Tag: communism

Open Letter To American Workers

Gerald Mcisaac

For a great many years, Canadians and Americans have been close friends and neighbours. Many Canadians and  Americans are related. We share the largest unguarded border in the world. We frequently cross the border, for vacation and business. Or at least, that is the way it used to be. Not any more!

Very recently, President Donald Trump announced tariffs on goods produced in Canada, Mexico and China. A tariff is nothing other than a tax, placed on certain goods produced in another country, in this case Canada, and then sold in the United States. This added tax goes to the American government, but is paid by the American consumer.

As can be expected, Canada responded with tariffs of their own, referred to as ‘’retaliatory tariffs’’, so that certain goods produced in America, to be sold in Canada, are also now taxed. Here again, the tax goes to the Canadian government, but is paid by the Canadian consumer. Then, as the two countries impose ever more retaliatory tariffs, on ever more products, this gives rise to that which is politely referred to as a ‘’trade war’’. 

It is more accurately referred to as simple stupidity! Madness! The consumers of both countries, are faced with ever higher prices. Inflation! The very thing that Trump swore that he would abolish! 

Aside from inflation, tariffs play a key role, in monopoly capitalism. As Lenin explained, in Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, in reference to tariffs:

‘’The concentration of industry and the formation of monopolist, manufacturers combines, cartels, syndicates, etc., could only be accelerated by these circumstances’’.

This is to stress the fact, that the use of tariffs, merely ‘’accelerates’’ the development of monopoly capitalism! Yet, as we already live under a state of monopoly capitalism, it is safe to say that those tariffs merely strengthen the capitalist monopolies!

Compare this to the nonsense that Trump spits out, to the effect that, ‘’tariffs will force American companies to produce goods, strictly for American consumers’’. Precisely the opposite is the case! The existing monopolies are about to become ever more powerful, ever more complete! Ever more small businesses are about to ‘’bite the dust’’. 

As well, Trump is determined to make Canada the ‘’Fifty First State’’. He has even insulted our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, by referring to him as ‘’Governor Trudeau’’. Make no mistake, Canadians are not taking this lying down!

We are all proud of our Prime Minister, for the speech he gave recently. It is on the internet, titled ‘’Watch Trudeau Speak Directly To Trump During Blistering Speech’’. 

He started his speech by pointing out that: ‘’Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada. Their closest partner and ally, their closest friend.’’ 

That is exactly right! And what close ‘’partner and ally’’ is about to take the place of Canada?

‘’At the same time, they are talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying murderous dictator. …Canadians are reasonable, and we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight. Not when our country and the well being of everyone in it is at stake.’’

Well spoken! He went on to state that Canada will respond with ‘’retaliatory tariffs’’. This is to say that Canada will, in turn, place tariffs on certain goods produced in America, and sent to Canada, to be sold. 

He was also correct when he stated that, ‘’there are no winners in a trade war’’. Then he spoke directly to the American people:

‘’We do not want this. We want to work with you, as a friend and ally, and we do not want to see you hurt either. But your government has chosen to do this, to you. … Your government has chosen to put American jobs at risk, at the thousands of workplaces that succeed because of materials from Canada, or because of consumers in Canada, or both. …They have chosen to launch a trade war that will, first and foremost, harm American families’’. 

It is significant that the ‘’trade war’’, to which Trudeau is referring, is nothing other than the response of one country, in this case Canada, to the tariffs of another country, in this case America. What choice do we have?

Yet Americans are a heroic people, with a history of revolution, of which they can be most proud. No doubt, they will soon expand upon that revolutionary history, and crush Trump and the Oligarchy, those who are determined to destroy the American democratic republic.

In fact, Lenin wrote an open letter to all American workers, in 1918. As it is so important, I have chosen to reproduce it, in full, although perhaps a little explanation is in order.

The first true Russian Marxists referred to themselves as ‘’Social Democrats’’, as they fought for democracy, as well as socialism. But then the Party split, into a majority, or Bolsheviks, those who adhere to principle, led by Lenin, and a minority, or Mensheviks, those who were completely unprincipled. Still later, the Bolsheviks referred to themselves as Communists.

The family farmers were referred to as peasants, and were divided into poor, middle and rich. The rich peasants were referred to as ‘’kulaks’’, or ‘’tight fists’’, or the ‘’rural bourgeoisie’’. They were the class enemies of the poor peasants and the workers. 

The word Soviet means ‘’Council’’ in English, and these Councils have now made an appearance in America. 

The expression ‘’i.e.’’ means ‘’that is’’. Also, all italics were made by Lenin.

The following is the full content of the letter:

‘’Comrades! A Russian Bolshevik who took part in the 1905 Revolution, and who lived in your country for many years afterwards, has offered to convey my letter to you. I have accepted his proposal all the more gladly because just at the present time the American revolutionary workers have to play an exceptionally important role as uncompromising enemies of American imperialism—the freshest, strongest and latest in joining in the world-wide slaughter of nations for the division of capitalist profits. At this very moment, the American multimillionaires, these modern slaveowners have turned an exceptionally tragic page in the bloody history of bloody imperialism by giving their approval- whether direct or indirect, open or hypocritically concealed, makes no difference—to the armed expedition launched by the brutal Anglo-Japanese imperialists for the purpose of throttling the first socialist republic.

‘’The history of modern, civilized America opened with one of those great, really liberating, really revolutionary wars of which there have been so few compared to the vast number of wars of conquest which, like the present imperialist war, were caused by squabbles among kings, landowners or capitalists over the division of usurped land or ill gotten gains. That was the war the American people waged against the British robbers who oppressed America and held her in colonial slavery, in the same way as these “civilized” bloodsuckers are still oppressing and holding in colonial slavery hundreds of millions of people in India, Egypt, and all parts of the world.

‘’About 150 years have passed since then. Bourgeois civilization has borne all its luxurious fruits. America has taken first place among the free and educated nations in level of development of the productive forces of collective human endeavour, in the utilization of machinery and of all the wonders of modern engineering. At the same time, America has become one of the foremost countries in regard to the depth of the abyss which lies between the handful of arrogant multimillionaires who wallow in filth and luxury, and the millions of working people who constantly live on the verge of pauperism. The American people, who set the world an example in waging a revolutionary war against feudal slavery, now find themselves in the latest, capitalist stage of wage-slavery to a handful of multimillionaires, and find themselves playing the role of hired thugs who, for the benefit of wealthy scoundrels, throttled the Philippines in 1898 on the pretext of ‘liberating’ them, and are throttling the Russian Socialist Republic in 1918 on the pretext of ‘protecting’ it from the Germans.

‘’The four years of the imperialist slaughter of nations, however, have not passed in vain. The deception of the people by the scoundrels of both robber groups, the British and the German, has been utterly exposed by indisputable and obvious facts. The results of the four years of war have revealed the general law of capitalism as applied to war between robbers for the division of spoils: the richest and strongest profited and grabbed most, while the weakest were utterly robbed, tormented, crushed and strangled.

‘’The British imperialist robbers were the strongest in number of ‘colonial slaves’. The British capitalists have not lost an inch of ‘their territory (i.e., territory they have grabbed over the centuries), but they have grabbed all the German colonies in Africa, they have grabbed Mesopotamia and Palestine, they have throttled Greece, and have begun to plunder Russia.

‘’The German imperialist robbers were the strongest in organization and discipline of ‘their’ armies, but weaker in regard to colonies. They have lost all their colonies, but plundered half of Europe and throttled the largest number of small countries and weak nations. What a great war of ‘liberation’ on both sides! How well the robbers of both groups, the Anglo-French and the German capitalists, together with their lackeys, the social-chauvinists, i.e., the socialists who went over to the side of ‘their own’ bourgeoisie, have ‘defended their country’!

‘’The American multimillionaires were, perhaps, richest of all, and geographically the most secure. They have profited more than all the rest. They have converted all, even the richest, countries into their tributaries. They have grabbed hundreds of billions of dollars. And every dollar is sullied with filth: the filth of the secret treaties between Britain and her ‘allies’, between Germany and her vassals, treaties for the division of the spoils, treaties of mutual ‘aid’ for oppressing the workers and persecuting the internationalist socialists. Every dollar is sullied with the filth of ‘profitable’ war contracts, which in every country made the rich richer and the poor poorer. And every dollar is stained with blood—from that ocean of blood that has been shed by the ten million killed and twenty million maimed in the great, noble, liberating and holy war to decide whether the British or the German robbers are to get most of the spoils, whether the British or the German thugs are to be foremost in throttling the weak nations all over the world. 

