Editorial
Revolution #1, May 1, 2005, posted at revcom.us
On this occasion of the May 1st holiday—we in the Revolutionary Communist Party are proud to introduce the first issue of Revolution newspaper! What you have in your hands is no ordinary newspaper.
This newspaper is the voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party,USA and exists for no other reason than to play a role in the emancipation of humanity.
As comrades and students of RCP Chairman Bob Avakian we are passionate about the truth and we are passionate about revolution. Our press is objective—committed to the idea that only by confronting reality as it is can the masses of people know and change the world. And we are partisan—committed to the idea that the people can free humanity from all kinds of enslaving economic and social relations and enslaving ideas.
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Formerly called the Revolutionary Worker, Revolution is coming out swinging—hitting the streets with 100,000 copies and daring to dream of a whole different world.
This first issue comes in a time of great polarization in U.S. society.
The promise of unending war on the world made by George W. Bush and company is being delivered with a vengeance. One hundred thousand lives and three hundred billion dollars later, there is no end in sight. At the same time powerful rightwing Christian fundamentalist forces are aggressively seeking to transform the U.S. into a high-tech theocratic state.
There are millions who oppose all of this. Still, there is a major battle to be waged over what kind of world we will live in. It is our analysis that if the people do not oppose the current direction of society with massive resistance, and things are left in the hands of those in power, we could be living in a world where old traditional shackles meet new technology, where rotten fundamentalist ideas serve and legitimate an insatiable bloodlust for profit. This horrible vision would be a society where modern-day U.S. imperialism would be run by religious fanatics. Your worst nightmare meets your worst nightmare.
But today, at the very moment we are haunted by a new "Dark Ages" mentality, the communist project is going through a Renaissance, as Bob Avakian has reimagined the process of socialist revolution.
We have a fighting chance for another future. This future could take human potential and human society to untold heights. An impossible dream? No. If we get way up on the mountaintop of history and look down on the march of humanity, the potential for such a world becomes clear. From this sweeping vantage point we can see that there is the basis for a world without classes, without oppressive social divisions. A communist world .
Revolution newspaper dares to imagine just that. While society today is deeply polarized—and some have even talked of a pre-Civil War atmosphere—there is a need to recast this polarization, to repolarize society so that real solutions are increasingly contending with reactionary forces and ideas, to repolarize society so that the interests of the people are a much stronger, battling force. From the standpoint of making communist revolution and transforming the world this repolarization is essential. Central to this is the role of Revolution newspaper, as truth in preparation for revolutionary struggle and the transformation of society.
But how does a mere newspaper play such a role? Is it really that central to the resistance of the people and beyond that bringing into being a new kind of society? Who should be checking out such a newspaper?
We aim to surprise you.
In these pages, you will find a unique mix of the fascinating and must-read "life and death" questions confronting the people and the planet: science, economics, politics, philosophy, art, sexuality, women’s liberation, national oppression, atheism, religion, ecology, epistemology—and a new morality for a revolutionary people.
One of the few weekly bilingual newspapers in the U.S., Revolution aims to be a vehicle that gives voice to the voiceless.
From prisoners to people in the housing projects to the immigrants along the U.S./Mexico border, from the young women caught in the international sex trade to the peasants trapped in the sweatshops of Sri Lanka to the dispossessed dying of AIDS in Africa: Revolution will vividly bring to the surface the life-and-death stories and conditions of those on the bottom of society—around the world—the hidden realities that reveal a scandalous system and the potential of the people.
Our motto is "no secret upsurges": We aim to be a vehicle for news of every outbreak of protest and rebellion in every sphere of society.
We are internationalists. Revolution will feature the stories of people fighting for liberation throughout the world—often against our own rulers in the U.S.—combating the slanders and reporting the true goals of insurgencies. Stories in the tradition of widely-read series featured in the Revolutionary Worker such as Li Onesto’s "Dispatches" on the People’s War in Nepal, and Michael Slate’s "War Stories" about South Africa..
