revcom.us, October 19, 2020 through October 25, 2020 (#670)

Voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/667/this-is-the-situation-these-are-the-stakes-en.html

Updated | revcom.us

 

Editors' Note: What follows is an important message that concisely outlines the dynamics of the struggle around the presidential election. This originally appeared at revcom.us in late September, before the election and Biden's victory over Trump in the popular and Electoral College votes. The points here are even more relevant than ever.

THIS IS THE SITUATION, THESE ARE THE STAKES.

TRUMP IS DETERMINED, AND HAS A STRATEGY, TO STAY IN POWER, AND HAMMER INTO PLACE HIS FASCIST PROGRAM—MURDEROUSLY ENFORCING INJUSTICE, CRUSHING BASIC RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES, ACCELERATING THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND HEIGHTENING THE DANGER OF NUCLEAR ANNIHILATION—NO MATTER HOW PEOPLE VOTE. Trump is already stealing the election, he has a plan in place to use key institutions, including the Supreme Court, and violent thugs, in and out of uniform, to keep his regime in power.

THE DEMOCRATS’ STRATEGY IS LIKELY A LOSING STRATEGY THAT WILL LEAD THEM TO CAPITULATE TO TRUMP (even if the actual voting favors the Democrats). Left to their own devices, the Democrats do not have the ability or the will to fight Trump the way he needs to be fought. Despite the fact that the Trump/Pence regime represents an existential threat to humanity, the Democrats have refused to call out this fascist regime for what it is and oppose it on that basis. They are calling on people to just vote as if this is a “regular” election and the “normal rules” apply. The Democrats are trying to rely on procedures and institutions that this fascist regime has corrupted, destroyed, or taken over.

IF FASCISM FULLY TAKES HOLD IN THE MOST POWERFUL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, THIS COULD LEAD TO A CATASTROPHE FROM WHICH HUMANITY MAY NOT BE ABLE TO RECOVER.

FOR EVERYONE WHO CARES ABOUT JUSTICE, ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT, AND A FUTURE WORTH LIVING FOR HUMANITY: WE NEED TO TAKE UP THE CALL FROM REFUSEFASCISM.ORG TO ORGANIZE AND MOBILIZE DETERMINED AND CREATIVE NONVIOLENT ACTIONS AND SUSTAINED DEMONSTRATIONS, DAY AFTER DAY, BECOMING INCREASINGLY MASSIVE AND POWERFUL, DEMANDING TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!—CHANGING THE WHOLE POLITICAL EQUATION AND SITUATION IN THIS COUNTRY, MAKING EVERY FORCE IN SOCIETY RESPOND TO THE POWERFULLY DEMONSTRATED DEMAND OF MASSES OF PEOPLE THAT THIS FASCIST REGIME MUST BE REMOVED.

Despite what the Democrats stand for, and how their approach would severely limit and cripple the fight against this fascist regime, in terms of voting people need to massively vote against Trump, by voting for Biden. BUT IT IS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR:

VOTING WILL NOT BE ENOUGH—AND SIMPLY RELYING ON VOTING WILL VERY LIKELY LEAD TO DISASTER. WE NEED TO TAKE TO THE STREETS NOW, AND STAY IN THE STREETS, DEMANDING TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!

For further understanding of all this, see these important works by Bob Avakian, available at revcom.us: the three-part series Voting Will Not Be Enough—We Need To Take To The Streets, And Stay In The Streets Demanding Trump/Pence Out Now! (in particular Part 3, Trump’s Fascism—More Blatant and Dangerous Every Day: How a Determined Fight and Massive Mobilization Could Defeat This) and 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.

 


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/669/when-you-take-the-streets-en.html

When YOU Take the Streets...

| revcom.us

 

When YOU take the streets, then you set the terms. People have to respond, one way or the other. If taking the streets shakes people up, and makes them think, makes them question, even makes them angry—good. Step one is breaking people out of “it’s all good”—or “it’s all bad, and there’s nothing I can do.” If you’re in the streets, you are a living refutation of both.

When YOU take the streets, you define the debate. Think about what happened after the ugly, brutal murder of George Floyd by the police—the terms changed from “it’s really a shame, but the police are just doing their job and there’s really not that much we can do” to “the murder of George Floyd is outrageous and intolerable, his killers need to be charged and jailed, and everyone needs to be in the streets—and everywhere else—asking why this happens and demanding top to bottom change to make it stop.” People took the streets—and suddenly not only were statues coming down, but discussions were going on everywhere about the true history and present-day character of this society, and what needed to be done to change it—now.

When YOU take the streets, you cause different sections of the rulers to move in different ways. Do you think the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the military—Mark Milley—would have been compelled to break with his commander-in-chief, the fascist Trump, and to apologize for being with him at that church photo-op and using his troops against nonviolent protesters without people standing up and staying in the streets? Not out of the goodness of his heart—but because YOU were in the streets and YOU were having an effect on everyone and everything, and he began to worry about his own armed forces holding together and the way the whole society was looking at the problems you were so powerfully pointing to.

But when THEY—the fascists, the Trumpites—saw this, they were freaked and they were furious. So THEY took the streets, with their thugs and guns, and tried to change things back. THEY—the fascists, the Trumpites—tried to make the terms “what do we do about rioting and looting” and “law and order”—even as THEY surrounded and hounded and shot and killed and drove cars into people. When THEY took the streets it became all about “the grievances of Trump’s angry base” and the Democrats making concessions, as if the lies and slanders and racism and murder is somehow valid.

Now WE, in our hundreds and thousands now and growing into millions, need to take the streets and re-set the terms and demand that THIS FASCIST REGIME BE DRIVEN FROM POWER. We need to be in the streets to ring the alarm to millions on what this regime is threatening to do: steal the elections and wreak violence and prison on those who resist. WE need to call out the millions of people who love justice and decency to come back into the streets. WE with our actions need to inspire and organize them to say, in loud, united and graphic terms to Trump and Pence and Barr and the rest: DON’T YOU DARE!

We need to make clear: The very act of making those threats is more than cause enough to drive these fascists from office. NOWbefore they can carry them out. Then, if the election does happen—and yes, YOU MUST VOTE—we’ll be in a position where we can actually have a chance at fighting through against any chicanery and treachery from these fascists. In the main, essential and most important way to fight it: with millions in the streets.

WE need to show the nonviolent, creative, courageous moral certitude of our movement to the whole world, growing and growing, day after day: Trump/Pence OUT NOW.

WE need to take back the streets: now.

 

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/669/refuse-fascism-mass-public-assemblies-nationwide-en.html

| revcom.us

 

Reposted from RefuseFascism.org:

Trump Is Already Stealing the Election.
WE NEED TO VOTE,
BUT TRUMP WILL NOT BE STOPPED JUST BY VOTING!

MASS PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES Nationwide
To Protest and Demand:

Trump/Pence OutNow!

Saturday October 24 / Sunday October 25

See times and locations below.

Use this online template to generate a flyer for your area or adapt and print this PDF.

Trump is already stealing the election. Black and Latino people forced to stand in line 12 hours to vote, mail-in drop off locations shut down during a pandemic while armed white supremacist MAGA militias are being mobilized to intimidate. NOW IS THE TIME TO STAND TOGETHER IN THE STREETS AND PUBLIC SQUARES EVERYWHERE...SATURDAY OCTOBER 24 WE WILL ASSEMBLE IN PROTEST, TO PLAN AND ORGANIZE.

We must vote in big numbers. But, the reality is that voting alone will not stop Trump. The illegitimate rushed confirmation of a theocratic fascist, Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court who is for the immediate purpose of throwing the election to Trump should he lose. Trump and Amy Coney Barrett refuse to commit to a peaceful transfer of powerWe face a rolling coup—a theft of an election—heading to a showdown November 3. 

Let’s unite and rise like we did in the Spring for Black lives, coming back day after day in non-violent protest &m now united by the demand Trump/Pence OutNow! and refusing to stop till they’re gone.

If we base what we do on “news” dominated by the unrelenting hatred and threats at Trump’s rallies on the one hand, and “polls” that Biden is winning and Biden urging us to “just vote” while the Trump/Pence regime steals the election, humanity will lose.

We can change the political situation, holding fast to principles of non-violence, yet determined to prevail. Our numbers, our diversity, and our heart for humanity can sustain us through whatever the Trump/Pence regime tries to do to remain in power. As we grow, we will inspire millions more to join this great struggle, until those in power, to stem the rising tide of protest, are compelled to concede to our single demand that the regime must go.

On Saturday, October 24 / Sunday, October 25, come one and all into the public square for mass protest 

WASHINGTON, DC

  • DAILY PROTESTS: Handmaids at the Supreme Court every day from 5-6pm. Masks required.
  • SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2pm at Black Lives Matter Plaza in DC. Mass Assembly and Protest. Every organization and all individuals who oppose Trump/Pence are invited – bring your signs, friends, and everyone you know. Masks required. Invite friends

CHICAGO:

LOS ANGELES:

NYC


Atlanta 

Boston

  • Saturday Oct 24, 2:00 pm Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common Invite friends

Cleveland

Detroit 

Honolulu 

Houston

Kansas City, MO 

Oakland 

Philadelphia 

San Francisco 

Seattle 

St. Louis 

 

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/670/bob-avakian-kanye-west-ice-cube-en.html

KANYE WEST, ICE CUBE—FOOLS,
AND WORSE THAN FOOLS

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

Apparently Kanye West is mentally ill—and, if so, somebody should get him some help—but there is a “method” (or at least an effect) to his “madness” politically. Only a fool would be fooled by what he is doing. All his talk about being done with Trump is bullshit, or beside the point—what he is doing by “running for president” is helping Trump! If he were to take just enough votes away from the Democratic Party candidate, Biden, particularly in key “battleground” states, that could help Trump win those states and maybe win the Electoral College vote again.

A vote for Kanye West is not a vote for Kanye West. A vote for Kanye West is a vote for the racist-in-chief Donald Trump. Anyone who falls for this is being played for a chump!

Now comes Ice Cube, who is dealing with Trump because Trump has made promises about working with Ice Cube’s so-called “Contract With Black America.” Never mind that Trump is a blatant white supremacist—he is apparently alright with the hustler bourgeois Ice Cube, who rose to fame as part of NWA, with its powerful and wildly popular anthem “Fuck Tha Police,” and now turns around and tries to “make a deal” with the pig-loving Trump, who says police should be even more brutal. Ice Cube tries to give himself “cover” by talking about how all the politicians, both Democrat and Republican, have been bad for Black people—so, according to Ice Cube, it’s fine to work with the genocidal racist Trump, who openly promotes white supremacy and brays about “law and order,” fully backing the police in their murderous terror against Black people.1

And, besides Black people, what about all the other people, in this country and in the world as a whole, whose suffering is being made far worse, and whose future is being rapidly destroyed, by what Trump and his fascist regime are doing? Ice Cube doesn’t care about that either.

Nothing good, and only something terrible—for Black people, for all oppressed people everywhere, and for humanity as a whole—will ever come from working with and helping Trump.

As I have said before: Only someone worse than a fool would want that racist Confederacy-loving white supremacist, pussy-grabbing misogynistic male supremacist, LGBT-bashing, rights-trampling, science-denying, environment-destroying, war-mongering, xenophobic “America first” bloodsucking fascist motherfucker Trump to get re-elected.

 


1. Donald Trump—GENOCIDAL RACIST, by Bob Avakian, is available—as a series of articles, and to download as a pamphlet—at revcom.us.  [back]

Read all the articles in Bob Avakian’s new series


Read the ten-part series

 

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/670/bob-avakian-biden-a-doorknob-and-going-through-the-door-en.html

BIDEN, A DOORKNOB—
AND GOING THROUGH THE DOOR

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

It is crucial that there be a massive vote against Trump—which means voting for Biden. Now, a lot of people don’t like Biden, or don’t have any enthusiasm for Biden. That is certainly understandable. But it misses the main point: Voting for Biden is the only realistic way to vote against Trump. I have joked with people that, if a doorknob could defeat Trump in the upcoming election, voting for that doorknob would be better than voting for Biden, since the doorknob wouldn’t have all the negative things about it that Biden does. But the fact is that, in terms of the election itself, only voting for Biden, and not a doorknob, provides the means for handing Trump a decisive electoral defeat.

This is a way of emphasizing the important point I made in my August 1 Statement:

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.1

As a fundamental point of orientation, we need to quit looking to any of these politicians to end injustice, oppression, and the destruction of the environment. Oppression and exploitation, and the destruction of the environment—all this is built into this system of capitalism-imperialism that all these politicians represent. Let me say it again: In regard to this electionthe only “positive” that can come out of this is preventing the further consolidation of the white supremacist, male supremacist, immigrant-hating, LGBT-hating, science-defying, climate-wrecking, nuclear annihilation-threatening, future-destroying fascist Trump/Pence regime. 

And that is a very important positive—it is, really, a matter of life and death.

At the same time, I have repeatedly emphasized that, given the fact that Trump is already stealing the election, through an ongoing rolling coup, simply relying on voting is very likely to lead to disaster. And this is why, while a massive vote for Biden is important, it is crucial that growing numbers of people—in the thousands now, and building to become millions—take to the streets around the country, and stay in the streets, day after day, taking up the call from RefuseFascism.org that the Trump/Pence regime must be OUT NOW!2 

And, having prevented the catastrophe that would result from this regime remaining in power, we can carry forward the struggle to build for something very positive—revolution—to put an end to this system and bring a much better system into being.

 


1. 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 (emphasis in the original). This Statement is available at revcom.us.  [back]

2. In addition to his August 1 Statement, this point (on Trump’s ongoing moves to steal the election, and the need for mass mobilization demanding Trump/Pence OUT NOW!) is emphasized in a number of other works by Bob Avakian, including the important three-part series titled Voting Will Not Be Enough—We Need To Take To The Streets, And Stay In The Streets Demanding Trump/Pence Out Now! (Part 1Part 2Part 3) which is also available at revcom.us.  [back]

Download PDF

Read all the articles in Bob Avakian’s new series

 

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/668/bob-avakian_donald-trump-and-andrew-jackson-racist-genocidal-tyrants-en.html

DONALD TRUMP & ANDREW JACKSON:
RACIST GENOCIDAL TYRANTS*

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

It is no wonder that Trump has a portrait of Andrew Jackson prominently displayed in the White House. There is almost a perfect fit between the two: Jackson, who was president about 200 years ago, was a vicious slave-owner who also uprooted large numbers of Native Americans from land they owned in the southeast of the U.S. and forced them onto a “trail of tears” death march toward far-away Oklahoma, during which thousands, including many children and old people, died terrible deaths.

But, along with their genocidal racism, there is also another very important parallel between Jackson and Trump. Jackson openly defied the Supreme Court when it ruled that it was illegal for him to carry out this “Indian removal.” Trump’s strategy now is not to defy but to load up the Supreme Court with extreme right-wing and outright fascist judges, so the Court will rule in his favor on crucial questions, including the upcoming election. Like Jackson before him, Trump is defying the law and the Constitution. He is suppressing votes, falsely denouncing perfectly legal voting as “fraud,” organizing and unleashing fascist thugs to intimidate and attack people opposed to Trump, and preparing an army of lawyers to contest results that show him to be the loser in the election—precisely in order to have the possibility of the election being decided by a Supreme Court that Trump has loaded with judges who will rule in his favor, regardless of the actual vote.

This is why, even as “the polls show” that Biden is now well ahead of Trump, including in “key battleground states”—and even if, despite all Trump’s moves to intimidate and suppress votes against him, the actual vote count goes to Biden—simply relying on the vote and waiting for November will very likely lead to disaster. It is a powerful reason why it is crucial to take up now the call from RefuseFascism.org—taking to the streets in sustained non-violent mobilization, and staying in the streets, in greater and greater numbers, demanding Trump/Pence OUT NOW!

 


*Donald Trump-GENOCIDAL RACIST, by Bob Avakian, is available—as a series of articles, and to download as a pamphlet—at revcom.us.  [back]

 

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/669/bob-avakian-candace-owens-shameless-hypocrite-en.html

CANDACE OWENS: SHAMELESS HYPOCRITE—
SUPPORTER OF WHITE SUPREMACIST FASCISM

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

The “Black conservative” Candace Owens, who is working for Trump and the Republicans, is a shameless hypocrite—and worse. She tries to give herself “cred” by talking about how prior generations of her family had to deal with segregation and discrimination, while she fronts for that fascist Trump, who openly, blatantly, promotes white supremacy and white supremacist violence. Among other overt racist acts, Trump insists on defending Confederate statues and other monuments to segregation, discrimination, Ku Klux Klan Terror—and slavery

“Black conservatives,” like Candace Owens, want to “get in on” the “spoils” that come from this system’s plunder of people, here and around the world, and they desperately want to be accepted in the “high society” of the monstrous oppressors like Trump. These “Black conservatives” basically agree with the crude racism of their white fascist counterparts. Like “house slaves” living in the master’s house in old times, they fear that they will be “dragged down” by being associated with “those” Black people—those who are not “well behaved” and rebel against their oppressed conditions, especially those who dare to rise up against the brutality and murder of Black people by police

As I have said before:

Let the Candace Owenses of the world shuffle, scuffle and scratch for a share of the blood-soaked spoils of this system. For all those who hunger for a world without all the atrocity and terror, all the unnecessary suffering that is caused by this system of capitalism-imperialism, let us rise together to put an end to all this, in the only way it can be done: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS!—a revolution not for revenge, or to “get ours” through the exploitation and degradation of others—a revolution for the emancipation of all humanity.*

Right now, as the immediate, urgent focus of the struggle against oppression and injustice—and to advance things toward the time when that fundamental revolution will be possible—let us mobilize in sustained, and growing, mass non-violent mobilization, day-after-day, powerfully giving expression to the unifying demand raised by RefuseFascism.org, that the fascist Trump/Pence regime must be OUT NOW!

 


It’s Not “The Democrats”—It’s the Whole System!, An Answer to Candace Owens and Other Black NAZI Demagogues. This article by Bob Avakian is available at revcom.us.  [back]

Read all the articles in Bob Avakian’s new series


Read the ten-part series

 

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.

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/669/bob-avakian-pence-defends-trumps-racism-en.html

PENCE DEFENDS TRUMP'S RACISM

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

Recently, in the debate with Kamala Harris, vice president and Trump right-hand-man Mike Pence came up with a ridiculous reply when it was brought out, once again, that Trump has openly supported and encouraged white supremacists. Speaking about Charlottesville, Virginia—where, in 2017, white supremacists attacked anti-racist protesters and killed one of them, Heather Heyer—Trump referred to these white supremacists as “very fine people.” And what has been the defense of this by some Trumpites, including Mike Pence? They say that Trump was not talking about NAZIs and the KKK but only those people who were there, in Charlottesville, defending statues to Confederate leaders and soldiers. Well, those statues are precisely monuments to slavery and white supremacy. And what are people who defend monuments to slavery and white supremacy? Obviously, they are white supremacists. So, what Pence is arguing simply amounts to saying: “Trump doesn’t defend white supremacists like the KKK and the NAZIs...he only defends Confederacy-loving white supremacists!”

Trump clearly does support and actively encourage white supremacists and white supremacist violence. And what is someone who does this? A white supremacist. Yes, Trump is a white supremacist—he is, in fact, a genocidal racist.*

 


* For further exposure of Trump as a genocidal racist, see Donald Trump—GENOCIDAL RACIST, by Bob Avakian, which is available—as a series of articles and to download as a pamphlet—at revcom.us.  [back]

Read all the articles in Bob Avakian’s new series


Read the ten-part series

 

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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/670/bob-avakian-only-someone-worse-than-a-fool-en.html

| revcom.us

 

Only someone worse than a fool would want that racist Confederacy-loving white supremacist, pussy-grabbing misogynistic male supremacist, LGBT-bashing, rights‑trampling, science-denying, environment-destroying, war-mongering, xenophobic “America first” bloodsucking fascist motherfucker Trump to get re-elected.

Bob Avakian

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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!

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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/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..."
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See more

 

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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.

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/663/promote-ba-statement-on-the-immediate-critical-situation-with-these-resources-en.html

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

| revcom.us

 

 

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/666/bob-avakian-voting-will-not-be-enough-pt3-long-en.html

 

TRUMP’S FASCISM—
MORE BLATANT AND DANGEROUS EVERY DAY:
HOW A DETERMINED FIGHT AND MASSIVE MOBILIZATION
COULD DEFEAT THIS

PART 3 of

VOTING WILL NOT BE ENOUGH—
WE NEED TO TAKE TO THE STREETS,
AND STAY IN THE STREETS
DEMANDING TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!

(Long Version—The Larger Canvas and Fuller Picture)

(See also "Short Version—The Basic Picture and Essential Vision")

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

In the 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, I spoke to this important point:

At 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.

At the same time, however, I strongly emphasized that

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.

But, if that is true, then how could this regime be removed from power—and, specifically, how could a mass mobilization actually lead to this regime being forced to go? 

Imagine this. 

Among the thousands who have already been reached, and moved, by the work of RefuseFascism.org, raising the demand that this fascist regime must be OUT NOW!, growing numbers become grass roots organizers, reaching out to their families, friends and communities, and involving all kinds of people and groups—through direct contact, social media, and in other ways—drawing into this growing, and increasingly diverse, mass movement thousands more who share their hatred for everything this regime stands for and is moving mercilessly to hammer into place. Many more, in turn, also become organizers. 

Imagine that, as has happened with the mass protests against racist oppression and police terror, people mobilize in the streets, day after day, beginning on October 3rd, responding to the call from Refuse Fascism for sustained non-violent but determined demonstrations around the unifying demand that this regime must go, now. These mobilizations grow, expanding and multiplying—joined by increasing numbers of people outraged by continuing police brutality and murder; by the ravaging of the environment; children in cages and tens of thousands of immigrants in concentration camps on the border; Trump’s heartless and reckless neglect and lying about the COVID pandemic, causing tens of thousands of needless deaths, disproportionately among Black and Brown and Native people; the regime’s relentless move to further consolidate a Supreme Court that is another instrument of fascist bigotry and repression—masses of people, from all parts of society, who are sickened by all this, and are coming to see even more clearly that all this is bound up with and driven by this fascist regime, joining with the ongoing daily mobilizations, linking their outrage and resistance with the unifying demand: OUT NOW! 

Imagine: Students, teachers, scientists, medical professionals, lawyers, clergy and their congregations, unions, civil rights and justice organizations, artists, athletes and others in the cultural arena—all these, and others, take up the call and mobilize to strengthen the movement. Celebrities, and prominent people in many fields, utilize their platforms to magnify the message and help to mobilize still greater numbers. 

As the crimes of this regime escalate day after day—spewing white supremacy, male supremacy, and other bigotry; moving to suppress votes and steal the election; threatening and unleashing violence to remain in power regardless of the outcome of the election; increasingly turning the “Justice Department” into a naked instrument of lawless repression, robbing people of basic rights, while moving to hammer into place a Supreme Court that will declare all this “Constitutional” and “legal”—as all this, and more, becomes increasingly blatant, and accelerates at a dizzying pace with the approach of the scheduled election, growing sectors of society come to the realization that they cannot simply look to the election to deal with this. Casting aside passive reliance on the “normal political process,” and overcoming fear in the face of threats and assaults by fascist thugs, all over the country masses of ordinary people, in growing waves, take to the streets, join the ongoing OUT NOW! mobilizations, or themselves initiate such mobilizations where they are not yet happening. This becomes a massive groundswell, engulfing the country as a whole, dramatically changing the terms of political engagement, forcing every political contender and all the dominant institutions in society to respond to this rising wave of determined mass resistance. This growing mobilization moves from the margins to the center of media attention and coverage, in this country and internationally. People around the world take notice, are inspired and organize demonstrations in solidarity and support. 

Imagine that, all of a sudden, Democratic Party politicians and operatives are forced to realize that they cannot simply funnel all the outrage and discontent into an election that is being daily stolen and violently corrupted by the fascist regime. These politicians now declare that they identify with the sentiments of the masses of demonstrators demanding OUT NOW!—and they seek to have speakers at rallies and work to control and direct the mobilizations into “acceptable channels” that will not lead to further “disorder.” But, given the growing understanding and determination of the demonstrators, these politicians’ efforts only draw even more attention, and still greater numbers, to these mobilizations—and, even in the face of growing threats and acts of repression and violence by the regime and its fascist supporters, in and out of uniform, these mobilizations continue to grow and even more powerfully thunder the demand: OUT NOW! 

Faced with this intensifying situation, the leaders of the Democratic Party calculate that the only way they can hope to gain control over the situation and re-establish some semblance of “orderly process” is to themselves take up the demand that the Trump/Pence regime must go—now—even before a scheduled election that this regime has thoroughly perverted and prevented from proceeding as a “free and fair” process. This move by the Democrats is joined (or supported, behind the scenes) by others in powerful positions in the government, including even some Republican politicians who have finally decided that their political goals and personal ambitions are better served by breaking with this regime and regrouping around other “leaders.” Trump (and Pence) are presented with the ultimatum from these ruling class forces that either they resign or they will be impeached—and, this time, convicted—and those making this demand also make clear that they have the institutional power behind them to enforce this, if Trump (and Pence) refuse to leave. 

Imagine! 

Of course, it is impossible to say exactly where things will end up, and there is no “guarantee” of success. But it is possible. And two things should be emphasized in relation to this. 

First, if masses of people do not take to the streets, now, around the demand that this regime must go; if this regime is allowed to suppress votes and use the threat and force of violence to remain in power; if it is able to further consolidate its fascist rule and to be further unleashed to bludgeon into place its fascist program and aims—then the consequences will truly be catastrophic. 

Second, we—all of us, from many different walks of life and many different political perspectives, who can recognize this fascist regime for what it is and refuse to live in a fascist America—we, by acting together, in the thousands and millions, can give expression to the strongly held sentiments of tens and tens of millions, who righteously hate everything this regime represents and aspire to a much better world than this. We can give life to massive, non-violent but sustained, and rapidly growing, mass mobilizations demanding that this regime must go—now—with the possibility that this can become a reality. We can powerfully give expression to the crucial understanding that—because of its very fascist nature, and with its escalating attempts to corrupt an election and remain in power regardless of the actual outcome of that election—this regime is illegitimate and must be removed. And if, even with this mass mobilization, this regime is still in power on November 3rd, the fact that we have carried out this mass mobilization and powerfully raised this OUT NOW! demand, will mean that there will be much more favorable conditions for continuing, and further amplifying and strengthening, this mass mobilization if Trump and his regime attempt to stay in power, regardless of the actual outcome of the election. 

Whether there will be a real possibility of a society, a world and a future for humanity—one worth living in—will depend, to no small degree, on what we who aspire to such a world decide to do, and strive with the determination necessary to make this a reality.  

********* 

With this basic outline in mind of what is necessary, and what is possible—the determined fight and massive mobilization that could actually defeat the moves of the Trump/Pence regime to further hammer into place its fascist rule, with the truly catastrophic consequences that would lead to—let’s look at this further, and more fully, in the context of the larger situation and crucial recent developments. 

The Death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Fanatical Woman-Hating Fascists 

The announcement of the death of longtime liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been the occasion for Trump and his fellow fascists, not to pause to honor Ginsburg, but to immediately declare their intention to ram through the appointment of yet another extreme right-wing judge onto the court—to give further “legal backing,” by “the highest court in the land,” to the fanatically oppressive and repressive agenda and aims of the fascist Trump/Pence regime, which include: using “executive power” to trample on the rule of law and turn the “law” into merely an instrument of the fascist regime; giving the police even more unlimited powers to brutalize and murder in the name of “law and order”; ruthlessly persecuting immigrants, LGBT people, Muslims and other “undesirables”; further removing restrictions on the plundering of the environment; forcing patriotism and religious fundamentalism (that is, Christian fascism) down the throats of everyone in society—and, not least, outlawing abortion and in general slamming women more forcefully into a subordinate position in relation to men and in society overall. 

In The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!, I examined the “unholy alliance” between Trump and the Christian fundamentalists, who are the hard core and driving force of this fascism.1 

Speaking to the same phenomenon (and referring to the Christian fundamentalists as “evangelicals,” and having in mind particularly white evangelicals), Kristin Kobes Du Mez has made clear:

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.2

The Christian fascist zealotry in opposition to abortion is not really about the fraudulent notion that abortion amounts to “killing babies”—something which is demonstrated by (among other things) the fact that these opponents of the right to abortion also strongly oppose birth control which prevents pregnancy in the first place. The truth is this:

What is really involved is that abortion, and birth control, help to provide women with a certain independence, a freedom to decide whether and when to have children—and, yes, a certain freedom to engage in sexual relations of their own choosing, on the basis of their own desire and volition, without having to be worried about whether they are going to become pregnant when they have neither wanted nor decided to do so. It is this relative independence and freedom that causes a frenzy among Christian fascists, because it runs counter to reducing the role of women to “helpmates” to husbands and breeders of children for those husbands in patriarchal, male-dominated families, and to the subordinate and oppressed position of women in society as a whole.3

In previous writings and speeches—including the previous article (Part 2) in this series—I emphasized that there is a direct connection and powerful link between the patriarchal misogyny (hatred and degradation of women) of this fascism and its aggressive white supremacy, and that:

there can be no “reconciliation” with these fascists—whose “grievances” are based on fanatical resentment against any limitation on white supremacymale supremacy, xenophobia (hatred of foreigners), rabid American chauvinism, and the unrestrained plundering of the environment, and are increasingly expressed in literally lunatic terms. There can be no “reconciliation” with this, other than on the terms of these fascists, with all the terrible implications and consequences of that!4

It is urgently necessary for everyone who refuses to accept (to be “reconciled” with) all this, to understand what the terrible consequences will be if the Trump/Pence regime is able to make a further leap in consolidating its fascist rule and implementing its fascist program. This fascism “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.”5

The African-American theologian, Hubert Locke—whom I quoted in the previous article (Part 1) in this series—underlines this crucial point:

Were all this only a battle for the hearts and minds of the American people, we could wade into the conflict with a great deal less concern, confident that good sense and human decency would ultimately triumph over ignorance and bigotry. But this is a battle for power—it’s about seizing the reins of government, manipulating the courts and judicial decisions, controlling the media, and making incursions into every possible corner of our private lives and relationships, so that what the religious right perceives as the will of God will reign in America.6

A Rallying Cry and a Call to Action 

All those who can recognize that this nightmare is rapidly becoming a brute reality—who refuse to live in a fascist America where every aspiration for a just world is viciously slandered and mercilessly deprived of air to breathe—we, in our millions and tens of millions, must act together to create a situation where there can be, and there will be, no “normal,” no grinding along of the machinery that is leading to disaster, so long as this fascist regime is in power

We need to fight with the full recognition of the profound stakes that are involved and the ultimate threat to humanity itself that is posed by this regime. What is called for now is struggle that is non-violent, but is daring and bold, fired with the determination not to back down, until this regime has been removed. We must, in a very urgent way, bring into being a situation in which every force—among all the different sectors of the ruling powers and institutions, and in the society at large—has to respond to and weigh heavily the political situation that we are creating through increasingly massive and powerful mobilizations, insisting that this regime must go, now!  

Anything less will mean tying ourselves to forces and procedures, and passively awaiting an outcome, that will very likely lead to capitulating to this fascism, with what will be (without the slightest exaggeration) truly catastrophic consequences. 

As my August 1 Statement emphasizes: “At this critical hour, every appropriate means of non-violent action must be utilized to remove this regime from power.”7 And, if it comes to it, that means voting for Biden in order to effectively vote against Trump

I have also pointed to this important reality:

It is true that, at this point, the vote in a few states essentially determines the outcome of presidential elections—so that, as was the case with Trump in the previous presidential election, someone can lose the popular vote and still become president. But, even given this reality, an electoral strategy that could work much better for the Democrats would be to take on Trump’s whole racist approach, directly and forcefully, and appeal to Black people and other people of color, and the large number of white people (especially, though not only, younger generations) who have shown that they are motivated by a definite desire for an end to social injustice, blatant inequality, and rampant police violence. That is a great “reservoir” that, theoretically, the Democrats could focus on appealing to.8

It is also true that “the Democrats themselves will not—cannot—really do this.”8 But, creating the kind of political situation where Biden and the Democrats are forced to recognize, and reckon with, the powerfully expressed determination of massive numbers demanding an end to the Trump/Pence regime and the fascism it embodies—that could exert a compulsion on the Democrats to voice opposition to Trump on a basis that at least comes close to the heart of the essential fascist nature and program of the Trump/Pence regime...Which, in turn, could impel more people to take to the streets demanding this...Which, in turn, could create still more favorable circumstances and conditions for waging the fight to remove this regime. 

Think about what has happened as a result of the beautiful rising that has taken place against institutional racism and police terror. In very significant ways, “the conversation about race” has been dramatically changed. All of a sudden, the Democrats, and other “mainstream” institutions, feel compelled to talk not only about the need for “police reform,” but about “systemic racism”—and there is widespread discussion and debate about the whole history of this country, with its roots in slavery, and genocide against the indigenous peoples! There is no way that all this would have taken place—and the political landscape would have been so dramatically changed, in such a short period of time—in the absence of this beautiful mass rising! And the same can happen, in the same immediate (“telescoped”) way, if there is not only a continuation of the righteous outpouring against racist oppression and police terror, and other outrageous injustice, but if all this is linked together with, and given powerful expression as, masses of people, in continually growing numbers, in the streets powerfully demanding that the fascist Trump/Pence regime must go! 

If this fascist regime is still in power when it is time for voting—then that will require not just people carrying out the single act of voting themselves, but working to mobilize people in massive numbers to deliver a decisive electoral defeat to this fascist regime. But, at the same time, as I have emphasized repeatedly—and this cannot be emphasized too many times—for all the reasons discussed here (as well as elsewhere in this series and in my August 1 Statement) relying on voting, without the mass mobilization demanding the removal of this regime, is likely to lead to disaster

Masses of people must act, now, to create the most favorable conditions for forcing the removal of this regime, whose continuation, and further consolidation, in power will, without any exaggeration, have truly monstrous consequences. 

Rising to the Historic Challenge and Overcoming All Obstacles (Including in Ourselves) 

As I have also emphasized, it “would be a very grave mistake to fail to take seriously what is being openly proclaimed by Trump and his fascist supporters,” including their threats of even greater violence to ensure that the Trump/Pence regime remains in power. But, an even more important truth is this: “as truly dangerous as these fascist threats and acts of violence, and preparations to carry out even more violence, are—being cowed by and capitulating to this would lead to a far greater horror.”9 In confronting this, every decent person can take inspiration and find courage in the actions of the masses of people who have defiantly braved repeated attacks, by police and government storm troopers under the command of the Trump/Pence regime, as well as assaults by armed pro-Trump fascist thugs, and have poured into the streets, to express their outrage over racist brutality and murder and their determination that this must end

But it is not just fear, however well-founded, that must be overcome. It is also the individualism that has become so widespread, and often expressed in such extreme terms, in this society, especially in recent times. In the situation today, faced with the escalating and accelerating fascist juggernaut, this individualism is often expressed in these terms now: “While I hate everything Trump is about and everything he is doing, I have to look out for myself and those who are close to me; and putting myself on the line to step out and actively oppose this by getting into the streets and demonstrating around the demand that this regime must be removed now—when there are not that many people already doing this—well, that is a risk I am not willing to take, especially when there is an election coming up and there is a chance that this might deal with the problem.” 

