Allow me to start this article, by stressing the fact that now is the time for revolutionary actions, not reformist actions. The current ruling class of monopoly capitalists, the multi billionaires, technically referred to as the bourgeoisie, are determined to abolish the democratic republic, and establish the rule of ‘’those most qualified to rule’’, an ‘’Oligarchy’’, by whom they of course mean themselves. They must be overthrown, the existing state apparatus must be smashed, and replaced with a different state apparatus, in the form of Soviet Power and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Absolutely and without doubt, that calls for revolutionary action, and not the paltry reforms which so many social chauvinists are demanding.
Having said that, it is also a fact that there is a time and a place for reforms. That time is after the Scientific Socialist revolution, as the victorious proletariat attempts to build a new socialist society.
Lenin covered this in an article written in November of 1921, four years after the successful Scientific Socialist October Revolution of 1917. It was titled:
THE IMPORTANCE OF GOLD NOW AND AFTER THE COMPLETE VICTORY OF SOCIALISM
Lenin: ‘’What is new for our revolution, at the present time, is the need for a ‘reformist’, gradual, cautious and roundabout approach, to the solution of the fundamental problems of economic development. This ‘novelty’ gives rise to a number of questions, perplexities and doubts, in both theory and practice.
‘’A theoretical question. How can we explain the transition from a series of extremely revolutionary actions, to extremely ‘reformist’ actions, in the same field, at a time when the revolution as a whole is making victorious progress? Does it not imply a ‘surrender of positions’, an ‘admission of defeat’, or something of that sort? Of course, our enemies… say that it does. They would not be enemies if they did not shout something of the sort on every pretext, and even without any pretext. The touching unanimity that prevails on this question among all parties, from the feudal reactionaries to the Mensheviks, is only further proof that all these parties constitute ‘one reactionary mass’, opposed to the proletarian revolution…
‘’But there is ‘perplexity’, shall we say, among friends, too.
‘’Restore large scale industry, organize the direct exchange of its goods for the produce of small peasant farming, and thus assist the socialization of the latter. For the purpose of restoring large scale industry, borrow from the peasants a certain quantity of foodstuffs and raw materials by requisitioning- this was the plan (or method, system) that we followed for more than three years, up to the spring of 1921. This was a revolutionary approach to the problem- to break up the old social economic system completely, at one stroke, and to substitute a new one for it.’’
In the preceding, Lenin documented a revolutionary approach to the problem of ‘restoring large scale industry’. As I have documented in a previous article, it was necessary, immediately after the October Revolution, to separate the family farmers of all their surplus, and even part of their necessities, in order to provide the workers and army with the bare necessities. But once the White Army was defeated, the Civil War was over, so that the situation had changed dramatically. That, in turn, called for a different approach, one that was not revolutionary, but reformist.
Lenin: ‘’Since the spring of 1921, instead of this approach, plan, method, or mode of action, we have been adopting… a totally different approach, a reformist type of method: not to break up the old social economic system- trade, petty production, petty proprietorship, capitalism- but to revive trade, petty proprietorship, capitalism, while cautiously and gradually getting the upper hand over them, or making it possible to subject them to state regulation, only to the extent that they revive.
‘’That is an entirely different approach to the problem.
‘’Compared to the previous revolutionary approach, it is a reformist approach (revolution is a change which breaks the old order to its very foundations, and not one that cautiously, slowly and gradually remodels it, taking care to break as little as possible).’’ (italics by Lenin)
Under the exceptional circumstances which existed, within Soviet Russia, immediately after the successful Scientific Socialist October Revolution of 1917, it was necessary to ‘’revive capitalism’’, while making sure it was ‘’subject to state regulation’’. That called for certain reforms.
Lenin: ‘’The question that arises is this. If, after trying revolutionary methods, you find they have failed, and adopt reformist methods, does it not prove that you are declaring the revolution to have been a mistake in general? Does it not prove that you should not have started with the revolution, but should have started with reforms and confined yourselves to them?
