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Once again, a black man has been shot by the police, and once again the shooting has been captured on video. This time the shooting took place in Kenosha, Wisconsin. From the video, it is clear that the man was shot in the back, at point blank range, no less than seven times. As a result of this, he is reported to be paralyzed from the waist down. It is to the credit of the medical professionals that he is not dead. It is a testament to the stupidity of the local police that they went to the hospital and chained him to the bed. Perhaps they thought he would run away!

This continuation of violence, on the part of the police, has led to an escalation in protest. The most visible indication of this is in the field of professional sports. For the last several months, a great many players have been ”taking a knee” as a sign of protest, at the time of the playing of the national anthem.

Various professional athletes, in the fields of basketball, baseball and soccer have chosen to ”boycott” games, at least for the days of the previous Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. As a result of this stand by the athletes, the NHL issued a statement which is supremely vague: ”Black and Brown communities continue to face real, painful experiences. The NHL and NHLPA recognize that much work remains to be done before we can play an appropriate role in a discussion centred on diversity, inclusion and social justice”. This is another way of saying ”life goes on”.

By contrast, the members of the WNBA, Women’s National Basketball Association, not only boycotted the game, but demonstrated at Centre Court and issued a statement in support of the movement against violent police repression: ”We are lifting the name of Black and Brown women, whose names have been forgotten…We will continue to use our platform to speak of these injustices that are still happening and demand action for change. Black lives matter. Say her name. Say his name. We are not just basketball players. We are so much more than that. All lives matter, including the Black lives we are talking about.”

The contrast between the two statements is sharp and clear. The men issued a statement which is bland and meaningless, while the women issued a statement which is opposed to police brutality. The women are not about to ”shut up and play”. They are not ”just basketball players”. They are indeed ”much more than that”, and they have every reason to be proud. This is one more example of the American women leading the revolutionary working class movement.

As yet, there is no mention of class content, but the people taking part in the revolutionary uprising are moving in that direction.

Numerous government officials have pointed out that Trump is now ”fanning the flames of violence”. He plans to visit the city of Kenosha, against the wishes of city officials, who fear that such a visit will give rise to more violence. The governor of the state is opposed to this visit, and is practically pleading with Trump to stay away. Of course that is all the more reason for Trump to visit. Given a chance to ”stir the pot”, Trump is not about to pass it up!

Trump is ”appalled” at the ”violence” in the city of Portland, which has been ”going on” now for over ninety consecutive days. He had a few ”harsh words” for the mayor of that city, to put it mildly. To put it accurately, he was downright ignorant with the man. Trump referred to the man as a ”Radical Left Do Nothing Democrat”, in one of his tweets. That was one of the more pleasant things he said about the man.

Such behaviour, on the part of a head of state, is nothing short of contemptible. Trump is also threatening to send in the National Guard, to ”restore law and order”, even though such an order could be in violation of the very law he is so anxious to ”restore”.

In response, the mayor of Portland has accused Trump of ”creating hate and division”. He is appealing to the protesters to ”not tear each other apart”. Although the sentiment is a noble one, it is a bit late for that. The country is already torn apart.

In addition, Trump has ordered the Director of the National Intelligence to cancel all election security briefings for the Congress. The Speaker of the House has responded by calling this a ”shocking abdication of its responsibility to keep Congress informed”. Of course she is right that it is an ”abdication of its responsibility”, but the reason she finds this so ”shocking” is not clear. It is just another step that Trump is taking, in the process of setting himself up as ”king”.

The fact is that Trump is becoming ever more brazen. He has no intention of stepping down in January, regardless of the results of the election. If the vote goes against him, he will merely declare that the election was bogus, fraudulent, and therefore it is his patriotic duty to continue to serve as president. It is the least he can do for the American people!

It is significant that a spokesman for the military made a statement to the effect that they would not get involved in any ”election dispute”. As the president is the ”Commander in Chief” of all the armed forces, it is quite possible that the country may soon have two people who claim to be president, both issuing orders to the military. Under such a situation, it is difficult to imagine how the military cannot ”get involved”!

As a result of this insanity, on the part of Trump, even his most fervent supporters can now see the ”writing on the wall”. They are now ”jumping ship”, as there is no point is fighting for a ”lost cause”. The latest individual to ”come to her senses” was one of his closest, most devoted advisors, who resigned from her job, in order to ”spend more time with her family”.

No doubt her job, that of working for Trump, put a strain on her marriage, as Trump hires only attractive young females, those who have no objection to being groped. It is very likely that her husband took a ”dim view” of such ”shenanigans”. Then again, it is entirely possible that she had a twinge of conscience.

It is far more likely that she decided to ”cut her losses”. Trumps ”days are numbered”, and even his closest advisors are now aware of this. As they have about as much loyalty to him as he has to them -which is to say none whatsoever- they are merely walking away.

There is a reason that Trump is reluctant to part company with the reins of power. He does not want to spend the rest of his life in jail!

At best, as soon as he is no longer president, Trump can expect to be charged with numerous counts of fraud, tax evasion, money laundering and possibly abuse of power. The government can be expected to separate him from his wealth, so that his small army of lawyers will melt away as snow in June. At worst, his love and admiration for Putin may have crossed the line, if he in fact collaborated with Putin in betraying the American government. That is the very definition of treason, and that is the one thing the American people will not tolerate. If convicted of treason, all Americans, regardless of political persuasion, will be calling for his blood.

It is quite remarkable that a large part of the city of Portland is still occupied by protesters. Of course that infuriates Trump, with good reason. He sees it as a threat to his class, that of the monopoly capitalists, the bourgeoisie. They are afraid that such an occupation could spread to other cities, much as a virus spreads. In this, they are correct, and they are determined to contain it. That is the reason he has responded with his usual lies and slander.

It is perhaps not a coincidence that the people who are occupying a part of the city of Portland have established a council. Under similar circumstances, in Russia, 1917, on the eve of the Russian revolution, the workers established something similar. These similar councils were referred to as ”Soviets”, and of course they spread across the country.

At the same time, in Russia, under the rule of Czar Nicholas, a number of government officials came together and plotted against the Czar. This was a natural result of the revolutionary motion. Now, in America, in a similar situation, we have a number of self described ”government officials” who are also plotting against Trump. As they are being very secretive, it stands to reason that they are trying to draw no attention to themselves. This is not too surprising, as thieves love darkness.

The situation in Russia at that time was most exceptional. Among other things, the Russian people, workers and peasants, had the experience -most bitter experience- of the previous revolution of 1905. Although that particular revolution had been crushed, with the utmost brutality, it served as a ”school”, as a means of ”educating” the Russian people. The veterans of that revolution had no illusions. They knew exactly what to expect.

By the same token, the American people, in 2020, have the experience of the Occupy Movement, as well as the Anti War movement of the ”sixties”. The veterans of those two previous uprisings are now veterans, and they too know what to expect. We can expect them to lead the current American revolution.