Here—along with calling attention once again to the ways in which Trump is already perverting and stealing the election, and is using violence and threatening even more violence to remain in power, regardless of what actually happens with this election—it needs to be pointed out strongly: If everyone who has expressed (or felt) these sentiments were actually to take to the streets, there would be a force of literally millions, and even tens of millions, powerfully demonstrating their insistence that the Trump/Pence regime must be OUT NOW!—as is being called for, and organized by, RefuseFascism.org. 

It also needs to be bluntly said: This rampant individualism—everyone just thinking about themselves and failing or refusing to act on the larger interests of humanity—this is a big part of why we are faced with the terrible situation we are faced with now. And continuing in this way will only contribute to things becoming far, far worse, with truly catastrophic consequences for all of humanity—which few, if any, will ultimately be able to escape. (Besides the ever-present danger of nuclear annihilation, especially with the demented bully Trump having his finger on the nuclear button, think about the environmental crisis and the intensified and accelerated damage the Trump/Pence regime has already done to the environment—and will do on a far more terrible scale, if it remains in power.)

It may not be “easy,” but it is in the fundamental interests of everyone (everyone who cares at all about social injustice and inequality, and having an environment, both natural and social, in which human beings can breathe and hope to flourish) that we all be willing to be “among the first” to boldly step forward and become part of a truly massive mobilization demanding that this regime must be removed, now—and, in doing so, discovering that we are not after all “alone” or “only a few brave souls,” but are together, not just in sentiment but as an active force, with thousands and ultimately millions. 

Yes, it is true that there is no “guarantee” that even such a massive mobilization will succeed in forcing the removal of this regime—and this regime, along with the crazed fascist fanatics who make up its “base,” will rabidly resist this—but it can be guaranteed that, if this regime succeeds in remaining in power, by corrupting and stealing the election and then refusing to leave, once more the consequences will truly be catastrophic. 

And, while there is no “guarantee,” there is a definite possibility of a positive outcome. Once again, think of the tremendous impact that the beautiful rising against racist oppression and police terror has had, almost literally “overnight.” 

At the same time, it is important to understand that, even if and as a mass mobilization demanding the removal of this regime could have a powerful impact on the political terrain, and on all the institutions of power and sectors of society, things would not likely go forward as a simple direct line extension of this mass mobilization. Rather, it would more likely take place as the interplay between that mass mobilization and the contradictions and conflicts among the powers-that-be, which will be heightened by this mass mobilization—possibly leading to a political crisis of such powerful dimensions and depth that forces who normally strongly resist doing things outside of the “traditional institutional means and procedures” of this system, ruling class powers who do not normally involve themselves directly in the politics of the system, and even some of those who have up to now stubbornly stuck with this fascist regime, will conclude that it is necessary to remove the regime—to at least force Trump (and Pence) to resign—in order to avoid an even more profound crisis for their whole system

Again, no one can say, with absolute certainty, what the outcome of all this will be. But a truly massive popular upsurge, aimed at driving out the Trump/Pence regime, even ahead of the election, could play a very powerful role in creating favorable conditions for dealing with the demented determination of this regime to remain in power and wreak even further havoc and horror. 

It is crucial to recognize that

The mass mobilization that is needed cannot be built “overnight,” in the aftermath of the election—and it cannot be built by confining things within the framework and limits insisted upon by the Democrats.10

And, through the work of Refuse Fascism, and some others joining this effort, this mass mobilization has already begun. 

It is a fact that, since the early days of the Trump/Pence regime, Refuse Fascism has been calling for mass mobilization around the demand that this regime must go; and, while it has rallied thousands so far to take to the streets to voice this demand, as yet this mobilization has not resulted in the exponential (by leaps and bounds) growth that it needs to, now very quickly, achieve. But, because those thousands really do give expression to strongly held sentiments of tens of millions, they actually represent a potentially powerful force, and it is crucial to build on every advance that is made in reaching and mobilizing people, including by enabling those who have stepped forward to themselves become organizers of many more...to, in turn, become the organizers of still greater numbers. Further, it is very important to recognize, and act on the understanding, that the times, right now, are very different than they have been over the past few years, even with all the outrages that this regime has committed over those years. 

Things now are much more intense, and are developing in a much more accelerating pace, particularly as Trump is ramping up his fascist offensive, with the approach of the scheduled election. This is having contradictory effects. On the one hand, the violent repression and attacks on people protesting injustice—and the threats of even much worse repression and violence—on the part of this regime, and its fascist supporters, together with the fact that the scheduled election is rapidly approaching: this has led more than a few, among those who hate this regime, to fall into a passive position of just waiting for the election and hoping that it will somehow resolve the crisis that is intensifying now on mainly very bad terms. But, the other side of the story is that the relentless drive by this regime and its supporters, even as the election approaches, to go full steam ahead with their fascist juggernaut, to corrupt and steal the election, to refuse to accept a defeat in the election, and to remain in power regardless of the outcome of the election—this is forcing, more and more to the forefront, the reality of what is represented by this regime, the great objective danger of simply waiting for the election, and the great need to take to the streets, now, to demand that this regime must be removed.

This speaks, once again, to the importance of the mobilization that is already taking place around the demand Trump/Pence OUT NOW! And it speaks to the great importance of this mobilization, with whatever numbers it organizes at any given time, becoming sustained, taking place day after day, and to build on every significant advance it does achieve. As this is done in ways, both determined and creative, that “capture the imagination” of people—together with the continuing intensification of the crisis that is largely being driven, now, by Trump’s fascist actions and declarations—“things can come together,” and “the dam can break,” with growing numbers of people pouring into the streets, raising ever more loudly the demand that this regime must go, now, and calling forth still greater numbers to join in this courageous and urgently needed mobilization. 

In conclusion:

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.11

***

The crazed fanaticism of the fascists insisting that Trump must remain in power, no matter what, must be met, and overwhelmed, by the conscious passionate intensity of masses of people who hate everything that this fascist regime represents, who recognize the very real existential threat that this regime represents for humanity and are fired with righteous determination that this regime must go!12

 


1. The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go! In The Name of Humanity We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America, A Better World IS PossibleVideo of this speech 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 part quoted here is from the “Introduction.”  [back]

3. Fascists Today And The Confederacy: A Direct Line, A Direct Connection Between All The OppressionThis article of mine is also available at revcom.us.  [back]

4. Trump Is Already Stealing The Election And Threatening Even More Violence To Stay in Power, Part 2 of Voting Will Not Be Enough—We Need To Take To The Streets, And Stay In The Streets Demanding Trump/Pence Out Now! This article is available at revcom.us.  [back]

5. 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 (also available at revcom.us).  [back]

6. “Reflections on Pacific School of Religion’s Response to the Religious Right,” by Dr. Hubert Locke, also available at revcom.us—emphasis added.  [back]

7. 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.  [back]

8. The Democrats Can’t Fight Trump The Way He Needs To Be Fought, Part 1 of Voting Will Not Be Enough—We Need To Take To The Streets, And Stay In The Streets Demanding Trump/Pence Out Now!  [back]

9. Trump Is Already Stealing The Election And Threatening Even More Violence To Stay in Power, emphasis in the original.  [back]

10. The Democrats Can’t Fight Trump The Way He Needs To Be Fought.  [back]

11. 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 (also available at revcom.us), emphasis in the original.  [back]

12. Trump Is Already Stealing The Election And Threatening Even More Violence To Stay In Power, emphasis in the original.  [back]

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TRUMP’S FASCISM—
MORE BLATANT AND DANGEROUS EVERY DAY:
HOW A DETERMINED FIGHT AND MASSIVE MOBILIZATION
COULD DEFEAT THIS

PART 3 of

VOTING WILL NOT BE ENOUGH—
WE NEED TO TAKE TO THE STREETS,
AND STAY IN THE STREETS
DEMANDING TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!

(Short Version—The Basic Picture and Essential Vision)

(See also "Long Version—The Larger Canvas and Fuller Picture")

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

In the 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, I spoke to this important point:

At 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.

At the same time, however, I strongly emphasized that

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.

But, if that is true, then how could this regime be removed from power—and, specifically, how could a mass mobilization actually lead to this regime being forced to go?

Imagine this.

Among the thousands who have already been reached, and moved, by the work of RefuseFascism.org, raising the demand that this fascist regime must be OUT NOW!, growing numbers become grass roots organizers, reaching out to their families, friends and communities, and involving all kinds of people and groups—through direct contact, social media, and in other ways—drawing into this growing, and increasingly diverse, mass movement thousands more who share their hatred for everything this regime stands for and is moving mercilessly to hammer into place. Many more, in turn, also become organizers.

Imagine that, as has happened with the mass protests against racist oppression and police terror, people mobilize in the streets, day after day, beginning on October 3rd, responding to the call from Refuse Fascism for sustained non-violent but determined demonstrations around the unifying demand that this regime must go, now. These mobilizations grow, expanding and multiplying—joined by increasing numbers of people outraged by continuing police brutality and murder; by the ravaging of the environment; children in cages and tens of thousands of immigrants in concentration camps on the border; Trump’s heartless and reckless neglect and lying about the COVID pandemic, causing tens of thousands of needless deaths, disproportionately among Black and Brown and Native people; the regime’s relentless move to further consolidate a Supreme Court that is another instrument of fascist bigotry and repression—masses of people, from all parts of society, who are sickened by all this, and are coming to see even more clearly that all this is bound up with and driven by this fascist regime, joining with the ongoing daily mobilizations, linking their outrage and resistance with the unifying demand: OUT NOW!

Imagine: Students, teachers, scientists, medical professionals, lawyers, clergy and their congregations, unions, civil rights and justice organizations, artists, athletes and others in the cultural arena—all these, and others, take up the call and mobilize to strengthen the movement. Celebrities, and prominent people in many fields, utilize their platforms to magnify the message and help to mobilize still greater numbers.

As the crimes of this regime escalate day after day—spewing white supremacy, male supremacy, and other bigotry; moving to suppress votes and steal the election; threatening and unleashing violence to remain in power regardless of the outcome of the election; increasingly turning the “Justice Department” into a naked instrument of lawless repression, robbing people of basic rights, while moving to hammer into place a Supreme Court that will declare all this “Constitutional” and “legal”—as all this, and more, becomes increasingly blatant, and accelerates at a dizzying pace with the approach of the scheduled election, growing sectors of society come to the realization that they cannot simply look to the election to deal with this. Casting aside passive reliance on the “normal political process,” and overcoming fear in the face of threats and assaults by fascist thugs, all over the country masses of ordinary people, in growing waves, take to the streets, join the ongoing OUT NOW! mobilizations, or themselves initiate such mobilizations where they are not yet happening. This becomes a massive groundswell, engulfing the country as a whole, dramatically changing the terms of political engagement, forcing every political contender and all the dominant institutions in society to respond to this rising wave of determined mass resistance. This growing mobilization moves from the margins to the center of media attention and coverage, in this country and internationally. People around the world take notice, are inspired and organize demonstrations in solidarity and support.

Imagine that, all of a sudden, Democratic Party politicians and operatives are forced to realize that they cannot simply funnel all the outrage and discontent into an election that is being daily stolen and violently corrupted by the fascist regime. These politicians now declare that they identify with the sentiments of the masses of demonstrators demanding OUT NOW!—and they seek to have speakers at rallies and work to control and direct the mobilizations into “acceptable channels” that will not lead to further “disorder.” But, given the growing understanding and determination of the demonstrators, these politicians’ efforts only draw even more attention, and still greater numbers, to these mobilizations—and, even in the face of growing threats and acts of repression and violence by the regime and its fascist supporters, in and out of uniform, these mobilizations continue to grow and even more powerfully thunder the demand: OUT NOW!

Faced with this intensifying situation, the leaders of the Democratic Party calculate that the only way they can hope to gain control over the situation and re-establish some semblance of “orderly process” is to themselves take up the demand that the Trump/Pence regime must go—now—even before a scheduled election that this regime has thoroughly perverted and prevented from proceeding as a “free and fair” process. This move by the Democrats is joined (or supported, behind the scenes) by others in powerful positions in the government, including even some Republican politicians who have finally decided that their political goals and personal ambitions are better served by breaking with this regime and regrouping around other “leaders.” Trump (and Pence) are presented with the ultimatum from these ruling class forces that either they resign or they will be impeached—and, this time, convicted—and those making this demand also make clear that they have the institutional power behind them to enforce this, if Trump (and Pence) refuse to leave.

Imagine!

Of course, it is impossible to say exactly where things will end up, and there is no “guarantee” of success. But it is possible. And two things should be emphasized in relation to this.

First, if masses of people do not take to the streets, now, around the demand that this regime must go; if this regime is allowed to suppress votes and use the threat and force of violence to remain in power; if it is able to further consolidate its fascist rule and to be further unleashed to bludgeon into place its fascist program and aims—then the consequences will truly be catastrophic.

Second, we—all of us, from many different walks of life and many different political perspectives, who can recognize this fascist regime for what it is and refuse to live in a fascist America—we, by acting together, in the thousands and millions, can give expression to the strongly held sentiments of tens and tens of millions, who righteously hate everything this regime represents and aspire to a much better world than this. We can give life to massive, non-violent but sustained, and rapidly growing, mass mobilizations demanding that this regime must go—now—with the possibility that this can become a reality. We can powerfully give expression to the crucial understanding that—because of its very fascist nature, and with its escalating attempts to corrupt an election and remain in power regardless of the actual outcome of that election—this regime is illegitimate and must be removed. And if, even with this mass mobilization, this regime is still in power on November 3rd, the fact that we have carried out this mass mobilization and powerfully raised this OUT NOW! demand, will mean that there will be much more favorable conditions for continuing, and further amplifying and strengthening, this mass mobilization if Trump and his regime attempt to stay in power, regardless of the actual outcome of the election.

Whether there will be a real possibility of a society, a world and a future for humanity—one worth living in—will depend, to no small degree, on what we who aspire to such a world decide to do, and strive with the determination necessary to make this a reality.

 

Read the 10-part series 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/665/bob-avakian-voting-will-not-be-enough-pt2-en.html

 

TRUMP IS ALREADY STEALING THE ELECTION 
AND THREATENING EVEN MORE VIOLENCE
TO STAY IN POWER

PART 2 of

VOTING WILL NOT BE ENOUGH—
WE NEED TO TAKE TO THE STREETS,
AND STAY IN THE STREETS
DEMANDING TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

In the 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, I spoke to this important point:

At 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.

At the same time, however, I strongly emphasized that

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.

The Trump/Pence Regime Is Already Moving to Suppress Votes

The fact that Trump, and his supporters, continue to commit outrage after outrage, on a regular basis, can cause people—even those who hate everything Trump represents—to forget about outrages that were committed even just a little while ago. But, it is crucially important not to forget that Trump has already “floated” the idea of “delaying” the election on the basis of his completely false claims that things like mail-in voting will lead to massive fraud and that it could take weeks, months, or even years to know the actual result of the election (note: weeks, months, or even years—during which time Trump would insist on staying in power!). 

Trump and his supporters are making moves to suppress the votes of many Black people, and others, who are likely to vote heavily against Trump. Here is one glaring example: In the state of Florida (which Trump desperately needs to win), the Republican-controlled government is working to undermine changes in the Florida Constitution that have restored the right of convicted felons to vote. This could take away the right to vote from nearly 800,000 people, many of whom are Black and Latino.1 

Trump’s operatives are already in the process of organizing fascist thugs to go to polling places, especially in key “battleground” states, to “watch out for fraud.” In fascist Trumpworld, lying is a way of life and the standard operating procedure. When they say “law and order,” they mean police killing Black and Brown people. To them, the truth is “fake news,” and they claim “science doesn’t know” things that only Trump knows. So, when they talk about “election fraud,” what they mean is people voting against Trump. And what these fascist goons being organized by the Trump camp intend to do is precisely to prevent people from voting against Trump—with the threat, and the use, of force and violence.

Michael Cohen—who, for more than 10 years, was Trump’s personal attorney and “fixer”—has sounded the alarm, more than once, that Trump will do anything to stay in powereven start a war to create a national emergency.2 Trump, who is both a pathological liar and a liar with a purpose, has deliberately and repeatedly downplayed the danger of the COVID-19 pandemic, even while knowing what a serious danger it actually poses. He has already forced government bodies, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to bend its findings and recommendations about the COVID-19 pandemic to serve Trump’s political ambitions and goals. And it seems increasingly likely that, shortly before the election, in the attempt to offset the exposure of his terrible recklessness with regard to COVD-19, and to perversely declare himself the “savior” of the people from this pandemic, Trump will use his presidential power to pressure approval for the use of a vaccine, even before it has really been scientifically determined whether such a vaccine is not only effective but safe

Trump Has Violently Suppressed Opposition, and Has Threatened Even Greater Violence 

Another thing that must not be forgotten is that Trump has not only justified and supported but openly encouraged violence by armed white supremacist storm troopers (what he calls “Second Amendment people”). He has supported police violently attacking protesters and utilized armed forces of the government to attack and suppress protests, in Washington, D.C., in Portland and other cities. There is already plenty of evidence—and more evidence comes out all the time—that (assuming the election is actually held) regardless of the actual outcome of the election, Trump will declare himself the winner and use whatever means he can, including violence, to stay in power. As pointed out in a recent article posted on revcom.us:

On September 10, Trump was asked by Jeanine Pirro of fascist Fox “News” what his response would be on election night if he won and those against him “threaten riots.” Trump’s response: “We’ll put them down very quickly if they do that.... We have the right to do that, we have the power to do that if we want. Look, it’s called insurrection.”3

Here, it is necessary to “translate” what is being said in this episode of the ongoing fascist lie-athon of Trump and his media accomplices (such as Fox “news”). Trump “winning” the election means Trump declaring himself the winner. (Remember that Trump has already strongly implied that he will not accept the results of the election if Biden wins; and Trump has insisted that the only way he could lose the election is if it is “rigged.”) “Riots,” in fascist-speak, means protests against police brutality and other injustices, even when (as has been the case) these protests are overwhelmingly peaceful; and “insurrection” here means mobilization against the Trump/Pence regime, even if that mobilization is non-violent. 

The same revcom.us article calls attention to this:

Another glimpse at what the fascists may be thinking of and even planning for came from the mouth of longtime Republican operative and Trump stooge, Roger Stone. (In July, Trump commuted the 40-month prison sentence of Stone, who had been convicted of lying to Congress.) In a call with Alex Jones—pro-Trump conspiracy theorist—on his online Infowars show, Stone said Trump should consider declaring “martial law” or invoke the Insurrection Act if he should lose the November election.3

And Stone called on “Attorney General” William Barr (head of Trump’s Injustice Department, chief enforcer of unlawful repression, and a “commander” of the regime’s storm troopers) to prepare now a force ready to act on this “martial law” declaration if Trump loses. 

Note that Stone openly calls for Trump to use violence to remain in office if Trump loses the election. 

And other fanatical backers of this regime, in and out of government, have called on its supporters to arm themselves in preparation for the election. 

It would be a very grave mistake to fail to take seriously what is being openly proclaimed by Trump and his fascist supporters.

But as truly dangerous as these fascist threats and acts of violence, and preparations to carry out even more violence, are—being cowed by and capitulating to this would lead to a far greater horror

The Trumpite attempts to suppress votes must be actively, vigorously opposed; and people must mobilize, now and in an ongoing way, demanding that the whole Trump/Pence regime must go. 

We Can’t Rely on the Democrats, We Can’t Wait Until November

In Part 1 in this series, I examined the reasons why the Democrats will not call out the Trump/Pence regime, and its supporters, for what they are: fascist. I pointed out:

Time and again, the Democrats have sought to deal with this by trying to utilize the very “norms” and institutions that this fascist regime is defying and tearing up, or bending to its fascist aims—the courts, congressional hearings and proceedings, and so on. Time and again, the Democrats have failed. Yet they stubbornly refuse to seek any means of opposing this regime other than by resorting to these “norms” and procedures. This is what they are doing, and will be strongly inclined to continue doing, even in the face of Trump’s increasing and intensifying moves to suppress votes in the upcoming election and his clearly indicated determination to have himself declared the winner in the election, or to remain in power regardless of the outcome of the election.4

Biden and the Democrats act as if—and repeatedly insist that—the reason there is so much bitter conflict, violence, and “chaos” in society is because “Trump is dividing us, not uniting us.” But the truth is that, while Trump has become a “rallying point” and “spearpoint” of the fascist forces in this country, within the structures of power and more broadly among sectors of the population, there are deep-seated reasons and causes for why this fascism has become such a powerful force. Biden and the Democrats cannot “bring the country together,” as they falsely claim, because there can be no “reconciliation” with these fascists—whose “grievances” are based on fanatical resentment against any limitation on white supremacy, male supremacy, xenophobia (hatred of foreigners), rabid American chauvinism, and the unrestrained plundering of the environment, and are increasingly expressed in literally lunatic terms. There can be no “reconciliation” with this, other than on the terms of these fascists, with all the terrible implications and consequences of that! 

As I have also emphasized: “all this points to the very great likelihood that regardless of the actual outcome of this election (assuming it is actually held), if Trump declares himself the ‘winner’and refuses to leave, in the absence of truly massive mobilization demanding that the Trump/Pence regime must be removed, the Democrats will end up capitulating to Trump.4

This does not mean that voting for Biden would be irrelevant—would make no difference. Many people who hate Trump have at the same time expressed a definite lack of enthusiasm for Biden. But “enthusiasm for Biden”—or the lack of such enthusiasm—is really beside the point, and basing things on something like that involves gross ignorance, or a deliberate ignoring, of the crucial stakes involved. The reason to vote for Biden is to vote against Trump and his whole regime. And that should be reason enough, for any person who actually cares about social justice, who refuses to live in a fascist America and has any sense of the very real catastrophe it would mean, not just for people in this country but for all of humanity, if Trump gets a “re-election mandate.” For these reasons, as I pointed out in my August 1 Statement, if it comes down to it—if the Trump/Pence regime is still in power when it is time for voting—then voting for Biden, in order to vote against Trump, will be very important and necessary

As that Statement emphasizes, “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.”This would not “put an end” to the fascism that has arisen out of deep-seated contradictions and has gained strength, over decades. But, as the August 1 Statement further emphasizes: delivering a decisive defeat to this regime “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.” 

At the same time, for all the reasons spoken to in that Statement, and highlighted here—the moves by Trump that are already far along to steal the election, and his determination to use whatever means he can to remain in power, regardless of the actual outcome of that election, and at the same time the likelihood that the Democrats, left to their own devices, will end up capitulating to Trump—waiting for November and relying on voting will very likely lead to disaster.

People need to really and fully awaken to the reality of what is at stake, before it is too late. More than a few people have observed, sometimes with sad resignation, that the continuing avalanche of lies and truly monstrous criminal acts by Trump and his regime have worn them down, to the point where they are no longer shocked or feel compelled to act. But losing one’s ability to be outraged, and to act on that outrage, means losing one’s humanity—and, given the situation we are facing, it amounts to collaborating with the fascism of this regime and the catastrophe toward which it is relentlessly propelling humanity.

The crazed fanaticism of the fascists insisting that Trump must remain in power, no matter what, must be met, and overwhelmed, by the conscious passionate intensity of masses of people who hate everything that this fascist regime represents, who recognize the very real existential threat that this regime represents for humanity and are fired with righteous determination that this regime must go! 

And, to make this a reality, this righteous determination cannot just be channeled into voting against Trump. What is urgently required now is “stepping outside of the ‘norms’ of this system and mobilizing masses of people in determined, non-violent but sustained struggle in the streets to demand the ouster of this regime, as is being called for by RefuseFascism.org.”4 And:

The mass mobilization that is needed cannot be built “overnight,” in the aftermath of the election—and it cannot be built by confining things within the framework and limits insisted upon by the Democrats....

We Need To Take To The Streets, And Stay In The Streets, Demanding Trump/Pence Out Now!4

(The next, concluding article in this series will speak to the big question: How the nonviolent but sustained, and continually growing, mass mobilization, demanding Trump/Pence OUT NOW! that has been called for, and is being organized by, RefuseFascism.org, could lead to, or contribute in a major way to, a situation in which the Trump/Pence regime would be removed from power.) 

 


1. See the article “Florida Moves to Deny Voting Rights to Hundreds of Thousands of People Convicted of Felonies,” at revcom.us.  [back]

2. In his testimony before a congressional committee in 2019, Michael Cohen spoke to the danger that Trump would refuse to recognize the results of the election scheduled for November 2020, if Trump did not win this election. And, in his recently-published book Disloyal, The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump, Cohen once again sounds the alarm, even more urgently, with the warning that Trump will do anything, including starting a war, to stay in power. Cohen has acknowledged that, prior to this 2019 appearance before Congress, he had lied to Congress—something he sought to set right by giving truthful testimony in that 2019 hearing. Trump’s fascist falsehood machine has tried to seize on the fact that Cohen is an admitted liar, who has been convicted of the crime of lying to Congress, in the attempt to draw attention away from what Cohen has revealed about Trump and the great dangers he poses. The problem, for the Trumpites, is that the lies they are referring to, and other despicable acts Cohen carried out—this was done precisely on the instruction and for the benefit of the Liar-in-Chief, Trump himself

Cohen, who worked very closely with (or for) Trump, for more than ten years, including the first years of Trump’s presidency, and probably knows Trump as well as anyone can, confirms what is said by Trump’s niece, Mary Trump: Racism, misogyny (hatred and degradation of women), and all-around bigotry are at the very core of Trump’s being.  [back]

3. “Trump on Election Night Protests: ‘We’ll put them down very quickly.’” This is part of the continuing series The Fascist Assault on revcom.us.  [back]

4. The quotes and references here are from Voting Will Not Be Enough—We Need To Take To The Streets, And Stay In The Streets Demanding Trump/Pence Out Now, Part 1, “The Democrats Can’t Fight Trump The Way He Needs To Be Fought.” This article of mine is available at revcom.us.  [back]

VOTING WILL NOT BE ENOUGH—
WE NEED TO TAKE TO THE STREETS,
AND STAY IN THE STREETS
DEMANDING TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!

by Bob Avakian

Part 1:
THE DEMOCRATS CAN'T FIGHT TRUMP
THE WAY HE NEEDS TO BE FOUGHT

Part 2:
TRUMP IS ALREADY STEALING THE ELECTION  AND THREATENING EVEN MORE VIOLENCE TO STAY IN POWER

Part 3:
TRUMP’S FASCISM—MORE BLATANT AND DANGEROUS EVERY DAY: HOW A DETERMINED FIGHT AND MASSIVE MOBILIZATION COULD DEFEAT THIS

(Long Version—The Larger Canvas and Fuller Picture)

(Short Version—The Basic Picture and Essential Vision)

 

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/664/bob-avakian-voting-will-not-be-enough-pt1-en.html

VOTING WILL NOT BE ENOUGH—
WE NEED TO TAKE TO THE STREETS,
AND STAY IN THE STREETS
DEMANDING TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

Part 1

THE DEMOCRATS CAN'T FIGHT TRUMP
THE WAY HE NEEDS TO BE FOUGHT

 

In the 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, I spoke to this important point:

At 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.

At the same time, however, I strongly emphasized that:

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.

Trump’s Blatant Racism and Support for White Supremacist Violence

It has become increasingly clear that a pivotal part of Trump’s strategy, in relation to the election scheduled for November, and his overall approach to holding power, is to make more and more blatant appeals to racism by trumpeting a call for “law and order.” Trump portrays the ongoing protests against white supremacy and police terror as violent—and, as is typical with him, he flagrantly and grossly lies about the extent and causes of this violence. He paints a crude horror scene of you-know-who coming to pillage and rape—to violate the homes and the people, especially the women—in the suburbs, which in Trump’s vision are all white. This is a direct “echo” of the vile tactics used by white supremacists organizing mobs to lynch Black people during Jim Crow segregation, and of how Hitler stirred up hatred of and violence against Jews in NAZI Germany. Here again, facts do not matter to Trump and his fascist regime and its supporters—or, rather, facts are to be deliberately distorted, defied, and perverted in pursuit of literally murderous aims.

It has been shown (for example, in a study by Princeton University) that, overwhelmingly (more than 90 percent of the time), these protests against white supremacy and police terror have not been violent; and violence that has been committed by the protesters themselves has been relatively minor (some fires, looting, and trashing of a few buildings, in small, confined areas, often at or near police stations—nothing like the picture Trump paints of whole cities being burned down and destroyed). But, beyond that, most of the violence in connection with these protests has been perpetrated by Trump supporters—by police, who have repeatedly attacked the protests, and by armed fascist thugs (those Trump calls “Second Amendment people”). At least 20 protesters have been killed in this way. And Trump and his supporters have justified—and even glorified—this violence by white supremacists.

The Democrats, and the “mainstream media” generally in the same camp (CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, and so on), have largely tried to shift the focus away from the protests and onto questions where they feel Trump is more vulnerable—in particular Trump’s truly reckless handling of the COVID pandemic, and things such as statements by Trump (or attributed to him) insulting U.S. soldiers. But Trump will continue his racist attacks on the protests against white supremacy and police violence, and his attempts to paint the Democrats as backers of violence and “carnage” by Black “thugs,” anarchists” and other “far leftists”; and this will have the effect of forcing the Democrats to devote significant attention to responding to this. And what has been the response of the Democrats? They have made the point that most of the protests have been peaceful, and they even say that Trump wants violence; yet, at the same time, the Democrats accept, to a large extent, the terms (and the trap) Trump has set. They have put a great deal of emphasis on denouncing violence by protesters, without giving the same emphasis to pointing out who is responsible for most of the violence connected to the protests—once again, overwhelmingly Trump supporters. The Democrats do not highlight the bitter irony that here are people protesting violence by the police and, even when (overwhelmingly) their protests are peaceful, they are subjected to yet more violence by the policeThe Democrats don’t emphasize yet another glaring irony: Here are Trump and his supporters denouncing and attacking people overwhelmingly carrying out peaceful protests against racist violence, while Trump defends monuments to “heroes” of the Confederacy, who waged a war, in which they killed hundreds of thousands of Union soldiers, in the attempt to preserve and extend slavery.

Strategies by Democrats That Flow From and Reinforce the Problem Itself

There are two basic causes for how the Democrats and their allies do—and do not—respond to what Trump is doing with his attacks on the protests and his contrived racist horror story of mobs of “those people” bent on violently attacking innocent (white) people and their property. First, the Democrats’ electoral strategy is focused on winning a relatively small number of “swing voters,” largely white people in the suburbs, in a small number of “swing states.” Flowing from this, and once again largely accepting the terms Trump has set, the Democrats see it as very important to reassure these voters that the Democrats, too, denounce—and, by implication, will use the power of the government to suppress—violence that supposedly is carried out by protesters and supposedly threatens these (white suburban) “swing voters.” Here it has to be said that, even on its own—very wrong and perverted—terms, this is likely a losing strategy. Not only is it the case that, by far, most of the violence connected with the protests has been carried out by Trump supporters (including the police), while overwhelmingly the protests themselves have been peaceful; but, even if the intent of everyone protesting were to remain completely peaceful, including when provoked and attacked by the police and armed “civilian” racists, there will still be violence—exactly because Trump and his supporters will continue to carry out, and to escalate, the violence, no matter what the protesters do.

It is true that, at this point, the vote in a few states essentially determines the outcome of presidential elections—so that, as was the case with Trump in the previous presidential election, someone can lose the popular vote and still become president. But, even given this reality, an electoral strategy that could work much better for the Democrats would be to take on Trump’s whole racist approach, directly and forcefully, and appeal to Black people and other people of color, and the large number of white people (especially, though not only, younger generations) who have shown that they are motivated by a definite desire for an end to social injustice, blatant inequality, and rampant police violence. That is a great “reservoir” that, theoretically, the Democrats could focus on appealing to.

But the Democrats themselves will not—cannot—really do this. And this gets to the deeper reasons why the Democrats approach things in the way they do. Although, in the present situation, where there has been a massive outpouring against police terror, the Democrats have felt the need to talk in general terms about “police reform,” as representatives of this system of capitalism-imperialism the Democrats are very firm about the fundamental need for the police to enforce the oppressive “law and order” of this system, with the racist violence that involves. So, the Democrats cannot carry out a campaign that actually unites with the strongly and widely held sentiment that this police violence must end. At the same time, as representatives of this system, and as upholders of its traditional institutions and “stability,” they do not want to win an election and head the government on the basis of appealing to and further arousing a force of tens of millions filled with passionate intensity to end police terror and white supremacy, which in fact are built into and required by this system. Better, from the Democrats’ point of view, to appeal to longings for “a return to calm and normalcy”—which are likely to resonate with many middle class suburbanites—even though there will not be any “calm and normalcy,” in large part because the fascist forces will not allow it.

Appealing to the “Grievances” of the Fascists Will Only Strengthen Fascism

Once again now, as was the case during and in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 election, there are “mainstream” voices (such as CNN’s Chris Cuomo, brother of the Democratic Governor of New York state, and Thomas Friedman, a prominent proponent of the “great benefits” of highly globalized capitalism) who argue that, in order to win this time, Biden and the Democrats should appeal to Trump’s “base” by recognizing their “grievances,” rather than humiliating them. But there are deep-seated bases for this fascism, and the minds of these fascists will not be changed by “being nice” to them or acting as if their “grievances” are “legitimate. As I (and others who have seriously studied this fascist phenomenon) have pointed out, the reality is that these “grievances” flow from resentment against any changes that even slightly undermine white supremacymale supremacy, xenophobia (hatred of foreigners), rabid American chauvinism, and the unrestrained plundering of the environment. And, even though, in the most fundamental terms, the Democrats represent this system of capitalism-imperialism, which embodies and enforces all of this, the Republican party, as it has become more and more blatantly fascist, has cultivated and organized its “base” through aggressively promoting, in extreme terms, this inequality, oppression, and plunder of the earth, along with a rejection of, and passionate “resentment” against, the scientific method and rational thinking. For example, there is this important analysis, by African-American theologian Hubert Locke, speaking particularly to the Christian fundamentalists that are the driving force of this fascism:

It is not happenstance that it is a movement that draws its strength and finds its support principally in the so-called heartland of the nation and especially in its southern precincts. This is the portion of the United States that has never been comfortable with post-WWII America. The brief period of normalcy after the war was followed within a decade by a pent-up and long overdue racial revolution that overturned centuries of culture and tradition, especially in the South. The disillusionment, two decades later, with an unpopular war in southeast Asia shook the foundations of traditional/conventional patriotism in American life; it was followed in the next decade by a sexual revolution that upset deeply entrenched views among this portion of the American populace about the subordinate place of women in society and the non-place of gay and lesbian persons in American life. These political and social and cultural defeats have now erupted into a pitched battle to turn back the clock on the last half-century and return America to its pre-war purity. It is not without significance that teaching creationism in the schools, for example, is such a prominent part of the religious right agenda. That was a battle the right lost in the mid-1920s but it is not one that the right ever acknowledged losing‑‑just as some die-hards have never acknowledged losing the Civil War. Consequently, the restoration the religious right seeks is one that would recapture a way of life that disappeared in this nation a half-century ago.1

This is what “Make America Great Again” actually means. The Democrats could not “compete” with this, without abandoning their own “identity” as the party that supposedly cares about social justice and addressing the environmental crisis.

