Revolution Anyone?

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rwor.org/future

THE BATTLE FOR THE FUTURE WILL BE FOUGHT FROM HERE FORWARD!

YOU THINK YOU KNOW................BUT YOU HAVE NO IDEA..............JUST WHAT BUSH HAS IN STORE FOR.....YOU.....US.....THE WORLD.....OUR FUTURE!

Straight up—Bush and his people aren’t just ordinary Republicans. And they’re not ordinary Christians either. They are Christian Fascists—dangerous fanatics who aim to make the U.S. a religious dictatorship and to force this upon the world. If they get their way—and they are very far along the road to getting it—society will be plunged into a high-tech Dark Ages.

Those who compare Bush to Hitler are right! But, don’t be waiting for people wearing little mustaches and marching the Nazi goose-step to come to your town. This brand of fascism is coming differently, and it's coming straight from the White House.
Staring at Christian Fascism

People say, "they couldn’t, no they just wouldn’t" strip away "classic" U.S. democracy and plunge us into fascism. But let’s see what they’ve done... and what they plan to do.

Bush believes that he is on a "mission from God," and so do his cronies. Army General William Boykin recently declared that the Iraqi people were the "face of Satan," that the Christian God was the only true and "real" god, and that "God himself" put Bush in the White House. He said all this publicly and in uniform, no less—and after people protested it, Boykin was promoted! Over the years these Christian Fascists have dug in at every level of the courts, the army and Congress. BUT NOW THEY PLAN TO GO FURTHER, moving more thoroughly into the highest levels of power. Supreme Court Justice Scalia and other highly placed Republicans want to wipe out the separation of church and state, and use government to support and enforce religious belief.

Bush has launched a worldwide "crusade." In the name of "good vs. evil," he’s killed tens of thousands of people in Iraq, and maybe more—and still the war rages. In the name of "fighting terror", he justifies torturing people in prisons like Guantanamo and murdering wounded prisoners in Iraq. This proven liar has rammed through a new "doctrine" that lets him wage war whenever and wherever he says he "sees a threat", and there is no telling where he’ll stop. The U.S. has long committed monstrous crimes around the world ... and NOW THEY PLAN TO GO FURTHER. The imperialists in power—all of them, with Bush at the core—want total global empire. Bush himself believes in Armageddon, that Islam is "evil", and that he is "fighting for God." How many people, halfway ’round the world or right down the block, will lose their lives to this lunacy? Lunacy backed up by, and serving, imperialism.

Bush’s gang suppresses science. They’ve taken control of scientific agencies. They promote "creationism" against evolution and they suppress scientific research on life-and-death issues like global warming, the AIDS epidemic, and stem-cell research. Unless they can use it to make money or make weapons, Bush’s people hate the scientific spirit of trying to figure out how the world really works. Science calls into question their dogmatic interpretation of the Bible that prepares people to sacrifice for "god and country"—and never ask why.

Bush is dismantling democratic rights. Tens of thousands of immigrants have been detained and deported for little, if any, reason and thousands more have been imprisoned with no charges—many for years. The Bush regime spies on political and religious groups. It suppresses ordinary protests with massive force, including even tanks in the streets. And it openly disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of Black voters in the last election. All this, AND NOW THEY PLAN ON GOING FURTHER. Bush aims to pass more fascist laws, his flunkies threaten artists and intellectuals who dare to step outside the lines, they are invading all aspects of daily life—and it is an open question as to whether any rights at all will be left standing.

Bush’s Morality: Hypocrisy and Hatred

Bush talks about "values," but if you’re a single woman and you want to live your own life ... or if you’re gay and proud ... these Christian Fascists have you in their cross-hairs. They’ve severely restricted the right to abortion and tried to put independent-minded women on the defensive. They whipped up anti-gay hatred as a big part of their presidential campaign. BUT NOW THEY ARE GOING MUCH FURTHER. Bush aims to appoint new Supreme Court justices who will totally outlaw abortion, and he wants to pass a constitutional amendment against gay marriage. And these fascists also go after the more humane forms of Christianity that don’t share their hateful bigotry.

"Values?" These people have the morality of a lynch mob! If you are Black or Latino, and especially if you are up against the merciless conditions of the inner city ... then you too are in the cross-hairs. Bush plans to rip out even social security. He wants to do health care, education, welfare, and even prisons through churches that are directly approved, funded by and answering to the government. These churches will not "lift people up"—and these programs will degrade people, insisting that they agree that their hunger, their homelessness, and their problems flow from their "sins"—and not from a system that has oppressed them from Day One. And the full Christian Fascist plan—which includes vastly expanded capital punishment for minor crimes, in accord with Old Testament "morality"—is far worse, with a downright genocidal direction to it.

A Time for Resistance

Are we exaggerating? If anything, people have always under-estimated just how fast and how far Bush would go. And now he claims a "mandate" for his lunacy. No, Bush and the people around him are deadly serious and aim to go much further than almost anyone expects.

As for "mandate?" BULL! The will of the people was NOT expressed in this election. Kerry didn’t call Bush out for his lies and deception, or expose the real horrors of Bush’s deeds—and his plans. There was no real fight, and people should not grant a shred of legitimacy to Bush.

And waiting for yet another Democrat to disappoint and betray people four years from now is not only worthless—it may be way too late. What we need now, very urgently and very immediately, is RESISTANCE. Resistance, in the words of Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, "that refuses to be bound by the terms of mainstream politics or the notion that this politics represents the ’ultimate word’ on the ’will of the people.’ Resistance that will not just protest the juggernaut of war and fascism but go all-out to STOP it. Resistance that will reach out and win over people who have been deceived by this madness but whose deepest interests are opposed to it. Resistance that will be united—but will still include space for dreams and debate."

We can build on the past resistance to the Iraq war and other Bush outrages. But this must come back together and take a huge leap with major actions when Bush is inaugurated on January 20th, 2005. People everywhere must see that there really ARE "two Americas," squaring off over the future.

The Revolutionary Way Out

This Christian Fascism didn’t materialize out of thin air. It arose on the basis of CAPITALISM and the most powerful capitalists support it (even as they fight among themselves).

What do we mean by capitalism? Today, people could produce enough food, housing and clothing to provide a decent life to everyone on the planet. But the means to do this are owned and controlled by a handful of global capitalist-imperialists who are driven to get ever greater profit, or else go under. And so half the people on the planet live on less than $2 a day. Billions go hungry. People are driven from country to city and then around the world, desperately seeking work, while communities in the U.S. are left to rot. And now the Bush lunacy has taken this to an even more terrible level.