‘’That is the conclusion which the Mensheviks and others like them have drawn. But this conclusion is either sophistry, a mere fraud perpetrated by case hardened politicians, or it is the childishness of political tyros. The greatest, perhaps the only danger to the genuine revolutionary, is that of exaggerated revolutionism, ignoring the limits and conditions in which revolutionary methods are appropriate, and can be successfully employed. True revolutionaries have mostly come a cropper when they began to write ‘revolution’ with a capital R, to elevate ‘revolution’, to something almost divine, to lose their heads, to lose the ability to reflect, weigh and ascertain, in the coolest and most dispassionate manner, at what moment, under what circumstances and in which sphere of action you must act in a revolutionary manner, and at what moment, under what circumstances and in which sphere, you must turn to reformist action. True revolutionaries will perish (not that they will be defeated from outside, but that their work will suffer internal collapse) only if they abandon their sober outlook and take it into their heads that the ‘great, victorious, world’ revolution can and must solve all problems in a revolutionary manner, under all circumstances, and in all spheres of action. If they do this, their doom is certain.
‘’Whoever gets such ideas into his head is lost, because he has foolish ideas about a fundamental problem; and in a fierce war (and revolution is the fiercest sort of war) the penalty for folly is defeat.’’
Here we have another example of ‘’Left Wing Communism’’, in which well meaning communists ‘’exaggerate the importance of revolutionism’’, while ignoring the ‘’limits and conditions in which revolutionary methods are appropriate, and can be successfully employed’’. There are times when reformist methods are called for, especially after the revolution, under Soviet Power and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Yet the deep passions aroused by revolutions can give rise to sentiments which cloud their ‘’sober outlook’’, resulting in misguided beliefs in ‘’revolutionary actions’’, as a solution to all problems. This invariably leads to ‘’defeat’’.
In my opinion, this was one of the mistakes committed by the Chinese Communists, which led to their defeat, and the return to power of the capitalists. We must be careful not to become too infatuated with revolution, not to spell it with a capital R, not to consider revolution as something ‘’divine’’, but as a tool to be used, when appropriate.
On the other hand, certain words and expressions should be emphasized, with capital letters, when appropriate. Bear in mind that in 1891, Engels wrote an introduction to the work by Marx, titled The Civil War In France. He chose to write the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, with that capitalization, as a means of stressing the importance of that fundamental tenet of Marxism. May I suggest that a similar punctuation be adopted with Soviet Power and Scientific Socialism, as a means of stressing their importance. This may help to raise the level of awareness of the working class.
Lenin: ‘’What grounds are there for assuming that the ‘great, victorious, world’ revolution, can and must employ only revolutionary methods? There are none at all. The assumption is a pure fallacy; this can be proved by purely theoretical propositions, if we stick to Marxism. The experience of our revolution also shows that it is a fallacy. From the theoretical point of view- foolish things are done in time of revolution, just at any other time, said Engels, and he was right. We must try to do as few foolish things as possible, and rectify those that are done as quickly as possible, and we must, as soberly as we can, estimate which problems can be solved by revolutionary methods, at any given time, and which cannot. From the point of view of our practical experience, the Brest peace was an example of action that was not revolutionary at all; it was reformist, and even worse, because it was a retreat, whereas as a general rule, reformist action advances slowly, cautiously, gradually, and does not move backward. The proof that our tactics in concluding the Brest peace were correct is now so complete, so obvious to all and generally admitted, that there is no need to say any more about it.’’
The ‘’Brest peace’’ is a reference to the Treaty of Brest- Litovsk, by which Soviet Russia secured a peace treaty with Germany and the Central Powers, and exited the First World War. It came at a very high price, in that Russia lost a third of her population, half of her industry and almost all of her coal mines. Yet the alternative was complete defeat.