All this, in turn, is tied in with the fundamental reasons why the Democrats will not call out the Trump/Pence regime for what it actually is—fascist—which, as I have emphasized, “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.”2 First of all, if you acknowledge that this regime is in fact fascist, then that raises very big questions about the whole system, and how it is that such a fascist regime could come to power—not through something like a military coup, but through the “normal channels” and institutional procedures of this system. And, along with that, if you recognize that this regime is fascist, then that has very big implications in terms of what must be done to deal with the dangers posed by this fascism—which, in reality, requires stepping outside of the “norms” of this system and mobilizing masses of people in determined, non-violent but sustained struggle in the streets to demand the ouster of this regime, as is being called for by RefuseFascism.org.

The Immediate Urgent Need for Mass Mobilization Against This Fascism

In sum, the Democrats, being who and what they are, will not and cannot deal with all this—neither the election, nor the larger situation in which this election is taking place and the profound stakes that are actually involved—in any way other than on the terms, and within the limits, established by this system, which has produced this fascism, and to a large degree on the terms set by the fascists themselves.

This can be seen in what the Democrats have done in their attempts to deal with the way in which the Trump/Pence fascist regime has—repeatedly, and in an escalating way—trampled on the “norms” of this system. Time and again, the Democrats have sought to deal with this by trying to utilize the very “norms” and institutions that this fascist regime is defying and tearing up, or bending to its fascist aims—the courts, congressional hearings and proceedings, and so on.Time and again, the Democrats have failed. Yet they stubbornly refuse to seek any means of opposing this regime other than by resorting to these “norms” and procedures. This is what they are doing, and will be strongly inclined to continue doing, even in the face of Trump’s increasing and intensifying moves to suppress votes in the upcoming election and his clearly indicated determination to have himself declared the winner in the election, or to remain in power regardless of the outcome of the election.

All this is why—even though, if it comes down to it, voting against Trump by voting for Biden will be necessary and important—it will very likely lead to disaster to rely on voting and just hope that the election will solve the problem.

And all this points to the very great likelihood that regardless of the actual outcome of this election (assuming it is actually held), if Trump declares himself the “winner” and refuses to leave, in the absence of truly massive mobilization demanding that the Trump/Pence regime must be removed, the Democrats will end up capitulating to Trump. The mass mobilization that is needed cannot be built “overnight,” in the aftermath of the election—and it cannot be built by confining things within the framework and limits insisted upon by the Democrats.

The truth—the truth about this country, and the truth about what is represented and is being implemented and enforced by the Trump/Pence regime—must be brought alive as a crucial, and immediately urgent, focus of the fight against injustice and oppression and against the fascism of this regime. This must be done without waiting for the election, but by taking action right now, and in an ongoing way, with masses of people—first in the thousands, growing into millions—in sustained mobilization around the unifying demand that this regime must go.

Waiting for November, and Relying on the Election, Will Likely Lead to Disaster:

We Need to Take to the Streets, and Stay in the Streets, Demanding Trump/Pence Out Now!

 


1. Reflections on Pacific School of Religion's Response to the Religious Right, by Dr. Hubert Locke. This is available at revcom.us.

In addition to my own writings and speeches on this question of fascism, which are available in BA’s Collected Works at revcom.us,* there have been a number of important studies of particularly the Christian fascist phenomenon—including in recent books by Katherine Stewart* and Kristin Kobes Du Mez*—which make clear that these fascists are firmly committed to their extremely oppressive, reactionary, and literally lunatic views and aims, and they will not be moved by attempts to appeal to their supposed “legitimate grievances.”

* For example, my recent article Patriarchy and Patriotism—Aggressive Male Supremacy and American Supremacy—The Danger and the Immediate Challenge draws from important insights in Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation; and my 2017 speech The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go! In The Name of Humanity We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America, A Better World IS Possible cites important analysis in Katherine Stewart’s book The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children.  [back]

2. From 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.  [back]

VOTING WILL NOT BE ENOUGH—
WE NEED TO TAKE TO THE STREETS,
AND STAY IN THE STREETS
DEMANDING TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!

by Bob Avakian

Part 1:
THE DEMOCRATS CAN'T FIGHT TRUMP
THE WAY HE NEEDS TO BE FOUGHT

Part 2:
TRUMP IS ALREADY STEALING THE ELECTION  AND THREATENING EVEN MORE VIOLENCE TO STAY IN POWER

Part 3:
TRUMP’S FASCISM—MORE BLATANT AND DANGEROUS EVERY DAY: HOW A DETERMINED FIGHT AND MASSIVE MOBILIZATION COULD DEFEAT THIS

(Long Version—The Larger Canvas and Fuller Picture)

(Short Version—The Basic Picture and Essential Vision)

 

 

 

 

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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.

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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

8.5x11 two-sided leaflet

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/669/rnl-show-episode-30-announcement-en.html

Episode 30 of
The RNL Show—Revolution, Nothing Less!

| revcom.us

 

Share this widely

"Amy Coney Barrett
+ Christian Theocracy
+ Stealing the Elections
= Fascism!
Stand Up. Get in the Streets!"

The Revolution, Nothing Less Show

Andy Zee begins with a welcome to those who are stepping out into the streets and a hats off to Demi Lovato and her new song “Commander in Chief.” Today’s episode will get into what we are facing with the fascist rolling coup going forward with the fight to impose Christian fascism—concentrated in the hearings for Amy Coney Barrett. A fight that is being thinly disguised under talk of “religious freedom.” We will also get into what an abortion is and give a sense of how deeply this and birth control are being threatened. All this heightens the importance for us all to take on the call from RefuseFascism.org to grow day-after-day nonviolent protests across the country to demand Trump/Pence Out Now! Episode 30 features:

  • The pledge From Refuse Fascism, We Pledge: In the name of humanity, we refuse to accept a fascist America.
  • Update from Sunsara Taylor in DC on the ground during the Amy Coney Barrett hearings.
  • A powerful interview with Sunsara and Mark Joseph Stern, staff writer at SLATE.com covering courts and the law, about what is at stake in the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
  • Video of a young Amy Coney Barrett supporter interviewed on the ground in DC followed by a short scientific video called “A Fetus Is Not a Baby.”
  • A Dispatch from The RNL Show team in LA reporting on Refuse Fascism LA’s dramatic 48-hour action calling attention to the immigrants who are still in cages, disrupting the normalcy and calling on others to take up the fight to drive the Trump/Pence regime out through voting in this election and most of all through mass sustained protest in the streets.

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/665/bob-avakian-for-the-liberation-of-black-people-en.html

BOB AVAKIAN FOR THE LIBERATION OF BLACK PEOPLE
AND THE EMANCIPATION OF ALL HUMANITY

| revcom.us

 

One of the things that comes through most powerfully in Bob Avakian’s memoir1 is that a profound hatred for the oppression of Black people has been a defining part of Bob Avakian’s life from the time, as a teenager, he learned about the lives of the Black people with whom he developed deep ties of friendship. Never feeling that, because he is white, “it is not his place” to be involved in the struggle against this oppression—but, on the contrary, determined to contribute whatever he could to this struggle—Bob Avakian (BA), from the time he worked closely with the Black Panther Party in its revolutionary days in the 1960s, has made the liberation of Black people a defining part of his life’s commitment and work. As he developed as a revolutionary communist, and emerged as the foremost revolutionary leader and thinker in the world, this commitment has become even deeper and has been strongly interwoven with a dedication to the emancipation of all humanity from every form of oppression and exploitation.

As BA has written about his life’s work:

Why was I doing the work I was doing? Once again, we’re back to for whom and for what. I wasn’t doing this work for myself. When I was young, in middle school and then even more so in high school, my life got changed in a very major way by coming into contact with people that I hadn’t really known that much before, in particular Black people. I started learning about their situation and how that relates to what goes on in this society as a whole. I was drawn to the culture—not just the music and the art overall, but the whole way of going through the world—of the Black people who became my friends, and the world they introduced me to. And I came to the point of recognizing: these are my people. Now, I knew they had a different life experience than I did. But these are my people—I don’t see a separation—it’s not like there are some other people “over there” who are going through all this and somehow that’s removed from me. These are my people. And then I began to recognize more deeply what people were being put through, the oppression they were constantly subjected to, the horrors of daily life as well as the bigger ways in which the system came down on them. And as I went further through life and began to approach the question of what needs to be done about this, and was introduced to taking up a scientific approach to this, I realized that my people were more than this. I realized that my people were Chicanos and other Latinos and other oppressed people in the U.S.; they were people in Vietnam and China; they were women...they were the oppressed and exploited of the world...and through some struggle, and having to cast off some wrong thinking, I have learned that they are LGBT people as well.

These are my people, the oppressed and exploited people of the world. They are suffering terribly, and something has to be done about this. So it is necessary to dig in and systematically take up the science that can show the way to put an end to all this, and bring something much better into being. You have to persevere and keep struggling to go forward in this way. And when you run into new problems or setbacks, you have to go more deeply into this, rather than putting it aside and giving up.

So this is why I’ve been doing the work that I’ve been doing.2

Bob Avakian grew up in Berkeley, California. Unable, because of a life-threatening illness, to be directly involved in struggles taking place against racial oppression for several years after graduating from high school in 1961, BA nevertheless closely followed and strongly supported the civil rights movement in the early 1960s, and at the same time was influenced by and supportive of the militant stand and role of Malcolm X. This was reflected in an article that BA wrote at the age of 19 in 1962 supporting the struggle of Black people. (This article was submitted to the liberal magazine Saturday Review. Although the article was not published, the editor-in-chief of the magazine, Norman Cousins, personally replied—indicating that, although the magazine had chosen not to publish this article, he recognized that the article spoke, in a strikingly compelling way, to very important questions.)

Having recovered from his illness, in 1964, BA became actively involved in the Free Speech Movement at the University of California in Berkeley, where he was a student. The central issue of this movement was the right of students to carry out activity on the campus in support of the civil rights movement. BA was among the 800 who were arrested during the occupation of the university administration building, which was the high point of the movement and led to winning its demands.

As the civil rights movement increasingly gave way to a more militant Black liberation movement in the second half of the 1960s, BA was strongly influenced by this. He left the university and dedicated his life to working for radical change. As a result of direct contact and discussions with Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the founders of the Black Panther Party, and getting to know Eldridge Cleaver (who also became a leader of the BPP), BA worked closely with the Black Panther Party from its earliest days and at the height of its revolutionary role and influence.

In 1967, BA attended rallies, and spoke at one of the rallies, held by the BPP in North Richmond to protest the killing there of Denzil Dowell, part of the long and continuing chain of murders of Black people by police.

In 1968, when Huey Newton was facing murder charges as a result of a shoot-out with Oakland cops, BA spoke—along with a number of key figures in the Black liberation movement, including Stokely Carmichael, Rap Brown, James Forman, and leaders of the Black Panther Party— at a Free Huey rally held in the Oakland auditorium on the occasion of Huey Newton’s birthday.

BA worked tirelessly to build support, including among white people, for the demand to “Free Huey!” At a “Free Huey” rally at the courthouse in Oakland where Huey Newton’s trial was being held, BA was arrested for “desecrating” (burning) the American flag.

During this time, at the invitation of BPP leaders, BA wrote a number of articles for the Black Panther newspaper.

At a rally of thousands, led by the Black Panther Party, on May First, 1969, BA spoke of the need for revolution and called on white people in particular to more actively take part in movements for revolutionary change in the U.S., and to support such movements throughout the world.

By the beginning of the 1970s, millions of people in this country were in favor of some kind of revolutionary change, but they faced profound challenges. How could this revolution be made—or was it even possible to make a revolution here, up against such powerful forces of oppression and repression? Which were the key forces that had to be mobilized to have a real chance to carry out such a revolution? What kind of leadership was needed, and what methods and approaches should that leadership be based on? The difficulties in confronting and seeking the answers to these hard questions, combined with brutal and often murderous repression by the powers-that-be, led many revolutionary organizations, including the Black Panther Party, to split and end up departing from the road that could lead to real revolution.

By this time, partly because of the influence of the Black Panther Party, which had popularized the “Red Book” of quotations from the Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong, BA had become convinced not only that revolution was necessary, and was possible, but that it had to be led by a vanguard force that based itself on the scientific method and approach of communism, as it had been developed initially by Karl Marx, then further developed by V.I. Lenin, the leader of the Russian Revolution in the early part of the 20th century, and then in turn further developed by Mao, who led the Chinese revolution and the new, socialist society in China, until his death in 1976. BA led in the formation of the Revolutionary Union at the end of the 1960s, with the aim of working toward the establishment of the vanguard party of revolution, based on the science of communism. During the first part of the 1970s, BA was both the practical leader and the leading theoretician of the Revolutionary Union, writing much of the essays and polemics for its theoretical journal Red Papers. This included major articles, particularly in Red Papers 5 and 6, that involved groundbreaking scientific materialist analysis of the situation of Black people, historically and down to the present—how and why their particular conditions of oppression had changed, from the time of slavery to the present era, and how this objectively put Black people in a potentially powerful position to be a driving force not only for their own liberation but for the communist revolution whose fundamental aim is the abolition of all oppression and exploitation. These articles included powerful polemics, arguing against positions and programs that would not lead to, but would actually work against, this liberation and the revolutionary transformation of the world as a whole.

In 1975, with BA’s leadership, the Revolutionary Communist Party was founded, with the aim of being the vanguard force for the revolution that was, and continues to be, profoundly necessary. Over the decades since then, BA has fought to keep that Party on the revolutionary road and to bring forward new revolutionary forces to revitalize and strengthen the vanguard forces for the revolution that is now, all the more urgently, required. While continuing to provide practical guidance to the revolutionary forces, BA, through summing up the experience (positive and negative) of the communist movement, and drawing from a broad range of human experience, has brought forward a new synthesis of communism (also referred to as the new communism) which, most decisively, has established communism on an even more consistently scientific basis. As BA’s Official Biography explains, the new communism “is a continuation of, but also represents a qualitative leap beyond, and in some important ways a break with, communist theory as it had been previously developed. It provides the basis—the science, the strategy, and the leadership—for an actual revolution and a radically new society on the road to real emancipation.”3

A defining part of this new communism is the emphasis it gives to the struggle for the liberation of Black people, and the relation of this to the ending of all oppression. And this has continued to stand out in BA’s leadership role and work over the decades, up to the present.  At revcom.us there is a special section, Bob Avakian on The Oppression of Black People & the Revolutionary Struggle to End All Oppressionwhich contains clips from films and selections from the writings of BA on this question. The following are just a few examples of important works and leadership by Bob Avakian, over the past few decades, that speak to this decisive question.

The book Reflections, Sketches & Provocations, written by Bob Avakian during the 1980s, contains a number of commentaries, speaking in a number of dimensions to the oppression of Black people and the struggle against this oppression, including support for rebellions following the murder of Black people by police. This book begins with the essay “Hill Street Bullshit, Richard Pryor Routines, and the Real Deal,” which powerfully exposes how terror against Black people, and other oppressed people, is “part of the job” of the police—and is “a reward” for carrying out the role of maintaining the “law and order” that keeps the oppressed in their desperate and miserable conditions. Going deeper, it speaks to how this is rooted in this system of capitalism-imperialism, which has had this oppression built into it from the very beginning.

In the 1990s, BA raised the idea that there should be a day, every year, when people mobilized to protest police brutality, mass incarceration and repression by the government. This proposal was taken up and a broad coalition, including family members of people killed by police, was formed to initiate, in 1996, the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation. At its height, over the next decade, this National Day of Protest, held every October 22nd, rallied thousands of people in dozens of cities across the country. And activities by people who have been part of this coalition have continued since then.

During the past two decades, BA has given a number of filmed speeches, and written articles, essays and books, in which the liberation of Black people and its crucial relation to the communist revolution, aiming for the emancipation of all humanity, has been a major question.

BA’s 2003 speech Revolution: Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s Possible, What It’s All About, begins with a searing exposure and condemnation of lynching, and speaks to the horrific reality of slavery and the oppression of Black people down to today, including the continual murder of Black people by police.3

In 2006, BA gave a series of 7 Talks, in which once again the oppression of Black people, and the struggle for their liberation, is a major theme. One of these 7 Talks, Communism and Jeffersonian Democracy, begins by speaking to the experience of Black people in this country; and the question of slavery and the overall oppression of Black people is, of course, a major part of this talk. It is in Communism and Jeffersonian Democracy that the following is clearly stated:

There would be no United States as we now know it today without slavery. That is a simple and basic truth.

(This is also the very first statement in BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian, the handbook for revolution.)3

At the beginning of BA Speaks: Revolution—Nothing Less!, in 2012, this point is stated emphatically:

Let’s start with just one great crime of this system: police murder—after murder—after murder—of Black people and Latinos, especially youth.3

This is part of the powerful exposure in this speech of the role that continuing murders by police play in enforcing this monstrous system of exploitation and oppression, the system of capitalism-imperialism.

At the beginning of his October 2017 speech The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go! In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America, A Better World IS Possible,  BA speaks powerfully to the horrors of slavery in this country—including the rape by slavemasters of huge numbers of enslaved women. This speech shows how the murderous oppression of Black people, continuing down to today, is one of the main roots of the fascism that has come to power in this country with the Trump/Pence regime; and, in this speech, BA repeatedly returns to the critical importance of the fight against this oppression.3

BA’s 2018 speech Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution begins this way:

In 2012 in Revolution—Nothing Less! I talked about the outrageous murder of Ramarley Graham earlier that same year—shot down in his own house in the Bronx by the New York City police. He was only 18 years old. Do I have to tell you what “race” he was?! His mother kept saying: “This has to STOP!” And his father repeated over and over: "WHY did they kill my son?! WHY did they kill my son?!" New York cops then loudly rallied around their fellow pig who murdered Ramarley in cold blood, viciously taunting Ramarley's family and loved ones, demonstrating yet one more time the ugly truth that, in the way this country has been built, and for the powers-that-be in this country, the humanity of Black people has never counted for anything—they have never been valued as human beings, but only as things to be exploited, oppressed, and repressed. Six years later, and with cold-blooded murders by police continuing in an unbroken chain, I will say again what I said then: How many more times does this have to happen? How many more times do the tears and the cries of anguish and anger have to pour forth from the wounded hearts of people?! How many more times, when another of these outrageous murders is perpetrated by the police, do we have to hear those words that pour gasoline on the already burning wounds: “justifiable homicide, justified use of force” by police?! How many more?!3

In that 2018 speech, BA not only powerfully exposes once again the horrific oppression that this system of capitalism-imperialism inflicts on Black people, and on other oppressed people in this country and throughout the world, and the grave danger this system poses to the very future of humanity; he also lays out in this speech (and in a more recent article A Real Revolution—A Real Chance To Win, Further Developing the Strategy for Revolution3) the strategic approach that could make it possible for this system to be finally overthrown through a revolution in which millions and millions of people are led to fight to put an end to this system and bring a radically different and much better system into being.

In the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, authored by BA, a sweeping vision and concrete blueprint for that radically different and much better system is set forth. And the principles and means for finally putting an end, at long last, to the oppression of Black people is a major part of that Constitution.3

This year (2020), BA has written as many as 30 articles in which this decisive question—the oppression, and the struggle for the liberation, of Black people—is a recurring subject.3

In the speeches and writings of BA overall, there is not only powerful, penetrating exposure and uncompromising condemnation of brutal and murderous oppression but, even more importantly, there is scientific analysis of how all this is rooted in this system of capitalism-imperialism and of the need, the possibility, and the means for making revolution to overthrow this system and finally put an end to all the outrageous and unnecessary suffering that the masses of humanity are continually subjected to under this system.

***

It is a very precious thing for the oppressed of the earth when they have a leader whose life is dedicated to their emancipation, and who has the determination, and the scientific method, developed over decades, to point the way, and continue to carve out the path, to achieving that emancipation. BA is such a leader. As emphasized in the article Bob Avakian: A Radically Different Leader—A Whole New Framework For Human Emancipation:

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.3

One of the things that most distinguishes BA’s role as a revolutionary leader is his willingness—indeed, his insistence—on telling people the truth, even when they may not want to hear it. This comes through in the way BA exposes and refutes unscientific ways of thinking—all kinds of “conspiracy” theories and superstitious ideas—that lead people, including the most bitterly oppressed people, away from understanding the world as it actually is, and keep them from seeing not just the need, but the possibility, of radically changing the world, in a way that will lead to ending oppression. A big problem that BA has taken on, straight-up, is the role of religion as a mental chain on the masses of Black people, and other oppressed people, and the need to break this chain in order to most powerfully wage the struggle to finally be free of all oppression. BA has repeatedly emphasized that, in order to end oppression, “you have to want revolution badly enough to be scientific about it.”

Science means judging whether something is true, or not, by whether there is evidence that it actually corresponds to reality—and not believing something because it makes you feel good to believe it, or not refusing to believe something because it makes you uncomfortable. In the article Conspiracy Theories, Fascist “Certitude,” Liberal Paralysis, Or A Scientific Approach To Changing The World, BA has spoken directly to this problem:

many of the basic masses, who are bitterly oppressed under this system, also are suspicious of and even are inclined to reject science and scientifically-grounded analysis. But this also leaves you vulnerable to all kinds of unfounded “conspiracy theories” and other wrong and harmful ideas, including the notion that nothing people do will make a difference because “it’s all in god’s hands.”3

In the 2014 Dialogue with Cornel West (REVOLUTION AND RELIGION: The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion), which took place during the upsurge of protest and rebellion in response to the murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, while speaking to the importance of uniting people broadly in the struggle against oppression, including people who hold religious views, BA also emphasized that the revolution that is needed to finally put an end to oppression must be led with a scientific, not a religious, outlook and method.3

From the start of the article Bob Avakian On Emancipation From Mental Slavery And All Oppression, written this year (2020), BA does not hold back in speaking to these critical questions:

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?!....

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.3

****

From his early years, forging close personal ties with Black people and increasingly learning about their lived experience, to his development as this rare leader who has brought forth the most advanced scientific revolutionary theory with the new communism—a defining part of the life and work of Bob Avakian has been the liberation of Black people from centuries of oppression, and the understanding of how this relates to, and is a crucial driving force in, the communist revolution to finally abolish every form of oppression and exploitation, everywhere.

BA himself has expressed this in the following poetically powerful statement:

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.

 


1. From Ike to Mao and Beyond, My Journey from Mainstream America to Revolutionary CommunistA Memoir by Bob AvakianInsight Press, 2005. [back]

2. 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, first printing, 2016, pp. 321-22. In addition to THE NEW COMMUNISM, in other recent works by BA—in particular Breakthroughs: The Historic Breakthrough by Marx, and the Further Breakthrough with the New Communism, A Basic Summaryand Hope For Humanity On A Scientific Basis, Breaking with Individualism, Parasitism and American Chauvinism—the oppression and the struggle for the liberation of Black people, and its relation to the emancipation of humanity as a whole, is a prominent subject. These works are available at revcom.us.  [back]

3. All of these works are available at revcom.us. (Information about how to acquire the print and e-book editions of BAsics can be found at revcom.us. Audio of the 7 Talks is available in BA’s Collected Works at revcom.us; and Communism and Jeffersonian Democracy has been published in a print edition, the text of which can also be found in BA’s Collected Works at revcom.us.)

The film of the Dialogue between Cornel West and Bob Avakian, REVOLUTION AND RELIGION: The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion, is also available in BA’s Collected Works at revcom.us.

The article Conspiracy Theories, Fascist “Certitude,” Liberal Paralysis, Or A Scientific Approach To Changing The World (longer and shorter versions) is available at revcom.us as well.

The importance of Bob Avakian as a revolutionary leader, who has further developed communism as a consistently scientific method and approach, is a central theme in 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. Ardea Skybreak is a scientist with professional training in ecology and evolutionary biology, who is also the author of the important book THE SCIENCE OF EVOLUTION AND THE MYTH OF CREATIONISM, Knowing What’s Real And Why It Matters. Each of these books by Ardea Skybreak is published by Insight Press, and the Interview with Ardea Skybreak (SCIENCE AND REVOLUTION) is also available at revcom.us

The following articles, written by Bob Avakian this year (2020), which speak to the oppression of Black people and the struggle to end this oppression, are available as well at revcom.us:

Donald Trump—Genocidal Racist (Parts 1-10) 

Racial Oppression Can Be Ended—But Not Under This System

Police And Prisons: Reformist Illusions And The Revolutionary Solution

Anything But The Truth—Bob Avakian Exposes Lies, Distortions, Distractions and Evasions About the Murderous Oppression of Black People

Lynching, Murder By Police—Damn This Whole System! We Don’t Have To Live This Way!

Bob Avakian On Emancipation From Mental Slavery And All Oppression

Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James And The Whole Truth

Donald Trump Isn’t “Tough,” He’s A Bloated Bag Of Fascist Feces

Bloated Bag Of Fascist Feces Trump Isn’t “Tough”—Part 2: Who Really Has Heart?

Trump And Pigs: A Racist Love Affair

Fucker Carlson, Fascist “Fox News” And The Broadcast Of White Supremacy

Bob Avakian on Black Trump Supporters: What If Jews Had Supported Hitler?!

Bob Avakian On: A Beautiful Uprising: Right And Wrong, Methods And Principles

On Statues, Monuments, And Celebrating—Or Ending—Oppression

Fascists Today And The Confederacy: A Direct Line, A Direct Connection Between All The Oppression

Patriarchy And Male Supremacy, Or Revolution And Ending All Oppression

Sounding Like Southern Segregationists: It’s Not Just Trump—It’s Democrats Too

Bob Avakian Brings Out the Truth: Barack Obama Says Police Murdering Black People Should Not Be Normal—Unless He’s President

Bob Avakian On Ugly Words & Phrases

Bob Avakian On Tulsa Racist Mobs

A Real Revolution--A Real Chance To Win: Further Developing the Strategy for Revolution

[back]

Get to know BA

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

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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/667/donald-trump-genocidal-racist-by-bob-avakian-en.html

10 Part Series:

Donald Trump — GENOCIDAL RACIST

| revcom.us

 

Part 1:

Genocide means killing off a whole people, or a large part of that people. Genocide is what the Europeans did to the native peoples in America, while stealing their land. Genocide is Hitler and the NAZIs murdering six million Jews.  Donald Trump is a genocidal racist.

Donald Trump hates Black people and everybody who is not a “white, English-speaking, Christian American.” If he could, he would kill off a whole lot of them, and put many of the rest in jail for life, or drive them out of the country.

Trump has spouted and shouted vicious racism for years, and decades.

Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, who knows him well, said this about him:

“I can only imagine the envy with which Donald watched” the cop killing George Floyd. “I can only imagine that Donald wishes it had been his knee on Floyd’s neck.” (emphasis added)

Think about that.  

What do you think Trump will do if he can get his “knee” even more firmly on the necks of Black, Brown, and Native peoples?

Yes, even after slavery was ended, Black people have been continually subjected to horrific oppression and terror, right down to today—but the fully unleashed rule of genocidal racism, which is what Trump is aiming for, would be a horror on a whole other level. The slow genocide of Black people which has already been going on—through things like mass incarceration and continuing murder by police—can quickly become a much faster and more complete genocide if Trump and his regime succeed in remaining in power and carry forward more fully their fascist program.

And, as I have said in my August 1 Statement,* the hour is getting late, but it is not yet too late, to defeat the fascism concentrated in the fascist regime of Trump (and Pence) and to wrench something positive out of this increasingly terrible situation. But that requires fully facing up to what this regime of genocidal racist fascism represents and what it is aiming to do, and using all appropriate means to remove this regime from power—above all the mobilization of masses of people, to get in the streets, starting now, in the thousands, and stay in the streets, becoming millions, powerfully putting forward the unifying demand that this fascist regime must be OUT NOW!

And, as I emphasized in that August 1 Statement, in the most fundamental terms, it requires working to create more favorable conditions for, and to build up the organized forces for, the revolution that is needed to finally put an end to this system, which has from the beginning rested on genocidal racism and other horrific forms of oppression—and which now, with this fascist regime, is moving to take this to even more monstrous levels, posing a very real and grave threat to the very existence not only of Black people but the masses of oppressed humanity and ultimately humanity as a whole.  

This is not hype or exaggeration in any way—it is the cold hard fact we are faced with—and it demands that, in the name of and for the future of humanity, we act on the basis of fully confronting this reality and moving, in our millions and millions, to change this reality, before it really is too late.

(If you think this is an exaggeration, and the danger is not as great as what is said here, then you don’t know who Donald Trump really is. In part 2 and the rest of this series of articles, further evidence will be brought out to show that Donald Trump is indeed a genocidal racist whose fascist regime is a threat to the very existence not only of Black people, but to the masses of oppressed humanity, and to humanity itself—and, once again, what we are urgently called on to do in the face of this.)

 


*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.  [back]

See each part for a downloadable poster

Download pamphlet of complete series (PDF printer spread)

 

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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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Spread them Everywhere

Pamphlet and Posters of
“Donald Trump—GENOCIDAL RACIST”

| revcom.us

 

 

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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!

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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/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?

WWW.REVCOM.US          

Share everywhere.

Download PDF of this flier, print and spread:

 

 

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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/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

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/amy-coney-barrett-in-the-service-of-a-fascist-rolling-coup-en.html

In the Service of a Fascist Rolling Coup—Reporting to Duty!

Three Simple Questions from the Confirmation Hearing of Amy Coney Barrett—Three Terrifying Responses

| revcom.us

 

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court are now over and the Republi-fascist majority is barreling forward towards her confirmation. Barrett had a mask of “poise” and “rationality” that can’t conceal her yearning to turn back the clock several centuries, erasing rights and liberties that oppressed people have won through hard and often bloody struggle, aiming to enforce a Christian fascist future.

As these hearings made even clearer, seating her on the Court—giving the hard right a solid majority—will be extremely dangerous. Ramming through her appointment to the Supreme Court before the election is designed to ensure Trump’s drive to remain in power, no matter what, and accelerate the Christian fascist program... for decades to come.

Throughout the hearings, Barrett repeatedly declined to answer questions about her legal opinions on major questions of existing law. She hid her Christian fascist views about key issues and matters of law behind a “tradition” that has become a norm in these confirmation hearings—of nominees to the Supreme Court not giving legal opinions in advance of actual cases presented to the court. But what is revealing and alarming in this instance is that:

Let’s start with three simple questions from Democratic senators... and Barrett’s terrifying responses.

Question One: Senator Amy Klobuchar asked: “Under federal law, is it illegal to intimidate voters at the polls?

Barrett’s response: “I can’t characterize the facts of a hypothetical situation, and I can’t apply the law to a hypothetical set of facts. I can only decide cases as they come to me litigated by parties on a full record after fully engaging precedent, talking to colleagues, writing an opinion, and so I can’t answer questions like that.”

WRONG! This is a deceitful combination of legal double-talk, fake neutrality, and feigned ignorance.

Imagine a judge being asked, “is it illegal to rape children” and replying, “I can’t characterize the facts of a hypothetical situation”!

Klobuchar was not asking Barrett about a “hypothetical situation,” she was asking her about existing laws on voter intimidation. And it is impossible that a law professor and federal judge does not know what everyone else does: voter intimidation is illegal, period. Under 18 U.S. [Code §] 594 anyone who “intimidates, threatens, coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote ... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”

Right now, Republi-fascists are recruiting what they call an “army” of 50,000 “poll watchers, with a focus on ex-military and ex-cops.1 So Klobuchar asked Barrett: “Do you think a reasonable person would be intimidated by the presence of armed civilian groups at the polls?”

Barrett’s Response: “It’s not something, really, that’s appropriate for me to comment on.”

It’s not? So a future Supreme Court Justice can’t take a position on whether rifle-toting militias at polling stations “observing” voters would be intimidating to anyone, especially people of color? Maybe she should have been asked if KKK cross burnings are intimidating.

Once again, Barrett is evading answering what should be a no-brainer for anyone, let alone a federal judge and law professor. In effect, Barrett is green-lighting voter intimidation.

Question Two: Senator Cory Booker asked: “Do you believe that every president should make a commitment, unequivocally and resolutely, to the peaceful transfer of power?”

Barrett’s response: “ Well, Senator, that seems to me to be pulling me in a little bit into this question of whether the president has said that he would not peacefully leave office, and so to the extent that this is a political controversy right now, as a judge, I want to stay out of it and I don’t want to express a view.”

WRONG! The 20th Amendment to the Constitution says: “The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January ... and the terms of their [elected] successors shall then begin.”

And guess what—there is no sub-clause or subsequent amendment that says “unless the sitting president doesn’t agree, and then he can use federal troops and armed militias to stay in office and crush anyone who protests,” which is what Trump is threatening to do. Barrett’s refusal to commit to upholding the “peaceful transfer of power” amounts to holding the door open for Trump/Pence to do exactly that.

Question Three: Senator Dianne Feinstein asked: “Does the Constitution give the president of the United States the authority to unilaterally delay a general election under any circumstances? Does federal law?”

Barrett’s response: “Well Senator, if that question ever came before me, I would need to hear arguments from the litigants and read briefs and consult with my law clerks and talk to my colleagues and go through the opinion-writing process” so as to approach matters “with an open mind.”

WRONG! Again, the Constitution—the highest law of the land, which Barrett claims she upholds—is quite clear: Article II, Section 1, Clause 4 says, “The Congress may determine the Time of chusing [sic] the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.” And Congress did this—in 1845, a federal law fixed the date as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Only Congress can change this.

Delaying or canceling the election is one way Trump has floated to avoid losing the election. That would be flagrantly illegal and amount to a fascist coup. Barrett’s refusal to recognize that is ominous.

 


1. Just one component of a multi-pronged drive to steal the election.  [back]

Amy Coney Barrett Hearings: Sunsara Taylor on the Ground in DC

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/amy-coney-barrett-on-global-warming-en.html

Amy Coney Barrett on Global Warming—an Existential Threat for Humanity

| revcom.us

 

Senator Kamala Harris asked Amy Coney Barrett, “Do you believe that climate change is happening and threatening the air we breathe and the water we drink?” In response, Barrett complained that Harris was trying “to elicit an opinion from me that is on a very contentious matter of public debate and I will not do that. I will not express a view on a matter of public policy, especially one that is politically controversial.”

