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Chapter 9: THE PROCESS OF THE UNARMED REVOLUTION 

4. Advance the process of the transition period.

4.1. Preparation for the transition phase process

The greatest mission of the Revolutionary Transition Commission (Transition Commission) is to advance the process of the transition period toward the opening of a communist society. During the transition period, the political and economic turmoil that often accompanies revolutions is expected. How this period can be shortened will determine the success or failure of the revolution.

As a guideline, it is desirable to complete the transition period within 3 to 5 years. In order to make this possible, it is necessary to discuss the transition period in advance within the Commons' Convention and to make careful preparations and plans. 

The most important transitional steps are listed below. However, the economic transition plan will be the most important and most difficult part of the transition period, so I will specifically discuss it in the next article.

4.2. Drafting of the initial Charter (constitution)

As pointed out in the previous chapter, the Transition Commission must aim to establish a constitutional system as soon as possible, but since it is difficult to quickly establish a constitutional system in the face of a large-scale revolution, it is necessary to consider the process separately.

When we say "constitution" here, we must be careful that it is different from the constitution as we know it today. The constitution as we know has the characteristics of a fundamental law of the state that determines the structure of the state. On the other hand, in a communist society, as has been stated repeatedly, the state is abolished, so the constitution cannot be the basic law of the "state."

Instead, the constitution becomes the rules that determine how the people should run society, and these rules are expressed in the form of the "Charter of the Commons' Convention" (hereinafter simply referred to as the "Charter").

There are two processes involved in the enactment of this Charter. The first is the "initial Charter" that corresponds to the earliest communist society - a "newly born communist society" so to speak, and the second is the "complete Charter" that corresponds to the mature communist society after this earliest communism. 

Immediately after the revolution, the Commons' Convention establishes a "Charter Drafting Committee" to work on drafting the first initial Charter. This committee, in collaboration with the World Commons' Convention, which is also the headquarter of the Commons' Conventions in the world, will use the already established Charter of the World Commons' Convention as its source of law, and will carry out the full transitional process with the aim of formulating an appropriate draft Charter. 

Furthermore, under the Commons' Convention system, local Commons' Conventions in each zone are also able to enact their own Charters within the scope of the zonal Charter, so local Commons' Conventions at all levels can proceed with the drafting of Charters.

4.3. Establishment of a republican polity

In connection with constitutional issues, the choice of political regime, which is itself a constitutional issue, is also an important one. A communist political system is essentially a republic, and the system of Commons' Convention requires a transition to a "commons' republican polity" in which the people themselves govern through Commons' Conventions, rather than delegating administration to the president or other chief adminisrator.

Such a commons' republican polity is incompatible with a monarchy or a similar hereditary form of regime. This is an issue related to the existence and abolition of monarchies that have lost their political authority and become symbolic (symbolic monarchies), including Japan's symbolic emperor system.

In conclusion, the symbolic monarchy will inevitably be abolished after the communist revolution. However, the meaning of "abolition" needs to be carefully analyzed.

In other words, what is being "abolished" here is the monarchy as a political system. This can be distinguished from whether or not the royal family itself should be abolished.

Of course, the most thoroughgoing republic would require the abolition of the royal family itself itself. Historically, when a monarchy was overthrown by a popular uprising, the entire royal family was dissolved, sometimes leading to the execution of the monarch (as in the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution).

However, these events are based on the people's hatred of autocratic monarchies, and symbolic monarchies that have long since lost their political authority are not usually the targets of popular hatred. The dissolution of the royal family in a symbolic monarchy, much less the execution of the monarch, would only arouse the sympathy of the people and could provoke a counter-revolutionary uprising among the royalists.

Therefore, when it comes to abolishing the symbolic monarchy, rather than taking a thorough policy of abolishing the royal family as well, it would be wiser to take an incomplete policy of abolishing the monarchy but keeping the royal family alive.

However, the continuation of the royal family only means allowing the ceremonial title of a member of the royal family to continue without any privileges. Therefore, not only will domestic administration departments such as the Royal Households be abolished, but members of the royal family will be encouraged to become ordinary citizens.

4.4. Revolutionary defense

Since the transition period is also a time when counter-revolutionary movements are developed in various forms, building defense of the revolutionary system as the mission of the Transition Commission itself becomes an important policy during the transition period. Regarding this defense of the revolution, we can distinguish between domestic measures and foreign measures.

(a) Domestic measures

Throughout history, domestic revolutionary defense measures have often served as a symbol of human rights violations, creating an image of fear against revolution. In particular, the creation of a political secret police whose direct purpose is to defend the revolution should be avoided, as it creates a breeding ground for human rights violations.

Therefore, instead of relying on the political police for revolutionary defense, we should establish a grassroots revolutionary defense organization with the intention of actively enlightening society about the significance of the revolution and including people in the revolutionary work. That is to say, the Liaison for the Defense of the Revolution (LDR).

In other words, we are not limited to passive revolutionary defense such as collecting information and monitoring the movements of groups and individuals suspected of involvement in counterrevolutionary activities, but we also have to actively provide information on revolutionary policies in the region and building relationships with Commons' Conventions. Furthermore, it is a comprehensive revolutionary defense organization that also carries out public opinion enlightenment for the general public. 