But imagine a different future. A future where people consciously learn about and transform the world, and are not imprisoned in the chains of tradition and ignorance. A world without racism and without borders. A vibrant place, where people together debate and decide how to develop society. A world where people no longer wonder where their next meal will come from, or if they will be homeless, or abandoned or sick in their old age—a world of abundance, where people together hold all of society’s resources in common. A world where people not only work to produce the necessities of life, but get into art and culture and science—and have fun doing it! A world without the domination of women by men, where people interact with each other based on mutual respect, concern and love for humanity. A world that looks out for and takes care of the environment.

That world is communism. And we can get to that world.

A Revolutionary Society

But how? Through revolution—where those who are today exploited and oppressed rise up and defeat the powers-that-be. A revolution led by the class that owns nothing but its ability to work, and yet works together to make the world run. A revolution in which this class steps on to the stage of history and leads tens of millions more—including the millions who hate the cruel reign of Bush and the Christian fascists.

Revolutions don’t happen overnight, or by accident. But when a deep crisis suddenly erupts in society, and when a revolutionary party has been actively organizing and preparing people for such an opening, and when millions of people begin to think we need a basic change ... and become a "revolutionary people" ... then dreams can be seized in the clear light of day. No, we’re not there yet—but the extreme changes being wrought by the Bush crew could very well lead to such a crisis. And our Party is doing all it can to bring forward a revolutionary people to seize that time, whenever it may come.

People have made this kind of revolution before—first in Russia, then in China. And they accomplished amazing things. In the end, however, those revolutions were finally turned back and defeated by the guardians of the old order. But building on their tremendous accomplishments—and examining deeply and unsparingly their negative experiences—Bob Avakian has brought forward a radical new "model" and vision of what this socialist society must be all about.

Socialist society will enable people to solve the most burning problems that bedevil us today. The "rule of profit" will be shattered and there will be jobs, health care, decent housing and stimulating education—for everyone. Communities will be centers where people join to solve the problems that hold society back. The racism and white supremacy that is woven so deeply into the fabric of American capitalism, and the chains of women’s oppression that still weigh so heavily, will be struggled against and uprooted—from the gitgo! And the socialist state will not oppress other nations—instead, it will support revolution all around the world.

But even more crucially, the new society will unleash people to change the world. People will count for something—in fact, for everything. Those who were formerly locked out of working with ideas will do exactly that—they will work with their minds and participate in society in an all-round way. The leadership of society will work to unleash diverse thinking and action from the bottom up and everywhere else. It will foster dissent, including opposition to the government itself; it will learn all it can from people, so that society can move forward. The youth will be treasured for their dreams, their daring ... and their impatience. There will be ferment and upheaval—far beyond what we can imagine today.

And yes, there must be, and there will be, firm leadership to hold onto power for the people and to guide all the complex and challenging struggle. Through this whole process, and as other revolutions develop around the world, the state itself will draw more and more millions into the direct rule of every part of society until the division of people into ruler and ruled is finally overcome, in communist society.

This socialism, as envisioned by Bob Avakian, will embrace scientists, intellectuals, and artists. They’ll continue their intellectual and artistic work, deepening the store of human knowledge, even as they break down barriers with other sections of society, especially the formerly exploited and oppressed. The leadership of society won’t fear their tendency to question everything, or to look at things in new ways. On the contrary, it will welcome this in a way that no other society can—for without lively questioning and "air to breathe", socialism would not be a place people would want to live, nor would it open up the road to communism.

In this revolutionary society people will be able to practice religion and go to church—or not—as they please. But the schools, and the government generally, will promote a scientific approach to understanding and changing material reality. On that basis, a new morality will be forged. It will cherish the lives of the people of the world and uphold equality between nations and peoples and between men and women. It will value struggle against the oppressive relations that still remain, and not resignation and surrender to them.

The Clash of Two Futures

Two futures confront each other. Will imperialism force a future of darkness and suffocation onto the people? Will tens of millions more needlessly suffer and die? OR, will the critical spirit be unleashed in a way that does a great GOOD for humanity? Will society move forward in a revolutionary direction and set about removing the great suffering and misery cast down on the people by capitalism?

To put it another way, which vision will prevail: that of George W. Bush? Or of Bob Avakian?

Each of us has a part in answering this question. We know that the job is huge, the time is short, and the odds are long. Yet we are down for this, all the way down, and optimistic as well.

But let us put it to YOU: if you’ve been agonizing about the future, if you nodded your head as you read this statement, then... what are YOU gonna do? Are YOU going to be one of thousands who come together now and help create the force that can lead millions against this madness, when millions are ready to be led? Will you help create and bring onto the stage a revolutionary people? Are you ready to check out this Party and this leader? Will you bring your ideas, your creativity, your questions and yes, your disagreements to us, and help figure out how we can rise to the occasion? Are YOU ready to make a real difference—to not only spread the word of resistance and revolution, but make that a real alternative in society?

Don’t let Bush determine the future. Spread this statement to your friends. Talk about it with them. And check us out. Now.

Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

Who Is Bob Avakian?

Anyone seriously thinking about revolution knows that it can’t happen without revolutionary leadership.

It’s a huge question.

Well, just to be up front, there IS a leader, the likes of which this country has never seen before, that can lead a mighty struggle to make revolution and remake society. That leader is Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party.

Chairman Avakian knows revolution. He has studied deeply the revolutions of the past and taken up the responsibility for charting the course of revolution today. He has done a whole "re-envisioning" of communist society and what it will take to get there. He’s a leader with tremendous love for and confidence in the people; and he gives you confidence and hope that we can actually do what the times demand of all of us.

But there’s more to his leadership than this. Chairman Avakian makes not just what he’s learned but how he analyzes things the property of the people. He knows it takes the great involvement of the people to make revolution, and he invites—and challenges—everyone into the process of struggle to know and change the world. It may seem ironic ... but the more that people wrestle with and follow his leadership, the greater will be their creative spirit, initiative, and activity. We in the RCP are fully aware that someone like Bob Avakian comes along only very rarely, and we take seriously our responsibility to defend this precious leader from the powers-that-be—and to rally others to do so as well.

If you care at all about the world we’re in, you should check him out for yourselves.