‘’While the German robbers broke all records in war atrocities, the British have broken all records not only in the number of colonies they have grabbed, but also in the subtlety of their disgusting hypocrisy. This very day, the Anglo-French and American bourgeois newspapers are spreading, in millions and millions of copies, lies and slander about Russia, and are hypocritically justifying their predatory expedition against her on the plea that they want to ‘protect’ Russia from the Germans!

‘’It does not require many words to refute this despicable and hideous lie; it is sufficient to point to one well-known fact. In October 1917, after the Russian workers had overthrown their imperialist government, the Soviet government, the government of the revolutionary workers and peasants, openly proposed a just peace, a peace without annexations or indemnities, a peace that fully guaranteed equal rights to all nations—and it proposed such a peace to all the belligerent countries.

‘’It was the Anglo-French and the American bourgeoisie who refused to accept our proposal; it was they who even refused to talk to us about a general peace! It was they who betrayed the interests of all nations; it was they who prolonged the imperialist slaughter!

‘’It was they who, banking on the possibility of dragging Russia back into the imperialist war, refused to take part in the peace negotiations and thereby gave a free hand to the no less predatory German capitalists who imposed the annexationist and harsh Brest Peace upon Russia!

‘’It is difficult to imagine anything more disgusting than the hypocrisy with which the Anglo-French and American bourgeoisie are now ‘blaming’ us for the Brest Peace Treaty. The very capitalists of those countries which could have turned the Brest negotiations into general negotiations for a general peace are now our ‘accusers’! The Anglo-French imperialist vultures, who have profited from the plunder of colonies and the slaughter of nations, have prolonged the war for nearly a whole year after Brest, and yet they ‘accuse’ us, the Bolsheviks, who proposed a just peace to all countries, they accuse us, who tore up, published and exposed to public disgrace the secret, criminal treaty concluded between the ex-tsar and the Anglo-French capitalists.

‘’The workers of the whole world, no matter in what country they live, greet us, sympathize with us, applaud us for breaking the iron ring of imperialist ties, of sordid imperialist treaties, of imperialist chains—for breaking through to freedom, and making the heaviest sacrifices in doing so—for, as a socialist republic, although torn and plundered by the imperialists, keeping out of the imperialist war and raising the banner of peace, the banner of socialism for the whole world to see.

‘’Small wonder that the international imperialist gang hates us for this, that it ‘accuses’ us, that all the lackeys of the imperialists, including our Right Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, also ‘accuse’ us. The hatred these watchdogs of imperialism express for the Bolsheviks, and the sympathy of the class-conscious workers of the world, convince us more than ever of the justice of our cause.

‘’A real socialist would not fail to understand that for the sake of achieving victory over the bourgeoisie, for the sake of power passing to the workers, for the sake of starting the world proletarian revolution, we cannot and must not hesitate to make the heaviest sacrifices, including the sacrifice of part of our territory, the sacrifice of heavy defeats at the hands of imperialism. A real socialist would have proved by deeds his willingness for ‘his’ country to make the greatest sacrifice to give a real push forward to the cause of the socialist revolution.

‘’For the sake of ‘their’ cause, that is, for the sake of winning world hegemony, the imperialists of Britain and Germany have not hesitated to utterly ruin and throttle a whole number of countries, from Belgium and Serbia to Palestine and Mesopotamia. But must socialists wait with ‘their’ cause, the cause of liberating the working people of the whole world from the yoke of capital, of winning universal and lasting peace, until a path without sacrifice is found? Must they fear to open the battle until an easy victory is ‘guaranteed’? Must they place the integrity and security of ‘their’ bourgeois-created ‘fatherland’ above the interests of the world socialist revolution? The scoundrels in the international socialist movement who think this way, those lackeys who grovel to bourgeois morality, thrice stand condemned.

‘’The Anglo-French and American imperialist vultures ‘accuse’ us of concluding an ‘agreement’ with German imperialism. What hypocrites, what scoundrels they are to slander the workers’ government while trembling because of the sympathy displayed towards us by the workers of ‘their own’ countries! But their hypocrisy will be exposed. They pretend not to see the difference between an agreement entered into by ‘socialists’ with the bourgeoisie (their own or foreign) against the workers, against the working people, and an agreement entered into for the protection of the workers who have defeated their bourgeoisie, with the bourgeoisie of one national colour against the bourgeoisie of another colour in order that the proletariat may take advantage of the antagonisms between the different groups of bourgeoisie.

‘’In actual fact, every European sees this difference very well, and, as I shall show in a moment, the American people have had a particularly striking ‘illustration’ of it in their own history. There are agreements and agreements, there are fagots et fagots, as the French say.

‘’When in February 1918 the German imperialist vultures hurled their forces against unarmed, demobilized Russia, who had relied on the international solidarity of the proletariat before the world revolution had fully matured, I did not hesitate for a moment to enter into an ‘agreement’ with the French monarchists. Captain Sadoul, a French army officer who, in words, sympathized with the Bolsheviks, but was in deeds a loyal and faithful servant of French imperialism, brought the French officer de Lubersac to see me. ‘I am a monarchist. My only aim is to secure the defeat of Germany,’ de Lubersac declared to me. ‘That goes without saying (cela va sans dire ), I replied. But this did not in the least prevent me from entering into an ‘agreement’ with de Lubersac concerning certain services that French army officers, experts in explosives, were ready to render us by blowing up railway lines in order to hinder the German invasion. This is an example of an ‘agreement’ of which every class-conscious worker will approve, an agreement in the interests of socialism. The French monarchist and I shook hands, although we knew that each of us would willingly hang his ‘partner’. But for a time our interests coincided. Against the advancing rapacious Germans, we, in the interests of the Russian and the world socialist revolution, utilized the equally rapacious counter interests of other imperialists. In this way we served the interests of the working class of Russia and of other countries, we strengthened the proletariat and weakened the bourgeoisie of the whole world, we resorted to the methods, most legitimate and essential in every war, of manoeuvre, stratagem, retreat, in anticipation of the moment when the rapidly maturing proletarian revolution in a number of advanced countries completely matured.

‘’However much the Anglo-French and American imperialist sharks fume with rage, however much they slander us, no matter how many millions they spend on bribing the Right Socialist-Revolutionary, Menshevik and other social-patriotic newspapers, I shall not hesitate one second to enter into a similar ‘agreement’ with the German imperialist vultures if an attack upon Russia by Anglo-French troops calls for it. And I know perfectly well that my tactics will be approved by the class-conscious proletariat of Russia, Germany, France, Britain, America—in short, of the whole civilized world. Such tactics will ease the task of the socialist revolution, will hasten it, will weaken the international bourgeoisie, will strengthen the position of the working class which is defeating the bourgeoisie.

‘’The American people resorted to these tactics long ago to the advantage of their revolution. When they waged their great war of liberation against the British oppressors, they had also against them the French and the Spanish oppressors who owned a part of what is now the United States of North America. In their arduous war for freedom, the American people also entered into ‘agreements’ with some oppressors against others for the purpose of weakening the oppressors and strengthening those who were fighting in a revolutionary manner against oppression, for the purpose of serving the interests of the oppressed people. The American people took advantage of the strife between the French, the Spanish and the British; sometimes they even fought side by side with the forces of the French and Spanish oppressors against the British oppressors; first they defeated the British and then freed themselves (partly by ransom) from the French and the Spanish.

‘’Historical action is not the pavement of Nevsky Prospekt, said the great Russian revolutionary Chernyshevsky. A revolutionary would not ‘agree’ to a proletarian revolution only ‘on the condition’ that it proceeds easily and smoothly, that there is, from the outset, combined action on the part of the proletarians of different countries, that there are guarantees against defeats, that the road of the revolution is broad, free and straight, that it will not be necessary during the march to victory to sustain the heaviest casualties, to ‘bide one’s time in a besieged fortress’, or to make one’s way along extremely narrow, impassable, winding and dangerous mountain tracks. Such a person is no revolutionary, he has not freed himself from the pedantry of the bourgeois intellectuals; such a person will be found constantly slipping into the camp of the counter revolutionary bourgeoisie, like our Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and even (although more rarely) Left Socialist-Revolutionaries.