For this purpose, the LDR has staff members (mediators) who are in charge of providing information on revolutionary policies and building relationships in the region, and personnel (publicists) who are responsible for enlightening revolutionary public opinion to the public using the Internet and other information means, and agents who collect information and monitor movements regarding counter-revolutionary activities. (*)

Revolutionary defense through such an inclusive civilian revolutionary defense organization also has the effect of avoiding heavy-handed measures such as mass purges, which have been a staple of previous historical revolutions. As will be explained later, during the transition period, the old government structure still remains, so general civil servants must be preserved for the time being, and it is sufficient to individually dismiss civil servants who clearly engage in counter-revolutionary sabotage. 　

However, in countries where the military has strong political influence, a certain degree of vigilance is required against a military counter-revolutionary coup. To this end, it is necessary to assign a veteran officer with understanding the revolution to the Deputy serving under the Transition Commissioner in charge of peace issues , who controls the military, and to strive to integrate the middle-level officers and below into the revolutionary system.

*Because members of the LDR require a particularly strong belief in the defense of the revolution, they are recruited through selection from suitable candidates rather than through open recruitment.

(b) Diplomatic measures

Historically, many revolutions have involved interference from foreign countries that are afraid of their spread, and this often leads to war. Therefore, it is essential to take diplomatic measures to defend the revolution.

What is important in doing so is the transnational organization of Commons' Conventions. The communist revolution will ultimately be the first of a series of revolutions (domino revolutions) that spread throughout the world to defeat the interference of counter-revolutionary foreign forces and be completed. The domino revolutions, which I will touch on again in the next chapter, are not just "exports of revolution" but a global wave of revolution.

In this sense, the essence of revolutionary defense in diplomatic aspects is the transnational solidarity of Commons' Conventions, which is different from technical diplomacy itself, that is, the existence of the World Commons' Convention. For this reason, revolutions are not unilateral, it is necessary to promote the creation of the World Commonwealth from the beginning.

4.5. Economic transition plan

The transition from a capitalist economy or other market economy system to a communist planned economy is the most important and most difficult event in the transition period, and must itself be guided by careful "planning." Regarding this matter, as announced at the beginning, I will discuss later.

4.6. Transitional administration

Although the state is abolished in a communist society, the old governmental structures still exist in both the central and local areas during the transition period.

During this time, the Revolutionary Transition Commission will be in charge of each administrative field at the central government, while the main ministries will continue their administrative duties for the time being and begin preparations for organizational change toward becoming a policy think tank.

Regarding local administration, in accordance with a special ordinance issued by the Transition Commission, the remaining heads and councilors of all local governments will first be dismissed all at once. In addition, former local governments of wide-area such as prefectures  are transferred to the control of the Provisional prefectural Commons' Convention, and the Commons' Convention will work toward integration into provincial area by dispatching "temporary administrative commissioners" (equivalent to governors) and "deputy temporary administrative commissioners" (equivalent to vice governors). 

On the other hand, in the case of municipalities, the Provisional Municipal Commons' Convention will immediately take control of municipal administration, and for the time being, the chairman of the Commons' Convention will inherit the position of mayor of the municipality, and will carry out reorganization work into communist communes and regional areas.

4.7. Promotion of military abolition plan

What requires attention in the transitional administration is the handling of the military (including armed organizations equivalent to the military). In a communist society, the standing army will eventually be abolished, but this can only be done based on world law (treaties), so until then it is necessary to maintain the military while integrating it into the revolutionary system. However, during the transition period, it is necessary to move forward with plans for total disarmament, not just arms reduction, with an eye toward the future abolition of standing armies.

The manner and scale of the process will be determined strategically, taking into account the domestic and international situation of armed interference from counter-revolutionary countries and counter-revolutionary coups from within the military. To this end, it is extremely important that the Transition Commissioner in charge of peace issues, who is in charge of military abolition, takes the lead.

By the way, many of the military skills that the military has accumulated can be applied to advanced rescue operations in large-scale disasters, etc., so it is beneficial to partially reorganize into advanced rescue teams that cover the entire territory or wide area. 

4.8. Transitional justice

During the transition period, the creation of a new judicial system that is not based on the police and court systems, as discussed in Chapter 4, will also begin.

However, since the judiciary is involved in maintaining order and is also a key area for the defense of the revolution, we must proceed while taking careful transitional and emergency measures to avoid confusion. Therefore, the new judicial system should be implemented with plenty of time to coincide with the implementation of the initial Charter.

4.9. Implementation of delegate license examination

The Commons' Conventions in each level during the transition period are still provisional, and formal Commons' Conventions consisting of delegates with delegate licenses will be convened promptly after the promulgation and enforcement of the initial Charter. To this end, it is necessary to establish a delegate license examination early in the transition period, and to conduct the first license examination before the initial Charter draft is completed.

4.10. Convening of the Constituent Commons' Convention

Once the initial draft Charter is completed, the Constituent Commons' Convention will be established and convened. Delegates to the Constituent Commons' Convention are drawn from among license holders who have passed the unified representative licensing examination, just as in the official Commons' Convention. With the convening of the Constituent Commons' Convention, the previous General Assembly of the Commons' Convention shall be dissolved.

4.11. Passing and enforcement of the initial Charter

Once the above transition phase process is nearing completion, we will begin the final process of establishing an initial Charter. Although various methods can be envisaged, the following method is considered to be the most thorough and efficient.