Websites: rwor.org and bobavakian.net

[passy]

1. Kill the American dream and then we can start talking communism.

2. What American Dream?

What about the American reality, or the American nightmare.

[latteromden]

3. It's there, it's in the "American Dream Downpayment Act of 2003." (n/t)

4. Always count on Congress

to pump up some bullshit. Is the dream to own a house or is it that you can do anything you put your mind to? What is it? Have you ever read "Babbit", whenever i hear the term American Dream I feel really bad for the person uttering it, provided they're serious.

I wonder if the American Dream has anything to say about Skid Row, and how you can walk less than a block from an area with the highest concentration of homelessness to an area where rich people drink latte's on a patio. What does the American Dream mean to someone born on a Reservation or in a ghetto. And if the American Dream turns out to look like something in the suburbs why the fuck would you want anything to do with it. The suburbs drain your soul away.

[JanMichael]

5. ADDI is bullshit. We already HAD a 1st time homebuyer program.

This didn't add to it because, tah-dah, our CDBG and HOME Programs were bothed reduced more than the ADDI was worth.

On top of that 05/06 drops by 50% and 06/07 is looking like $0.

It was a gimmick.

7. It's purpose was ideological not economic

Gotta keep humping the American Dream like some loner in a Vegas Casino at 4 in the morning. And Congress is just the management at the Casino.

6. Why not talk about Communism now?

It does seem to be something pressing. If we don't do something we're going to have a theological police state with wars all over the world and terrorism coming over here. We'll have massive poverty and ignorance, and more than likely a global ecological catastrophe (effects of global warming).

What else is out there? Can we reform global warming away? Can we reform a system that continuously attacks small third world countries? Can we reform racism away? Can we reform poverty away?

It's rather quaint, in my opinion, to think that what is going on now can be stopped anywhere short of revolution. Even if you could get Bush out the system would just put a new face on the same program. It's unlikely to give us any New Deal or Great Society, because it can't afford it this time around. In fact they're in the process of taking these things away. So what? Wait another couple years to vote and lose again, because even if your candidate wins he's not addressing your interests?

Or should we just hideout and see if this Bush thing blows over?

[aneerkoinos]

13. Answers

"What else is out there?"

Otherness.

"Can we reform global warming away?"

No. We can do lot less to make it worse.

Can we reform a system that continuously attacks small third world countries?

Yes.

"Can we reform racism away?"

Yes.

"Can we reform poverty away?"

Yes.


Now my question. What does revolution mean? I would like to suggest it means both being smart and wise. Only revolution is eternal revolution, that refuses to be institutionalized but is not afraid of passingly utilizing institutions. True revolution can have no goal, if it adopts a goal, it becomes coup, say hello to the new master, same as the new master.

If you are smart, you'll see that violent revolution at this moment would only serve the interests of institutionalized power. There are so many other possibilities. But revolution starts by becoming revolutionary, it does not start by waiting for Lenin or Stalin or Trotsky to lead you; that kind of waiting is counter-revolutionary. Leadership will arise in situations where it is needed, and then cease. Only revolution is you: your ideals, your talent, your creativity, most of all your relations with the people, with the world.

16. I think...

There is alot of truth in your statement.

Firstly, revolutions must be continuous. This idea of no goal is very interesting, though I'm not prepared to endorse it.

At this moment right now, no-one is talking about armed struggle. We're talking about building a revolutionary people that is capable of taking the struggle there when the crisis develops further.

But, what exactly did you mean when you said "If you are smart, you'll see that violent revolution at this moment would only serve the interests of institutionalized power."

I don't think we're talking about waiting for a leader either. I would say that Avakian represents such a leader arising when needed, although I would not want to be mechanical about this. It's not like leadership rises out of necessity. There have been plenty of cases when leadership was needed, but not available.

I must disagree fundamentally with the last part of your statement. The individual is not the ultimate. Without society the individual would cease to exist and vice versa. A single person can change nothing unless they interact and work with others. Our ideas in fact are at least partially constructed by others, whether this be teachers or parents or whatever. You seem to be arguing that by changing yourself you change the world. I've seen this expressed in lifestyle politics, i.e. veganism, anti-consumerism, etc. Doesn't seem to do anything except make the person engaged in it feel self-riteous.


http://rwor.org/a/1262/avakian-epistemology.htm

[aneerkoinos]

22. ... therefore I revolve

>>>This idea of no goal is very interesting, though I'm not prepared to endorse it.<<<

Defining a single, structured, overall goal means limiting the process from the beginning, and is thus counter-revolutionary. That is on the strategical level. Tactical short term goals are of course different thing.



>>>But, what exactly did you mean when you said "If you are smart, you'll see that violent revolution at this moment would only serve the interests of institutionalized power."<<<

Patriot acst I and II, violent resistance is what the power structure is getting ready for, and violent resistance will give easy pretext for more violent oppression and effective propaganda tools in demonizing the resistance. Violence is the game power plays best, resorting to violence at this point would mean succumbing to playing in "their" home field. Opposite of violence is emancipation, often simply refusing to be ruled and finding autonomy is the most revolutionary response to power.



>>>I must disagree fundamentally with the last part of your statement. The individual is not the ultimate. Without society the individual would cease to exist and vice versa. A single person can change nothing unless they interact and work with others. Our ideas in fact are at least partially constructed by others, whether this be teachers or parents or whatever. You seem to be arguing that by changing yourself you change the world. I've seen this expressed in lifestyle politics, i.e. veganism, anti-consumerism, etc. Doesn't seem to do anything except make the person engaged in it feel self-riteous.<<<

Then you misunderstood me, or didn't notice my emphasis: "most of all your relations with the people, with the world". I'm arguing that change at individual level is as important as on the social level, something that is in the power of each of us.

[aneerkoinos]

24. Book

you might be interested in, from which Narconews has published 7 esseys:

http://www.narconews.com/Issue34/article1083.html

[HuskiesHowls]

8. Anybody remember the movie

"Red Dawn"??

Leave out the Russian and Cuban paratroopers, and it could almost look like our own future!!

9. What do you mean?

I always thought Red Dawn was a hilarious movie. It was so ridiculous and totally came out of that overblown Reagan paranoia about the Sandinistas being "three days ride" from the U.S.

[HuskiesHowls]

10. Well, at least it showed a determined group,

using guerrilla tactics, can cause a LOT of problems for a well organized army. Whether it be foreign invaders, or internal usurpers, there is always a fighting chance.