‘’Echoing the bourgeoisie, these gentlemen like to blame us for the ‘chaos’ of the revolution, for the ‘destruction’ of industry, for the unemployment and the food shortage. How hypocritical these accusations are, coming from those who welcomed and supported the imperialist war, or who entered into an ‘agreement’ with Kerensky who continued this war! It is this imperialist war that is the cause of all these misfortunes. The revolution engendered by the war can not avoid the terrible difficulties and suffering bequeathed it by the prolonged, ruinous, reactionary slaughter of the nations. To blame us for the ‘destruction’ of industry, or for the ‘terror’, is either hypocrisy or dull-witted pedantry; it reveals an inability to understand the basic conditions of the fierce class struggle, raised to the highest degree of intensity that is called revolution.

‘’Even when ‘accusers’ of this type do ‘recognize’ the class struggle, they limit themselves to verbal recognition; actually, they constantly slip into the philistine utopia of class ‘agreement’ and ‘collaboration’; for in revolutionary epochs the class struggle has always, inevitably, and in every country, assumed the form of civil war, and civil war is inconceivable without the severest destruction, terror and the restriction of formal democracy in the interests of this war. Only unctuous parsons—whether Christian or ‘secular’ in the persons of parlour, parliamentary socialists— cannot see, understand and feel this necessity. Only a life less ‘man in the muffler’ can shun the revolution for this reason instead of plunging into battle with the utmost ardour and determination at a time when history demands that the greatest problems of humanity be solved by struggle and war.

‘’The American people have a revolutionary tradition which has been adopted by the best representatives of the American proletariat, who have repeatedly expressed their complete solidarity with us Bolsheviks. That tradition is the war of liberation against the British in the eighteenth century and the Civil War in the nineteenth century. In some respects, if we only take into consideration the ‘destruction’ of some branches of industry and of the national economy, America in 1870 was behind 1860. But what a pedant, what an idiot would anyone be to deny on these grounds the immense, world-historic, progressive and revolutionary significance of the American Civil War of 1863-65!

‘’The representatives of the bourgeoisie understand that for the sake of overthrowing Negro slavery, of overthrowing the rule of the slaveowners, it was worth letting the country go through long years of civil war, through the abysmal ruin, destruction and terror that accompany every war. But now, when we are confronted with the vastly greater task of overthrowing capitalist wage-slavery, of overthrowing the rule of the bourgeoisie—now, the representatives and defenders of the bourgeoisie, and also the reformist socialists who have been frightened by the bourgeoisie and are shunning the revolution, cannot and do not want to understand that civil war is necessary and legitimate.

‘’The American workers will not follow the bourgeoisie. They will be with us, for civil war against the bourgeoisie. The whole history of the world and of the American labour movement strengthens my conviction that this is so. I also recall the words of one of the most beloved leaders of the American proletariat, Eugene Debs, who wrote in the Appeal to Reason, I believe towards the end of 1915, in the article “What Shall I Fight For” (I quoted this article at the beginning of 1916 at a public meeting of workers in Berne, Switzerland)—that he, Debs, would rather be shot than vote credits for the present criminal and reactionary war; that he, Debs, knows of only one holy and, from the proletarian standpoint, legitimate war, namely: the war against the capitalists, the war to liberate mankind from wage-slavery.

‘’I am not surprised that Wilson, the head of the American multimillionaires and servant of the capitalist sharks, has thrown Debs into prison. Let the bourgeoisie be brutal to the true internationalists, to the true representatives of the revolutionary proletariat! The more fierce and brutal they are, the nearer the day of the victorious proletarian revolution.

‘’We are blamed for the destruction caused by our revolution. . . . Who are the accusers? The hangers-on of the bourgeoisie, of that very bourgeoisie who, during the four years of the imperialist war, have destroyed almost the whole of European culture and have reduced Europe to barbarism, brutality and starvation. These bourgeoisie now demand we should not make a revolution on these ruins, amidst this wreckage of culture, amidst the wreckage and ruins created by the war, nor with the people who have been brutalized by the war. How humane and righteous the bourgeoisie are!

‘’Their servants accuse us of resorting to terror. . . . The British bourgeoisie have forgotten their 1649, the French bourgeoisie have forgotten their 1793. Terror was just and legitimate when the bourgeoisie resorted to it for their own benefit against feudalism. Terror became monstrous and criminal when the workers and poor peasants dared to use it against the bourgeoisie! Terror was just and legitimate when used for the purpose of substituting one exploiting minority for another exploiting minority. Terror became monstrous and criminal when it began to be used for the purpose of overthrowing every exploiting minority, to be used in the interests of the vast actual majority, in the interests of the proletariat and semi-proletariat, the working class and the poor peasants!

‘’The international imperialist bourgeoisie have slaughtered ten million men and maimed twenty million in ‘their’ war, the war to decide whether the British or the German vultures are to rule the world.

‘’If our war, the war of the oppressed and exploited against the oppressors and the exploiters, results in half a million or a million casualties in all countries, the bourgeoisie will say that the former casualties are justified, while the latter are criminal. 

‘’The proletariat will have something entirely different to say.

‘’Now, amidst the horrors of the imperialist war, the proletariat is receiving a most vivid and striking illustration of the great truth taught by all revolutions and bequeathed to the workers by their best teachers, the founders of modern socialism. This truth is that no revolution can be successful unless the resistance of the exploiters is crushed. When we, the workers and toiling peasants, captured state power, it became our duty to crush the resistance of the exploiters. We are proud we have been doing this. We regret we are not doing it with sufficient firmness and determination.

‘’We know that fierce resistance to the socialist revolution on the part of the bourgeoisie is inevitable in all countries, and that this resistance will grow with the growth of this revolution. The proletariat will crush this resistance; during the struggle against the resisting bourgeoisie it will finally mature for victory and for power.

‘’Let the corrupt bourgeois press shout to the whole world about every mistake our revolution makes. We are not daunted by our mistakes. People have not become saints because the revolution has begun. The toiling classes who for centuries have been oppressed, downtrodden and forcibly held in the vice of poverty, brutality and ignorance cannot avoid mistakes when making a revolution. And, as I pointed out once before, the corpse of bourgeois society cannot be nailed in a coffin and buried. The corpse of capitalism is decaying and disintegrating in our midst, polluting the air and poisoning our lives, enmeshing that which is new, fresh, young and virile in thousands of threads and bonds of that which is old, moribund and decaying.

‘’For every hundred mistakes we commit, and which the bourgeoisie and their lackeys (including our own Mensheviks and Right Socialist-Revolutionaries) shout about to the whole world, 10,000 great and heroic deeds are performed, greater and more heroic because they are simple and inconspicuous amidst the everyday life of a factory district or a remote village, performed by people who are not accustomed (and have no opportunity) to shout to the whole world about their successes.

‘’But even if the contrary were true—although I know such an assumption is wrong—even if we committed 10,000 mistake for every 100 correct actions we performed, even in that case our revolution would be great and invincible, and so it will be in the eyes of world history, because, for the first time, not the minority, not the rich alone, not the educated alone, but the real people, the vast majority of the working people, are themselves building a new life, are by their own experience solving the most difficult problems of socialist organization .

‘’Every mistake committed in the course of such work, in the course of this most conscientious and earnest work of tens of millions of simple workers and peasants in reorganizing their whole life, every such mistake is worth thousands and millions of “lawless” successes achieved by the exploiting minority—successes in swindling and duping the working people. For only through such mistakes will the workers and peasants learn to build the new life, learn to do without capitalists; only in this way will they hack a path for themselves—through thousands of obstacles—to victorious socialism.

‘’Mistakes are being committed in the course of their revolutionary work by our peasants, who at one stroke, in one night, October 25-26 (old style), 1917, entirely abolished the private ownership of land, and are now, month after month, overcoming tremendous difficulties and correcting their mistakes themselves, solving in a practical way the most difficult tasks of organizing new conditions of economic life, of fighting the kulaks, providing land for the working people (and not for the rich), and of changing to communist large-scale agriculture.

