s a rather large group of revolutionary-minded comrades in the so-called freeworld who not only talk the talk, but walk the walk, when in fact it’d be much easier and safer to just go along to get along and keep one’s subversive viewpoints to oneself. You are indeed my high-minded and courageous family, and I take courage and direction from you. It is this priceless gift for which I owe my undying gratitude. You help to raise the bar and set the standard for all people who dare to dream of a better world.
I recently heard that the late, esteemed historian Howard Zinn said, from one perspective, the entire U.S. history is a struggle of differing groups of individuals to simply be recognized as people and accorded the “unalienable rights” espoused in the Declaration of Independence. Whether it’s Native Americans, Blacks, Hispanics, women, GLBTs, or even convicts and addicts—everyone just wants to be a “we, the people.”
In a broader sense the entire evolutionary history of the animal kingdom is one of, or in a direction of, inclusion without fear. Amoeba and other one-celled protozoa live without fear because they’re unaware of any other lifeforms. So far as an amoeba is concerned, everything it comes into contact with is an object. When an animal evolves to the state it can recognize “otherness,” its first emotional reflex is fear. This incites the fight-or-flight response. Further up the evolutionary scale, the common housefly still doesn’t appear to sense otherness. If you swat at it, it will fly away but then return, oftentimes as not, to the exact spot it just fled… It exhibits no sense of fear.
Still further up, an ant definitely recognizes otherness and will aid and assist another ant if it’s a member of its hive. Otherwise, generally speaking, it will murder or enslave (yes, ants take slaves!) any other lifeform. Unfortunately, many humans have not evolved beyond the mentality of ants: They’re still inclined to fear and attack or enslave any lifeform not recognized as a member of their clan or group.
I sincerely believe, if we live long enough, we will reach a point in our evolution in which we’ll expand our consciousness to fearlessly include all lifeforms and even our mother earth. Murder will become recognized for the primitive response it is, as well as the fear of otherness and the need to subdue that which we fear.
On that great day all members of the animal kingdom will be elevated to the lofty tier of “we, the people” and will be afforded the opportunity to live in peace so long as they abide in peace. This includes the right to self-determination, which is intrinsic to any truly peaceful society. But it will take a radical shift in consciousness, a great leap forward, such as has never been done before. I hope and believe the RCP is a pathway to such change.
Yours for the revolution,
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