Revolution Online, March 8, 2011


BIRDS CANNOT GIVE BIRTH TO CROCODILES, BUT HUMANITY CAN SOAR BEYOND THE HORIZON

Part 2: BUILDING THE MOVEMENT FOR REVOLUTION

We ARE BUILDING a Movement for Revolution...and What That Means

First, what do we mean by "revolution"—what is a revolution, and in particular a communist revolution? Through the remaining parts of this talk, I will get more fully into some of the key elements that go into building a real movement for revolution in a country like the U.S.—having to do with the objective situation, and its development and transformation, and the subjective factor, specifically the role of the communist vanguard and those working closely with this vanguard and in essential unity with its line. But it is important first to make clear what, in basic terms, we mean when we say the goal is revolution, and in particular communist revolution. Revolution is not some kind of change in style, or a change in attitude, nor is it merely a change in certain relations within a society which remains fundamentally the same. Revolution means nothing less than the defeat and dismantling of the existing, oppressive state, serving the capitalist-imperialist system—and in particular its institutions of organized violence and repression, including its armed forces, police, courts, prisons, bureaucracies and administrative power—and the replacement of those reactionary institutions, those concentrations of reactionary coercion and violence, with revolutionary organs of political power, and other revolutionary institutions and governmental structures, whose basis has been laid through the whole process of building the movement for revolution, and then carrying out the seizure of power, when the conditions for that have been brought into being—which in a country like the U.S. would require a qualitative change in the objective situation, resulting in a deep-going crisis in society, and the emergence of a revolutionary people in the millions and millions, who have the leadership of a revolutionary communist vanguard and are conscious of the need for revolutionary change and determined to fight for it.

As I emphasized earlier in this talk, the seizure of power and radical change in the dominant institutions of society, when the conditions for this have been brought into being, makes possible further radical change throughout society—in the economy and economic relations, the social relations, and the politics, ideology and culture prevailing in society. The final aim of this revolution is communism, which means and requires the abolition of all relations of exploitation and oppression and all destructive antagonistic conflicts among human beings, throughout the world. Understood in this light, the seizure of power, in a particular country, is crucial and decisive, and opens the door to further radical change, and to strengthening and further advancing the revolutionary struggle throughout the world; but, at the same time, as crucial and decisive as that is, it is only the first step—or first great leap—in an overall struggle which must continue toward the final goal of this revolution: a radically new, communist world.

The development of U.S. imperialism, shifts in social relations and conditions, and challenges in making revolution

In light of that, I want to touch on some important objective conditions, and obstacles, to be confronted, and transformed, in making revolution. I've spoken in various dimensions about the "seal of parasitism" on the whole imperialist U.S.A. and the depth and breadth of the parasitism in this society. This presents us with a very real and very profound problem in terms of the present polarization in society and repolarization for revolution—or, to put it another way, it has a great deal to do with that problem. And, in this regard, it is worth thinking back to the discussion earlier about "suburbanism" and taking on "suburbanism" in its various dimensions.

But here I want to return to what was discussed in the first of the 7 Talks I gave around five years ago now: "Why We're in the Situation We're In Today...And What to Do About It: A Thoroughly Rotten System and the Need for Revolution."1 More specifically, in that talk there is a discussion of the development of U.S. imperialism, through spirals, over the last century or so, and changes in the "class and social configuration" of this country, very much in relation to that development. What is characterized in that talk (and I won't go into it at length here, but will briefly review what's said there) is that through the course of the last century—through the emergence of U.S. imperialism in a qualitatively greater way on the world stage at the end of the 19th century, as marked by the war with Spain over the Philippines and other countries and territories, including Cuba and Puerto Rico, and then through World War 1 and on an even greater level through World War 2—U.S. imperialism has risen to the position of being a superpower (as it is called) and, with the demise of the Soviet Union, the sole superpower in the world. Now, this doesn't mean that it has unchallenged and unchallengeable power—as the leaders of U.S. imperialism are themselves well aware—but its development over the last century has led U.S. imperialism to the position of being an imperialist superpower. At the same time, it is running into many significant obstacles and real difficulties in continually attempting to impose its domination in the world—many things are turning into their opposites, other forces are emerging in the world which are in various ways challenging this hegemony of U.S. imperialism, even while not attempting to make a direct frontal, and certainly not a direct military challenge to the power of U.S. imperialism.

But what I want to focus on here is the way in which, without being mechanical and reductionist, we can recognize a direct correlation, through these various spirals, between the spreading out and deepening of imperialist penetration, domination and exploitation throughout the Third World in particular—and I'm speaking particularly of U.S. imperialism here—and significant changes within the U.S. in terms of "the social and class configuration": the heightening parasitism and the increasing shift, away from a configuration in which a large percentage of the population was classically proletarian, working in various spheres of industry as exploited wage workers, to a situation in which that is a small percentage of the U.S. population, and of the "labor force," and there are, both below and above that "classical working class," various strata that are not directly involved at the heart of the production process—which, again, has been increasingly spread out on a globalized scale. This is one of the particularities and complexities of making a proletarian revolution in a country like this.

We are not going to make revolution by trying to superimpose on reality a model of how a socialist transformation is "supposed" to take place. That is why, among other reasons, the Trotskyites seem so ridiculous. They come around talking about "the labor movement" and "the trade unions," as if they are in Western Europe at the end of the 19th century. This has to do with the separation of the communist movement from the labor movement, and what are the implications of that in general and specifically in terms of revolution in a country like this. The very significant changes in "social and class configuration," and in particular the heightening of parasitism, in the U.S. constitute an important part of objective reality that we have to analyze, in its contradictory dynamics, in order to be able to further enrich and develop, and implement, a strategy for making revolution in this country. There is ongoing work to be done in this regard, even while we have a basic, correct strategy for revolution.

1. The 7 Talks, available online at revcom.us and bobavakian.net, are: 1—Why We're in the Situation We're in Today... And What to Do About It: A Thoroughly Rotten System and the Need for Revolution; 2—Communism and Jeffersonian Democracy; 3—Communism: A Whole New World and the Emancipation of All Humanity—Not "The Last Shall Be First, and The First Shall Be Last"; 4—The NBA: Marketing the Minstrel Show and Serving the Big Gangsters; 5—Communism and Religion: Getting Up and Getting Free—Making Revolution to Change the Real World, Not Relying on "Things Unseen"; 6—Conservatism, Christian Fundamentalism, Liberalism and Paternalism ... Bill Cosby and Bill Clinton ... Not All "Right" But All Wrong!; 7—"Balance" Is the Wrong Criterion—and a Cover for a Witch-hunt—What We Need Is the Search for the Truth: Education, Real Academic Freedom, Critical Thinking and Dissent. [back]

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