‘’Mistakes are being committed in the course of their revolutionary work by our workers, who have already, after a few months, nationalized almost all the biggest factories and plants, and are learning by hard, everyday work the new task of managing whole branches of industry, are setting the nationalized enterprises going, overcoming the powerful resistance of inertia, petty-bourgeois mentality and selfishness, and, brick by brick, are laying the foundation of new social ties, of a new labour discipline, of a new influence of the workers’ trade unions over their members.

‘’Mistakes are committed in the course of their revolutionary work by our Soviets, which were created as far back as 1905 by a mighty upsurge of the people. The Soviets of Workers and Peasants are a new type of state, a new and higher type of democracy, a form of the Proletarian Dictatorship, a means of administering the state without the bourgeoisie and against the bourgeoisie. For the first time democracy is here serving the people, the working people, and has ceased to be democracy for the rich as it still is in all bourgeois republics, even the most democratic. For the first time, the people are grappling, on a scale involving one hundred million, with the problem of implementing the Dictatorship of the Proletariat and Semi-Proletariat—a problem which, if not solved, makes socialism out of the question.

‘’Let the pedants, or the people whose minds are incurably stuffed with bourgeois-democratic or parliamentary prejudices, shake their heads in perplexity about our Soviets, about the absence of direct elections, for example. These people have forgotten nothing and have learned nothing during the period of the great upheavals of 1914-18. The combination of the Proletarian Dictatorship with the new democracy for the working people—of civil war with the widest participation of the people in politics—such a combination cannot be brought about at one stroke, nor does it fit in with the outworn modes of routine parliamentary democracy. The contours of a new world, the world of socialism, are rising before us in the shape of the Soviet Republic. It is not surprising that this world does not come into being ready-made, does not spring forth like Minerva from the head of Jupiter.

‘’The old bourgeois-democratic constitutions waxed eloquent about formal equality and right of assembly; but our proletarian and peasant Soviet Constitution casts aside the hypocrisy of formal equality. When the bourgeois republicans overturned thrones they did not worry about formal equality between monarchists and republicans. When it is a matter of overthrowing the bourgeoisie, only traitors or idiots can demand formal equality of rights for the bourgeoisie. ‘Freedom of assembly’ for workers and peasants is not worth a farthing when the best buildings belong to the bourgeoisie. Our Soviets have confiscated all the good buildings in town and country from the rich and have transferred all of them to the workers and peasants for their unions and meetings. This is our freedom of assembly—for the working people! This is the meaning and content of our Soviet, our socialist Constitution!

‘’That is why we are all so firmly convinced that no matter what misfortunes may still be in store for it, our Republic of Soviets is invincible.

‘’It is invincible because every blow struck by frenzied imperialism, every defeat the international bourgeoisie inflict on us, rouses more and more sections of the workers and peasants to the struggle, teaches them at the cost of enormous sacrifice, steels them and engenders new heroism on a mass scale.

‘’We know that help from you will probably not come soon, comrade American workers, for the revolution is developing in different countries in different forms and at different tempos (and it cannot be otherwise). We know that although the European proletarian revolution has been maturing very rapidly lately, it may, after all, not flare up within the next few weeks. We are banking on the inevitability of the world revolution, but this does not mean that we are such fools as to bank on the revolution inevitably coming on a definite and early date. We have seen two great revolutions in our country, 1905 and 1917, and we know revolutions are not made to order, or by agreement. We know that circumstances brought our Russian detachment of the socialist proletariat to the fore not because of our merits, but because of the exceptional backwardness of Russia, and that before the world revolution breaks out a number of separate revolutions may be defeated.

‘’In spite of this, we are firmly convinced that we are invincible, because the spirit of mankind will not be broken by the imperialist slaughter. Mankind will vanquish it. And the first country to break the convict chains of the imperialist war was our country. We sustained enormously heavy casualties in the struggle to break these chains, but we broke them. We are free from imperialist dependence, we have raised the banner of struggle for the complete overthrow of imperialism for the whole world to see.

‘’We are now, as it were, in a besieged fortress, waiting for the other detachments of the world socialist revolution to come to our relief. These detachments exist, they are more numerous than ours, they are maturing, growing, gaining more strength the longer the brutalities of imperialism continue. The workers are breaking away from their social traitors—the Gomperses, Hendersons, Renaudels, Scheidemanns and Renners. Slowly but surely the workers are adopting communist, Bolshevik tactics and are marching towards the proletarian revolution, which alone is capable of saving dying culture and dying mankind.

‘’In short, we are invincible, because the world proletarian revolution is invincible.’’

Vladimir Lenin

From this, it is clear that Lenin had the utmost respect for American workers. With good reason! They have previously taken part in two great revolutionary movements. The first was the ‘’Great, really liberating, really revolutionary war’’, of 1776, in which the American people overthrew the British, which held them in ‘’Colonial slavery’’. The second, was the ‘’Civil War’’ of 1861, in which ‘’rule of the slaveowners’’ was overthrown, a civil war which was both ‘’legitimate and necessary’’. 

This is to stress the fact, that Lenin distinguished between ‘’wars of conquest’’, which are to be condemned, as opposed to revolutionary civil wars, which are necessary to overthrow the reactionary ruling class. 

As this applies to our current situation, we have the American ruling class of monopoly capitalists, the multi billionaires, the bourgeoisie, which have decided to change their method of rule. The democratic republic is to be replaced with an Oligarchy, defined as ‘’Government By the Few’’, otherwise known as a ‘’Plutocracy’’. The extremely rich think they have the ‘’Divine Right To Rule’’!

The American democratic republic must be defended. For that reason, it is necessary to overthrow the Oligarchy. That calls for another Civil War. Just as the First Civil War was necessary, in order to overthrow the completely reactionary class of slave owners, so too, a Second Civil War is necessary, in order to overthrow the completely reactionary class of bourgeoisie, who are determined to set up an Oligarchy. 

This ‘’Second Civil War’’ may also be referred to as the ‘’Second American Revolution’’, because that is precisely the case!

The precise name is not nearly as important, as the act of overthrowing the ruling class of bourgeoisie, of crushing the Oligarchy. That is a truly revolutionary war! Americans have done this before-twice- and they will no doubt, do it again!

In conclusion, now is the time to intensify preparations for the Insurrection, which will ‘’kick off’’ the Revolution. Even though we have no way of knowing precisely when that Insurrection will take place, we do know that President Trump and ‘’Co-President’’ Musk, are determined to ‘’force the issue’’. It may happen sooner than we anticipate! We had best be prepared!

Just as Councils -Soviets- first appeared in Russia, as a result of the revolutionary motion, so too, Councils have also appeared in America. These Councils must be supported and strengthened, in preparation for the approaching Revolution. 

Just as the Russian Soviets played a key role in the Russian Revolution, so too, the American Councils will play a key role, in the next American Revolution. 

As I have gone into this in previous writings, there is no need to repeat it here. As well, I can only repeat that American attorneys, those who are experts in Constitutional law, should challenge the 2024 Presidential Election, on the grounds that it violates the Twelfth Amendment. 

For the moment, in preparation for the approaching Revolution, may our signs and posters read:

Crush the Oligarchy!

Workers of the World, Unite!

Scientific Socialism!

Dictatorship of the Proletariat!   

Celebrity Power

Gerald Mcisaac

In my previous article, I documented the existence of spiritual power. This is every bit as real as the ‘’physical force elements of repression’’, which the monopoly capitalists use, in order to crush the ‘’lower classes’’. As this power is not visible, it is commonly overlooked, if not denied. It is high time we changed that! One good turn deserves another!

The bourgeois have been using spiritual power, against the working people, for many years. With great success, I might add. They are masters of the art of lies and deception. It is their belief, that if the lie is big enough, and repeated often enough, then ‘’everyone’’ will believe it. This includes those who should know better! 

As the astute reader may have already guessed, that previous statement was a none too subtle jab at all middle class intellectuals, including those who consider themselves to be Independent Socialists. 

It is reasonable to assume that all such middle class intellectuals, have considerable academic training, including University degrees. As that is the case, they have no doubt been exposed to the Scientific Socialist theories of Marx and Lenin, as it is only in University that those theories are even mentioned.

I use the word ‘’mentioned’’, and not ‘’taught’’, as in University, it is only the bourgeois distortion of those scientific theories, that is taught. Not the true Scientific Socialist theories, of those two great Social Scientists! 

