Author: Gerald Mcisaac

As I write this, the American ”constitutional crisis”, as that is the name the American press has assigned it, continues to intensify.

The stock market continues to ”plunge”.

The Secretary of Defence is resigning.

The White House Chief of Staff has been fired.

A federal judge has asked a prosecutor the reason that a defendant, Michael Flynn, an individual who was formerly decorated as an army general and was a close adviser of Trump, has not been charged with treason.

The ”Special Presidential Envoy for Global Coalition to Defeat Isis” has resigned. Believe it or not, that is actually a title of a bureaucrat within the Trump administration.

The former personal lawyer of Trump, Michael Cohen, who was also an unofficial hatchet man for his client, was recently sentenced to three years in prison for crimes which Trump does not consider to be crimes. Clearly Trump knows more about the law than the lawyers and the judges. Perhaps anyone who doubts that should merely ask Trump. That man is the undisputed expert on almost anything. Just ask him. He will tell you.

This is in addition to the seventeen separate investigations of Trump and all of his businesses. Not the least of these investigations is that of the Special Prosecutor, the so called Mueller Probe. It is very likely that the older children of Trump will soon face various criminal charges. As Trump is currently the head of state, he may be immune from prosecution. Or not.

On December 21, on the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year, the American government was faced with a partial government shut down. One of the capitalists, one of the few capitalists to still maintain a sense of humour, quipped that it was a dark day for the country.

As far as the government shutdown is concerned, it was only a few days ago that Trump bragged that he would be proud to take credit for such a shutdown. Since that time, he has come to his senses and reverted to his usual stance of blaming others for his stupidity. In this case, it is all the fault of the Democrats. The woes of the stock market he blames on the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, who has dared to raise interest rates, against the ”advice” of Trump. Perhaps he too should really be ashamed of himself. He has the audacity to think that he knows more about the economy than Trump. How dare him! Perhaps Trump should fire the Chairman of the Fed.

The fact that firing the Chairman of the Fed could well prove to be illegal does not impress Trump.

As for the current shutdown, the current bone of contention is the ”Wall”, which Trump swore would be paid for by Mexico. It should come as no great surprise to anyone that Mexico has other ideas. So now Trump has indeed taken action. He has decided to change the name, from that of ”wall” to that of ”Steel Slats Barrier”. He actually thinks that this will be a thing of beauty.

Truly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In this case, Trumps idea of beauty leaves a bit to be desired.

That particular name change has failed to impress the members of the House of Representatives, or the Senate. They have refused to give Trump the five billion dollars he is requesting, as a down payment on the ”steel slats barrier”, so he in turn is throwing a ”hissy fit”, as the press reports it, and shutting down a good part of the government. This means that several hundred thousand government workers are out of a job. Roughly half of them are simply out of work entirely, while the other half are expected to work without pay. They are being told that after the shutdown is over, then they can expect to get paid.

This calls for a huge leap of faith on the part of government workers, those who are called upon to trust the president, as he has consistently lied in the past.

It is noteworthy that some of the government workers who are expected to work without pay include the members of the Secret Service, none other than the personal body guard of the president. These people are, without doubt, highly trained, professional, dedicated members of the law enforcement community. Each and every one of them is prepared to lay down their lives in the performance of their duties. Their integrity is not to be questioned. All are prepared to stop a bullet for the president, if called upon to do so. That is a fact.

It is also a fact that they are all working people, men and women who have responsibilities, bills to pay, families to feed. Now they are being asked – better yet demanded – to protect a man, a billionaire, whom has never suffered from want, never known the pain of trying to make ends meet. Yet this same billionaire is the man who is effectively placing a hold on their paycheques, completely unconcerned with their financial state. It is to be expected that their enthusiasm for the job may be on the decline. In fact, when the revolution breaks out, those same people, the members of the Secret Service, the personal body guard of the president, may well join the revolutionary forces. We must be prepared to welcome them into our ranks.

The press is reporting that this government shut down could be rather lengthy, as a new crop of politicians are to take office in January. As the majority of the House members will then be Democrats, this seems to be a rather reasonable assumption.

