Breaking the myth that Communism is a death past to solutions starting with Marx
Confronting real solutions to World problems
The book, "BAsics", by Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party in U.S.A, recalls one of the main components of Marx's work, which is that Communist revolution represents a rupture to traditional ideas & traditional property relations. Many people disregard this type of information because of shortcomings & failures to permanently apply this in actual revolutions after Marx's work, in inspiration to his work. Mostly, people have also been brainwashed about how these shortcomings took place, especially how the horrors that did take place where a result of reverting back to Capitalism rather than the fault of the actual leaders themselves or Communist ideology. But this reality - that Communism has potential to be turn back to Capitalism- is another main discouragement for the masses of people to take up again. This is something that Bob Avakian has examined in order to be able to have a revolution again without reverting back to Capitalism though he admits that there are still complexities to be realistic about.
The New Synthesis of Communism does not only examine the work of Marx, Lenin & Mao (and again, many of the horrors that took place were not because of these leaders), but it also further advances the science of Communism because of the further changes & complexities of the world in which we live today. Though I haven't examined all of his work yet (he has written many books, articles & have gone on a number of interviews), I do believe, and he has said so himself, that there is more solutions to apply to when we do get to a revolution, where we must take on the expertise of people in different sections of society, implementing and discovering ways to solve the many crises created by capitalist imperialism.
Some of his ideas on the vision of this new society can be found in the book, "The Constitution for a New Socialist Republic in North America". And though some people might criticize the idea to this movement, it is not a reason to completely disregard it. As Bob Avakian writes in one of his new pieces available on the revcom.us website, "The Science, The Strategy, The Leadership for an Actual Revolution, and a Radically New Society on the Road to Real Emancipation", people have been accustomed to seeing ideas as things they can either take in or disregard according to their taste, interest and other things. This attitude is a result of a fast culture where we quickly browse news, eat fast food and other things according to our time, and time is always money. But when someone speaks and writes about the emancipation of all humanity, it is something that should not be taken lightly or disregarded as a brand that people are not interested in. When the world suffers because of wars, slavery, famine and other things, we cannot afford to treat this subject this way.
Now if this revolution was only about becoming another capitalist empire, then that is a good reason to turn away from it. And reverting back to capitalism is a concern that is worth diving into. People who are traumatized by Communism, should eventually allow the horrors that continues to take place under capitalism to challenge them to questioning what really happened during tragedies under Communism. Shortcomings should be learned rather than make people quit on what it takes to get people free. Bob Avakian and some members of the RCP like Raymond Lotta have examined this (http://revcom.us/a/323/you-dont-know-what-you-think-you-know-en.html), as well as the dynamics of capitalism, (http://revcom.us/a/322/on-the-driving-force-of-anarchy-and-the-dynamics-of-change-en.html) but people should also look into it themselves to critically think whether the information makes sense or not. The important thing is to base things out of facts and not emotions.
Communism is a sensitive topic to many people who have lived under it and do not believe in it, but I they have simply been brainwashed about certain facts. You can't take away the tragedy, but you can manipulate how the tragedy happened. And simply being around at a tragic time doesn't mean victims have an automatic purchase to the truth. Again, they might know what happened or even who carried out certain activities more directly, but not understand what was behind it all, especially at a time that there are so many forces playing a role under globalization. Some books outside the Communist party, such as "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" by Naomi Klein, gives a glimpse to some things most people might not know about (though someone in the party challenges the book by stating, "no shock there!"). The problem is that important political or prominent figures like Naomi Klein, among many who have analyzed the horrors of capitalism, still try to find solutions within the system. But at least they can give testimonies to the horrors of capitalism.
The solutions tailored to compromising within this Capitalist Imperialist system as I can think of at the moment, so far has been working in communities who are marginalized, especially working in different causes that are symptoms of what this system has caused, making efforts to improve poor conditions. This is admirable and better than simply getting rich or training marginal people to get rich (which happens a lot) in order to not suffer these symptoms, but it does not take away the cause of the problem- it does not prevent future catastrophes from taking place through a system that is persistent in making sure that it continues to happen for their own profit, no matter how many generations try to get free from it. And it doesn't allow many to escape the horrors, only a few are saved through non-profits and other institutions. And even if the world fills up with non-profits and institutions treating the symptoms, capitalist systems will continue to wage war for profit- and help is way too risky. An example of this is the deaths of doctors who were working from "Doctors without Borders".
Another important point about treating the symptoms is that it encourages a culture of self. We expect people to survive these horrors and rise above it, but we never point the finger at the system that perpetrates it. And if we do point the finger, that is not enough. We do need more people confronting the horrific reality of this system by actually taking up revolution and becoming emancipators of humanity. That is the only way to prevent the future horrific symptoms that this system perpetrates. That is not to say that these symptoms will automatically stop after a revolution, for it takes a long time to transition all the way to Communism (while the state is under socialism- socialism can only truly happen through a Communist Revolution, not under Capitalism), especially at a time that other empires are still competing for land & resources. However, at least we will have a system that works for the people, and works to protect them, rather than working at the expense of them and working simply to oppress and exploit them.
I do see many Universities training students to help the marginal in different sections of societies: train them to think in the world of non-profits and working in communities. That is better than training students to work in wall street- but instead of relying on next generations to continue treating the symptoms, let's encourage them to get to the cause of the problem, root it out and transform it by being the next emancipators of humanity that are part of putting in place a system that is truly for the masses of people, rather than allow this current system to get away with murder.
The culture of accepting and living in a system that perpetrates these horrors is very parasitic to the next generation. The system is hard to change after the decades it has in ruling over people, and now ruling over many countries as time goes on. But if there is a leader and a party. Let's not forget that the red army were the ones who successful defeated Adolf Hitler, as Eric Hobsbawm mentions in his book, "The Age of Extremes: The History of the World, (p.7) " we have a responsibility to build up for this revolution. People will want to take a look at this first before jumping into it- I encourage them to do so. Instead of encouraging the next generation to be "saviors" and "peace-makers" in the face of war, let's really educate them on the reality of what it takes to stop these horrors from taking place. The only way is through a Communist Revolution. Let's not forget that the violence that would take place would be due to the weapons that Capitalists have. But with the right strategy, we could win.
For teachers and others who teach/guide the youth; is the History of Communism something that would be on the table? and if so, would you also introduce the New Synthesis of Communism by Bob Avakian?