Here now in America, the ruling class, the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, are concerned that Trump is a threat to their method of rule. In fact, the ”democratic republic is the best possible political shell for capitalism”, according to Lenin. To have Trump set himself up as a monarch would result in the loss of the democratic republic, which is not in the best interests of the bourgeoisie. That is the reason they are determined to stop him. They are not opposed to Trump as a matter of principle, if only because they have no principles.

Now the bourgeoisie is expecting the working class, the proletariat, to assist them in stopping that madman. Even though the two classes are the bitterest of enemies, it is up to the proletariat to assist the bourgeoisie, to form a temporary alliance, as they have a common enemy.

This is perhaps not as strange as it may sound. In Russia, in early 1917, the Russian workers, peasants and petty bourgeois came together to form an alliance with the Russian capitalists, the bourgeoisie, in order to overthrow the Czar. At that time, the madman occupying the throne was Nicholas the Second, also known as Nicholas the Bloody, and he had to go. In February – March of that year, the Russian people were successful, the Czar was deposed, and the alliance was over. A bourgeois democratic republic was formed, and in the process of overthrowing the Czar, the Russian working people received a valuable lesson. It served them well in the October revolution of the same year, in which the capitalists were overthrown, and a socialist republic was established.

A similar situation is now unfolding in America. Trump has to be stopped, the democratic republic has to be defended, and that calls for the broadest possible alliance of protesters. The experience the working people are about to gain will serve them well. After Trump is deposed, those same revolutionary protesters will proceed to overthrow the capitalists and to establish a socialist republic, under the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

We can expect everyone on the ”Left” to take part in the motion to depose Trump, including the social chauvinists, those who are socialists in words, chauvinists in deeds. This will no doubt lead to some confusion on the part of the members of the public, as they will wonder about the difference between various groups who claim to be Marxists or Communists.

The best way to distinguish ourselves from the other ”Leftist” groups, while marching with them in defence of the democratic republic, is to carry signs and banners which call for the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. As the social chauvinist are most passionate defenders of the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, they want no part of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

After Trump is removed from office, no doubt the social chauvinists will call for all protests to end, as the democratic republic in ”now secure”. As loyal subjects of the bourgeoisie -although it would never occur to them to admit this- they want no part of revolution and the subsequent Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

I should add that I have chosen to use these capital letter in order to stress the importance of the theory. It is the worst nightmare of every capitalist.

With that in mind, let the banner proclaim:

Workers of the World, Unite!

Scientific Socialism!

Dictatorship Of the Proletariat!

The Democratic National Convention has now officially endorsed Joe Biden for president and Pamela Harris for Vice President. Due in part to the Corona Virus, this Convention is far different from all previous Conventions. As large gatherings of people are ruled out, so as not to spread the virus, the celebrities have been forced to give their speeches on video.

Then too, never before has any member of the Republican party actually endorsed a Democratic candidate for president. Now numerous high ranking Republican party members have ”crossed the floor” to endorse Biden and Harris. These include Governors and Senators, those who are currently in office, as well as those who formerly held those offices. A great many people, who served as loyal, high ranking bureaucrats within several Republican administrations, have now joined the ranks of the Biden supporters. Countless others are as yet remaining silent, or ”straddling the fence”, to use the expression of the press. As yet they have not decided ”which way to jump”.

Perhaps the harshest words came from a most unlikely source, the former president, Barrack Obama. He chose to speak out, in a manner which left no room for any misunderstanding. He stated that as far as Trump is concerned, ”this is one big reality show. He has not grown into the job because he can’t. He has no interest in putting in the work…only cares about himself and his friends…his administration is determined to tear our democracy down, if thats what it takes for them to win”.

It is most unusual for a former president to speak ill of a sitting president, if not unprecedented. This is one more indication of the fact that the class of people in charge of the country, the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, are deeply divided.

Obama is correct when he says that Trump ”is determined to tear our democracy down”. At least, he is making a supreme effort. On the other hand, it is not true that Trump cannot grow into the job. He simply has no interest in making the effort. Further, it is not true that Trump cares about his friends, if only because he has no friends. Trump cares only about himself and his immediate family. No one else.

A great many people who helped place him in power are currently in jail, or facing serious criminal charges. The latest ”associate” of Trump, who has just been charged, is his former ”top lieutenant during the crime spree called the Trump 2016 campaign”. He is considered to know ”where all the bodies are buried”, and is thought to have the moral fortitude of Trump. In other words, he is a regular ”snake in the grass”. As that is the case, the advisors to Trump are advising him to issue a presidential pardon, to this snake, before he ”sings like a little canary”.

I have chosen to use these popular expressions as they are the same expressions the politicians use, as well as the mobsters. That is not a coincidence. The American political arena is very similar to a mob outfit.

It is doubtful that Trump is worried about being ”ratted out”. He may issue pardons to his loyal henchmen, or he may not. It is more likely that he will ”throw them under the bus”, as their freedom, or incarceration, is a matter of complete indifference to him.

As president, the head of state, he is quite well immune from prosecution. He is president now and fully intends to remain president, regardless of the results of the upcoming election. In fact, he plans to remain as president, for life, and then pass the reins of power to his daughter. It is the least he can do for the American people.

The point being that Obama is right to be worried that Trump is determined to ”tear our democracy down”, because he is doing just that. Obama is a member of the middle class, the petty bourgeois, yet is a loyal servant of the bourgeoisie. He has reason to be concerned. Further, he and the other members of his class expect all Americans to be concerned with the loss of ”their democracy”.

This begs the question: What is this democracy, of which he is so concerned, and why should we also be concerned?

Lenin provides us with an answer to that question in his work, The State and Revolution. As he phrases it, ”In capitalist society, under the conditions most favourable to its development, we have more or less complete democracy in the democratic republic. But this democracy is always restricted by the narrow framework of capitalist exploitation, and consequently remains, in reality, a democracy for the minority, only for the possessing classes, only for the rich. Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in the ancient Greek republics: freedom for the slave owners…Democracy for an insignificant minority, democracy for the rich- that is the democracy of capitalist society…on all sides we see restriction after restriction upon democracy….in their sum total these restrictions exclude and squeeze out the poor from politics, from taking an active part in democracy.”

From this it is clear that democracy, at least under capitalism, is not ”majority rule”. Far from it, although the ruling class, the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, would have us believe otherwise. Instead, it is ”democracy for the rich”, for the ”insignificant minority”, for the monopoly capitalists, the bourgeoisie. It is the ”ideal political shell for capitalism”. The trouble being, as far as the capitalists are concerned, is that Trump is a threat to the democracy of the bourgeoisie!

There is a reason the bourgeoisie are concerned with the fact that Trump plans to set himself up as ”royalty”, perhaps ”King Donald of America”. As Lenin explains, ”A democratic republic is the best possible political shell for capitalism, and therefore, once capital has control of this very best shell…it established its power so securely, so firmly, that no change, either of persons, of institutions, or of parties in the bourgeois democratic republic, can shake it.” (italics by Lenin)

Trump is not planning to change ”persons or institutions or parties” within the ”democratic republic”. Trump is planning to destroy the democratic republic, the ”best possible political shell for capitalism”! That is the reason the bourgeoisie is determined to stop him.

