In 1917, Russia was a hotbed of revolution. Within the space of a few months, that of February and November, there were two uprisings. In each case, a government was overthrown. The current situation in America is strikingly similar to the situation in Russia during those critical few months. This is by no means a coincidence. The second American revolution is right around the corner.
At that time in Russia, the Romanov family was ruling the Russian empire, as it had been for three hundred years. Finally, in February of that year, the people of Russia had enough. All across the vast empire, the people revolted. The peasants rose up and attacked the landlords, the workers refused to work, the unions went on strike, the trains and boats were parked. The middle class people, the petty bourgeois, closed their businesses. The people took over the government agencies and the nobility, led by the Czar, was overthrown. The capitalists, which at that time were composed of millionaires and multimillionaires, the bourgeoisie, approved of this revolution and seized the reins of power. The state apparatus, which the nobility had established in order to crush the people and remain in power, was firmly in the hands of the capitalists, the bourgeoisie. This is to say that the control of the state apparatus was transferred from the nobility to the capitalists. They now controlled the army, courts, prisons, police and all other government agencies, and used this state apparatus to establish ”law and order”, to crush the very people who had enabled them to seize power.
It did not take long for the people to realize that they had merely gone from the frying pan into the fire. People wanted peace, an end to the war with Germany and the Central Powers, a war which was devastating the Russian army and destroying the country. That peace was denied. The peasants wanted land and relief from the crushing burden of the landlords. This too was denied. The people in the cities wanted bread, as they were starving, and wood to heat their homes in the bitterly cold Russian winters. They were given promises, just as they were promised democracy, in the form of the Constituent Assembly. The capitalists, the bourgeoisie, were quite generous with their promises, just as they are now. These promises were the only thing the people received.
It is important to realize that the February revolution was spontaneous in nature, in the sense that the people of Russia had been deprived of their leaders. All of the scientific socialists, the Marxists, also referred to as Communists, Social Democrats or Bolsheviks, had been thrown into prison and either executed or exiled to Siberia. Lenin was one of the leaders who had first been arrested, sent to Siberia and then allowed to leave the country. At the time of the February revolution, he was living in Switzerland, but managed to return to Russia in April.
The country was still in a state of revolutionary turmoil at that time. The people were fed up, hungry, cold, desired peace, an end to the war, and they wanted a democratic government, one which would represent them, not the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, the rich and powerful. In short, the people of Russia in 1917 wanted precisely the same thing that the American people want now.
As I write this, the latest justice to the Supreme Court has just been sworn in, against strong opposition. There are several women who allege that he sexually assaulted them several years ago, but the Senate has confirmed his nomination despite those allegations.
No one was terribly surprised by this confirmation, as such is usually a mere formality. The people who ”call the shots” in Washington decide upon a course of action, while working ”behind the scenes”, of course. In this particular case, the ”powers that be” decided upon the person to be placed in the Supreme Court. It was then arranged for the president to nominate that judge to the Senate, and then the Senate was to go through the motions of confirming him. Those motions included having the various politicians reciting the speeches which had been prepared for them. After all, the common people, the members of the public, have to be entertained. Then everything falls into place like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
At least, that is the way it is supposed to work, and has worked, for many years. But now the people are not satisfied with the status quo, and are demanding change, just as the people of Russia demanded change in 1917, even after the February revolution. The modern day American capitalists are about as excited about this idea of change as their Russian counterparts were, many years ago. This is to say that they would sooner crawl on their bellies over broken glass, rather than give in to the demands of the American public.
Just as the Russian capitalists were determined to continue the war with the Central Powers, so too the American capitalists are determined to continue to wage war with Afghanistan and Iraq. As well, they have further wars planned with the sovereign states of Iran and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, DPRK, which is commonly referred to as North Korea. As far as the capitalists are concerned, war is good for the economy. They consider all this talk of peace to be pure nonsense.
The capitalists cannot understand how people would deliberately choose to allow themselves to be arrested, as hundreds of them did, as a form of protest. This is precisely what happened, on the steps of the courthouse in Washington, as many people, mainly women, protested the nomination of Kavenaugh, as a justice of the Supreme Court. They were standing on principle, a concept which is beyond the comprehension of any capitalist.