All of these little difficulties, among others, are acceptable to the capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, the class of people who are currently running the country. This is not a threat to their rule. It is merely inconvenient, and they can live with this.

The latest stunt Trump pulled is not acceptable. He had the audacity to order American troops out of Syria, effective immediately. He also ordered plans to be drawn up to pull half the troops out of Afghanistan. As Trump is president, and the president is commander in chief of all the American armed forces, that is his right.

This is absolutely not acceptable to the bourgeoisie.

This requires a little explanation. The fact is that we live under monopoly capitalism, which is to say capitalism in its highest, most rotten stage. This is scientifically referred to as imperialism, and the people in charge of these countries are referred to as imperialists.

Imperialism has characteristics which are different from pre-monopoly capitalism. Lenin goes into this in detail in his book, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. He explains that imperialism is ”reaction, right down the line.” That is a book which I highly recommend to all, as it explains so much of that which is happening.

The American imperialists are squabbling with the imperialists of other countries, most notably Russia – although certainly not exclusively Russia – for control of part of the world, that which is referred to as the Middle East. They are prepared to sacrifice countless American soldiers in their pursuit of ever more territory and profit. This butchery of workers in uniform is a matter of complete indifference to them.

As explained in a previous article, the American imperialists have already decided to remove Trump from office, ”one way or another”. His order to pull troops out of Syria has merely made the removal more urgent. As they see it, the time to act is now, before the order can be carried through. Besides, it is the holiday season, people are focused on celebrating the holidays, relaxing with their families, not to mention getting drunk on New Years Eve. What better time for a military take over? Trump can be arrested, martial law can be declared, the with drawl from Syria can be cancelled, and the wars can continue.

In the event of such a coup, the working people will be placed in the position of supporting their democratically elected president, in this case Trump, of rescuing him from the military, holidays and martial law be damned. In short, civil war. That is the very pinnacle of irony!

In such a civil war, we can expect an alliance of people from all sides of the political spectrum. This is to say left leaning people, Marxists, socialists and anarchists, feminists, those with a democratic sense and those who think this is just the right thing to do, can be expected to rebel. As well, right wing people can be expected to rise, to challenge the military coup. The most ardent supporters of Trump, Klansmen and members of the NRA, the most backward male chauvinists, can be expected to unite to oppose this military coup.

This is called revolution, and remarkably enough, a military coup could be the spark which sets off the revolution.

It is characteristic of a revolution that people come together, stand shoulder to shoulder, even though such people do not normally associate. They unite against a common enemy.

As for those who swore they would never lift a finger to help Trump, may I remind you that after the revolution, after we establish a socialist republic, after we establish the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, there will be time to force him to answer for his crimes.

But first we have to establish a socialist republic, and that means forming temporary alliances with people, with whom we may have deep differences. Compromises are required, and this is correct, as long as we do not violate principle. We must not allow personal feelings to influence our actions.

No one ever said that revolution is easy. Let the signs and banners read:

Scientific Socialism

Workers of the World, Unite!

Dictatorship of the Proletariat!

An extinct species of human was recently discovered in South Africa. The scientists have named it homo naledi. The discovery was made quite by accident, as a couple of amateur caver explorers, those who engage in the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems, stumbled upon the bones of human beings. These remains were found in a remote cavern at the end of a system of caves, referred to as the Rising Star System, and was almost completely inaccessible. This is to say that the entrance to the cavern was very narrow. Only the most slender individuals are able to access the cavern. A second cavern, equally inaccessible, was later found, also containing the remains of humans.

A scientific expedition to excavate the remains was organized by Lee Burger, a scientist who specializes in the field of paleo anthropology. For the sake of those who are not scientific experts, I should mention that paleo refers to people who lived many years ago, and anthropology refers to the study of human beings. Quite reasonably, the scientists who specialize in this field are referred to as paleo anthropologists.