That answers the first part of our question, and brings us to the second part, which is the reason we should care about the destruction of the bourgeois democratic republic.

It was Engels, no less, who referred to universal suffrage as an ”instrument of bourgeois rule”. He referred to it as ”an index of the maturity of the working class. It cannot and never will be anything more in the modern state”.

As that is the case, we certainly want all members of the working class, the proletariat, to be as politically active as possible, to ”take an active part in democracy”. At the very least, that means voting for the candidate of their choice. But if Trump has his way, all Americans will be relieved of the burden of voting.

This has given rise to an extremely rare case of converging interests, of two opposing classes, that of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie want to remove Trump from office, as they see that he is a threat to their method of rule, while the proletariat wants to remove him from office, as he is a threat to democracy, if not to all of humanity.

As a result of this, for the moment -strictly for the moment- the two classes have a common goal! Now it is up to the proletariat to support the bourgeoisie in their effort to stop this madman!

This is not quite as remarkable as it may first appear. There are times throughout history, when classes who are the bitterest of enemies, come together, and work together towards a common goal. Of course, as soon as that goal is reached, they go back to attempting to destroy each other.

An example of this happened in America, in 1861. At that time, the country was in the process of splitting apart. The capitalists of the north were determined to invest their capital in the south. The slave owners of the south were determined to block this industrial development. As the capitalists are anything but stupid, they decided that the best way to destroy the southern slave owners, was by emancipating their slaves. No slaves, no slave owners. Of course, the slave owners took a dim view of this approach.

As is well known, the tension rose to the point that the ”south”, or at least eleven states which practiced slavery, separated from the union. That left five other states, referred to as ”border states”, which also practiced slavery, and were also considering separation.

As a means of ”damage control”, agents of the north approached the slave owners of the border states and promised them that they could keep their slaves, as long as they assisted the north in crushing the southern rebellion. The slave owners of the border states agreed to this, and the ”rest is history”, as is the common expression.

The war ended in 1865, the Confederacy was defeated, and shortly afterwards, slavery was abolished in America. A section of the slave owners assisted the capitalists in destroying the slave owners!

A similar situation took place in Russia, immediately after the October revolution of 1917, in which the first socialist republic was established. At that time, Russia was still at war with the Central powers, including Germany. In fact, the German forces were advancing into Russia, and Lenin knew he needed help. With that in mind, he asked the country of France to send in demolition experts, to assist the Russians, to at least slow down the German advance.

As France was also at war with Germany, they agreed to assist in this objective. Even though the French capitalists hated Lenin, and everything he stood for, they agreed to help. So the officer in charge of the French detachment of demolition experts met with Lenin. Of course they shook hands and pretended to like each other, even though each could quite cheerfully have strangled the other. Shortly afterwards, in March of 1918, Russia was able to secure peace with Germany, and of course that was the end of the alliance between Russia and France.

Now we have a similar situation, in that the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, are asking the working people, the proletariat, to assist them in stopping Trump. The working people should do just that. In the process of stopping Trump from ”tearing our democracy down”, they will go beyond voting, they will be ”taking an active part in democracy”.

Just as the American capitalists used the slave owners to destroy the slave owners, so too the American workers can assist the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, in stopping Trump and in the process, destroy the capitalists, the bourgeoisie.

In the process of stopping Trump from destroying democracy, the working people will be taking an active part in democracy! At the same time, the Marxists, the Communists, can make it clear to people that the real problem is the class of people whom he serves, of whom he is a member, that of the monopoly capitalists, the bourgeoisie.

With that in mind, I can suggest that all Americans join the two political parties, Democrats and Republicans, as card carrying members. As such, you can decide the candidates to run for any and all political offices. I can also suggest that everyone vote in the upcoming election.

As well, it is up to conscious people, those who are aware of the theories of Marx and Lenin, to form a proper Communist Party, in order to lead the working class. Those who have been most politically active in the recent past, which is to say the women and students, will have to resume their activity, but on a wider scale. The members of the public have to be made aware that the problem is the capitalist, the bourgeoisie, and not just Trump. The solution is in revolution and the subsequent Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

Let people know that the current democratic republic is set up by the capitalists, for the capitalists. They, the bourgeoisie, are in charge, and fully intend to remain in charge. It is democracy for the bourgeoisie, a dictatorship over the proletariat. The one and only way for the working class, the proletariat, to emancipate itself, is through revolution. The capitalists must first be overthrown and then crushed, under the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. Such a dictatorship means democracy for the working class, the proletariat, but a dictatorship for the bourgeoisie.

It is to be hoped that when this takes place, the men will be motivated to also take part in the revolutionary motion. No doubt as the revolution grows and spreads, ever more people will be swept up into the movement.

Now is the time to take action. Be creative. Harass the capitalists wherever and whenever possible. Allow them no peace. March on their offices, homes, banks and restaurants, their resorts, where they plot and scheme to stab each other in the back, and remain in power. Make their lives supremely miserable, and preferably do so in an entertaining manner, one which also raises the level of awareness of the working class. The best way to educate people is to entertain them at the same time.

Allow the posters and banners to proclaim:

Workers of the World, Unite!

Scientific Socialism!

Dictatorship Of the Proletariat!

Victory Or Death!

The Corona Virus pandemic is raging around the world. In America, it is almost completely out of control. It is estimated that over five million Americans have been infected, with the death rate at over 170,000. The number of dead is expected to double within the next several months. As well, the stock market is expected to crash any day now, as the country enters a second Great Depression. The ”economic stimulus package”, in the form of six hundred dollar weekly payments to families, has just expired. Within a month, landlords will be issuing legal eviction notices. It is estimated that an additional forty million people will soon become homeless. The presidential elections are on the horizon, and Trump and his henchmen see the havoc caused by the virus as an opportunity!

The Democratic candidate for president has chosen a woman as his ”running mate”, as the candidate for Vice President. She is a member of a minority, a ”woman of colour”, in that she is considered to be ”black and brown”. This is considered to be a politically correct way to say that her father was from Jamaica and her mother was from India. Or as the press politely phrases it, she is ”Black and East Indian”.

For the benefit of those who are just now becoming politically active, I will mention that the American Indigenous people were formerly referred to as ”Indians”, a term which is objected to by both Indigenous people and people from India. That is the reason the press refers to people from India as East Indian. Apparently it is now politically correct to refer to ”Afro Americans” as Black. Bear in mind that these expressions are not mine.

Be that as it may, Trump and his advisors have wasted no time in slandering this woman. They claim that she is not ”qualified” to run for the office, as she ”was not born in America”. They offer no shred of evidence to support this charge.

