Probably the most important thing out

[flyby]

The RCP has put out a major statement -- on the situation and the need for resistance and revolution.

They are asking people to fight to use this document to fight for a change in the political climate, to lay the basis for a real fight for the future.

It is available on their website:

webversion rwor.org/future/
printable pdf version rwor.org/future/future.pdf

I would like to grapple with this thing together.... on two levels:

a) how deeply to we grasp and agree with what it says, and how deeply do we understand what that means.

It talks about a "THE BATTLE FOR THE FUTURE" that "WILL BE FOUGHT FROM HERE FORWARD!"

And it opens by saying (straight out) that no mater how serious you think things are, they are even worse. It is a wake up call. It is an argument to stop harboring illusions about this moment.

And the implications of that are deep.
Let's dig in peeps.

And then

(b) I would like to brain storm about how to take this statement out. How to get it everywhere. Including online.

[Denver]

So fascism has arrived? For someone who cites a lot of works on fascism in his recent talks, I see a lot more 'rev. in the 80s' in this leaflet and less learning from the books he cites.

[flyby]

this leaflet does not say "fascism has arrived."

It says that fascists have grabbed key levers of power, and they are serious about pusshing forward their agenda.

There is nothing wrong with "going for revolution" in any decade -- trying to squeeze as much as possible out of every situation, and trying to be allert for the ways the whole situation may "flip" or turn -- into a constitutional crisis for the system, and perhaps even the outlines of a revolutoianry crisis.

And there is every reason to loudly sound the alarm now -- and to call on people to treat the situation with high urgency, and draw the political implications (for both resistance and for preparations for revolution).

[naxalite]

Waddup
I'm glad the statement got linked here, and I agree with Flyby about its urgency. Theres a lot to grapple with here, I'll just try to jump in with some thoughts.
1- What do we have going for us in a situation like this?
This is something I've been personally struggling with myself, trying to struggle against demoralization and pessimism on the basis of science. 'Cause this shit realy is scary, and yes the clique in power realy does want to move towards open fascism, and they have a social base built up to support such moves. So what do we have going for us? Well... theres the question of anarchy and the anarchy of capitalism as the principal form of motion ( I dont understand all of this comprehensivly but im struggling to apply whats in the dictatorship and democracy talk), and the fact that things more now then since 9/11 internationally are getting out of hand for the imperialists, with the resistance in Iraq being the most lucid example. So as they move forward with their program, they will call forward unexpected results. Theres also of cource the resistance movements to their various attacks that have (in my experiance) been trying to recover some strength since the election, particularly gay rights movement, and that people get some of the seriousness of the situation. Theres also the question of the proletariat and national oppression, which is sort of beyond the scope of what I can add here, but imo are a huge part of this conversation.

2. What kind of resistance is required
How do we mount the kind of bold and determined resistance required to oppose and defeat this program? What will it mean to oppose all the particular outrages and attacks while mainting clear dividing lines and opposing the totality of their progam, with out losing our strategic focus on the need for revolution? What does it mean to 'stage an intervention' and strip away sections of this christian fascist movement? How do we both build the kind of opposition thats needed and bring to the forefront a revolutionary people? What will it mean to defeat particualar outrages (for example this Gonsolaz clown they want to be AG), without feeding bourgois democratic illusions? I dont have many answers here but there's a lot to discuss here.

I had some additional thoughts and shit... but I think I'll leave this for other for now.

THE BATTLE FOR THE FUTURE WILL BE FOUGHT FROM HERE FORWARD!
rwor.org/future

[flyby2]

Let's look at this soberly and clear-eyed.

Here is what I think: Every part of this statement deals with intensely controversial questions -- and every part will be both highly shocking and highly attractive -- all at the same time.

Many people will say "whoa can this be true?" or (more pragmatically) "do we really need to say this?"

And at the very same time, many people will say "Fuck yeah, this is SO very right on, and it is time to get out there and say it straight up!"

And so we need to actually dig into "what is it saying" and "is it true" and "does this need saying" and "what impact can this have" and "what evidence and arguments back the assertions and analysis of this statement?"

