Is a Revolution possible in the U.S.A? If so, what kind of Revolution do we need?
Activist vs. Revolutionary- What kind of Revolutionary?
There are many reasons people give up on the idea of a revolution in the U.S, while there are many who want one but go about it in different ways and want different types of revolution. The main reason for giving up on the idea of a revolution is that we are simply not in an atmosphere where a revolution is possible at the moment. This is why Revolutionary Communists who are followers of Bob Avakian are in a mission to "Transform the People, and fight the power, for an actual Revolution."
Many people don't want a Communist Revolution for many reasons: one is what they have been taught about Communism. Of course there are other controversies behind this movement, one being that there are many Communists (or people who call themselves that) who don't want to follow the leadership of Bob Avakian. And just like you couldn't call yourself a Communist during Mao's time, if you weren't following Mao, you now can't call yourself a Communist if you are not following Bob Avakian. But let's dive into why the leadership of Bob Avakian is important in making the revolution we need.
In the online article available in revcom.us, "The Science, The Strategy, The Leadership for an Actual Revolution, And a Radically New Society On the Road to Real Emancipation," Bob Avakian dives a little into the topic of revolution in the third section, "The Strategic Approach to an Actual Revolution." He begins by asking us, "what is an actual revolution?" And this question is especially important at a time that one of the reasons people don't want a revolution is because of what they have witnessed throughout revolutions, such as the most current one named the Arab Springs. Primoz Manfreda introduces this topic on his online article found in, http://middleeast.about.com/od/humanrightsdemocracy/a/Definition-Of-The-Arab-Spring.htm, entitled, "Definition of the Arab Spring." Here, Manfreda writes a little on the shortcomings to this revolution. And these shortcomings is the reason Bob Avakian plays a crucial role in providing us with the scientific method and approach to an actual revolution.
This is largely the reason that Bob Avakian was elected as the chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party in the U.S.A. You can read his political timeline, http://revcom.us/avakian/ba-timeline.html. He also has a memoir entilted, "From Ike to Mao and Beyond: My Journey from Mainstream American to Revolutionary Communist." Through this, people can at least begin to have an understanding of Bob Avakian and why he was elected.
By not understanding the leadership that he brings would be like electing a president based on what he represents without really diving into it (not that I'm insinuating that Communism & Capitalism is the same thing). And this statement is interesting because presidents have the luxury to quickly say they oppose certain injustices. And this, with the combination of their party (whether they are Republican or Democratic) is what makes most Americans follow this culture of voting. I'm not mentioning this as a way to convince people not to vote (since I don't think voting actually changes the nature of Capitalism), but to get readers to really look at leadership in a different way. Because even those who don't believe in voting themselves, think that any type of leadership is corrupt, but that's not true.
There are many things that Bob Avakian dives into that many presidents wouldn't dare dive into as people who represent this system. Of course the reason for this is the state of consciousness due to the fact that this system doesn't want people to know the root cause of certain catastrophes and the many that are buried deep enough for most Americans to either go along with the American culture or think they can reform this system. This is the reason many people who call themselves revolutionaries or Activists gravitate a lot toward the American Revolution and how the founding fathers intended this country to be more democratic than it is today. Therefore people fight through the illusion that they are doing so in light of what the founding fathers fought for.
One of the important things to look at is the real history of this American Revolution: the history this system doesn't want people to know about. One of the books that dives into this and written by Bob Avakian is entitled, "Communism & Jeffersonian Democracy." This is a reminder to many of us Americans that this country was founded on genocide and slavery and that the United States would not be what it is today without the back bones of black people since the time of slavery. Though many people want to disregard this information as "the past", the reality is that the U.S is still supported by slavery.
Kevin Bales writes about this by talking about the international market but he tries to solve this crisis by reforming this system and taking a place in the U.N. This system could never be reformed as long as it continues to work under capitalism. Capitalism cannot thrive without slavery and other types of oppression & exploitation, which is one of the reasons that the type of revolution we need is a Communist revolution. Not through the mission of, "the last shall be first, and the first shall be last," as Bob Avakian mentions, but getting rid of avenues that give a gateway to these types of oppression & exploitation.
These types of observation is an example to why the leadership of Bob Avakian is so important. He not only analyzes what is wrong with this system and alternate ways of dealing with the issues further expanded by capitalist imperialism, but he also analyzes how we can have an actual revolution today with the correct thinking, method & approach that is so desperately needed if we want to see a revolution that is so desperately needed in the U.S, but with a real chance at winning.