This is not too surprising, as Trump is just as much a racist as he is a liar. And of course Trump lies constantly. Even when his lips are not moving, he lies, in the form of tweets. The only thing he hates more than minorities are female minorities, especially those who do not ”know their place”. As far as Trump is concerned, every woman has her place, and that place is prone. That is the reason he surrounds himself with attractive young women, those who do not object to being ”groped”, which is a polite term for sexual assault.

Perhaps it is ironic to think that Trump had no ambition to become president. He ran for president on an impulse, that which entertainers refer to as a ”publicity stunt”. Bear in mind that Trump is, first and foremost, an entertainer. Also bear in mind that most people did not expect him to win. Yet win he did, and perhaps no one was more surprised than Donald Trump. As a result of this, he has since found that he enjoys the power, and has no intention of relinquishing that power. As his popularity is currently ”nose diving” in the polls, that creates a little problem. But as Trump is a resourceful man, he has developed a plan to ”win” the upcoming election.

The medical experts are all agreed that we should exercise ”social distancing”, to stay at least six feet apart, and avoid gatherings. The trouble is that in order to vote, it is frequently necessary to wait in line. That simply cannot be done, while exercising social distancing. The only alternative is to vote by mail.

The crisis caused by the virus, the illness and death of countless Americans, is seen by Trump as nothing less than an opportunity! As most people will be forced to vote by mail, he is making arrangements to ensure that a proper vote will never take place! The votes which are cast by mail will never be counted by the deadline! Trump can then declare that the election was fraudulent! Trump plans to remain in power, and not just for another four years, but indefinitely!

As part of his plan to sabotage the election, he has recently placed one of his loyal henchmen in charge of the post office. The new manager of the post office just discontinued numerous sorting machines. Various public blue post office boxes have been placed in storage. Employees are required to close the post offices on a regular basis, cutting the hours of service. Now the budget of the postal service is cut to the point that ”snail mail” is no longer a joke. People are already complaining about the time it takes to receive their mail. At the time of the election, when there is anticipated to be an avalanche of additional mail, in the form of ballots, the newly appointed head of the postal service will make sure that few of them reach their destination, at least not before the deadline. That will give Trump a chance to proclaim that the election was a fraud, null and void, and he will continue to ”serve” as president. Mission accomplished.

Perhaps someone should tell Trump that the American people are not about to put up with this. Then again, it would not do any good. Besides, he is about to learn this the hard way. The American people are heroic, with a proud history of revolution. Very soon, they are about to stage another revolution, the Second American Revolution. The upcoming presidential election, which Trump plans to declare fraudulent, could well prove to be the spark which triggers the revolution.

Once again, I will mention, for the sake of those working people who are only now becoming politically active – and I hope there are a great many of you!- that there was a time, commonly referred to as the ”stone age”, in which classes did not exist. It was not the ”golden age” of humanity, as people did not live in a ”Garden of Eden”. On the contrary, life tended to be short and brutal. So there is no need to become nostalgic over that which existed long before we were born. The ”good old days” it was not.

Those days ended with the beginning of civilization. The first classes appeared, in the form of slaves and slave owners. As can be well imagined, there was conflict between the classes. That which was in the best interest of one class, say the slave owners, was in the worst interest of the slaves, and of course the opposite is true. In short, as soon as classes came into existence, class conflict appeared. In fact, we cannot have classes without class conflict. In due time, slavery by and large gave way to the feudal system, which was not a vast improvement.

Then a strange thing happened. Around or about the years 1720 to 1740, in Great Britain, there appeared an industrial revolution. It quickly spread to other countries, and in fact it is still spreading. This industrial revolution created two new classes. The burghers of the ”middle ages” became transformed into the class of capitalists, or ”bourgeois”, derived from the word burgher. These newly minted capitalists in turn needed workers to run their machines, and these workers became hourly employees, ”proletarians”. In short, the industrial revolution gave birth to two new classes, bourgeois and proletarian. As usual, the two classes immediately came into conflict. That class conflict has in no way abated. On the contrary, it is now raging at a fever pitch.

At first, no one could understand this new creation, that of capitalism. It took the genius of Karl Marx to explain it, in his book Capital. Then in 1848, he and his friend and collaborator, Friedrich Engels, wrote the Communist Manifesto. Remarkably enough, it is as true today as when it was first written.

The introduction of the Communist Manifesto expresses the terror of all bourgeois:

”A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of Communism.”

The only difference now is that this ”spectre” has spread around the world, including America. To this day the bourgeois live in mortal dread of Communism. As Communism is the worst enemy of capitalism, there is a reason for this. It goes on to say that:

”The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. The modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones.”

That is quite clear. Now that the revolution is on the horizon, it is important to bear in mind that Trump is not the problem. The problem is that the bourgeoisie, the monopoly capitalists, the imperialists, are in charge. Trump is merely a member of that class, and as Lenin stated it, ”imperialists are completely reactionary”. We can expect nothing progressive from them. It is therefore up to the working class, the proletariat, to overthrow the bourgeoisie and crush them, under the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

The Communist Manifesto lets us know what to expect during a revolution. It goes on to say:

”Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses however, this distinct feature: it has simplified class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other – Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.”

That is certainly true now, more so than ever before. The peasants, in the form of the family farmer, have been all but wiped out, at least in North America. That leaves the middle class, the petty bourgeois, and they are being squeezed ever tighter by the monopoly capitalists, the bourgeoisie, or the imperialists, as that is the correct technical term. The remainder of the middle class is ”living on borrowed time”. As the stock market crashes and the country enters another Great Depression, as ever more millions find themselves homeless as well as unemployed, so too ever more small businesses will face bankruptcy. The owners of those businesses will find themselves joining the ranks of the working class, as proletarians.

This was forecast by Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto:

”The lower strata of the middle class -the small tradespeople, shopkeepers and retired tradesmen generally, the handicraftsmen and peasants, – all these sink gradually into the proletariat, partly because their diminutive capital does not suffice for the scale on which Modern Industry is carried on, and is swamped in the competition with the large capitalists, partly because their specialized skill is rendered worthless by new methods of production. Thus the proletariat is recruited from all classes of the population….These also supply the proletariat with fresh elements of enlightenment and progress. Finally, in times when the class struggle nears the decisive hour, the progress of dissolution going on within the ruling class, in fact within the whole range of old society, assumes such a violent, glaring character, that a small section of the ruling class cuts itself adrift, and joins the revolutionary class, the class that holds the future in its hands. Just as, therefore, at an earlier period, a section of the nobility went over to the bourgeoisie, so now a portion of the bourgeoisie goes over to the proletariat, and in particular a portion of the bourgeois ideologists, who have raised themselves to the level of comprehending theoretically the historical movement as a whole.”

This is of exceptional importance because the working class, the proletariat, is not aware of itself as a class. This class awareness can only come from an outside source, and that outside source is of course the bourgeois intellectuals, or ”ideologists”, as Marx refers to them. Only such people, former members of either the middle class, the petty bourgeois, or the upper class, the bourgeoisie, can raise the consciousness of the working class, the proletariat, to the level of that of Marxists. The members of the working class who are true Marxists are few and far between.