Lenin: ‘’It is not enough to be a revolutionary and an adherent of socialism or communism in general. You must be able, at each particular moment, to find the particular link in the chain, which you must grasp, with all your might, in order to hold the whole chain, and to prepare for the transition to the next link; the order of the links, their form, the manner in which they are linked together, their difference from each other in the historical chain of events are not as simple and not as senseless as those in an ordinary chain, made by a smith’’.
This is referred to as the ‘’key link’’ in the chain. Of course, the ‘’chain’’ is a reference to the political situation, which changes constantly, so that the key link also changes. Incidentally, the preceding paragraph is one which I would like to see in poster form, as I consider it to be of the utmost importance.
This ‘’begs the question’’: What is the current ‘’key link’’? As our current situation closely resembles the situation in Russia, immediately before the October Revolution of 1917, it stands to reason that the ‘’key link’’ today, is the same as the ‘’key link’’ of Russia, at that time.
In the article by Lenin, titled Left Wing Communism, An Infantile Disorder, written three years after the October Revolution of 1917, he stressed the importance of certain fundamental tenets of Marxism: ‘’The chief thing- though, of course, far from everything- the chief thing, has already been achieved: the vanguard of the working class has been won over, has ranged itself on the side of Soviet government and against parliamentarianism, on the side of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, and against bourgeois democracy.’’
The ‘’chief thing’’ now, or the ‘’key link’’, is to ‘’win over’’ the ‘’vanguard of the proletariat’’, to the side of ‘’Soviet Power’’ and the ‘’Dictatorship of the Proletariat’’, against ‘’bourgeois democracy’’. At the same time, it amounts to drawing a clear distinction between ourselves, communists, and all utopian socialists. The best way to do that is to stress the fact that we are Scientific Socialists, hence the capitalization.
It is only after the ‘’vanguard of the proletariat’’ is ‘’won over’’, so that they embrace Soviet Power and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, that we can proceed to the ‘’next step’’. In that same article, Lenin outlined the ‘’next step’’. Allow me to stress the fact that this article was written three years after the October Revolution.
Lenin: ‘’All efforts and all attention should now be concentrated on the next step, which may seem- and from a certain viewpoint actually is- less fundamental, but on the other hand, is actually closer to a practical accomplishment of the task. That step is: the search after forms of the transition or the approach to the proletarian revolution.
‘’The proletarian vanguard has been won over ideologically. That is the main thing. Without this, not even the first step towards victory can be made. But that is still quite a long way from victory. Victory cannot be won with a vanguard alone. To throw only the vanguard into the decisive battle, before the entire class, the broad masses, have taken up a position, either of direct support for the vanguard, or at least of sympathetic neutrality towards it, and of precluded support for the enemy, would be, not merely foolish but criminal. Propaganda and agitation alone are not enough for an entire class, the broad masses of the working people, those oppressed by capital, to take up such a stand. For that, the masses must have their own political experience. Such is the fundamental law of all great revolutions….To turn resolutely towards communism, it was necessary…to realize from their own bitter experience, the absolute impotence and spinelessness, the absolute helplessness and servility to the bourgeoisie…they had to realize that a dictatorship of the extreme reactionaries…is inevitably the only alternative to the Dictatorship of the Proletariat’’. (italics by Lenin)
As regards our current situation, it is reasonable to assume that the most advanced workers are certainly at least open to the ideas of Scientific Socialism, even if they have not embraced those basic tenets of Marxism. But then they have not been exposed to those revolutionary theories. It is up to intellectuals, whether working class or middle class, to bring the awareness of the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin, to the working class. Or to phrase it in popular terms, ‘’the ball is in our court’’.
On the other hand, it is also ‘’reasonable to assume’’ that the ‘’less advanced workers’’, the ‘’broad masses’’, are not in ‘’direct support of the vanguard’’, or even in a ‘’position of sympathetic neutrality’’. For the vast majority of common people, ‘’propaganda and agitation’’ alone, are ‘’not enough’’. They require their own ‘’political experience’’.
