WE NEED a REVOLUTION in ORDER to HAVE a REVOLUTION
By Ali Khalid Abdullah, Prisonersolidarity.org
Jan. 8, 2007
https://prisonersolidarity.org/alikhalidabdullah3-htm/
In order to have a revolution in Amerikkka, we first must have a revolution of our thinking. We must have a revolutionary purging of all the things that have held us captive and enslaved us from being able to grow as free thinkers. Unless we are
able to have a real revolution, we will have to accept the fact that we are being purged mentally. And this is not a simple or overnight process, but one that takes time and lots of willingness.
To have a real revolution means one must be willing to give up materialism and accept the necessary hardships and hard times that come with absolute purging – to deny the “I” of self and become the “i” of the collective. This is crucial if we are serious about making a revolution in this country. Otherwise, the hypnotic power of materialism will continue to keep us chasing after the kapital dream – one that’s purposefully dangled in our faces, keeping us in a trance-like state of blindness, without the ability for deep critical thought.
It means finding a new way of relating to people – outside of the framework of a class society, a society driven and shaped by production and material elements that encourage
class antagonism.
Of course, people aren’t going to wake up tomorrow and say, “I want to be a revolutionary. I’m shedding my materialistic and kapitalistic views, my possessions and all of the years of
labor that I’ve put into possessing these material gains. I’m going to purge my bourgeois thinking and be a revolutionary.”
That’s not going to happen and it’s very unrealistic to think such a thing. Revolutionary thinking – the necessary purging of materialism and kapital thought, and the desire for absolute ownership – is a process that comes from the experience of real conditions and education. And even in education there needs to be a deprogramming process, to eradicate the material mindset from kapital ideals of absolute ownership.
The right to “own” is not negative in itself. The negativity comes from how we experience the driving force of ownership as it relates to overall social conditions. That is the fundamental question that must be thought out. To approach the concept of ownership in terms of “free markets,” and selling one’s labor to the highest bidder, is a direct expression of the commodity principle of production, or the exchange of material requirements
in the form of commodities. It’s an exchange that is directly tied to the superstructure. But rather than the superstructure regarding the needs of society, we’ve been reduced to the level of coveting individual possession. The real revolution will not be driven from
the top down, but will emerge from the bottom up, with proclamations of freedom and self autonomy.
All of these things have a social content that reflects the relationships between production, material means, necessity, ownership and class consciousness.
Now, how do we arrive at a conclusion that will give freedom, material necessities and individual autonomy to everyone–all at once–and still have the social structure in place to keep the wheels of society from coming apart? This is a question, and a deep one, that
must be thought out if we are to actualize a change in government; and a change in how government deals with society and the structures that manage a cohesive maintenance, and keep society from ending up in a chaotic mess. That is why, before there can be a
revolution that effectively changes the dynamic relations of the social strata, there must first be a revolution of thought And this won’t happen spontaneously, but must be properly guided with critical thinking and re-education, and a purging away of old myths of education and thought.
Now, in regard to the question of freedom and democracy, and people’s rights, we have to examine the relations of production (labor) and ownership, and the means of production – including lifestyles, expectations, class issues and the fundamental ability to exercise essential control over our own lives and society. The system is set up so that one remains chained to the grindstone, locked into an economic slave ship, entrapped in the bourgeois state. We live under false illusions of democracy, freedom, and the pursuit of liberty. After all, ‘freedom’ is not meant just for a select group or class, but is meant for humanity.
Even with grand and noble ideals, there will still be elements of exchange that have to be carefully watched to avoid encroachment upon other people’s freedoms and material
needs, and to ensure that a new class doesn’t exercise the power of life and death over others, or limit the ability of those “others” to take part in decision making in society.
To even begin such a move there has to be a shaking up of ideas and a new process of thought. This brings us back to the need for a revolutionary purging. We must transform
that miseducational process of thought into a new one, which has revolutionary proponents.
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You may contact Ali Khalid Abdullah directly by writing to him at:
Ali Khalid Abdullah, #148130
Mound Correctional Facility
17601 Mound Road
Detroit, MI 48212