When a political sect, cult or
micro-group publishes a draft constitution for a North America under *its*
splendid leadership, you know that something is seriously amiss. Bob Avakian's
"Revolutionary Communist Party" (RCP) recently indulged in this kind
of fantasy. Weirdly, I read the proposed post-revolutionary constitution at the
website of a competing leftist tendency! The RCP is a peculiar, ultra-leftist
Maoist group expressing sympathy for the Gang of Four in China and Sendero
Luminoso in Peru (not the kind of people you want around for tea), while having
a zany personality cult of its Chairman, Bob Avakian (you probably don't want
him around for tea, either). But then, the revolution isn't a romantic tea
party, is it? The RCP's most well-known front groups used to be "Vietnam
Veterans Against the War - Anti-Imperialist" and "Refuse &
Resist". Recently, the RCP drew the (somewhat hasty) conclusion that
Chairman Avakian is better than - wait for it - Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin,
Mao and (I suppose) Gonzalo. To outsiders, Avakian's recent contributions to
Marxism, said to be highly original and path-breaking by the RCP faithful,
sound like warmed-over New Leftism from the 1960's...
On one level, "Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America" (charitably dubbed a draft) is quite simply a joke, and a frankly boring one. On another level, it might perhaps tell us something about the mentality of this particular little group. While the constitution ostensibly guarantees freedom of speech and other democratic rights, it actually describes a society tightly controlled by...guess who...the RCP itself. At least 30% of the Legislature must consist of RCP delegates, and a 2/3 majority is needed for most important decisions (i.e. the RCP can block all proposals from anyone in disagreement). The RCP also "consults" with the Executive and controls the Supreme Court, the military, the police and the militia. Licenses to opposition newspapers are granted by the Executive, the same Executive that "consults" with the RCP. There are no provisions for the formation of opposition parties in the draft constitution, suggesting (of course) that all "opposition" will be purely nominal. The constitution will be adopted by a Provisional Governing Council, headed by the RCP, rather than by a genuine constituent assembly. A 3/4 majority in the Legislature is needed to even consider an amendment to the constitution. The U.S. states are referred to as "regions" and don't enjoy any real autonomy, since all "regions" are established by decree from above by the Legislature.
Some other points of interest: the New Socialist Republic will have two official languages, English and Spanish; African-Americans have the right to form an autonomous region or even an independent state in the South; the Legislature only meets once a year (suggesting that it's a pure rubber stamp); resident aliens don't have voting rights, but they can be drafted into the military; virtually the entire economy will be either nationalized or turned into state-supervised cooperatives ASAP; Puerto Rico will be granted independence; provocative modern art is explicitly said to be legal (!); discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited. That last point might be significant, since the RCP has traditionally been seen as anti-gay and anti-lesbian (most Stalinist groups are). For some reason, the constitution doesn't contain the kind of quality information craved by us petty-bourgeois nerds, for instance whether the Bald-Headed Eagle will be kept as a national symbol (it's innocent, after all), or how the flag of the New Republic will look like. And what about the national anthem? "The West is Red"?
I'm not sure how to rate Comrade BA's latest power trip, but since I don't fancy the RCP outfit, I only grant it one star. One thing's sure, though. The RCP has given a new meaning to the expression "red state"!
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