37)Preparing For the Socialist Revolution

Turmoil, turnover and trouble. These are the terms the press is using to describe the Trump administration, after the latest firing, that of the communications director. She was widely considered to be the most powerful person in the administration, one who controlled access to the president. Apparently she was one of the few people whom Trump truly trusted, but that was before she committed the unpardonable sin of admitting that she lied.
As a member of the Trump team she was expected to lie, and in fact it is a requirement of the job, especially as the director of communications. She was absolutely forbidden to admit to telling these lies, even ”little white lies”, as she phrased it, which is nothing more than another version of ”alternative facts”.
The official version is that she is ”resigning within the next few weeks”, but in fact she is being fired. Trump in not about to tolerate anyone within his inner circle who has any trace of honesty. He expects them to lie, even under oath, and if this results in a prison term as a result of a conviction of perjury, then so be it. This is Trumps idea of loyalty, and loyalty he values above and beyond all else. His idea of loyalty is loyalty to him, not to the constitution he has sworn to ”preserve, protect and defend”, and he of course has no loyalty to the people who work for him.
There are several former members of the administration who have cooperated with the special prosecutor who is investigating possible ”wrongdoing” on the part of the Trump team in connection with alleged collusion with the Russians in the recent federal election. At least one of these people ”wore a wire”, which is to say a listening device, while still working for the administration. There are numerous people in Washington who shudder to think of that which was recorded on that wire.
The special prosecutor, as well as several other congressional investigation committees, are ”working their way up the totem pole”, as is the popular way of phrasing this, and Trump is sitting at the top of the totem pole. His former campaign manager is currently facing a great many serious charges, including money laundering and fraud, and if convicted could be sentenced to thirty years in jail. That is in addition to other serious charges he is facing in a different state, even though those charges too are federal in nature, not state. This is just one more example of the inefficiency of bureaucracy. Think of it as tax payer money being put to good waste.
The business partner of this former campaign manager was also faced with similar charges and was also facing thirty years in jail. He, rather wisely, agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges and is now facing a mere four to six years in prison, in return for his ”cooperation” with the prosecutor, which is to say that he has agreed to testify against his old partner, as well as anyone else the prosecutor chooses to charge.
President Trump would be well advised to take note of this. As the current head of state, he very  likely cannot face criminal charges, at least not while he holds the office. On the other hand, after he leaves office, he becomes a private citizen and is then liable to criminal charges.
As for those who object that people who have money are able to hire lawyers and avoid jail time, I can only respond that this is true, but only up to a point. The people whom the special prosecutor has ”flipped”, to use the popular term, are mere millionaires, not billionaires. They are well aware that there are ”good” lawyers and there are ”cheap” lawyers, but there are no good, cheap lawyers. They have no doubt done the math, as they are not entirely stupid, and determined that considering the severity and number of charges they are facing, their few millions are not sufficient to pay enough lawyers to keep them out of prison, or at least not for very long. Pleading guilty to lesser charges and cooperating with the prosecutor is the lesser of two evils, which will result in a shorter time in prison.
This is one ”moral dilemma” which the billionaires never have to face, as they have money to buy expensive lawyers by the truck load. Aside from which, they have no morality, so such dilemmas are never an issue.
Perhaps the former campaign manager of Trump, who is facing such serious charges, is confident that his former boss will give him a presidential pardon, as is his right by law. From all accounts, the evidence against him is overwhelming, and the trial date has been set for the fall. It is very likely that a presidential pardon is his one and only chance of remaining out of prison. If that is what he is betting on, then that man is a fool. It is extremely unlikely that Trump would even consider giving him a presidential pardon.
As a comparison, the flunkies of Trump would do well to bear in mind the fact that it was President Nixon who ordered the now famous Watergate burglary, and when those incompetent would be burglars were arrested, it was that same president Nixon who ordered the cover up. As Nixon phrased it, ”stone wall it”. Then, as now, when the special prosecutor was closing in, Nixon sacrificed his closest, most loyal supporters, or as it is commonly phrased, ”threw them under the bus”. He did not give them a presidential pardon. Nixon too demanded loyalty, but gave none in return. Nixon was merely a typical psychopath.
The former campaign manager of Trump would do well to take note of this.
The communications director may now find herself facing obstruction of justice charges, or even charges of perjury, as the law does not distinguish lies from little white lies. She too would be well advised to take note of this.
As the special prosecutor climbs up the totem pole, it is very likely the next in line is the son in law of the president, as well as the son and daughter of the president. With that in mind, it is very likely a matter of time before the president fires the special prosecutor.
There is a great deal of speculation on this turn of events, and it is widely thought that this will lead to a ”constitutional crisis”, which is the delight of all lawyers. In such a case, batteries of lawyers can be expected to argue the legality of the firing, and whether or not it rises to the level of ”high crimes and misdemeaners” as is required by the constitution, in order for a president to be impeached and removed from office. Such arguments merely serve to enrich the lawyers.
It is important to remember that it is relatively easy to impeach a president, but supremely difficult to remove him from office. To be impeached is merely to be charged, and the president then goes on trial by the senate. To be convicted and removed from office requires a vote of two thirds of the Senate. As there are one hundred senators, that means sixty seven senators would have to find him guilty, and that is not too likely to happen, at least under the current political climate, in which there are a great many people who still support Trump. Then again, if public opinion turns sharply against Trump, it would then be a distinct possibility.
