4.7 KiB
How to Win a Revolution - A handbook for the 21st century struggle against capitalism.
- Cuban, Haitian, Russian, and French revolutions, Paris Commune, and the Spanish Revolution
- Read Che - tactics book
- Read Mao - tactics book
- Read that one liberal's book about how to win a non-revolutionary struggle.
- Huey P. Newton's
- Lives of Lenin and Trotsky, Marx and Engels, Toussaint L'Overture, Dessalines, Danton, Che, Ho Chi Minh, Mao. Look at the lives of successful revolutionaries.
- NOT influenced by machiavellianism, democratic
- Search and read books about guerilla warfare
- Read David Kilcullen - The Coming Age of the Urban Guerilla
- Less than 50 pages.
- Like the anarchists cookbook, or how to win a revolution
Table of Contents
The Crisis
Short description of why capitalism is bad, why reformism doesn't work, and why revolution is necessary. A short description also of the path, as given in Lenin's S+R. We won't know how the world will exactly look without wage slavery, whether it will be a bookchin-like communalism, or TODO include picture fully automated luxury gay space communism.
What is a Revolution?
The Ruling, and the Ruled
Property relations. Who controls the means of production, and how this is organized. When one group of people overthrows another, to become the new dominant, ruling class. "Political Revolutions" and "Coups" are often not revolutions at all. Replacing one military dictator, with another, without changing the class-nature of the power structure, isn't a revolution.
Conditions
Dissatisfaction
What is this pointed at? Minorities? The ruling class? Where is the rage directed at? Where the rage gets directed, is where the guns get pointed.
Solidarity / Class Conciousness
Unified class interests
Comradery, and friendship
Social Justice
Armed population
Leadership
Organization
Decision-making
Strategy
Organizing
Why organizing is necessary. Use trotskys article on why individual terrorism is bad. Need class nature.
Political Parties
Unionism in the 21st century
Spreading the message
Pablo iglesias video, language and propaganda. Agitprop. Memes.
Location
Why the countryside / forests is no longer a viable 'cover' for guerilla warfare. Guerillas need safety, and protection, IE, cover, can't have meetings and organize, no rifle practice. David Kilcullen video, 45:45. Max Boot on guerilla warfare. Traditionally guerillas weren't successful in cities. Today we have foliage penetrating radar that can see through forests, Drones that can surveil mountain ranges 24 hours a day. No more cover in the rural environment anymore, the cover is in the cities. Governments try to understand the information about cities, knowing who people are, where they live, where they go. These pieces of information can be obfuscated and made confusing.
The cover areas must be in slums, or 'illegible' territory, IE areas where capital has no vision.
Strikes
Workers councils in the 21st century don't have the same power as they did in earlier times. Automation, and a labor surplus means that workers tactics like strikes, sit-ins, aren't as effective as in earlier times.
Arming
Fighting
Tech
Syrian rebels using android phones to control mortars. Drones. Self-created armored vehicles, alshams, miniature lightweight, home-made tank. Remote controlled machine gun, with armored video cameras. Consumer electronics, urban environment, democratized military tech. David kilcullen out of the mountains youtube, 26:21. OpenStreetMaps for strategy.
Winning the battle of public opinion
In 2010, Kilcullen brought together his writings in his book Counterinsurgency and developed his understanding of counterinsurgency to address the globalized threat of radical Islam. He argues that successful counterinsurgency is about out-governing the enemy and winning the adaptation battle to provide integrated measures to defeat insurgent tactics through political, administrative, military, economic, psychological and informational means. Everything that the city/government does, you have to provide an alternative to do better. Free breakfast, etc.
Che teaching people how to read, giving health care to the campesinos.
Seizing power
When is the right time?
Too early, and you'll blow it, or be destroyed.
Defeating the counter-revolution
Compromises
What to do next?
Extra:
- Talk about how in russia, the conscripted soldiers aligned with the workers, and the army was pissed off at the government. Conversely in Cuba, the army actively suppressed the people, and an insurgency was necessary.