Burger immediately organized a team of young, slender, dedicated scientists to engage in the extremely dangerous task of excavating those bones from the caverns. Not too surprising, all of these scientists were female, and the nearly complete skeletons of fifteen individuals were removed from these chambers. No one was seriously injured during this process.

As there was no indication of predatory damage to the bones, it was clear that predators did not drag the bones into the caverns. Also, the bones of no other animals were found in the caverns, so that ruled out the possibility of the bones being deposited as a result of flooding. The only remaining possibility is that these remains were placed in those caves deliberately. Those caverns are effectively a burial ground of an ancient species of human.

Of course there is no shortage of scientific souls who dispute that conclusion. They would have us believe that apes dragged the bodies of their deceased deep underground, in complete darkness, through caverns and tunnels which were supremely dangerous, in order to place them in remote caverns. Any misstep could have proven fatal and in the darkness, it was all too easy to get lost. This behaviour is not characteristic of apes.

It is my opinion that homo naledi was human, and I suspect they navigated their way through those underground passages with the aid of a light source, possibly torches. It is possible that the smoke from those torches can still be detected on the roof of those caves. There is no mention in the scientific literatures of anyone checking for that soot.

The bones have been extensively studied, and it has been determined that these apes were definitely bipedal, complete with features which were a ”curious mixture of ape and human”. This is to say that it walked on two legs but had also evolved physical features to enable it to spend a great deal of time in trees. This is precisely as I would expect, considering that it is a primitive species of human.

In a previous article, I have argued that in order to become human, an ape first has to become bipedal, so that the the front paws are freed up for labor. This is the correct Marxist understanding of the evolutionary process which an ape goes through, in the transition from ape to human.

Then in the process of labor, of crafting ever more elaborate tools, the front paws are gradually transformed into hands, which is to say the opposable thumb is created, they are able to touch their fingertips with their thumb, corresponding changes also take place to the body, and the ape gradually becomes human.

In particular, Engels explained this quite clearly in his excellent book, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. The period of transition from ape to human is referred to as the lower stage of savagery, the ”childhood of the human race”. This period may have lasted thousands of years, and the main result of this is the development of articulate speech. During that time, people were ”partially at least a tree dweller, for otherwise their survival among huge beasts of prey cannot be explained.” That is the reason I am not surprised that they have a mixture of ape and human.

That is a fundamental tenet of Marxism, and as I have gone into this in more detail in a previous article, I will not go beyond this brief summary.

The point is that it is my contention that all species of human, which have ever walked the earth, have been, and are now, bipedal apes with opposable thumbs.

Burger reports a number of complete hands have been excavated from the caverns, and it is his belief that these hands ”could have made and manipulated tools”. That is very close to saying that these hands had the opposable thumb.

As that is the case, it proves that homo naledi was in fact human, so there is no point in arguing that an ape with such a small brain cannot be human. Homo naledi was human, but there are no doubt many scientists who will argue the point.

Of course the brains of our earliest human ancestors were small, as they were descended from apes. Engels goes on to quote Morgan, an anthropologist for whom Engels had the utmost respect: ”When two advancing tribes, with strong mental and physical characters, are brought together and blended into one people by the accidents of barbarous life, the new skull and brain would widen and lengthen to the sum of the capabilities of both.”

It is assumed that this species of human lived at the same time as our human ancestors, and then died out. I am not so sure. As yet I am aware of no DNA test to prove this, and the fact is that different species of human have interbred over the centuries. None of us can claim to be a pure bred species.

Most of those bones were recovered from one rather small area, less than one square meter, in one chamber. These human remains are being treated with great respect, properly so, as we are effectively raiding the burial ground of people who lived a very long time ago.

This is not to say that we are grave robbers, as such people merely steal from the dead in order to enrich themselves. That is far different from a proper scientific examination, and in a perfect world, after such an examination, the bones could be returned to their place of burial. That of course is out of the question, as the site has been well marked and grave robbers would no doubt merely steal the bones and sell them on the black market.

With that in mind, I can only suggest securing the Rising Star cave system, in order to prevent grave robbers from climbing into those burial grounds and stealing any remaining bones left in those chambers.

