“The ‘voting trap’ under capitalism”
Bob Avakian on the elections: no matter who wins, we lose.
The REVOLUTION is real! Watch it. Spread it.
New and Breaking News... Cornel West Interviews Bob Avakian: Get the Word Out, Spread the Link All Over, Organize Listening Parties
This weekend and in the coming week, the revolution will be crackling on the airwaves. The Smiley & West radio show on PRI (Public Radio International) will be airing an interview that Cornel West recently conducted with Bob Avakian. And an online podcast is now available.
This interview is sharp and wide-ranging, challenging and inspiring. Cornel West, a prominent public intellectual, engages with Bob Avakian, the leader of the revolution in this country. The importance of this exchange getting out broadly into society should not be underestimated–and in fact, the reach and impact of this interview must be maximized in a thousand ways.
Right away:
*People should get the word out to contacts, friends, co-workers, and e-lists.
*People should be posting links to the interview on blogs, FaceBook pages, and use Twitter and other social media to extend the reach and impact of this interview.
*People can organize listening sessions of the on line podcast of the interview when it is aired in local areas. A version is also being aired on hundreds of stations across the country. (Get Station schedules here.) Get together in neighborhoods, in dorms, elsewhere.
The “voting trap” under capitalism - clip from “Revolution: Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s Possible, What It’s All About, a film of a talk by Bob Avakian” given in 2003 in the United States. Bob Avakian is the Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. This talk, followed by questions and answers, is a wide-ranging revolutionary journey, covering many topics. It breaks down the very nature of the society we live in and how humanity has come to a time where a radically different society is possible. It is full of heart and soul, humor and seriousness; it will challenge you and set your heart and mind to flight. Watch the entire film online at www.revolutiontalk.net
![Reposted from revcom.us: Take Out BAsics 1:3
Challenge the Elections Assault with Truth About This System
“The essence of what exists in the U.S. is not democracy but capitalism-imperialism and political structures to enforce that capitalism-imperialism. What the U.S. spreads around the world is not democracy, but imperialism and political structures to enforce that imperialism.”
BAsics 1:3
As we go into September, it’s time to make plans to get this month’s quote from BAsics, 1:3, out onto campuses and broadly into society. Get together with others to think about and discuss this quote—and make plans to put it into the hands of many, many people.
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The message of this quote goes right up in the face of the massive efforts by those in power who will be hitting people from every direction this “election season”—to corral people into choosing one or another top representative of this capitalist-imperialist system, which exploits and oppresses people here and around the world, causing much death and suffering. BAsics 1:3 lays bare the essence of the nature of this society…and the reality of what the U.S. does all over the world. It can be the focus of broad debate and wrangling of people in the neighborhoods, on campuses and wherever people are gathering over the Labor Day weekend. Especially look to distributing tens of thousands of BAsics 1:3 palm cards, along with many copies of BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian, at events like the Caribbean Day Parade in NYC and major September 16 Mexican Independence Day festivals and independence day festivals by Central Americans, which draw large numbers of people.
Each month the BA Everywhere campaign has featured a quote from BAsics. These quotes have touched and connected with people far and wide; many people have found their way into this campaign and the movement for revolution by engaging with the quotes and being part of spreading the quotes to others.
Very importantly, fundraising should run through all these efforts. The aim of the BA Everywhere campaign is to raise big money to get BA’s vision and works into all corners of society. A national movement is being born—as it grows, both the need and potential to raise money pose themselves in new ways. September should see new leaps in fundraising—ranging from those with little resources and means, to those with more ability to contribute. Let’s get out there in a big way and talk to people we know and those we’ve never met before. Let’s talk to people about the difference getting BA Everywhere can make in the whole social and political culture of this society.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9il9b6A0u1rowtzko1_1280.jpg)
Reposted from revcom.us: Take Out BAsics 1:3
Challenge the Elections Assault with Truth About This System
“The essence of what exists in the U.S. is not democracy but capitalism-imperialism and political structures to enforce that capitalism-imperialism. What the U.S. spreads around the world is not democracy, but imperialism and political structures to enforce that imperialism.”
BAsics 1:3
As we go into September, it’s time to make plans to get this month’s quote from BAsics, 1:3, out onto campuses and broadly into society. Get together with others to think about and discuss this quote—and make plans to put it into the hands of many, many people.
One of the things that I see, something that I haven’t lost sight of, is this: I see all the strength of the ruling class, but I also see all the way through all this shit, all the contradictions in society—I actually see a force in this society that, if it were developed into a revolutionary people, actually could have a go at it, could have a real chance of making a revolution, or being the backbone force of a revolution, when the conditions were ripe. I see a force of millions and millions and millions—youth and others—for whom this system is a horror: It isn’t going to take some cataclysmic crisis for this system to be fucking over them. The ruling class, ironically, sees them too. It is those who once had but have lost—or those who never had—a revolutionary perspective…it is they who can’t see this.”
—Bob Avakian’s BAsics, Chapter 6 Supplement: “The Revolutionary Potential of the Masses and the Responsibility of the Vanguard
On the way to an outing two people stopped to ask for directions early in the morning. They pulled up to a corner where migrant workers were waiting. People from Mexico and Africa waiting for work saw the car and approached thinking it was an opportunity for work. “These guys are pushing each other and fighting each other to open the door,” The volunteer described through tears, “waiting to be exploited.”
It was hard to find the words to describe this, but very clear that a system that creates these kinds of situations needs to get the fuck out of the way of humanity. And the fact that we have a leader like Bob Avakian, that sees all the way through all this shit, means the masses have a chance.
Capitalism has proven itself not only to fail people in the U.S., but to fail people EVERYWHERE! The system has failed us, from poor families struggling to survive in the ghettos, to LGBT adolescents struggling with basic acceptance and equality, to workers trying to keep their right to a fair wage and collective bargaining, to ordinary citizens struggling for human rights. If a system fails and doesn’t govern or work for the good of the people, then it needs to be replaced. It has lost its legitimacy by not working for the common good. There is a better way, and it is coming.
A young man who came into a Revolution Books to contribute $50 after receiving a phone call about the BAsics Bus Tour
Be a part of a movement to spread revolution and the work of Bob Avakian, everywhere.
- Donate and match this young man’s contribution. Go to http://basicsbustour.tumblr.com/donate
- Write your own statement of support. Tell everyone who needs to know the whole world doesn’t have to be this way, why you support the Tour. E-mail baeverywhere [AT] gmail.com