The fact that these demonstrations took place at all is an indication of the strength of the revolutionary movement in the country. There are numerous women who have become successful, in the sense that they have established careers in the field of entertainment, for example, and are now referred to as celebrities or stars. These same women have since learned that there is a price to be paid for this success. Certain of the men who are in a position of authority in these fields of entertainment have sexually assaulted these women. This is merely the manner in which the men establish power over these women. The understanding is that the women submit, do not complain, or their careers are ruined. Many of these women are now part of the recently created Me Too movement.
All American women are well aware of the opinion of Trump, concerning sexual assault on women, as a means of degrading and controlling them. At least, they should be, if for no other reason than the fact that the press, by which I mean the newspapers, magazines and news outlets, are quite cheerfully documenting his lies and hypocrisy.
This is significant, if for no other reason than that these same press outlets are owned and operated by the capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie. They are members of the same class of people, the bourgeoisie, as is Trump. They have turned against one of their own and this proves, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that the ruling class is deeply divided. Just when they think that Trump cannot surprise them by doing anything more stupid than that which he has already done, he proves them wrong. His latest brain storm is to fire the American representative to the United Nations and appoint his daughter in her place.
The fact remains that we should be grateful to such newspapers for documenting the lies and deception of Trump. As well, let us not forget the largest news network in the country, avidly watched by millions of people. The journalists who work for these corporations are well aware that they have to report the news in a manner to which the owners of the corporations approve, or lose their jobs. I offer this as one more example of the deep division within the ruling class, the bourgeoisie.
A similar situation existed in Russia in the months following the February revolution. The Russian ruling class was deeply divided and the people were demanding change. The government had to be overthrown and that required an insurrection, just as an insurrection is required to overthrow the American government.
As Lenin phrased it, ”To be successful, insurrection must rely not upon conspiracy and not upon a party, but upon the advanced class. That is the first point. Insurrection must rely upon a revolutionary upsurge of the people. That is the second point. Insurrection must rely upon that turning point in the history of the growing revolution when the activity of the advanced ranks of the people is at its height, and when the vacillations in the ranks of the enemy and in the ranks of the weak, half hearted and irresolute friends of the revolution are strongest.That is the third point…Once these conditions exist, however, to refuse to treat insurrection as an art is a betrayal of Marxist and a betrayal of the revolution.”
This was written in October of 1917, at a time when insurrection was the order of the day. It was clear, as Lenin phrased it, that ”the entire course of events has objectively placed insurrection on the order of the day and that insurrection must be treated as an art”. Indeed it was treated as an art, and for that reason it was successful. It must once again be treated as an art in the approaching American uprising, or it will fail.
Lenin was careful to follow the rules of the art of insurrection, as was noted by Marx:
- Never play with insurrection, but when beginning it realize firmly that you must go all the way.
- Concentrate a great superiority of forces at the decisive point and at the decisive moment, as otherwise the enemy, who has the advantage of better preparation and organization, will destroy the insurgents.
- Once the insurrection has begun, you must act with the greatest determination, and by all means, without fail, take the offensive. The defensive is the death of every armed uprising.
- You must try to take the enemy by surprise and seize the moment when his forces are scattered.
- You must strive for daily successes, however small (one might say hourly, if it is the case of one town ), and at all costs retain ”moral superiority”.
Marx also stressed the point of being audacious.
At the time of the Russian October revolution, the capital of the country was Petrograd. As part of the insurrection, the capital was cut off from the rest of the country and key strong points of the enemy were attacked with overwhelming force. It was absolutely essential to occupy and hold the telephone exchange, the telegraph office, the railway stations and above all, the bridges. This was done, and within the space of a day or two, the insurrection was successful, and the working class had seized power. This drives home the necessity of speed, surprise and audacity. To hesitate, even for an hour, can prove to be fatal. Once the insurrection begins, any second thoughts can lead to disaster.
In the case of the approaching American insurrection, it is clear that Washington is the capital and must be the main focus of the attack, although certainly not the only one. The strong points of the enemy, within the capital, are the White House, the government buildings where members of Congress meet, and certainly the pentagon. Each of these centres must be surrounded with overwhelming force, especially the pentagon, where we can expect the strongest resistance. It will be necessary to capture the president and his members of cabinet, the senators and members of congress, and above all, the Joint Chiefs of Staff. To allow these people any freedom whatsoever could prove to be fatal, a betrayal of the revolution, as they will go to any lengths to overthrow the revolution. Under no circumstances can they be allowed to communicate with anyone else. They must be completely isolated, cut off from the rest of the world. They are quite fully prepared to sacrifice their lives, in the interests of maintaining the rule of the capitalists, the bourgeoisie. They must not be given that opportunity.
