One of the most iconic revolutionaries in world history was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known by his adopted revolutionary name, Lenin. The son of a government official, Lenin dedicated himself to revolution after the government executed his brother for plotting the assassination of Tsar Alexander III. After joining the Marxist-inspired Social-Democratic Party, founded in 1898, in 1903 he became the leader of the "majority men," or Bolsheviks, who, in opposition to the "minority men," or Mensheviks, demanded highly centralized party leadership, noncooperation with bourgeois liberals, and single-minded devotion to revolution.Lenin described his ideas about revolutionary tactics in 1902 in a pamphlet entitled "What Is to Be Done?" (You can read excerpts from it by clicking here). It was directed against ideological enemies Lenin called "Economists," Marxists who believed that because Russia had just begun to industrialize, it was not ready for socialism. Social-Democrats, the Economists believed, should seek short-term economic gains for workers rather than revolution. Published in Germany, smuggled into Russia, and read by thousands of Social-Democrats, "What Is to Be Done?" established Lenin as a major party theoretician and a man to be reckoned within the Social-Democratic Party. It marked the beginning of that distinctive variant of Marxism known as Leninism.
After reading excerpts from the document, I would like you to think about and discuss the following: According to Lenin, how does the "critical Marxism" of men such as Bernstein endanger the socialist movement? In Lenin's view how are the goals and purposes of trade unionism similar to and different from those of the Social-Democratic Party? Why, according to Lenin, have the workers been unable to develop true revolutionary consciousness? What does he believe must be done to change this? What advantages does Lenin see in restricting the party to a small corps of dedicated revolutionaries? What kinds of activities will these professional revolutionaries carry on to further the cause of revolution? Compare and contrast the views of Lenin and Marx on the following topics: revolution, the working class, and the role of the party? Your thoughts...
7 comments:
lenin blames part of the reason for no change on that people have chosen to turn a blind eye, meaning to not acknowledge the problems, like poverty and the problems with capitalism. he also implies that no one was really interested in trying a new system. this would be shown with how socialism has never been applied to science, whereas capitalism was justified by science with natural selection. he differs from marx in that he doesn't think much of the lower class rising against the upper class.
the social-democratic party was an effort to arouse the business class. lenin knows that there isn't much to be had of a working class and that they don't have much organization. the workers are unable to form a revolutionary consciousness because they don't know what revolution that they want or that they need. he's almost saying that russia has been too isolated from the rest of the world, and so they do not know anything else other than what they're living now.
lenin sees making the party small and powerful more beneficial because there will be less sidetracking. he sees it being more effective because a group of devoted revolutionaries will be less likely to engage in trivial and pointless matters. when all members of the party are devoted, they will be more likely to fight for a change. a small party doesn't seem as threatening either. a large party of revolutionaries could be seen as a revolt and cause the government to strike back too quickly and the party would not have a chance to get their ideas across.
Lenin thought that Bernsteins theory had too much influence from the bourgeois. He also didn't think the working class was the key to success unllike Marx. He thought it would be better to have a small group of hiighly educateed people rather than a large number of less educated people.
Lenin, unlike Marx, believed in having a smaller, more educated, group of revolutionaries in order to keep from being viewed as a threat rather than a movement towards change. In doing so, he can make sure that the revolutionaries are passionate in order to maximize results. He also believes that most people are choosing to ignore their problems rather than dealing with them and being ignorant.
I think Lenin is trying to get people to notice the problems of the working class due to the upper class's mistakes. He knows the lower class is uneducated and to have a working government, they need to learn and the upper class needs to stop worrying just about their authority. The lower class isn't even trained to work properly, which causes problems later and there's no middle class, which is what Lenin seems to focus a lot on.
I think Lenin is trying to get people to notice the problems of the working class due to the upper class's mistakes. He knows the lower class is uneducated and to have a working government, they need to learn and the upper class needs to stop worrying just about their authority. The lower class isn't even trained to work properly, which causes problems later and there's no middle class, which is what Lenin seems to focus a lot on.
Lenin unlike Mark belived in smaller educated groups. He also compares the upper and lower classes sveral times. He is saying that witha smaller gropu of educated people, it will be possible for more organization and leaders maintainig continuing Saying that the lower class will never really rise up agianst the upper class.
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