After the Charter draft by the aforementioned Charter Drafting Committee was submitted to the Constituent Commons' Convention and passed by a majority vote, it is further passed by a majority vote at two-thirds or more of the provisional Commons' Conventions at each level of local areas. 

As the name suggests, the initial Charter is preliminary and has a strong provisional nature, so direct voting by the people may not be necessary at this stage. Thus, the transition period will be completed with the promulgation and enforcement of the initial Charter.

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Chapter 9: THE PROCESS OF THE UNARMED REVOLUTION

3. Establish a revolutionary system.

3.1. Lift of the counter-power situation

After establishing the counter-power situation between the revolutionary Commons' Convention and the existing government, the period until that situation is lifted and a full-fledged revolutionary system is established is the climax of the revolutionary process.

Since a revolution based on collective non-voting is essentially an unarmed revolution, we should first achieve a peaceful transfer of power through negotiations with the remaining old regime. It would be effective to organize street demonstrations to put pressure on the old regime; in fact, without such an expression of the will of the people, the old regime might not accept the Commons' Convention as a negotiating partner.

At this point, the old regime may try to mobilize the police and military to crush the revolutionary process. If that happens, a situation similar to a popular uprising-type revolution will arise. I don't want that to happen, but if such a situation were to arise, it would not be a good idea to antagonize the police or military. This is because, as long as it is an unarmed revolution, there is no power to directly oppose the overwhelming physical power of the police and military.

Therefore, even if the old regime refuses to hand over power at all, the method of seizing power through direct use of force should not be adopted. Rather, in order to prevent the old regime from effectively mobilizing the police and military, it is desirable to infiltrate the middle ranks of the police and military during the revolutionary movement, and to work together to establish a revolutionary system in the final stage of the revolution.

By the way, in the case of a revolution due to the voluntary dissolution of the Communist Party, it should be possible to skip all of the troublesome processes described above, but if the Communist Party strongly resists voluntary dissolution, it would be necessary to go through the above process.  

3.2. Transitional concentration system

When the revolutionary system is successfully established, the structure of the Commons' Convention will also emerge from its chrysalis state. First, the General Assembly of the Commons' Convention (hereinafter simply referred to as the "General Assembly") will be convened as a temporary representative body. This is also a temporary administrative body until the establishment of zonal Commons' Convention in the near future. 

In order to ensure the ability to make quick decisions, the General Assembly will start with a relatively small structure, consisting of a maximum of 200 delegates. Delegates to the General Assembly shall be elected by lottery from pre-revolutionary members of the Commons' Convention, lawyers, and other persons with prescribed professional qualifications, and their term of office shall be one year (re-election is possible).

After the General Assembly adopts the "Revolutionary Declaration" and abolishes the existing constitution, it will elect the "Revolutionary Transition Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Transition Commission)". Although the Transition Commission is truly a temporary revolutionary central organ, its character is similar to that of the current Cabinet. However, in order to avoid "boss politics," the Transition Commission will not have a top position such as a chairperson, and will be run entirely through a collegial system.

The members constituting the Transition Commission (hereinafter referred to as Transition Commissioners) are appointed from among the delegates of the General Assembly by itself for each field of jurisdiction, but their areas of responsibility do not need to correspond to the ministries and agencies of the former government; They are not permanently stationed in ministries and agencies. At this stage, each of the remaining ministries and agencies will have multiple "Transition Commissioner's Deputies" who will be in charge of practical matters under the Transition Commissioners.

The Transition Commission will once assume full power based on the General Assembly's "Revolutionary Declaration" and will govern by special ordinances that have the same effect as laws. This system can be called a "transitional concentration system."

To put it simply, this is a temporary suspension of democracy. But there's no need to fear. In most revolutions, it is inevitable that there will be a period like this during the initial transition period.

By the way, temporary Commons' Convention with similar characteristics will be established in each local area, and a transitional concentration system will be formed in coordination with the General Assembly of the Commons' Convention. The chairperson of the local temporary Commons' Convention will lead the transition process as the de facto local head.

3.3. Difference from "dictatorship of the proletariat"

In Marxist revolutionary theory, the term "dictatorship of the proletariat" has traditionally been defined as a concept that refers to the political system during the transition period after the proletarian revolution until the transition to a communist society, but its contents have been ambiguous. In the end, it was replaced by a "communist dictatorship."

Our transitional cencentation system may be suspected of being a rehash of such a concept, but that is by no means the case. Rather, it is a short-term admistration system that is strictly limited to the transition period. Therefore, there cannot be, and should not be, the arbitrary exercise of power that the word "dictatorship" implies.

However, with the abolition of the existing constitution, constitutional government will be temporarily suspended, and the national representative body still exists only in the form of a provisional General Assembly of the Commons' Convention, so administration based on the law will also be suspended. However, the Transition Commission's special ordinances should be approved by the General Assembly, except for urgent orders (emergency ordinances), to prevent their tyranny.

In any case, such a transitional concentration system can only be a short-term, limited-time system, and needless to say, it is necessary to promote the transition to a constitutional system as soon as possible to prevent it from being unnecessarily prolonged. 

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Chapter 9: THE PROCESS OF THE UNARMED REVOLUTION

2. Set up counterpowers.

2.5. Communist revolution against the Communist Party

In this series, we advocate a direct communist revolution by the people without relying on the Communist Party, but this argument is based primarily on countries where the Communist Party is not the ruling party. And in the post-Soviet world, most countries do not have communist parties as the ruling party, so this argument is valid for most countries. 　