Greta Thunberg, a leader in the movement around climate change (or global warming), responded appropriately and mockingly in a tweet: “To be fair, I don’t have any ‘views on climate change’ either. Just like I don’t have any ‘views’ on gravity, the fact that the earth is round, photosynthesis nor evolution... But understanding and knowing their existence really makes life in the 21st century so much easier.”

Global warming is real, and “it is happening,” as has been proven beyond reasonable doubt. It is not a matter of “public policy” or “contentious matter of public debate.” It is a matter of science and of reality.

Climate change is not “a contentious question” among scientists or among vast sections of people here and around the world that are scientifically and reality based or feeling the effects from rising temperatures, sea levels, and extreme weather events. But it is contentious among anti-science Christian fascists like Barrett, or those who skew reality in the service of a worldview that it is completely OK to plunder the planet and people for the sake of profit. This will likely translate into giving the “all clear” to initiatives to strip away environmental regulations, open pristine forest land to plunder, and to ratchet up the U.S. “carbon footprint” at a time when the world is sliding over the brink into climate catastrophe.

Amy Barrett’s answers—or evasive non-answers—both gloss over and reveal a worldview that is existentially threatening for humanity, given the U.S.’s dominant position in the world and atop the capitalist-imperialist system, not only in actual carbon emissions that cause global warming but in setting terms and policy for the rest of the world.

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/amy-coney-barrett-on-abortion-and-birth-control-the-aunt-amy-of-christian-fascism-en.html

Amy Coney Barrett on Abortion and Birth Control—The "Aunt Amy"* of Christian Fascism

| revcom.us

 

Barrett—who believes all abortion is immoral and “barbaric”—refused to say in the Senate confirmation hearings whether she would overturn the 1972 Roe v. Wade decision (which legalized abortion). But she made clear she was open to doing that. Barrett has written that there are only a handful of Court decisions that she conveniently terms “super-precedents”—meaning that, in her view, they cannot and should not be overturned. All other decisions are subject to being overturned if the sitting Court believes they were “wrongly decided.”

Barrett said that Roe v. Wade is still “controversial”—among and largely due to the work of Christian fascists like her!—and therefore “Roe doesn’t fall into that category” (of “super-precedents”).

As we’ve pointed out before, Barrett is “a polished, appealing, and intelligent female representative of a religious outlook and political program that aims to subjugate women, as well as LGBTQ people.” A key to this from their standpoint is to overturn Roe v. Wade. And without the right to abortion, women can be forced to bear children against their will—a form of female enslavement—and one of the prime anchors and spearpoints of the Christian fascist program.

Barrett also refused to say whether the 1965 Griswold case (which legalized birth control, and was the legal precedent for Roe v. Wade) was properly decided or not, because it isn’t currently controversial, and therefore is “very unlikely” to be overturned. But it is also not (to Barrett) a “super-precedent.” And once the Christian fascists get rid of abortion rights, they will move on to making birth control (and perhaps divorce as well) as “controversial” as abortion is now.

Voting Rights

Barrett defended an opinion she wrote as a federal judge which relied on 18th and 19th century laws that said so-called “civic rights”—like voting and serving on juries—should only be granted to “virtuous citizens.” Barrett failed to mention that those laws were mainly used to disenfranchise and demean Black, Latinx, Chinese, and Jewish people, women and the disabled. And it’s scary to think who Amy Coney Barrett considers not a “virtuous citizen.” LGBTQ people? Women who have had abortions? People who divorce or use birth control? All of these things are condemned as immoral by the extremist religious group that Barrett belongs to. This is going down the road to real Handmaid’s Tale territory.

Following in the Path of Scalia

Barrett confirmed that she told Senator Chris Coons she could recall no significant disagreements with her mentor Justice Antonin Scalia’s legal opinions. Coons correctly said that if Barrett is confirmed, “constitutional commitments around liberty, privacy and equality under the law could, in fact, be rolled back to 19th or even 18th century understandings in a way unrecognizable to most Americans.”

Scalia was one of the most reactionary Supreme Court justices in modern times. Through his court rulings and opinions, Scalia tried to tear down or hold back almost every positive change of the last few decades and supported new steps towards fascism. Obamacare... legalizing gay sex and gay marriage... limiting prayer in school... measures that took small steps to overcome the impacts of racism and discrimination against Black people... allowing women to be admitted to Virginia Military Institute... granting alleged “terrorists” who had been kidnapped from their homelands and were being held indefinitely at Guantánamo Bay the right to seek release through federal courts... Roe v. Wade. Scalia opposed it all, and Barrett apparently agrees with him.

Barrett’s confirmation will mean that most or all of these positions have majority support on the Supreme Court.

 

* This refers to the character Aunt Lydia in the novel and TV series The Handmaid’s Tale. She is a believer in the mission of Gilead, a Christian fascist society in which biblical law and patriarchal values—as updated and interpreted by the new rulers—are increasingly imposed. Aunt Lydia is the brutal overseer of the handmaids, women who are assigned the role of bearing children. [back]

 

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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.

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/confirmation-hearings-for-amy-coney-barrett-democrats-concede-defeat-before-fight-starts-en.html

Confirmation Hearings for Christian Fascist Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett
Democrats Concede Defeat Before the Fight Starts,
Then Praise Republi-fascists for Letting Them Voice Their Concerns

| revcom.us

 

Republicans hold a small majority in the Senate and on the Senate Judiciary Committee. But there was—and still very much IS—a basis to prevent Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, by going hard after her Christian fascist orientation, her complete lack of principle in pursuing this orientation and disregard for the law and actual legal precedent, and by calling out as intolerable the whole confirmation process—which is being jammed through in the weeks before the election, for the openly stated purpose of stacking the Supreme Court so that it will rule in Trump’s favor in election disputes.

Democrats could have called people into the streets in large numbers around this; they could have made Barrett so toxic that some Republican senators would back away from her; they could have boycotted and even disrupted the proceedings commensurate with the stakes of what is being deliberated, i.e. a Christian fascist future.

But that’s not what happened—it’s the opposite of what happened. But the fight is far from over, the outcome far from determined! The role of the masses and masses of people who hate what she stands for and the fascist Trump/Pence regime is decisive in this struggle to STOP her nomination—as part of preventing the stealing of the election, and with the goal of driving out this fascist regime.

Before the Judiciary Committee hearings even began, Democrats said that Barrett’s “personal religious views” were off the table. People are entitled to their religious beliefs. But imposing these beliefs—that abortion and many forms of birth control, gay intimacy and gay marriage are an offense against “God,”—on the rest of society, in violation of existing law, and therefore criminalizing these things, is a whole other thing. The latter should automatically disqualify consideration for the Supreme Court.

The Democrats did not touch Barrett’s decades-long membership in People of Praise, a cult-like Christian fascist group which has profoundly influenced her since childhood. More relevant, they did not press her on why she concealed this relationship—first in 2017 and again in the current hearings—by not mentioning People of Praise at all, even in response to questionnaires that instructed her to name all groups or organizations she had belonged to since law school.

Democratic senators did ask some good questions, and got shocking responses... but then they just let Barrett’s answers slide! With a few exceptions, there was hardly any “prosecutorial zeal” from the Democrats, or any sticking to the line of questioning that would have exposed Barrett and further shredded any legitimacy of her being nominated, far less confirmed to the Supreme Court. There was no fight to render this thoroughly illegitimate, either in the content of what Amy Coney Barrett stands for, or in the process of rushing her confirmation through to ensure a fascist majority on the Supreme Court, going into the election and adjudicating on any major elections-related cases.

Barrett said she couldn’t say whether intimidating voters was illegal; whether the president was obligated to peacefully transfer power if he lost the election; whether Trump had the legal power to postpone the election; whether birth control or abortion should remain legal. These were all WTF? moments. Democrats needed to make a big scene about these positions being anathema to democracy and to the rights of women, and that they disqualified her from sitting on the Court.

Then to cap it off, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Dianne Feinstein, ended the hearings by thanking Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, who had presided over this whole travesty like a courtly southern gentleman overseeing a slave auction—smiling, joking, maintaining all the “courtesies,” as people’s lives were shattered. Feinstein said “This has been one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in... Thank you for your leadership.” Then she hugged the mask-less Graham. This was literally nauseating to millions who watched it.

According to the New York Times, referring specifically to constraints on Senator Kamala Harris, the vice-presidential nominee, but applicable more broadly, the Democrats conducted the hearings with the outlook that this was “a fight they will lose in service of one they might win”—conceding in advance that they couldn’t stop Barrett, but hoping that by keeping a low profile they could score a few points and avoid offending anyone. They wanted to avoid any “explosive moments” that might upset so-called “swing voters,” because this might hurt them in the presidential and senate elections. As the Times put it, the “consolation prize for losing the court for a generation... could be winning control of the Senate—and the White House.”

The problem with this strategy—besides the fact that it is probably wrong on its own narrow electoral terms,1 and besides the utter cynicism of viewing basic human rights “for a generation” as “negotiable”—is that the price for losing the Court could well be losing the White House and Senate as well, because a 6-3 fascist majority Supreme Court may end up ruling on who actually holds onto power, irrespective of who actually wins the election.

For more on WHY the Democrats can’t fight Trump the way he needs to be fought, go here to the article by Bob Avakian, “Voting Will Not Be Enough—We Need to Take to the Streets, And Stay in the Streets Demanding Trump/Pence Out Now! Part 1: The Democrats Can’t Fight the Way Trump Needs to Be Fought.”

This is why what IS needed is the masses of people out in the streets, taking up the call of Refuse Fascism to oust this regime from power, to defiantly oppose—and prevent—her confirmation as part of that, as part of defeating Trump’s moves to steal the election in a rolling coup, as part of preventing a Christian fascist majority on the Supreme Court being locked in for the next few decades and imposing their vision on all of society. This—hundreds, possibly thousands in defiant protest, changing the terms and influencing millions—potentially can change the political equation and dynamics wherein the Democrat Senators—and possibly more than a couple of Republicans in the Senate—are compelled to act differently, wherein the powers that be see their overall legitimacy threatened by these moves, and wherein things shake out differently. And we emerge with a vastly different future than the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, the continued rule of the fascist Trump/Pence regime, and its nightmare for humanity! Given the millions who hate and dread this nightmare scenario, it IS possible, the future is unwritten!

 


1. See “The Democrats Can’t Fight Trump The Way He Needs To Be Fought,” by Bob Avakian, for more on this. [back]

People protest at the Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings, October 15. (Photo:@KristinMinkDC)

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/669/what-are-the-christian-fascists-trying-to-hide-about-amy-coney-barrett-en.html

What Are the Christian Fascists Trying to Hide About Amy Coney Barrett?

| revcom.us

 

Editors’ Note: As we go to press, more information continues to come out about how Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, has attempted to hide her history of anti-abortion activity, along with her close and long-standing affiliations with a Christian fascist, mostly Catholic organization, People of Praise (PoP), an effort abetted by the organization itself in scrubbing mentions of her from its website. 

As we wrote upon her nomination, Barrett told graduating law students in 2006 to “always keep in mind that your legal career is but a means to an end... that end is building the kingdom of God.” In addition, in a 1998 law journal article, she took issue with the stance of former Supreme Court Justice William Brennan that in a conflict between his Catholic faith and his duties as a justice, he would be governed by the “oath I took to support the Constitution and the laws of the United States.” i.e., subordinating his religious beliefs to the law, and not allowing it to influence legal interpretation and rulings. Brennan was correctly adhering to the principle of separation of church and state (it is one thing for religious beliefs to inform personal morality, but it is a whole other thing to have it dictate interpretations of the law, applying to all people).

Leading Democrats, instead of leading the fight to expose Barrett’s religion-based misogynistic and oppressive views as part of opposing her confirmation to the Court, have conceded to the Republican position that even to raise questions about this is “anti-Catholic” bigotry. Senators like Blumenthal have said they have “no intention” of questioning Barrett in her upcoming confirmation hearings about her “religious faith or religious affiliation.” This position was echoed by Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, saying there is “ZERO” chance of asking about what he termed her “personal characteristics.”

In a recent interview with The RNL Show, the Pulitzer Prize-winning legal writer Linda Greenhouse warned that America is “hurtling towards theocracy.” This means ending the constitutional “separation of church and state” and imposing the Christian fundamentalist “vision” of “God’s kingdom” on everyone. In that light, recent revelations about Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, and her connections with People of Praise (“PoP”)—a cult-like Christian fundamentalist group—are chilling.

Amy Coney Barrett and the People of Praise

Amy Coney Barrett, now a judge (appointed by Trump in 2017) on the U.S. Court of Appeals, was nominated to the Supreme Court. As we have covered before, this immediately set off alarm bells based on what was then known about her deep adherence to Catholic doctrine opposing all abortions, a vague sense that she had links to PoP and her public record of statements and rulings. 

Since then, it has now further come out that Barrett is much more heavily involved in PoP, and that PoP is even more reactionary and “controlling” than was previously known. And that both she and PoP have systematically and dishonestly tried to hide this relationship.

PoP openly and strongly opposes abortion, as well as gay marriage, but it turns out that is the tip of an iceberg of oppressive ideas and practices.

Based on extensive interviews with present and former members, and examination of PoP documents, the Associated Press reports that PoP was formed in 1971 in conscious opposition to the liberating social and “counterculture movements” of that time which were challenging traditional gender roles and the oppression of women.

In contrast, PoP is built around St. Paul’s biblical instruction that the husband is the “head” of his wife and the wife is to “submit in all things.” According to former members, “[a] married woman is expected always to reflect the fact that she is under her husband’s authority.” This includes “providing sex on demand” to him and being forbidden to use birth control because women should bear “as many babies as God would provide.”

Leadership is hierarchical and male dominated. Some women (until recently known as “handmaids”) are assigned to lead other women, but these handmaids are subordinate to PoP’s all-male leadership. One former member said that she was instructed to share her innermost feelings with her “handmaid”—who then “repeated what she said to the male heads, who would consult her husband on the proper correction.” Members are encouraged to “speak in tongues,” and then their gibberish is “interpreted” by male leaders and “relayed back to the wider group” as guidance.

Almost everyone who remains in the group for more than six years takes an oath (“covenant”), which includes, “We agree to obey the direction of the Holy Spirit manifested in and through these ministries [i.e., PoP] in full harmony with the church.” [Emphasis added.]

Barrett was brought into PoP as a child and has belonged for decades. She and her husband lived in a PoP house while in law school in the 1990s. In 2006 she attended a PoP women’s leadership conference; in 2010 she was a PoP “handmaid.” Her father sat on PoP’s all-male national leadership. Her mother was a handmaid in the New Orleans chapter. Amy Barrett was on the board of a Christian school connected to PoP in which most classes were segregated by gender.

Barrett and People of Praise Deliberately Concealed Their Connections

PoP is clearly an enormous influence in shaping Barrett’s view of the world, and quite possibly her life decisions. And yet:

Despite Barrett telling graduating law students in 2006 to “always keep in mind that your legal career is but a means to an end ... that end is building the kingdom of God,” Republi-fascists claim that even to ask questions about PoP amounts to “anti-Catholic bigotry.” And key Democrats have already capitulated to this, saying they have “no intention” of questioning Barrett about her “religious faith or religious affiliation.” For the Democrats to abandon this line of questioning in advance is indicative of their overall inability and unwillingness to stand up to the fascists—the Christian fascists in particular—and is an urgent reminder of the need not to rely on the Democratic Party or on just voting, but instead for people to take up the call of Refuse Fascism, to be out in the streets in massive and growing numbers to drive out this regime and end this nightmare.

 

"Because of the cataclysmic devastation that the fascist government of Germany wrought on the world, our attention has tended—and rightly so—to focus on the twelve-year period that it was in power. During that period, James Luther Adams—one of the revered theologians of my generation who taught at Chicago and Harvard—went to Germany as was then the tradition among all newly-minted PhDs where he pursued post-doctoral studies. Adams saw the clash of the church with German fascism first-hand. A quarter-century ago, as he watched the emergence of the religious right in this country as a political force dedicated to 'taking back the nation for God,' Adams said to his students that they would find themselves having to fight 'the Christian fascists' in this nation. He warned that the American fascists would not come wearing swastikas and brown shirts. The American variety, he said, would come carrying crosses and chanting the Pledge of Allegiance."

From:

Reflections on Pacific School of Religion's Response to the Religious Right

by Dr. Hubert Locke

Read more

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/667/amy-coney-barrett-on-the-supreme-court-en.html

Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court? A “Home Run” for Fascism and Oppression; an Imminent Threat to Abortion and All Reproductive Rights

| revcom.us

 

Editors’ note as we go to press: In line with the Trump/Pence regime’s full-bore drive towards fascism, the Republi-fascist party is racing to install one of “their people” on the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Trump has nominated Amy Coney Barrett (a judge Trump previously appointed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals).

As we wrote before, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced they—the Nazi-Republicans—intend to immediately appoint another Supreme Court Justice within hours of Ginsburg’s death becoming public. The fact that McConnell in 2016 refused to allow the Senate to even consider Barack Obama’s nominee for a court vacancy on the grounds that such nominees should not even be considered during an election year points to the hypocrisy of the fascists, and their relentless drive to cement into place a fascist—Christian fascist—America. Barrett’s appointment will seal into place a Christian fascist majority on the Supreme Court for decades to come, with an increasingly disproportionate role in setting terms and policies for the country as a whole.

From the fascists’ perspective and goals, there is another immediate-term reason for trying to rush through such an appointment. Hours after Ginsburg’s death, Ted Cruz indicated to the New Yorker that the vote and appointment need to happen before Election Day to “insure a solid conservative majority on the Court and avoid the possibility of a tie in the event of a challenge to the election’s result.” Since then Trump and his fascist lackeys have openly and explicitly doubled down on this rationale, with Trump saying the election “will end up in the Supreme Court, and I think it’s very important that we have nine Justices,” i.e. stacking the odds for a fascist majority that rules in his favor. This is part of their overall strategy of perverting and stealing the election, ensuring the continuity of the Trump/Pence regime.

The belly-crawling capitulation of top Democrats so far has been remarkable.

Soon after the announcement, Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said, “Let me be clear: If Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans move forward with this, then nothing is off the table for next year” (with an implied expectation of a Democratic majority after these elections). For next year!?! The Nazi-Republicans are talking about jamming this appointment through right now, by November 3, and Schumer is talking about next year, i.e. allowing this to go through with no real fight being waged—from procedural blocks at the hands of the Democrats to sitting in and getting arrested on the Senate floor to stop this travesty. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could have shut down the government by blocking funding and leveraging that to slow down the confirmation process. But she took that option off the table, declaring it “harmful and shameful.” What can we do, say the feckless Democrats!

As we go to press, led by Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer, the Democrats are seeking to frame whatever lame-ass opposition they do mount on the likelihood that Barrett would overturn Obamacare; they are NOT doing so on the terms of the right of women to abortion, which Barrett is firmly opposed to, or the fact that, as we show below, she believes that her faith should inform judgments, and the “legal career is but a means to an end ... that end is building the kingdom of God.” The latter alone should automatically disqualify her, but the Democrats have announced that they “don’t want to get personal,” i.e., question her beliefs. This is further evidence and manifestation of what Bob Avakian has said about the Democrats:

In sum, the Democrats, being who and what they are, will not and cannot deal with all this—neither the election, nor the larger situation in which this election is taking place and the profound stakes that are actually involved—in any way other than on the terms, and within the limits, established by this system, which has produced this fascism, and to large degree on the terms set by the fascists themselves.

Fascists—the Christian fascists in particular—are practically jumping for joy about the prospect of Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court and are mobilizing support for the fight for her nomination to be approved by the Senate. In conjunction with the official announcement of her nomination, and rallying for the election ahead, Franklin Graham, the Christian fascist leader, led a march of tens of thousands in Washington saying “the country is in trouble” and the people “need to pray for Donald Trump.” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List, said, “She is the perfect combination of brilliant jurist and a woman who brings the argument to the court that is potentially the contrary to the views of the sitting women justices.” The Associated Press said Barrett “is hailed by religious conservatives and others on the right as an ideological heir to conservative icon Antonin Scalia.” The New York Times said her appointment would be “viewed as a home run by conservative Christians and anti-abortion activists.”

Why are they so excited?

First, Barrett is a polished, appealing, and intelligent female representative of a religious outlook and political program that aims to subjugate women, as well as LGBTQ people.

In 2015, she signed a letter to a Synod [gathering] of Bishops, pledging “fidelity” to “the Doctrines of the Catholic Church,” including specifically “the value of human life from conception to natural death.” (Emphasis added.) This doctrine means that every fertilized egg is a full human being, and therefore every abortion is “murder.”1 In this view the fertilized egg is a “valued human,” but the woman whose body that egg is part of is not; she no longer even has the right to decide whether or not to bear children.

While Barrett has never explicitly called for overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, she has also refused to say that it shouldn’t be overturned, or to say if she thought that abortion is “always immoral.” And in various judicial decisions or dissents that she has written or signed, she has consistently weighed in on the side of outrageous restrictions on abortion rights. This includes several Indiana laws: one requiring girls under 18 to get parental consenteven if a judge had already granted permission; another that would prevent women from aborting severely or even fatally deformed fetuses; and still another requiring the “burial” of fetal remains after an abortion—yet another way of insisting that fetuses are “babies,” and of guilt-tripping women.

Barrett and her husband also reportedly2 belong to a cult-like religious group, “People of Praise,” that practices speaking in tongues, belief in prophecy and divine healing, and whose members try to live near each other. Committed members take a vow of lifelong dedication to the group. People of Praise “teaches that men have authority over their wives,” opposes abortion and same-sex marriage and, until 2018, assigned a “handmaid” as an “advisor” to each female member.

Second, Barrett leans strongly towards treating the law as subordinate to Christian beliefs.

In a 1998 law journal article, she and her co-author argued that Church prohibitions on abortion and euthanasia are “absolute” because they “take away innocent life.” And they indicated they did not agree with a statement by former Supreme Court Justice William Brennan that in a conflict between his Catholic faith and his duties as a justice, he would be governed by “the oath I took to support the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

In a 2006 commencement address at Notre Dame law school (where she taught), she urged students to “always keep in mind that your legal career is but a means to an end ... that end is building the kingdom of God.... [I]f you can keep in mind that your fundamental purpose in life is not to be a lawyer, but to know, love, and serve God, you truly will be a different kind of lawyer.”

The above quotes point to an outlook that subordinates law and the Constitution to religious belief, which should disqualify her from any position on the judiciary, far less on the highest court of the land.

Third, Barrett holds to the legal theory of “originalism.”

Originalism argues that judges should interpret the Constitution according to its “original meaning” to its authors. Given that when the “Founding Fathers” said “All men are created equal,” they did not mean or intend that this should apply to Black or Native people, to women or to gay people, “originalism” obstructs progressive social change. It can also roll back changes that have already taken place: Barrett has said that adherence to precedent (upholding past court decisions) could be “unlawful” if it conflicts with the Constitution’s “original meaning.” This puts Roe v. Wade in direct jeopardy, since the Constitution’s authors certainly were not thinking about abortion rights! And conceivably rulings like Brown v. Board of Education that barred segregation in schools could also be found to be “unlawful.”

Fourth, Barrett seems to almost always find a way—and a well-crafted legal argument—to come down on the cruel and fascistic side of things.

As Slate.com put it, “Barrett has either written or joined a remarkable number of opinions that harm unpopular and powerless individuals who rely on the judiciary to safeguard their rights. Faced with two plausible readings of a law, fact, or precedent, Barrett always seems to choose the harsher, stingier interpretation.”

For instance, she supported a Trump regime rule that disadvantaged green card applicants if they had ever used any public benefit. Barrett argued that this was not an “unreasonable” interpretation of existing law and an effort to spare the public of any “burden.” But she ignored the fact that this rule would be a tremendous burden on immigrants, forcing them to choose between giving up on everything from medical care to school lunches for their kids, or run a strong risk of being disqualified for citizenship. And in 2017 she criticized Chief Justice John Roberts’ vote that prevented the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) from being eliminated, which would have deprived about 20 million people of health insurance. (The upcoming session of the Supreme Court will hear another challenge to ACA and most observers think that given the opportunity, Barrett would vote to end it.)

Conclusion

And all this is only scratching the surface. The fascists have good reason to want to see Barrett on the Court—and everybody else has extremely good reason to work to prevent that, most centrally by driving out the Trump/Pence regime as a whole.

 


1. This letter also upheld the doctrines of “the significance of sexual difference and the complementarity of men and women ... and on marriage and family founded on the indissoluble commitment of a man and a woman”—i.e., implicit support for the subordinate position of women in society, and explicit opposition to same-sex marriage.  [back]

2. This was reported by the New York Times in 2017. Neither Barrett nor the People of Praise have ever confirmed—or denied—the report. It is generally accepted as true even by her allies.  [back]

See also:

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

by Bob Avakian

Read more

and

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

by Bob Avakian

Read more

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/uniting-with-the-womens-march-and-driving-out-this-fascist-regime-en.html

Snap correspondence from the Women’s March in Washington, DC

“Finding Our People”... Uniting with the Women’s March and Driving Out this Fascist Regime

| revcom.us

 

From a member of Refuse Fascism and the National Revolution Tour

Thousands of people poured out to the Women’s March in Washington, DC

RefuseFascism.org was there with hundreds of organizing packets, a very vibrant Handmaid’s Tale Contingent wearing Trump/Pence Out Now signs on their persons. Lots of new people stepped into the powerful handmaids contingent—college students, people who came from different parts of the country, mothers who came with their daughters. The streets of DC rang out with the chant “Women Are Not Incubators, Trump/Pence Out Now! We got to get in the streets and stay in the streets. Trump/Pence Out Now!” It was a sight to be seen and a magnetic force for everyone who felt a deep desire to see the regime removed. We advocated very powerfully at the beginning for why voting is essential but voting is not enough when Trump is stealing the election and packing the courts—we must take to the streets and stay. Almost everyone took the flyer, took the stickers, bought Out Now! sweatshirts, etc. Horns were honking in the street.

One person was saying how heavy their heart was after seeing everything that was happening with Amy Coney Barrett and that they were thinking of not coming, and when they found out we were going to be there—felt very heartened and like she had “found their people.” Another person was saying that she agreed that Trump was stealing the elections, and was concerned about this nominee but thought that all we could do was “pack the Senate” i.e. vote Democratic senators in—and so it was important to walk through the message on the flyer that we will inspire millions more to join this struggle until those in power, to stem the rising tide of protest, are compelled to concede to our single demand that this regime must go. There were some who wanted to know what we were doing this week and were concerned that waiting until October 24 would be too late and there were people asking when they should come back to DC.

Another woman with NOW (National Organization of Women) said that she is very concerned about Trump stealing the election but at the same time felt pretty certain Biden would win. People were so grateful to meet us, and one volunteer who had been handing out flyers all week felt the response was totally different, wide-eyed and really listening to what the meeting was gonna be about and where it was gonna be, what group is this about—saying “this is the only group I know that is working to get Trump/Pence out before the election because he is trying to steal the election.” And there were people intrigued that there was a group like that with a plan to move on that action—this was a resounding theme from people running up to get stickers, saying, “I’ve been trying to get one of these and what do I do?” People were listening very carefully to us—and you could see the gears turn. Also people were very much confronting this Christian theocracy and what this was gonna mean for women. One woman said in Iran women had rights and then they didn’t, people think it can’t happen here but it can and it is. People were also referencing others countries like Chile and Hong Kong where they have driven out hated regimes.

There were also people who joined who talked about how they came from Christian fundamentalist families and how much shame and guilt they were raised with, and there are a lot of people who have watched The Handmaid’s Tale and were seeing the parallels and were very frightened about what this was gonna mean. It was also very intense for people to be in front of the Supreme Court with all these anti-choice people and then chanting “Women Are Not Incubators, Trump/Pence Out Now!” This was when people really got the most intense and spirited.

There were also people who knew exactly what we meant by “take to the streets and stay” and were like, “sign me up.” And then there were others who were having a hard time wrapping their minds around this—one woman saying that if we are in the streets, they are gonna call us rioters and looters and we will lose the swing vote, and make Trump come after us. Others from states where the voter suppression has already begun—like Charlottesville where tens of thousands of ballots have been considered “invalid”—and so are putting their energy into making phone calls so that people know their ballots are invalid because they don’t know that their votes haven’t been counted.

All this makes clear how it is really important for us to use and hone the argument that is in the revcom.us article “When YOU Take the Streets...

 

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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/669/refuse-fascism-los-angeles-en.html

“I felt like I was a caged animal”

Dramatic Action in Downtown Los Angeles as Part of Daily Protests Demanding Trump/Pence Out Now!

| revcom.us

 

As immigrants are STILL being tortured in ICE jails and children are STILL separated from their parents, and traumatized for life...

As news comes out that these family separations were not some accidental byproduct of Trump’s immigration policy, but very DELIBERATELY ordered by Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice...

As multiple allegations come out from a Georgia ICE jail about medical procedures being done to women without consent, even removing their uteruses...

And ICE begins mass raids targeting sanctuary cities across the country...

Refuse Fascism in Los Angeles launched a powerful, 48-hour dramatic action on Friday and Saturday, October 9-10, against the Trump/Pence regime’s attacks on immigrants. They called out the parallels between what’s happening to immigrants—demonization, criminalization, concentration camps—and what happened to Jews in Nazi Germany, and sounded the alarm about the beginning stages of a racist genocide. They issued a wake-up call to people in this country to stop “getting used to” kids in cages and babies being pulled from their parents’ arms, letting yesterday’s outrage become today’s new normal—because that is exactly how the German people became complicit collaborators with Nazi atrocities.

Most importantly, they gave people a way to stop these atrocities, by joining the people’s movement, in the streets every day in LA and nationwide, to drive this this regime from power. They challenged people with the truth: Voting to defeat Trump is important. But voting is not enough. They are torturing immigrants NOW. They are appointing a fundamentalist Supreme Court judge NOW. They are recruiting an “army” of “poll watchers” to intimidate voters NOW. They are preparing NOW to hijack the election and unleash MAGA thugs, in and out of uniform, to enforce it. That’s why Refuse Fascism is mobilizing NOW, to overwhelm them with mass, nonviolent, sustained protest, demanding Trump/Pence OUT NOW.

At Pershing Square in downtown LA, volunteers stepped up to build cages to represent the ICE jails our immigrant brothers and sisters are held captive in. Others volunteered to spend an hour or two in the cages. At one point, two children got inside the cages. On the second day, new volunteers wore bloody pants inside the cages to represent the immigrant women in Georgia. This was a visually jarring and moving experience for the people who were part of it, and for people walking by.

Here are some sights and sounds from this dramatic protest, and some excerpts of statements from people who were part of it.

 

Andy Zee, DISPATCH FROM THE RNL SHOW —
48 Hours of Dramatic Visualization in Downtown LA — Trump/Pence OUT NOW!


Photos: October 9 & 10, Los Angeles, California. Refuse Fascism launched a powerful dramatic action against the Trump/Pence regime's attacks on immigrants.

 

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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/670/planet-cannot-survive-four-more-years-of-trump-part-1-en.html

| revcom.us

 

The Planet Cannot Survive Four More Years of Trump!

Part 1: The Great Barrier Reef and the Amazon


Bleached coral, the Great Barrier Reef

 

Editors' Note: We received the following from a reader—the first in a series on the destruction of the planet's ecosystems that has been brought to new levels of devastation and danger under the Trump/Pence regime.

Whole regions of the planet—ecosystems—are on the verge of collapse as a result of climate change driven by emissions of fossil fuels and other forms of ecological destruction due to the capitalist-imperialist system.

An ecosystem is an interdependent region that includes all the living organisms in an area (from bacteria to humans), as well as the physical environment. Taking out individual species and groups of species can unravel ecosystems, some of which have existed in relative balance for thousands or even millions of years.

Ecosystems impact each other and the entire global system. Collapses can cascade like dominoes. We are confronted not only with the collapse of whole ecosystems but the cascading impact on Earth’s global ecosystem and the transformation to a different kind of planet that could even threaten human existence.

Several recent studies have found that ecosystem collapse could happen sooner than scientists had previously estimated. The studies argue that once the loss of a large ecosystem, such as the Amazon, reaches a certain level, collapse may happen even more quickly than in a small system. John Dearing, who led one of the recent studies, said: “The messages here are stark. We need to prepare for changes in our planet’s ecosystems that are faster than we previously envisaged.”

Capitalism has ravaged and destroyed the environment since its beginnings, and in recent decades this has threatened the natural underpinnings of human society. Trump has thrown gasoline on an already raging fire. He has pulled out of the Paris climate accord. He dismisses the science of global warming. He is expanding extraction of fossil fuels, eliminating restrictions on coal power plants and automobile emissions, mocking green alternatives to fossil fuels, auctioning off pristine wilderness to oil companies, and much more. And all of this has global impact.

This series will look at parts of the world that are under imminent threat.

 


1. Great Barrier Reef


A variety of corals form an outcrop on Flynn Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef near Cairns, Queensland, Australia, 2010. Photo: Toby Hudson (Wikimedia Commons)


Dead staghorn coral killed by bleaching on the northern Great Barrier Reef, November 2016. Photo: Greg Torda, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies/Creative Commons

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest single structure made of living organisms. It has one of the richest diversities of species on the entire planet with 1,500 species of fish, 400 species of coral, 4,000 species of mollusks, and 240 species of birds.

In 2020, for the third time in the last five years, the Great Barrier Reef has been damaged by coral bleaching. Rising ocean temperatures cause vibrant reefs to become ghostly skeletons. It can take years or decades for a coral to recover from a single bleaching, and repeated bleaching often kills reefs. The frequency of coral bleaching has increased dramatically over the last 40 years.


Map of the Great Barrier Reef. Rice University, Coral Reefs Blog.

About 50 percent of all corals that make up the Great Barrier Reef are dead. A single major bleaching in 2016 killed 33 percent of corals. The bleaching in 2020 was significant because for the first time the southern reef, where waters are cooler, was damaged. The full extent of loss from this recent bleaching will not be known until scientists explore the area next year.

“We are all in shock really at how quick this has happened. Three severe bleaching events in five years is not something we anticipated happening until the middle of the century,” said Terry Hughes, director of the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University.

Other coral reefs are also in danger of imminent collapse. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that a 1.5 degree Celsius rise (over pre-industrial levels) in global temperatures will kill 90 percent of the world’s coral. We are currently at 1 degree and, at current rates, we will reach 1.5 degree within a decade. Even if all burning of fossil fuels stopped today, the ocean would continue to warm for 30-40 years.