The bourgeois would have us believe that society develops haphazardly, devoid of rhyme or reason! They think that we are blessed with capitalism, purely by chance, an ‘’Act of God’’, and should be grateful, counting our blessings. The ‘’Good Lord’’ has seen fit to send multi billionaires, the Oligarchy, to rule over us! They have the ‘’Divine Right To Rule’’! Nonsense!

On the contrary, society develops according to certain laws. It was Marx who first determined these laws, so perhaps it is best to let him explain them, in his own words, as he stated in 1852:

‘’And now as to myself, no credit is due to me for discovering the existence of classes in modern society, nor yet the struggle between them. Long before me, bourgeois historians had described the historical development of this class struggle, and bourgeois economists the economic anatomy of the classes. What I did that was new was to prove: 1) that the existence of classes is only bound up with particular historical phases in the development of production; 2) that the class struggle necessarily leads to the Dictatorship of the Proletariat; 3) that this Dictatorship itself only constitutes the transition to the abolition of all classes and to a classless society.’’

With regards to his first point, which is that ‘’the existence of classes is only bound up with particular historical phases in the development of production’’, bear in mind that it was the industrial revolution, as the ‘’development of production’’,  which gave birth to two new classes, the capitalist class, bourgeoisie, and the working class, proletariat. Those are now the two main classes in society!

As to the second point Marx made, which is that ‘’the class struggle necessarily leads to the Dictatorship of the Proletariat’’, the key word here is ‘’necessarily’’. As capitalism develops, the bourgeois becomes ever more powerful, and gradually succeeds in wiping out all other classes, aside from the proletariat. The bourgeois cannot exist without the proletariat! Yet their class interests are diametrically opposed. That which is in the best interests of the bourgeois, is in the worst interests of the proletariat. This is referred to as ‘’class struggle’’. This class struggle will ‘’necessarily lead’’ to Revolution, and the subsequent ‘’Dictatorship of the Proletariat’’. This ‘’Dictatorship’’ is necessary to crush the bourgeois, as after the revolution, they will make every effort to return to power, to ‘’restore their paradise lost’’. This new ‘’Dictatorship’’ will be exercised by the whole of the working class, the proletariat. Which is the reason it is called the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. 

Concerning his third point, ‘’that this Dictatorship (of the Proletariat) itself only constitutes the transition to the abolition of all classes and to a classless society’’. After the revolution, after the proletariat smashes the existing state apparatus, which has been set up, by the capitalists, in order to crush the ‘’lower classes’’, after a new state apparatus is established, in the form of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, in order to crush the bourgeois, then classes will gradually cease to exist, as all people learn to live and work together, for the common good, providing for the sick and needy. A true classless society. 

This brings me to the subject of the Independent Socialists, many of whom are members of the Democratic Socialists of America, DSA. There are possibly ninety thousand members. Their website in on the internet, including their Political Platform, which contains a lengthy list of demands. 

May I suggest that the multi billionaires, the Oligarchy, is not about to agree to any small part of those demands. Probably none whatsoever. After all, they are focused on establishing a Dictatorship, possibly a fascist state.

May I further suggest that the Oligarchy has to be stopped. This is going to require something more than the publication of a ‘’wish list’’. It is going to require putting into practice the Scientific Socialist theories of Marx and Lenin.

I can only hope that no Independent Socialist, whether a member of DSA or not, takes offence to these remarks, although I am sure that many will do just that. Yet now is not the time for diplomacy. Certain things just have to be said, regardless of the consequences.

Ideally, many middle class, intellectual, Independent Socialists, whether members of DSA or not, will consider becoming Scientific Socialists. Face the fact that Marx and Lenin were correct. At the bare minimum, read State and Revolution, by Lenin. The Insurrection, which will kick off the Revolution, could start at any time. The Oligarchy is forcing the Revolution.

It is also very likely that a great many celebrities are Independent Socialists, or at least, have a favourable attitude towards socialism. Strangely enough, those individuals have a certain spiritual power. Especially those who are referred to as ‘’Hollywood Movie Stars’’. By all means, use that power! Now is not the time to be shy! No false modesty! Your fans pay strict attention to whatever you say! That includes any political statements!

It is encouraging that there are a great many videos, on the internet, containing celebrities who are voicing their opposition, even their hatred, towards Trump and Musk. That is a step in the right direction.

Yet something more is required. Working people have to be exposed to class content. They have to be made aware of themselves, as a class, with their own class interests. Also made aware of the fact that the monopoly capitalists, the multi billionaires, the bourgeoisie, the Oligarchy, are our class enemies. What is more, this should be done in an entertaining manner. Education through entertainment!

These professional entertainers are the experts, in that department. The little exposure they have received, contains too little class content, and too much vulgarity. That merely detracts from the message.

The working people have to become aware that a Revolution is required, to overthrow the multi billionaires, the Oligarchy. There is no other way of preventing them from establishing a Dictatorship, possibly even a state of fascism. They must be overthrown, the existing state apparatus smashed, and then they must be crushed, under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat.

To express this, in an entertaining manner, is a tall order, but I have great faith in the Hollywood Celebrities. No doubt, they  will rise to the occasion. I have complete confidence in them.

Gerald McIsaac  

Council Power

Gerald Mcisaac

Russia, 1905. The time of the first Russian Revolution, of the Twentieth Century. Also the first time that Councils made their appearance. 

In the Russian language, these Councils are referred to as Soviets. For the purposes of this article, as I am writing with Americans in mind, I have chosen to refer to them as Councils.

Contrary to popular belief, these Councils, or Soviets, were not a creation of the Marxists. They were created spontaneously, by the common people, by whom I mean the workers and family farmers, those who are referred to as peasants. As the ‘’mass movement’’, the revolutionary motion, of the common people gained strength, that same movement gave birth to the Councils.

The Marxists of that time, referred to as Bolsheviks, later referred to as Communists, could not possibly have been involved in the creation of those Councils. The reason for this is quite simple. All such Marxists had been previously arrested, sent to prison, and were either executed, died or had been exiled. Lenin was no exception. He was first sent to Siberia, and only later, allowed to leave the country. Exiled.

In 1905, the Russian Empire was huge, one of the largest, most powerful Empires in the world. For three centuries, it had been ruled by the Romanov family. The Emperor, or Tsar, at that time, was Nicholas the Second, commonly referred to as ‘’Nicholas the Bloody’’. He believed in ‘’running a tight ship’’! He was not one to tolerate any discontent! As he was ‘’appointed by God’’, he had a rather high opinion of himself. Further, it was his belief that his ‘’subjects’’ needed a ‘’firm hand’’. Nicholas was just the man to apply that ‘’firm hand’’!

Yet in that same year, the common people rose up, in that which has gone down in history as the ‘’Russian Revolution of 1905’’. For three years the Revolution raged, and the Romanov monarchy was deeply shaken, but not toppled. At the end of the Revolution, Tsar Nicholas remained in power.

The Revolution of 1905-07, was followed by a time of reaction. All dissent was crushed, with the utmost brutality. The Councils were forced ‘’underground’’, all but wiped out. 

Several years later, around 1910, the mass movement picked up, once again. At first, it was weak, but gradually gained strength. As the revolutionary motion gained strength, so too, the Councils also gained strength.  

The Second Russian Revolution, of the Twentieth Century, broke out into open rebellion, in February of 1917, partly as a result of the First World War. As Lenin pointed out, this War served to ‘’accelerate the course of world history’’. 

It is no exaggeration to say that, in February of 1917, the whole world was shocked. Tsar Nicholas was forced to ‘’abdicate the throne’’. For three centuries, the Romanovs had ruled one of the biggest, most powerful Empires in the world. Now the Tsar was forced to ‘’step down’’, by the ‘’common people’’, no less! The power of revolution!

As if that was not ‘’bad enough’’, it soon became apparent that the Councils, which had been working underground, illegally, gaining strength, were now a force with which to be reckoned! In fact, they were strong enough to challenge the authority of the Provisional Government, of the Kerensky Regime! Almost evenly matched!

This is to stress the fact that Councils do not just ‘’magically appear’’, at the time of a Revolution, as if a ‘’fairy godmother waved her magic wand’’. Indeed not. They come into existence as the revolutionary motion gains strength, underground, illegally, before the beginning of open hostilities. 

