Bob Avakian is the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. And he is more than that: he's an innovative and critical thinker who has taken Marxism to a new place; he's a provocative commentator on everything from basketball to religion, doo-wop music to science and he's a pit-bull fighter against oppression who's kept both his solemn sense of purpose and his irrepressible sense of humor.
From Ike to Mao and Beyond: My Journey from Mainstream America to Revolutionary Communist
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On the Leadership of Bob AvakianSome Thoughts on the Importance of Bob Avakian to Building a Revolutionary Movement by Sunsara Taylor Learning from Bob Avakian: Understanding the World in Order to Change It, by Raymond Lotta Traveling with Chairman Avakian: A Determined Revolutionary Leader, and a Fired Man, for Decades, by Carl Dix |
What others are sayingPrisoners write on Bob AvakianFrom blurbs & reviews of Bob Avakian's BooksSpeaking of From Ike to Mao and Beyond My Journey from Mainstream America to Revolutionary Communist,
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BIRDS CANNOT GIVE BIRTH TO CROCODILES,Table of Contents
PART 1: REVOLUTION AND THE STATE
PART 2: BUILDING THE MOVEMENT FOR REVOLUTION
Some Observations on the Culture Wars:Table of Contents
We ARE Building a Movement for Revolution
Emancipators of Humanity
Revolutionary Strategy, Bringing Forward a Revolutionary People
On the Relation of Individuals, Classes and the Abolition of Classes
Revolution and a Radically New World: Contending “Universalisms” and Communist Internationalism
On the Role of Communist Leadership and Some Basic Questions of Orientation, Approach and Method
Bob Avakian takes on the ideals of Jeffersonianism, and convincingly locates even its “loftiest aspirations” in social relations of exploitation and oppression—the social relations out of which those ideals grew, and which they served and continue to serve. In doing so, he draws on a wide range of scholarly research and polemically takes on major contemporary defenders of Jeffersonian democracy. Avakian demonstrates why and how these ideals of democracy co-existed with—and, indeed, arose on the basis of—the enslavement of Black people and the deep embedding of white supremacy into the body politic and ideological psyche of the U.S.
But he goes further: not only showing why events turned out that way, but why those ideals themselves could only and can only generate and serve relations of exploitation and the division, and polarization, of people into antagonistic classes. . .into oppressor and oppressed. Moreover, he convincingly points the way to a vision and future that is truly emancipatory—to a vision of freedom far more radical and thoroughgoing than anything imaginable within the constricted horizons of Jeffersonianism. In doing this, Avakian includes a devastating critique of the “free marketplace of ideas,” contrasting it to a genuinely unfettered search for the truth—and he shows what kind of economic and political system would be necessary for that to flourish.
Listen to the talk - audio download: Track 1, Track 2, Track 3
PART 1: BEYOND THE NARROW HORIZON OF BOURGEOIS RIGHT
“I Want to Get More”—or We Want Another World?
Are All “Ideal Visions of Society” Equally Valid and Good?
How does human society actually develop?
Changing circumstances, and changing people
People make history—but on a certain material foundation
State power—to effect radical changes
Communism Will Not Be a “Utopia”—It Will Be a Radically Different and Far Better World
Freedom…and Necessity
Freedom, Right, and the Nature of Society
Bourgeois Democracy, Bourgeois Right
The Rupture with Outmoded Thinking and Beliefs
Changes in Society, Changes in “Human Nature”
Marxism as a Science—In Opposition to Mechanical Materialism, Idealism and Religiosity
Marxism’s “falsifiability,” Popper’s falsehoods, and a scientific approach
Capitalism…imperialism
The state, bourgeois democracy and dictatorship
Capitalist exploitation
Philosophy and method
Science and scientific truths
The crimes of this system—and the rationalizations for these crimes
A “Ted Bundy” Country, a “Ted Bundy” System
Setting the Record Straight
House and the Experience of Socialist Society So Far
The New Synthesis
PART 2: EVERYTHING WE’RE DOING IS ABOUT REVOLUTION
Hastening while awaiting—not bowing down to necessity
The Pivotal Revolutionary Role of the Communist Newspaper
Combating “the spontaneous striving to come under the wing of the bourgeoisie”
Boldly spreading revolution and communism
A culture of appreciation, promotion, and popularization
Fight the Power, and Transform the People, for Revolution
Building the Party
Overcoming Obstacles and Limitations, “Mobilizing All Positive Factors”
Heightened Parasitism and the “Two Outmodeds”
Parasitism, infantilism, instant gratification and self-indulgence
The Mess in Iraq, the Threat of War on Iran, and the Challenges This Poses
Iran: the prospect of regime change and the possibility of war
The pyramid of power—and paralysis
The continuing urgent need for mass political resistance
Al Gore and illusion, delusion and misdirection
Transforming the political terrain
Repolarization for Revolution: A Strategic Orientation
Religion and repolarization—the complexity of reality
Christian fundamentalism, the needs of the ruling class, and repolarizing for revolution
Editors Note: The following is an excerpt from a talk given by Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, to a group of Party members and supporters in 2005. It has been edited for publication here.