Coral reef ecosystems are foundational to the life and health of ocean ecosystems. In his important book The Uninhabitable Earth, author David Wallace-Wells speaks to the importance of the coral reefs to oceans as a whole: “Reefs support as much as a quarter of all marine life, and provide food and income for half a billion people.” (p. 96)

 


2. Amazon Rainforest


Amazon rainforest


Endangered species of tree frog (Agalychnis hulli) from Reserva Ecológica Tamandua, Ecuador. One of many unique species in the Amazon. Photo: Andreas Kay Flikr/Creative Commons

The Amazon rainforest is often called the lungs of the planet because it puts so much oxygen into the atmosphere. It is one of the most biologically diverse regions of the world, home to one in ten known species of plants and animals. It contains one-fifth of Earth’s supply of fresh water. It also absorbs about five percent of the carbon dioxide that is emitted annually from the burning of fossil fuels.

Since 1970, more than one-fifth of the land in the Amazon has been lost, much of it by fires deliberately set to clear ground for ranching and gold mining. The burning of the Amazon has been enabled by Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro (a close ally of Trump). International financial institutions, such as BlackRock, are major investors involved in this.


Children flee a fire in the Amazon.


Satellite view of Amazon rainforest in December 2019. By 2020 between 15 and 17 percent of the Amazon rainforest was destoyed by fires. More than 20% of the rainforest has been clearcut. If the amount of cleared forest land reaches 25%, there may not be enough trees cycling moisture through the rainforest to keep it alive

In 2019, fires in the Amazon sparked international outrage. The 2020 fires have been even larger. In September, satellites recorded a 61 percent rise compared with the same month in 2019.

Reduction in the size of the land in the Amazon threatens the very existence of the entire rainforest. Some researchers estimate that with continued global warming (which is changing the climate required by the forests) and continued fires, we could soon reach a point where the destruction cannot be stopped.

The results of a collapse of the Amazon rainforest would be horrific. Tens of thousands of species would become extinct, weather patterns over much of South America would change. Thirty million people may be forced to migrate, including three million indigenous people. And this will greatly accelerate the process of climate change globally as tens of billions of tons of carbon held in the rainforest would be released into the atmosphere.

 


Trump’s Threat to the Planet

The capitalist-imperialist system cares nothing for the rich diversity of life on the planet, the complex web of systems that make up the natural world. If it cannot turn it into money and use it to dominate its rivals it has no value. To cite a recent example, a recent United Nations reportGlobal Biodiversity Outlook 5, found that of 20 biodiversity targets set by world leaders in Aichi, Japan, 10 years ago, not a single one has been met!

The Trump/Pence regime represents an immediate and urgent threat. As revcom.us has said, “If fascism fully takes hold in the most powerful country in the world, this could lead to a catastrophe from which humanity may not be able to recover.” A second Trump presidency would pour even more gasoline on a planet already "on fire" and headed toward catastrophe due to global climate change and its destructive impacts.

We must stop this catastrophe. We must be in the streets in sufficient numbers to force the Trump/Pence regime from office and prevent it from consolidating fascism. And we need to overthrow the capitalist-imperialist system and put in place a system of socialism moving onto communism that is based on, among other things, “Protecting, preserving, and enhancing the ecosystems and biodiversity of the planet for current and future generations.” (from the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America, authored by Bob Avakian)

Part 2 of this series will look at the Arctic and boreal forests.

 

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/548/science-of-evolution-philosophical-relativism-en.html

“BUT HOW CAN WE EVER BE SURE ANYTHING IS TRUE?”: SUCH PHILOSOPHICAL RELATIVISM OFFERS CREATIONISTS EASY PICKINGS

June 18, 2018 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

Following is an excerpt from The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: Knowing What’s Real and Why It Matters by Ardea Skybreak, published in 2006.

It’s important to think about how you can tell whether something is really true or not. What are the methods and approaches which can be used for getting at the truth and distinguishing it from falsehood? Without a basic grasp of these approaches and methods it’s easy to fall into accepting just about any lie or falsehood, especially if it seems to be put forward with conviction by people in positions of power and influence (governments, religious authorities, TV personalities, and so on).

It’s good to have a critical mind and to question everything. But then again it’s also important to recognize when at least the basic truth of something has already been clearly established. If human beings always went around thinking that “nothing is ever sure,” how could we ever survive or get anything done? Should we walk in front of a moving bus because “we can’t ever really know for sure” whether we’ll get run over? Should we not bother setting an alarm clock because we “can’t ever know for sure” that it will ring, or that it even really exists, or that we really exist and have a reason to get up? These examples may seem silly, but they make the point that, even just to function in day-to-day life, we human beings really need to have some way, some approach and method, which can help us to determine when something is actually true (or false).

Of course we’ll never have absolute truth—in the sense that we’ll never know everything there is to know about everything—but we do have some means and methods for getting to the point that we can say, with a high degree of confidence, that something is true—meaning that it actually corresponds to some aspect of material reality as it really is.

Again, the point is that it’s good and important to question everything, but it’s also good and important to recognize that not everything is forever up for grabs—sometimes we can know enough about something to accept it as true, stop agonizing about it, and move on. Such is the case with the basic theory of evolution.

But a lot of people in the United States today still don’t realize that we can be that sure about evolution. Anti-evolution and anti-science Christian fundamentalist Creationists have worked to confuse people’s thinking on this since the late 19th century, typically becoming particularly active and aggressive in times of social turmoil and when the overall direction of society is being broadly questioned and debated. It’s especially at such times that reactionaries resist all forms of social progress and call instead for looking backward and “restoring core values and traditions.” Today is no exception.

The Creationists have waged such determined anti-evolution and anti-science campaigns in recent years that U.S. universities are now reporting that they are getting very worried about growing scientific illiteracy in the country as a whole as they notice that more and more freshmen are arriving on campuses so poorly trained in even basic science that they actually believe “the scientific community is divided on whether evolution happened” and that “evolution is still just an unproven theory.” To state it clearly again: both those notions are completely false. The scientific community (in the U.S. and worldwide and in every field of science) is not “divided” on the basic facts of evolution. The consensus is overwhelming that (a) life has definitely evolved and that (b) the basic mechanisms involved in how life evolved and continues to evolve (such as natural selection) are by now well understood.

The “Theory of Evolution”—What a Scientific Theory Is

As for the question of evolution being “just an unproven theory”: this is also false. As spoken to throughout this book, there is an incredible amount of accumulated and mutually reinforcing evidence for evolution, and the general scientific consensus is that the theory of evolution is among the best-proven and best-documented theories in all of science.

But one of the favorite methods of the Creationists is to play on people’s ignorance and confusion about some basic words: in regular everyday English, the word “theory” often means “a guess” or something that has not been proven to be true. So the Creationists hope that when you hear the words “theory of evolution” you will automatically think it hasn’t yet been proven to be true. But, in scientific circles, the word “theory” has a very different meaning: a “scientific theory” is what scientists call a complex body of thought that ties together a number of different ideas and proposals which successfully explain—from a number of different angles—the basic principles and mechanisms involved in a natural process, such as the origins and later change and development of some part of actual material reality. So, for instance, scientists talk about the “theory of gravitation” or the “Copernican theory” (of the motion of the planets, including the earth, around the sun) but that doesn’t mean they’re “guessing” that objects fall towards the earth because of the pull of gravity or that they’re “guessing” that the earth goes around the sun rather than the other way around. The theory of gravitation and the Copernican theory are by now well documented and supported by the accumulated scientific evidence, and the same can be said of the scientific theory of evolution.

Of course scientific theories are always being further extended and developed as human knowledge expands and comes to understand some things that we didn’t previously understand. And as knowledge develops, it is inevitably the case that some old ideas are discovered to be wrong and therefore need to be discarded. Science actually advances by calling into question and critically reviewing previously established scientific notions. It is true that there is always going to be more to learn and discover about everything. But that doesn’t mean that we can never come down and say that something is true. People who like to say things like “but you can never be sure” fall into the mistaken outlook and approach known as philosophical relativism. (Of course, since human knowledge is never complete and perfect, and is always developing, people who think and act like they have “absolute truth” about everything, or everything important, fall into the erroneous method known as dogmatism, which is the “flip-side” of relativism.) But when we say something is “true” it simply means that there is good, compelling and concrete evidence (preferably from a number of different and mutually reinforcing sources and directions) that our understanding of something actually does closely correspond to how that something really is in objective reality, that is, in the real material world—which includes all that is part of the natural world and which encompasses the features and workings of human social organization as well. (See “Reality and Distortions of Reality—Objective Truth and Subjective Influences” on page 216.)

Scientific theories (whether pertaining to the world of nature or human society) do not get proven to be “true” overnight. Before any great idea or set of ideas can be confidently said to be “true,” it has to get put through the scientific crucible—that means it gets poked at and critiqued and challenged and tested over and over again and from countless different directions. A good scientific theory puts forward some predictions about what we should expect to find in the real world if the theory is true; and it also makes predictions about some of the things we should not be able to find in the world if the theory is true. This is known as the principle of “scientific falsifiability”: a genuine scientific theory, as a matter of principle, has to be capable of being disproved by facts (things which, if discovered, would prove your theory to be wrong). The theory of evolution could be falsified (proven wrong) if, for instance, fossilized dinosaur and human footprints were ever found in the same undisturbed rock layers, because that would mean dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time, and this would completely contradict everything we know about how and when different species evolved. Biologists can give many such examples of the kinds of things that—if they were ever found to exist—would make a complete shambles of evolutionary theory. So, like all good scientific theories, the theory of evolution is falsifiable in principle—but, as a point of fact, science has never found anything (not a single thing) that actually falsifies it. It has, however, found many, many things that support it.

The theory of divine Creation is a religious belief, not a scientific theory. One of the sure signs of that is that the theory of divine Creation is, by its very nature and definition, impossible to falsify. The Creationists refuse to give people any examples of any kind of scientific discoveries that they could accept as proof that their divine Creation theory is wrong after all. They make a principle of this, because for them it is a matter of absolute religious faith. But if you make a principle of saying that there is no possible way that any information could ever come to light that would prove your theory wrong, then you are, by definition, not being scientific, and your theory has nothing to do with science!

Again, the theory of evolution was, from its very beginnings, falsifiable as a matter of principle. But as it turns out, all the actual scientific data that has been collected in the nearly century and a half since Darwin published his major work on evolution has repeatedly supported the theory of biological evolution; and none of it has ever provided evidence to the contrary. This more than anything is why there is such a broad and solid scientific consensus on the matter.

RECOGNIZE, DEMAND AND FIGHT FOR SCIENTIFIC TRUTH

Throughout this book, it has been shown, from many different angles and different sources, that evolution is a well-established scientific truth which is upheld and applied by the vast majority of scientists in the world. But just because something is true doesn’t mean it will prevail at all times, especially when people who hold false views are able to wield or influence the machinery of the state to spread and impose those false views. People don’t always think about this enough. For instance, in the United States today there are some people who understand that evolution is a proven fact but who think that it’s just a waste of time to worry about the crazy Creationists because, after all, they’re not going to be able to change the fact that evolution is true. They seem to think that, at least in countries like the U.S., society “will never go back to a time when most people didn’t know life had evolved through natural processes”—so why waste energy addressing the creationist lunacy? But in my opinion it’s a serious mistake to be complacent about such aspects of the “culture wars” in the United States. I’ve heard the same argument made about the anti-abortion movement. (“Don’t worry, these people are nuts; women in the U.S. will never have to go back to the days when abortion was illegal and women did not have the right to determine whether or when they would bear a child.”) Oh yeah? Well, look around you—one step at a time the fundamentalist religious forces have managed to chip away at women’s fundamental right to control their own reproduction and in some parts of the country (especially rural areas) it has already become a practical impossibility for many women. In regard to evolution, the same types of fundamentalist reactionaries have managed to confuse a lot of people, take over school boards and even get disclaimers inserted into high school science textbooks, telling people that evolution is “controversial” and “an unproven theory” (it is not!). So why is it so hard to imagine that these people could make even further headway, especially when their right-wing political programs are the order of the day in the highest reaches of government?

And it’s not like there isn’t still a strong material basis for lots of people to be ignorant and confused about this. Looking not only at the U.S. but at the world as a whole, it is still the case that tremendous numbers of people have never been taught even the most basic facts of evolution (many have never even heard of it!): most believe instead one or another myth or superstition about how all the plants and animals and people came to be. Furthermore, the aggressively expanding Christian fundamentalist movement is a well-funded and well-organized movement which gets significant financial and ideological backing from conservative and reactionary political organizations. Evangelical and fundamentalist Christian movements in the United States in particular are closely allied with the political Right and growing fascist trends and developments (think back to the Santorum Amendment, for instance). Thanks to this support, Creationists have significant and regular access to mainstream media, where their viewpoints and activities are often reported uncritically and as straight news. They also own or control a lot of media outlets themselves: their radio and TV programs, books, pamphlets, museum exhibits, professional-looking web sites (just do a web search for the word “creationism” or look up the web sites of the ICR [Institute for Creation Research] or the Discovery Institute) now reach (and no doubt confuse) millions of people. They have money and other resources that allow them to regularly send speakers on tour to address school boards and parents’ groups, to speak on college campuses and in courtrooms, and to address Congress and other government officials. And, as pointed out before, they have powerful ties right up to the highest levels of the ruling class in American society.

Can a well-orchestrated and well-funded propaganda blitz in itself “reverse” the truth of evolution? Of course not. But it can do a lot of social damage by training legions of people (including the young and inexperienced) to firmly and zealously believe in completely wrong ideas and to increasingly reject not only evolution but even science more generally, as a method for learning about things and for transforming the world.

Of course the government, military and big corporate sectors themselves have to regularly make use of actual science to carry out their objectives (they need science to help them wage their wars or develop new pharmaceuticals, for instance), so they are not about to throw all science out the window. They will need to allow at least some people to continue to be trained in actual scientific principles and methods and to learn some actual truths about the way things are in reality—otherwise they could not continue to function and to enforce their rule and domination in the world. But that doesn’t mean they have to let everyone in on it!

For one thing, reactionary political forces have always found it useful to try to pass off as genuine “science” all sorts of completely false and non-scientific beliefs when it helps them to justify a reactionary political agenda: it should be enough to think for a minute about all the phony “scientific” theories of supposed racial or gender inferiority (phony “science,” which rested on absolutely no legitimate scientific evidence!) which have been used repeatedly to buttress and justify such things as the horrific enslavement of Africans, the Nazi extermination of Jews, the countless forcible restrictions on and coercion of women, and so on. So just because an idea is not true, and a whole lot of people know it is not true, doesn’t mean it can’t be put in the service of concretely aiding some very bad things!

In short, don’t underestimate the damage that can be done by the unchallenged promotion of wrong ideas, especially when they are being presented as “scientific.” What the Creationists of different stripes are doing by packaging their religious beliefs as “science” is not just trying to make their beliefs more acceptable to a somewhat scientifically oriented public, or trying to get their religious teachings into the public schools even though the Constitution is supposed to guarantee that people in the U.S. are not subjected to the imposition of religious doctrine and the tyranny of religious clerics and diktats. What the creationist program is also doing is working to undermine science itself—the whole method of science and the whole way science trains and encourages people to learn about everything in the world (and also how to change it) through a process of systematic and repeated observations and interactions with the material world as it actually is.

If the creationist frontal attack on science itself were ultimately successful it would set science back literally centuries and limit us to trying to understand and affect the world (or passively accept the way it is) on the basis of superstition and belief in the supernatural.

So what can people, in particular those who are not professional scientists, do to better understand what is wrong and untrue about what the Creationists put forward? The accompanying insert, “Some Things You Can Do to Learn More about Creationist Lies and Distortions” on page 222 offers some suggestions and indicates important sources of information.

Order from Insight Press

The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: Knowing What's Real and Why It Matters, by Ardea Skybreak

The Science of Evolution
and the Myth of Creationism

Knowing What's Real and Why It Matters

by Ardea Skybreak

"This book will be of tremendous benefit to many..."
– Richard Leakey

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/american-crime-9-1919-massacre-of-black-sharecroppers-in-elaine-arkansas-en.html

American Crime

Case #9: The 1919 Massacre of Black Sharecroppers in Elaine, Arkansas

| revcom.us

 

Bob Avakian has written that one of three things that has “to happen in order for there to be real and lasting change for the better: People have to fully confront the actual history of this country and its role in the world up to today, and the terrible consequences of this.” (See “3 Things that have to happen in order for there to be real and lasting change for the better.”)

In that light, and in that spirit, “American Crime” is a regular feature of revcom.us. Each installment focuses on one of the 100 worst crimes committed by the U.S. rulers—out of countless bloody crimes they have carried out against people around the world, from the founding of the U.S. to the present day.

American Crime

See all the articles in this series.

THE CRIME

On the night of September 30, 1919, 100 or so Black sharecroppers crowded into a small church in Phillips County, Arkansas, three miles outside the town of Elaine. They were meeting with a white attorney from Little Rock to explore legal means of preventing white plantation owners from forcing them to sell their crops to the owners at below-market rates and to buy food and other supplies at price-gouging plantation-run stores, creating a cycle of constant debt. But this meeting soon became the flash point for one of the bloodiest massacres of Black people in U.S. history.

About six months before the meeting, the sharecroppers had joined the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America, formed in 1918 by a Black tenant farmer and WW1 army veteran. Black veterans formed the backbone of the union and many of them were at the September 30 meeting. They returned from the war militant and ready to fight for the rights they were told they had been fighting for in Europe, refusing to accept the inequalities, injustices, and brutality of a white supremacist society.

The whites of Elaine panicked when they heard Black sharecroppers were joining a union. They formed a local chapter of the American Legion and stored arms and ammunition in the local courthouse. By the night of September 30, tensions were at a boil. Fearing an attack, the Black union members at the church stationed armed guards outside. At about 11 pm, three white men emerged from the darkness, shining a flashlight on the church. One of them asked the guards, “Going coon hunting, boys?” A gunfight broke out. Who fired first is unclear, but when the gunfire stopped, one of the white men lay dead, another had been wounded. The third fled back to Elaine, reporting on the shooting. A local sheriff called on white people to “hunt Mr. Nigger in his lair.” By the next morning, mobs of armed white men, numbering in the hundreds, perhaps as many as a thousand, and some from as far away as Mississippi and Tennessee, had poured into the county. What ensued was a massive massacre, continuing for three days.

By the end of the first day, the mobs had murdered many Black people. They cut off the ears and toes of some of the dead and dragged their bodies through the streets of Elaine. On October 2, about 600 all-white federal troops arrived in Phillips County, ostensibly to stop the bloodshed. They did anything but. Many of the Black people from Elaine and the surrounding area had fled into the nearby woods, where the troops were given orders “to shoot everything that showed up.” One of the troops bragged that they “were shooting them down like rabbits.” The troops interrogated a captured Black man, found him to be “extremely insolent,” poured gasoline on him, set him on fire and, for good measure, shot him numerous times. Meanwhile, the mobs continued to hunt down Black people, killing many in the countryside around Elaine. The killing was indiscriminate—men, women, and children were all slaughtered. Five whites were also killed amidst the violence as some of the attacked Black people fought back.

By massacre’s end, more than 200 Black people were dead; some historians and others estimate the number as considerably higher. Many bodies were left to rot in the Mississippi River or cane fields.

After the massacre, nearly 300 Black people were arrested, with 122 charged by a Phillips County grand jury for crimes related to the “race riots.” Not a single white was arrested or prosecuted, but 12 Black union members were charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to death, held accountable for the five whites who had been killed. “The 12 men accused of leading the ‘conspiracy’ were tortured,” said David F. Krugler, author of 1919, The Year of Racial Violence: How African Americans Fought Back. “They had formaldehyde stuffed up their noses. They used electrical shocks on their genitals. They were brought to court in chains and not allowed to see an attorney. They were quickly convicted and sentenced to death within minutes.” Fearing a death sentence, 65 others who had been arrested entered plea bargains and accepted up to 21 years imprisonment for second-degree murder.

The NAACP, led by attorney Scipio Africanus Jones, and other civil rights groups intervened in the “Elaine Twelve” case, as it became known, bringing national attention to the men and helping to expose what really happened in those first few days of October 1919. In February 1923, some four years after the massacre, the Supreme Court decided in favor of the Elaine Twelve, ruling that they had been denied due process and that their sham trial had been influenced by a white mob that had gathered outside the courthouse. Eventually the men won their release, with the last of the 12 freed on January 14, 1925.

THE CRIMINALS

The racist mobs who inflicted great horror on the Black people of Elaine.

Arkansas Governor Charles Brough, who, with the approval of Secretary of War Newton Baker, called in the nearly 600 soldiers from nearby Camp Pike who joined with the mobs, local police, and other whites in the murderous attacks.

Colonel Isaac Jenks, commander of the soldiers. Years earlier, Jenks led troops in the genocidal wars against Native Americans in the West. Told by local whites that Elaine’s Black people were killing white planters and their families, Jenks ordered his soldiers to “kill any negro who refuses to surrender immediately.”

The local and national press. Even as the mobs were marauding and murdering, the Gazette, the state’s leading newspaper, blared in a headline that “NEGROES PLAN TO KILL WHITES,” and the accompanying article declared that the “Slaughter was to begin with 21 prominent white men as the first victims.” The national press was no better. On October 3, the New York Times “reported” that the “trouble [was] traced to socialist agitators.” Three days later, the Times ran a story headlined “PLANNED MASSACRE OF WHITES TODAY: Negroes Seized in Arkansas Riots Confess to Widespread Plot Among Them.”

THE ALIBI

The country was told that the Black people of Phillips County had planned a large-scale “uprising,” an “insurrection,” to overthrow the white plantation owners, take their land, and rape the women. In the days immediately following the massacre, an all-white, seven-man committee was formed to “investigate” the killings. In short order, they issued a statement in the Arkansas Democrat that the gathering at the church was engaging in a “deliberately planned insurrection of the negroes against the whites,” led by the union’s founders who used “ignorance and superstition of a race of children for monetary gains.”

THE REAL MOTIVE

With the end of World War 1 in 1918, many Black veterans of the U.S. military returned with a defiant spirit and were less willing to tolerate open Jim Crow humiliation and brutality. This was in the context of major economic, social, and political changes taking place in society—and the need that the U.S. rulers faced to maintain the brutal oppression of Black people and the whole white supremacist hierarchy on which American society was built, under new conditions.

In the South, whites were frightened by Black people’s expression of a new self-confidence and willingness to challenge the entire apparatus of vicious white planters, racist sheriffs, and the KKK. Black veterans in particular, like those who formed the backbone of the union in Phillips County, Arkansas, were seen as a major threat to Jim Crow and racial subordination. The New York Times lamented the new Black militancy: “There had been no trouble with the Negro before the war when most admitted the superiority of the white race.”

At the same time, this period witnessed the beginning of the Great Migration—thousands of Black people fled brutal Jim Crow laws and terror in the rural South to find jobs and new lives in cities of the North. But there they encountered both super-exploitation, as the lowest-paid workers in the worst jobs, and racial hostilities and pogroms, as many whites viewed them as competitors for jobs, homes, and political power.

In the year 1919 alone, in just the few months that became known as “Red Summer,” there were more than two dozen racist riots and white mob actions across the country. Hundreds of Black people were killed and thousands were injured and forced to flee their homes. In the period 1917-23, at least 97 lynchings were recorded, thousands of Black people were killed, and thousands of Black-owned homes and businesses were burned to the ground. The massacres occurred in large cities both south and north, including Washington, DC; Chicago, Illinois; Omaha, Nebraska; Charleston, South Carolina; Houston, Texas; and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Nor should we forget the hundreds murdered in the small town of Elaine, Arkansas.

 

SOURCES

1919, The Year of Racial Violence: How African Americans Fought Back, David F. Krugler, Cambridge University Press, 2014.

On the Laps of Gods: The Red Summer of 1919 and the Struggle for Justice That Remade a Nation, Robert Whitaker, Broadway Books, 2009.

The Elaine Massacre and Arkansas: A Century of Atrocity and Resistance, 1819-1919, Guy Lancaster (ed.), Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, 2018.

The Ghosts of Elaine, Arkansas, 1919,” Jerome Karabel, New York Review of Books, September 30, 2019.

The Massacre of Black Sharecroppers That Led the Supreme Court to Curb the Racial Disparities of the Justice System,” Francine Uenuma, Smithsonian Magazine, August 2, 2018.

Remembering ‘Red Summer,’ when white mobs massacred Blacks from Tulsa to D.C.,” Deneen L. Brown, National Geographic, June 19, 2020.

Overview: The Elaine Race Massacre, Red Summer in Arkansas,” Dr. Brian Mitchell, UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture, 2019.

Elaine, Arkansas Riot (1919),” Weston W. Cooper, BLACKPAST, September 30, 2018.

Posse of whites gather to attack Black sharecroppersThe whites of Elaine panicked when they heard Black sharecroppers were joining a union. They formed a local chapter of the American Legion and stored arms and ammunition in the local courthouse. Here a posse of whites gather on September 30. Photo: Arkansas State Archives

200 Black people dead, 300 arrested, 122 charged; no whites arrestedBy massacre's end, more than 200 Black people were dead. After the massacre, nearly 300 Black people were arrested, with 122 charged by a Phillips County grand jury for crimes related to the "race riots." Not a single white was arrested or prosecuted. Photo: Arkansas State Archives

Inflammatory ad that appeared in the local newspapers.Inflammatory ad that appeared in the local newspapers.

Arkansas Governor Charles Brough called in the nearly 600 soldiersAmong the real criminals responsible for this massacre, Arkansas Governor Charles Brough (shown here speaking to the whites of Elaine) called in the nearly 600 soldiers from nearby Camp Pike, who joined with the mobs, local police, and other whites in the murderous attacks.

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/riding-your-bike-while-black-or-latino-can-get-you-shot-by-the-pigs-en.html

Riding Your Bike While Black or Latino Can Get You Shot by the Pigs

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On August 31, 29-year-old Dijon Kizzee was murdered in cold blood by members of the LA Sheriff’s Department (LASD). They had stopped Kizzee for riding his bike on the wrong side of the street. Kizzee ran away on foot, yelling, “They’re going to kill me.” The pigs fired 15 shots into Kizzee’s back—continuing to shoot even after Kizzee had fallen still. People took to the streets for weeks protesting this vicious murder. (See here for previous revcom.us coverage.)

The killing of Dijon Kizzee was outrageous enough. But as it turns out, the pigs murdering someone riding a bike after stopping them for a very minor violation is a pretty routine thing, according to an October 16 article in the Los Angeles Times. There have been 16 cases in Los Angeles County just since 2005 where the cops stopped someone for a bike violation—like no lights, riding on the wrong side of the street or on the sidewalk—and ended up shooting the person. Most of these shootings happened in Black and Latino communities. In 11 of these cases, including Kizzee’s, the bicyclist was Black or Latino and was KILLED. Some people have just stopped riding their bike after constantly being stopped and harassed by pigs—which at any point could turn into something deadly.

In addition to Dijon Kizzee, the Los Angeles Times cited these examples:

In this white supremacist country (now with a genocidal racist at its head), it’s a common saying that a person can be killed by the pigs for driving while Black—DWB. It’s clear that RWB/L—riding your bike while Black or Latino—can also make you a target of police brutality and murder.

For more, see “Deputies killed Dijon Kizzee after a bike stop. We found 15 similar law enforcement shootings, many fatal,” by Nicole Santa Cruz and Alene Tchekmedyian, Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2020.


Dijon Kizzee


Noel Aguilar


Christian Cobian


Richard Tyson


Alfonso Cerda

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/murder-of-michael-reinoehl-official-hit-job-en.html

The Murder of Michael Reinoehl – An Official Hit Job

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On Thursday, October 15, at a campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, Trump spoke about how federal agents and local police killed Michael Reinoehl—an anti-fascist activist who had been accused of killing a Trump supporter. Trump said, “We sent in the U.S. Marshals. Took 15 minutes, it was over; 15 minutes, it was over. We got him. They knew who he was, they didn’t want to arrest him. Fifteen minutes, that ended.”

And think about it: Trump said, “They didn’t want to arrest him.” What does that say about “innocent until proven guilty,” or “due process” in Trump’s America.  Not just a cold-blooded murder at the hands of armed feds and police—but a blatant and bragged about cold-blooded murder. One that Trump obviously sees as “good for his brand,” since he’s been consistently promoting this at his rallies.

Michael Reinoehl was one of thousands who took to the streets in Portland after the police murder of George Floyd. Protests had been going on night after night for over three months when on August 30, a pro-Trump rally drew hundreds to the city. Clashes broke out between the fascists and Black Lives Matter protesters, and a man affiliated with a right-wing, white supremacist group was shot and killed. Reinoehl was accused of murder and went into hiding, fearing vigilantes and cops were trying to hunt him down.

After an informant revealed where Reinoehl was, a “task force” of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies was formed. No warrant had been issued for Reinoehl’s arrest, but this hit squad went into action. 

On September 3, a pair of SUVs screeched to a halt in front of a car Reinoehl was getting into. U.S. Marshals immediately jumped out, guns blazing. Reinoehl tried to get away on foot, but the hail of bullets continued, killing him instantly. Investigators say 37 rounds from two rifles and two handguns were fired.

The fascist Trump/Pence regime used this as another opportunity to incite violence by armed fascists, both official and unofficial. Trump told Fox “News,” “This guy [Reinoehl] was a violent criminal, and the U.S. Marshals killed him... that’s the way it has to be. There has to be retribution...” Attorney General William Barr called Reinoehl a “violent agitator” and repeated the official story that U.S. Marshals were trying to make a “peaceful arrest” when Reinoehl pulled out a gun.

But 22 eyewitnesses interviewed by the New York Times said they didn’t hear the Marshals identify themselves or issue any commands before opening fire.1 The four pigs in the SUV claimed they shouted “Stop! Police!” before opening fire. But the Times reported that at least five eyewitnesses said gunfire started as soon as the pigs arrived. One man said, “There was no, ‘Get out of the car!’ There was no, ‘Stop!’ There was no nothing. They just got out of the car and started shooting.” Reinoehl had a handgun on him, but accounts by the pigs themselves differ as to whether Reinoehl actually raised it. The gun was found in Reinoehl’s pocket. And investigators say there is no evidence Reinoehl fired a gun.

GUILTY until proven innocent – if you even live to testify. A “due process” of pigs hunting down and killing someone only accused, not proven guilty, of a crime. This is the kind of “Just Us” under the fascist Trump/Pence regime. And this is only a preview of what will come should Trump succeed in gaining a second term and locking down his fascist rule.

 


1. “‘Straight to Gunshots’: How a U.S. Task Force Killed an Antifa Activist,” New York Times, updated October 15, 2020.  [back]


Michael Reinoehl

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/669/call-for-the-25th-national-day-of-protest-to-stop-police-brutality-en.html

We received the following from the October 22 Coalition:

Call for the 25th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation—

A Moment of Immense Danger and Unlimited Possibility in the Struggle to Stop Police Brutality

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When the first National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation was called 24 years ago, it would have been hard to imagine where we are today. A moment of immense possibility, but also immense danger. The threat of the U.S. becoming a fascist state is more real by the day: federal forces kidnapping and even assassinating demonstrators on U.S. streets by orders of the president, organized acts of terror carried out by armed white militias, open white supremacist violence promoted at every level of government.

At the same time, we are also in the midst of the largest mass uprising against racist terror that this country has seen in decades, an uprising that has the potential to uproot the very foundations of white supremacist oppression and police violence. The police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis set off an explosion of protest that touched every state in the U.S. Cities like New York City and Portland, Oregon, have been in a constant state of protest since early June. Even so-called “Trump country” towns like Loganville, GA, and Waxhaw, NC, have seen hundreds of people take to the streets in protest of police brutality.

Despite the overwhelmingly peaceful nature of a vast majority of these protests, the response, both official and unofficial, has been heavily militarized, ruthless, and violent. Law enforcement dressed in armor fired rubber bullets, rode in tanks, lobbed tear gas and flash bang canisters. Racist whites, armed with baseball bats, lined streets in Philadelphia and attacked people they believed were protesters. In Seattle, a non-binary Black Lives Matter protester named Summer Taylor was killed when a car deliberately plowed into a protest there. In Kenosha, a white 17-year-old killed two protesters and maimed a third after responding to a call from a white militia to “defend businesses” during mass protests of the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Many of these acts of terror were incited and condoned by the highest office in the land, and Trump continues to embolden and empower his base to intimidate with shows of force.

In the face of all this, a force that reaches the millions who have mobilized in every city and town must take the stage in a unified way on October 22, 2020. In the 24-year history of the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation (NDP), the Call to wear black and take to the streets nationwide on October 22nd has never been more urgent.

History of O22 and What We Bring

Well before the word “hashtag” was even invented, the October 22nd Coalition made sure the world knew the names of Nicholas Heyward Jr., Malcolm Ferguson, Tyisha Miller, Jonny Gammage, Gil Barber, Justin Smith, and many other Stolen Lives. The first National Day of Protest took place in cities across the U.S. on October 22, 1996. We came from every community, a powerfully diverse network standing with and amplifying the voices of the families and loved ones of victims of police terror of every race, nationality, and background. We pointed to and condemned the hand of white supremacy and terror of U.S. law enforcement. We created the first nationwide documentation of people killed by law enforcement, laid the foundation, and built the environment for today’s movement against police terror, repression, and the criminalization of Black and Brown youth.

Our vision of unity against police brutality and white supremacy, across all social lines, is one that did then and continues now to call people from all sectors of society into the struggle at this crucial time.

National Day of Protest 2020: A Vision of Unified, Nationwide Protest in the Face Of Fascism

When the October 22nd Coalition was formed in 1996, we worked hard and upheld the then very unpopular position of being critical of law enforcement to bring forward the kind of movement that we see now. Today, athletes, artists, and musicians feel compelled to speak out in defense of the Black and Brown lives that are in the crosshairs of racist police. We’ve seen an unprecedented show of solidarity from NBA, Major League Baseball, and hockey teams, to tennis star Naomi Osaka, cancelling games in protest of police brutality. And even in the face of repression and murder, in the midst of a global pandemic, people have filled the streets in righteous outrage, while showing care and community with each other. The violence against the people, from official and unofficial sources, must serve to make the protests come back even more powerfully. A National Day of Protest, coming days before the presidential elections on November 3rd, will show the world that we refuse to accept a society where police kill with impunity, where mass incarceration is a question of race, where immigrant children remain detained and separated from their families, where it’s becoming more clear how many lives are considered and treated as disposable, and where political repression and violence against dissenters is carried out by cops, unidentified federal troops, and organized fascist killers. At the time of creating this call in mid-September, there already isn’t enough space to account for all the atrocities that we have been subjected to, and because there will be more, we all need to stand together NOW. It’s infuriating that there should even be a 25th annual protest, but it is also crucial that we come together stronger while the violence from the state continues to be validated by the powers-that-be.