As for those who are hoping and praying for such an outcome, I can only suggest that nothing substantial would change. By law, the vice president, Pence, would then become president. Bear in mind that Pence was hand picked by Trump, and can be expected to do exactly as he is told. We can expect no meaningful change, merely a change of names and faces. Trump could even take a page from the book of Nixon, in which he, Nixon, made a deal with his hand picked vice president, Ford, in that he, Nixon, agreed to resign in return for a presidential pardon from the new president, which was Ford. Of course Ford agreed and Nixon was exempt from any and all criminal charges.
This is merely typical psychopathic behaviour. The people who were loyal to Nixon ended up serving jail sentences, properly so. As president, he could have first given them pardons before resigning, but of course he did not. His one and only concern was in saving himself. It never occurred to Nixon to reward his flunkies for the loyalty they had for him.
If Trump is ever faced with such a choice, it is reasonable to expect him to first grant a presidential pardon to his immediate family, and no one else, before resigning. Then again, he may well decide to grant himself a presidential pardon as well. Considering the arrogance of the man, that is a distinct possibility. We can only imagine the public uproar which may  well take place as a result of this!
All members of the Trump team would do well to bear this in mind.
Regardless of the names and faces of the president and leaders of the country, it remains a capitalist country, and a capitalist country in its highest form, that of monopoly capitalism, technically referred to as imperialism. All imperialists are completely reactionary, which is to say that they have absolutely no progressive qualities, are concerned only with preserving their power and wealth, at the expense of the working people of course. The monopoly capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, are in power and fully intend to remain in power.
The fact that countless people are now closely watching the gong show which is currently unfolding in Washington is an excellent sign. It indicates that the vast majority of working people are no longer apathetic, no longer content to sit back and allow the rich and powerful to run their lives. As the working people phrase it, they have ”woken up”, are taking an interest in their lives and demanding change. As a result of this, the country is deeply divided. There is a considerable minority, mainly those who are relatively well off, who are of the opinion that Trump will indeed ”make America great again”, while the vast majority, for the most part those who are less well off, have a less charitable attitude towards Trump. They tend to express opinions towards that man which are somewhat less than flattering, and long for the ”good old days” when less civilized options were available to the working people. As best I can gather, they favour a form of vigilante justice which is commonly referred to as lynching.
The fact that the country is deeply divided should come as no great surprise to anyone, as the situation is revolutionary. The press reports that legal analysts are concerned with a possible looming constitutional crisis, while in fact it is a crisis in capitalism, one which is right around the corner. The ruling class can no longer rule in the old way and will soon have to change their method of rule, in an attempt to maintain power.
The capitalists have various tricks they use in order to deceive the working class, the proletarians, and one of their favourite tricks is to confuse democracy with capitalism. In fact, they are careful to not use the word capitalism. They know that workers are not stupid and are well aware that the goal of capitalism is to make money, at our expense of course. Rather than deny this, they merely pretend that capitalism does not exist. So they refer to capitalism as democracy and they also refer to socialism, or communism, as a dictatorship.
Strangely enough, there is a particle of truth in this confusion. In fact, the democratic republic is the ideal political structure for capitalism. This means that the economic base is capitalism, while the superstructure is the democratic republic. And indeed the republic is democratic, but only for the class in power, which is the capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie. This is democracy for the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, but a dictatorship over the working people, the proletariat. We live under the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.
This can and must change, and this change can only happen through a socialist revolution. The billionaire capitalists, the bourgeoisie, are determined to hang onto their wealth and power. So now it is necessary to overthrow the bourgeoise and crush them, to preclude any attempt on their part to return to power. This can only be achieved through the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. The working class, the proletariat, must establish a democracy for the proletariat, the workers, but a dictatorship for the billionaires, the bourgeoisie.
As for those who find this confusing, an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms, allow me to explain. Democracy and dictatorship are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they are two sides of the same coin. Democracy is a form of government, a state apparatus, and this state apparatus first came into existence with the appearance of classes. This is to say that stone age people had no classes and therefore no need to keep a class of people under subjugation. Such people had leaders, those who were highly respected, and people listened to them for that reason. This is not to say that these leaders had any authority, because they did not. If anyone chose not to listen to these leaders, there was nothing the leaders could do about this. There was no way that these leader of the stone age could impose their will on the people, as there were no police, jails or standing army which could be used to force people do as their leaders demanded.
This all changed as soon as people became civilized. The cultivation of crops and the domestication of animals led to a surplus of food, and this surplus in turn led to the creation of classes. Sadly, the people with the surplus began to enslave those less fortunate, and this gave rise to a class of people who were slaves and a corresponding class of people who were slave owners.
As can be well imagined, the slaves were not at all enthused with their lot in life and tended to express themselves in very strong terms. In short, the slaves rebelled, and the slave owners took a rather dim view of this. So in the interests of persuading the slaves of the error of their ways, a state apparatus was established, with the one and only purpose of subjugating the slaves. If the slaves stepped out of line, they were tortured and frequently killed, usually in the slowest, most painful manner, not so much as as a means of punishment but as a deterrent to other slaves.