Nor do they always appear, in every Revolution. Yet they are certainly ‘’alive and well’’ in North America. The experience of the city of Seattle, in which a segment of that city declared itself to be autonomous, the ‘’Capital Hill Autonomous Zone’’, is proof of that. The Zone was led by a Council.

Of course, that Zone was crushed, with considerable brutality. After all, it was a challenge to the state power, of the monopoly capitalists. By declaring the Zone to be ‘’Autonomous’’, the revolutionary members of that Zone, were challenging the authority of the ruling class of monopoly capitalists, the multi billionaires, the bourgeoisie. Not to be tolerated!

Bear in mind that, as Lenin said, writing in July of 1917, ‘’Let us not forget that the issue of power is the fundamental issue of every revolution’’. This is to say, ‘’Which class holds state power’’?

On that subject, it is significant that, at the time of the February Russian Revolution of 1917, Lenin was still in exile, living in Switzerland. He was able to return to Russia, in April of that year. To this day, bourgeois scholars cannot understand the reason that the Provisional Government of Kerensky, did not arrest him, as soon as he stepped off the train, in Saint Petersburg.

Because they did not dare! The Councils were that powerful! Immediately after the February Revolution, which overthrew Tsar Nicholas, the Provisional Government was forced to share power with the Councils!

Of course, this ‘’sharing’’ of state power could not last, and did not last. After all, the state apparatus is merely set up by one class, the ruling class, in order to crush any and all subordinate classes. One class must rule! The other class must submit!

In the case of Russia, in early 1917, the situation was further complicated, due to the existence of various classes. These included the nobility, with the Romanovs at the head. Closely allied with the nobility, was the class of landlords, those who took great delight in exploiting the family farmers, the peasants, a different class. Then there was the class of monopoly capitalists, the multi millionaires, the bourgeoisie, as well as the small time capitalists, the middle class, the petty bourgeois. And lest we forget, the one and only consistently revolutionary class, the working class, the proletariat.

As can be expected, these different classes were represented by different political parties, who fought for their best interests. These included the Constitutional Democrats, or ‘’Cadets’’, considered to be very ‘’Right Wing’’, as they were deeply concerned with the nobility and landlords. The Socialist Revolutionaries, SR’s, were considered to be more ‘’moderate’’, and represented a great many family farmers. They in turn were divided into ‘’Left’’ and ‘’Right’’, with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries closer to the Bolsheviks. Then there were the Mensheviks, those who claimed to be Marxists, but were revisionists. 

All of these Parties had a voice in the Russian government, whether in the Provisional Assembly, or in the Councils. If I am not mistaken, they even shared the same building, within the capitol of Saint Petersburg. This is to say that Lenin certainly has his hand full!

There is a reason I have gone into the political situation, in Russia, in the middle of 1917, in detail. Because it bears a striking resemblance to our current situation. Our forthcoming American Revolution will closely resemble the Great October Russian Proletarian Revolution. 

That Revolution is referred to as a ‘’Proletarian Revolution’’, even though the Russian proletariat was in a minority. That is because it was the proletariat that led the Revolution!

By contrast, in North America, the proletariat is in the vast majority. The monopoly capitalists have done -and are continuing to do!- a most impressive job, of wiping out all other classes. It is safe to say that only the remnants of other classes, are still in existence. These include the family farmers, and the small business owners. 

The class struggle is now sharp and clear. The multi billionaires, the bourgeoisie, against the working class, the proletariat. 

It is my most fervent hope, that those who consider themselves to be Independent Socialists, will take these facts into account. It was Lenin, a true Marxist, a Scientific Socialist, who led the Russian October Revolution to victory, against all the odds. But only because he followed the scientific theories of Marx!

Feel free to take note, Independent Socialists, my Brothers and Sisters, my Comrades in Arms. The only true socialism is Scientific Socialism, as outlined by Marx, as applied to monopoly capitalism by Lenin, and carried through to success in October of 1917, in Russia.

At the same time, face the most unpleasant fact that you have been lied to, deceived, misled, by professional liars. The Universities are filled with such individuals! The best of them are quite charming! Smooth! Sophisticated! Persuasive! With years of experience! Experts at faking sincerity!

There is no need to be too hard on yourselves. Over a period of many years, these bourgeois frauds have mastered the fine art of deception. As they are so highly respected, they are able to exert a certain influence over honest people. The spiritual power of the bourgeois intellectuals! Professor Power!

Now is the time to cast off that spiritual power! Break those invisible chains! Face the fact that Marx and Lenin were correct all along! That the only true socialism is Scientific Socialism!

Now is also the time to stop the Oligarchy, before the democratic republic is completely destroyed. To combine legal with illegal work. To legally challenge the imperialists, in a court of law. To get involved with Councils. To arm, train and equip working people, in preparation for the approaching Insurrection. Illegal work!

Time is not on our side. Project 2025 is currently being put into place. We are very close to a fascist dictatorship. The Oligarchy is wasting no time. 

Bear in mind that you have no future, under monopoly capitalism. The imperialists will see to that! By contrast, you have a bright future under Scientific Socialism. Your organizational skills, as well as your training and experience in running a business, will be in demand. As a highly skilled professional, you will be appreciated and rewarded, most handsomely. Any past service to the monopoly capitalists, will not be held against you. Those of us who are Scientific Socialists, Communists, will make sure of that.

That is certainly preferable to a fascist dictatorship.

Gerald McIsaac

American Republic Close To Collapse

Gerald Mcisaac

Friday, February 7, 2025. Black Friday! A day which may go down in history, as the beginning of the end of the American democratic republic. The day that American Members of Congress, democratically elected ‘’law makers’’, were blocked from entering several federal agencies. These include USAID, as well as the Departments of the Treasury, Labour and Education. The people conducting the ‘’blockade’’ were unelected officials, working for DOGE, the Department Of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, appointed by President Trump. 

A spokesperson for that group, herself a Member of Congress, warned that ‘’Trump’s spending cuts will merely enrich Elon Musk, and harm American families’’. She gave some excellent advice, that of, ‘’Follow the money. Who they are taking it from, and who they are giving it to. Outrageous. Taking it from our kids, and giving it to billionaires’’. 

Well spoken! In cases of suspected fraud, it is always a good idea to ‘’follow the money’’. Yet she was careful to avoid any mention of classes. The fact is that the ‘’billionaires’’, to whom she so delicately referred, are members of a class of people, referred to as the bourgeoisie. They are monopoly capitalists, imperialists, and as such, are completely reactionary. 

Particular Members of Congress, those who are members of the Democratic Party, assure us that they are not about to take this, ‘’lying down’’. Indeed not. After all, it is the Congress that ‘’controls the purse strings’’. They assure us that the ‘’real fight is still ahead’’. This is a reference to the March 14 ‘’funding deadline’’, at which time the federal government will ‘’run out of money’’, unless the debt limit is increased, once again. Otherwise, the federal government could shut down.

As is well known, the Republican Party has a ‘’razor thin’’ majority in Congress, with a few of those Members considered to be ‘’mavericks’’, completely unreliable, if not outright crazy. For that reason, it is thought that the Speaker of the House, Republican Member Johnson, ‘’could be faced with a shutdown, if Democrats withhold their vote’’. 

Consider the fact that the authority of Congress, the legislative branch of government, is being directly challenged, by locking the Members of Congress out of key government agencies, and this is the best they can do! Threaten a federal government shutdown, next month, no less! Reality check! Next month may be too late! By that time, Trump may have already seized power, completely! He may just disband Congress, and declare himself to be President For Life! Dictator! As laid out in Project 2025! Wake up!

Now is not the time to sit and wait, to ‘’play it safe’’. There can be no thought of ‘’straddling the fence’’. Now is the time to take action, to combine legal with illegal work. We live in a class society, and the class struggle is about to break out, into open class warfare.

Even the most dedicated, middle class intellectuals, although defenders of capitalism, are now deeply concerned with that which they refer to as a ‘’Constitutional crisis’’. They are convinced that Trump is ‘’wiping his feet on the Constitution’’, dismantling the democratic republic. And so he is!

