An ongoing argument that I have frequently found myself entrenched in is an internal and external debate between careerism and revolutionary commitments. My careers in academia and in organizing began at almost exactly the same time and since then there has been pressure from all sides of my social environment;— this pressure has largely been dedicated to encouraging my towards the path of careerism and building up myself such that I may find a strong working life and take my place alongside my immediate family in the petty bourgeois class. Encouragement towards liberalism and capitulation towards authority has been uttered to me with approaching the frequency of my own name.
I must admit that the path given is appealing. Given the increasing struggle of revolutionism and the tone of my own skin, it is quite understandable that those close to me would prefer that I orient myself towards focusing on my studies and put my political work— that is admittedly dangerous and carries several material risks— to the side. I understand, and at times even consider, that in my political pursuits I am, in effect, choosing to forgo much the financial success that I have be privileged to have access to throughout my life; however, I am more than willing to make that sacrifice in the pursuit of liberation for the broad masses of the people.
It is more than possible— perhaps even preferable or personally advantageous— for me to turn away from revolutionary pursuits and act within the system that I observe to be decaying around me. There was a point where I fantasized of being a professor of mathematics, but conditions— or perhaps only my knowledge of them— have shifted. My fulfillment no longer lies in academic achievement, nor is it present in the idea of living a life shielded from the struggles of liberation in which I embed myself. The theory of Marxism-Leninism teaches us that the great power of the people is vested in the working class and that liberation for all marginalized people is working class liberation and that that will foremost be lead my the working class itself. Furthermore, the great and immortal Juche Idea teaches us that the primary purpose of man is to positively shape his destiny, and that to do so is to shape the social status and standing of not just himself but his entire community and his entire class. It is with that in mind that I must articulate that my goals no longer rest in the accumulation of personal wealth or status but in the elevation of the social standing of my entire community, class, and nation.
While it is true broadly that academic failure is contrary to these goals, and it is of great importance that I maintain my standing as a student for the time being, it is equally true that careerism— the liberal position that leads one to focus exclusively on themselves and growing their personal relations to power— is neither a path to personal fulfillment, nor is it a path that leads the masses towards shaping their destiny. A balance must be struck between my personal pursuits and survival under the current system, and the revolutionary abolition of said system. In that balance, however, my personal pursuits, and certainly my personal relations to the extant institutions of power must be fundamentally subordinate to continuous fight for revolution, liberation, and justice at large. I will not make efforts towards adventurism; however, I will also stand firmly against any capitulation to existing structures in attempt to win their favor for success in system which I am actively resisting at all moments. My first and foremost commitment is to the cause of a liberatory revolution, and the dissolution of the chains of liberalism, fascism, and capital that bind the people to whom I owe my life. As the respected comrade Fred Hampton so clearly put, “if you dare to struggle, you dare to win. If you dare not struggle, then damn it, you don't deserve to win.”