That was the origin of the state apparatus, the earliest form of government, and since then different classes have evolved, and different forms of government have also evolved, which is to say different forms of state apparatus which is used to keep different classes under control. The democratic republic is merely a modern form of state apparatus, one which is used to keep the working class under the rule of the capitalists.
At no point have classes disappeared, just as at no point has the state apparatus disappeared. They have merely taken different forms.
This brings us to the situation now in North America, in which we have a class of monopoly capitalists, billionaires, the bourgeoisie, and a class of workers, proletarians. The other classes, such as the peasants and middle class, have pretty well been wiped out, although the remnants of those classes still exist.
The capitalist billionaires have determined that the best method of rule is the democratic republic, in which the working people get to decide, every few years, just which particular members of the ruling class gets to go to the various capitals and misrepresent them. So now we have the current situation in which the bourgeoisie rule, and in fact it is a democracy for the billionaires, the monopoly capitalists, but a dictatorship for the working people, the proletarians.
This method of rule has worked very well for the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, for many years, but not any longer. The working people, the proletarians, are now politically active, taking an interest in their lives, becoming ever more aware of the differences between themselves and the ”super rich”, which is the popular term for the billionaires, the bourgeoisie. This awareness of class distinctions is the beginning of class consciousness. The scandals which are rocking the Trump administration are being closely followed by the working people, if only because they are more entertaining than any television series. These scandals have been compared to ”soap operas”, which are popular among working people, especially members of the working class who are forced to stay at home and raise the children.
This vague awareness of the existence of classes, which may be referred to as class consciousness in embryonic form, must be nurtured and enhanced. The seed has taken root, so to speak, and now must be watered and fertilized, if we may be forgiven for mixing a few metaphors. The best way to raise this level of consciousness of the working class, the awareness of itself as a class, with its own set of class interests, is by focusing on the very thing which interests the working class the most, and that is of course the scandals which are currently rocking the Trump administration. We can use these as mere examples of the rule of the bourgeoisie, and the necessity of turning the tables on the billionaire capitalists.
This is not to say that we should gloat over the mess which Trump has created for himself, although the temptation to do so is overwhelming. It would simply serve no purpose and besides, it is too obvious.
No, the correct approach is to use these scandals as a means of driving home the point, to the working class, that classes exist, and further, the interests of our class, the working class, are diametrically opposed to the interests of the capitalist class, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie. As president, Trump merely represents his own class, the monopoly capitalist class, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, and passes laws, including tax breaks, which merely serves to further enrich his class and at the same time further impoverishes the working class, the proletarians. These tax breaks for the bourgeoisie cannot perform any other service, as somebody has to pay taxes and the less taxes the bourgeoisie pays, the more taxes the workers, the proletarians, have to pay. This is another way of saying that the interests of the bourgeoisie and the interests of the workers, the proletarians, are not only diametrically opposed, but also antagonistic.
Of course, this is merely one example, and Trump has very thoughtfully set up an administration which provides us with numerous examples we can use as particulars. By this I mean that it is the duty of those of us who are class conscious to bring to the working class the awareness of itself as a class, as the conditions of the working class do not lead to such an awareness.
The socialist revolution is fast approaching and in order for such a revolution to be successful, certain conditions have to be met. The ruling class can no longer rule in the old way, and must change their method of rule. The working class is no longer content to be ruled in the old way, and are demanding change. These conditions are now being met, but the third condition, that of the working class becoming aware of the necessity of scientific socialism, and being prepared to make great sacrifices to reach that goal, has yet to be realized. However, it is safe to say that the workers are moving in that direction, or at least the most advanced strata of the proletariat, the most advanced workers, are now seriously considering the tenets of scientific socialism. The fact is that the most advanced workers lead, while the less advanced tend to follow. As I have gone into that in other writings, there is no need to repeat it here.
Now it is up to the working class to prepare for scientific socialism, which is to say the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. It is up to the proletariat to over throw the billionaire capitalists, the bourgeoisie, and to then crush them, to absolutely preclude any effort on their part to return to power. Make no mistake, they will not resign themselves to their fate. They will never give up, as long as they live and breath.
With that in mind, it is up to the workers to prepare for the coming dictatorship, to prepare to crush that class of parasites, the leaches which suck the life blood out of society, the dregs of humanity, the scum of the earth, the billionaire capitalists, the bourgeoisie. They contribute nothing to society and must be shown no mercy.
After the revolution, workers with very little training or even no training at all, will be placed in positions of authority. The immediate problem is to prepare for the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. With that in mind, we should also remind ourselves that among the working class there are advanced workers and there are less advanced workers. The less advanced workers tend to listen to the advanced workers, and these are of course the leaders among the workers.
Such working class leaders should be encouraged to assume positions of leadership, whether in trade unions or sports clubs or any other working class organization. Such basic training will serve these workers well after the revolution, when they are placed in positions of authority.