Now, when you come up against the great gulf that often, and even generally, exists between the conditions and the suffering of the masses of people, on the one hand, and what you are able to do about that at any given point—when you run up against that repeatedly, everyone feels a definite pull which expresses itself in moral terms: how can you stand by and not do something about what's happening to the masses of people? As I have said a number of times, I have enormous respect for people who do things like volunteer for Doctors Without Borders. But the fact is that while they're doing what they're doing, and even with the good they do, this is being engulfed and overwhelmed by a tsunami of suffering (metaphorically speaking and sometimes literally) that's brought forth by larger objective forces.
Excerpts from The Struggle in the Realm of Ideas, November 26, 2006
Three Alternative Worlds, December 3, 2006
The Role of Dissent in a Vibrant Society, December 10, 2006
Intoxicated with the Truth, July 24, 2005
Bob Avakian in a Discussion with Comrades on Epistemology- On Knowing and Changing the World, December 19, 2004
Views on Socialism and Communism:
THE BASIS, THE GOALS, AND THE METHODS OF THE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
Dictatorship and Democracy, and the Socialist Transition to CommunismThe Need for Communists to Be...
The Pyramid of PowerThis is an excerpt from REVOLUTION: Why It’s Necessary — Why It’s Possible — What It’s All About — a film of a talk by Bob Avakian
Reaching for the Heights and Flying Without a Safety Net
Printable PDF Version: ReachingFlying.pdf (308K)
Editors’ Note: Reaching for the Heights and Flying Without a Safety Net is taken from the transcript of a tape-recorded talk by Bob Avakian, Chairman of the RCP, toward the end of 2002. It was originally intended for distribution among Party members and others close to the Party, in particular revolutionaries of the newer generations, but we are happy to be able to share excerpts from this talk with our readers. They have been edited and footnotes have been added for publication here.
Contents
Democracy: More Than Ever We can and Must Do Better Than That
Grasp Revolution, Promote Production
Bob Avakian Speaks Out, Interviewed by Carl Dix: On War and Revolution, On Being a Revolutionary and Changing the World
The New Situation and the Great ChallengesStrategic QuestionsExcerpts from the Talk "Strategic Questions":
Being Eminently Reasonable--And Completely Outrageous: Speaking and Writing--With Masses of People in Mind
(published November 24, 2002)
Revolutionary Strategy: Uniting All Who Can Be United
On the revolutionary strategy of the United Front Under the Leadership of the Proletariat.
- 1 Why Do We Need to Unite All Who Can Be United?, November 10, 1996
- 2 Unite All Who Can be United--A Matter of Win or Lose for the Revolution, December 1, 1996
- 3 Unite All Who Can Be United: There IS a Real Proletariat, December 1, 1996
- 4 Who Feeds Whom?, December 8, 1996
- 5 From Negative Vanguard to Positive Vanguard, December 22, 1996
- 6 The Solid Core, January 5, 1997
- 7 How Does the Proletariat Become Class-Conscious and Uniting All Who Can Be United: A Strategic Realignment, January 12, 1997
- 8 A Problem of Strategic Orientation for the Revolution -- The Two 90/10’s, January 19, 1997
- 9 How Would Revolutionaries Know When to Start the Revolution, January 26, 1997
- 10 Why the Proletariat Must Lead the United Front, February 2, 1997
- 11 From Fighters for One to Fighters for All, February 9, 1997
Putting Forward Our Line--In a Bold, Moving, Compelling Way
Getting Over the Two Great Humps: Further Thoughts on Conquering the World
Excerpts from this Talk were published at different times, as follows:
On Proletarian Democracy and Proletarian Dictatorship—A Radically Different View of Leading Society
(published 2003-04)
Getting Over the Hump
(published 1997-98)
On the so-called “demise of communism” and the advance to communism worldwide--the struggle of the proletarian revolution in particular countries and on a worldscale to “get over the hump” and defeat the imperialist system.