A sci-fi book along somewhat the same vein is Robert Heinlein's "The Sixth Column". It tells how a small group of determined scientists defeated the invaders of this country. Interesting read, if you can still find it.

What it comes down to is, in my estimation, if a group of people working together are willing to make the necessary sacrifices, any power can be overthrown.

[Sara Beverley]

11. It was best said here:

"
The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

[aneerkoinos]

15. all men are created equal

We are all equal, so why are we then so afraid of Cheney and his cronies, and blinded by our frustrated anger at Bush and his cronies? They are our equals.

Powerfull document. Equality is mentioned first, only then Life, Liberty and Pursuit of happiness etc, which none of can be achieved by all without equality. Ownership and liberties of Corporations are not mentioned.

17. Only...

slightly hypocritical considering the people who wrote and endorsed it owned other people. And made sure only they were allowed to make political/social decisions.

Here's something interesting- you can't have equality without inequality. The two define eachother. Without inequality, equality has no meaning. We don't need equality. We need to supercede this concept. It's the only way to get rid of inequality.

Aside from the fact that we're not all equal. We have different skills, knowledge, interests, abilities, etc.

[Tinoire]

46. Yes but the laws are "equal" for all

Found this again today. Loved it. This was DUer Ardee's sig line on another board and I never forgot it.


The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.
from The Red Lily, 1894
Anatole France (great writer & supporter of the French Communist Party)

[Oak2004]

18. Now that's *my* manifesto!

Sounds like a revolutionary agenda I can get behind right now :-)

[ckramer]

12. The question is - would Bob Avakian become another Bush eventually?

14. Check out some of his stuff and decide for yourself

This article kicks ass: Bob Avakian in a Discussion with Comrades on Epistemology- On Knowing and Changing the World

http://rwor.org/a/1262/avakian-epistemology.htm

[solinvictus]

45. Yes...

They all do eventually. Tyranny comes with the possession and exercise of political power.

[RBHam]

19. HEADS ON PIKES....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x2265790

[DiverDave]

20. Fuck communism

Yeah, it worked wonders for the Russian people and the Ukrainians and the Cubans and the Chinese and all the other DEAD folks that opposed it.

Sounds like bullshit to me.

I say keep a Representative republic, throw the fascists in jail, and return our focus to the people not the corporations.

[St. Jarvitude]

21. Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine ...

Sorry, but much like the ill-fated Beatles song, all talk of revolution is useless (and painfully repetitive) at a time when:

1) We control about 2% of the national media.
2) The sheeple are content to sit on their couches rather than give two shits about their own country.

[ckramer]

26. That's right the Beatles song

Individual effect to change the world will be futile imo. Beatles were right. Some ambitious people wanted to change the world, and became laughing stocks in a Beatles' song. It didn't work.

It needs to be a collective action for a large group of people to enact laws to make changes. Peacefully, that is.

Revolution means violence. So when someone say "revolution anyone?" I don't know what that means.

[St. Jarvitude]

28. #1's lyrics

#1's lyrics arean excellent reality check right about now...

You say you want a revolution
Well you know we all wanna change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well you know we all wanna change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out

Don't you know it's gonna be
Alright, alright, alright

You say you got a real solution
Well you know we'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well you know we're doing what we can
But if you want money for people with minds that hate
All I can tell you is brother you have to wait

Don't you know it's gonna be
Alright, alright, alright

You say you'll change the constitution
Well you know we all wanna change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well you know you better free you mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
You ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow

Don't you know it's gonna be
Alright, alright, alright

Alright, alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright, alright

29. Here are some other songs...

First I would like to draw your attention to the fact that when Lennon sings "you can count me out" you can hear him say right afterward "in". He was not sure where he stood on the issue. Secondly I don't see why Lennon or the Beatles should be brought forth as political authorities for either the 60's or today. I mean they were into the counter culture and everything, but they weren't exactly political. So here are some songs by some other people:

Bob Dylan "Masters of War"

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

Phil Ochs "Ringing of Revolution"

In a building of gold, with riches untold,
lived the families on which the country was founded.
And the merchants of style, with their red velvet smiles,
were there, for they also were hounded.
And the soft middle class crowded in to the last,
for the building was fully surrounded.
And the noise outside was the ringing of revolution.

Sadly they stared and sank in their chairs
and searched for a comforting notion.
And the rich silver walls looked ready to fall
As they shook in doubtful devotion.
The ice cubes would clink as they freshened their drinks,
wet their minds in bitter emotion.
And they talked about the ringing of revolution.

We were hardly aware of the hardships they beared,
for our time was taken with treasure.
Oh, life was a game, and work was a shame,
And pain was prevented by pleasure.
The world, cold and grey, was so far away
In the distance only money could measure.
But their thoughts were broken by the ringing of revolution.

The clouds filled the room in darkening doom
as the crooked smoke rings were rising.
How long will it take, how can we escape
Someone asks, but no one's advising.
And the quivering floor responds to the roar,
In a shake no longer surprising.
As closer and closer comes the ringing of revolution.

Softly they moan, please leave us alone
As back and forth they are pacing.
And they cover their ears and try not to hear
With pillows of silk they're embracing.
And the crackling crowd is laughing out loud,
peeking in at the target they're chasing.
Now trembling inside the ringing of revolution.

With compromise sway we gave it half away
When we saw that rebellion was growing.
Now everything's lost as they kneel by the cross
Where the blood of christ is still flowing.
To late for their sorrow they've reached their tomorrow
and reaped the seed they were sowing.
Now harvested by the ringing of revolution.

In tattered tuxedos they faced the new heroes
and crawled about in confusion.
And they sheepishly grinned for their memories were dim
of the decades dark execution.
Hollow hands were raised; as they stood there amazed
in the shattering of their illusions.
As the windows were smashed by the ringing of revolution.

Down on our knees we're begging you please,
We're sorry for the way you were driven.
There's no need to taunt just take what you want,
and we'll make amends, if we're living.
But away from the grounds the flames told the town
that only the dead are forgiven.
As they crumbled inside the ringing of revolution.