However, at the time of writing this article, there are still some countries ruled by a single Communist Party. However, assuming that the Communist Party-controlled system continues for the time being, what kind of "direct communist revolution by the people, not by the Communist Party," could be in these Communist Party-controlled countries? 　

To summarize this simply, it is a "communist revolution against the Communist Party." This provision sounds paradoxical, but in reality, despite the party name, the Communist Party of the current Communist Party-controlled countries, including China, has shelved communism and largely incorporated market economic principles, and effect, is switching to a capitalist path.

In other words, it is "capitalism led by the Communist Party." As long as it continues on this twisted path, it can be said that the established Communist Party has distanced itself from communism, and to that extent, the "communist revolution against the Communist Party" is no longer a paradox.

2.6. Voluntary dissolution of the Communist Party? 　

However, as long as the Communist Party remains a Communist Party, the possibility of returning to the original communist path and building a communist society led by the Communist Party has not disappeared. What we are recalling here is the process of communist revolution that Marx (and Engels) laid out in the Communist Manifesto. I will quote it below.

...If the proletariat inevitably coalesces into a class in its struggle with the bourgeoisie, becomes the ruling class through revolution, and as the ruling class powerfully abolishes the old relations of production, then these relations of production will be abolished. With abolition, the proletariat abolishes the condition of class antagonism, of the existence of classes in general, and thus of its own domination as a class.

The "own domination as a class" here is not the same as the "domination of the Communist Party," but even if we understand it in the latter way, according to Marx, the Communist Party is scheduled to be voluntarily dissolved once it succeeds in abolishing the old production relations = capitalist production relations. 

However, the established Communist Party has not followed this path; instead, the Communist Party itself has adapted to the old production relations (capitalist production relations) and is now at the forefront of capitalistization. Therefore, there is no hope of voluntary dissolution of the Communist Party.

2.7. Not an anti-communist revolution

What must be noted here is that a "communist revolution against the Communist Party" is not a "revolution against the Communist Party." In the process from the so-called Eastern European revolutions to the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of the 20th century, popular uprisings against the Communist Party-controlled system represented by the Soviet Union occurred successively in Eastern European and Soviet countries, albeit in varying degrees and forms, leading to the collapse of the system. 　

Because this revolution was based on the political repression of the Communist Party of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the failure of the collectivist system, it took on the characteristics of a "revolution against the Communist Party" and the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union all followed the path of market economy and capitalism, which continues to this day. In the end, the Eastern European revolutions converged into reactionary revolutions that turned the wheels of history back on track, and did not become progressive revolutions aimed at creating a truly communist society. 　

The "communist revolution against the Communist Party" is not such a reactionary revolution, but a progressive revolution, so it does not simply attack and dismantle the established Communist Party system.

2.8. Commons' Convention as a true Soviet 

The "communist revolution against the Communist Party" also uses a Commons' Convention as a base to create a counter-power situation. However, the relationship with the ruling Communist Party is not one of simple hostility, but one of coexistence or immanence. In other words, it develops in a way that is parasitic within the Communist Party. In other words, it develops in a way that is parasitic within the Communist Party. 　

In fact, even at the time of the Russian Revolution, the people formed soviets (councils) to oppose the established parliament of imperial Russia, but as the revolution progressed, these people's soviets were taken over by the Bolsheviks and then the Communist Party, and were replaced as the party's ratifying body. The "Soviet" in the country's name, the Soviet Union, ended up being just a facade. 

In order to prevent a repeat of this bitter history, the Commons' Conventions must grow as a parasitic force without being taken over by the Communist Party. In other words, the Commons' Convention is the true Soviet. 　

It is not a good analogy, but the Commons' Conventions feed on the Communist Party from within, just as a real parasite sucks nutrients from its host. The ideal revolutionary process would be the complete opposite of the Russian Revolution, in which the Commons' Convention would take over the Communist Party and lead it to dissolution. 　

However, the Communist Party authorities, who are wary of this, may try to eliminate the Commons' Convention as if to exterminate parasites, and in that case, they will have no choice but to externalize it by forming a Commons' Convention in exile overseas. 

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Chapter 9: THE PROCESS OF THE UNARMED REVOLUTION

2. Set up counterpowers.

2.1. Pre-revolution

In the revolutionary process, the climax of the collapse of the old regime and the establishment of a revolutionary regime does not suddenly appear, but rather there are stages like a preliminary revolution (pre-revolution) leading up to that point. In other words, it is a situation where the ruling system that still exists and an unfinished system that serves as the framework of the revolutionary system coexist and compete with each other. This is called a "counter-power situation."

This situation will officially begin when the World Commons' Convention enacts the draft Charter of the World Commonwealth and declares the provisional establishment of the World Commonwealth. In response to this, once the formation and development of the Commons' Conventions in each region of each country is completed, some kind of primordial counterpower will be created at that stage. This is because each Commons'Convention itself is scheduled to become official governing body after the revolution.

However, in order to create such a situation of counter-power, it is necessary to have a wide range of people recognize the democratic legitimacy of the Commons' Conventions, and to create a groundswell that calls for the significance of the revolution and for participation in collective non-voting. I have to frankly admit that it is truly difficult.