Materialism and Romanticism: Can We Do Without Myth?
(published 2003)
The Importance of Poetry and a Poetic Spirit
The "Spiritual" in a Cold and Heartless World
Religion As A Narcotic--An "Opiate of the People"
A Back-Handed Tribute to Communism
Awe and Wonder...The Need To Be Amazed
To the Slave Revolution Is an Imperative
The Road to Revolution
Advancing the World Revolutionary Movement: Questions of Strategic OrientationThis is the text of a talk given shortly after Conquer the World? The International Proletariat Must and Will. It was first published in Revolution magazine in Spring, 1984. From the opening paragraph:
"This presentation on advancing the world revolutionary movement could also be titled “Breaking With Old Ideas.” First of all and essentially the idea that has to be broken with, which unfortunately has had a lot of currency in the international communist movement, is the idea that internationalism is something that is extended from the proletariat (or the people) of one nation to others, to the workers (or peoples) of other countries. This would correspond to a kind of literal rendering of “inter-national,” and in fact during the period when we opened the pages of our paper to discussion and struggle over the drafts of the New Programme and the New Constitution of our party, as part of the process of coming up with the final version of those documents, we printed a letter from someone who argued that we should junk the term “internationalism” and call it “world revolutionism” or something like that, because the writer didn’t like even the implication of “one nation to another” that could be drawn by making a literal rendering of “inter-nationalism.” Well, that writer’s suggestion is a bit of a mechanical way of trying to deal with a problem; proletarian internationalism and whether or not you really uphold it has come to stand for something, in fact it is a basic dividing line, and the term is fine in that sense. But there is a point that was being gotten at, even if not quite correctly, in that letter—that is, the criticism of this view that internationalism is something extended from the workers or the people of one nation to those of other nations. Such a view actually reduces internationalism to something secondary and subordinate, however important it may be said to be.
CONQUER THE WORLD?
The International Proletariat Must and Will
The work of updating this page is ongoing. For access to more talks and works by Bob Avakian, go here.
"You can't change the world if you don't know the BAsics."
BAsics, from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian is a book of quotations and short essays that speaks powerfully to questions of revolution and human emancipation.
BAsics concentrates more than 30 years of Avakian's work. BAsics can not only introduce many more people to the thinking of the author who has put communism back on the agenda as vital and viable force—it can play a major role in bringing forward and forging a new wave of revolutionaries. To look at the table of contents...is to look at the key questions that present themselves to someone agonizing over the question of whether and how they can actually change the world in a fundamental and meaningful way.
Bob Avakian takes on the ideals of Jeffersonianism, and convincingly locates even its “loftiest aspirations” in social relations of exploitation and oppression—the social relations out of which those ideals grew, and which they served and continue to serve. In doing so, he draws on a wide range of scholarly research and polemically takes on major contemporary defenders of Jeffersonian democracy. Avakian demonstrates why and how these ideals of democracy co-existed with—and, indeed, arose on the basis of—the enslavement of Black people and the deep embedding of white supremacy into the body politic and ideological psyche of the U.S.
But he goes further: not only showing why events turned out that way, but why those ideals themselves could only and can only generate and serve relations of exploitation and the division, and polarization, of people into antagonistic classes. . .into oppressor and oppressed. Moreover, he convincingly points the way to a vision and future that is truly emancipatory—to a vision of freedom far more radical and thoroughgoing than anything imaginable within the constricted horizons of Jeffersonianism. In doing this, Avakian includes a devastating critique of the “free marketplace of ideas,” contrasting it to a genuinely unfettered search for the truth—and he shows what kind of economic and political system would be necessary for that to flourish.