Rage Against the Machine "Testify"

The movie ran through me
The Glamour subdue me
The tabloid untie me
Im empty please fill me
Mister anchor assure me
That Baghdad is burning
Your voice it is so soothing
That cunning mantra of killing
I need you my witness
To dress this up so bloodless
To numb me and purge me now
Of thoughts of blaming you
Yes the car is our wheelchair
My witness your coughing
Oily silence mocks the legless
Boys who travel now in coffins

On the corner (corner)
The jurys sleepless (sleepless)
We found your weakness (weakness)
And its right outside your door

Now testify
Now testify
Its right outside your door
Now testify
Yes testify
Its right outside your door

With precision you feed me
My witness Im hungry
Your temple it calms me
So I can carry on
My slaving, sweating,
The skin right off my bones
On a bed of fire Im choking
On the smoke that fills my home
The wrecking ball is rushing
Witness your blushing
The pipeline is gushing
While here we lie in tombs

While on the corner (corner)
The jurys sleepless (sleepless)
We found your weakness (weakness)
And its right outside your door

Now testify
Yeah testify
Its right outside your door
Now Testify
Now Testify
And its right outside your door

Mass graves for the pump and the price is set, and the price is set
Mass graves for the pump and the price is set, and the price is set
Mass graves for the pump and the price is set, and the price is set
Mass graves for the pump and the price is set, and the price is set

Who controls the past now controls the future
Who controls the present now controls the past
Who controls the past now controls the future
Who controls the present now?

Now Testify
Testify
Its right outside your door
Now Testify
Testify
Its right outside your door

Stiff Little Fingers "Alternative Ulster"

Alternative Ulster
Stiff Little Fingers
(Inflammable Material)

Nothin' for us in Belfast
The Pound's so old it's a pity
OK, there's the trident in Bangor
Then walk back to the city
We ain't got nothin' but they don't really care
They don't even know you know
Just want our money
And we can take it or leave it
What we need

An Alternative Ulster
Grab it and change it it's yours
Get an Alternative Ulster
Ignore the bores and their laws
Get an Alternative Ulster
Be an anti-security force
Alter your native Ulster
Alter you native land

Take a look where you're livin'
You got the Army on your street
And the RUC dog of repression
Is barking at your feet
Is this the kind of place you wanna live?
Is this where you wanna be?
Is this the only life we're gonna have?
What we need is



They say they've got control of you
But that's not true you know
They say they're a part of you
And that's a lie you know
They say you will never be
Free free free

Get an
Alternative Ulster
Alternative Ulster
Alternative Ulster

Gil Scott Heron "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"

You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.

Immortal Technique "4th Branch"


The new age is upon us
And yet the past refuses to rest in its shallow grave
For those who hide behind the false image of the son of man
shall stand before God!!! It has begun
The beginning of the end
Yeah..
Yeah... yeah, yeah


The voice of racism preaching the gospel is devilish
A fake church called the prophet Muhammad a terrorist
Forgetting God is not a religion, but a spiritual bond
And Jesus is the most quoted prophet in the Qu'ran
They bombed innocent people, tryin' to murder Saddam
When you gave him those chemical weapons to go to war with Iran
This is the information that they hold back from Peter Jennings
Cause Condoleeza Rice is just a new age Sally Hemmings
I break it down with critical language and spiritual anguish
The Judas I hang with, the guilt of betraying Christ
You murdered and stole his religion, and painting him white
Translated in psychologically tainted philosophy
Conservative political right wing, ideology
Glued together sloppily, the blasphemy of a nation
Got my back to the wall, cause I'm facin' assassination
Guantanamo Bay, federal incarceration
How could this be, the land of the free, home of the brave?
Indigenous holocaust, and the home of the slaves
Corporate America, dancin' offbeat to the rhythm
You really think this country, never sponsored terrorism?
Human rights violations, we continue the saga
El Savador and the contras in Nicaragua
And on top of that, you still wanna take me to prison
Just cause I won't trade humanity for patriotism


It's like MK-ULTRA, controlling your brain
Suggestive thinking, causing your perspective to change
They wanna rearrange the whole point of view of the ghetto
The fourth branch of the government, want us to settle
A bandana full of glittering, generality
Fighting for freedom and fighting terror, but what's reality?
Read about the history of the place that we live in
And stop letting corporate news tell lies to your children


Flow like the blood of Abraham through the Jews and the Arabs
Broken apart like a woman's heart, abused in a marriage
The brink of holy war, bottled up, like a miscarriage
Embedded correspondents don't tell the source of the tension
And they refuse to even mention, European intervention
Or the massacres in Jenin, the innocent screams
U.S. manufactured missles, and M-16's
Weapon contracts and corrupted American dreams
Media censorship, blocking out the video screens
A continent of oil kingdoms, bought for a bargain
Democracy is just a word, when the people are starvin'
The average citizen, made to be, blind to the reason
A desert full of genocide, where the bodies are freezin'
And the world doesn't believe that you fightin' for freedom
Cause you fucked the Middle East, and gave birth to a demon
It's open season with the CIA, bugging my crib
Trapped in a ghetto region like a Palestinian kid
Where nobody gives a fuck whether you die or you live
I'm tryin' to give the truth, and I know the price is my life
But when I'm gone they'll sing a song about Immortal Technique
Who beheaded the President, and the princes and sheiks
You don't give a fuck about us, I can see through your facade
Like a fallen angel standing in the presence of God
Bitch niggaz scared of the truth, when it looks at you hard


It's like MK-ULTRA, controlling your brain
Suggestive thinking, causing your perspective to change
They wanna rearrange the whole point of view in the ghetto
The fourth branch of the government, want us to settle
A bandana full of glittering, generality
Fighting for freedom and fighting terror, but what's reality?
Martial law is coming soon to the hood, to kill you
While you hanging your flag out your project window


Yeah..
The fourth branch of the government AKA the media
Seems to now have a retirement plan for ex-military officials
As if their opinion was at all unbiased
A machine shouldn't speak for men
So shut the fuck up you mindless drone!
And you know it's serious
When these same media outfits are spending millions of dollars on a PR campaign
To try to convince you they're fair and balanced
When they're some of the most ignorant, and racist people
Giving that type of mentality a safe haven
We act like we share in the spoils of war that they do
We die in wars, we don't get the contracts to make money off 'em afterwards!
We don't get weapons contracts, nigga!
We don't get cheap labor for our companies, nigga!
We are cheap labor, nigga!
Turn off the news and read, nigga!
Read... read... read...

30. I don't know

I mean were the Beatle's talking about some specific individuals or were they talking about a whole movement and the idea of revolution which was on the table.