Lenin: ‘’As long as it was (and inasmuch as it still is) a question of winning the proletariat’s vanguard over to the side of communism, priority went and still goes to propaganda work….But when it is a question of practical action by the masses, of the disposition, if one may so put it, of vast armies, of the alignment of all the class forces in a given society for the final and decisive battle, then propagandist methods alone, the mere repetition of the truths of ‘pure’ communism, are of no avail. In these circumstances, one must not count in thousands…one must count in millions and tens of millions. In these circumstances, we must ask ourselves, not only whether we have convinced the vanguard of the revolutionary class, but also whether the historically effective forces of all classes- positively of all classes in a given society, without exception- are arrayed in such a way that the decisive battle is at hand- in such a way that: 1) all the class forces hostile to us have become sufficiently entangled, are sufficiently at loggerheads with each other, have sufficiently weakened themselves in a struggle which is beyond their strength; 2) all the vacillating and unstable, intermediate elements- the petty bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeois democrats, as distinct from the bourgeoisie- have sufficiently exposed themselves in the eyes of the people, have sufficiently disgraced themselves, through their practical bankruptcy, and 3) among the proletariat, a mass movement favouring the most determined, bold and dedicated revolutionary action against the bourgeoisie, has emerged and begun to grow vigourously. Then revolution is indeed ripe; then, indeed, if we have correctly gauged all the conditions indicated and summarized above, and if we have chosen the right moment, our victory is assured.’’ (italics by Lenin)
Now it is a matter of convincing the vast majority of working people, and not merely the most advanced workers, of the correctness of our position. That requires ‘’practical action’’, on the part of ‘’millions and tens of millions’’ of workers, as such people are not impressed by propaganda alone. In previous articles, I have suggested such ‘’practical action’’, in great detail, to there is no need to go into it here, in any great detail. But perhaps a brief summary is in order.
I have identified twelve huge species, which the scientists insist are extinct. They are not extinct, and the directions for locating those animals are clear and simple. Workers who take part in proving their existence, will take part in a major scientific breakthrough, thus building up their confidence and exposing the incompetence of the scientists, those who take great delight in kowtowing to the members of the Oligarchy class.
Several of these animals are commonly referred to as ‘’Lake Monsters’’. Perhaps the most famous such ‘’Monster’’ is that of ‘’Nessie’’, the ‘’Loch Ness Monster’’. As well, the most famous ‘’Monster’’ in North America is commonly referred to as ‘’Ogopogo’’, the animal in Okanagan Lake. As there is a reported two million dollar reward for proving the existence of this animal, that should provide more than sufficient motivation for proving that it exist.
This brings us to an animal which is most wide spread, located on all six continents. In most parts of the world, it is referred to as a ‘’dragon’’. The Chinese have even named a year after this animal. Quite reasonably, they call it the Year of the Dragon. It is also mentioned in the bible, and for hundreds of years, scholars have speculated on the identity of this animal. They can quit speculating, as the animal in question is a pterosaur, commonly referred to as a pterodactyl. It is also famous for releasing a so called ‘’cloud of smoke’’, which is not smoke, but poison gas. It uses this poison gas to kill livestock, including cattle and horses. It then rips the flesh from the face, genitals and tears out the large intestine. It prefers to prey upon the males, for obvious reasons.
In America, the FBI has seen this so often, they refuse to respond to any such complaints. Not that it is a matter for any law enforcement agency, as no laws have been broken, but this does not resolve the problem. So I am suggesting that workers draw out a sample of blood, from the carcass of an animal which has been killed and mutilated, and send that sample to a lab, to determine the poison gas that was used to kill the animal. As well, swab around the wound sites, and send those swabs to the lab also, for a DNA test. Or better yet, three labs, as the results will certainly be contested. Those labs will confirm that it is the DNA of a reptile, an animal not known to science. Then it is a matter of opening up an old logging road, referred to as the ‘’Ten Thousand Road’’, because the caves in those mountains, which are the nesting ground of the pterodactyl, open up onto that Road.
