Concerning the Necessity of Smashing the Existing State Apparatus

It is a basic tenet of Marxism, that immediately after the ”Insurrection”, the existing state apparatus must be smashed, and replaced with a different state apparatus, in the form of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. Why is that? Further, how is it that the ”social chauvinists” are so dead set opposed to this?

As I am writing this article for the benefit of those who are just now becoming politically active, it is first necessary to explain a few technical terms. We can start with the term ”social chauvinist”, which is a reference to a person who claims to be a Marxist, but denies the necessity of smashing the existing state apparatus, and then replacing it with a different state apparatus, in the form of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. Such people are also referred to as ”revisionists”, which is to say that they are determined to revise the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin. The revisionists would have us believe that those two great revolutionaries were nothing more than gifted reformers!

We must stress that these ”social chauvinists”, otherwise known as Marxist revisionists, are not to be confused with those who consider themselves to be Social Democrats or Democratic Socialists or just plain Socialists. We have no quarrel with such people, as they are the natural and desirable allies of the working class, the proletariat. They are our brothers and sisters, our comrades. Our goal is to unite with such people, in their struggle for reforms and general improvements in the living and working standard of the proletariat.

On the other hand, the revisionists, those who claim to be Marxists, but seek to revise the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin, to transform those revolutionary theories into a liberal program of democratic reform, are nothing other than agents of the capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie. As they are devoted servants of the billionaires, they are the enemies of the proletariat. Their goal is to divert the revolutionary motion onto some harmless path of social reform. For that reason, we must have nothing to do with them.

This brings me to the term ”Insurrection”, which is referred to as the rather short interval of time in which the classes in revolt, in our case the proletariat, rises up and attempts to overthrow the government which is crushing it.

In the case of a spontaneous uprising, the chances of the insurrection being successful are not that great. Yet if the insurrection is well planned and coordinated, with the key bridges, highways, water ways, tunnels, railroads and communications networks shut down, then it has every chance of success.

A very clear cut example of this is provided by the Russian Revolution of November 7 (new style calendar), 1917. On that day, the Russian government, which served the capitalists, and was led by the allegedly ”socialist” minister Kerensky, was overthrown. But then the insurrection was well planned and executed.

As the insurrection was led by Lenin, the first order of business was to smash the existing state apparatus, and replace it with a new state apparatus, with the goal of crushing the capitalists, in their frenzied attempts to restore their ”paradise lost”. This new state apparatus is referred to as the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

In modern terms, our existing state apparatus includes the presidency and his Cabinet, among other things. The members of the Cabinet are perhaps the ultimate bureaucrats, not elected but with great power. As well, there are numerous people who are placed in charge of various government agencies, all appointed by the president. These government postings are ”political plums”, rewards to the ”party faithful” for their years of faithful service. All such agencies have been established with the express purpose of crushing the working class. As that is the case, they must be destroyed.

Other institutions have also been set up, in order to keep the ”lower classes” in their ”proper place”. The prisons have proven to be quite useful, to the point of being most profitable. It was simply a matter of changing the name to ”correctional facility”, and handing them over to the capitalists. The idea is that the inmates are to be ”corrected”, shown the error of their ways, so that they can be sent back into society as proud, tax paying, law abiding citizens. Fat chance!

In fact, these criminals are provided with free room and board, clothing, recreation, entertainment, medical, dental, vision and professional councillors. All at tax payer expense! They also receive a valuable education in a life of crime! The life long inmates teach them the finer points of banditry! Not that it matters to the capitalists, because the more people who are in prison, the higher the profit!

These, among many others, are parts of the ”state apparatus” that has to be smashed. It has been set up by the tiny minority of capitalists, in order to crush the vast majority of working people. So how is it that the social chauvinists are so dead set opposed to their destruction? Because they have their own agenda!

The social chauvinists, the revisionists, tend to be well educated. As such, they are supremely well aware of the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin. Yet there is a big difference between being aware of those theories and applying them! They know the revolution is about to happen, and have plans for this. Those plans do not involve smashing the state apparatus! On the contrary, at the time of the insurrection, they plan to take control of the existing state apparatus, and set themselves up as the new rulers!