First, in order to make people recognize that the Commons' Convention is the political institution that truly represents the majority, the key is whether the Commons' Convention can build up the numerical superiority to claim that it represents the majority including potential sympathizers.

Furthermore, an important accomplishment of the Commons' Conventions during the stage of the preliminary revolution is their counter-legislative activities. In particular, it is the establishment of a charter that would serve as the highest standard after the revolution. In addition, it is necessary to prepare a system design for an environmentally sustainable planned economy that does not rely on a monetary economy and other major basic laws at the stage of the revolution.

2.2. Implementing collective non-voting

After all, the most technically difficult task is organizing the collective non-voting that forms the core of a non-armed revolution. As mentioned above, the minimum number of votes required to win a public office election is intentionally set extremely low by law, so even a slight decrease in the abstention rate will have no effect on the legal validity of the election. 

Therefore, it is necessary to organize abstentions to the point where the election is legally invalidated, but is this really possible? This is an unprecedented challenge in world history.

Although it is certainly possible in theory to carry out a collective non-vote that would completely invalidate all public office elections, it may not be possible in practice. However, even if public elections with extremely low voter turnout are legally valid, they lose political legitimacy. 　

In such a situation, there will be the possibility that the Commons' Conventions will lead the revolution to success with the support of popular actions such as street demonstrations. Therefore, as discussed in the previous chapter, the revolutionary method of collective non-voting does not have the property of being successful purely on its own, but depending on the time and situation of each country, it may be combined with methods such as popular uprisings.

In order to avoid such a revolutionary situation, established countries may introduce compulsory voting systems or strengthen the penalties for compulsory voting systems that have already been introduced. In this case, a movement of disobedience must be organized to abstain according to conscience and without fear of punishment.

The more abstainers there are, the more effectively it becomes impossible for the police and others to control abstentions, so it is essential to carry out public awareness campaigns to increase the number of abstainers.

2.3. Abstention as a political right

The barrier to implementing collective non-voting is the idea that abstaining is considered an abandonment of voters' duties. Indeed, according to the conventional wisdom of Western bourgeois political science, which has become popular throughout the world, voting is the sacred right of voters, and it is through our pure vote that we can carve out a future of hope. To abstain would be considered foolish and an abandonment of one's duty as a voter.

However, it is possible to distinguish between "lazy non-voting", which is simply due to political apathy, and "revolutionary abstention," which is a more active expression of intent toward revolution. It goes without saying that abstention as a new method of unarmed revolution is not  "lazy non-voting,'' but "revolutionary abstention."

The pre-revolutionary popular assembly needs to effectively spread this new idea of abstention as a political right = revolutionary abstention throughout the world, and unless it succeeds in this, there will be no unarmed revolution. 

2.4. Establishing the counter-power situation

In any case, as the abstention rate will increase in every public office election and the legitimacy of the established parliament and government is shaken, people will give up on the established parliament and government, which had lost the ability to deal with the increasingly exposed limitations of capitalism, and will begin to realize that the Commons' Conventions are our true political representative bodies. As a result, there will be a final collective non-voting, as an act of all-out no-confidence in the established parliament and government, that will result in the failure of the parliament and government.

This does not mean that the revolution is complete, but that the counter-power situation as a pre-revolution has been established, and we can finally stand at the starting point of the revolution. 　

In many countries, constitutional provisions have been made in advance to ensure that a power vacuum is not created by allowing the previous government to continue or appointing a substitute government unless a new government is formed for some reason after an election. Even if a new government is not formed due to collective non-voting, there is a system in place that allows the old regime to legally remain in place. 

It can be predicted that in most cases, the remaining old regime will refuse to transfer power to the Commons' Convention and will do everything in its power to prevent the establishment of a revolutionary admistration. Therefore, we must consider the process that goes beyond that.

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Chapter 9: THE PROCESS OF THE UNARMED REVOLUTION

A communist society can be realized through the unarmed revolution by plebs. A powerful means of achieving this is collective non-voting as mentioned earlier. So what is the specific process?

1. Figure out the timing of the revolution.

1.1. Continuation of social pain

In this chapter, I would like to consider a process that could serve as a model for a possible revolution, focusing on the other method of revolution discussed in the previous chapter, namely, a revolution based on collective non-voting. The first hurdle in doing so is determining the timing of the revolution.

While a revolution does not take place on a set date like a coup d'état, it also does not suddenly erupt one day like a major earthquake. There is a time when a revolution is ripe. In particular, revolutions based on collective non-voting are different from popular uprising revolutions, which are often sparked by spontaneous demonstrations, and the timing is delicate. So, what is the timing?

First of all, it is necessary for many people to clearly recognize the limitations of capitalism. It means that the fear that we will no longer be able to live under capitalism takes on a realistic sense of urgency.

However, a sudden Great Depression situation will not immediately lead to a revolution. Historically, the Great Depression that began in 1929 did not lead to revolutions, not only in its epicenter, the United States, but also in Europe, Asia, and other countries.

In the midst of a sudden economic crisis, the masses can endure temporary poverty and feel that the sun will rise again once the storm passes, so the will to end capitalism through revolution does not emerge. As stated in the United States Declaration of Independence, "mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." 