 


This October 22nd, stand with thousands across the country to express our collective outrage, creativity, and resistance in response to the crimes of this system. Uphold the tens of thousands of lives stolen by U.S. law enforcement over the past quarter century. Join us if there is already an NDP event in your area. Create one if you are in an area where there is currently no one organizing. On October 22nd, WEAR BLACK, FIGHT BACK!

***

To endorse this call, complete this form. PDF versions of this call can be downloaded as one page and two pages.

For more information, see october22.org. Email oct22national @gmail.com to provide details of an action.

Assembly points for October 22, 2020

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/the-fascist-assault-670-en.html

The Fascist Assault

Trump Escalates Attacks on Michigan Governor—in the Wake of Alleged Plot by Fascist Militia Against Her...The Republicans Are Already Stealing the Election and Suppressing the Vote...Fascist Regime's Department of Homeland Security Orchestrated Paramilitary Occupation at George Floyd's Burial...Fascist Regime Deports Cameroonian and Congolese Asylum Seekers to Possible Death and Torture

| revcom.us

 

The Trump/Pence regime is moving rapidly, aggressively, and in many dimensions to develop and implement fascism. Below are some recent measures taken by the regime and other fascist forces, or that came to light in recent weeks.

Trump Escalates Attacks on Michigan Governor—in the Wake of Alleged Plot by Fascist Militia Against Her

In a campaign stop (in other words, a fascist rally) in Michigan on October 17, Donald Trump led his crowd in chants of “Lock Her Up”—directed at the Democratic governor of the state, Gretchen Whitmer.

This was outrageous in itself—and one of the repeated threats Trump and other fascists at the top have made against anyone opposing them, including current and former Democratic Party government officials. But this is in the wake of the October 8 arrest of 13 men on federal or state charges in connection with an alleged plot to kidnap Whitmer—a frequent target of attacks by Trump—to take her to Wisconsin, put her on “trial” for “treason,” and worse.

According to the authorities, and as reported by the press, the plot drew together members of the Wolverine Watchmen, a relatively new group within the large Michigan militia scene1 and at least some others associated with the Boogaloo Boys, a national movement. As it stands, these are allegations by law enforcement agencies—the FBI in particular, with state law enforcement—and some corroborating evidence such as tape recordings and videos have been produced, and the alleged plot and thinking behind it are consistent with the outlook of the fascist movement.

In this context, two things stand out.

First, Trump has been consciously creating an atmosphere that encourages violence against his “enemies,” and defending fascist groups that carry it out.2 In this case, the plotters were reportedly motivated by anger about the public health measures (like having to wear masks, closing gyms, etc.) put into effect by Governor Whitmer to combat the COVID-19 epidemic, which they denounce as “tyranny.” This is right in line with Trump’s demand to “Re-open America,” and his virulent denunciations of state and city leaders who resist this.

On April 15, thousands of people held a “re-open Michigan” protest at the Capitol in Lansing, including armed members of Michigan Militia, Proud Boys, and other fascists with Confederate flags, Trump flags, signs calling the governor a “Nazi,” and someone with a Barbie Doll effigy of Whitmer and a noose.  

On April 30, hundreds of protesters, many heavily armed, stormed the Capitol building, screaming at reporters, intimidating legislators, and carrying signs like “Tyrants Get the Rope.” On May 14, they were back again, with guns. The organizers’ Facebook page was deleted because of death threats against the governor. The legislature cut short its session. At least two of the alleged plotters were filmed at this action.

Trump publicly encouraged these fascist lynch mobs. After the first protest, he tweeted “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” After the second, he tweeted, “These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely!”

Whitmer herself noted Trump was “creating a very dangerous situation. Each time he has tweeted about me, each time that he has said ‘liberate Michigan’ and said I should negotiate with the very people who are arrested because they’re ‘good people,’ that incites more domestic terror.”


Armed militia occupying the Michigan State Capitol demanding an end to "stay at home" orders intended to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Second, Trump has now stepped up his attacks on Whitmer. Only hours after the announcement of the arrest of the alleged plotters, Trump tweeted that she was doing a “terrible job” and demanded: “open up your state, open up your schools, and open up your churches!”—embracing the “grievances” of the alleged plotters, giving them and others a “thumbs up.” And the “Lock Her Up” chants Trump led at a Michigan rally on October 17 is not far from the goal of the alleged plotters to put Whitmer on trial for “treason.”

Michigan’s top Republi-fascists have followed Trump’s lead in attacking Whitmer, including one legislator who angrily defended the alleged plotters. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel pointed out these militias are being openly encouraged by elements of law enforcement—particularly county sheriffs, one of whom is on record suggesting that this was not a “kidnapping” plot but a legitimate “citizens’ arrest”!

This Is NOT Just Trump “Not Wanting to Offend Potential Voters”!

These attacks on Whitmer and others are unprecedented in modern times in the history of the U.S.—calls by a sitting president to criminally indict and jail his political opposition, including his opponent, Joe Biden, in the upcoming race

These attacks matter, greatly! As Bob Avakian wrote in his historic August 1 statement, fascism, and what we confront with this fascist Trump-Pence regime, is “not just a matter of horrific policies but of a qualitatively different form of rulebased on brutal repression and violation of what are supposed to be the most basic rights.” Along with going after the masses of people opposed to the fascist regime and its policies, imposing fascist rule requires viciously targeting, and attempting to silence and suppress their opponents within the capitalist-imperialist ruling class, those who would pose an obstacle to their fascist program and rule. This includes leading Democrats.

These unprecedented attacks therefore represent a serious escalation towards consolidating fascist rule in the U.S., and towards openly terrorizing the opposition, legally or extralegally. They further pave the way to implementing an even more brutal dictatorship over the oppressed masses, including sweeping and violent political repression, open white supremacy, ethnic cleansing, and misogynistic and patriarchal oppression of women. These have to be opposed as part of the struggle to oust this regime from power through mass, sustained, nonviolent protests, like those called by Refuse Fascism. Yet another reason this nightmare must end!

 


1. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, who carried out the 1992 bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building that killed 168 people, also came out of this scene.  [back]

2. Trump praised white supremacists in Oregon who descended on Portland to attack anti-racism protesters; he falsely claimed that a militia thug who killed two protesters and seriously wounded a third in Kenosha was acting in “self-defense”; during the first debate with Biden, he refused to denounce white supremacists and instead told the Proud Boys, “Stand back and stand by.”  [back]

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The Republicans Are Already Stealing the Election and Suppressing the Vote


Hundreds of people wait in line for early voting on October 12, 2020, in Marietta, Georgia. Voters have waited six hours or more. Photo: AP

Letter from a reader

Revcom has writtenTrump is already stealing the election, he has a plan in place to use key institutions, including the Supreme Court, and violent thugs, in and out of uniform, to keep his regime in power.”

The presidential election is November 3. But stealing the election, and suppressing the vote, are well underway by fascist Republicans. These crimes are happening in and through repressive measures taken by state and local officials, upheld by federal appeals courts, and through other measures of disenfranchisement, especially of Black and other oppressed people.

More than 400 lawsuits and court cases involving the vote are “in the mix” around the country. Mainly they involve various ways the Republicans are moving to suppress the vote, especially of Black and other oppressed people, and countersuits by Democrats and voting rights advocates. One of the effects of these “dueling lawsuits” that ping-pong back and forth is that they create confusion over who can vote, where, when, and how, which itself both is a form of suppression and lays the groundwork for contesting the legitimacy of the vote after November 3.

Among the recent court rulings and other actions which are having an immediate impact on limiting voter turnout, including early voting and vote by mail during the pandemic:

  • Texas governor Greg Abbott, a Christian fascist and staunch Trump/Pence ally, had ruled that only one drop-off ballot box per county was permissible. Drop-off boxes are particularly important during the pandemic and vital in enabling many people to vote, especially in the sprawl of Harris County (Houston and some surrounding areas) with its huge concentration of Black, Chicano, and other oppressed people, and the vast spaces of overwhelmingly Latinx west Texas and south Texas, where public transportation is virtually nonexistent. Abbott was sued, and a lower court ruled that one box per county would restrict the ability of people to vote, especially the elderly and disabled. This week an appeals court upheld Abbott’s decision. What will happen to ballots already cast through other boxes is not clear.
  • In Wisconsin, an appeals court blocked an extension for counting absentee ballots sought by Democrats. The court ruled that ballots must be delivered to election clerks by 8 pm on Election Day to be counted. The state expects two million people to vote absentee in November. In April, during Wisconsin’s presidential primary, long lines, fewer polling places, and a shortage of poll workers resulted in thousands of ballots being mailed after the election, and arriving days late. In Milwaukee, which has the largest population of Black people in the state, the number of polling centers dropped from 180 to five in April.

Other measures to suppress the vote include:

  • Drastically slashing the number of polling stations, especially in areas of the oppressed. In Georgia, people in a largely Black Atlanta suburb waited up to five hours during the June primary, and many of them were still unable to vote since the polls closed before they reached the end of the line. A 2013 Supreme Court decision removed federal oversight of elections in states that had a history of voter suppression. After this ruling the Republican leadership of Georgia, one of those states, immediately cut polling stations by 10 percent, even though the state’s population has grown significantly in the past decade. Now, the nine counties that make up Metro Atlanta, where 80 percent of new voters are “nonwhite,” have almost half the state’s voters but only 38 percent of the polling places.
  • In Florida this week, the Division of Elections director told all county officials to “push former felons from voter rolls if they have outstanding court debts.” People in Florida, a key “battleground state,” voted in 2018 to amend the state constitution so that people could vote, but the Republic-fascists who dominate the state have been trying to overcome that by insisting that all fines must be paid before people can vote. Matt Goetz, a rabidly fascist Florida congressman, as much as openly admitted that the measure is intended to prevent many Black people from voting when he snarled the lie that money raised to enable people to pay their fines is “specifically targeting African-Americans because they believe in Florida, African-Americans will vote 90-95 percent for Joe Biden.” And now, in a move taken from the Jim Crow segregationist playbook, the state is moving to “purge” the polls in a move that will disproportionately impact Black people.

Systematically Attacking the Right to Vote

The group Take Back the Court maintains an “Anti-Democracy Scorecard” which tracks “every election-related vote made by federal judges in 2020 and reports whether “judges voted in favor of litigants seeking freedom to vote, ballot access, or lowered signature requirements.” As of October 11, it reported that Republican-appointed judges had made “anti-democracy” rulings in 80 percent of their cases; Trump-appointed judges in 86 percent.

Since the Trump/Pence regime came to power it has prioritized stacking the courts with like-minded fascists. In particular, they have loaded the federal appeals courts—which are a crucial link in deciding cases before they reach the Supreme Court, and shaping those that do—at a “record setting pace.” They’ve appointed fascists with “rock-solid conservative” (i.e., fascist, and often Christian fascist) credentials on issues such as gay marriage, abortion, and voting restrictions to these appeals courts, as well as to the Supreme Court.

In early October, a South Carolina case involving the number of signatures required on absentee ballots went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which voted to uphold a restriction on voting by mail pushed by Republicans. And now the fascist regime is moving quickly to lock in place a solid majority of Christian fascists on the Supreme Court.

Republicans claim all their measures to suppress voting are because they want to eliminate “voter fraud.” In fact, voter fraud is virtually nonexistent. The reality is that fascist Republicans have for years been moving systematically to enact laws that make voting more difficult for Black and other oppressed people, and to pack the courts with fascist clones who uphold these measures.

 


Sources

A Conservative Agenda Unleashed on the Federal CourtsNew York Times, March 24, 2020.

Anti-democracy scorecard, Take Back the Courts

U.S. Appeals Court Sides With Texas On One-Per-County Ballot Drop-Off, National Public Radio, October 13, 2020.

Court blocks extension of Wisconsin absentee ballot deadlineAssociated Press, October 8 2020.

Milwaukeeans brave wait times as long as 2 1/2 hours, top election official saysMilwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 7, 2020.

Why Do Nonwhite Georgia Voters Have To Wait In Line For Hours? Too Few Polling PlacesNational Public Radio, October 17, 2020.

Florida acts to remove felons from voter rolls as election loomsPolitico, 10/15/20.

U.S. Supreme Court allows South Carolina vote-by-mail restriction, Reuters, 10/5/20.

 

“Yeah, This Is Voter Suppression”: Nine and a Half Hours to Vote

The state of Georgia cut back the number of polling places statewide by 10 percent, and the loss of locations was particularly severe in largely Black areas of Metro Atlanta. On October 12, the first day of voting in the presidential campaign, voters waited up to 10 hours to vote, and lines curved through streets near polling centers even before the doors opened. The Washington Post reported that “images and videos shared on social media showed long, winding, and spaced-out queues.”

NBC News reported that a woman in suburban Cobb County was at first enthusiastic to be in the line and happy to socialize with other people waiting to vote. But after four hours, she said, “I went from ’yay, love seeing all these people early voting’ to ‘I’ve been here over four hours, hungry and ready to go.’ Yeah this is voter suppression. It should never take this long to vote. Especially early voting.”

She finally voted 9 hours and 39 minutes after she arrived at the polling station.

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Fascist Regime's Department of Homeland Security Orchestrated Paramilitary Occupation at George Floyd's Burial


People gathered around as a horse drawn carriage carried the body of George Floyd to his burial on June 9, 2020, in Pearland, Texas. Photo: AP

Usually, traffic control is the biggest security issue at someone’s burial. But when the body of George Floyd was brought to Pearland, Texas, for his burial, the nondescript Houston suburb was occupied by a small army of enforcers.

Documents released to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) show that, unbeknown to Floyd’s family and thousands of mourners, a “massive presence and militarized police response” swarmed into Pearland under the direction of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The force was spearheaded by the deployment of 66 agents, including six sniper units on rooftops, from the Border Patrol’s BORTAC unit, a paramilitary force that the Trump/Pence regime has drawn on to brutally suppress protests in Portland, Oregon. The Houston Chronicle reported that 800 National Guard troops were “available on standby,” and that Pearland Police “called in 475 officers from local, state, and federal agencies.” DHS drones and planes operated by the FBI circled over George Floyd’s burial.

More than 700 people had been arrested in Houston righteously protesting the murder of George Floyd and other Black people, and angry protests also erupted in several smaller towns in the area, places where such things had never happened before. But during the days of viewing George Floyd’s body, and at his funeral and burial, the mood among people who came to be part of the historic event was solemn, mournful, and respectful of the Floyd family. None of this mattered to the force directed by the DHS—according to the ACLU report it was specifically authorized to use “deadly force anytime under Ch 9 Texas Penal Code if people went beyond throwing full water bottles or bricks.”

Unrestrained police brutality and murder is at the core of the fascist Trump/Pence regime’s white supremacist program of “making America great.” Under this regime headed by a genocidal racist, the federal government, as well as numerous state governments, has systematically moved to criminalize and suppress protest. It has developed centralized paramilitary forces answerable to and under the control of the fascist regime, and capable of being deployed anywhere in the country.

The fact that they are willing to marshal these squads of hi-tech, hyper-armed robocops at the burial of a man murdered by the police indicates the extreme suppression of righteous protest, and of the masses of Black people, they have prepared. All this repression and brutality must be resisted and opposed by righteous protests, such as those which reverberated across the country this summer. Even more urgently, the fascist regime directing it must be driven from power.

 


Sources:

Documents Obtained by ACLU Reveal Border Patrol Agents Were Authorized to Use Deadly Force, American Civil Liberties Union, October 1, 2020.

Six sniper teams, hundreds of cops: Documents show major police presence at George Floyd’s burialHouston Chronicle, October 2, 2020.

Border Patrol Will Deploy Elite Tactical Agents to Sanctuary CitiesNew York Times, February 14, 2020.

 

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Fascist Regime Deports Cameroonian and Congolese Asylum Seekers to Possible Death and Torture

On October 13, a flight chartered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) left a Texas airport for Douala, capital of the West African nation of Cameroon. According to the website of Voice of America, “state Cameroonian Radio Television ... reported that there were 126 asylum-seekers aboard ... 86 were Cameroonian and the rest were believed to be from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

These people had risked everything to flee persecution, torture, and death in their homelands. A lawyer representing a Cameroonian man who had been in ICE prisons since March 2019 told the San Diego Union-Tribune that he was tortured and threatened with death by authorities in Cameroon, who claimed he was associated with anti-government protests. The lawyer said other men imprisoned in the same cell with him had been taken out and executed, and that he had been “flogged naked.” The lawyer added that if he is sent back to Cameroon,  “He’ll be tortured, and he’ll die, and the court [in the U.S.] could grant his motion (to reopen [his asylum appeal]), but he’ll be dead.”

The asylum seekers had been imprisoned in several detention centers around the country before they were transferred to a center in Alvarado, Texas. Beginning in February, about 40 Cameroonians at an ICE prison in Louisiana organized sporadic protests, including hunger strikes, against their lengthy detention. During their third hunger strike this year, guards attacked the detainees with tear gas and pepper spray. ICE prison guards also swarmed three prisoners, threw them on the ground, and put them in chokeholds.Some were thrown in solitary confinement. Katie Jane Fernelius, a journalist based in New Orleans, reported that one man pleaded to the guards, “We are peaceful demonstrators! We have committed no crime! Someone needs to listen to us!”

In the Louisiana prison, ICE agents tortured inmates to get them to sign their own deportation orders, a lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center and other organizations alleges. A Cameroonian man testified that “An ICE agent came to see me Sunday, September 27, 2020 to try to get me to sign a deportation document. I said I didn’t want to sign a deportation order. I said I am afraid to go back to my country. He promised me he would torture me. Monday, September 28, 2020, he came again while I was outside to try to force me to sign, I refused to sign. He pressed my neck into the floor. I said, ‘Please, I can’t breathe.’ I lost my blood circulation. Then they took me inside with my hands at my back where there were no cameras.”


Cameroonians and people from the Democratic Republic of Congo have been fleeing persecution, torture and death in their homelands for several years. Here, people from Cameroon wait in Tijuana, Mexico for their names to be called indicating that they have been granted asylum in the U.S. in 2019. (Photo: AP)

The fascist Trump/Pence regime has inflicted unspeakable, Nazi-like horrors on literally millions of immigrants, including asylum seekers. These are crimes against humanity of the highest magnitude. This regime must be driven from power NOW! 

 


Sources:

Supporters of Cameroonian Asylum-Seekers Decry US DeportationVoice of America, October 14, 2020.

ICE is using torture against Cameroonian immigrants to coerce deportation, according to new complaint filed by immigrant rights groups, Southern Poverty Law Center, October 7, 2020.

Cameroonian asylum-seekers accuse US of forcing deportation, Associated Press, October 13, 2020.

Cameroonian asylum seekers fear looming deportation flight means certain deathSan Diego Union-Tribune, October 13, 2020.

Someone Needs to Listen to Us: Why African Asylum Seekers Went on Hunger Strike, In These Times, October 7, 2020.

Back to top

An Impending Disaster and an Urgent Challenge

The above are just some of the damage done by the fascist Trump/Pence regime in the recent period! The consequences to humanity and the planet if this regime remains in power through whatever means worsen daily, and will be disastrous if this fascist juggernaut isn’t stopped.

As Bob Avakian wrote in his August 1 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.

 

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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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Voices of Conscience and Resistance

| revcom.us

 

Voices of Conscience and Resistance is a special feature at Revcom.us at a time when people all over are being challenged to understand and act on the crossroads we face: the accelerating moves to lock down fascism in America, concentrated around the elections with the Trump/Pence regime. We aim to aggregate a broad range of voices that are making important public statements shedding light on this juncture. Our aim in this is to better identify and understand the character of the threat, and even more importantly to marshal this understanding to further the struggle to defeat it. 

Noam Chomsky: Trump Is Willing to Dismantle Democracy to Hold On to Power, interview with Truthout.org, October 12, 2020

...Trump and his Republican cohorts are working overtime to implement their strategy of undermining the election or discrediting it if it comes out the wrong way, setting the stage for a possible coup.

In preparation, an “Army for Trump” is being mobilized to descend on polls to intimidate the wrong voters. What was once the Justice Department is easing election fraud inquiry constraints in case that path becomes necessary.

In general, no stone is left unturned in Trump’s campaign to dismantle democratic forms and hold on to power.

...Other major democracies are also decaying, also falling into the hands of leaders with traits of fascism, if not the ideologies...

The whole interview is available here.

Historian Timothy Snyder: America is “in a slow-motion Reichstag Fire right now”

In an interview in Salon.com, Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale University, responds to a question about how he would answer people who criticize him for his warnings about Trump’s fascism. What would he tell people who say, “You were talking about a Reichstag Fire! It didn’t happen. You are an alarmist...”? (The Reichstag Fire refers to a key nodal point in Hitler’s consolidation of fascist rule, when he seized on the burning down of the German legislature in 1933 to carry out a major leap in repression.) Snyder’s response: “Obviously, we are in a slow-motion Reichstag Fire right now. That is what is happening. Donald Trump is not as skilled as Hitler. He doesn't work as hard as Hitler. He doesn't have the same level of confidence as Hitler, but he's clearly looking for that Reichstag Fire emergency. Trump tried to make Black Lives Matter into that emergency. ‘Antifascists’ and ‘thugs’ and ‘law and order’ and so on is part of that effort. Donald Trump keeps trying to make the Reichstag Fire work.”

Read the interview with Timothy Snyder here.

Sacha Baron Cohen on Trump: “an overt racist, an overt fascist”

Actor Sacha Baron Cohen, known for the satirical movie character “Borat,” is currently appearing as Abbie Hoffman in the new Netflix movie The Trial of the Chicago 7. Featured in a recent wide-ranging New York Times profile, Cohen talks about how, after the 2017 rally by Nazis and white supremacists (who Trump later referred to as “very fine people”) in Charlottesville, Virginia, he was so appalled that he agreed to give a keynote speech at an Anti-Defamation League event. He started the speech by saying, “when I say ‘racism, hate and bigotry,’ I’m not referring to the names of Stephen Miller’s Labradoodles” [Miller, a white supremacist, is a close adviser to Trump and architect of the regime’s fascist anti-immigration policies]. He said doing the speech was “completely out of my comfort zone”—“it was the first time I’d ever given a major speech in my own voice but I felt like I had to ring the alarm bell and say that democracy is in peril this year. I felt, even if it was going to destroy my career and people are going to come at me and say, ‘Just shut up, the last thing we need is another celebrity telling us what to do’... I felt I needed to do that to live with myself.”

Cohen said he asked his late father what he thought of Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Cohen recalls, “He said, ‘Two things. He’s extremely entertaining. Far more entertaining than Hillary. Two, he’s a fascist.’ My dad was born in 1932. He’d seen fascists on the streets, Mosley’s Blackshirts beating up Jews. And he knew what fascism was.”

Read the Times feature on Cohen here.

Berkeley Repertory Theater’s Radio Play It Can’t Happen Here

The Berkeley Repertory Theater is currently putting on a radio play production of It Can’t Happen Here. The play is based on the 1935 novel by Sinclair Lewis, written at a time when Hitler had come to power in Germany but it was not fully clear what a full consolidation of Nazi power would mean. As a “Check It Out” by a revcom.us reader notes, “The novel and the play reveal that fascism does not arrive all at once, fully formed, but has a trajectory and momentum, and that people interact with this in ways that can assist fascism or derail and defeat it.” Tony Taccone, a co-writer of the adaptation, said, “When we first did the stage version of the play [in 2016] there was an absolute sense that it could not happen here. In the deepest parts of ourselves we didn’t believe it either. What’s changed is now we believe it.”

Read the full Check It Out here.

Bill McKibben, “The Next Election Is About the Next 10,000 Years”

From the article:

...this time around our last chance at limiting the temperature rise to anything like 1.5 degrees would slip through our fingers...

...as a team of scientists reported in November, we're about to cross a whole series of tipping points, ranging from destabilizing Antarctic ice sheets to slowing down vast ocean currents. These are not reversible; no one has a plan for refreezing the poles.

Read the whole article here.

HBO series The Plot Against America, based on the 2004 novel by Philip Roth, reviewed in the New York Times: "When Democracy Dies in Daylight"

Ad by Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA), “Trump Is the Biggest Threat to American Jews Today

Phil Kadner, "How fascism takes root"

From the article:

People imagine that fascism takes hold of a nation the day a jackbooted soldier kicks in a civilian's door.

In actuality, it begins when a national leader says that your nation and its people are inherently superior to all others. It begins when a country rejects the idea that all people are created equal.

Read the whole article here.

Jesse Jackson speaking at a NAACP press conference in Kenosha, Wisconsin, August 27, 2020. Jackson’s part starts at 11:38 in the video and ends at 23:30.

Robert Reich, author, professor, and former U.S. Secretary of Labor—Twitter posts on Trump, fascism, and the need to fight: here, here, here, here, and 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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Check It Out: Radio Play It Can’t Happen Here

| revcom.us

 

From a reader:

A fascist leader rises to power promising to return the U.S. to greatness, forging an alliance with anti-Semitic Christian nationalists. While people laugh at his “amusing antics,” the leader attacks the media, promotes white supremacy, and has people beaten at his rallies. Soon after his election, he begins mobilizing militias and jailing the opposition. Sound familiar?

This is the plot of It Can’t Happen Here, a radio play produced by the Berkeley Repertory Theater based on the 1935 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning author Sinclair Lewis. Lewis’s novel was written at a time when Hitler had come to power in Germany but it was not fully clear what a full consolidation of Nazi power would mean. The novel and the play reveal that fascism does not arrive all at once, fully formed, but has a trajectory and momentum, and that people interact with this in ways that can assist fascism or derail and defeat it.   

This version, adapted by Tony Taccone and Bennett Cohen, and directed by Lisa Peterson, was first presented on stage in 2016 in the months leading up to the Trump election. Speaking of the difference between the 2016 production and the current one, Taccone said, “When we first did the stage version of the play there was an absolute sense that it could not happen here. In the deepest parts of ourselves we didn’t believe it either. What’s changed is now we believe it.”

At a time when many theaters are shuttered and struggling to find new ways to reach audiences, Berkeley Rep decided not only to produce the play as a radio drama in four 30-minute segments but to make the play available for production free of charge to 21 theatres across the country. And 105 theaters (as of the play’s opening) are co-sponsoring the online production and making it available to their audiences.

The production follows Doremus Jessup, an older newspaper publisher, and his family in a small town in Vermont. While most people in the town support the politician, Buzz Windrip, Doremus sees him as a threat but at first doesn’t think he can win the presidency. But Doremus slowly comes to think he can.

Doremus’s response is to lock himself in his private library where no one else, other than his dog, is permitted, to contemplate the situation. Doremus’s vision of what to do is limited by his individualism. “I prefer mass action by one person,” is his catchphrase.

The central theme of the play is the transformation that Doremus and his family go through as fascism viciously consolidates its power. While some fall into collaboration or acceptance of the regime others break out of their comfort zones and their resistance empowers others. And in the process, they find community and strength.

The play is full of darkly comic moments that had me laughing out loud but then being hit by the implications. At one point, after Windrip is elected, Doremus tells his wife, Emma, that they are building a police state. Her reply: “Oh you worry too much. I have to go run some errands. It will work out.”

In some other scenes Doremus, concerned about Windrip’s popularity, goes to talk to some leftist friends. They tell Doremus that Windrip is no different from other capitalist politicians and that it doesn’t make a difference who is elected. Both funny and sad... and all too familiar.

I strongly encourage revcom.us readers to listen to the Berkeley Rep production, perhaps after a day of hitting the streets demanding Trump Pence out now! The play is an excellent way to provoke discussion about the importance of the fight today to drive out Trump and Pence and what is needed.

At an online discussion on the first night of the play, Tony Taccone, co-author and former artistic director at the Berkeley Rep, was asked about what the play has to say to people today. “It’s imperative,” Taccone said referring to the need to act. “It’s time to take your blinders off if you have them on. Get yourself out of your comfort zone as Doremus does in the last act with the farmer. We’re all out of our comfort zone and there is a fear and a sense of anxiety that fills us all. We have to remember that history opens up only so often like this and there is an opportunity for the human race and the species to take stock of ourselves and find out who we want to be and exercise every power that we can to try and make that happen.”

“It Can’t Happen Here” runs through November 8. You can listen to it on YouTube.

 

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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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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/668/bob-avakian_the-acute-fascist-danger-acting-in-the-interests-of-humanity-en.html

THE ACUTE FASCIST DANGER
RISING ABOVE PETTY “LEFTISM,”
ACTING IN THE INTERESTS OF HUMANITY
Basic Questions, Existential Stakes

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

Do any of the bourgeois politicians, of either the Democratic or Republican Party, represent anything good?

No. They all represent something very bad: the system of capitalism-imperialism that is based on monstrous, literally murderous exploitation and oppression of masses of people, not just in this country but all over the world.

Are all these politicians—and both of these political parties—“the same”?

No, again. They have real differences over how this system should be governed, and enforced, and how this society should be held together under the rule of this system.

Do these differences actually matter for those who are exploited and oppressed under this system, for all those who aspire to a more just world?

It depends. Most of the time, the differences between these two parties are not significant enough to make it right and necessary to single out one party and focus on opposing it. But, on very rare occasions, these differences do matter that much. This is one of those times.

Why? Because one party—the Republican Party, headed now by the Trump/Pence regime—has become thoroughly fascist. 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).”1 And: “If fascism fully takes hold in the most powerful country in the world, this could lead to a catastrophe from which humanity may not be able to recover.”2 

The situation today is that the conditions that make possible a revolution to do away with this whole system do not yet exist, and are not immediately on the horizon, but there is the possibility of forcing the removal of this fascist regime through massive, sustained nonviolent mobilization. Right now, meeting the immediate needs of this acute situation—and preparing for the revolution that is the fundamental solution to the horrors in the world that are caused by this system—must focus on removing this fascist regime from power.

As I have emphasized:

Driving out the fascist Trump/Pence regime is urgently necessary. It concentrates the question of whether there will be any favorable basis for continuing the struggle against racist oppression and police terror and every kind of injustice and oppression, as well as the plunder of the environment. It concentrates the question of whether there will be a future—one worth living—for humanity.3

Refusing to recognize this reality, saying it does not matter now which group of politicians is in power, and taking up the worse than meaningless stance that “these politicians are all the same”—this is not simply silly pseudo-“left” sectarian nonsense—it amounts to active collaboration with this fascist regime and the very real horrors it is relentlessly moving to hammer into place.

The conclusion is this: Everyone who really cares about ending exploitation, oppression and injustice, the rapidly accelerating destruction of the environment and the endless wars caused by this system

needs to join those who are already in the streets, who are not waiting for an election that Trump is already stealing through an ongoing fascist coup, and instead are taking up the call from RefuseFascism.org for sustained non-violent mobilization, day after day, raising the demand that the Trump/Pence regime must be OUT NOW!4

 


1. 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. This Statement is available at revcom.us.  [back]

2. This Is the Situation, These Are the Stakesemphasis added here. This article is also available at revcom.us.  [back]

3. Sleepwalking “Wokeness” and the Trump/Pence Nightmare. This article by Bob Avakian is also available at revcom.us.  [back]

4. Sleepwalking “Wokeness” and the Trump/Pence Nightmare—emphasis in the original.  [back]

"THIS IS THE SITUATION, THESE ARE THE STAKES."

TRUMP IS DETERMINED, AND HAS A STRATEGY, TO STAY IN POWER, AND HAMMER INTO PLACE HIS FASCIST PROGRAM—MURDEROUSLY ENFORCING INJUSTICE, CRUSHING BASIC RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES, ACCELERATING THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND HEIGHTENING THE DANGER OF NUCLEAR ANNIHILATION—NO MATTER HOW PEOPLE VOTE. Trump is already stealing the election, he has a plan in place to use key institutions, including the Supreme Court, and violent thugs, in and out of uniform, to keep his regime in power...

Read more | Download PDF

 

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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/668/bob-avakian-sleepwalking-wokeness-and-the-trump-pence-nightmare-en.html

SLEEPWALKING “WOKENESS”
AND THE TRUMP/PENCE NIGHTMARE

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

“If fascism fully takes hold in the most powerful country in the world, this could lead to a catastrophe from which humanity may not be able to recover.” (This Is the Situation, These Are the Stakes)1

Far too many people who claim to care about injustice and the destruction of the environment, and say they are working for a better world, still come up with ridiculous rationalizations for not recognizing—and not acting in the way necessary to oppose—the fascism of the Trump/Pence regime, and the very real and terrible danger it poses. Here I am going to speak to one of these ridiculous rationalizations.

Far too often, people who claim to be “woke” say that, since Black people have always been subjected to horrific oppression in this country, Trump is no different than other politicians, and there is no reason, and no need, to focus on opposing Trump and building mass mobilization to demand the removal of the Trump/Pence regime. This is like arguing that, since this country was founded in slavery, it makes no difference if slavery is brought back now! People need to understand that Trump is a genocidal racist.2 He may not be trying to bring back literal slavery but he is definitely aiming to take this country back to a situation where overt white supremacy is blatantly promoted, codified in law and court decisions, and enforced through systematic, full-blown white supremacist violence.

This highlights the very real and important “wake-up call” that needs to be made, once again, to people who are ignoring the reality of what Trump is all about, and the terrible consequences of allowing the Trump/Pence regime to remain in power: You think you’re woke, but you’re sleepwalking through a nightmare.

Driving out the fascist Trump/Pence regime is urgently necessary. It concentrates the question of whether there will be any favorable basis for continuing the struggle against racist oppression and police terror and every kind of injustice and oppression, as well as the plunder of the environment. It concentrates the question of whether there will be a future—one worth living—for humanity.

Everyone who really cares about this needs to join those who are already in the streets, who are not waiting for an election that Trump is already stealing through an ongoing fascist coup, and instead are taking up the call from RefuseFascism.org for sustained non-violent mobilization, day after day, raising the demand that the Trump/Pence regime must be OUT NOW!

 


1. This article, This Is the Situation, These Are the Stakes, is available at revcom.us.  [back]

2. Donald Trump—GENOCIDAL RACIST, by Bob Avakian, is available—as a series of articles, and to download as a pamphlet—at revcom.us.  [back]

Download PDF

"This Is the Situation, These Are the Stakes"

Read more | 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”!

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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.

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/668/bob-avakian-vice-president-pence-fundamentalist-fanatic-crucial-force-in-the-fascist-regime-en.html

VICE PRESIDENT PENCE—FUNDAMENTALIST FANATIC, CRUCIAL FORCE IN THE FASCIST REGIME

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

I began the 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 with this important analysis:

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.1

As for vice president Mike Pence: While he might not express things in the same blustering, blatant and vulgar ways as Trump, Pence is a religious fundamentalist fanatic, who represents a powerful force driving the whole fascist program of this regime.

And this is why there is the urgent need to take up the call from REFUSEFASCISM.org, demanding not only the removal of Trump but that the whole Trump/Pence regime must be OUT NOW!