First off history is made by classes in the largest sense. Of course we're not talking about a single person going out there and changing the world all by themselves. At the same time individuals do have an impact. Shit, the Lennon is one example, although I prefer Lenin.

Revolution does indeed mean violence. I guess you'd have to be aware of the everyday violence of "peace" in the U.S. and in the rest of the world with capitalism, before you'd be able to see the necessity or desirability of revolution.

Here are some Twain quotes on the subject:

I am said to be a revolutionist in my sympathies, by birth, by breeding and by principle. I am always on the side of the revolutionists, because there never was a revolution unless there were some oppressive and intolerable conditions against which to revolute.
- quoted in New York Sun, Tribune, World, 1906 (in defense of Maxim Gorki)

No people in the world ever did achieve their freedom by goody-goody talk and moral suasion: it being immutable law that all revolutions that will succeed must begin in blood, whatever may answer afterward.
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

There were two 'Reigns of Terror' if we would remember it and consider it; the one wrought murder in hot passion, the other in heartless cold blood; the one lasted mere months, the other had lasted a thousand years; the one inflicted death upon ten thousand persons, the other upon a hundred millions; but our shudders are all for the 'horrors' of the minor Terror, the momentary Terror, so to speak; whereas, what is the horror of swift death by the axe, compared with lifelong death from hunger, cold, insult, cruelty and heart-break? What is swift death by lightning compared with death by slow fire at the stake? A city cemetery could contain the coffins filled by that brief Terror which we have all been so diligently taught to shiver at and mourn over; but all France could hardly contain the coffins filled by that older and real Terror ­ that unspeakably bitter and awful Terror which none of us have been taught to see in its vastness or pity as it deserves.
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

[Deja Q]

23. It's all about peak oil, folks... Here's a scary thought (not related):

And whether or not the concept is true and coming, Cheney, *, the lot of them BELIEVE it will happen.

And as other countries switch from the Dollar to the Euro because they know that, unlike their systems, the US economy is driven by cheap oil, they will have to react more than economically depending on what * does next. The world has us by our financial testicles, but if you held a vicious lion by its testicles, do you think the lion would sit back and let you chop 'em off? I don't think so.

:scared:

[Tinoire]

43. Even scarier for us

do you think the world will sit back quietly and let that lion get back up?


Yes :scared:

[infusionman]

25. Definition of Communism...

One man has two cows, another man has none. The govt. takes a cow from the man who has two and gives it to the man who has one. Everybody is happy? (See the last Large paragraph of the editorial)

Communism is not the answer. This editorial has a lot of hidden agendas mixed in with truths designed to confuse and incite.

Don't listen to or follow this garbage.

I agree we need to do something about King George, but Communism is not the answer. We need to make changes but we cannot afford to give up the kind of government we have now. A democracy that in it's purest form allows the freedoms we have all enjoyed up to the recent time.

I have seen communism in action when I spent time on the Checz border in the 70's. It's not what we want to refer too.

[BeFree]

27. Spot on, man

As Edward Abbey says: "The only cure for an ill democracy is more democracy."

Communism, as practiced, is history, democracy is our future. No need to do something else, we just need more democracy.

What we need, instead of a revolution, is a forced evolution. The genealogly of democracy must change, and we, the people, are the only entity which can force this change.

Equality as in the Declaration: "All men are created eqaul" was directed against the royal family. In that sense they were spot on. While there were several individual signers who wished too then and there, abolish slavery while they were at it, it was awhile before this new-born democracy evolved enough to really incorporate the idea of all men being created equal, equally.

Two hundred years later, and we are closer than we have ever been. That's progress, eh?

31. Spot on? Not quite.

These myths and lies need to be dispelled, but the little truth that is in them needs to be recognized and upheld as well, lest we repeat the mistakes of the past. One thing we are going to have to do if we want to have a revolution in this country that doesn't just take us back to the same old shit is address the problems which are often brought up as blind attacks.

Firstly the October Revolution was a great thing. They got Russia out of the War. They gave the people of the world an example of rebellion, this was one of the primary reasons that countries like Britain, France and the U.S. invaded Russia during their Civil War. They were the first to completely legalize abortion and give women formal equality as well as more freedom than they had ever had in Russia, or that many women had or have ever had in the world. They ended feudal oppression. They completely ended serfdom which in Russia was essentially slavery. They organized people to get educations and became one of the most literate societies in the world.

Even Stalin did some good things. He defeated the Germans, who had been unleashed by the U.S. and other imperialist nations to be a buffer against the Soviet Union. He strengthened the productive ability of the Soviet Union. He created amazing public works. And I would just like to add that if you go to Russia you will find a very large portion of the Russian people, especially those who lived during Stalin, wish that he was back. One poll found that over 30% of russians have a positive opinion of Stalin. I remember when I saw Lenin's tomb there were people in front of me crying, not because they hated him, but because they loved him and what he stood for. I would also like to add that life in Russia today is immensely worse than it was under the "Communists". Having said all that, if we can't do better than they did in the early part of the 20th century then perhaps there is no point in trying. I believe we can and must do better.

Now, while there is no hard proof of organized purposeful famine in the Ukraine and the gulags have been exaggerated (at the height of "Stalinist repression" there was a little over 3% of the Soviet population in the gulags, very similar to the percentage of people in the U.S. prison system), noone wants to repeat the methodolgies which did lead to excesses. These methods and understandings have been roundly criticized by both Mao in his time and later by Avakian, who has also criticized problems with Mao.

I would like to add that the numbers of dead during Stalin are absurd. Many include the nearly 20 million people the Nazis killed when they invaded. Others are decided upon using faulty methodology. One example is that people in the west took Soviet estimates of population growth and extrapolated them through. When the Soviet population didn't grow at that rate, all the "missing people" were declared murdered. Solzhenitsyn has declared that Stalin was responsible for 60 million dead. This number is so absurd, it's amazing it has any currency. 60 million people was something like 25-40% of the Soviet population. If this was the case the Soviet Union would have been shrinking in population not growing, as it ALWAYS did. There was never a period of negative population growth in the SU. I don't even think there was negative growth during WWII. Although in some localities there probably was. Other estimates come from people like Daniel Pipes and british intelligence officers. As for the Black Book of Communism, I haven't read it so I don't know what it's claims are specifically or what the sources are to back them up. But think about this, faced with a government and civil society that has lied to us countless times about our own history, would it be so surprising if they were lying to us about communism?

