revolution

REVOLUTION: Why It's Necessary, Why It's Possible, What It's All About
a film of a talk by Bob Avakian

Online at: http://www.revolutiontalk.net/

For Workers Revolution Against the Islamic Dictatorship! Mass Protests Rock Iran: No to All Wings of the Mullah Regime! U.S. Imperialism Hands Off! JUNE 23 – For more than a week, Iran has been convulsed by mass demonstrations denouncing election fraud. Hundreds of thousands have repeatedly taken to the streets to denounce the government, which is now threatening, and beginning to carry out, a bloody crackdown.

These are some thoughts I had following a fantastic anti-oppression workshop on Sunday. They are my own, do not represent the opinions of the organizers or other paricipants, and are the product of my individual, highly subjective experiences.

 Privilege and Oppression

Q: Why are the fascists winning?

A: BECAUSE THEY FUCKING SHOW UP!

Q: How many anarchists does it take to change a lightbulb?

A:  Wait, isn't the term "light" bulb offensive to the dark? Can we get a consensus on a new word? Oh wait, couldn't "con" sensus have negative connotations? Maybe we should come up with a more positive term. Let's do a quick go-round and get a temperature check...

As the 1980s came to an end, it was generally accepted that the Leninist economic model had been a failure.  The USSR disintegrated under its own weight as the illusion of strength was replaced by the reality of a house of cards.  One by one client states fell leaving the right-wing proponents of the Reagan “revolution” beating their chests in a deluded sense of triumph.

Nepal turns Sour

As a strike wave sweeps the country, the Maoist leadership agrees to banning strikes.

Since the Maoists emerged in the April 2008 Nepal elections as the largest party (though without an absolute majority) to lead the new coalition government, they have failed to heal existing divisions - in their own party, within the parliamentary political system and its ruling class - or within the intermingled social, caste and ethnic tensions across the wider society. In fact, all these divides have widened. And since November a strike wave has spread across the country.

NOT "FASCISM OR DEMOCRACY": FASCISM AND DEMOCRACY

According to current left-wing wisdom, fascism is raw state power and brutal capital unmasked, so the only way to do away with fascism is to get rid of capitalism altogether.

So far, so good. Unfortunately, the analysis usually turns round on itself: since fascism is capitalism at its worst, we ought to prevent it from actually producing its worst, i.e. we ought to fight for a "normal", non-fascist capitalism, and even rally non-fascist capitalists.