Is believing in gods actually harmful? How has Christianity for centuries served as an ideology of conquest and subjugation? Why is the "Bible Belt" in the U.S. also the "lynching belt"? Why is there a rise of religious fundamentalism throughout the world? In the intensifying conflict between U.S. imperialism and Islamic fundamentalism, is the only choice to take one side or the other? Why is patriarchy and the oppression of women foundational to so many religions? Can people be good without god? These are just some of the questions explored in this provocative work by Bob Avakian.
Bringing a unique revolutionary communist voice to the current discourse about god, atheism and morality, Avakian demystifies religious belief and examines how, even in its most progressive interpretations, religion stands in the way of the emancipation of humanity. A thread deeply woven throughout Away With All Gods! is the need to fully rupture with all forms of superstition, and to take up instead a truly scientific approach to understanding and transforming reality.
Whether you believe in god, or are an agnostic or an atheist, Bob Avakian will challenge you with his powerful critique of long-established traditions and his liberating vision of a radically different world.
"Bob Avakian is a long dstance runner in the freedom struggle against imperialism, racism and capitalism. His voice and witness are indispensable in our efforts to enhance the wretched of the earth. And his powerful story of commitment is timely." — Cornel West
Bob Avakian has written a memoir containing three unique but interwoven stories. The first tells of a white middle-class kid growing up in ’50s America who goes to an integrated high school and has his world turned around; the second of a young man who overcomes a nearfatal disease and jumps with both feet into the heady swirl of Berkeley in the '60s; and the third of a radical activist who matures into a tempered revolutionary communist leader. If you think about the past or if you urgently care about the future... if you want to hear a unique voice of utter realism and deep humanity... and if you dare to have your assumptions challenged and your stereotypes overturned then you won’t want to miss this book.
"If you don’t have a poetic spirit – or at least a poetic side – it is very dangerous for you to lead a Marxist movement or be the leader of a socialist state." — Bob Avakian, Observations
This provocative collection of reflections and observations by Bob Avakian on art, culture, science and philosophy offers a rare treat. Excerpted from formal talks as well as more informal discussions and conversations, many of the texts in this collection allow the reader to experience firsthand the freewheeling Bob Avakian—in the process of developing his thinking and reenvisioning the communist project on a wide range of controversies, from the dictatorship of the proletariat to discussions of truth, beauty, science and imagination.
Read Excerpts from Observations:
The Struggle in the Realm of Ideas, November 26, 2006
Three Alternative Worlds, December 3, 2006
The Role of Dissent in a Vibrant Society, December 10, 2006
This book offers readers a rare chance to witness a fascinating encounter between a radical social theorist and philosopher and a visionary communist leader and thinker. The challenging and unpredictable dialogue bristles with insights and provocations. Avakian and Martin wrestle with big questions that have to do with the state of the world and the possibility for radical change.
The scope and relevance of Marxism, and the nature and reach of communist revolution, are at the heart of this rich and lively dialogue.
This provocative book includes a scathing refutation of the reality behind conservative Christian fundamentalist morality, a critical look at the limitations of "liberation theology," including a discussion of Jim Wallis' book, The Soul of Politics, and an inspiring look at morality from a revolutionary perspective.
This work is even more timely today as it was when it was published in 1999. Bob Avakian says in the Prologue that "From whatever vantage point one looks, it is unmistakable that there is what could be called a 'moral crisis' in America. There has been, to a significant degree, 'a breakdown of traditional morality.' But the answer to this—at least the answer that is in the interests of the majority of people in the U.S. and the overwhelming majority of humanity—is not a more aggressive assertion of that 'traditional morality' but winning people to a radically different morality, in the process of radically transforming society and the world as a whole."
A bold and challenging book that cuts right to the debate of our times. Is capitalism the best of all possible worlds? Avakian contrasts the brutal realities of the free market to the claims of its defenders. Has communism proven to be a disastrous nightmare?
Avakian refutes the charges that socialist economies are unworkable and that communism suppresses individuality and freedom. But he probes deeper, into the real history and lessons of revolution, especially the Maoist Cultural Revolution. Can revolutions survive in a hostile world? How can they avoid going sour? And is it really possible to move society beyond private gain and money relations?
Bob Avakian shows that communism is both visionary and practical. If you want to know what real communism is about, and if you wonder whether society has to be run as a dog-eat-dog enterprise, then you will find this book as timely as it is provocative.