Secondly I disagree with the idea that democracy should be our ultimate goal. This comes from an understanding of what democracy is which is not widely held. Democracy and Dictatorship exist hand in hand. You cannot divorce the two from eachother. They are two sides of the same coin. Looking at early greek democracies, upon which the U.S. was partially based, one finds that democracy was always reserved for a small elite, while dictatorship was excercised by this elite upon everyone else. This program especially fits what the founding fathers wanted because, just as in Greece thousands of years before, it is an excellent system for maintaining slavery, while allowing for "innovation". In the U.S. democracy was reserved for the elite formally until at least the 60's. And in reality it is still controlled by the elite.

Democracy is for the Bourgeoisie, dictatorship is for everyone else. Freedom of speech is respected as long as you uphold the system, while if you contradict it's imperatives you are at the very least marginalized and many times much worse. There is a reason that black people don't generally like cops, because they are the very real face of dictatorship to those people who are the focus of control in this country. For the middle class often times these realities are blurred by ideologies like patriotism and consumerism. But no matter what class you are from if you contradict this system, it's myths and it's lies, then you reap the whirlwind.

What we need to do is supercede the concept of democracy and with it dictatorship. We need a society of freely associating human beings. We can never have this with democracy or dictatorship. We need revolution. Constant upheaval and revolutionizing of productive relations, property relations, and the ideas that go along with these relations. We need to be firmly fixed on truth as a starting point and be completely open to discussion and argumentation from all sides, as a way to continue to move forward. Struggle is the impetus for all social advancement. A socialist revolution will help to facilitate this with the ultimate goal of ending itself, the state, and the communist party, while at the same time providing for people's basic needs and not so basic needs.

This is as good as democracy gets. What we're living in right now. If we can't do better than that then we're not going to last much longer. As Avakian says, we can do better than democracy.

Thirdly, the defintion given above of communism, is wholly incorrect and incredibly ignorant. This "definition" is taught by idealogues all over the U.S. from elementary shool to college and I have run across this exact same definition over and over again. Also as Mill said, it is always best to hear an argument (in this case a defintion) from the person who actually believes it not from a person who disagrees. At least at first. If you only hear from people who disagree then you only get half the story.

What is communism? Communism is a practical application of Dialectical Materialism, as well as a form of economic and social organization. It is different from both capitalism and socialism, as there is no state and classes cease to exist. Dialectical Materialism is a methodology for getting at truth as well as a universal law of motion.

Materialism is opposed to idealism. Materialism sees the material world (matter) as the foundation of human experience. Everything is matter in motion. To put it another way ideas come out of interaction with material reality not the other way around.

Dialectics is a sorely misunderstood concept which is unfortunately difficult to explain. It has to do with a concept called the unity of opposites. That is, that things in opposition to eachother define eachother and form a whole in their interactions. The thing in and of itself is not as important as the relationship and process that these things go through with eachother. Further dialectics posits that everything is in constant motion and there is no eternal, except for perhaps the law of constant change. The master/slave dialectic is one example. You cannot have one without the other and they're in constant struggle with eachother, until one conquers the other and creates a new set of dialectical relations, or contradictions.

I really can't fully explain it here, suffice it to say communism is not taking a cow from one person and giving it to another.

These speeches by Avakian go much deeper into this: "Elections, Democracy and Dictatorship, Resistance and Revolution" http://bobavakian.net /

"Dictatorship and Democracy and the Socialist Transition to Communism"
http://rwor.org/chair_e.htm#democracyspeech

"Epistemology- On Knowing and Changing the World" http://rwor.org/a/1262/avakian-epistemology.htm

This is new stuff. This isn't the same old shit. This IS revolutionary.

For the anti-communist stuff I would just say that you have an incomplete picture of the truth at best. Most of the verdicts that are reproduced by anti-communists comes directly from the McCarthyist House UnAmerican Activities Committee. Hardly an impartial group of people. They've been discreditied over and over again. While I can't go into every mistake that was made by communists or every lie ever told about them I would suggest checking out this article about the truth of the Cultural Revolution in China:

http://rwor.org/a/1251/communism_socialism_mao_china_fa...

[Tinoire]

44. Repeater my friend

you :think: (think) too much.

:loveya: We need more of that

[aneerkoinos]

48. It's good to disagree

So I'll pass the parts where I agree.

You speak the truth on Stalin, but only partial truth. The bastid really needs no apologies, his victims were not only his countrymen, but foreigners as well. Stalin made a pact with Hitler and then among other things attacked my country, uniting both whites and reds, who had fought a bloody civil war only 20 years before, to fight back under the command of the white slaughterer general. Stalin killed two of my great-uncles, both beautifull men, and bombed our towns. And we killed lots of Russians, loads of Russians that Stalin lied to, beautifull men too, and beat Stalin's imperialism towards Finland.

>>>This is as good as democracy gets. What we're living in right now. If we can't do better than that then we're not going to last much longer. As Avakian says, we can do better than democracy.<<<

You make the rhetorical mistake of equalling so called (market-)liberal representative democracy with the Greek word, which simply means 'rule of the people'. Even among the representative systems (which is inherently corrupt) US is no standard to judge other representative systems, it's simply the most corrupt and most undemocratic representative system in all of the developed world. Democracy is doing better and can do better. Latin America is now finding about participatory and direct forms of democracy in addition to representation, and we should be their pupils. Pupils of Subcomandante Marcos, Evo Morales, Chavez, people of Porto Allegro etc. Never forgetting the example of greatest revolutionary teacher of all, Gandhi.

Theoretical communism as white mans invention is just full of shit, full of white mans hubris and hollowness. Socialism and even communism in real life, as practiced by other peoples, peoples that white men slaughtered and are slaughtering, is what scientific dialectical materialism should use as empirical evidence. Then it would also find that those cultures that lived and are living in healthy socialism or even communism are not materialistic cultures, but highly spiritual.

[Benson]

32. Communism had its chance and FAILED!

The Soviet Union collapsed-not due to the West, but under the weight of its own corruption. Stalin and his sucessors murdered millions of their own people in a deliberate genocide of Ukrainians.

Communism is dead. It leaves behind a legacy of mass-graves, crumbling infrastructure, and devastated economies.
Maybe you can sell comunist revolution to the mentally handicapped, but educated people will only laugh at you.