In this way, workers will take part in a major scientific breakthrough. Their self confidence will increase, as well as their class awareness, as they realize that the scientists are aware of the existence of these animals, but remain silent, so as not to offend the monopoly capitalists, the multi billionaires, the bourgeoisie, the members of the Oligarchy class.
This brings us to ‘’Gigantopithecus’’, the largest species of ape ever to walk the earth, and still does. They are bipedal apes, which means that they walk on two legs, and have the opposable thumb, which means that they are able to touch their finger tips, with their thumb. As all species of human have been, and are now, bipedal apes, complete with the opposable thumb, it means that they are human. What is more, they live among us, here in North America.
They are commonly referred to as ‘’Sasquatch’’ or ‘’Bigfoot’’, although I refer to them as ‘’Giants’’, for obvious reasons. They generally make a supreme effort to avoid us, because they know what a vicious bunch we are.
The exception is that of the First Nations people, whom they trust. For that reason, the Giants go onto the beaches of the Reserves on the West Coast, after sundown. At that time, the people who live on the Reserves stay off the beach.
My suggestion is that workers get in touch with the Chief and Council of a Reserve, arrange a meeting with the Elders, and explain that we want to prove the Giants exist, so as to pass laws to protect them. The best way to do this is to place food and gifts on the beach, just before sundown. Gifts can include steel mirrors, cosmetics, and burlap bags. As they trust the First Nations people, we can expect them to respond, sooner rather than later.
On the ‘’political front’’, so to speak, may I suggest that workers join the two mainstream political parties, as card carrying members, and run for office, if only against themselves. The experience gained will convince them, and their supporters, that the ruling class of monopoly capitalists are in charge, and fully intend to remain in charge.
Also on that same ‘’political front’’, may I suggest that workers hire, or better yet persuade, an attorney, an expert on Constitutional law, to challenge the 2024 Presidential Election, on the grounds that it was Unconstitutional, as it did not follow the procedure outlined in the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution. Bear in mind that our goal is to raise the level of awareness of the working class. Should this challenge result in the removal from office of Trump and Pence, that is to be regarded as a mere bonus.
It is also a fact that Councils, otherwise known as Soviets, have also made an appearance. These Councils are a spontaneous creation of the working class, and make a point in assisting working people, in various ways. Not all of these ways are strictly within the ‘’letter of the law’’. In fact, some of them are down right illegal. These may include arming, equipping and training workers, for the approaching insurrection, which will ‘’kick off’’ the Second American Revolution.
In the interests of learning the fundamentals of Scientific Socialism, may I suggest either buying or downloading, from the internet, the Essential Works of Marx and Lenin. A careful perusal of those works, either alone or as a member of a group, will provide all advanced workers with a fine grounding in communism.
Finally, it is imperative that workers take part in the creation of a true Communist Party, one which calls for Soviet Power and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat.
The preceding was a brief summary of tasks that workers can attempt, as a means of raising their level of awareness. Granted, these suggestions are somewhat unconventional. Yet each and every one of them is well within the ability of all advanced workers. Allow me to stress the fact that the main thing is to raise their level of awareness. Any scientific breakthrough is to be viewed as merely a bonus, just as any ruling, by the Supreme Court, to the effect that Trump is a fraudulent President, can also be seen as a bonus.
As soon as the level of awareness of the vast majority of workers is raised to that of ‘’direct support for the vanguard’’, which is to say the most advanced workers, or even of ‘’sympathetic neutrality’’, then the ‘’stage is set’’ for the next ‘’act’’ in our revolution, that of the overthrow of the ruling class of monopoly capitalists, the smashing of the existing state apparatus, and the establishment of a new state apparatus, that of Scientific Socialism, in the form of Soviet Power and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. At that point, we can begin to build a new, more equitable society, through a process of gradual, reformist measures.
With Most Sincere Communist, Scientific Socialist Greetings, Gerald McIsaac
Gerald McIsaac Science Project 