Further, all Americans should be encouraged to become card carrying members of the two mainstream political powers, Republican and Democratic. It is reasonable to assume that those who are more advanced will flock to the two parties, while the less advanced are less likely to do so. These more advanced workers will then become party bosses and determine the individual to run for any and all political office, within the district. The end result will soon be state and federal capitals flooded with Leftist people, if not socialists.

We must stress that the goal is not to win as many political seats as possible, but to train as many advanced workers as possible. They will soon learn, from their own bitter experience, that the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, the billionaires are in charges and fully intend to remain in charge. It is in this way that the level of awareness of the working class can be raised to the level of Communist or Marxist conscious people.

As well, there are numerous jobs which only highly trained professional people can perform, those who are experts in various fields of science and medicine.
The workers have got to learn those skills, and this may not be as difficult as it sounds. Now that we have the internet and almost every literate worker has a computer, it is a rather simple matter of taking practical courses through the internet or even as night classes. There are a great many such courses available, and most of them are offered at a rather reasonable price. By practical, I am of course referring to courses in such fields as math, electrical and mechanical engineering, various fields of science, and certainly not liberal arts courses such as ancient Greek literature, which may be interesting but serve no practical purpose.
After the revolution, after the working class has seized political power, we will still need these professional people, but the more workers who are trained to perform these jobs, the better. Without doubt, the engineers and specialists who now serve the capitalists will also serve the workers, and they can be counted upon to serve the workers even better that they serve the capitalists.
We know this for a fact, because it is often said that the army cannot force any soldier to do anything that soldier does not want to do, but that same army can force that same soldier to wish he had. In much the same way, there are very likely a number of engineers and specialists who may at first resist the new reality, and may have to go through an involuntary period of adjustment. This is referred to as re-education, and the length of time which has to be spent on this re-education is entirely up to the individual.
The sooner we are able to train workers to take over these specialized jobs, the more smooth will be the transition, between capitalism and socialism.
Assuming these professional people initially choose to cooperate, as many of them will, they will continue to be paid more than the average worker, and this will lead to some friction with the lower paid, unskilled workers. Such workers, almost all of whom will no doubt embrace the revolution and socialism, can be expected to demand equal pay, equal to the pay of the professional people.
This is not about to happen, at least not immediately, as we do not live in a perfect world. Under socialism, we can expect to increase the wages of the lowest paid workers, but it will take some time, and very likely a considerable amount of time, before we reach the stage where classes are abolished and people do that which needs to be done, without a view to gain. At that point, we can expect to see a rough parity in wages, between labourers and intellectuals.
At that stage, society moves from a socialist society to a truly communist society, and while it is a goal to which we must strive, it is not likely that we will ever see this in our lifetime. But then, it is something we can leave to our children and grandchildren.
If nothing else, we can leave to our children a socialist society, one which is a vast improvement to the capitalist society under which we have suffered all our lives. The best thing we can do for our children is to bequeath to them a socialist society.
That alone makes any and all sacrifices we may have to make in order to further the revolution, well worth while.

For the moment, our immediate goal is to raise the level of awareness of the working class, the proletariat. With that in mind, our slogans must be:

Workers of the World, Unite!

Scientific Socialism!

Dictatorship Of the Proletariat!