No doubt the ”decisive hour” is fast approaching, as the class struggle is assuming a ”violent, glaring character”. The current ”ruling class”, in this case the bourgeoisie, is already starting to splinter. It is safe to say that cracks are beginning to appear in their ”united front”. It is the bourgeoisie that owns the press, and the journalists are allowed to report only that which their employers want them to report. At the ”news conferences” with Trump, they are allowed to ask only general questions. Certain questions are strictly forbidden. Yet at a recent news conference, a journalist asked Trump the question which was previously forbidden: ”Do you regret all the lying you have done to the American people?” Trump was so shocked that the journalist had to repeat the question. Then of course Trump refused to provide an answer.

That question is an indication that the bourgeoisie is beginning to quarrel among themselves. The people who own the news outlet, for whom that journalist worked, allowed him to ask that question. Those people are members of the bourgeoisie, and they have taken a stand, against the other members of their class.

It is clear that ”a small section of the ruling class”, in this case the bourgeoisie, has separated itself, or ”cut itself adrift” from the rest of the class, and has now ”joined the revolutionary class”, in this case the proletariat, the ”class that holds the future in its hands”. Without doubt, the ”class struggle nears the decisive hour”, and as that is the case, we should know what to expect. No doubt, not all members of the working class, the proletariat, will become revolutionary. In fact, we can expect some of them to oppose the revolution.

The Communist Manifesto goes on to let us know what to expect:

” the dangerous class, the ‘lumpen proletariat’, the social scum, that passively rotting mass thrown off by the lowest layers of the old society, may, here and there, be swept into the movement by a proletarian revolution; its conditions of life, however, prepare it far more for the part of a bribed tool of reactionary intrigue.”

As we have no shortage of ”lumpen proletariat”, those who have been ”thrown off” by the old society, if only through no fault of their own, we know what to expect. No doubt the bourgeoisie will attempt to use them to their advantage, as a ”bribed tool of reaction”, to try to crush the revolution. We can only hope the proletarian revolution is strong enough to sweep them up into the movement.

This brings us to Section II, Proletarians and Communists:

”In what relation do the Communists stand to the proletarians as a whole?

”The Communists do not form a separate party opposed to the other working class parties.

”They have no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole.

”They do not set up any sectarian principles of their own, by which to shape and mold the proletariat movement.

”The Communists are distinguished from the other working class parties by this only 1: In the national struggles of the proletarians of the different countries, they point out and bring to the front the common interest of the entire proletariat, independently of all nationality. 2. In the various stages of development which the struggle of the working class against the bourgeoisie has to pass through, they always and everywhere represent the interest of the movement as a whole.

”The Communists, therefore, are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working class parties of each country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement.

”The immediate aim of the Communists is the same as that of all other proletarian parties: formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat.”

From this it is clear that the Communists are intellectuals, aware of the existence of classes and the role the working class must play in overthrowing the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, and setting up the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. They refer to themselves as ”conscious people”, as they are well aware of the class struggle, of the fact that the working class spontaneously rises up against the bourgeoisie. This is to say that the working class, the proletariat, gets into motion, by the millions, without knowing what it is doing! The social scientists refer to this as a ”spontaneous uprising”, while I refer to it as an Act of God.

The Communists are equally well aware that the members of the working class, the proletariat, are not aware of themselves as a class. The conditions of life of a proletarian do not lead to this awareness. It is therefore the duty of Marxists, most of whom are current or former members of the ”propertied classes”, to bring this awareness to the workers, to raise the working class, or at least to raise the most advanced workers, to the level of awareness of Marxists.

It is also clear that the one and only way to ”overthrow the bourgeois supremacy”, to achieve the ”conquest of political power by the proletariat”, is through revolution. As for those who doubt that, feel free to consider all the wars the American government has been involved in, including the present wars. At the same time, consider the virus which is devastating the country, the homeless and unemployed, soon to be augmented by millions of more Americans. Feel free to compare that to the homes and lifestyles of the billionaires, the bourgeoisie. Bear in mind that Trump is merely one member of the bourgeoisie, and he represents their interests. The rest of his class are about as anxious to part with their wealth and power, as he is.

The Communist Manifesto goes on to say ”the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property….In one word, you reproach us with intending to do away with your property. Precisely so; that is just what we intend.”

No wonder the capitalists so passionately hate the Communists! This hatred of the Communists is matched in intensity only by their love of their property!

That brings us to one of the strongest accusations against us:

”The Communists are further reproached with desiring to abolish countries and nationality.

”The working men have no country. We cannot take from them what they have not got. Since the proletariat must first of all acquire political supremacy, must rise to the leading class of the nation, must constitute itself the class, it is so far, itself national, though not in the bourgeois sense of the word.

”National differences and antagonisms between peoples are daily more and more vanishing, owing to the development of the bourgeoisie, to freedom of commerce, to the world market, to uniformity in the mode of production and to the conditions of life corresponding thereto.

”The supremacy of the proletariat will cause them to vanish still faster. United action, of the leading civilized countries at least, is one of the first conditions for the emancipation of the proletariat.

”In proportion as the exploitation of one individual by another will also be put an end to, the exploitation of one nation by another will also be put an end to. In proportion as the antagonism between the classes within the nation vanishes, the hostility of one nation to another will come to an end.”

The fact of the matter is that the bourgeoisie love war. If nothing else, war is most profitable, or as they put it, ”good for business”. As a result of war, the factories run at full capacity and the war material thus produced tends to be quickly destroyed, resulting in an ever greater demand. This greater demand gives rise to an increase in price, according to the well known capitalist ”law of supply and demand”.

Of course, it remains for the working class to fight the wars of the bourgeoisie, to kill workers of other countries. They would have us believe that this is an act of patriotism, true ”defence of the motherland”. It is only the Communists, the true leaders of the working class, who call for the war to be turned into a civil war, to turn the rifles against the bourgeoisie. The war must be turned into a revolutionary war.

There are other accusations against the Communists, which the Communist Manifesto documents:

”The charges against Communism made from a religious, a philosophical, and generally, from an ideological stand point, are not deserving of serious examination.

”Does it require deep intuition to comprehend that mans ideas, views and conceptions, in one word, mans consciousness, changes with every change in the conditions of his material existence, in his social relations and his social life?

”What else does the history of ideas prove, than that intellectual production changes its character in proportion as material production is changed? The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class.

”When people speak of the ideas that revolutionize society, they do but express that fact that within the old society the elements of a new one have been created, and that the dissolution of the old ideas keep even pace with the dissolution of the old conditions of existence.”

The industrial revolution has given rise to socialized production, so that it is only natural that we should think in terms of socialism. The ”old ideas”, that of the ”blessings of capitalism”, must be dissolved, along with the ”old conditions of existence”, which is wage slavery, for the proletariat. This is another way of saying that the bourgeoisie must be overthrown and crushed under the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

The Communist Manifesto makes this quite clear in the following passages:

”The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degree, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the State, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the ruling class; and to increase the total productive forces as rapidly as possible.