On the ‘’legal front’’, so to speak, may I suggest challenging the 2024 Presidential Election, on the grounds that it violated the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution. It is the Twelfth that lays out the procedure to be followed, in all federal elections! There is no ‘’Presidential Election’’! For that reason, Trump is a fraudulent President, and Vance is a fraudulent Vice President. As I have gone into this in detail, in other writings, there is no need to repeat it here.

Allow me to urge all Scientific Socialists, as well as all Independent Socialists, to unite with all those who are determined to defend the democratic republic, no matter how objectionable they may be. Feel free to console yourself with the thought that this alliance is strictly temporary. As well, this individual probably feels the same way about us!

Act now, while we still have a Supreme Court! Tomorrow could be too late!

This brings me to the illegal aspect of revolutionary work, arguably more important. We can learn from previous revolutionary experience, especially from that of the three Russian Revolutions, of the Twentieth Century. That is because the forth coming American Revolution, is almost certain to closely resemble the Great October Soviet Socialist Russian Revolution.

The Russian Revolutionaries of 1917, built upon the experience, of the earlier Russian Revolution of 1905. Even though that Revolution failed, in the sense that the ruling noble family of Romanovs was not toppled, it did succeed in raising the level of awareness of the common people. 

At the start of the Revolution of 1905, the common people, workers and family farmers, were mainly honest, hard working, patriotic, tax paying, loyal subjects of His Majesty, Tsar Nicholas. For that reason, when they rose up, in peaceful protest, respectfully asking their beloved Tsar to address their legitimate grievances, they actually expected him to respond accordingly. Instead, he turned the military loose on them. He was not about to allow any discontent!

The 1905 Revolution raged for three years, before dying down, in 1907. Then things quickly ‘’returned to normal’’, or so it appeared. The nobility, landlords and capitalists, breathed a ‘’sigh of relief’’. They actually thought, that was the ‘’end of the matter’’! It most certainly was not! The ‘’mass movement’’, the revolutionary motion, had merely died down! Temporarily!

But as Marx pointed out, these revolutionary motions continue to rise up, ‘’ever stronger, ever finer’’! And so it was!

Several years later, the revolutionary motion flared up, once again. Yet this time, the common people had no illusions. They knew what to expect. They had been ‘’schooled in the class struggle’’. They were still patriotic citizens, but not the ‘’loyal and devoted subjects of His Majesty’’, they once were. Those days were gone! They recognized the Tsar as the butcher that he was.

This, the second Russian Revolution of the Twentieth Century, came to a climax in early 1917. At that time, Lenin was living in exile, in Switzerland, but closely following events in Russia. He wrote five letters, referred to as ‘’Letters From Afar’’, in late March, concerning those incredible developments. As it is so important, I have chosen to quote it, at length:

‘’How could such a ‘miracle’ have happened, that in only eight days…a monarchy collapsed, that had maintained itself for centuries, and that in spite of everything, had managed to maintain itself throughout the three years of the tremendous, nation wide class battles of 1905-07?

‘’There are no miracles in nature or history, but every abrupt turn in history, and this applies to every revolution, presents such a wealth of content, unfolds such unexpected and specific combinations of forms of struggle and alignment of forces of the contestants, that to the lay mind there is much that must appear miraculous.

‘’The combination of a number of factors of world historic importance was required for the tsarist monarchy to have collapsed in a few days. We shall mention the chief of them.

‘’Without the tremendous class battles and the revolutionary energy displayed by the Russian proletariat, during the three years 1905-07, the second revolution could not possibly have been so rapid, in the sense that its initial stage was completed in a few days. The first revolution (1905) deeply ploughed the soil, uprooted age old prejudices, awakened millions of workers and tens of millions of peasants to political life and political struggle, and revealed to each other- and to the world- all classes (and all the principle parties) of Russian society, in their true character and in the true alignment of their interests, their forces, their modes of action, and their immediate and ultimate aims. This first revolution, and the succeeding period of counter revolution (1907-14), laid bare the very essence of the tsarist monarchy, brought it to the ‘utmost limit’, exposed all the rottenness and infamy, the cynicism and corruption of the tsar’s clique…those landlords…who own millions of dessiatines of land and are prepared to stoop to any brutality, to any crime, to ruin and strangle any number of citizens, in order to preserve the ‘sacred right of property’, for themselves and their class.

‘’Without the Revolution of 1905-07, and the counter revolution of 1907-14, there could not have been that clear ‘self determination’ of all classes of the Russian people….which manifested itself during the  eight days of the February -March Revolution of 1917. …

‘’For the first great Revolution of 1905…. led, after the lapse of twelve years, to the ‘brilliant’, the ‘glorious’ Revolution of 1917’’. (italics by Lenin)

It may be objected that America has not experienced a revolution, such as that of 1905. True! But America has experienced something very similar, which is the Occupy Movement of 2011.

At that time, in America, the common people, the vast majority of whom were honest, hard working, law abiding, tax paying, patriotic citizens, decided to exercise their democratic right to peaceful protest, as is guaranteed in the Constitution. They were merely trying to draw the attention, of their democratically elected leaders, to the glaring inequalities within society. They actually thought that the system was not working properly, but that once this was brought to the attention of the proper authorities, it would be corrected. They could not possibly have been more mistaken!

As is well known, the authorities responded with clubs, tear gas and pepper spray. The tents of the protesters were torn down, with many  people thrown in jail. The system was working precisely the way it was supposed to work! In favour of the multi billionaires!

This was a ‘’rude awakening’’, a ‘’bitter pill to swallow’’. Just as the common people of Russia had learned, in the previous century, the American protesters learned that they had been lied to, all their lives. It was with the utmost bitterness, that the protesters faced the fact that the ruling class of monopoly capitalists, the multi billionaires, the bourgeoisie, at that time referred to as the ‘’one percent’’, were in charge, and fully intended to remain in charge!

This revolutionary motion was followed by a time of reaction, as it was in Russia, after the Revolution of 1905. 

Now the revolutionary motion has picked up again, but is now ‘’finer and stronger’’. Those who took part in the Occupy Movement, are now seasoned veterans, tempered in the class struggle. They know what to expect, and are leading this current revolutionary movement. 

There are numerous videos, on the internet, produced mainly by bourgeois intellectuals, who recognize the danger, posed by Trump and his Oligarchy. Yet none of them can foresee that the future lies with Councils and Scientific Socialism. 

It is significant that, immediately after the Russian Tsar was overthrown, in March of 1917, numerous Soviets, Councils,  made their appearance. Up until that time, they had been working ‘’underground’’, of necessity, as they were illegal. But at the time of the Revolution, they emerged, and were almost as powerful as the Provisional Government!

This is my less than subtle way, of suggesting that Scientific Socialists get involved with Councils. Illegal activity. Train, arm and equip working class people, in preparation for the approaching Insurrection. The future belongs with these Councils.

Gerald McIsaac

Americans Protesting Against Oligarchy

Gerald Mcisaac

Barely two weeks into the second presidency of Donald Trump, and the news reports are quite revealing. First he took credit for securing peace in the Middle East, or at least in the Gaza Strip. Now, as a reward for this selfless act, he plans to create a play ground for himself, and the members of his class of multi billionaires, the bourgeoisie. It is simply a matter of ‘’relocating’’ the two million people who live there, referred to as Palestinians, tearing down the shattered buildings, and ‘’building spectacular developments in Gaza’’. 

Who would have thought that we would ever see the day, that the President of the United States, openly called for ethnic cleansing? A crime against humanity! 

Yet that is precisely what he is doing! Further, he thinks that he can get away with this. Who can blame him? All his life, he has broken various laws, and not served even one day in jail. This despite thirty four felony convictions! 

As well, there have been numerous allegations of sexual assaults! Various women can testify to that! These ladies have every reason to feel bitter. They have been denied justice, as the law does not apply to billionaires. Not only that, but they have also been denied financial compensation!

To such unfortunates, I can only respond that nothing can change the terrible trauma that you endured, nor the fact that you have been denied justice. Yet let me add, that now is not the time to ‘’get mad’’. Now is the time to ‘’get even’’! Rest assured, the latter is far more satisfying! It is just a matter of selecting the proper approach.

With that in mind, consider the fact that there are countless videos, on the internet, containing suggestions, concerning the proper course of action. Most of them are of questionable value, at best, but a few of them are rather revealing.

