At the time of this writing, it is reported that at least 570,000 Americans have died, as a result of the Covid virus. That is the official death toll, while the unofficial death toll is estimated to be much higher. As well, the unemployment rate is at levels not seen since the great depression, although the official rate is much lower. But then, after people are out of work for a specified period of time, they are no longer classified as unemployed! Just think, if the capitalist quit counting the people out of work, the unemployment rate drops to zero!
The combination of the virus, as people refer to it, and massive unemployment, is being spoken of as the twin crises in capitalism. Not that the capitalists are terribly concerned, as the stock market is soaring. It is breaking records, almost on a daily basis! The profits have never been higher! The billionaires, the super rich, the bourgeoisie, have never been more wealthy! Money just keeps pouring in! Who cares about the lowlifes who are whining about being hungry? As the queen of France once joked, if the common people have no bread, let them eat cake!
On the other hand, the suffering of the vast majority of people has reached tremendous proportions. Hunger is widespread, with the food banks running out of food. Ever more people are homeless, forced to live on the streets. The more ”fortunate” are able to find shelter in a vehicle. Others are sleeping under bridges. Very few have medical insurance, therefore no medical coverage. Healthy or not, they are on their own.
Yet the revolutionary motion is now in high gear. Countless working people, those who were formerly apathetic, are now taking an interest in politics. As they put it, they have ”woken up”. In various parts of the country, those same people are becoming active, forming ”Autonomous Zones”, as they put it, or merely zones. In those areas, the citizens are feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing those who are cold, poverty stricken, as well as providing medical attention to the sick and injured. The only manner in which the government is involved, includes attempts to shut down these social welfare zones!
At the same time, the government is in a state of deadlock. The two mainstream political parties have an almost equal number of politicians in Washington. President Biden is a Democrat, so that any legislation he suggests, is opposed by the Republicans. Perhaps the only thing the Republicans can agree upon, is the fact that they must oppose the Democrats.
The Republican Party, or the Grand Old Party, GOP, as they refer to themselves, is at the point of disintegration. Among the rank and file, which is to say the voters who are registered as Republicans, the vast majority think the ”election has been stolen”. They are convinced that Biden is a ”phoney” president, that Trump is the true president, as he really won the election. Even several months after the election, they are not giving up!
In the state of Arizona, which Trump ”lost” to Biden, the Republican voters are paying a private company to do a manual recount of the ballots. After all, the former personal lawyer to Trump, has demonstrated precisely the manner in which elections are ”rigged”, which is to say falsified. As he is the former mayor of New York city, it is very likely that he speaks from experience!
The leaders of the Republican Party are deeply concerned. That includes the current leaders, those who are, as yet, still in Washington, as well as those who were forced out. They think that the GOP is at a ”turning point”, that the ”Big lie” is a threat to democracy, that to challenge the election results ”will do profound long term damage to our party”, that it ”could create insurgency within our Party”. They consider this to be a ”threat to democracy”, that the ”failure to accept the election results can open a can of worms”. They also maintain that ”our democracy relies on two parties”.
Remarkably enough, there is some truth in all this. The ”big lie” is a reference to the fact that Biden won the election, at least officially. The democracy to which they are referring is their democracy, the democracy of the capitalists, the billionaires, the super rich, the bourgeoisie. Indeed, that democracy relies on the two party system, which has served them well, since the days of the Civil War. Now, not so much. The ”can of worms” to which they are referring, is the strong possibility that Trump may have won the election! If that can be proven, then the public uproar will be intense. Without doubt, the conditions are indeed ripe for a successful revolution.
Lenin stated this quite clearly, in summing up the experience of the three Russian revolutions:
”The fundamental law of revolution, which has been confirmed by all revolutions and especially by all three Russian revolutions in the twentieth century, is as follows: for a revolution to take place it is not enough for the exploited and oppressed masses to realize the impossibility of living in the old way, and demand changes; for a revolution to take place it is essential that the exploiters should not be able to live and rule in the old way. It is only when the ‘lower classes’ do not want to live in the old way and the ‘upper classes’ cannot carry on in the old way, that the revolution can triumph. This truth can be expressed in other words: revolution is impossible without a nation wide crisis (affecting both the exploited and the exploiters). It follows that, for a revolution to take place, it is essential first, that a majority of the workers (or at least a majority of the class conscious, thinking, and politically active workers) should fully realize that revolution is necessary, and that they should be prepared to die for it; second that the ruling classes should be going through a governmental crisis, which draws even the most backward masses into politics (symptomatic of any genuine revolution is a rapid, tenfold and even hundred fold increase in the size of the working and oppressed masses-hitherto apathetic-who are capable of waging the political struggle), weakens the government, and makes it possible for the revolutionaries to rapidly overthrow it.” (italics by Lenin)
I have chosen to quote this passage at length, as it is so vitally important. It is clear that the current situation in America is similar to the situation in Russia, 1917, on the eve of the first great proletarian socialist revolution. The American working class indeed realizes the ”impossibility of living in the old way”, and they certainly ”demand change”. As well, the ”upper classes”, in this case the capitalists, ”cannot carry on in the old way”!
In the interest of raising the level of awareness of the working class, and thereby furthering the revolution, may I suggest that all working people join the two parties, Democrats and Republicans, as card carrying members. For those who prefer to join merely one party, may I suggest the Republican Party. After all, those people are deeply depressed, ”singing the blues”. The least we can do is cheer them up!
As the capitalists are so concerned with the two party system, perhaps the polite thing to do is to assist them in propping up the two parties. All working people, especially all registered Republicans, can join the Republican Party. This massive influx of ”new blood” will bring the party together. The days of division will soon be over! The Republicans can then chart a new course, united by countless working people! Those same working people can also join the Democratic Party! The capitalists will maintain the two party system, and cheer and joy, good will to all, will spread to all corners of the country!
Those who believe that little fairy tale are the same simple minded souls who buy bridges!
On a serious note, it is necessary to respect the beliefs of all common people. That includes the rank and file, registered members of the Republican Party. The same is true of the Democratic Party. Both parties serve the same class. Their masters, the capitalists, prepare the speeches for the leaders of each party, to be spoken for the entertainment of the common people. To deceive the working people, in this way, is their preferred method of rule.
This is not to say that we should respect the leaders of the two parties, as those leaders serve the capitalists.
At the same time, it is perhaps safe to say that a great many voters (perhaps the majority?) still have a measure of faith in the two part system, even to the extent of being registered members of one of the parties. Such citizens tend to be honest, law abiding, tax paying Americans, precisely the people we want to persuade of the correctness of our policy. In the process of becoming card carrying members of one, or both, of the parties, and attempting to ”change the system from within”, they will learn, from their own experience, that the capitalists are in charge and fully intend to remain in charge!
It is up to conscious people, Communists, to patiently explain to such honest citizens, that the capitalists are, first and foremost, a pack of liars. They are responsible for both the financial crisis, the depression, and the virus. As long as the capitalists remain in power, nothing of substance will change. It is only through socialism, with the working class, the proletariat, in charge, that real change can be enacted. Further, the capitalists can only be overthrown through revolution.
As working people join the two parties and attempt to enact various reforms, they will learn, from their own experience, that we are right. This should serve as valuable training for the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.
Gerald McIsaac Science Project 