Therefore, the timing of a revolution would be when a situation of continued insufferable pain becomes established. Specifically speaking, this social pain, which should also be called capitalist pain, is not only general anxiety about food and shelter due to the worsening environmental crisis, but also chronic conditions such as constant life insecurity due to job insecurity and pension insecurity, the disintegration of local communities and family breakdown due to the progressing loss of human sociability, and an increase in crime due to these factors.

On the other hand, if established parliamentary politics (or electoral politics in general) is unable to take any effective and appropriate measures to deal with such chronic crises, and if the situation continues without any measures, people's patience will reach its limit. When these conditions is almost certain, it can be said to signal the beginning of a revolution.

1.2. The era of late capitalism

So, when exactly will the revolution begin? In this regard, the currently progressing and expanding "global capitalism" is taking on the aspect of a "tsunami economy" in which an economic and financial crisis in one country spreads throughout the world. It is also necessary to take into account the stagnation of economic activity caused by natural phenomena such as abnormal weather, major disasters, and infectious diseases, which can trigger a global economic recession.

In addition, even if the economy turns into a boom/growth phase for a while, capital companies will prepare for unforeseen circumstances and strive to save on personnel costs more than ever (preventive exploitation), resulting in a "(stable) economic recovery/economic growth without employment." There is a high possibility that this will happen. In that case, the paradoxical phenomenon of "hard life in a booming economy'' becomes quite normal.

"Global capitalism" will destabilize the world economic system, and the limits of capitalism will be strongly exposed in each country of the world in its own way. If we look at it this way, we can be allowed for diagnosing that capitalism has already entered a late period of sustained suffering as described earlier - if not the apocalyptic stage.

1.3. The time to form the Commons' Convention

If this is the case, it can be said that the momentum for the establishment of the Commons' Convention as a revolutionary movement organization, as proposed in the previous chapter, is arriving. The basic structure of this organization was described in the previous chapter, so I will not repeat it.

What I would like to summarize here is that the new communist revolution of the 21st century (and beyond) will be a global series of revolutions that begins with the formation of the World Commons' Convention, completes revolutions by the Commons' Conventions at the national level, and ends with the creation of the World Commonwealth. The subject of this chapter is to further refine the details of that process.

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Chapter 8: NEW REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT

4. Let's start with the revolution in consciousness.

4.1. Illusion of "happiness"

If there is anything that stands in the way of revolution today, it is not the police or the military, but the masses, our own consciousness. In other words, as Marx said earlier, with the development of capitalism, the masses in capitalist countries, including the working class, have come to accept capitalism as a "self-evident law of nature." 

Marx looked for the cause of this in the effects of "education, tradition, and custom," but in modern times, it is thought that not only that, but also the more aggressive cultural strategy of capitalism is exerting a powerful effect.

In this respect as well, the role of the cultural empire of the mass media is significant. The mass media in capitalist countries every day indoctrinate people with capitalism as a self-evident system and spread the doctrine that "there is no other way but capitalism" (so-called "the end of ideology").

But even more powerful is the culture of consumption. As pointed out in Chapter 1, this is also the field where capitalism won against collectivism represented by the former Soviet Union, and is the specialty of capitalism. A rich consumer culture invites the masses to shop rather than revolution. We feel happy to be surrounded by a variety of commodities, believing that we are no longer alienated. As a result, class consciousness is erased from the working class.

This social-psychological illusion of "happiness" created by capitalist cultural strategies - what French Marxist sociologist Henri Lefebvre called "generalized alienation" - is also a subjective factor that effectively invalidates the term "working class.''

In order to bring the revolution to fruition, it is necessary to start with a consciousness revolution to escape from this illusion (revolution over shopping!). Here, we recall the proposition we saw in Chapter 3 that “consumption is also an exploitation by capital on a par with labor.” In other words, consumption is expenditure. This means that the contents of our wallets are being sucked like fresh blood every day by capital.

4.2. Possibility of revolution of the elederly

In relation to the consciousness revolution, there is the question of whether the ongoing aging of the developed capitalist countries will be a negative factor for the revolution.

It is true that revolutions are generally political actions of young people in their prime, and all historical revolutionaries were young - at least at the time of the revolution. The mental rigidification that accompanies aging tends to be politically linked to conservatism. This is thought to be one of the reasons why revolutionary movements are in decline and conservative forces are growing in advanced capitalist countries where the population is aging.

However, the conservatism of consciousness is by no means a phenomenon limited to the elderly these days. No, in fact, it can even be said that the young people who have been completely isolated from such movements and have been politically bleached are more conformist than the older people who have lived through radical labor movements and revolutionary movements in the past. 

Nonetheless, the growing anxiety about employment and pensions will make the old age of the current young and middle-aged generation harsh. While rebuilding one's life is difficult, welfare financial resources will be depleted, and life anxiety will reach a peak. There is good reason to predict that by the time the current generation of young adults reaches the age of old, their consciousness will probably become more awakened amidst the hardships of life. What is faintly visible beyond that is the possibility of an unprecedented "revolution of the elederly."

Traditionally, the conservative aging pattern has been that the revolutionary consciousness of youth loosens as one gets older and adapts and integrates into the existing society, and eventually recedes to the point where one completely negates the revolutionary consciousness of the past. However, from now on, a pattern of radical aging may become common, where the relaxed and conformist consciousness of youth becomes more radical as one ages and falls out of the existing society, and finally reaches a revolutionary consciousness.