Lenin made that quite clear in his book, State and Revolution. It was written in the spring and summer of 1917, in preparation for the approaching socialist Russian Revolution. As that is the case, it is of the utmost importance, just as relevant today, as it was then.

He explained that the first attempt of workers, to establish their own government, did not take place until the spring of 1871. At that time, the workers in Paris, France, revolted and established the Paris Commune. It was only in existence for a few weeks, quickly crushed by the capitalists, yet provided Marx with the information he needed. The lessons, provided by the Paris Commune, were so important, that he and Engels decided that it was necessary to correct the Communist Manifesto. As they phrased it, ”One thing especially was proven by the Commune, viz., that the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready made state machine and wield it for its own purposes”. Marx went on to stress the importance of smashing the existing state machine.

The workers who took part in the Paris Commune tried to take over the existing state machine, and use it for their own purposes. That was a huge mistake, as they effectively set themselves up as the new rulers. For that reason, Marx stressed the importance of destroying the existing state machine.

That mistake is of particular importance now, as the American empire is set to break apart, just as the Russian empire broke apart in 1917. Just as numerous socialist republics declared independence from Russia, so too several American republics will soon follow suit.

The fact is that no less than three separate republics have already taken shape, within the borders of the continental United States. This includes seven states on the east coast, seven states in the industrial heart land of the midwest, and three states on the west coast. As I have documented this in other writings, there is no need to go into detail. Suffice it to say that at the time they separate and declare themselves to be independent socialist republics, each will have to smash the existing state apparatus. Otherwise, those who are leading the revolution will merely set themselves up as the new rulers! Out of the frying pan, into the fire!

It may be objected that the newly created, independent republics may not be socialist at all, but a new form of ”enlightened” capitalism. To such starry eyed optimists, I can only respond that capitalism is capitalism, capitalists are capitalists, and to use the words ”enlightened” and ”capitalism” in the same sentence is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. The one and only goal of the capitalists is to make as much of a profit as possible, at the expense of the working class. Mind you, there is something to be said for repeating our mistakes, in the sense of setting up a new capitalist independent republic: It is the very height of stupidity!

Of course, the astute reader may well wonder, What Is To Supersede The Smashed State Machine? In fact, Lenin devoted a whole section of his book to that question. He then proceeded to quote Marx, at some length, as he considered it to be of such vital importance:

”The Commune was formed of the municipal councillors, chosen by universal suffrage in the various wards of the town, responsible and revocable at short terms. The majority of its members were naturally working men, or acknowledged representatives of the working class….Instead of continuing to be the agent of the Central Government, the police was at once stripped of its political attributes, and turned into the responsible and at all times revocable agent of the Commune. So were the officials of all other branches of the administration. From the members of the Commune downwards, the public service had to be done at workingmen’s wages. The vested interests and the representative allowances of the high dignitaries of state disappeared along with the high dignitaries themselves..

”Having once got rid of the standing army and the police, the political force elements of the old government, the Commune was anxious to break the spiritual force of repression, the ‘parson power’…

”The judicial functionaries were to be divested of their (sham) independence… Like the rest of the public servants, magistrates and judges were to be elective, responsible and revocable”.

No wonder the social chauvinists are so dead set against smashing the existing state machine, and setting up the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat! They are determined to set themselves up as the new rulers! The best way to do that is by taking over the existing state apparatus, and using it for their own purposes! That simply cannot be done, under the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat! The last thing they want to do is work for the wages of workers! And the very idea of being held accountable and revocable! Such heretical thoughts never occurred to any capitalist!

Under the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, bandits will not be ”mollycoddled”, to use a popular expression. We cannot force anyone to abide by the law, but we can make everyone wish they had! Those who choose to break our laws will be put to work. As their skills tend to be limited to thievery, perhaps such tasks as building railroads is something they can handle.

