In February of 1917, after three hundred years of Russian rule, the Romanov dynasty came to an end, with the abdication of Czar Nicholas 11. That gave rise to a Russian democratic republic, commonly referred to as the Kerensky regime, in which the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, came to power. Under the newly created republic, many Russian citizens, those whom had been exiled, were allowed to return to Russia. One of those people was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, otherwise known as Lenin.
In April of that year, Lenin arrived in Saint Petersburg, the capitol of Russia. As the leader of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, as that was the official name of the Party at that time, he was immediately faced with a problem which no one had foreseen, or could have foreseen, as no one had thought it possible. The Russian revolution had spontaneously brought about a second layer of power, a dual power (italics by Lenin), one which challenged the rule of the capitalists!
As I am writing this article with working people in mind, those who have just recently become politically active, I will mention that revolutionary motion happens. There are occasions when millions of working people get into motion, pursuing a common goal, and this motion happens spontaneously. They do not know why they are doing this, they just do it. But then that is the reason it is referred to as a spontaneous uprising.
I refer to this as an act of God, although there are many people who do not believe in God. To such people, I can only respond that I respect your beliefs, and in turn I only ask that you respect the beliefs of all others, including those of us who believe in God.
To proceed. It was the Russian February revolution which managed to overthrow the Czar, and remarkably enough, that revolution lacked leaders. The reason for the lack of proletarian leaders was due to the simple fact that under the rule of the Czar, all such leaders, including Lenin, had been first thrown into prison and then either executed or exiled. Lenin had been one of the fortunate ones to be exiled.
The Russian capitalists were of the opinion, quite reasonably, that with the trouble making leaders out of the way, the working people would be much easier to manage, the revolution would die down, and the capitalists could continue to live a life of luxury, at the expense of the working people, of course. Except that it did not work out quite the way the capitalists had in mind. In fact, they could not possibly have been more mistaken.
Lenin, as well as other Russian Marxists whom had been exiled, did not resign themselves to a life of exile. Instead, they continued to carry on their revolutionary work, but from a distance. At the same time, at home in Russia, the revolutionary motion continued to grow.
As the Russian workers were left to their own devices, and they desperately wanted their own leaders, they came up with a novel solution. In numerous locations throughout the country, workers came together and shared their limited resources, elected a Council of people to lead them, and these Councils were referred to as Soviets. In fact, this was the very thing that previously happened in the Paris Commune of 1871!
As Lenin saw it, the existence of these Councils of workers, these Soviets, was not the problem. The problem was that the Soviets, in 1917, were voluntarily surrendering their power to the capitalists!
It was the Russian capitalists who saw these Councils, these Soviets, as a major problem, as a threat to their authority, as indeed they were. But then all capitalists have the advantage in that they are aware of the existence of classes, and the Russian capitalists were no exception. They knew that we live in a class society, and also knew that state power cannot be shared. One class or the other can hold political power, but not both.
By contrast, the Russian proletariat, the working class, was typical in that they were not class conscious, not aware of themselves as a class. They were not aware that their interests were diametrically opposed to the interests of the capitalists. The Russian workers had no suspicion that the Councils, or Soviets, were a direct threat to the rule of the capitalists. Still less did they realize that the capitalists were determined to destroy them.
With that in mind, Lenin took the bull by the horns and wrote an article, titled The Dual Power. The first paragraph is of vital importance: ”The basic question of every revolution is that of state power. Unless this question is understood, there can be no intelligent participation in the revolution, not to speak of guidance of the revolution”. (my italics)
Now we have a similar situation in America, in that another ”dual power” has taken shape, at least within the city of Seattle. Those who are referred to as ”protesters”, but are in fact revolutionaries, have established an ”Autonomous Zone” within the city. They have pooled their limited resources, sharing the little they have, elected a Council of leaders, and are self governing. That is the very thing the workers of Paris attempted in 1871, when they established the Paris Commune, and the workers of Russia attempted, in 1917.
Information is scarce, as the press is giving it little coverage. As the journalists work for the capitalists, and the capitalists are trying to crush the ”protesters”, as they refer to them, this is not too surprising. The members of the Autonomous Zone are engaging in revolutionary work, even though they may not be aware of this. It is very likely that they are even less aware that the capitalists are determined to crush them, as the Autonomous Zone they have established, within the city of Seattle, is nothing other than a dual power, a government of working people.
This dual power is as yet weak, very weak. Even so, the capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, are determined to crush this Autonomous Zone, as they recognize it as the threat that it is. The bourgeoisie stands for the undivided rule of the bourgeoisie!
Bear in mind that the French capitalists did not tolerate the existence of the Paris Commune. In fact, they crushed it, with great brutality. Neither did the Russian capitalists allow the Soviets of Workers. Any challenge to the authority of the capitalists is simply not tolerated. Anyone who expects the American capitalists to be any different, is merely kidding themselves. No doubt they are equally determined to crush the Seattle Autonomous Zone.
In that same article, Lenin called for the creation of a ”proletarian Communist Party…let us rally our ranks for proletarian class work…actual experience will from day to day shatter the petty bourgeois illusions of those ‘Social Democrats’…for undivided power made possible not by adventurist acts, but by clarifying proletarian minds, by emancipating them from the influence of the bourgeoisie…This is the actual, the class alignment of forces that determine our tasks”. (italics by Lenin)
Now in America, we also need a ”proletarian Communist Party” in order to ”clarify proletarian minds”, to ”emancipate them from the influence of the bourgeoisie”.
Granted, we have a number of political parties who claim to be Leftist, even Communist. But as Lenin pointed out, the acceptance of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat is the ”touchstone” of a true Communist. None of the existing ”Leftist” political parties makes any mention of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, so that none of them are truly Communist. Only such a Communist Party, Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, will be able to ”clarify” the minds of workers, to ”emancipate” them from the influence of the bourgeoisie.
The workers are doing their part. They can go no further, at least not without the leadership provided by a true Communist.
This is the reason I say that conscious people, those who are aware of the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin, must get active and form a true Communist Party, Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. Then the revolution will be led to victory over the capitalists.
Gerald McIsaac Science Project 