In this sense, it cannot be concluded that the aging of the population is a negative factor for the revolution; in fact, it may even be a positive factor in a situation where the limitations of capitalism will directly impact the highly aged society of the future. Moreover, the method of “stay-at-home revolution” through collective non-voting can be easily practiced by elderly people with weak legs.

4.3. Cultural transformation strategy

Even so, where and how should we start this revolution in consciousness? The first step towards a revolution in consciousness depends on how deeply we become aware of the limitations of capitalism.

As discussed in Chapter 1, the limitations of capitalism are defined as crises in the four areas of environmental sustainability, total technological innovation, stability of life, and human sociability. The problem was that it was essentially impossible to solve the following problems: "the global environment is not sustainable, "technological innovation is stagnant," "lifestyle anxiety is increasing," and "humanity is deteriorating."

However, we are not easily persuaded by just being lectured about such things in an abstract manner. Therefore, it is precisely in cases like this that the creative powers of literature, theater, film, etc. must be brought together. This is because creative works that delve deeply into the problem of the limitations of capitalism are bound to be more effective than just a thousand sermons.

In fact, it seems that proletarian literature, Brecht's epic plays, and Chaplin's comedic films of the past had such power, but their successors seem to have disappeared at some point. Once again, the problem of the law of commercial value and market censorship based on it stands in the way. Today, literature, theater, and movies are also tied up in the law of commercial value, and the reality is that there is a remarkable tendency for creators to become manufacturers of products called novels, dramas, and movies.

Once again, the use of Internet commons may come to the rescue. The Common's Convention Movement should also support various anti-capitalist creative activities. Specifically, it is possible to provide an opportunity to introduce works on the official website of the Common's Convention, and if possible, the Common's Convention itself may own an Internet TV/radio station and provide a place to present works. 

In addition to the traditional means of creative expression described above, modern means of expression such as manga and animation also have the advantage of being accessible and are being considered for use. Such a strategy that causes change in the cultural realm and promotes a revolution in consciousness can be called an "cultural transformation strategy."

4.4. Organic cultural persons

The cultural persons who are at the forefront of such cultural transformation strategies can be defined as "organic cultural persons" by expanding the term "organic intellectuals" of the Italian Marxist thinker Antonio Gramsci.

As Gramsci's "organic intellectual" was often misunderstood, this "organic cultural persons" is not a "party (communist party) purveyor of culture," but refer to those who step out from among the people and play the role of promoting a revolution in consciousness through free creative activities while maintaining an organic connection with the people.

By the way, even if Chaplin did not directly fit into the category of "organic cultured person" in this sense, his knack for satirical comedy accompanied by sharp criticism was completely different from commercial comedy. His talent for satirical comedy coupled with his sharp critical power seems to have had the potential to have a revolutionary effect that was completely different from commercial comedy. Also in an cultural transformation strategy, the power of high-quality critical laughter combined with Chaplin-style entertainment would be very effective.

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in Esperanto

Chapter 8: NEW REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT

3. Do it differently from the Communist Party.

3.4. Flexible alliance

I have stated that the pre-revolutionary Commons' Convention is a decentralized network-type organization without a central leadership, but such network-type organizations tend to have too loose membership and easily become group-based organizations.

Therefore, the membership of the pre-revolutionary Commons' Convention is organized somewhat strictly, and only those who have agreed to all the articles of the Commons' Convention Covenant, which is the constitution of the pre-revolutionary Commons' Convention can become members. 

Those covenant members  are obligated to pay operating expenses equal to or higher than the minimum amount specified in the agreement once a year. 

In addition to the Central (or Federal) Liaison Committee members, the members of local Commons' Convention Liaison Committees are chosen by lottery from among the members of the alliance - in the case of local level Commons' Conventions, they must be residents of the jurisdiction - for a term of approximately two years.

In this way, by implementing a rotation system for positions within the organization through a lottery system, it is possible to prevent leadership members from becoming fixed and creating an authoritarian internal party bureaucracy, as is the case with Communist Party organizations. 　

In addition, the general meeting delegates who have the right to attend the general meeting of the Commons' Convention are elected from among the Liaison Committee members of the provincial (or quasi-zonal) and regional Commons' Convention, but in addition to these, a prescribed number of general members can become a general meeting participant on a first-come, first-served basis. 　

Although the number of these core alliance members will be limited to some extent, so-called organizing activities such as acquiring party members will not be carried out. Instead, full-time employees will carry out inspirational activities using the Internet, and focus on spreading voluntary external sympathizers. 　

The membership and organization of the Commons' Convention is by no means circle-like, but it is also not a Communist Party-style "iron unity"; with a limited number of covenant members as the core, it will be composed of a large number of voluntary sympathizers forming an extension, and will be an amoeba-like organization that can be described as a "flexible alliance."

3.5. Fusion of red and green

The pre-revolutionary Commons' Convention differs ideologically from the Communist Party in that it internalizes ecology. This was also reflected in the new planned economy method implemented after the revolution called sustainable planned economy, which we saw in Chapter 2. 　

In this regard, it is worth recalling that since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ecological parties such as the Green Party have emerged mainly in Europe in response to the unprecedented rise in interest in global environmental issues. 　