Burger is of the opinion that science should be made more accessible to non scientists. He is also of the opinion that, in all fields of science, extraordinary things are to be found. Possibly this latest discovery will inspire people to begin searching.

I most emphatically agree.

The working people of France are once again in motion, after being dormant for many years. Of course the press is reporting that this ”rioting” is the worst in fifty years. It is not a riot, it is a revolution, and that is one thing the press, and the French government, refuse to accept.

It recently started in November, in Paris, with protests against proposed increases in fuel taxes. This is referred to as a yellow vest movement. From there, the protests spread across the country, and the movement very quickly grew dramatically in strength. Journalists are reporting a deep discontent, such as they have never seen before. The working people are aware now that there is just ”them and us”, in that the super rich, the capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, compose the ”them”, while the vast majority of poor people, the working people, the proletariat, compose the ”us”. The middle class, the petty bourgeois, as well as the peasants, have been almost wiped out. Those same working people are now well aware that the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, the people who have more money than they can ever hope to spend, are not satisfied. They want more, and are determined to squeeze it out of the working people.

Now the workers of France are struggling to make ends meet. As the wages are low and taxes are high, unemployment is rampant and hard working people are being forced to accept hand outs. This is degrading and the people of France are a proud people, wanting only to have the opportunity to earn an honest living. They want no part of charity.

Much to the surprise of Macron, the president of France, the revolutionary motion, the resistance, has grown considerably in a very short time. The ambulance attendants have joined the protests. As well, the farmers unions are taking part in the protests and the truckers unions are planning to take part soon. Even the high school students are raising their voices, which is an indication of the strength of the movement.

In response, Macron has cancelled the proposed fuel tax increase, in an attempt to quell the revolutionary motion. The response is precisely the opposite of that which he intended. The French people are now emboldened by their success, and the revolutionary movement is stronger than ever. It has even spread to other countries, as workers around the world rise up in support.

The protesters are facing the police in riot gear, and are being subjected to tear gas and water cannons, in an attempt to crush the rebellion. It is likely a matter of time, and probably a short time, before the people of France get the idea of turning on the water hydrants in the cities. The only thing required is a large wrench, and with enough hydrants turned on, the water pressure is far reduced. That should take care of the water cannons.

The journalists have also spoken to the police and were quite surprised to find that the police sympathize with the protesters. It is safe to say that while the police are trying to quell the demonstrations, their hearts are not into it. In fact, in one case, which is on video, the police removed their helmets, while facing the protesters. This is most significant, a step forward, an indication that the police will soon discard their uniforms and join the revolution.

As yet, Macron has resisted the temptation to send in the French army, probably out of fear that those same troops will also join the rebellion. His fears are well grounded.

For the moment, the movement remains spontaneous. As can best be gathered, from the scattered news reports, the French working class, the proletariat, is still not aware of itself as a class. It is certainly moving in that direction, but such an awareness can only come from an outside source, which is to say, middle class intellectuals. That being said, it is also true that the French people can learn that class awareness by reading such classic revolutionary writings as The Communist Manifesto, by Marx and Engels,  State and Revolution, and Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, as well as What Is To Be Done?, all by Lenin. That should give workers a fine grounding in Marxist-Leninist theory.

As for those who scoff at the idea of theory, I can only point out that without a proper revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary motion. Without a proper theory, the best workers can hope to achieve is a few paltry reforms, which the capitalists will claw back, at the earliest opportunity. All workers have to face the fact that we live under capitalism, and the only alternative is socialism. The capitalists, the bourgeoisie, are currently in charge, and we live under the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. The one and only alternative is to follow the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin. Then we can establish a socialist society, and work for the benefit of all people, not just the chosen few. But that requires us to establish a different state apparatus, with the goal of crushing the desperate and determined resistance of the bourgeoisie, the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. But that is where the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin come into service.

