Women and Revolution

As I write this, President Biden has been in office for over one hundred days, the usual ”honeymoon” period for any new president. He is proposing to spend money on a scale which is unprecedented. The opposition to this spending is intense, not because of the expense, but because it is not going to the military. Over half the money is earmarked for infrastructure, building and repairing roads, bridges, tunnels and such. The remainder is for social programs, involving students, workers and families. The plan to pay for these huge expenses is by raising taxes on the capitalists, the billionaires and their corporations.

Although deeply opposed to these tax increases, the capitalists, the bourgeois, are deeply divided. In particular, the Republican Party is in a shambles. Most of the citizens who identify themselves as Republicans are convinced that the ”election was stolen”, that Trump was ”robbed”, that he really won the election, that he is the true president. They are quite vocal, determined to prove their case. The press is reporting that the ”party infighting has reached a fever pitch”. They are also of the opinion that the GOP, Republican Party, is having an ”identity crisis”, what ever that is!

Even a former Republican president has weighed in on the subject. As he phrased it, in terms which are something less than eloquent, ”it looks like we want to be extinct”. Possibly he was referring to the Party, or possibly he was referring to his class, the bourgeoisie. Possibly he is so stunned, even he does not know what he is saying!

The former Speaker of the House, who was forced out of office, has written a book on the subject. At least, he has written a book, although no one quite knows, or cares, about the subject of the book.

At a recent Republican Party conference, held in Utah, a high ranking Senator and former presidential candidate, was ”booed and heckled”, forced to step down from the podium, from where he was trying to give a speech. The audience clearly ”disapproves” of the fact that he recognizes that Biden is the new president.

The daughter of the former vice president, and perhaps the highest ranking Republican female in the House, is ”on the outs with the party base”, according to the press, because she ”refers to the stolen election as the Big Lie”.

In the state of Arizona, a manual recount of the presidential ballots is underway. Without doubt, the ”party base” is not giving up! The press is reporting that ”the Trump wing has the establishment on its heels”.

The former personal lawyer of Trump, also former mayor of New York City, has documented the manner in which elections are falsified. His presentation was simple and detailed, easily understood. He very likely spoke from experience!

This irritates the capitalists to no end, as they decided, some time ago, that it was time for Trump to ”retire”. To that end, it was ”arranged” for Trump to lose the election. He was then expected to gracefully step aside, and allow the capitalists to continue to rule, if only in a slightly different manner. At least, that was the plan. That is not the plan of Donald Trump. He has tasted power, and he loves it!

In response to this ”insubordination”, on the part of Trump and his former lawyer, the capitalists have decided to punish them. Various government agencies, both federal and state, are seeking to charge Trump with numerous crimes. As well, the office and personal residence of the lawyer were searched. Officially, they are looking for ”incriminating evidence”, in connection with the Ukranian government. Unofficially, they are merely trying to shut him up!

As well, the capitalists are well aware of the revolutionary movement of the members of the public. It is clear that the common people are being attracted to socialism, so in an attempt to discredit the true Marxists, the Communists, they have resorted to the time honoured tradition of slander.

Perhaps the latest, and the strangest, is a documentary of ”Royal History’s Biggest Fibs”. They report that the Russian revolution of 1917 ”transformed politics and society, was truly epic, but has been exaggerated, memorized, shrouded in mythology and fibs”. Perhaps the word ”fibs”, instead of ”lies”, is meant as a little joke. Perhaps not everyone appreciates their sense of humour.

Despite the best attempts of the film makers to slander and confuse, they managed to blurt out a few valuable admissions. It is a fact that, as a result of the First World War, the ”future of European nobility was held in the balance”. That was the very thing that was predicted by Engels many years earlier!

They also report that at the time of the February-March revolution, Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky were not directly involved. As if it was their fault! In fact, they had first been thrown in prison and then exiled! They were fortunate to have not been hung!

We get the impression that the writers of this documentary think they have made a great discovery. They very proudly point out the fact that the February-March revolution was made without leaders, that it was a ”grass roots revolution”. Perhaps someone should explain to them, the fundamental tenet of Marxism, that the ”masses are the makers of history”. That was true in 1789, at the time of the French revolution, it was true in 1917 at the time of the Russian revolution, and it is true today!

The first Russian revolution of 1917 certainly ”made history”, and that history was made by the working people of Russia. They rose up, spontaneously, if for no other reason than that they had been deprived of their leaders. They succeeded in overthrowing their Czar, Nicholas the Bloody, which gave the capitalists the opportunity to seize power.

It is true that in early 1917, the common people of Russia were suffering terribly. The Russian army had taken some terrible losses, in the war with Germany and the Central Powers. In addition, there were ”bread shortages” in the cities, which is to say that the people were starving. In fact, the suffering of the common people of Russia had reached tremendous proportions.

Modern day Americans may find this to be quite familiar, as indeed it is. It is a repeat of that which happened in Russia, one hundred years ago. The similarities do not end there.

It is reported that on February 23, 1917, International Women’s Day, the ladies in the capitol of Saint Petersburg, led by the garment workers, went on strike. They marched from one factory to another, demanding that the men join them. They even marched to the barracks of the Cossacks, daring the mounted police to shoot them. On day 3, the Czar ordered the Cossacks to do just that, and the Cossacks refused. As a result of this, the Czar was forced to step down. This left the capitalists firmly in charge.

