REVOLUTION 104

How can I talk seriously about a revolution when the fascist Trump just got elected?

How can I talk seriously about a revolution when the fascist Trump just got elected?

This is Bob Avakian—REVOLUTION—number 104.

Right after the election, one of the revcoms wrote up these very important points of orientation that speak to this question:

To those who might say, “Trump just won in a landslide, how are you going to win people to revolution?”— the answer is: A) Because it’s not the same people; B) There are still tens of millions of people vehemently opposed to fascism; and C) We don’t need to win over the majority of people to be actively involved in this revolution.... we need to win over thousands in order to reach, influence, and lead millions.

The first point (A) is another way of getting at the crucial reality that I emphasized in my message #102: There are “two countries” within this so-called “United States.” Contrary to what is constantly being declared, including in the “mainstream” media, the “American people” did not vote for the fascist Trump. Basically, of those people who voted, half voted for Trump and fascism. At the same time, the other half voted against Trump and (as emphasized in point B above) there are huge numbers of people who are “vehemently opposed” to this fascism. Once more: “two countries” within this so-called “United States.”

This division cannot be covered over and cannot be resolved, in any positive way, within the confines of this system of capitalism-imperialism. And:

So long as the horizons of people are limited to what is possible within the confines of this system—so long as people believe that the only “realistic choices,” in terms of the direction of society, involve supporting one or another ruling class party of this system (Democrat or Republican)—the result will be a continuation of horrors.

To refer back to my message #101: When this system presents us with the “choice” between a lunatic racist, woman-hating, all-around fascist (Donald Trump) and a genocidal war criminal (Kamala Harris), it is time to recognize that this system is a thoroughly rotten, monstrously criminal, massively destructive, thoroughly outmoded system—long past the time when it can represent anything positive. (And in case people are not paying attention, the Biden/Harris administration is continuing to give full support—providing arms and backing— to Israel as it even further intensifies its genocide in Gaza and its massive slaughter and destruction in Lebanon.)

As I emphasized in message #102:

That is just the point: Things must no longer remain, and continue to be confined, on the terms and within the limits of this system and its ruling class.

It is time to look seriously for solutions outside and beyond this system.

It is time for a revolution to overthrow and uproot this whole system and bring into being a fundamentally different and much better system.

There is a need, and there is a basis, to bring forward a hardcore force of revolutionaries who have broken fundamentally with this whole system, which has brought forth this fascism, along with all its other atrocities. People who have gained the scientific understanding—and, on that basis, have the heart and determination—to make the sacrifices that are necessary not only to give leadership and direction to the determined resistance that must be built against this fascism, but also to win continually growing numbers of people to actively work for the revolution that is urgently needed to finally do away with this whole monstrous system.

This relates to the important point C. Revolutions do not come about with all of those who want a positive radical change actively involved in fighting for that revolution, while all those who oppose that positive radical change are actively fighting on the other side.

Instead, on each side there are the backbone forces directly involved in the fight, while greater numbers of people support one side or the other, or have a position of “friendly neutrality” toward one side or the other (while some try to “sit it out” or go back and forth between one side and the other).

In this country that would mean (as stated in point C) winning over thousands in order to reach, influence, and lead millions to be actively involved in the revolution—with many millions more supporting or at least sympathizing with the revolution. (Yes, that includes winning over some people from the other side, through the course of the revolution—winning them over on the basis of the strength, determination and resoluteness of the revolutionary forces.)

In the context of this all-out revolutionary fight, what have been the dominant institutions of this system are likely to split and break apart in significant ways, with the prospect of winning significant numbers to the revolution.

In order to have a real chance to bring this about, it is necessary to sharply expose and actively oppose not only the fascism spearheaded by Trump, but the whole putrid system out of whose rotting soil this fascism has grown. As I also emphasized in message #102, this means “finally and decisively defeating” this fascism—“and doing so as part of putting an end to this whole system which has given rise to this fascism, along with all its other atrocities” (atrocities which are built into this system; atrocities which I have brought to light through these messages as a whole, and which are analyzed extensively and in depth in the American Crime series at revcom.us).

I will end, for now, with this basic point, drawing from crucial history of this country:

Leading into the Civil War in the 1860s, the election of Lincoln as President was the “last straw” that propelled the slave-owners in the South to break with the “United States” and wage war to maintain their slave-based Confederacy. Today, for those opposed to slavery and oppression in every form, this election of the fascist Trump must be the “last straw” which propels a revolutionary struggle to break with, and bring down, this whole system which, as I have shown over and over again, rests on ruthless exploitation and murderous oppression, and which has now given rise to this fascism, as the direct political descendant of the slave-owning Confederacy.