”Of course, in the beginning, this cannot be effected except by means of despotic inroads on the rights of property, and on the conditions of bourgeois production; by means of measures, therefore, which appear economically insufficient and untenable, but which, in the course of the movement, outstrip themselves, necessitate further inroads upon the old social order, and are unavoidable as a means of entirely revolutionizing the mode of production.

”These measures will, of course, be different in different countries.

”Nevertheless, in most advanced countries, the following will be pretty generally applicable.

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal liability of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; global abolition of all the distinctions between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.

”When, in the course of development, class distinctions have disappeared, and all production has been concentrated in the hands of a vast association of the whole nation, the public power will lose its political character. Political power, properly so called, is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another. If the proletariat during its contest with the bourgeoisie is compelled, by the force of circumstances, to organize itself as a class, if, by means of a revolution, it makes itself the ruling class, and, as such, sweeps away by force the old conditions of production, then it will, along with these conditions, have swept away the conditions for the existence of class antagonisms, and of classes generally, and will thereby have abolished its own supremacy as a class.

”In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.”

It is clear that the approaching revolution will give rise to the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, in which the current ruling class, the bourgeoisie, will be crushed. The measures which Marx outlined will lead to the abolition of class antagonisms, and of ”classes generally”, so that all classes will eventually disappear.

All of this was written in 1848, and at that time he referred to the ”proletariat organized as the ruling class”. It was only in 1871, after the experience of the Paris Commune, that he began to refer to the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

In 1871, the workers of Paris revolted and took over the city. They shared the little they had and set up the first workers state. They referred to this as the Paris Commune. The bourgeoisie wasted no time in crushing the rebellion. This experience, brief as it was, provided Marx with valuable information. In fact, it was so valuable that he added it as an amendment to the Communist Manifesto. The workers, once they seized control of the city, failed to crush the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, or at least not with sufficient enthusiasm. At that point, Marx stressed the point that the working class, or ”the proletariat organized as the ruling class”, was not being stated strongly enough. It is necessary, after the proletariat seizes political power, to crush the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, with a certain enthusiasm. In this, the workers of the Paris Commune were negligent, and was one of the reasons that the Commune was crushed. As Marx put it, the working class must absolutely crush the bourgeoisie, through a dictatorship, the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

I use capital letters as a means of stressing the importance of that method of rule, and as a means of drawing a clear distinction between the true Marxists, and those who merely claim to be Communists. The ”phoney Marxists”, technically referred to as social chauvinists, are in fact loyal servants of the bourgeoisie, and are careful to make no mention of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

With that in mind, there is an urgent need for a true party to lead the working class, which can only be a Communist Party, and I can suggest that the name of the party be Communist Party, Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, or CP,DOP.

Such a party can only be formed by ”conscious people”, Communists, those who are aware of the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin. It is very likely that most of them will be former members of the ”upper classes”, of necessity. The bourgeoisie make a point of keeping the working class ”in the dark”.

To further learn from the experience of previous revolutions, we can examine the Russian revolution. In early 1917, after the Russian people had risen up and overthrown the Czar, the Russian bourgeoisie came to undisputed power. A ”bourgeois democratic republic” was established, referred to as the Kerensky regime. This regime was generous with promises, such as land to the peasants, an end to the war, a Constituent Assembly, improved working conditions for workers, etc. Of course it was all a pack of lies, and Lenin was determined to carry the revolution through to its logical socialist conclusion. With that in mind, he wrote State and Revolution. This was based heavily on The Communist Manifesto, especially the stress Marx placed on the mistakes made by the workers of the Paris Commune. In particular:

”But the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready made state machinery, and wield it for its own purposes.”

The existing state machine, set up by the small minority, the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, for the purpose of crushing the vast majority, the working class, the proletariat, must be smashed. In its place, a new state apparatus must be established, for the purpose of crushing the desperate and determined resistance of the bourgeoisie. This new state apparatus is referred to as the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

Under the leadership of Lenin, on November 7, 1917, the Russian socialist revolution took place. The working class of Russia took the advice of Marx. The bourgeoisie were overthrown and crushed under the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

As it is clear that the next American revolution is fast approaching, it is vital that workers prepare for the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. With that in mind, I can only encourage a careful reading of the Communist Manifesto and State and Revolution. The various agents of the bourgeoisie, within the working class, will do their best to divert the revolutionary movement onto a harmless path of social reform. If they succeed, nothing will change.

With that in mind, in the immortal words of Marx and Lenin:

Workers of the World, Unite!

Prepare For the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat!

Victory Or Death!

Of late, the press has been reporting that a great many cattle, both bulls and cows, are being killed and mutilated, in the state of Oregon. If nothing else, this is a somewhat welcome change from the reports of the political gong show in Washington. Aside from that, the speculation as to the cause of the death of these animals is nothing less than an embarrassment.

In the eastern part of the state, there are very few ranches, but those which do exist are huge, covering many thousands of acres. The cattle are allowed to range freely. It is on these huge estates that the cattle are being discovered, dead and mutilated. There is no shortage of theories to explain these strange events.

Each time this happens, the local police are called in to investigate. In one case, the police report stated, there was ”no indication it had been shot, attacked by predators or eaten poisonous plants. The animals sex organs and tongue had been removed. All the blood was gone”.

Here we have an example of an incomplete police investigation. In fact, just because there was no blood around the wound sites does not mean that the ”blood was gone”. The blood was precisely where it was supposed to be, inside the carcass. If the police had conducted a proper investigation, that would have been confirmed.

In the case of four bulls being discovered dead, the local press reported that: ”There were no tracks around the carcasses. Ranch management and law enforcement suspect that someone killed the bulls. Ranch hands have been advised to travel in pairs and to go armed”. As there were no tracks or signs of human activity around the carcasses, the conclusion is illogical. The bulls were clearly not killed by people.

In almost all cases, the genitals of the bulls have been removed, with ”surgical precision”, so that it is speculated that the bulls were ”killed to get the organs of the free ranging bulls”. It is further speculated that the bulls were ”darted with tranquilizers that knocked them out. While some people acted as lookouts, others bled the animals by inserting a large gauge needle into the tongue and into an artery, then removing the organs after the heart quit beating.”

Once again we have an incomplete investigation, in that it is assumed that the blood is missing. Also, there was no sign of human activity, a fact which was conveniently ignored. As the country is supremely dusty, any tracks are immediately apparent. That rules out human involvement. As well, they are correct when they say that ”It is not bears, wolves, cougars or poisonous plants. Nor were the animals shot….not one drop of blood”. Yet they are determined that people were responsible for this!

Strangely enough, these same people are the first to admit that it is simply impossible to move around that ”dusty country” without leaving tracks. On the one hand, their investigation rules out human activity, yet on the other hand, they still blame people.