From that which I can gather on the internet, there are various political parties in France, just as there are in North America. In much the same way, some of these parties claim to be Marxist-Leninist, communist, socialist, or just plain left leaning. If any of them advocate the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, it is a well kept secret. And yet, it is the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat which is the foundation of Marxist-Leninist theory. Those who repudiate the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat are not at all socialists, merely social reformers. As Lenin phrased it in State and Revolution, ” A Marxist is one who extends the acceptance of the class struggle to the acceptance of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat”. As there are possibly no political parties in France which accept the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, then it is safe to say there are no Marxist-Leninist political parties in France. This is another way of saying that there is no political party in France which represent the working class, as only the Marxist-Leninist political parties truly represent the working people.

This is no cause for doom and gloom, as this is just the way it is. Now it is up to conscious people, which is to say people who are aware of the existence of classes, of the struggle between the classes, of the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin, and especially of the necessity of revolution and the subsequent Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. It is up to such people, those who may or may not be members of the working class, to bring to the working people of France the awareness of themselves as a class, and of the necessity for revolution and the subsequent Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

At the same time, it may well be necessary to create an entirely new revolutionary French party, one that is truly Marxist-Leninist, one that embraces the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. That may appear to be a tall order, and perhaps it is, but the fact that the Russian Bolshevik party, led by Lenin, has already blazed the trail, and that should simplify matters. I would suggest reading the revolutionary platform of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, at the time of the revolution in Russia, 1917, and copying that which is relevant to the current revolutionary situation in France, and discarding that which does not apply. That can be the basis of a new French political Marxist-Leninist party.

After the creation of such a party, it may prove possible to work with members of other political parties. Those who are the members of the ”centre” can possibly be united, if only for a short time and only on certain issues, if only because they constantly vacillate. The leader of the political parties who are social chauvinists, socialist in works and chauvinists in deeds, which is to say, servants of the bourgeoisie, must be treated as the enemies of the working class, as indeed they are. The rank and file members of such parties must be treated with more respect, as they may be merely misled.

The working people of France have got to face the fact that the French bourgeoisie, with their vast wealth, have managed to buy off, to bribe, the upper stratum of the working class, and that includes many working class leaders, would be socialists, those who claim to be communists or Marxist-Leninists or Bolsheviks or whatever. As long as these self styled socialists deny the necessity of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, they show their true colours. They are merely agents of the capitalists within the working class. The revolution against the capitalists has to include the fight against these traitors, at least until such time as they choose to join us and embrace the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

The people of France have a very distinguished history of revolution, of which they can be most proud. They have provided us with the great French revolution of 1789, which not only overthrew the nobility and abolished the feudal system, but also made the phrase of liberty, equality and fraternity, household words. That was followed by the first workers attempt at setting up a socialist workers society in Paris, 1871. Although the Paris Commune lasted only a few weeks, it was a great historical event.

Indeed, it was the experience of the Paris Commune that provided Marx and Engels with a fundamental lesson, of such enormous importance that they introduced it as a vital correction in The Communist Manifesto. As they phrased it, ”One thing especially was proven by the Commune, which is that the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready made state machinery and wield it for its own purposes”. Lenin goes into this in more detail in State and Revolution, a book which he wrote in the summer of 1917, immediately before the socialist November Russian revolution. It is every bit as relevant today as it was then.

As Engels phrased it, ”France is the land where, more than anywhere else, the historical class struggles were each time fought out to a decision”. Further, Lenin went on to say, in his excellent book, State and Revolution, ”in the coming proletarian revolution, France may once again reveal itself as the classic land of the class struggle to a decision”.

It is quite clear that ”the coming proletarian revolution” is now upon us, and it is very likely that France will ”once again reveal itself as the classic land of the class struggle to a decision”. No doubt, the working people of France will rise to the occasion, as they have in the past.

Once again, the working people of France are in the vanguard of the international working class movement. Now it is imperative that they study the revolutionary theories of the great working class leaders who have blazed the trail for us, in order to avoid the mistakes of the past. In this way, no doubt true Marxist-Leninist leaders will emerge, and lead France to a true socialist society, that of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

Viva la France!

Workers of the World, Unite!

Scientific Socialism!