With Pence, we are not talking about the kind of Christianity that seeks to reconcile religious belief with acceptance of science, and interprets the Bible and the message of Jesus as one of peace, justice, compassion and tolerance, loving your neighbor and standing with the poor and oppressed. No, Pence is a dead-eyed “true believer” in an extreme, anti-scientific and cruel, religious fanaticism—a real “Handmaid’s Tale” Christian fundamentalist, driven by virulent male supremacist and anti-LGBT venom, and fully on board with Trump’s white supremacy, aggressive American chauvinism and xenophobia (hatred of immigrants). Pence’s religious fundamentalism is a counterpart to the Islamic fundamentalism of the Taliban or ISIS. Like them, Pence believes that his version of religious fundamentalism should be imposed on people, by force wherever and whenever necessary. But a big difference is that, unlike Taliban or ISIS leaders, whose power and “reach” is much more limited, Pence is a high-ranking official in the most powerful government, with the most powerful killing machine, in the history of the world.

He may seem more “polished” than the crude lying bully Trump, but Pence is all the more dangerous for his “calm” exterior—a “soft-spoken assassin” who practices his own version of the “righteous” lie, in the service of “God’s will” as interpreted through Pence’s lunatic religious fundamentalism. While “old school” NAZIs and armed thugs (like the Proud Boys), are useful as storm troopers for the fascist Trump/Pence regime, it is Christian fundamentalism that is the hard core and driving force of this regimeAnd, along with Pence, this regime is full of Christian fundamentalist fanatics, in powerful positions—including Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, and many others.

Here it is helpful to cite once again important analysis by African-American theologian Hubert Locke. Speaking 15 years ago, Locke referred to the experience of his mentor, James Luther Adams, who observed first-hand the fascism of Hitler and the Nazis in Germany in the 1930s, and spoke sharply to the danger of fascism in the U.S. itself:

A quarter-century ago [during the 1980s], as he watched the emergence of the religious right in this country as a political force dedicated to "taking back the nation for God," Adams said to his students that they would find themselves having to fight "the Christian fascists" in this nation. He warned that the American fascists would not come wearing swastikas and brown shirts. The American variety, he said, would come carrying crosses and chanting the Pledge of Allegiance.2

Once more, this is why the removal not only of Trump, but of Pence, and the whole fascist regime, is an immediate and urgent imperative, and must become a massive rallying cry and overwhelmingly powerful demand thundered by growing numbers of people taking to the streets, and staying in the streets, demanding that this regime must be OUT NOW!

 


1. This August 1, 2020 Statement by Bob Avakian is available at revcom.us.  [back]

2. Reflections on Pacific School of Religion's Response to the Religious Right, by Dr. Hubert Locke, is also available at revcom.us—emphasis added.  [back]

See also:

Reflections on Pacific School of Religion's Response to the Religious Right

by Dr. Hubert Locke

Read more

 

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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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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.

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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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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/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/662/on-the-need-for-the-new-communism-not-dogmatic-posing-en.html

On the Need for the Science of the New Communism, Not Dogmatic Narrow Nationalist Posing

An Answer to a “Phony Left” Attack on the August 1 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

| revcom.us

 

The response by Noche Diaz to a Facebook post by a dogmatic narrow Black nationalist, claiming to be a “Revolutionary Marxist‑Leninist‑Maoist,” is very important. In responding to this dogmatic attack on Bob Avakian’s Statement of August 1, Noche hits the main points very well. And it is worth looking further into the claim by this dogmatist that both the bourgeois political parties are fascist—that there are the outright fascists of the Republican Party and the “liberal” fascists of the Democratic Party (whatever that means). If this were true, it would mean that we have been living under fascism for decades now, and the Trump/Pence regime represents nothing essentially different.

People who make ridiculous claims like this are playing around in their own heads and not dealing with the actual reality. This kind of thinking is typical of dogmatists: in place of a scientific analysis and synthesis of reality, and its motion and development—and where the interests of the masses of humanity lie on that basis—we get the attempt to impose on reality “religious articles of faith” (such as: never, under any circumstances, vote for a bourgeois politician). Especially in today’s extreme circumstances, with the momentous stakes involved, this kind of thinking is not simply foolish but very harmful.

If there were really fascism ruling over us during the administration of Obama and Biden, for example—as the extension of a fascism that had been in power for decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations—then there could have been nothing like the mass outpouring of protest against the police murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson. Such protests would simply have been outlawed. Any attempt to hold such protests would have been immediately and thoroughly crushed, and anyone taking part would have been sent to prison, or to concentration camps, and perhaps quickly executed. This is precisely the kind of thing Trump would want to do, what he is making real moves toward doing now, and what he would very likely do, on a truly monstrous scale, if his regime—which is nothing less than fascist—is able to make further leaps in fully consolidating its fascist rule.

It is true that, in the “Ferguson uprising,” and today in the beautiful rising against white supremacy, police brutality and murder, there has been vicious repression carried out by police (and National Guard troops), ordered by Democratic Party politicians. That is a reflection of the fact that we live under a dictatorship all the time—the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie (capitalist class). But, before the Trump/Pence regime, this has been a dictatorship that has been exercised in the form of bourgeois democracy (democracy that is based in, conforms to and remains within the confines of the capitalist system and rule by the capitalist class over the masses of people). That contradiction—between the outer democratic appearance and the inner essence of dictatorship—has real meaning. It means that, so long as the form of bourgeois dictatorship is “democratic,” in order to maintain that democratic shell, the political and legal representatives of the ruling class have to allow certain “civil rights and liberties” to be exercised, up to a point, and at least make a pretense of respecting a “rule of law” that is not simply and nakedly the exercise of brute force over society as a whole, and against any attempt to oppose what the government is doing.

The reason that some people think that any kind of severe repression equals fascism is basically because they are fooled by the outer appearance of democracy—and in their minds “democracy” means that there is not supposed to be any repression, or at least not any severe repression—so when there is such repression, even in “normal times,” they believe that this is something other than democracy, when in fact the exercise of bourgeois dictatorship includes plenty of brutal repression when that dictatorship is exercised in the “democratic” form. But that is still qualitatively different than an actual fascist bourgeois dictatorship, which essentially drops all pretense of “democracy” and rules openly through violence and terror.

At times, times like now, the contradiction between the appearance of democracy and the essence of dictatorship can become very acute for the bourgeois ruling class. The fascists—the actual fascists concentrated in the Trump/Pence regime who are now in power, not the imaginary “liberal fascists” in this dogmatic narrow nationalist’s head—have been acting with a vengeance, and in an accelerating way, to resolve this contradiction by moving towards undisguised dictatorship, relying openly on terror and violence against those who oppose this regime and everyone this regime regards as a threat, without the pretense of allowing dissent and protest.

To act as if it makes no difference to the masses of people—and to any movement against oppression and injustice, let alone any movement for an actual revolution—whether these very real fascists succeed in fully consolidating their fascist rule, is not simply to be out of touch with reality. It is to be out of touch with—and acting against—vital, indeed life-and-death, interests of the masses of people, not just in this country but throughout the world.

The reason for referring to this person as a “dogmatic narrow Black nationalist” is not simply because of their positive reference to the New Afrikan Black Panther Party. This line of argument—that there is really nothing new, or qualitatively different, in the fascism of the Trump/Pence regime—is something that is representative of a certain outlook, particularly among some bourgeois and petty bourgeois Black people who refer to the horrific oppression that is already being inflicted on Black people in this country to deny (or minimize) the very real danger—the far worse horror for Black people, for all oppressed people and ultimately for all of humanity—that is posed by the Trump/Pence regime and what it is moving to do, and will be in a greatly strengthened position to do, if it remains in power, and especially if it is given a re-election “mandate.” 

This calls to mind a routine by Richard Pryor. He talks about how some Black people say, “I ain’t scared of no NAZIs, I’ll tell those NAZIs...” You won’t tell those NAZIs shit, Pryor retorts—except maybe, “Oh, nice boots you got there.” In other words, all this downplaying of the danger posed by real (not imaginary) fascists, who are already in power, will lead to craven capitulation to them when confronted with the reality and the full force of even more firmly consolidated fascist rule.

As Bob Avakian emphasizes in his August 1 Statement, using all appropriate means to remove this fascist Trump/Pence regime from power—including but emphatically NOT RELYING ON voting for Biden, if it comes to that, but with primary reliance on the continuing mobilization of masses of people around the demand that Trump/Pence must be OUT NOW!—is of crucial and urgent importance to prevent the full consolidation of fascist rule, with the even greater horrors this will involve, and to build toward the revolution that is needed as the fundamental solution to all the ongoing outrages caused by this system of capitalism-imperialism which, as Bob Avakian has also repeatedly emphasized, has given rise to this fascism.

See also:

A Facebook Exchange between a Dogmatist and Noche Diaz

Stop Your Windy Nonsense, the World Is Being Turned Upside Down

Read more

 

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/662/fascism-open-bloody-dictatorship-without-pretending-people-have-rights-en.html

Fascism Is Open Bloody Dictatorship, Without Even Pretending That People Have Rights*

| revcom.us

 

It is true that, in the “Ferguson uprising,” and today in the beautiful rising against white supremacy, police brutality and murder, there has been vicious repression carried out by police (and National Guard troops), ordered by Democratic Party politicians. That is a reflection of the fact that we live under a dictatorship all the time—the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie (capitalist class). But, before the Trump/Pence regime, this has been a dictatorship that has been exercised in the form of bourgeois democracy (democracy that is based in, conforms to and remains within the confines of the capitalist system and rule by the capitalist class over the masses of people). That contradiction—between the outer democratic appearance and the inner essence of dictatorship—has real meaning. It means that, so long as the form of bourgeois dictatorship is “democratic,” in order to maintain that democratic shell, the political and legal representatives of the ruling class have to allow certain “civil rights and liberties” to be exercised, up to a point, and at least make a pretense of respecting a “rule of law” that is not simply and nakedly the exercise of brute force over society as a whole, and against any attempt to oppose what the government is doing.

The reason that some people think that any kind of severe repression equals fascism is basically because they are fooled by the outer appearance of democracy—and in their minds “democracy” means that there is not supposed to be any repression, or at least not any severe repression—so when there is such repression, even in “normal times,” they believe that this is something other than democracy, when in fact the exercise of bourgeois dictatorship includes plenty of brutal repression when that dictatorship is exercised in the “democratic” formBut that is still qualitatively different than an actual fascist bourgeois dictatorship, which essentially drops all pretense of “democracy” and rules openly through violence and terror.

At times, times like now, the contradiction between the appearance of democracy and the essence of dictatorship can become very acute for the bourgeois ruling class. The fascists—the actual fascists concentrated in the Trump/Pence regime who are now in power—have been acting with a vengeance, and in an accelerating way, to resolve this contradiction by moving towards undisguised dictatorship, relying openly on terror and violence against those who oppose this regime and everyone this regime regards as a threat, without the pretense of allowing dissent and protest.

To act as if it makes no difference to the masses of people—and to any movement against oppression and injustice, let alone any movement for an actual revolution—whether these very real fascists succeed in fully consolidating their fascist rule, is not simply to be out of touch with reality. It is to be out of touch with—and acting against—vital, indeed life-and-death, interests of the masses of people, not just in this country but throughout the world.

 


* This is an excerpt from the article “On the Need for the Science of the New Communism, Not Dogmatic Narrow Nationalist Posing,” which is available at revcom.us.  [back

 

See also:

 

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/662/trump-fascism-a-far-greater-horror-for-black-people-humanity-as-a-whole-en.html

Trump Fascism:
A Far Greater Horror for Black People, All Oppressed People, and Humanity as a Whole*

| revcom.us

 

This line of argument—that there is really nothing new, or qualitatively different, in the fascism of the Trump/Pence regime—is something that is representative of a certain outlook, particularly among some bourgeois and petty bourgeois Black people who refer to the horrific oppression that is already being inflicted on Black people in this country to deny (or minimize) the very real danger—the far worse horror for Black people, for all oppressed people and ultimately for all of humanity—that is posed by the Trump/Pence regime and what it is moving to do, and will be in a greatly strengthened position to do, if it remains in power, and especially if it is given a re-election “mandate.” 

This calls to mind a routine by Richard Pryor. He talks about how some Black people say, “I ain’t scared of no NAZIs, I’ll tell those NAZIs...” You won’t tell those NAZIs shit, Pryor retorts—except maybe, “Oh, nice boots you got there.” In other words, all this downplaying of the danger posed by real (not imaginary) fascists, who are already in power, will lead to craven capitulation to them when confronted with the reality and the full force of even more firmly consolidated fascist rule.

As Bob Avakian emphasizes in his August 1 statement, using all appropriate means to remove this fascist Trump/Pence regime from power—including but emphatically NOT RELYING ON voting for Biden, if it comes to that, but with primary reliance on the continuing mobilization of masses of people around the demand that Trump/Pence must be OUT NOW!—is of crucial and urgent importance to prevent the full consolidation of fascist rule, with the even greater horrors this will involve, and to build toward the revolution that is needed as the fundamental solution to all the ongoing outrages caused by this system of capitalism-imperialism which, as Bob Avakian has also repeatedly emphasized, has given rise to this fascism.

 


* This is an excerpt from the article “On the Need for the Science of the New Communism, Not Dogmatic Narrow Nationalist Posing,” which is available at revcom.us.  [back

See also:

 

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/bob-avakian-radical-change-is-coming-en.html

RADICAL CHANGE IS COMING:
WILL IT BE EMANCIPATING, OR ENSLAVING—
REVOLUTIONARY, OR REACTIONARY?

by Bob Avakian

| revcom.us

 

Editors note: This article written by Bob Avakian in June 2020 during the Beautiful Rising is highly relevant right now, especially in the context of recent events, and we highly recommend this to our readers.

For those who cannot help but hunger for a “return” to some kind of “normalcy” as an answer to the madness of Trump, Pence and the rest—forget it, it is not going to happen!

And nobody should want a return to the “normalcy” of this system. 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 outpouring of protest in response to the cruel, sickening murder of George Floyd—yet another link in the seemingly endless chain of murders of Black people and other oppressed people by police, acting with a smug sense of impunity, without fear of punishment—this powerful outpouring of outrage, bringing together not only Black people but others, of all races and genders and from all parts of the world, has begun to change the whole political landscape and culture, seizing the initiative in a very positive way from the ruling Trump/Pence regime and its fascist “base,” and challenging the whole paralyzing notion that the brutal reality of this system and its “norms” is the only possible reality and everyone just has to find their place within this and “do for self” as best as possible.

Faced with this rapidly changing situation, Trump has reacted with predictable threats, bullying and intensified repression, while others—who represent the same system but feel it is important at times like this to harness, “pacify” and “domesticate” the outrage—speak once again in terms of meaningless “reforms” and advocate a supposedly “softer” but still vicious version of the “law and order” which oppresses masses of people and represses any who dare to stand up against this oppression. Recognizing that it is likely to further inflame things to simply call for a return to the way things were before this outpouring of righteous rebellion broke through the suffocating routine of life under this system, there are voices representing a section of the ruling class, such as CNN’s Chris Cuomo, who are now speaking of the need for “a new normal” that will supposedly be more “just.”

But there is no “normal” of this system that does not involve systematic injustice, continuing outrage and horror, for people here and all over the world.

And the fascist Trump/Pence regime, which now controls key levers of power, and has called forth and cohered a mass base of fanatical followers, will accept no “new normal,” except one that carries the monstrous oppression of this system to even more barbaric extremes. If anyone is looking to the scheduled election in November as the way to solve things—painlessly and without turmoil and upheaval—first of all, it is not even certain that this election will actually be held. There is a definite possibility that Trump will find a way to “postpone” it, seizing on the continuing coronavirus crisis and/or some other pretext. (Yes, using COVID-19 as an excuse for canceling the election would be hypocritical, given the reckless way the Trump/Pence regime has approached this from the beginning—but who should be surprised by hypocrisy on their part?!)

Even if the election is held, there is a real chance that Trump could “legitimately” win, given the character of the “opposition,” from Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.

And anyway, Trump is already preparing the ground to say the election was “rigged” if he is not declared the winner. Remember how, before the last election, he refused to say he would abide by the results if he lost? Now, he is proclaiming that in Michigan, and some other states, preparations for people to vote by mail is massive “fraud”—when, in fact, this is not only legal but highly sensible in the conditions of the coronavirus. At the same time, Trump and the Republican Party are making other moves to suppress votes, especially of people very likely to vote against them. And all this will almost certainly go on, in an even bigger way, as the time for the election approaches.

Further, if the election is held and Trump is not declared the winner but refuses to accept the results and insists he is still president, what about all those fascist followers of Trump, some of whom are already parading around with weapons and threatening people, including elected officials—what do you think they will do if Trump calls “fraud!” and calls on them to rally to his support? Remember how, during the 2016 campaign, Trump threatened his opponent, Hillary Clinton, talking about what “those Second Amendment people” might do to her? Remember how Trump has openly talked about how he has lots of supporters, among the police and the military, and among bikers and other “tough” people? And then, just recently, Trump has threatened to use the military to violently suppress protests against police brutality and murder.

Even if the election takes place and Trump loses, and he is prevailed upon to accept the results, and his MAGA-hatted madmen and women do not “rise up in arms” in the short run, do you really think they are just going to “go away,” or slink off passively, waiting for the next election?

Whatever takes place in relation to the election scheduled for November, nothing good will happen, and really terrible things are bound to happen, if those who cannot stand what is going on now with this regime—and the very real threat of far worse—do not find the ways, even in the conditions of COVID-19, to powerfully manifest that they are determined to drive this regime from power, without waiting for, and regardless of what goes on around, the scheduled November election.1

Digging down even deeper, the basic fact has to be faced that—even while Trump might very well use extra-legal (that is, illegal) means to remain in power—this fascist regime actually came to power in the first place not through a military take-over or some other violation of the principles and functioning of this “great democracy,” but through the “normal workings” of this system. And those “normal workings” will continue to wreak havoc in the world and on the masses of people in the world, through destruction of the environment, wars, massive displacement and desperate migration of people, on top of the ongoing savage inequalities, crushing exploitation and murderous oppression “written into the DNA” of this system and carried out by its brutal enforcers.

Because of all this:

in fundamental terms, this notion of a “return to normalcy” is an illusion that will be exploded by the nature and workings of the system of capitalism-imperialism to which the masses of humanity are subjected.2

For some time now, in speaking to the conditions of women, I have been calling attention to the fact that, with the changes in the U.S. and the world economy:

The whole question of the position and role of women in society is more and more acutely posing itself in today’s extreme circumstances—this is a powderkeg in the U.S. today.

And:

It is not conceivable that all this will find any resolution other than in the most radical terms and through extremely violent means. The question yet to be determined is: will it be a radical reactionary or a radical revolutionary resolution, will it mean the reinforcing of the chains of enslavement or the shattering of the most decisive links in those chains and the opening up of the possibility of realizing the complete elimination of all forms of such enslavement.3

This is true not only with regard to women, as important as that is, but for all those who are oppressed, degraded and brutalized under this system. It is true not just for the U.S., but throughout this highly interconnected but terribly unequal world, dominated as it is by this system of capitalism-imperialism.

In the beautiful outpouring of determined resistance to institutionalized racism and police terror, marked by a growing sense that this is somehow bound up with the very nature of this system and the many other injustices it continually perpetrates, we can see the potential for the revolution that can shatter those chains of oppression and open the way to a radically different and far better world, on an entirely new foundation. What remains to be done is to develop that potential into reality, bringing forward greater and greater numbers of people—through this present upsurge sparked by the murder of George Floyd, and through many diverse spheres of life and many different streams of struggle—who are fired with a determination to put an end to all oppression and are gaining the scientific understanding that this system of capitalism-imperialism is the source of all these inter-connected horrors, and are driven by the need and inspired by the possibility of bringing this system down and bringing that far better world into being.

 


1. Many of the points spoken to in this article regarding the dangers posed by the Trump/Pence fascist regime, and the possibility of this regime remaining in power regardless of what happens with the election scheduled for November, are spoken to and elaborated on very compellingly in The Worst-Case Scenario is Continuing to Accept a Fascist America by Coco Das, which is available at revcom.us, reposted from RefuseFascism.org. [back]

2. The Deadly Illusion Of “Normalcy” And The Revolutionary Way Forward. This article by Bob Avakian is available at revcom.us. [back]

3. This quote and the one above it are from a statement by Bob Avakian that was first published in 1985 and has been cited in a number of works since then, including Unresolved Contradictions, Driving Forces for Revolution, Part III: “The New Synthesis and the Woman Question: The Emancipation of Women and the Communist Revolution—Further Leaps and Radical Ruptures,” which is also available at revcom.us. Emphasis has been added here to the second quote. [back]

See also:

THE DEADLY ILLUSION OF "NORMALCY" AND THE REVOLUTIONARY WAY FORWARD
by Bob Avakian

Read more

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

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/652/bob-avakian-on-civil-war-and-revolution-en.html

Bob Avakian on
CIVIL WAR AND REVOLUTION

| revcom.us

 

Editors' Note (March 9, 2021): The following piece by Bob Avakian was written in the first week of the beautiful rising against the murder of George Floyd and white supremacy.

I began the article “Radical Change Is Coming with this blunt statement:

For those who cannot help but hunger for a “return” to some kind of “normalcy” as an answer to the madness of Trump, Pence and the rest—forget it, it is not going to happen!1

I went on to speak to ways in which the fascist forces aligned with Trump (and Pence) are preparing to react, quite possibly with violence, if the election does not go Trump’s way (or if Trump cancels the election and there is an outpouring of resistance to this). In fact, for more than 20 years now, I have been analyzing the fascist nature of the kind of forces that have rallied around Trump and how they have been increasingly talking about, and preparing for, a civil war.

This is obviously a very serious question. But something even more serious is reflected in a statement I read somewhere recently—that if only one side (the fascist side) is waging a civil war, then it is not really a civil war but murder, and genocide. This is another way of saying what was crudely expressed by the fascist Congressman from Iowa, Steve King, who declared:

Folks keep talking about another civil war. One side has about 8 trillion bullets, while the other side doesn’t know which bathroom to use.2

Recently, powerful figures within the Republican Party have turned against King, feeling that his expression of this and other fascist positions is a little too crude, and King has been defeated in his bid for re-election in a Republican primary election. But, expressed more or less crudely, King’s fascist views and stands are shared by the core of the Republican Party and its “base.” And, as I have pointed out previously, there is a “demented insight” in the comment by King quoted here. While the people King is ridiculing are righteously supporting the rights of trans people, gays, women, and others, at the same time far too many are

attempting to resolve the conflict with what is represented by the Trump/Pence regime and its fascist “base,” with its “8 trillion bullets,” through relying on (or seeking a return to) what have been the “norms” of the bourgeois order in this country (and, on the part of some, this involves a call for “restoring civility”) while the fascists are determined to trample on and tear up these “norms” and are perfectly happy to have those who oppose them adopt the stance of “civility” (accommodation) toward their unrelenting fascist offensive.... And so, while things could be heading toward a civil war, and it could come down to that even in the not-too-distant future, the present lineup is very unfavorable for anybody who represents anything decent in the world.3

And here is another big part of the picture:

while a lot of what King describes applies in a certain demented way, particularly to progressive or so-called “woke” middle class people, there is another kind of problem with regard to more basic oppressed people, and in particular the youth—a big problem that their guns are now aimed at each other. And without going more fully into this right now, this is something that needs to be radically transformed in building a movement for an actual revolution.4

This whole situation needs to be radically transformed—and with a very definite urgency! We have once again seen the potential for this in the recent determined actions of masses of people whose outrage at the ongoing police murders of Black men and women erupted in response to the cold-blooded execution of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (And a strategically favorable element in this outpouring of outrage is that, at the same time as it has involved significant numbers of Black people, it has also involved large numbers of people of other “races,” including a great many white people, especially youth.) As I said in Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, upsurges like this exert a very powerful positive force and influence, and show the potential for revolution, and it is crucial that the righteous resistance and rebellion of masses of people “be transformed...into revolutionary understanding, determination, and organization.”5

Looking at this from the strategic standpoint of working for the revolution that is needed to deal with the root causes of all this, it is also important to act on this understanding:

To a significant degree now, the conflict between the sections of society upholding this fascism and those opposing it, from various different perspectives, is shaping the terrain on which the struggle for revolution must be carried out; this conflict is likely to intensify, and could erupt further in violent confrontation, and in any case it would be a significant factor in the context of an all‑out struggle between revolution and counter‑revolution.6

It is not time, right now, for the all-out fight between revolution and counter-revolution: the conditions for this—most of all, a revolutionary people in the millions in a situation of deep crisis for the whole system—have not yet been brought into being. But there is a pressing need to work to accelerate and “hasten” the development of things toward a revolutionary situation. A big part of working to bring that revolutionary situation into being, at the earliest possible time, is waging a determined battle against the injustices and outrages continually perpetrated by this system.7 And

this political battle also needs to be waged in bold and determined opposition to the “base” that is being mobilized by the fascist section of the ruling class—this is important in its own right now, and is important preparation for and will have an important bearing on the “civil war between two sections of the people,” once conditions have fully ripened and the all-out struggle is underway.8

For, when it comes down to it:

The all-out struggle will not just mean going up against the institutional forces of the old ruling class but will also involve “a civil war between two sections of the people,” requiring the revolution to both defeat and disintegrate but also, as far as possible, win over parts of the armed forces among the population that started out on the other side.9

With regard to winning over parts of the armed forces among the population that started out on the other side: First, and fundamentally, the advance of the revolution in the actual fight would have a very powerful positive impact and effect on the thinking of people broadly. Along with that, there would be the powerful moral clarity and authority of the revolutionary forces fighting with right on their side and in ways consistent with the emancipatory goals of the revolution. And then there are specific measures—such as the cancellation of all debt that people have owed to banks and other financial institutions in the old society—that the revolutionary forces would make known as their official policy. Such policies would be in line with and flow from the basic goals of the revolution and the radically new society the revolution is aiming to bring into being; and making such policies known, and actually implementing them wherever and as soon as the basis exists to do that, could play an important part in winning sections of society which started out on the counter-revolutionary side to actual involvement in, or support for—or at least a “friendly neutrality” toward—the revolution. Still, it will be the case that certain die-hard reactionary elements of the population, including many among hardcore fascist forces, will remain stubbornly committed to the counter-revolution; and the revolutionary forces would need to take this into account as part of their overall strategic approach and operational principles, in waging the all-out fight, once the conditions for that had been brought into being.

A one-sided civil war—waged only by the forces of fascism against everyone and everything they hate and are determined to wipe out or beat into submission—would be a disaster. Ignoring the reality that these fascists are definitely prepared to carry out such a civil war, if they see it as necessary to achieve their objectives, will only make such a disaster more likely. And nothing good will come from relying on those, like the leaders of the Democratic Party, who refuse to call out this fascism for what it is and oppose it on that basis, because doing so would call into question the “legitimacy” of their whole system, which has given rise to this fascism.

What is urgently needed is a massive struggle against the fascism of the Trump/Pence regime and determined opposition to the “base” it is mobilizing in its support. This struggle needs to be waged in a serious way, in accordance with the actual stakes involved—not seeking or initiating violence but also not cowed into submission by the actions of the fascists.

And what is needed, in working toward the fundamental solution to all this, is to wage this anti-fascist struggle as part of accelerating—“hastening”—the development of things toward the point where it will be possible to carry out the revolution, the all-out fight, to finally put an end to this whole system of capitalism-imperialism, with all of the horrors it has already brought about for the masses of humanity—and the even worse horrors it will unleash if it is allowed to continue—when all this is completely unnecessary and there is the basis and possibility for a radically different and far better world.

 


1. Radical Change Is Coming: Will It Be Emancipating, Or Enslaving—Revolutionary, Or Reactionary? This article by Bob Avakian is available at revcom.us. [back]

2. This statement by Steve King is cited in Hope For Humanity On A Scientific Basis, Breaking with Individualism, Parasitism and American Chauvinism, by Bob Avakian, author of The New Communism, which is also available at revcom.us. [back]

3. Hope For Humanity On A Scientific Basis. [back]

4. Hope For Humanity On A Scientific Basis. [back]

5. 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]

6. From Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution (Part II, “How We Can Really Make Revolution”).The text and video of this speech by Bob Avakian are available at revcom.us. [back]

7. As pointed out in a footnote to the article by Bob Avakian “Boomers”—“X,Y,Z”: The Problem Is Not “Generations,” It’s The System (also available at revcom.us):

In a number of works—including Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution; Breakthroughs: The Historic Breakthrough by Marx and the Further Breakthrough with the New Communism, A Basic Summary; HOPE FOR HUMANITY ON A SCIENTIFIC BASIS, Breaking with Individualism, Parasitism and American Chauvinism; and Bob Avakian Responds To Mark Rudd On The Lessons Of The 1960s And The Need For An Actual Revolution (all of which are available at revcom.us)—Bob Avakian speaks further to “why there was no revolution” at the height of the 1960s upsurges and “major changes, largely of a negative kind, that have taken place over the decades since.” Among these observations are the following (from Bob Avakian Responds To Mark Rudd):

An actual revolution requires two essential factors: a revolutionary situation, and a revolutionary people in their millions. And these two factors are closely interconnected.

A revolutionary situation involves not just a crisis in society in some general sense but a situation where the system and its ruling powers are in a profound and acute crisis and millions and millions of people refuse to be ruled in the old way—and are willing and determined to put everything on the line to bring down this system and bring into being a new society and government. Key components and signs of a revolutionary crisis are that the violence used to enforce this system is seen by large parts of society for what it is—murderous and illegitimate—and that the conflicts among the ruling forces become really deep and sharp, and masses of people respond to this not by falling in behind one side or the other of the oppressive rulers, but by taking advantage of this situation to build up the forces for revolution.*

[* Bob Avakian has also characterized a revolutionary situation this way:

What is a Revolutionary Situation? A deep crisis and sharpening conflicts in society and in the government and ruling circles, where they cannot find a way to resolve these conflicts—in society and among their own ranks—which do not make things worse for them and call forth more resistance and further undermine people's belief in their "right to rule" and in the "legitimacy" of their use of force to maintain their rule; programs of "reforming" the system are shown to be bankrupt, totally unable to deal with what more and more people recognize as profound dysfunction and intolerable injustice of the whole setup; those, in society as well as among the ruling class, who are trying to enforce the existing system are on the political defensive, even if lashing out; millions of people are actively seeking radical change, determined to fight for it, willing to put everything on the line to win it, and searching for a force to lead them in doing so; and a solid core of thousands is united around a leadership, an organized vanguard force with the vision and method, strategy and plan—and deepening ties among masses of people—to actually lead the fight to defeat and dismantle the violent repressive force of the existing system and its power structure, and to bring into being a new revolutionary system that can provide the means for people to radically transform society toward the goal of abolishing oppression and exploitation.] [back]

8. Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution. [back]

9. Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution. [back]

 

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/669/la-cages-action-shaking-things-up-downtown-and-beyond-en.html

Shaking Things Up Downtown ... and Beyond

From a participant in Refuse Fascism LA "Cages Action"

| revcom.us

 

Pouring over the vision from Refuse Fascism of initiating Out Now everyday in the public square—and working to figure out the contradiction between the need for this but not yet the mass recognition of this, working on the problem of how to meet the challenge of beginnings that can cross the chasm from the small numbers we have to what we need—Refuse Fascism LA made a decision last week that there needed to be a bold and creative action. We went to work on what we have going for us, confronting the reality that we are in the midst of a rapidly accelerating rolling coup—with a great group of people who understand that and ascertaining that if we utilized the strength of that we could draw attention to Pershing Square, attracting people and the media. We set out to put the public square on the map of public conscience and imagination. We needed an outsized impact for the actual numbers we have to get the word out to the millions who do not even know about us but who care—people who are agonizing and who hate everything this regime stands for and the horrors it will bring if they triumph. This rolling coup MUST be stopped!  

We needed bold and creative actions to make the Grand Central Station conception in the Refuse Fascism vision real vs being reduced to a few or dwindling numbers of people getting out literature at a table. While I think we fell short of the ground we needed to gain and hoped for, I feel that we might well have lost ground had we not done this. There were shortcomings that people are turning to on how well we were able to get the word out beforehand that limited the number of people who would have wanted to be part of this—which people are problem-solving this week. But it’s important to sum up and mine what we did right so that we and others can quickly learn the lessons—finding the keys that open the door to calling forth what is so urgently needed RIGHT NOW!

 

Right now we really need to win the argument with all the people that are holding their breath and holding back from taking the streets—and following the leadership of the Democrats that are telling them don’t worry we have this—just vote. Yes, even as people do need to massively vote against Trump by voting for Biden, we have to tell them that voting will not be enough and simply relying on voting will likely lead to disaster. Trump is already stealing the election—he is not relying on winning even the Electoral College count by “free and fair means” but is actively carrying out now a “rolling coup” to steal the election and remain in power, no matter how people actually vote.

Not later after the election but right now, there is a need for massive mobilization around the unifying OUT NOW! demand. Now, even before November 3, growing as a powerful force heading toward that day, and beyond as necessary.   

We have to win that argument—with words and argumentation but also winning it with action—winning it with deed. The lunch counter sit-ins of the civil rights movement put the argument out there with small numbers taking a stand that called forward the rest of society to pick a side. The massive outpouring of youth around the environment was preceded by Extinction Rebellion pouring blood down the steps of the public square in Europe.

Bold, nonviolent, creatively disruptive actions are very much needed! They can in effect be a polemic through actiona polemic against that whole Democratic Party message of “don’t rock the boat, be as milquetoast as possible, don’t ask Amy Coney Barrett about her theocratic beliefs, all will be fine, nothing to worry about.”  

This is like saying there is a Category 5 hurricane coming, but it’s OK to keep your head down in your business as usual life vs realizing you have to really pay attention to the weather warning—’cause it’s time to pack the car and evacuate—and making sure all your neighbors get out in time.

So not only was the “Cages Action” good to do, we need to do much more of this everywhere in the immediate period before the elections.

There are many ways to do this—it’s hardly the only form this could take. What the cages did accomplish was to dramatically visualize what fascism means for the lives of immigrants and what the real-life consequences are when Trump talks about “genes” and calls a whole people criminals and rapists! How that leads to what was starkly exposed last week in the revelations of Jeff Sessions ordering to separate kids from their parents and quoted by other officials saying, “We need to take away children!” The violence and forced hysterectomies going on in these concentration camps and family separation that has not ended but is little known and been normalized. This is only one aspect of what fascism means for billions of people when it fully consolidates power in the most powerful country in the world—and the publicity and spokespeople for this worked on and had to keep improving and honing the take-home message of this—to make it clear that we are racing towards an election that is not a normal! That Trump is not conducting a campaign but a rolling coup with a strategy and plan to stay in power—telling us openly that he will not respect any vote he does not win and refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.

This action was put together by people young and old—from the religious, environmental, immigrant rights activists to artists, an immigration attorney, and the civil liberties community that went to bat for our right to be in the Square when security wanted to remove us. In different ways all these people come together to brainstorm the why and how of this. People worked to envision and build the cages and to reach out to the people who could dramatically represent for this to be in the cages for two days. Some people kicked it off and others came to fill their shoes when they could not be there the next day.