In the case of the death of one cow, according to a deputy conducting the investigation: ”No dart puncture, no bullets, no strangulation marks, no rope burns, no tire tracks, no signs of poison”. From that rather thorough investigation, the same deputy reached a rather strange conclusion: ”definitely foul play involved in this animals death”. Once again, we have incorrect conclusions derived from incontrovertible facts.

Then there is the idea of ”people attacking the animals to cause financial harm to the ranchers”. We could point out that there are easier ways of causing ”financial harm”, but even that brainstorm is better than the more popular belief, that ”the animals are being levitated into a space ship, mutilated, and then dropped back to the ground”.

It is to the credit of one of the ranchers that he joked about this. He said he was ”flattered that aliens from distant galaxies would travel all the way to planet earth, just to kill and mutilate my cattle.” He is one of the few ranchers to still maintain a sense of humour.

As local law enforcement is stumped, the FBI has been called in. They in turn report that a similar situation took place in the 1970’s. As they put it, at that time, ”in the West and Midwest, thousands of cattle were killed and mutilated, from Minnesota to New Mexico. There have been sporadic cases since then”. The investigation of that august agency concluded that ”there is no indication that anything other than common predators were responsible.” As the investigations have proven conclusively that the animals are not being killed by bears, wolves or cougars, it is clear that the FBI considers some other ”common predator” to be responsible. They neglect to say just what predator that may be.

Here we have a very clear cut example of well meaning, honest, professional, highly respected people, including members of various law enforcement agencies, stating the problem clearly, investigating carefully, and then coming to conclusions. The trouble is that the conclusions they reach are in complete contradiction to the facts. This can only be described as shoddy work.

All are correct when they note that there is no blood around the injury sites. They are also correct when they note no sign of human interference, such as ”bullet wounds, puncture wounds, strangulation marks, rope burns or foot prints”. Also no sign of predation from ”common predators”. From this they conclude that the ”blood was drained from the animal”, or ”foul play was involved”, or as the FBI stated, ”common predators were responsible”. All are mistaken, although the FBI is closest to the truth.

Perhaps someone should tell these Dick Tracy sorts, these ace detectives, that which all school children know. Once an animal dies, the heart quits beating. There is no blood around the wound sites because the animal was dead when it was mutilated! Dead animals do not bleed! They correctly point out that there is no indication of the animal being killed by a human, of ”foul play”, because there was no foul play. The police have done a fine job of ruling out the impossible, but failed to take the crucial step of facing the one and only alternative! The animals are being killed by poison gas!

There is only one animal which can release poison gas, strong enough to kill cattle. This poison gas, commonly referred to as a ”cloud of smoke”, is not smoke at all, but supremely toxic. The fact that it uses this poison to kill cattle is proof of that. Then it consumes the parts of the animal it can easily gather, including the tongue and genitals. It also frequently rips out the large intestine, a very nourishing part of the anatomy. It is strange that the press does not report this, perhaps because they are concerned with the sentiments of the readers. Or perhaps the animal has changed its behaviour.

Of course the animal to which I am referring is the pterosaur, commonly called the pterodactyl. As it is nocturnal, it is rarely seen. It also flies, so that it is very light, with huge paws, to that the tracks it leaves are very difficult to spot. It has also clearly developed a taste for beef, at least in Oregon. As long as livestock is left outside after sunset, those animals will continue to be preyed upon by this prehistoric monster. I regret I do not have better news.

To the law enforcement officials, I can only say that there is no law against wild animals killing livestock. In other words, no ”foul play” involved. To the FBI, I can say that the pterosaur is hardly a ”common predator”, but it is certainly a predator.

That brings us to the not so little matter of proving the existence of this ”not so common predator”. May I suggest taking a sample of the blood from the carcass and sending it to a laboratory. As long as the blood is extracted from the animal within 24 hours of the death of the animal, then it is very likely the lab can determine the poison used to kill the animal. At the same time, swab around the wound sites and send the swab to a lab, for a DNA analysis. No doubt the test result will confirm that the wound was made by a reptile. Equally without doubt, those test results will be challenged, so it may be best to send the samples to three independent labs. This is my idea of a thorough investigation.

These test results will confirm that the livestock is being killed by a blast of poison gas and consumed by a reptile. Law enforcement personnel can take comfort in knowing that the ball will then be taken from their court and placed where it belongs, in the court of the scientists. The death and mutilation of this livestock is not a crime. It is a problem to be faced by the scientists. It is high time they did their job.

As I write this, the press is preoccupied with the countdown to the November presidential election. They would have the American public believe that the end to the ”nightmare” which is currently gripping the country is right around the corner. Of course the name of the ”nightmare” is Trump, the ”serpent” who has weaselled his way into the White House. But now, lo and behold, they see a Knight in Shining Armour on the horizon! This hero, in the form of the Democratic presidential candidate, is destined to slay the dragon and restore peace and tranquility to the country. The Age of Aquarius is right around the corner!

Granted, the members of the press, the journalists, do not present the news in quite that manner. Yet all seem convinced that the salvation of the country lies in the upcoming elections. They foresee the Democrats winning a resounding victory in both House and Senate, as well as a landslide defeat for Trump. Then in January, with head down and tail between his legs, Trump will be placed in chains and marched off to prison.

Countless people may take some consolation in the thought of a new president being sworn in, followed immediately by the police slapping the handcuffs on Trump. As the president, head of state, it is doubtful that Trump can be charged, at least for now. But as a former head of state, it becomes ”open season” on Trump. Without doubt, various law enforcement agencies have gathered a great deal of evidence, and are prepared to charge him with various crimes, both federal and state. At the same time, the members of his family and close friends will also be charged.

These happy thoughts should be put aside, as such a fairy tale has no place in the real world. Trump has no intention of relinquishing power, surrendering to the authorities and facing numerous, very serious criminal charges. Such a course of action would almost certainly result in him spending the rest of his life in prison. The man knows this, as he is not entirely stupid.

It should be noted that the president has the legal right to pardon anyone for breaking any federal law -possibly even himself!- but no right to pardon anyone for violating any state law. Trump is well aware that he is looking at federal charges of abuse of power and tax evasion, among other things. As well, the state of New York is now examining his ”financial records”, with a view to possible fraud and money laundering. As the man is a habitual liar, it is not beyond the realm of imagination. To imagine Trump as a man of honesty and integrity, is well beyond such a realm.

Trump is already laying the ground work for his continued occupation of the White House, regardless of the results of the November elections. He has no intention of vacating the premises. He has already suggested an ”election delay”, due to the Corona Virus. Then there is the ”bogus” of mail in voting, in which ”Russian interference” will lead to ”false results”. When asked by his friends at a news channel, he refused to admit that he would honour the election results, saying instead that he ”would see” after the election. The Attorney General, a loyal Trump boot licker, testified to Congress that he would honour the election results, but only ”if the results are clear”. No doubt, the only ”clear” results are those which place Trump back in power for another four years.

