The recently completed Midterm Elections of 2026, have highlighted a few rather important details, concerning the revolutionary motion currently sweeping the country. The fact that the Democratic Party succeeded in taking control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, in each case with a rather strong majority, indicates that the working class, the proletariat, has ‘’moved to the Left’’, as the Leftist journalists phrase it. In fact, the working class is losing faith in the current government, in the form of the democratic republic. They have become convinced, from years of bitter experience, that regardless of which candidate wins the election, nothing will change. A great many of them voted for the Democratic candidates, not because they thought that the Democrats would properly represent them, but because they consider the Democrats to be the lesser of two evils. In fact, the working class is spontaneously gravitating towards socialism.
There are a great many ‘’new faces’’ currently heading for Washington, preparing to be ‘’sworn in’’ as Members of the ‘’new Congress’’, on January 3. Most of these people are either members of the DSA, the Democratic Socialists of America, or have been elected as a result of their endorsement. Clearly, the DSA is a powerful political force, in the country.
These new Members of Congress are widely expected to join the ‘’Leftist Caucus’’ in Washington, a group of politicians who are commonly referred to as ‘’The Squad’’. That remains to be seen.
It has also become clear that Bernie Sanders, a self styled Socialist and an ‘’Independent’’ Senator, from the state of Vermont, has emerged as a spokesman for the American Left. He is convinced that the ‘’new Congress’’, soon to be sworn in, and under the control of the Democrats, will succeed in dramatically raising the standard of living, of the working class. His plan is to persuade that new Congress to ‘’tax the super wealthy’’, those who ‘’have more money than they can ever hope to spend in a thousand lifetimes’’, and invest that money in programs for the working class.
That is certainly a ‘’happy thought’’, and Sanders is quite persuasive in his defence of this policy. He speaks clearly and passionately, without resorting to vulgarity. Properly so, I might add. He argues that the Congress has every right to impose taxes, and to spend that money as it sees fit. Those rights and responsibilities are clearly spelled out in the Constitution.
The arguments that Sanders puts forward are correct, and must be respected. Which in no way changes the fact that his plan for the ‘’new Democratic controlled Congress’’, to ‘’dramatically raise the standard of living of the working class’’, is a mere ‘’pipe dream’’. That is not about to happen!
Working people must be made aware of the fact that Sanders is a Utopian Socialist! He is not a Scientific Socialist! There is a huge difference between the two! Utopian Socialists are of the opinion that socialism is merely a ‘’good idea’’. They are further of the opinion that it is a simple matter of establishing a ‘’democratic republic’’, complete with ‘’universal suffrage’’, which implies ‘’majority rule’’, so that sufficient reforms can be legislated, resulting in a state of Socialism. If only that were true! In fact, a state of Socialism cannot exist under capitalism!
It was Karl Marx who conducted a detailed, thorough, scientific examination of capitalism, in the mid to late nineteenth century, at a time when capitalism was in its early, pre monopoly, competitive stage.
Allow me to stress the fact that Marx was a Scientific Socialist! His revolutionary theories were conclusions, based upon a thorough examination of capitalism. In fact, he spelled it out quite clearly, in his letter to Weydemeyer, in 1852. As Marx stated:
‘’And now as to myself, no credit is due to me for discovering the existence of classes in modern society, nor yet the struggle between them. Long before me, bourgeois historians had described the historical development of this class struggle, and bourgeois economists the economic anatomy of the classes. What I did that was new was to prove: 1) that the existence of classes is only bound up with particular historical phases in the development of production; 2) that the class struggle necessarily leads to the Dictatorship of the Proletariat; 3) that this Dictatorship itself only constitutes the transition to the abolition of all classes and to a classless society.’’ (my italics)
Allow me to add that Lenin conducted a similar examination of capitalism, in the early twentieth century, during the time that it reached the monopoly stage, that of imperialism, at least in Western Europe. The conclusions of these two great Scientific Socialists, are referred to as Scientific Socialism, also known as Communism, or as Marxism-Leninism. It is the duty of all Communists to draw a clear distinction, between Scientific Socialism and Utopian Socialism.