Dictatorship Of the Proletariat!

The first question of every revolution is to determine our friends and our enemies.

This question is of vital importance because at the time of the revolution, and for a considerable amount of time afterwards (no one knows how long), our class enemies, the capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, will remain stronger than the revolutionary forces, the proletariat, the working class. It is essential that we attack our enemies with absolute ferocity, while at the same time extending the hand of friendship to our allies.

We can thank the capitalists for making the situation ever so simple, at least here in North America. It used to be that we had a great abundance of peasants, called farmers, and small business owners, called middle class or petty bourgeois, although they tend to refer to themselves as entrepreneurs.

Of course, we still have the odd family farm, in which the owner works constantly, trying to make ends meet. The best such a hard working individual can hope to achieve is to break even, as the more crops the farmer raises, the more the agricultural companies, those who buy the crop, cut the rates. The children of the farmers tend to notice this, and as soon as they come of age, vacate the premises. The days of passing the farm off to the next generation are over.

In much the same way, the day of the small business owner has gone the way of the dodo bird. They simply cannot compete with the major corporations, the monopolies. They can testify to the fact that size matters, and in fact it matters a great deal. In business, size is about the only thing that matters. Countless former small business owners can testify to that, as they speak from bitter experience.

Lenin explained this quite clearly in his excellent work, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. In the present revolutionary situation, it is of particular relevance. 

As a result of this destruction of the class of farmers and middle class business owners, a great many former members of those classes have been impoverished, forced into the ranks of the working class, the proletarians. Then there are those who formerly worked for corporations in management positions and were laid off as a result of ”downsizing”, as they phrase it. Or possibly they were merely fired, at the whim of corporate executives, who fired them because they could. 

Their history does not concern us. As long as they have nothing left to sell but their labor power, they are one of us. They are fellow workers, proletarians, and must be respected as such. We must extend to them the hand of friendship, welcome them into the struggle against our class enemies, the capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say the war against our class enemies, rather than the struggle, as soon it will be open warfare.

As the revolution progresses, we can expect to see councils of workers established, as well as councils of soldiers, as happened in the 1917 Russian revolution. At that time these councils were referred to as  soviets, which of course means council. The new members of the working class, our brothers and sisters, our comrades, may feel more comfortable as a member of a council of intellectuals, rather than workers or soldiers. Indeed, many of them have considerable education and training in various fields, such as management and organization, and these skill can be put to good use after the revolution. The last thing we want to do is drive them into the camp of the enemy, the capitalists.

There are also a great many other people who will soon be joining the revolution, although they may not be aware of this. Of course I am referring to the people in various American prisons. Such prisons, or ”correctional institutions”, are jammed to capacity. As the revolution gains strength, we can expect these prisons to be emptied. The inmates must also be invited to join us, and those who choose to accept the offer must also be welcomed as brothers and sisters, as comrades.

Granted, there are people in prison who are career criminals. We must let them know, in advance, that we are not about to hold that against them. We are offering them a chance to start over again, with a clean state. Whatever happened in the past can stay in the past. They can choose to join us in building a new socialist society, out of the wreckage of capitalism, or they can choose to pursue their previous careers, as professional criminals. We should also let them know that under socialism, the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, those who choose to break the law will answer to a council of workers, and such workers tend not to be soft hearted, sentimental, starry eyed optimists. Further, those charged will not be allowed to hide behind lawyers. Those convicted of crimes against the socialist state can expect to atone for those crimes in the performance of useful, productive labor.

The immediate problem is one of communicating with these inmates. As no personal computers or any other hand held digital device is allowed in prison, it is no longer a simple matter of posting articles on the internet. That may work for workers and members of the military, or at least I so hope, but for the people in prison, it may be necessary to go ”old school” and send them books and leaflets. We owe them that much, and besides, I am sure  they can play a valuable role in the coming revolution. No doubt, many of them have precisely the specialized skills that are needed in that situation.

The last thing we want is for these people to be put to work by our class enemies, the capitalists, in the goal of crushing the revolution. We can use all the friends we can get.