And those of us who agree with it, who grasp it, need to take it OUT -- the way nothing has been taken out before. It is time for a revolutionary pole to strain and reach to impact the whole superstructure -- to take the stage. It is especially possible because many people (including the Anybody but Bush forces) see/feel that noone is leading them to fight. Millions WANT to resist, and want to grapple over "what is happening." And in such a situation (a rare and charged time) it is INCREASINGLY POSSIBLE for a revolutionary communist pole to emerge, to influence, to deepen its roots, and to trigger the activism and thinking of quite broad forces.

On a particular and important question raised:

Is it fascism?

I want you to look more closely at what the opening says:

"YOU THINK YOU KNOW................BUT YOU HAVE NO IDEA..............JUST WHAT BUSH HAS IN STORE FOR.....YOU.....US.....THE WORLD.....OUR FUTURE!

Straight up—Bush and his people aren’t just ordinary Republicans. And they’re not ordinary Christians either. They are Christian Fascists—dangerous fanatics who aim to make the U.S. a religious dictatorship and to force this upon the world. If they get their way—and they are very far along the road to getting it—society will be plunged into a high-tech Dark Ages.

Those who compare Bush to Hitler are right! But, don’t be waiting for people wearing little mustaches and marching the Nazi goose-step to come to your town. This brand of fascism is coming differently, and it's coming straight from the White House."

It says that the Christian Fascist current is in power, and they have something "in store" -- they are fighting to "have their way."

So it both says they have not imposed their full program yet (it will be a process), and also that they "are very far along the road to getting it" -- an assertion that would be worth digging into.

Certainly they now have a lock on every major branch of government -- the White House, both houses of Congress, and a Supreme court where three new justices may be selected. Governors offices etc. They are purging the CIA, restructuring "the intelligence community." And (for the first time in U.S. history, actually) the u.s. military corps of officers is highly "monochromatic" politically -- with a growing and increasingly outspoken Christian Fascist (and frankly theocratic and anti-democratic) current like Boykin (who are protected and promoted in high places).

So this is not a chance of "cry wolf to hype the activism" -- it is a sober warning call, in a situation where ostrich-denial is far far too common.

None of this is obvious. None of this should be taken on faith. All of this should be dug into, examined critically, challenged and defended.

And lets do some of that here.

[flyby2]

I'm sorry, naxalite, i hadn't read your post before I posted mine.

I will read and think about it and join in after others have spoken.

[MundoQueGanar]

I like the questions Naxalite has raised. They're very direct and simple: What do we have going for us, and what kind of resistance is required?

I think one big thing we've got going for us is that we've got a way of looking at the world that not only is very accurate and grounded in material reality, but that it's also very dynamic--and that dynamism is a built in feature of our science (dialectical materialism). That's something that needs to get into people's hands, and spread about broadly.

I remember during the whole election rigamarole, a lot of progressives and liberals I knew were looking at the support that Bush had (has) and were just dumbfounded. A lot of people would say things like, "Man, people just don't GET IT!" But then the more I'd talk to people like that, and get deep into big questions about why the US went to war, why the standard of living has degenerated over the past couple decades, and why things are so fucked up in general, the more I realized that THEY, meaning liberals and progressives, don't really "get it" either--at least not in a real, grounded way. People were just pegging it all on "what an idiot Bush is", or on the influence of too much Christian fundamentalism, or other superficial factors. That was a big realization for me--seeing that people really need MLM and Avakian's analysis in particular to be able to understand what's going on--that our situation CAN be understood, and that there IS a science to it, and that this science is what we'll need to change society too.

Imagine having "fighting units"--groups of people in areas all throughout the US--that are engaged in struggle using MLM as their guiding ideology, going out and fighting, and then summing up their strengths and weaknesses using MLM, and then going out again, smarter and stronger. And all the while bringing new people, whole new sections of people, into the fight. So that's one thing we have to offer--the clarity that's needed to see what's going on, and how to proceed without getting sucked into reformism.

I also want to get into more about some of the things that Naxalite brings up--what sorts of advantages do the concrete conditions offer us? He mentions the big one about anarchy being the principle form of motion of capitalism, and that the imperialists are IMPELLED to behave a certain way that creates conditions that they can't always control. I'd like to get more into what that means concretely for us in the belly of the beast. What new material forces have they stirred up that can work for us?

I've had some pretty good responses so far in taking it out--there's definitely a new openness out there to radical ideas! Let's let 'er rip!!