An Historic Contradiction: Fundamentally Changing the World Without “Turning Out the Lights”

Recently Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, drew attention to the following contradiction and then invited some people associated with or with responsibility in regard to the Party to respond with their thinking on this contradiction. Avakian wrote the following:

“In the polemic against Alain Badiou’s political philosophy in the online theoretical journal Demarcations, the following concise indictment is made of Badiou’s ultimate reformism, and of reformism in general:

‘And the world stays fundamentally unchanged. Capitalism-imperialism continues humming in the ‘background,’ crushing lives and destroying spirits in its meat-grinder of exploitation. And the horrors continue unabated.’

“This is our standing and powerful refutation of every other trend in the world. On the other hand, the way that a lot of people look at what we’re about—and not entirely without justification—is: ‘Here come the communists, turn out the lights, the party’s over.’

“All this embodies a real, and profound, contradiction that we must continue to wrestle with.”

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The next issue of our paper will be an online issue that runs the responses to Avakian’s invitation.

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