As Michelle Xai, who anchored the action, summed up, there was a process of bringing together people who were acutely feeling the advance of fascism and very concerned about how much it has been normalized who are also beginning to see this not just as another horrible policy but as fascism—the torture of people and children in these camps as Nazi-esque and a strong feeling that society cannot just stand by while this is happening. She argued that we had to go out to the community around downtown to get all the supplies we needed—which included getting wood and spray paint which people donated and others helping to find discounts. RF had gone early in the week to the garment district to get donations of fabric for banners. Relying on people to donate these things was part of many unseen people who contributed to making this happen. Versus doing everything ourselves, or everything going through one person—this had to involve people every step of the way and in a way that people who did not know each other or normally work together were learning from each other as we solved problems. People from different walks of life and experience coming together to brainstorm created a higher order of imagination—people saw this from different angles and while every good suggestion did not get realized, they can still inform and enrich the next run out. Bringing more people in to take responsibility is essential to a movement where not just activists but ordinary people can go get more people involved and integral to the kind of movement that can actually scale up. This is not optional but essential to building the kind of movement that can unite people from many different perspectives who are uniting around our single demand.

The action itself was visually arresting. An immigrant rights activist portrayed what it was like to be locked in these cages and for the rest of society to forget it is still happening and really got deep into people’s hearts. A Honduran man who had been in detention as a child spoke of the fascist government in his country and the effect it would have on the rest of the world if this is the end of democracy in the U.S. The afternoon of the first day when we took one of the cages to Grand Central Market, a family even put their own kids in the cages to make the image and point more powerful. That afternoon a relative of Dijon Kizzie spoke. (Dijon Kizzie was a young Black man murdered by police in August in South Central LA.) Just days before, she had been to his funeral—and she came to be part of this and powerfully speak to why the treatment of immigrants was unacceptable and why it was right to be here protesting.  

The next day the cages were occupied by three women who began the day dropping their mylar blankets to reveal bloody pants symbolizing the women who had been subjected to involuntary hysterectomies reminiscent of the Nazis. Two of them felt compelled to be there by seeing the social media from the day before and spent an entire emotionally intense day in the cages.  

The action was covered by the Spanish-language media, both TV and print, local and national (with potential for international coverage). Local CBS broadcast it three times during the day. Univision did a two-minute segment and La Opinion did a special feature. There were photographers and stringers who came to photograph and a press team that is working on this collectively did a great job talking to everyone. One thing to note is that the reporters are all extremely concerned both about the issues but also Trump’s war on the press—many are sympathetic and want us to succeed and we have to work with them like any other section of people who care deeply and do not want to see Trump carry this coup to completion. We have to build relationships and strategize with them on how to break this into the media, while at the same time taking bold actions to demand the media say what is really happening.

I thought the other highlight of the day was the agitation done by Michelle giving people a sense that we were not just going to march and be happy with thumbs up from people on the street—the purpose of this was to go out and engage people downtown and recruit ordinary people on the sidelines to be grass roots organizers for this. This approach was also a fight—on the spot we had to assemble simple kits that had not been put together and we had to send out someone with a passion for this right before the rally began to a store to contribute the bags we needed so that people could carry the kits that needed to be distributed.   

For many people on the march this was a new and exciting thing to do. At first people were shy and not used to just marching—but people soon began to get the swing of it. The agitation was both a challenge and a welcoming conversation with people on the streets picking up on what people on the sides of the march were saying and engaging—with polemics to backwards responses and to people giving us the thumbs up that they had to do much more. The agitation was also bilingual and at several points we stopped the truck and held up traffic for lightning rallies. When the march got to Grand Central Market (an old historic market downtown now with covid all the seating has been pulled outdoors) the crowd burst into applause. People went to the tables and signed people up and people made contributions (including a Latino business owner who sent in 60 dollars after on Venmo—commenting on how brave the demonstrators were to go out like this now—this was the least he could do). Construction workers coming off their shifts took stickers and leaflets passing it out to each other and even some of the white foremen were passing it out to their crews. Some people who came down out of their buildings.  Stores taking materials were saying they were hearing about Pershing Square. So it was very important in addition to being in the Square taking dramatic action to march out of it to go get more people—to reach out to the community downtown letting them know they had to be there and giving them ways to contribute and become grass roots organizers themselves.

Lastly we had to take the next day to transform the very primitive organization of Refuse Fascism that had many of its connections disorganized in the phones of individuals—which meant communicating with the base of Refuse Fascism was all “hub and spoke” left to one-on-one communication by overtasked organizers and activists. That weekend the National Office of Refuse Fascism launched a new organizing platform that has a new way of centralizing and reaching people—a way to sign up right on the homepage that grass roots organizers can use to sign people up on the spot, and for those people to be daily and hourly in touch through social media and text messages. After undertaking the work to totally alter the organizational approach that was an obstruction to involving people—the local chapter was able to pull together a Zoom call of 32 people the very next day.

The rest of the telling is in the really wonderful dispatch done by the RNL show which includes part of the speech from Andy Zee—which is also posted in full at RefuseFascism.org. This speech is a must watch—it lifted and cohered the people who marched on Saturday—giving them a better understanding of what we are facing and why we have to act now and how to argue and make the case with those not yet moving. Andy also gave people a sense working with the plan and vision of how we could drive out a fascist regime developed by Bob Avakian of how this small but mighty movement with truth and right on its side can grow to what humanity urgently needs it to rise to.

Andy Zee, DISPATCH FROM THE RNL SHOW —
48 Hours of Dramatic Visualization in Downtown LA — Trump/Pence OUT NOW!

See also:

"I felt like I was a caged animal"
Dramatic Action in Downtown Los Angeles as Part of Daily Protests Demanding Trump/Pence Out Now!

Read more


Photos: October 9 & 10, Los Angeles, California. Refuse Fascism launched a powerful dramatic action against the Trump/Pence regime's attacks on immigrants.

 

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/666/great-thanks-to-all-who-donated-to-the-revolution-tour-livestream-en.html

Great Thanks to All Who Donated to the Revolution Tour Livestream

| revcom.us

 

These are statements that were sent in to the September 20 Livestream, which raised $15,000 for the National Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution Tour.

Retired Teacher Makes $2K Matching Challenge

“There comes a time...” was an expression of determination during the Civil Rights era, meaning, the moment had arrived for decisive action against an intolerable system – in that case Jim Crow. Jim Crow was ended but history has shown that the system of U.S. white supremacist capitalism is incapable of eliminating racial oppression or solving any of the major problems confronting humanity.

Today the rise of Trump Pence fascism is a signal that this capitalism system not only cannot solve the problems of injustice, poverty, staggering polarization of wealth, climate destruction, etc. but in an effort to save itself is rapidly plunging the world into a death spiral.

The Revolution Tour has gone into the areas in this country where people brutalized by this racist system are rising against injustices. The Revolution Tour has bravely joined with people in struggle to bring them that which this system works ceaselessly to deny them – an understanding, based on the vital and insightful works of Bob Avakian, of what lies at the root of the oppression, and based on that understanding and historical experience, how to work for a different social order, a revolutionary socialist/communist society which can ultimately liberate humanity from this system’s death grip.

The time has come for a movement to uproot the whole oppressive system. It’s actually long overdue. Everyone who values justice and humanity should rally to support the work of these courageous and conscious revolutionaries by contributing funds to assist them in this crucial work. This is why I’m contributing $2,000 as a matching fund, and why I’m challenging you to match and surpass it. Every contribution lends material support to this vitally important effort. It also, beyond that, strengthens the morale of people, sometimes driven to despair by heartless brutality of the system, to see the potential for another world to exist.

***

A Physicist Supports the Revolution Tour to Dis-Elect Trump

I am making a $1,000 matching fund challenge for the Revolution Tour, a critical phase in the organizing for an actual revolution. I am making my annual $1,000 contribution 6 months early because dis-election of Donald Trump is so critical. Another 4 years would consolidate his objective of a fascist America, the most powerful and influential country on Earth. Science, evidence, logic and justice have already been under attack. The first group Hitler exterminated were the Communists. Scientists fled Germany. Trump’s oppression of all opposition would delay the revolution until it might be too late. The coming climate catastrophe and glorification of ignorance and stupidity unchallenged will have ushered in a new Dark Age of world barbarity and unmitigated pestilence, if not the extinction of the human species. 

As far as we presently know, homo sapiens are the only species in the universe that have realized science. (At least some of them have.) The loss of homo sapiens might have astronomical consequences, possibly setting back the progress of the emergence of intelligence in the universe by a billion years.

It might be possible to say that with the success of this tour, we may be able to save humanity in time, and at the same time possibly save the present emergence of intelligence life in the universe.

***

Statement and Pledge from a Group of Immigrant Women in Support of Tour

In addition to this statement, they have pledged to raise $200, $50 of which had been raised at the time of the livestream.

Saludos a todos de la Gira Revolution Nacional.

Nos inspira cómo el Club Revolución ha estado en la primera fila de la lucha de clases: El Club Revolucion con valentia y audaz fue a Portland y Kenosha, difundiendo la revolución y el liderazgo de B.A.

Como inmigrantes nos enfrentamos la opresión, la discriminación y la demonización durante generaciones y generaciones y en las discusiones de los artículos de B.A. hacemos conciencia, que la opresión racial es como cemento que se vierte en los cimientos de un edificio, y este edificio es el capitalismo-imperialismo estadounidense, ala vez que nos hacemos conciencia de que el fascismo no proviene desde afuera, si no que es un producto de este sistema y es un monstruo diferente. Si el fascismo consolida su dominio, seria un desastre para todos en este planeta y un desastre para el planeta mismo. Puede sofocar la lucha por la justicia social. Así que tenemos que eliminar este monstruo y expulsar al régimen de Trump Pence. Este es un paso urgente que debemos dar para hacer la revolución. Y nos alegra que la Gira de la Revolución Nacional esté sacando este impulso en todas partes, especialmente donde la gente se está alzando en lucha. 

Las mujeres inmigrantes que estamos aprendiendo y discutiendo acerca de cómo sería una revolución real, hemos sido por años las más impactadas, en el abuso laboral y estas situaciones se han agravado por la pandemia, con pérdida de trabajo, o pérdida de horas de trabajo de nosotras, o nuestras familias y aún así estamos haciendo un esfuerzo, porque entendemos que es importante apoyar donando para les compañeres en el frente de la lucha en la gira revolución, e invitamos a otres a hacer un esfuerzo para apoyar, con un pequeño donativo multiplicado en cientos o miles de personas puede aportar mucho para advancer el trabajo de la Gira Revolution Nacional.

Buena suerte y cuídense.

En lucha,

Un grupo de mujeres inmigrantes que han estado participando en clases que discuten los artículos y obras de BA.

——

Greetings to all in the National Revolution Tour

We are inspired by how the Revolution Club has been in the frontlines of the class struggle—boldly and courageously going to Portland and Kenosha, spreading revolution and the leadership of BA.

As immigrants we face oppression and discrimination and demonization for generations and generations. But from BA we learn that racial oppression is like cement being poured into the foundation of a building, and this building is American capitalism-imperialism. We also learned that Fascism does not come from outside. It is a product of this system, and it is a different extremely dangerous monster. If Fascism solidifies its rule, it means disaster for everybody on this planet, and disaster for the planet itself. Fascism can lead to the end of the struggle for justice. So we have to remove this monster, and Drive out the Trump Pence Regime. This is an urgent step we have to take for making revolution. And we are glad that this thrust is being taken out by the National Revolution Tour everywhere, especially where people are rising up in struggle.

The immigrant women who are learning and discussing about what a real revolution would look like, have been for years the most impacted, in labor abuse and these situations have been aggravated by the pandemic, with job loss, or loss of working hours of we, or our families and even so we are making an effort, because we understand that it is important to support by donating for our comrades in the front line of the struggle in the revolution tour, and we invite others to make an effort to support, with a small donation multiplied in hundreds or thousands of people it can contribute a lot to support of the Revolution Tour.

Good luck and take care.

In Struggle,

A group of immigrant women who have been participating in classes that discuss the articles and works of BA 

***

Healthcare Workers’ Statement on These Critical Times: 

We are healthcare workers who are outraged over how the COVID 19 pandemic, as well as many other outrages, have been handled by the fascist, genocidal, racist and anti-science Trump/Pence regime.

We strongly support the Revolution Tour, which is playing a key role in the urgent fight to mobilize millions into the streets to drive this regime from power—as a crucial part and urgent requirement of the overall work of building for Revolution—Nothing Less! They’ve been in the midst of the beautiful rising against police murder. Here’s a video of the Revolution Tour in Portland.  

On Sunday, Sept. 20th, we invite you, your family and friends to support a fundraising livestream in support of the tour. We are donating and we encourage you to donate as well. 

You can watch it and donate hereThe Revolution Tour is bringing the deepest understanding to people nationwide of the nightmare that we are in and what the solution is. The criteria is not whether you support revolution, but whether you see the danger to humanity and see the need to act to stop this threat to humanity. 

Medical workers have stepped up many times over the past 3 years:

The newest outrage of this fascist regime is that ICE has been carrying out forced sterilizations of immigrants in the detention centers. Forced sterilization is a crime which has always been a part of this country’s history. [This was done to Black women, Latinx, Indigenous women and poor white women in the 20th century]

Hitler learned from the U.S. when in the Nazi death camps women were subjected to forced sterilizations.   

So, we are challenging people to step up now, and as healthcare workers and support this tour. It is up to us—there will be no magical hero stepping forward to do this going forward. Only the people can put a stop to this regime. 

***

A Matching Challenge from an Immigrant

An immigrant supporter of the National Tour for an ACTUAL Revolution in Southern California has donated $250 and would like to issue a challenge to others nationally to "match it or raise it" towards the $15,000 goal of the livestream.

***

From A Revolution Club Member

Enough is Enough

We need a Revolution PERIOD—Humanity Needs the Revolution Tour & the Rev Clubs, and all who want any future worth living-in need to get with this revolution.

I am giving $400 but wish I could give $4,000.

The 5 Stops can't be ended without actual Revolution—so every reform or Band-Aid just doesn't make the cut—the emancipation of humanity & the planet is what everyone should be working on—this is a challenge to match my $400 donation right now—send in $20, $50, $100 because this work must be supported and millions need to find out about this revolution with your help.

***

An Artist Who Donated Paper Maché Artwork for the Tour Fundraising

To the National Get Organized for an Actual Revolution Tour:

Thank you for the opportunity of saying a few words about my non-monetary contribution to the fund drive for this very important Tour which I have been following and think is super important. So I wish you the best and will continue contributing as much as possible in this and other ways.

While I have for years now been learning and working with different mediums such as paints, drawing, paper mache, engraving etc., I made these figures out of paper mache because I was already working with this medium along with other people on making a large Trump head that we needed by September 5, for the United Nationwide Mass Protest. To work on this, for us a large project, we asked the artist Alfonso Piloto Nieves Ruiz to teach us how to do this.

Piloto put out a call for a workshop. Besides our group working on the Trump head, there were people working on a tribute to Breonna Taylor, and a bust and head of the local ICE representative and children in cages, and another group working on a Oaxacan jaguars head.

During this workshop, which lasted weeks, and were held outdoors and abided by COVID-19 rules, a couple of Pilsen’s most well-known muralists and other artists stopped by to check out what we were doing. (Piloto had announced the workshop suddenly and a lot of people could not make the commitment, but there was a lot of interests.) In conversations with some of them and in explaining why we were making our project, and making sure they all got leaflets and stickers, we spoke about the importance of art, and not as some afterthought or something that is just going to add some color to the protest, but about how important it is that art be integral, organic, to the struggles.

We also spoke about how the pandemic has devastated many artists from the community as it came at the same time the neighborhood was being rapidly gentrified. (In the last few days it was announced that one of Little Village’s most iconic malls, with 150 vendors, is going to be demolished and a Target is to be built in its place. The same area where a few months ago a tower from an old factory was demolished creating a dust cloud that made many people sick and resulted in at least one death. With an asbestos cloud hanging over the neighborhood for days. All to open way for new condos.) But we also spoke about the need for more artist to be part of the struggles, some people said we need a movement of artist.

So it was during these weeks that I heard of the Tours fund drive and I decided to make something that may be auctioned or sold. (A few months ago I donated to the Rev Club 2 other figures made for 10-24-2015 holding a banner of Stolen Lives that could also be for the fund drive.) So, as I was thinking on what to make, I decided on something that reflected what the Tour is about. Kind of like when you make a poster announcing an event. So one of the figures is expressing the fact that the world needs BA’s new communism, and is holding up the book and has a bullhorn to let everybody know, as well as back-pocketing a copy of Revolution newspaper. And the other figure expresses that the only way humanity can get free of this system is by overthrowing it, not reforming it, and is wearing a Revolution Nothing Less shirt.

Once again, I wish you the best, and hope these figures can make a small contribution.

***

Retired Library Tech (SF Bay Area) 

Initially I had planned to donate $300 to RNL [Revolution, Nothing Less] and the Tour. Fascism, the thing I have most feared Is here and is rushing to consolidate. The essence of america is retribution! This has to end. There is something we can do. Support the Tour, Refuse Fascism, and RNL. Donate! We need to reach out and connect others to what BA has brought forward. What we do makes a difference. I have decided to donate $500 and to contribute in whatever way I can to the beautiful and scientific RNL. To the future of humanity!

See also:

At a time when the future of humanity hangs in the balance:
Become a Sustainer of the National Revolution Tour!

Read more

Donate to the Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution Tour

 

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/new-moves-by-trump-pence-regime-towards-dystopian-police-state-en.html

Revealed: New Moves by Trump/Pence Regime Towards a "Dystopian Police State"

| revcom.us

 


Riverside County sheriff's deputies confront people protesting the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police, June 1. (Photo: Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)


Austin cops attack a protest against the murder of George Floyd with tear gas.


New York City cops spray tear gas at a kneeling protester, May 31.

October 20, 2020: Today’s New York Times published “The Dystopian Police State the Trump Administration Wants,” an op-ed by Phillip Atiba Goff.1 That title might sound alarmist, but it is dead-on accurate.

Goff is calling attention to highly repressive recommendations from the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. Trump ordered Attorney General Barr to set this up in October 2019. Its membership is entirely law enforcement—no civil rights or civil liberties groups, no outside experts or attorneys. And the Commission held no public hearings (as it is required to do under federal law). 

So, this is a commission of pigs, led and empowered by the Trump/Pence regime, meeting in secret to determine how to “administer justice” (i.e., escalate oppression of the masses and repress political dissent from any quarter) in a time of massive protest against systemic racism and police brutality, and as the regime moves to steal the election and fully consolidate fascism. 

Here’s what they came up with:

Make Cops Even More Invulnerable to Punishment for Brutality and Murder.

Cops already have a nearly free hand to kill and murder at will, especially Black and Brown people. Since 2005, pigs have killed about 1,000 civilians each year—roughly 14,000 total. About 110 cops were charged in these cases, and only 42 convicted of anything—and only five were convicted of murder. But that is still too many for the Pig Commission:

  • It recommends that cops accused of wrongdoing be allowed to view body cam footage before giving their account of what happened, so they can craft their lies around whatever was caught on video.
  • The Commission wants the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to uphold “qualified immunity” for police, a Supreme Court precedent that protects cops from civil lawsuits for their actions. Goff says doing this would turn the DOJ into “a personal defense firm for officers accused of violating [the rule of law.]”

Ratcheting Up Government Surveillance of the People

The U.S. already has a massive surveillance operation, reading and archiving people’s emails and text messages, collecting and storing all kinds of other personal data. The Commission wants to add at least two major elements to this.

  • It wants to provide funding for America’s 18,000 police agencies to purchase facial recognition software. This will enable them to identify and start (or add to) files on, for example, anyone participating in a protest against police brutality, or any other public activity that the police don’t like. And this information would likely be shared with the federal government and entered into a single national database, which could facilitate nationwide coordinated raids and crackdowns on “the radical left” or others the regime considers “enemies.”
  • The Commission wants police to have access to encrypted cellphones, meaning that potentially everything from your financial records to photos of your friends could be added to that same national database, which could be used against activists or others in any number of ways.

Compelling Local Prosecutors to Lock Up More People on Petty Bullshit

In the last few years, voters in some cities have elected prosecutors who pledged to reform the system. Although this is fundamentally impossible under this system, some have tried to do things like halt prosecutions of petty crimes like possession of marijuana, and reducing or eliminating cash bail that keeps nearly a half million people in jail, sometimes for years, while awaiting trial. The Commission wants to establish state committees to “oversee” these prosecutors, to eliminate any kinks in their machinery of mass incarceration.

***

On October 1, 2020, a federal district court judge barred the Commission from publishing their report until it complied with federal open meetings and transparency laws. But no one should breathe a sigh of relief—experience has shown time and again that unfavorable court rulings may slow down the regime a bit, but are unable to stop it. And that is even truer now as federal courts are increasingly packed with fascist judges.

If Trump/Pence are able to remain in power, the regime will certainly push forward with these and other repressive measures. And besides “official” measures inscribed in law and policy, there is the “unofficial” unleashing of repression and terror. There is the egging on of the brutal “instincts” of the pigs that are barely constrained to begin with—as Trump told a conference of cops: “Don’t be so nice” to people in your custody. There is Trump’s support for the vigilante murder of two protesters in Kenosha (which Trump called “self-defense”!) and his open celebration of the extrajudicial execution of an anti-fascist activist by federal and local law enforcement in Portland. 

All of this is very ominous for the movement against police murder and institutional racism—and for anyone struggling for or even aspiring to a more just, humane and ecologically viable society. And it underscores the very high stakes in the struggle to drive out the Trump/Pence fascist regime in the coming weeks and months.

 


1. Goff is a professor of African-American studies and psychology at Yale University, and CEO of the Center for Policing Equity.  [back]

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/take-the-struggle-to-end-murder-by-police-&-white-supremacy-higher-en.html

 


 

Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/message-from-the-rnl-show-team-en.html

Message from The RNL Show Team

| revcom.us

 

This Thursday, October 22, we will not be premiering Episode 31 of The RNL Show. Instead we premiered a shorter Dispatch from The RNL Show tonight (Wednesday). Tune in and tell your friends. Let's grow this community!

The new dispatch features:

As many of you may know, this week is packed with important developments, including the vote on the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation along with the last presidential debate on Thursday. In order to stay up to date on these upcoming developments the NEW episode of The RNL Show is scheduled to premiere on Monday October 26. Stay tuned for more details!

We do want to encourage all of our viewers to participate in Refuse Fascism's #TrumpPenceOutNow Mass Public Assemblies happening in several cities this weekend, October 24. Go to Refuse Fascism for more info.

Dispatch From The RNL Show 10/21/2020

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/kidnapping-children-sadistic-heart-of-a-fascist-regime-en.html

Kidnapping Children, Deporting Parents – the Sadistic Heart of a Fascist Regime

| revcom.us

 


Immigrants held under a bridge in El Paso, Texas, April 2019. Photo: @IGD_news

 

The Trump/Pence regime’s depths of cruelty are boundless. This week, a court document filed by regime lawyers revealed that the parents of 545 immigrant children kidnapped and systematically separated from their parents by the U.S. government in 2017 have not been located. This means that many of these families will possibly never be reunited.

In 2017, the fascist regime began a “pilot program” of tearing apart immigrant families seeking asylum at the U.S./Mexico border. In 2018, this became encoded as the government’s “zero tolerance” policy. Separating families was the point of “zero tolerance”—coming from the top levels of the regime—it was not a byproduct, or something taken too far by low-level enforcers. As outrage and protest against separating and deporting families and putting children in cages broke out across the U.S., fascist commander Trump bellowed, “the United States will not be a migrant camp ... not on my watch.”

Jeff Sessions, at that time the Attorney General, announced, “If you smuggle illegal aliens across the border, then we’ll prosecute you for smuggling. If you’re smuggling a child [i.e., if you’re a parent seeking asylum with your child], then we’re going to prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law.” The New York Times reported that Sessions’ top deputy, Rod Rosenstein, “went even further in a second call about a week later,” telling prosecutors that “it did not matter how young the children were.” He told prosecutors that Sessions’ goal was “to create a more effective deterrent so that everybody would believe that they had a risk of being prosecuted.”

Over 5,000 children, including infants, were separated from their parents during both phases of this U.S. government policy. Many were locked in cages and held in freezing jail cells. 

In June 2018, a federal court ordered the government to end family separations and to reunite families torn apart after Sessions’ announcement of “zero tolerance.” In January 2019, a judge ordered that the federal government also search for the 1,556 children separated from their parents during the year of the “pilot project.” Most of these parents had long been deported, and the children released to sponsors—some to other family members or friends of the parents, some to foster care. Lawyers working with the group Justice in Motion1 began searches in Mexico and Central American countries to find parents of children still in the U.S. But their work was made much more difficult than it already was with the onslaught of the coronavirus. And this week it became known that 545 children still had not been reunited with a parent.

The pain inflicted on all these children is incalculable, and lasting. In a Scientific American article, Alan Shapiro, an assistant clinical professor in pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, examined the psychological and physical harm caused by family separation. He said that the “younger you are when you’re exposed to stress ... the more likely you will have negative health outcomes...” These health issues can lead to “architectural changes in the brain—which means that in the future [separated] children might end up with serious learning, developmental and health problems” and “long-term chronic medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, higher rates of cancer and a decrease in longevity.”

The fascist Trump/Pence regime is still imprisoning and deporting children—some as young as one year old—at the border. Children taken into Border Patrol custody, with or without their parents, are put in hotels, where they are “supervised” by transportation workers. The hotels are outside the formal detention system, and not subject to policies that supposedly prevent abuse or require access to phones, healthy food, and medical and mental health care. Parents and lawyers have no way of finding these children or monitoring their well-being while they are in custody, which lasts until the children are put on a plane back to their home country.

For years the fascists in power have persisted in policies that maximize separation of immigrant families. Every time a legal obstacle is put in their way, they soon brush it aside. As Bob Avakian wrote in his series Donald Trump - GENOCIDAL RACIST, “Many people have pointed out that all this is the kind of thing Hitler did to ‘demonize’ and ‘criminalize’ Jews as he put them in concentration camps, and then murdered 6 million of them.”

 

Sources:

Parents of 545 Children Separated at U.S. Mexico Border Still Can’t be FoundNPR, October 20, 2020.

Officials said in 2017 that separated migrants under 12 couldn’t find parents on their ownNBC News, October 9, 2020.

How COVID-19 Has Impacted the Search for Separated FamiliesKQED, September 21, 2020.

Jeff Sessions and Kirstjen Nielsen defend the Trump administration’s ‘zero tolerance’ immigration policyCNBC, June 18, 2018.

This is the Trump administration's reasoning for separating families at the borderBusiness Insider, June 19, 2018. 

Lawyers can’t find the parents of 545 migrant children after separation by TrumpVox, October 21, 2020. 

Federal judge orders reunification of parents and children, end to most family separations at borderCNN, June 27, 2018.

Separating Families May Cause Lifelong Health DamageScientific American, June 20, 2018.

A Private Security Company Is Detaining Migrant Children at HotelsNew York Times, August 16

 


1. The U.S. government has not made any effort to marshal its human and technological resources to try to find the parents it deported and reunite them with their children. The arduous task of actually locating parents deported from the U.S. to Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador has fallen mainly on a group of conscientious and courageous volunteers with Justice in Motion, a nonprofit organization staffed by volunteers.

CNN described how Dora Melara, a lawyer who volunteers with Justice in Motion, heads into remote parts of Honduras, looking for clues in cases she never imagined would take this long to solve.“There are places where you practically have to climb mountains to get there. And when you arrive, they say, ‘He doesn’t live here anymore.’” The task of Melara and other volunteers has been made much more difficult because of the spread of the coronavirus. But she said, “This is something that is still affecting many families. Until each one of the parents has been found, for me, this is not over.” Even when she spends days trying to locate a parent, often in a remote village,only to learn that the parent is no longer there, she said she and others don’t despair. “We think of it as, ‘now we've taken the first step to find them.’”  [back]


McAllen, TX, March 2019. Photo: AP


The Ursula detention facility in McAllen, Texas, June 2018. Photo: U.S Customs and Border Patrol/PAP/EPA.

 

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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/670/fascists-step-up-efforts-to-steal-the-election-en.html

Fascists Step Up Efforts to Steal the Election, Suppress the Vote

| revcom.us

 

Trump is already stealing the electionThe fascist regime and its fascist enforcers are already suppressing the vote. 

Examples from this past week alone include:

Mobilizing legions of screaming fascists to intimidate people trying to vote, destroying ballots, using the courts to discredit votes—all these and more are part of the Trump/Pence regime’s rolling coup.This is outright Nazi behavior, trying to wrench society back to a time when Black people in the South (and elsewhere) were violently kept from voting1; when people of Mexican descent and other people whose primary language was Spanish were systematically prevented from voting in Texas and other states.  

People fought hard, and many died, to establish the right of people of color to vote. This right needs to be defended now, in massive numbers. People need to vote, and stand up to fascist attempts to intimidate people, especially Black and Latinx people, away from the polls. At the same time, as Revolution has written: “VOTING WILL NOT BE ENOUGH—AND SIMPLY RELYING ON VOTING WILL VERY LIKELY LEAD TO DISASTER. WE NEED TO TAKE TO THE STREETS NOW, AND STAY IN THE STREETS, DEMANDING TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!”

 

Sources: 

Federal court rules Texas doesn’t have to notify voters whose ballots are tossed, Houston Chronicle, October 19, 2020.

Nevada County officials address voter intimidation concernsKCRA, October 17, 2020.

A Miami cop wore a Trump mask to vote, inflaming Democrats: ‘This is city funded voter intimidation’Washington Post, October 21, 2020. 

Monona County Officials Working To Remove Military-Style Truck With Campaign Flags From Voting SiteIowa Public Radio, October 10, 2020.

California ballot drop box set ablaze in possible arson, damaging up to 100 ballotsUSA Today, October 20, 2020.

Watchdog group cites interference at polls in Latino areasAssociated Press, October 21, 2020.

 


1. See revcom.us series American Crime, Case #11: The Violent Suppression of Black People’s Right to Vote.  [back]


A sizeable force of shouting Trumpites at an early voting location in Fairfax, Virginia, September 21.


Miami cop, in full uniform, showed up at a polling station in Dade County with a face mask that had Trump superimposed on an American Flag.


Camouflaged military-style truck with a huge Trump banner parked outside the county courthouse polling station, Monona County, Iowa.


A ballot box that had been set on fire in Baldwin Park, a largely Latinx suburb of Los Angeles. (Screen grab: RMG News)


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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/waukegan-illinois-pigs-murder-unarmed-black-youth-en.html

Waukegan, Illinois, Pigs Murder Unarmed Black Youth

"Mama, they shot us for nothing"

| revcom.us

 

On Tuesday, October 20, police in Waukegan, Illinois, north of Chicago, shot and killed Marcellis Stinnette, a 19-year-old Black man. The police gunfire also injured Tafara Williams, who was driving the car she and Stinnette were in. Williams and Stinnette are parents to a young child.

While releasing little information, police officials claim that the car driven by Williams was stopped because it was “suspicious” and that one of the cops fired when he “feared for his safety.” The police found no weapons.

This outrageous police shooting took place not far from where Justus Howell, an unarmed 17-year-old Black teenager, was killed by pigs in 2015 with two shots to the back as he was running away.

Williams’s mother, Cliftina Johnson, said on Wednesday she visited her daughter at the hospital, where she is in serious condition with wounds to her stomach and hand. Johnson told reporters, “When I got there, she said, ‘Mama, they just shot us for nothing.’ My daughter said she put her hand up, and if she didn’t put her hand up, she said, ‘Mama, I would be dead.’" In a phone video that WLS news in Chicago reported as being shared by the family, Tafara Williams says, “Why did you shoot? I didn't do nothing wrong. I have a license. You didn't tell me I was under arrest. Why did you just flame up my car like that? Why did you shoot?"

A Waukegan police media briefing was interrupted on Wednesday by protesters demanding to know, “Why did they fire?” On Thursday, October 22, about 100 protesters marched through the streets of Waukegan, with chants of “Black Lives Matter!” and “Say his name! Marcellis Stinnette! Say her name! Tafara Williams!” Another 100 protesters followed the marchers in a car caravan. Among the protesters were relatives of Jacob Blake, 29-year-old Black man who was shot seven times in the back by pigs in August in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a little north of Waukegan.

How many times do we have to hear the murdering pigs say they stopped a Black, Latino, or Native American person on mere “suspicion” (which means they were stopped just for the color of their skin)? How many times do we have to hear the police claim they “feared for their safety” to justify their shooting and brutalizing people of color—and then walk away free or with a slap on the wrist? What does it say about the system that rules over us that even after masses of people around the country have risen up against murder by police and systematic racism, their cops still keep killing with impunity? As a relative of Marcellis Stinnette said at the Thursday protest: “This has to stop!”


Marcellis Stinnette


People in Waukegan, Illinois, march on October 22, 2020, to protest the police killing of Marcellis Stinnette. Photo: AP

 

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Permalink: https://revcom.us/a/670/white-supremacy-plus-voter-intimidation-and-vote-stealing-equals-fascism-en.html

Reposted from RefuseFascism.org:

White Supremacy + Voter Intimidation and Vote Stealing = Fascism! Trump/Pence Out Now! Defend the Right to Vote!

| revcom.us

 

Not since the days when the KKK murdered Black people who tried to register to vote have we seen anything like this. The right that people shed their blood to win is under attack from Trump and the fascist Republican Party.

These white supremacists are trying to steal the election. WE MUST STOP THEM! Over the next nine days join us in nonviolent action to thwart the attempts of the Trump/Pence regime to block Black, Latino and Indigenous people from voting.

We need to be real clear on what is going on—it’s a matter of life and death. This is not a “typical election.” This is not “oh, they’re both the same.” THIS IS A NINE-ALARM EMERGENCY. This is part of a rolling fascist coup. This is part of bringing in a regime in which people who do not go along with white supremacy, male supremacy, and America-first-over-the-world will have NO rights whatsoever. As Carl Dix, an initiator of Refuse Fascism, has said, “I have been warning for years that mass incarceration and police murder has been part of a slow genocide against Black people. Now we face the danger of a fast one.”

People are acting. Black and Brown people all over the country are coming out early to vote. All kinds of groups are filing suits and fighting in the courts. Others are preparing for election day itself, to protect people’s right to vote against Trump’s fascist marauders.

We support these efforts. Voting is essential. But VOTING WILL NOT BE ENOUGH. These next nine days before the election we in Refuse Fascism are organizing to:

You are needed to be part of this. Join with us to go to the battleground states beginning this week.

TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!

 

Read shorter version of this call from RefuseFascism.org


Washington, DC, October 17

 

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