In short, the experience of the Paris Commune showed us that the democracy of the capitalists, bourgeois democracy, can and must be transformed into proletarian democracy. This is referred to the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

This new state apparatus is still necessary, after the revolution, as classes will continue to exist. The resistance of the capitalists will increase ten fold, as they will be in a frenzy of hatred! They will be desperate to restore their ”paradise lost”! The idea that the working class might rise up and overthrow them, has never occurred to any billionaire! They are prepared to stoop to any depth, to any subterfuge, in their quest to return to power. Hence the necessity for the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

One of the reasons for the failure of the Paris Commune is the fact that it did not suppress the resistance of the capitalists, or at least it did not crush them with sufficient enthusiasm. For that matter, the same can be said of the working people of Russia and China, in that after the socialist revolution in each country, they did not sufficiently crush their capitalists. As a result of this, capitalism has been restored in those countries.

This is no reason for despair on our part. It is merely up to us to learn from their mistakes. No doubt the working people of those countries will soon, once again, rise in revolt. They have done it before, they will do it again. Only next time, we can count on them doing a proper job of crushing the capitalists! At that time, the capitalists of both Russia and China will learn the true meaning of the term, Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

Perhaps it is best to go into a little detail. After the death of Stalin, the Russian capitalists were able to return to power. It is to the credit of the Chinese Communists that they took action, in order to prevent a similar restoration of power, by the Chinese capitalists. That action took the form of the Great Cultural Revolution.

To once again clarify the situation, we can face the fact that ”mass motions” take place under socialism, just as they do under capitalism. I refer to this as an Act of God, although most social scientists have a different name for this. To each his own. The point is that the common people of China, which is to say the workers and peasants, were in motion, around the year 1960. The response of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was without precedent. The order was given that the police and military were to keep out of this, except in cases of murder, rape or arson.

Perhaps it would be helpful to compare this response, of the Chinese Communist Party, to the response, by the various capitalist governments, to the Occupy Movement, of recent memory. Or perhaps ”compare” is not the appropriate word, as there is no comparison. The Occupy Movement spread to a great many countries of the world, all of whom are capitalist, and in each case, the response was the same: It was crushed, with varying degrees of brutality.

Yet the fact remains that the Cultural Revolution raged for ten years. During that time, the common people of China were schooled in the class struggle. For that reason, Chairman Mao was of the opinion that any restoration of capitalism, in China, would not last long. As he put it, ”at worst, several decades”. It has been several decades since the capitalists managed to return to power in China, so the country is overdue for a revolution.

That being said, the fact remains that the ten year Cultural Revolution was just that, Cultural. True, the capitalists were hiding in various fields of culture. It is also a fact that they were also hiding in various fields of science. The Revolution merely touched upon science. Most of the capitalists, who were hiding in science, were not affected. That is at least part of the reason the Chinese capitalists were able to return to power. The Cultural Revolution did not go far enough.

The current generation of young Chinese Communists are going to have to face the fact, no matter how unpleasant, that their parents and grandparents failed to ask the peasants a few key questions. Such as: Describe the dragon! This despite the fact that the Chinese have named one of the years after the dragon! The Year of the Dragon! It was a serious oversight.

As is well known, I maintain that the ”dragon” is nothing other than the pterosaur, commonly referred to as the pterodactyl. There are numerous other animals which I have identified, including the ”lake monster”, which is the ”walking whale”, basilosaurus. Then there is the not so little matter of ”water witching”. That is a mere selection of numerous details, of which the peasants are well aware, yet rarely mention. It just never occurs to the peasants that the scientists are interested in these things!

Of course, we are entitled to our wildlife, as it is part of our heritage. It should come as no great surprise to anyone that the capitalists are denying us our heritage. It is also a fact that the process known as ”water witching”, can be modified to generate an abundant supply of electricity. Yet that is secondary to the fact that, during the Cultural Revolution, the capitalists were able to hide, in various fields of science.

As the capitalists, in those fields of science, were not being challenged and exposed, they were able to get together and plot the best way to return to power. They too have their leaders! So they just bided their time, waiting for the correct moment to strike. Immediately after the death of Chairman Mao, they made their move.

