REVOLUTION 10

A revolution to overthrow this system could win

[Audio transcript]

BOB AVAKIAN—REVOLUTION

Number Ten

Yes, a revolution, to overthrow this system of capitalism-imperialism, could win.

Right in this country, right in this time we are living in.

This revolution will become possible as millions of people are firmly won to understand, and are determined to act on the understanding, that WE NEED AND WE DEMAND: A WHOLE NEW WAY TO LIVE, A FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT SYSTEM. The time we are living in, now, is one where people could be won, in their millions, to see the urgent need for this radical change and actively work to bring it about.

Many people will say: If there are millions of people who are determined to bring this about, why couldn’t this happen peacefully, without all the violence and destruction that would be involved in actually fighting to overthrow this system?

The answer is this: The fundamental source of violence in the world is this system of capitalism-imperialism; by far the greatest perpetrators of unjust violence are the ruling classes of the capitalist-imperialist powers, most of all this country; and the fundamental reason why the abolition of this system cannot be achieved peacefully is because of the nature of this system itself. Yes, every decent person who cares about justice and the future of humanity, could wish that the rulers of this system would simply step down and step aside, and allow a much better way of organizing society to come about. But that is just never going to happen.

Even with millions and millions of people mobilized to demand an end to this system, those who rule it would never allow their system to be swept away without attempting to violently crush any such attempt.

But, many people—even many people who would love to see the kind of emancipating radical change I’m talking about—would argue: “That’s just the point—we could never deal with ‘all that’—we could never go up against the whole massive machinery of violence of this system.”

Well, that’s true, we couldn’t win that way—and we won’t do it that way.

A big military monster like this has to be taken on in a serious way, with a scientifically-based strategic approach. It has to be done by defeating such a powerful force in stages, and not going up against the full military power it will have, especially at the beginning of the revolution.

This means fighting only on favorable terms, and at any given time engaging and defeating parts of that oppressive military force—delivering repeated blows that cause its machinery of massive violence to break apart, with growing numbers among its ranks coming over to join the revolutionary forces.

Of course, there have to be the conditions that make all this possible. And there could be.

In previous messages (Number Eight and Number Nine), I have spoken to the fact that this is a time when there is a deepening crisis and bitter, profound divisions throughout society and among the powers-that-be. Everything that is going on now is heading toward, and could soon become, an all-out crisis in this country, with the very nature of society, and how it is governed, being directly battled out in a way that hasn’t happened since the Civil War in the 1860s. This is a rare time—a very rare opening—a chance that may come only once in a lifetime—a chance to take advantage of the deep divisions among the ruling oppressors and go after their whole system, with the aim of bringing the whole thing down, and putting something much better in its place.

And I have emphasized these crucial points: In this developing situation, which is continually becoming more intense, the forces for the revolution that is urgently needed could grow, quickly, from small numbers to thousands, and then millions, and get in position to go for the whole thing. And: With millions won to revolution, there could be a real possibility for this revolution to win.

With such an organized revolutionary force, it is possible to have a growing impact on all of society, changing the terms of how masses of people see things, and how every institution has to respond.

When the revolutionary situation has been ripened, with the system in such deep crisis that it cannot rule in the “normal way” that people have been conditioned to accept—when millions of people feel deep in their bones that this system has to go and are ready to do what needs to be done to make that happen—then it could be possible for fighting forces of the revolution to be organized, trained and deployed to apply this strategic approach:

Engage, first, in well-planned actions to counter the violent repressive forces of this system, beginning on a small scale, but carried out throughout the country, in a way that prevents those repressive forces from concentrating massive destructive power against these actions.

Building on these initial actions, continue to gather momentum and accumulate more fighting forces, through winning well-chosen engagements on an increasing scale—gaining experience in combat and “hardening” the revolutionary forces, while resisting and defeating the enemy’s attempts to draw the revolutionary forces into confrontations that would lead to a major defeat or even complete annihilation of the revolution. Adjust quickly to changing circumstances, learn quickly from any setbacks and act decisively to regain and maintain the initiative.

Shift the balance of forces in a direction more favorable for the revolution, through an ongoing process that combines defeating the enemy on an increasing scale and systematically working to disintegrate the enemy’s ranks and win growing numbers to come over to the side of the revolution.

When the balance of forces has been shifted decisively in favor of the revolution, concentrate forces to finally defeat the remaining forces of the old oppressive system.

In all this, fundamentally rely on masses of people, from many parts of society, for support and defense, communication, intelligence, logistics and supply, while making use of equipment that is taken from the other side in ways that fit the strategic approach outlined here.

An important factor in all this is the contradiction that among the ranks of this system’s armed forces are large numbers who have been drawn from among Black people, Latinos, women and other oppressed people, while that oppression is built into the very system of capitalism-imperialism that they are supposed to fight for. This contradiction is an important part of the basis to win over to the revolution many who start out as part of this system’s armed forces, as things develop and the attempts to crush the revolution are defeated, leading to a dynamic that is increasing favorable for the revolution.

What I have spoken to here is the basic approach and some of the basic factors that can make it possible for the revolution to have a real chance to win, when the necessary conditions have been brought into being.

At revcom.us there is the very important statement, Revolution—Building Up The Basis to Go For The Whole Thing, With A Real Chance To Win: Strategic Orientation And Practical Approach, and a five-part series Revolution: A Real Chance To Win, where I go more extensively and in depth into the strategic approach that could make it possible for this revolution to actually win. For anyone who is serious—anyone who is willing to think seriously about whether a revolution is not only necessary but is actually possible in this country—you need to go to revcom.us and get into those works. (And, if you are not serious, and aren’t willing to look into this seriously, then don’t bother to say that there is no way this revolution could ever be possible—because you don’t have any real basis to say that, and you’re just thinking what everybody is supposed to think.)

For those who are serious—and those who are honestly questioning whether all this is real—in the next message I’m going to get further into key dimensions of the developing situation that have to do with how the fight could be waged so that the revolution has a real chance to win.