It should be added that we respect the personal beliefs of all common people! That includes those who consider themselves to be socialists, of one form or another. Yet Sanders is not to be confused with a ‘’common person’’. On the contrary, he is a highly respected American Senator, and widely recognized as the leader of the ‘’Left’’. He is also advocating a peaceful transition to socialism, through Democratic control of Congress. For that reason, it is our duty to oppose his heresy, using the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin.
With that in mind, may I suggest that working people read an article titled, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. It was written by Friedrich Engels, a close friend and collaborator of Marx. It is considered to be a masterpiece, and is written in a popular manner.
No doubt, numerous working class people will take exception to this article, as it starts from the assumption that humans have evolved from apes. So many people are of the opinion that God created humans, pure and simple.
Allow me to reassure such people that we are all entitled to our personal beliefs. No one, or at least no self respecting Scientific Socialist, would dare to suggest otherwise. We can suggest that all workers put their personal beliefs aside, when considering the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin. One such theory is that the state apparatus, the ‘’government’’, has been established with the sole purpose of crushing and exploiting the ‘’lower classes’’, and in particular, the working class. For that reason, it cannot be used to emancipate the working class! Engels explains this quite clearly, in this article.
In his article, Engels explains that before civilization, there was a rather lengthy period of time, in fact thousands of years, commonly referred to as the ‘’Stone Age’’, during which there were no classes. As well, there was no family unit, no private property and no state apparatus. It was a time of ‘’hunter-gatherers’’, in that each day, the necessities of life had to be either killed or gathered. Each and every person had to ‘’pull their own weight’’, or end up wishing they had! There was never a surplus. Slackards were not tolerated. Those who were lazy or simply trouble makers were first warned, and either mended their ways, or were kicked out of the group. This almost always resulted in a death sentence, as an individual had almost no chance of survival, under those circumstances.
The social structure of each group reflected the stage of development of that particular group. Of course, as people in various parts of the world came up with the same inventions, such as weaving baskets and using fire, the social structure changed. Yet it was only at the point where people learned to grow crops and domesticate animals, that a surplus was created. This was the start of civilization.
Almost immediately, the first classes came into existence. Certain individuals, those who were blessed with a surplus, were not content with this. Instead, they decided to further enrich themselves, at the expense of their neighbours. With the assistance of a few friends, they set out to separate those people of their hard earned property. If nothing else, they could separate them from their freedom. And they did. Those who owned people became known as ‘’slave owners’’, while those who were owned became known as ‘’slaves’’.
Yet the slaves were not at all anxious to embrace their new life of constant toil, without reward, or even any hope of anything better. For that reason, they frequently took part in rebellions. The slave owners responded to these ‘’displays of ingratitude’’, as they saw it, by sending out men, usually on horseback, armed with swords and spears. Their sole purpose was to crush the slaves. In this way, the first ‘’state apparatus’’ was created.
Since those early days of civilization, different classes have come into existence. These include the nobility, and the corresponding class of commoners. The family farmers, and the corresponding class of landlords. The latest classes include the capitalists, or bourgeois, and the corresponding class of workers, or proletarians.
As these different classes came into existence, different forms of the state apparatus were created. At no point did the function of that state apparatus change. Just as the first state apparatus was designed to crush the ‘’lower class’’ of slaves, so too, the current state apparatus is designed to crush the ‘’lower classes’’ of workers and family farmers.
Now our current ruling class is composed of the monopoly capitalists, the multi billionaires, the bourgeoisie, commonly referred to as the ‘’Oligarchy’’. Their method of rule involves the ‘’democratic republic’’, including the Congress. In scientific terms, this is referred to as the ‘’state apparatus’’. The sole purpose of this state apparatus, remains the same as it was in the time of slavery. To keep the ‘’lower classes’’ in submission.
That is the reason the advice of Bernie Sanders, that of using the Congress against the ruling class of multi billionaires, is completely absurd. The ruling class of multi billionaires are not about to allow the state apparatus, which they created with the sole purpose of crushing the working class, to be used against them!
Now it is a matter of making the working class aware of this. Instead, the ruling class of Oligarchy must be overthrown, the existing state apparatus smashed, and replaced with a new state apparatus, in the form of Soviet Power and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat!
We will know that we are being successful, when the expression Soviet Power and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat become common place.
With Most Sincere Communist Greetings,
Gerald McIsaac