The point is that the people taking part in the Cultural Revolution, managed to overlook the obvious. Perhaps it is because the scientists are held in such high regard, almost universally admired and respected. In popular terms, this is referred to as being placed ”on a pedestal”. No one should be ”placed on a pedestal”, if for no other reason than that we are all human, and we all make mistakes.

That in no way changes the fact that the people taking part in the Cultural Revolution, failed to attack a particular group of capitalists, those who were hiding in science. This may be acceptable for common people, the members of the public, but not for true Marxists, the members of the Chinese Communist Party.

Professional people must be held to a higher standard. That includes the scientists, regardless of the field of expertise. Of course, I am referring to the social sciences. In other words, scientific socialists, true Marxists, Communists, must hold themselves, and each other, to a high standard.

If that statement sounds harsh, it is only because it is harsh. The class struggle calls for harsh measures! The capitalists must not be allowed any peace! To put it is popular terms, if they are ”keeping a low profile”, ”out of sight, out of mind”, then it is only because ”thieves love darkness”! Thieves do not advertise the burglaries they are planning to commit!

In much the same way, after the revolution, we can expect the capitalists to plot and scheme in secret! They are not to be under estimated! They succeeded in restoring capitalism in Russia and China! We must not allow that to happen in America!

To put it in military terms, after the revolution, after they are overthrown, the capitalists will ”retreat and regroup”. They will then attempt to ”counter attack”. This must not be allowed. No mercy! Once we have them ”on the ropes”, ”down but not out”, then that is the time to ”put the boots to them!” (If you will excuse the mixed metaphors.)

At no point have the capitalists ever shown the working people any mercy. We must be every bit as merciless to the capitalists, as they are to us. They must be crushed, destroyed! We must not allow them any opportunity to challenge our authority!

This is not to say that we should go to extremes, as the French revolutionaries did, in the Great French Revolution of 1789. Bear in mind that the death penalty is to be used only as an absolute last resort. It is not a matter of being merciful to the capitalists. It is simply a matter of facing the fact that once people are dead, they can no longer be the slightest bit useful.

These facts must be explained to common people, the workers of America. The vast majority are honest, law abiding, tax paying, proud citizens. As such, they tend to think the best of all others. That includes the capitalists. We must be supremely patient with common people, respecting their beliefs. At the same time, we must explain to them that the capitalists are highly skilled liars.

That does not apply to ”Marxists”, those who are aware of the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin, Communists. We must hold such people to a higher standard. Shoddy work must not be tolerated.

No doubt there are some Communists who will take these remarks as a personal insult. It is not meant to be personal, but such a defensive response, on the part of certain people, is to be expected. Yet that is no reason to remain silent, as certain things just have to be said. We must not repeat the mistakes of the Chinese Communists! We must be critical of ourselves and each other!

It is the members of the Communist Party who lead the common people. For that reason we demand more from them. They provide the first line of defence against the capitalists. Membership is voluntary, but comes with a great deal of responsibility. In particular, in the past, it was up to the Communist Party members, of both Russia and China, to prevent the capitalists from returning to power. In this they failed. We must learn from their mistakes, so that we can avoid repeating them.

With that in mind, it is necessary for the Party to conduct periodic purges, to get ”rid of the driftwood”, to cleanse the Party of those who have perhaps lost their enthusiasm. Then there are those who have weaselled their way into the Party, for personal reasons. Both types must be removed from the Party.

The importance of periodic purges must be stressed. For example, immediately before the Russian revolution of November 7, 1917, the Russian Communist Party conducted a purge. At that time, a number of fine Communists were removed from the Party. It was suspected that at the time of the Insurrection, they were likely to lose their nerve. Hence the purge.

It would appear that we have come a long way from the beginning of the article, in which we referred to smashing the existing state apparatus, immediately after the revolution, and so we have. Yet the fact remains that such an action was merely the first step, the beginning of the creation of a new state apparatus:

The Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.