However, the Green Party is generally negative about communism, and only advocates tightening environmental regulations within the framework of capitalism, without attempting to fundamentally change the mode of production. In this sense, their position ends up being "green capitalism," which simply dyes capitalism green. 

This will only result in capital being used to pursue opportunistic profit-seeking strategies such as eco-business. A symbolic example of this is the nuclear power export policy, which promotes global warming countermeasures as its rationale, but "green capitalism" cannot essentially criticize the eco-opportunistic business practices of capital. 　

On the other hand, labor unions tend to join forces with management in opposing environmental regulations, fearing that a decline in production or an increase in production costs due to stricter environmental regulations will result in layoffs. The Communist Party, which shows its understanding of the union's position, is also likely to take an anti-ecology position, partly due to its wariness of the Green Party's rise.

The pre-revolutionary Commons' Convention aims to redefine a new communism that internalizes ecology, existing between anti-communist "green capitalism" and communist "anti-ecology." 　

The traditional symbol color of communism has been red. Since the pre-revolutionary Commons' Convention also aims for communism, it is fine to use red as its base color, but add green to it. However, it should not be just a two-tone color of red and green, but something like an arabesque, a fusion of red and green in a deep dimension.

3.6. Collective non-voting movement

The main activity of the pre-revolutionary Commons' Convention is, first of all, the development of a collective non-voting movement, which will become a new method of revolutionary movement. In other words, with the World Commons' Conventionas the base, through the collaborating Commons' Conventions of each country, you will gradually increase the number of abstainers in various public office elections, undermine the legitimacy of existing parliaments and governments, and lead to an eventual revolution. 　

What should be noted here are movements in countries where voting is mandatory with penalties. In this case, abstaining will be considered a criminal act. However, in most cases it is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine and not strictly enforced, but if abstention is severely punished, it becomes a form of conscientious disobedience.

On the other hand, in countries where public office election systems do not yet exist, or even if they do exist, where elections have become a mere formality due to one-party rule, collective non-voting campaigns cannot be effectively developed in the first place. In such a case, the Commons' Convention should focus on the counter-legislative activities mentioned in the next paragraph rather than the abstaining movement, or, if that is difficult, the Commons' Convention in exile should be formed abroad. 　

Incidentally, the Commons' Convention movements in countries where communist parties have established one-party rule systems seem at first glance to be a contradictory act of "communism confronting communism", but there are discrepancies between the partisan communism of the established communist parties and the communism of the Commons' Conventions, so "communism confronting communism" is not a contradiction. 　

In this case, rather than attacking the dictatorial Communist Party externally from an anti-communist standpoint, a movement is developed to internally counter it with a new, redefined form of communism.

3.7. Counter-legislative activities

The second mainstay of the pre-revolutionary Commons' Convention activities is counter-legislative activities. That is, counter-legislative activities are legislative activities carried out by the Commons' Convention in opposition an existing legislative body. Of course, when "legislation"  mentioned here, in the pre-revolutionary stage, it remains a private program that has no effect as a regular law, but when the revolution is completed, it becomes an official law, so to speak, it is a chrysalis of law .　

At the center of this is the Charter. A charter is the highest standard equivalent to a constitution in terms of the existing national legal system, and can practically be called a constitution. As already mentioned, communism does not assume a sovereign state, so the constitution, which is the highest standard of society, comes in the form of a charter (the Charter of the Commons' Convention).

These Charters use the Charter of the World Commons' Convention which also serves as the Charter of the World Commonwealth, as a unified source of law, and each Charter of the Commons' Convention is enacted. In this way, Charters are enacted in multiple layers for each sphere, forming a web of Charters. 　

In addition to the enactment of the Charter, the enactment of economic legislation related to the mechanism of a sustainable planned economy also constitutes an important counter-legislative activity of the pre-evolutionary Commons' Convention. In order to avoid the post-revolution economic and social turmoil, careful pre-revolutionary preparations are indispensable, since the abolition of the monetary economy is a major undertaking in human history.

3.8. Abstinence from becoming a political party

Beyond the two pillars of activity mentioned above, one question may be whether the pre-revolutionary Commons' Convention should also engage in political party-like activities such as participation in elections. 　

While basically agreeing with the direction of the Commons' Convention, which aims for a new communism, if capitalism has a strong vitality and will not easily collapse on its own, It may be possible to make a cautious recommendation that we should aim for possible reforms through elections within the framework of capitalism. 　

However, the pre-revolutionary Commons' Convention should not turn into a political party or similar political organization. This is a major turning point from the established Communist Party. 

As mentioned earlier, in the post-Soviet world, many remaining communist parties participate in parliamentary elections and hold a certain number of seats. At the same time, most of them have effectively abandoned the communist revolution and adapted to capitalism because it would be difficult to win and retain seats if they did not do so.　

It is also because the bourgeois parliamentary system forces all parliamentary parties, including the Communist Party, to assimilate to capitalism as an implicit condition for retaining seats. As a result, the meaning of the term "communism" evaporates and becomes a nominal name. It would be meaningless for the pre-revolutionary Commons' Convention to follow the same path as the remaining Communist Parties. Therefore, the pre-revolutionary Commons' Convention should be strictly prohibited from turning into a political party and participating in elections.　

In the end, the pre-revolutionary Commons' Convention is not a political party, nor is it an underground organization, but it must maintain its character as an open movement organization that is scheduled to become an official governing organization after the revolution.