1) Bernie supporters! Now's the time to get serious & scientific about the problem we face, & the solution.

A thread on reform vs revolution. Social democracy vs actual socialism.

#BernieDropOut #BernieIsOurHope #NotMeUs #Bernie2020 #NeverBidenNeverTrump

2) Capitalism-imperialism is a nightmare for humanity
-2.3 billion lack toilets or latrines
-millions of children die every year of preventable diseases & starvation
-150 million children engaged in child labor
-A planet of slums and sweatshops
-65 million refugees

3) Bernie does not represent, & is not even calling for, a real solution to all this. He is not a real socialist, & the “revolution” he talks about is not a real revolution. He is a social democrat, who is advocating changes within the capitalist system

4) The reforms he advocates would run up against the reality of how U.S. capitalism actually functions, driven by cutthroat competition btwn capitalists & rival countries; the massive military spending required to maintain the U.S. empire; the BUILT IN oppressive social divisions

5) & the reality of the political process—a “democracy” which is dominated by the capitalist class that actually exercises dictatorship to enforce its rule, & which today is marked by deep “partisan” divisions—would make Bernie's reforms very difficult to achieve

6) While Bernie is less warmongering than other Dems, the very reforms he's calling for are ultimately predicated on, & depend on, the dominant position of U.S. capitalism-imperialism in the world, & would require the use and/or threat of military force to maintain that position

7) The truth is that social democrats in an imperialist country must ultimately and fundamentally be pro-imperialism. This is an essential characteristic and requirement of social democracy in a country like this.

8) This “distinguishing feature” characterizes Bernie Sanders, w/ his denunciations of the “billionaire” class & its disproportionate share of the wealth & unfair domination of the political process (note: criticism of the “billionaire class,” not the whole capitalist system)

9) An actual socialist revolution aims to transform the ownership of the means of production into common ownership by society as a whole, which makes it possible to do what can never be done under capitalism: to carry out production on the basis of an overall plan...

10) ...not through exploitation but through the conscious involvement of people, interacting w/ nature in a sustainable way while meeting the material as well as the cultural & intellectual needs of the people—not just in one country but ultimately in the world as a whole

11) The transformation of the mode of production must be carried out along with the transformation of oppressive social relations (such as the relation between men and women) and the ideas and culture that reinforce oppression and exploitation.

12) All of this depends on—& is impossible to achieve w/o—defeating & dismantling the state apparatus enforcing the rule of the capitalist class & replacing it w/ a socialist state serving the radical transformation of society & the world to abolish all exploitation & oppression

13) This thread was drawn from this article https://revcom.us/a/637/bob-avakian_david-brooks-the-not-so-great-pretender-en.html

14) Bob Avakian is completely different than the endless stream of bourgeois politicians who are put forward as “leaders,” whose goal is to maintain one variation or another of this system of capitalism-imperialism https://revcom.us/a/633/bob-avakian-a-radically-different-leader-en.html