This is not to say that Trump is the problem, because he is not. He is merely the most visible presence. He represents the capitalists, the class of people whose scientific term is the bourgeoisie. In fact, he is a member of that class. All members of that class are reactionary, completely devoid of principle, and Trump is clearly no exception. He is merely more arrogant than most, boasting that he can sexually assault any women he pleases. There are numerous women who can testify to the fact that he has done just that. What is more, he has gotten away with it, at least for now.

This brings us to the class opposite the capitalist class, the working class, the proletariat. The capitalists have done a fine job of decimating all other classes, so that mere remnants of the peasants, or farmers, remain in existence. The nobility was eradicated many years ago, and now the middle class, technically referred to as the petty bourgeois, is in the process of being wiped out. This class of people, small business owners, cannot compete with the monopolies. The optimists who try to establish a small business are quickly crushed by the monopoly capitalists. The capitalists are not about to tolerate any competition, no matter how slight.

The current pandemic of the Corona Virus is not sparing America. On the contrary, it is devastating the country. One quarter of all the infections and deaths around the world are happening in America. People are complaining that Trump is not being a leader. Such people are mistaken. Trump is very much a leader, and countless people are following him.

Those who are familiar with American history are well aware of numerous leaders. In the ”old west”, the James – Younger gang was led by Jesse James and Cole Younger. Billy the Kid had quite a following. Wes Hardin was well known as a gun fighter, as was Wyatt Earp. The only difference between the two was that Earp carried a badge and used it to commit murder. In more modern times, during the Great Depression, we have been blessed with Public Enemy Number One, John Dillinger, Ma Barker and her sons, Machine Gun Kelly, Baby Face Nelson, Mad Dog Vachon and Scarface Al Capone. More recently, John Gotti, the Teflon Don has become a household name, as has Sammy the Bull Gravano. Charles Manson had quite a following, including several lovely young ladies.

The point being that these people were leaders and countless people followed them. In fact, they followed them to the gallows, to the grave and to prison. The girls who followed Manson were able to ”cheat the hangman”, but only at the expense of spending the last fifty years in prison.

So for those who say that people need leaders, I can only respond that you are mistaken. People need proper leaders, and there is a big difference between the two. Trump is a leader of the capitalists, the bourgeoisie. Common people, working people, proletarians, need leaders for the working class, and the one and only people who can provide that leadership is the scientific socialists, the Marxists. That is always the case, now more so than ever.

The reason I say this is because the situation is truly revolutionary. The Corona Virus is raging unchecked across the country. Countless people are unemployed, partly as a result of the virus and partly as a result of the fact that the country is now entering another Great Depression. Any day now the stock market will crash. The bourgeois economists expect this crash to be even more intense than the famous crash of 1929. The latest ”stimulus package”, which offered a measure of relief to a great many people, has just expired. Those same economists expect that a third of all Americans will soon be unable to meet their payments for housing, either in the form of rent or mortgage expenses. Tens of millions of Americans will soon be not only unemployed, but also homeless.

On the other hand, the situation now is far different from a century ago. By that I mean working people are far more aware, if still not class conscious. They are somewhat instinctively moving towards socialism. An example of this is the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone, in which people lived together communally, sharing the little they had. Another example is the fact that in three parts of the country, the east coast, the west coast and the industrial heart land of the country, various states have come together to form the nucleus of separate socialist republics. It is doubtful that the people who are taking part in the creation of these – soon to be – socialist republics are aware of that which they are doing. This is referred to as being spontaneous, and is quite common.

Spontaneous actions are perfectly acceptable for common people, members of the public, working class people, proletarians, as well as middle class people, petty bourgeois. The working class is not aware of itself as a class. This awareness has to come to the working class from an outside source. Of course that outside source is middle class intellectuals. As for those who are prejudiced against such people, bear in mind that Marx, Engels and Lenin were middle class intellectuals. In short, get over that prejudice!

I also mention middle class people, petty bourgeois, as a great many such people are either ruined or in the process of being ruined. Before the virus hit, they were under great pressure by the monopoly capitalists. Now, as most small businesses have been shut down for several months and will very likely be shut down again, possibly for a much longer time, the owners are ruined. They cannot possibly stay in business. They are being forced into the ranks of the working class, the proletariat. At the same time, they are bringing with them their awareness of the existence of classes, as all middle class people are class conscious.

This is not to say that they are all Marxists, as most of them are not. Some are not even aware of the theory of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat, although many are aware of such Marxist theories. All are quite capable of helping to raise the level of awareness of the working class. Those who are aware of the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin should bring that awareness to the working class, the proletariat. Such people have nothing to fear. As proletarians, they are free to take part in the revolution and the subsequent Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. In fact, I strongly recommend this.

Trump is becoming ever more brazen, first forcing peaceful protesters out of Lafayette Square and now sending government agents, in plain clothes, into the city of Portland to arrest protesters and carry them away in unmarked vans. These are reported to be ”police” from DHS, Department of Homeland Security. Perhaps it would be more accurate to refer to them as Secret Police.

The fact is that the country is deeply divided, as almost everyone is prepared to admit. It is set to explode, or to put it in scientific terms, the contradictions are sharp and clear. Civil war could break out at any day. This is to say that time is not on our side. The level of awareness of the working class must be raised. Workers must be prepared for the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

Now is the time for workers to join the two parties, Democrats and Republicans, as card carrying members. Assume positions of responsibility. Run for any and all political office.

Perhaps of even more importance, it is necessary to organize. The women and students have proven their ability in the past, and now an even greater effort is required. The leaders of the women’s movement of several years ago may have sold out to the capitalists, becoming members of a corporation. If so, no doubt others can take their place.

Feel free to take inspiration from other female revolutionary leaders, such as Rosa Luxembourg and Clara Zetkin. They set a fine example.

Of critical importance is the creation of a truly Communist Party, one which calls for the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. Only in that way can it be distinguished from the social chauvinists and the centrists. Those people would sooner crawl on their bellies over broken glass, rather than endorse the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

All workers, or at least all advanced workers, should read the Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels, as well as the Essential Works of Lenin. In this manner, such workers will receive a fine grounding in Marxism. As the middle class intellectuals are as yet silent, it is up to workers to take the initiative. They can take part in the formation of a truly Communist Party, Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.

Bear in mind that Lenin referred to America as the ”freest and most civilized country…a democratic republic. But what do we find? The brazen rule of a handful, not even of millionaires, but multimillionaires, while the people are in slavery and servitude”.

As this was written a century ago, it is now correct to say that we have the ”brazen rule” of billionaires and multi billionaires, while still ”the people are in slavery and servitude”.

Just as Lenin was the leader of the Marxist party of Russia, which came to be known as the Communist Party of Russia, so too we are in desperate need of an American Communist Party, Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. Only such a party can provide the proper leadership!

Bear in mind that as Lenin stated, it is easy to start a revolution in a ”petty bourgeois” country, as was Russia in 1917, but far more difficult to carry it through. By contrast, it is far more difficult to start a revolution in a ”cultured” country, as is America, but far easier to carry it through.

Perhaps it would be best if I ended this article with a slogan coined by Lenin:

Victory or Death!