At the same time Revolution aims to engage with artists, scientists, progressive thinkers and writers, forward-looking intellectuals and innovators—young and old. Through the pages of this newspaper, readers will be able to learn about different fields of inquiry, like the stunning series on evolution in the Revolutionary Worker by Ardea Skybreak, and those making new breakthroughs—amazing us with their works and challenging traditional ideas. As communists, we see this process of engaging in discussion and learning from those who hold different views as vital to our whole project.
Revolution will be enriched by the writings and talks of the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party, Chairman Bob Avakian. His works—which challenge and inspire, provoke and break new ground —will appear regularly in this press. And this press will also fight to reflect this far-seeing, scientific outlook, method and approach— cutting edge, poetic, and fun.
Revolution takes as its mission sharply exposing the inner workings of this so-called "best of all possible worlds." Breaking the spell of misinformation, lies and deceit that cover over the true nature of the U.S. system, this newspaper will pull no punches.
What about the devastation of the Iraqi and Afghani people—where are those weapons of mass destruction?! What about the kids in the ghettos and barrios whose lives are snuffed out by trigger-happy cops?! What about government-sanctioned torture of prisoners from Guantánamo to Pelican Bay?! What about the all-American vigilantes hunting immigrants on the border?!
Revolution will show how all these oppressive things are tied to a particular system that is based on exploiting the labor of billions of people all over the world.a system that is fundamentally worthless . Further, Revolution will show how all this is particularly outrageous, since the world doesn’t have to be this way .
Revolution will also reveal the true nature of different events in society, the different and conflicting class interests and class forces involved. Take the Terri Schiavo case—what did this tell us about the rise and power of the Christian rightwing fundamentalists? Where is this trend toward imposing religious standards on all of society heading? Or take the last presidential election—why is the Democratic Party fundamentally unable to answer the demands of its base, who largely opposed the Iraq war and the bible-based moral crusades of the right-wing?
Millions of people are raising huge questions regarding the nature and direction of society. As old assumptions are torn apart, Revolution will be in the mix, stretching a line to different corners of society, making the case that what is fundamentally needed is a revolutionary transformation of society— yes— a revolution and a whole new organization of society.
The mission of Revolution is not just to tell it like it is, as important as that is. The mission of Revolution is also to enable its readers to make a scientific assessment and analysis of all events in society and the world. Its mission and role is to enable its readers to see how all different strata and classes respond to the events of the day—the big earthshaking events and the things that people are talking about in whispers.
In this way, an ever-expanding network of conscious thinkers, dreamers, and fighters will gather around this newspaper, and we will be able to prepare—not only to take the streets against the outrages of today, but for a time when a real revolution is possible. This is a basic communist understanding of the role of a revolutionary newspaper, and through his works, method and approach, the Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, Bob Avakian, has deepened and enriched this understanding of the role of a revolutionary newspaper and communists generally.
Revolution aims to be a tribune of the people—a living link between all that we are doing now, the work and struggle against the injustices of this system at any given point and our final goal of a communist world. In this sense, Revolution plays a role of not only keeping people’s "eyes on the prize" of a communist future, but also where we are at in the game.
Revolution aims to bring the masses of people into the whole revolutionary process —to be at the center of a big conversation about what is the core problem in the world and the essential solution to that problem. How is that solution achievable, and how can it be achieved? How are we going to get to a revolutionary situation? How will we know when such a time is right? What will revolutionary society look like? And how will people be fit to run society when the revolution comes?
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Revolution has very ambitious plans—we plan to change the world! Corresponding to the radical future we aim to bring into being we see the role of a newspaper like this as critical. In times like these, the need for such a newspaper takes on an even greater role. And Revolution will assume even greater importance as the revolutionary situation develops, when people in their millions will be looking for guidance on how to live and how to die, and when the changing shape of public opinion will have very direct implications for the timing of a revolutionary uprising.
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We invite you into this process. We invite readers into this critical discussion over the very future of humanity. We invite readers to dream with us, struggle with us and learn from us. We invite readers to get to know our Chairman, Bob Avakian, and why we hold him in such high regard. We wish to learn from you as well and look forward to your thoughts and criticisms, suggestions and ideas.