"In political discussion, 'democracy' is normally treated as a simple, unquestioned, timeless good against which all forms of political life can be objectively tested. Avakian attempts to go to the root of democratic theory and practice by a detailed examination of its sources and history, and, as a result, to show whose class interests are served by democratic institutions that only appear to serve everyone's interests. Avakian presents incisive critiques of the standard arguments for democracy in such classics as de Tocqueville's Democracy in America and Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism. In addition, the author engages in radical and socialist reintrpretations of democracy which he finds still tied to the prevailing bourgeois theories. Avakian argues his position on the decisive limitations of democracy in such a way that careful readers are compelled to clarify and rethink their own views.Avakian has written a serious and demanding work of political philosophy and political practice."
— Norman K. Gottwald, editor of The Bible and Liberation: Political and Social Hermeneutics
Revolution -- Why It's Necessary, Why It's Possible, What It's All About
English / Spanish (available dub) 675 minutes Listen to an audio clip from the DVD: Why do people come here from all over the world?
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7 Talks by Bob Avakian (click on a talk to download MP3)1 - Why We're in the Situation We're in Today... And What to Do About It: A Thoroughly Rotten System and the Need for Revolution 2 - Communism and Jeffersonian Democracy 3 - Communism: A Whole New World And The Emancipation of All Humanity – Not "The Last Shall Be First, And the First Shall Be Last" 4 - The NBA: Marketing The Minstrel Show and Serving the Big Gangsters 5 - Communism and Religion: Getting Up and Getting Free – Making Revolution to Change the Real World, Not Relying on "Things Unseen" 6 - Conservatism, Christian Fundamentalism, Liberalism and Paternalism ... Bill Cosby and Bill Clinton ... Not all "Right" But All Wrong! 7 - "Balance" Is The Wrong Criterion – And A Cover for a Witch-hunt – What We Need is the Search for the Truth: Education, Real Academic Freedom, Critical Thinking and Dissent Q&A - Question and Answer Session with Concluding Remarks Click here for the full list of over 20 questions raised and addressed at these Talks.
Radio Ready Clips from the 7 Talks |
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How can this be a popular revolution when so much is lined up against it ... are you nuts?: 35 minutes / 23.9 meg (mp3)
Elections, the Democrats, and how the Left should relate to all this: 25 minutes / 17.1 meg (mp3)
On Leadership. Bob Avakian responds to the following questions: 1) Isn’t it dangerous to invest so much into an individual leader? 2) The question of Stalin. 14.3 meg MP3 (posted 7/29/05)
Michael Slate interviews Bob Avakian on China, the Cultural Revolution, Art, and Dissent, 18.2 meg MP3 (posted 7/29/05)
Elections, Democracy and Dictatorship, Resistance and Revolution
Christianity and Society – The Old Testament and the New Testament, Resistance and Revolution
On the Leadership of Bob Avakian
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Prisoners write on Bob Avakian |
About this section of revcom.us...
Leaders and Leadership gathers resources that speak to the question: "Is it right to promote individual leaders?" including the 1995 Leadership Resolutions on Leaders and Leadership: Some Points on the Question of Revolutionary Leadership and Individual Leaders, from the Revolutionary Communist Party; and An Open Letter to the Revolutionary Communists and Everyone Seriously Thinking About Revolution: On the Role and Importance of Bob Avakian. Note: As part of an overall initiative to greatly improve the quality and reach of Revolution newspaper and the revcom.us website, we are undertaking a substantial redesign of our entire site. That work is emerging from the planning stage, and volunteers are needed to work on it. In the interim, when the question of The Revolution We Need... the Leadership We Have is posed so urgently by the situation in the world, this section of revcom.us will provide access to the work, and the life of Bob Avakian. |
Bob Avakian has written a memoir containing three unique but interwoven stories. The first tells of a white middle-class kid growing up in ’50s America who goes to an integrated high school and has his world turned around; the second of a young man who overcomes a nearfatal disease and jumps with both feet into the heady swirl of Berkeley in the '60s; and the third of a radical activist who matures into a tempered revolutionary communist leader. If you think about the past or if you urgently care about the future... if you want to hear a unique voice of utter realism and deep humanity... and if you dare to have your assumptions challenged and your stereotypes overturned then you won’t want to miss this book. 
In 2003 Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, delivered an historic talk in the United States. This talk, folloed 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. 
