Raising Our Heads At a Historic Moment

Bob Avakian has been working intensely to wrench something different out of this moment—and to raise the sights of us all to the ways and possibilities of doing that.

In Elections: Democracy and Dictatorship, Resistance and Revolution he really dissects the current situation around the election. He breaks down why Bush is doing what he is doing and why Kerry is doing what he is doing—how they are both "auditioning" for who can be the best commander-in-chief to represent the larger interests of the U.S. monopoly imperialist ruling class; and why being confined by the terms and logic of this election is very dangerous for the people.

He brings out the deep strategic global interests of the U.S. power structure—why the Bush agenda has had so much initiative; why it is dangerous to hope that the Democrats can be relied on to oppose this agenda; and why people need to unite very broadly in the kind of resistance that can not only oppose but defeat what he calls the "juggernaut of war and repression."

And urging the listener to "fasten your seat belts," he takes us on a unique ride into a different future.

Chairman Avakian argues forcefully that, despite appearances, this system is outmoded and vulnerable—that its intolerable oppression can be overthrown, and that we can together forge a new society filled with the ferment of change and liberation.

At a time when official and unofficial verdicts have written off the most radical revolution as "impossible and undesirable," Bob Avakian has been creatively re- envisioning the whole communist project.

In the film of an historic talk in 2003— Revolution: Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s Possible, What It’s All About —Chairman Avakian takes us on a journey from the madness of this society to a future worth living in: from the enforced powerlessness of capitalist democracy, the restless aggression and infuriating racism of U.S. society to a new socialist society ruled by the oppressed—a society that the majority of the people, including the millions of artists and intellectuals, would want to live in, a society in transition to a whole new communist world.

And it is vital to stop and think deeply over this: Because no other leader in this country dares talk about this. And because this vision is not just daring but intensely practical and rooted in a dynamic analysis of the real world.

What would it mean for this revolutionary vision and analysis to connect deeply, now, with the millions of people who are looking hard for a way to oppose Bush and everything he represents?

What would it mean if the DVD of this historic talk, Revolution: Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s Possible, What It’s All About,and the online talk Elections: Democracy and Dictatorship, Resistance and Revolution and other online talks were played and debated wherever people gather to discuss the madness of Bush’s America? What would it mean if artists and scientists, revolutionary youth, and proletarians were wrestling with the questions raised about the intellectual life of society and the path to communism in Avakian’s Dictatorship and Democracy, and the Socialist Transition to Communism ?

What would it mean if the leadership and analysis of Chairman Avakian were able to connect to millions of people—including many who will undoubtedly have lots of questions and disagreements with these radical new theses? What would it mean if a whole new dynamic and a whole new conversation got the initiative in society and people were able to lift their heads and breathe some fresh air—instead of being reduced to "holding their noses" and "picking the lesser of two evils"? What would it mean if large new circles of people were able to analyze and change the world using the penetrating scientific method and approach that Bob Avakian teaches and applies?

For decades, everyone has been told "nothing else is possible." Now what would it mean for people to tear that myth apart and explore Chairman Avakian’s re-envisioning of socialist society that upholds the historic achievements of the past, while breaking new ground on how to do away with all oppression and exploitation and have a world that people would really want to live in—a radical new synthesis of how proletarian power would be exercised he calls the "solid core with a lot of elasticity." (See "A World We Would Want to Live In," page 6.)

What would it mean for our struggle today to be connected to the future—like a visionary bridge from the intolerable injustices of capitalism to a classless communist world without oppression?

It would have a profound and multiplying effect on what was possible—both today and from now on—if all this was woven into the very fabric of political and intellectual struggle and debate today.

Chairman Avakian has worked to "chart the uncharted course"—to lay bare a path to revolution, even in a powerful rogue superpower like the USA. And, as those who have seen and heard him speak have discovered, things look very different once you dare to consider the possibility of actually overthrowing the monstrous system that dominates the planet and how the world could be radically different.

In their hateful and repulsive way, men like Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld dare to remake the world—to reshape international politics and economics in their interests, to enforce a transformation of the whole Middle East at the point of their guns and missiles.

And the masses too—in our millions—have to dare to think about remaking the world— whether or not one agrees with the whole vision put forward by Chairman Avakian, his challenge to wrest a new and liberated world out of the great flux, oppression, change and crisis that lie ahead needs to be given a serious hearing.

And from this sweeping perspective of what the world could be like and how we could get to a different world, Bob Avakian has powerfully pointed out the importance of uniting all who can be united in resistance NOW: "Once again, the point, clearly, is that whether or not people vote in this election for all those who see the real danger—the very danger that makes them want to vote for Kerry, and to urge others to vote for Kerry, even knowing what Kerry is, and is not—that understanding of the great danger and its immediacy should make people feel compelled to act, and to call on, encourage and help mobilize many others to act, outside of and beyond the elections and the electoral framework—to build now, and in an ongoing way, the most powerful mass opposition and resistance that refuses to be bound by the terms of mainstream politics or by the notions that this politics represents the `ultimate word’ on the `will of the people.’" ("Food For Thought While Agonizing Over Bush and Everything He Stands For," RW # 1254)


full article here:

The Will of the People Will Not Be Expressed in This Election
http://rwor.org/a/1257/elections-not-will-of-people.htm