One of the better videos, is titled ‘’President Musk and his assistant Trump have woken a sleeping giant’’. The narrator, clearly a man with a strong democratic sense, maintains that he ‘’noticed something different over the last couple of weeks…took part in an uprising against Elon Musk’s illegal, Unconstitutional power grab, to shutter government agencies, to hijack American data, installing private servers at the Treasury….there is no oversight…He (Musk) has been appointed to a position of great power, that is outside the purview of Congressional oversight, the coequal branch that has a check on the executive branch….At the Treasury protest, there was a different tone….shifting….from general protest to turning on Democrats, demanding Democrats do their job, to be an opposition Party…This is not the moment to find common ground, this is the moment to save the Republic’’. 

This individual is correct, when he states that ‘’something different’’ has taken place, within the last ‘’couple weeks’’. That something different is the mass movement, or more accurately, the revolutionary motion, which has increased dramatically. He is also correct when he states that ‘’this is the moment to save the Republic’’. 

Yet his ‘’solution’’, that of ‘’calling the Capitol Switchboard’’, in order to express disapproval with the Democratic officials, would have little effect. Those who took part in the Occupy Movement, of several years ago, can testify to the fact that the two mainstream political parties, Democrats and Republicans, serve the same class. That class is the monopoly capitalist class, the multi billionaires, currently referred to as the Oligarchy, technically referred to as the bourgeoisie. 

Yet the title of his article, in which he refers to ‘’waking a sleeping giant’’, exposes an awareness on his part, that the revolutionary motion has now spread to all segments of American society. 

A second video is perhaps a bit more pro active. It is titled, ‘’American citizens protest Elon Musk hijacking US Treasury’’. 

The narrator says he took part in a protest, against that which he referred to as ‘’Donald Trump’s dangerous agenda, a man who inserted Elon Musk into the actual functioning of the government. They have forced out Treasury officials, overtaken payment systems within the Treasury Department, and in the absence of Congress actually stepping up to do something, citizens are exercising their First Amendment rights, under the Constitution, to redress their government, and express their displeasure and outrage over what is taking place. If you are not able to join in movements like this, in uprisings like this, you find a local group to express your displeasure. It is going to take citizen action, to get anything done, to actually make some change here, so get ready for a fight. People have woken up’’. 

In this, he is correct, when he states that it is going to take ‘’citizen action’’, in order to ‘’make some change here’’. He is also correct, when he says that people should join ‘’local groups’’. These groups are known as Councils, many of which are working ‘’underground’’, and are preparing working people for the approaching Insurrection. 

This was followed by a speech, by a Democratic Senator. He made the appropriate noises, as was expected from a member of the ‘’opposition Party’’. As it was so completely meaningless, there is no need to repeat it here.

The only surprise was when he stated that ‘’people have woken up’’, and further, ‘’We have to reach out to everyone in this country, conservatives, liberals, republicans, democrats, and tell them that we have not months, and not weeks, but we have days to stop the destruction of our democracy. In this country, it is the people that rule, not the billionaires, we are taking this country back from Elon Musk.’’

To think that even a Democratic Senator was forced to admit that ‘’people have woken up’’! He also faced the fact that the Financial Oligarchy is determined to destroy the American democratic republic. That is an indication of the strength of the revolutionary movement.

Even the highly respected, self described Independent Socialist, Senator Bernie Sanders, expressed deep concern. He is afraid that the Oligarchy is transforming the American democratic republic into a ‘’Kleptocracy’’. Yet, in an interview with CNN, he offered no viable method of opposing this trend. Perhaps he has given up?

Incidentally, by definition, a kleptocracy literally means ‘’rule by thieves’’. It is used to describe governments whose leaders misuse their powers, to steal from their people. It is also referred to as a ‘’thievocracy’’. An accurate description of events unfolding, within the American democratic republic!

Without doubt, the ruling class of multi billionaires, the bourgeoisie, has decided to change their method of rule, from a democratic republic, to a Financial Oligarchy. In the process, they have accelerated the revolutionary motion. The opposition, to this Rule of the Oligarchy, is now broad and deep, extending to almost all classes and segments of society. Even the most dedicated, die hard defenders of capitalism, are expressing their concern. The situation is truly revolutionary! 

An Insurrection could break out at any time! The success of that Insurrection depends largely upon the ‘’class consciousness’’, the level of awareness, of the working class, the proletariat. 

Lenin went into this supremely well, in his landmark work, State and Revolution. This was written in preparation for the Great October Soviet Socialist Revolution, of 1917. That revolution was successful, because it followed the advice of Lenin.

In State and Revolution, Lenin stresses the fact that the state apparatus came into existence, with the first appearance of classes. The sole purpose of any state apparatus is to ensure the rule of the class in power, by subjugating the ‘’lower classes’’. Under monopoly capitalism, it is the ruling class of monopoly capitalists, the bourgeoisie, which subjugates all other classes. To this end, they carefully established a state apparatus, in order to crush the vast majority of working people, especially the proletariat.

At the time of the forth coming American Revolution, we can first expect to see a ‘’popular uprising’’, technically referred to as an ‘’Insurrection’’, in which the ‘’common people’’ rise up and overthrow the ruling class of monopoly capitalists. But then what?

As Lein phrases it, ‘’This course of events compels the revolution ’to concentrate all its forces of destruction’ against the state power, and to regard the problem, not as one of perfecting the state machine, but one of smashing and destroying it’’. (italics by Lenin)

Lenin clearly stressed the need to smash the existing state machine, with good reason. Previous revolutionary experience- the most bitter revolutionary experience!- has revealed that if the state apparatus is not destroyed, the leaders of the revolution merely take control of that state apparatus, and set themselves up, as the new rulers! Out of the frying pan, into the fire!

Yet after the revolution, after the ruling class of monopoly capitalists are overthrown, classes will continue to exist! And rest assured, the former multi billionaires are not about to ‘’resign themselves to their fate’’. They are not about to embrace a life of ‘’manual labour’’, as that is merely a ‘’Mexican worker’’! On the contrary, they will make every effort to ‘’regain their paradise lost’’! They will resort to every lie, deceit, deception, bribery and threat, to return to power! The experience of the former Socialist Soviet Union, and former Socialist China, leave no room for any doubt!

For that reason, a state apparatus is still required, after the revolution, in order to ‘’crush the desperate and determined resistance’’ of the monopoly capitalists. But as Lenin phrased it, ‘’It is still necessary to suppress the bourgeoisie and crush its resistance. This was particularly necessary for the (Paris) Commune; and one of the reasons for its defeat was that it did not do so with sufficient determination. But the organ of suppression is now the majority of the population, and not the minority, as was always the case under slavery, serfdom, and wage slavery. And since the majority of the people itself suppresses its oppressors, a ‘special force’ for suppression is no longer necessary. In this sense the state begins to wither away. Instead of the special institutions of a privileged minority (privileged officialdom, heads of the standing army), the majority itself can directly fulfill all these functions, and the more the functions of state power devolve upon the people generally, the less need is there for the existence of this power. ‘’ (italics by Lenin)

Incidentally, this new state apparatus, which exists only under a state of Scientific Socialism, is referred to as the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. 

After the successful Insurrection, after the monopoly capitalists are overthrown, after we establish the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, we must avoid the mistakes of previous great revolutionaries, including those of Stalin and Mao. As I have gone into this in previous articles, there is no need to repeat it here. 

There is a reason for the sense of urgency, expressed by the bourgeois intellectuals, concerning the attack on the American democratic republic. The fact is that the state of California is now openly calling for separation, from the United States. As well, the state of Texas, the ‘’Lone Star State’’, may once again form a separate, independent republic, as it once was.

As I have previously documented, the state of California recently formed an alliance with the two other Pacific Coast states, that of Washington and Oregon. It is very likely that those three states will soon separate and form a separate, independent, Socialist Council Republic. 

As well, on the east coast, seven state have also formed an alliance. In the midwest, the industrial heartland of the country, yet another seven states have also formed an alliance. Two more Socialist Council Republics, soon to be created! 

Truly, the bourgeois scholars have good reason to be concerned! The American Empire is on the verge of collapse! It will soon give birth to several independent, Socialist Council Republics. It is also very likely that those Republics will form a North American Socialist Council Union. 

That largely depends upon the American Revolutionary leaders, taking the advice of Lenin. Choose wisely.

Gerald McIsaac