The capitalists must feel the full weight of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. They must be denied all democratic rights, as that is the only way in which the insurrection can succeed. Anyone taking part in the insurrection who disagrees with this should step aside, as such a misguided soul could show mercy on these mad dogs, allow them to communicate with others, and destroy the uprising.
This insurrection first requires a revolutionary upsurge of the people, and there is no way to determine just what particular spark will trigger that upsurge. That being said, we can also say that the capitalists are every bit as predictable as they are reactionary. The stunts they have pulled off in the past are very likely to be repeated today.
With that in mind, we can say that in Russia of 1917, there were several Russian generals who had the bright idea of taking over the government, possibly as a means of forestalling any working class revolution. It was only the prompt action of the people of Russia that prevented a military coup.
It is very likely that a similar coup is being planned in America. The recent article, in the form of an editorial in the New York Times, is a strong indication of this. They as much as declared their intention of staging the overthrow of the government. They claim to be members of the Trump administration, and there is likely some truth to this. It is also likely that there are members of the American military involved in this plot to commit treason, as otherwise it is doubtful they would be so brave as to announce their intentions. Or perhaps they are just supremely stupid.
This self proclaimed resistance, this faction within the Trump administration which I refer to as the White House Resistance, is not being taken too seriously. I consider this to be a mistake, as I am sure they fully intend to do precisely that which they stated. It is just a matter of time before they strike, and possibly they are just waiting for the proper moment. That proper moment could be Christmas or New Years, a time when people are completely relaxed. Nothing else makes any sense.
As for those who think that such a thing could never happen in America, I can only point out that not too long ago, an individual who was considered insane wrote a book of racial hatred and war, in which he laid out precisely that which he intended to do. And then he did it. That individual was Hitler, and the book was Mein Kampf. Of course, he wrote the book for his followers, but it was there for all the world to read.
It is very likely that the leader of the White House Resistance has written the NYT editorial for similar reasons. As yet, this person has not revealed himself, or it could be a woman. That remains to be seen. Either way, that person expects a great many people to rise up and support the anticipated coup. That is not about to happen, and the people taking part in this counter revolutionary attempt are in for a rude awakening.
Such an attempted coup will no doubt trigger a response of the American public, a revolutionary upsurge, as the American public rises up in opposition to the anticipated take over of the government by the military and bureaucrats. That could prove to be the spark to set off the uprising. We can expect huge crowds of people to march on Washington, as that will be the centre of the attempted coup. At the same time we can expect the military to declare martial law across the country, so people will also rise up in all cities and towns. The counter revolutionary attempted military take over will then be crushed, and at the same time, revolutionary forces can take further action. All the forces of reaction must be arrested, isolated and allowed no democratic rights. A new government must be established, with full democratic rights for the working class but a dictatorship for the bourgeoisie.
This is precisely the thing which happened in November, 1917 in Russia, and must happen again, but this time in America. It is the only way in which the uprising can be successful, and that will kick off the revolution.
In America, the second major city is New York, and no doubt the stock exchange must be occupied, as well as the major news outlets. Now that the younger generation is most familiar with social networking, a coordinated attack at all cities and towns across the country is entirely possible. It must be stressed upon people that speed and surprise are key, as the uprising must succeed within a day or at most two, as otherwise it has no chance of success. Key bridges must be captured and held. Under no circumstances should the capitalists be allowed to regroup and counterattack. The government leaders who are arrested must be allowed to have no contact with each other. All cell phones must be confiscated. This fact must be stressed to all people taking part in the uprising.
It is absolutely essential that the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, feel the full weight of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.
The time of the uprising will occupy a few critical hours, a day or two at most. A rather short period of time, but the outcome of the approaching socialist revolution hangs in the balance. Everyone who chooses to take part in that uprising would do well to bear that in mind.
In that spirit, I can only once again close this article with revolutionary slogans:
Dictatorship Of the Proletariat!
Scientific Socialism!
Workers of the World, Unite!
Gerald McIsaac Science Project 