October:
Get Out BAsics 1:22... And Raise Big Money for BA Everywhere!
October 7, 2012 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
In a world marked by profound class divisions and social inequality, to talk about “democracy”—without talking about the class nature of that democracy and which class it serves—is meaningless, and worse. So long as society is divided into classes, there can be no “democracy for all”: one class or another will rule, and it will uphold and promote that kind of democracy which serves its interests and goals. The question is: which class will rule and whether its rule, and its system of democracy, will serve the continuation, or the eventual abolition, of class divisions and the corresponding relations of exploitation, oppression and inequality.
—BAsics 1:22
As we go into October, let’s gear up to get out this month’s BAsics quote far and wide as part of the BA Everywhere campaign to raise big money to get Bob Avakian’s vision and works into every corner of society.
This effort will be going right up against the frenzied political offensive by those in power to pull people into the big game they run every four years—giving people the “choice” between two top representatives of the capitalist-imperialist class. This is a game controlled and decided entirely by the rulers—and playing this game over and over is part of how the oppressed stay oppressed. BAsics 1:22—along with last month’s quote, 1:3—cuts through all this to shine light on some essential truths about this system.
BA has written that “if I were teaching a course on this subject (on the nature of democracy and its relation to the fundamental character of society, rooted in its economic system), I would read these three sentences, and the rest of the semester would consist of: explain. Because there is a tremendous amount concentrated in these sentences that is very important to understand—and is very widely misunderstood. How many people actually have engaged the substance of this? And how many people need to?” So it’s important to get together with people to grapple substantially with each sentence, and with the quote as a whole.
And as we wrangle with the quote, let’s make plans to get it way out into the world. As BA says, what is captured in these sentences “has everything to do with what’s going on in the world and major struggles that have to be waged in the world today.” Even where people are beginning to raise their heads and fight the power today, there are lots of misunderstandings and illusions about the question of democracy—and it would make a tremendous difference in where the world is headed if the insight brought forward by BA and concentrated here is brought to and grasped by many more people.
Let’s get palm cards with this quote into the hands of many people who can spread it to many more. Over the past few months, thousands of palm cards with different quotes from BAsics have gone out widely across the country, often in stacks of dozens or hundreds taken by people who have just recently come to know about BA. Getting these cards out in the neighborhoods, at workplaces, on campuses and other places is one of the concrete ways that people can be part of BA Everywhere—right now—by spreading the word about BA and the movement for revolution.
Think about how to spread BAsics 1:22 among students who are seeking new ideas and ways to understand and change the world: palm cards and posters with the quote going up all over campuses and dorms... swirls of controversy around displays using the powerful graphic centerfold of the quote in this issue of Revolution... passionate debates and discussions in classrooms and cafeterias... and more.
Envision people in the neighborhoods of Black, Latino, and other people on the bottom of society taking stacks of the quote cards and spreading them all over... and knots of people on the street corners and in the projects and living rooms getting into intense back-and-forth over it. Think about the effect that such scenes would have in areas where there is seething anger, and rising struggle, against massive poverty and joblessness, racist stop-and-frisk, police brutality and murder, and mass incarceration of youth.
BAsics 1:22, and the BAsics book, should definitely be in the mix in building for the October 22 National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation, and on the day itself.
Imagine this quote finding its way into circles of artists and various cultural scenes this month, provoking thinking and debate about how to look at and understand what happens in this society and the world—and what to do about the horrors confronting people every day as well as the environmental catastrophe threatening life on the entire planet.
These are just some ideas. Be bold and imaginative in making and carrying out plans—building on the experiences and advances in the BA Everywhere campaign over the summer, but also reaching out to new areas and people and different corners of society. One thing to keep in mind: Don’t underestimate the impact of people from different parts of your city and different experiences mixing it up—for example, people from the ’hoods bringing the movement for revolution to the campuses, and students going to the neighborhoods of the oppressed.
Fundraising should run through all the plans and efforts. There is a national movement starting to be born, through the BAsics Bus Tours and other elements of the BA Everywhere campaign over the past months. And this is both posing the need to raise more funds as well as opening up the potential to do this more broadly and in new ways. Learn from inspiring and valuable examples, like the “penny drive” and yard sale in Harlem that raised several hundred dollars—and find creative ways to get donations from all kinds of people, ranging from those with little means and resources to those who can give in the hundreds and thousands of dollars.
Let’s talk to people about what actual difference in the world BA Everywhere can make. As we said when this campaign kicked off: “If we succeed with this—if we collectively raise enough money to make it concretely possible to project the whole BA vision and project into all corners of society and to introduce him and what he is bringing forward to millions who are not yet familiar with his works and vision; if the framework he is bringing forward and advocating for becomes increasingly debated and wrangled over by thousands and by millions of people from all walks of life; if, together, we manage to accomplish this, this will actually make a very big difference. The whole social and political culture will 'breathe' more freely, people will wrangle passionately over 'big questions' concerning the direction of society (like knowing that much of the future of humanity hangs in the balance) and the times will once again resonate with big dreams for fundamental change and the emancipation of humanity."
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