Communism offers nothing.

DU is a Democratic board. A call for Communist Revolution is a futile diversion from what we should really be doing: Getting bush out of office-not 4 years from now, but NOW!

I'm not done with Democracy yet.

[Heimdallr]

33. Fuck Communism II

With hot lead. You think this website would exists one week after a communist takeover?

I hope not.

[aneerkoinos]

34. FIY

There's never been a communist state, nor will there ever be. It's a contradiction in terms, communism has nothing to do with a state. There have been and still are political parties called communist, because they believe in the communist utopia. Get that, UTOPIA.

There have been and still is state socialism of many variations and scales; socialism is a gliding scale, from New Deal US to Cuba, Nordic countries and many indigenous cultures. The criticism of Soviet Bolshevik communist party, Russian version of socialism turned into Stalinism and exported to soviet satellites, is justified, but not relevant to today's anticapitalist movements. It was cricized from the beginning by the Marxists, as feodal, nationalistic society cannot transform easily into healthy socialism - and didn't.

Communism, as it is used by the opponents (and even by some proponents), is basically an American McCarthyist myth, a strawman. Utopia cannot be defined or discussed; socialism is real and can be discussed. Socialism is basically humanism, value of each human being should supercede that of arbitrary values of means of exchange and the capitalistic dehumanizing structures it produces. AFAIK this basic realization of cause and effect is common to everybody, differences of opinion start from there.

As for the American perverted view of indivudualism and individual liberties, socialism has clear answer: individual liberty and meaningfull life and pursuit of happiness is possible only if there is minimum amount of equality on social level, solidarity and social responsibility, and being slave to capital naturally negates individual liberty besides destroying society at large.

Tatanka-Iyotanka (aka Sitting Bull), one of the Greates Americans, used to say: "White men know many things, but one thing they have not learned, how to share."

How right he was. I vomit on anybody who thinks that individual greed is a good value that functioning society can be based upon. Homo Consumericus is killing the planet, and himself.

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CJCRANE]

36. Interesting but "out there".

Your analysis of the problem is interesting but your proposed solution is way out.

[greendeerslayer]

37. Revolution?

Hell yes, it's long overdue. For anyone versed in classical revolutionary theory it is apparent the U.S. entering into a period of "subjective prerevolutionary" status.
But a rev. led by Avakian and the RCP? That a good laugh. As anyone who has encountered the brainwashed RCP cadre will know these people will lead no one, no where. Avakian is no Lenin, just another wannabe Stalin. Fuck him. We can do better than that.

[aneerkoinos]

38. What is revolutionary

Purity of doctrine is certainly not. Personally, Avakian does not give me a hard on. But why exclude any people, revolution is ours, all of ours, who learn it as it goes on. What is really revolutionary is dialogue, and communist theoreticians should not be brushed of but brought into the dialogue, if they are willing. Most revolutionary thing is to stay united and accept differing opinions while sharing tactical goals. That means dialogue among ourselves, and learning from success, like Subcommandante Marcos and others, being critical does not have to mean division, divisionary dogmas are the true enemy of any people's movement based on dialogue.

We can do better than Avakian, but not if the stance is that of contempt and hubris and refusing to include even Avakian in the dialogue.

[greendeerslayer]

40. yeah

Avakian's not interested in dialogue, and I wouldn't have such complete contempt for him if he had been working to improve people's lives for the past twenty-five years instead of holing up in France "theorizing." Go to any Revolution Books, (there's one in Berkeley and Chicago that I know of) and attempt to engage the RCP drones working there in dialogue. See what happens...

[w4rma]

39. Wow. That guy is egocentric. (nt)

[Steven_S]

41. I would rather try to effect the changes in our society....

and government espoused by Paul Wellstone and/or Dennis Kucinich. I would rather fight to have a senate and congress espoused by Sen. Byrd of WV.

I would do anything to have a government and society envisioned by John Kennedy or either of his brothers.

But Communism? I don't think so.

[Selatius]

42. My only concern

While I'm not saying that Stalin depopulated Russia because he did not, what I'm saying is that if we're going to have a hypothetical revolution, everyone's voice must be heard, not just a few voices as was under Stalin, not just the voices of those who would claim to be for the people's interests. It must be open to everyone who participates.

The reason why so many people like Stalin today in Russia is because he led the USSR when Hitler was finally defeated. They don't call it the Great Patriotic War for nothing. Also the majority of Russians never saw the gulags or even the inside of one. They only saw what the state-run media projected, and that image was a good image, not necessarily the truth of the matter.

Besides, Stalin was only in it for himself. He killed communists as well as nazis. (No, I'm not just talking about Trotskyites or Trotsky but many who held "too much power") It didn't matter. To him, what mattered was power and holding onto that power. While I'm not saying that everything he did was bad as far as improving the lives of people, he should be condemned for the wrongs he did.

We have to be sober in our assessments.

[eridani]

47. Chairman Bob is a certifiable whackjob--

--not unlike Lyndon LaRouche.

[Is It Fascism Yet]

49. Duh! Well, yeah! The only mystery is why everyone doesn't get it!

you said it...keep telling 'em,,,we don't have to pretend for a moment that we believe the propaganda doublethink bullshit...shrub is the antichrist...and kerry won...diebold can't count...yes, it's insidious...it's facism!

[T Town Jake]

50. "this precious leader"...ROFLMAO

...sounds more like a Republican Campaign Commercial than anything else. Surely you posted this horseshit as some kind of joke, not meant to be taken seriously? Right?
If so, yours is a singular wit...the punchline continues to elude me. :crazy:

[xerenthar]

51. The RCP is pro-Mao -- I encountered one of their useful idiots at a protes

Fuck the RCP, fuck Bob Avakian, fuck this dumbass flyer, and fuck that dead ideology of hate.

[SmokingJacket]

52. Uh... no thanks.

Seeing how those other Communist Revolutions worked out...

IMHO, our best bet is to go with regulated capitalism plus social programs.

Our current system WOULD work well if we didn't allow facsists to steal elections.

[xchrom]

53. my secret is out: i no longer believe democracy is the answer

after reagan and the corporate manipulation of fundies through the likes of gingrich, delay, robertson, etc -- i no longer want to put my future in the hands of the masses.
i have no real reason to believe that they know what is best for developing self determination.
what i think is missing is: what takes it's place?
we don't have a democracy now, but what should come next?