The film also correctly reports that Lenin, while in exile, had continued with his revolutionary work. His writings had been smuggled into Russia, and were avidly read by the workers. At the time of the revolution, he was living in Switzerland. Anxious to return to Russia, he first had to pass through Germany. Even though a Russian citizen, and Russia was at war with Germany, diplomatic channels were opened, so that he and possibly thirty others were placed on a train, the doors were sealed, and in early April, he returned to Saint Petersburg, the capital. As the leader of the Russian working people, he was met with wild enthusiasm.

Naturally, the film implies that Lenin was a German agent, so that the secret agents of the Provisional Government, led by Kerensky, were determined to arrest and kill him. In fact, they were determined to kill Lenin, as he was the leader of the revolutionaries! The leaders of the current American revolution would do well to bear this in mind!

It is also true that Lenin went into hiding, in Finland, wrote State and Revolution, and prepared to carry the revolution through to its proper conclusion, which is the overthrow of the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, and the creation of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. That is the one and only true form of socialism. This took place on October 25, old style calendar, or November 7, new style calendar. Of course the film makers had a few words to say on the matter.

On that day, the Provisional government was hiding in the Winter Palace of the Czar. The workers and soldiers, most of whom were peasants, seized control of the communications centres, railroad stations and major bridges of the country, then stormed the Winter Palace. The revolution was well planned, carefully organized, disciplined and effective. In fact, it was all but bloodless. Socialism was established, the workers and poor peasants were in power, under the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, the capitalists were overthrown, and the film makers bewailed the fact that it was so bloodless!

The remainder of the film was devoted mainly to slander, directed against Lenin and Stalin.

Yet the fact remains that the women of Russia played a key role in the revolution. In fact, the ladies of Saint Petersburg were the first to rebel. They called for the male workers to join them, perhaps even dragging them along, much as Mo dragged Larry and Curly by the ears. It was the ladies who confronted the Cossacks in their barracks, daring them to open fire. Just as the ladies did not wait for the men to start the revolution, so too the ladies did not wait for the Cossacks to attack. In both cases, the men and the Cossacks joined the ladies in the revolution.

It is to be hoped that the American ladies of today can draw inspiration from the Russian ladies of yesteryear. After all, American women are currently leading the revolution, just as the Russian women led the Russian revolution. In each case, the men had to be given a little nudge, in the right direction.

The current American situation is every bit as revolutionary, as was the situation in Russia, 1917. The suffering of the common people, the working class, has reached monstrous proportions. Countless workers, those whom have formerly been apathetic, are now rising up, taking an interest in their lives, demanding change. They are also taking action, forming Autonomous Zones, of one form or another, in an attempt to bring about change.

This marks a transitional phase in the development of the revolution. Workers have gone from being politically dormant, to being awakened and taking eagerly to politics! This is the natural result of a revolution, which draws vast numbers of ordinary citizens into the movement! In fact, it is characteristic of all revolutions, this sudden increase in the number of ”ordinary citizens” who begin to participate actively, independently in political life and the organization of the state!

At the same time, the capitalist class, the bourgeoisie, are deeply divided. They are fighting among themselves. Now is the time to strike, when the capitalists are at their weakest. Show them no mercy!

The main problem now is the insufficient class consciousness of the working class, the proletariat. The workers have got to be made aware of themselves as a class, with their own class interests, which are diametrically opposed to the interests of the capitalists. After all, the vast majority of the population is suffering terribly, the middle class is being wiped out, and the stock market is soaring! This is to say that the profits of the capitalists, the billionaires, are at an all time high! The super rich, the bourgeoisie, are becoming ever more wealthy! The more impoverished the working class, the greater the profits of the capitalists!

As a result of this, there is a desperate need for leaders, in order to raise the level of awareness of the working class, the proletariat. True, the Russian revolution succeeded in overthrowing the Czar, without leaders, but could go no further. The Russian workers were not class conscious, so that the capitalists were able to seize power. Out of the frying pan, into the fire!

In order for the revolution to be carried through to socialism, it was necessary for Lenin and the Bolsheviks, as the Communists then referred to themselves, to lead the workers. They were then made aware of themselves as a class, one which was destined to overthrow the capitalists and establish socialism. At the time of the revolution, the state apparatus was destroyed and replaced with a new, proletarian state apparatus, in the form of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

Now in America, we have a similar situation. The working class is rising up, demanding change, taking action, forming Autonomous Zones. Yet as they are unaware of the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin, they can go no farther. Working people need leaders, and that can only be provided by a truly Communist Party, one which advocates the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

Of necessity, this American Communist Party will have to be formed by intellectuals, mainly members of the middle class, or more likely, former members of the middle class. It is also very likely that most of the founding members will be women. It may not be fair. It may not be right. It is what it is.

The capitalists have done a splendid job of ruining the middle class, the petty bourgeois, forcing such intellectuals into the ranks of the proletariat! They certainly know how to dig their own graves!

Such a Party can perform the vitally important propaganda work, as well as explaining to the workers that the ”socialist” groups and organizations, which do not call for the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, are merely fighting for paltry reforms. They are the natural and desirable allies of the proletariat. On the other hand, those which claim to be socialist, while opposing the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, are in the service of the capitalists. They are the enemy.

As well, the Party can help to organize the various groups, organizations and Zones, into one mighty, vast proletarian army. Only in this way can the capitalists be defeated.