By Nikos Mottas
Today marks the 107th anniversary of the single most important event ofmodern history: The 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution. Its significance lies in the fact that it was historically the first conscious step for the transition from capitalism to socialism and the abolition of man by man. Lenin's slogan “the ice was broken, the road was paved” summarizes the passage of social development to its highest level, that is socialism, the ultimate perspective of which is the classless communist society.
The Red October wasn't a “coup”, as bourgeois historians and media try to portray the 1917 Revolution. On the contrary, it was the offspring of the organized political struggle of the working class and popular masses which, led by the Party of Lenin and the Bolsheviks, ushered humanity into a new historical era. This is the era from the historically outdated capitalism to the new word, socialism.
The October Revolution confirmed in practice the indisputable fact that the driving force of history is the class struggle. “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”, Marx and Engels noted in the Manifesto of the Communist Party, about 70 years before the Revolution. The very history of social systems verifies the correctness of the Marxist concept: Slavery was replaced by feudalism which, in turn, was overthrown by the bourgeoisie after major (bourgeois) revolutions with the most important being the 1789 French Revolution. The October Revolution in Russia, as well as the other socialist revolutions in a series of countries during the 20th century, overthrew capitalism.
However, as it happened with any socio-economic system, socialism didn't prevail all at once. This should be taken into consideration by those who, in an anti-scientific and anti-historical way, talk about the “end of history” and the supposedly final and irreversible “dominance of capitalism”. The setback that occurred with the counterrevolutionary overthrows in the end of 1980s doesn't overturn the laws of the class struggle nor does it erase the necessity and relevance of socialism. On the contrary, the necessity of socialism is and will be strengthened as the contradictions of the capitalist system are deepening and intensifying.
The bourgeoisie and its mouthpieces are well aware of this. That is why they systematically spreading incredible lies and inaccuracies about the actually existed socialism of the 20th century, the Soviet Union and the other socialist states, in an effort to slander the marxist-leninist worldview. “Communism failed wherever it was implemented” is the biggest lie the bourgeois propaganda has ever expressed. Nonetheless, this false and unscientific argument hides the truth for two reasons:
First, because it consciously conceals that the 20th century socialism - the socio economic system established in the Soviet Union and the other socialist states – was the immature stage of communist society. The USSR and the other socialist societies never developed into mature, fully formed in all its aspects communist societies. Bourgeois propaganda deliberately approaches the 20th century socialism through the distorted prism of an “ideal communist society”, in order to tarnish and undermine the perspective of communism by labeling it as a “failure” and a utopian chimera.
Secondly, the proven historical truth is that socialism didn't fail. On the contrary, it gave birth to unprecedented social conquests. Despite all existing weaknesses, the superiority of socialism as a socio-economic system was demonstrated in practice, bring to the fore a superior organization of society, radically different from previous social systems. A distinctive difference is the abolition of the exploitation of man by man, that is the abolition of the hiring of foreign labor power.
Actually, those who talk about the “failure of socialism”, should answer the following simple questions:
— What system established permanent and stable labor for 41 hours per week - 36 hours/week for certain jobs?
— Under which system was social security for workers universal, public and compulsory, with the contributions coming from the state budget and state company funds?
— What system, other than socialism, established legally – Article 119 of the Soviet Constitution – the right of working men and women to rest and leisure, with the provision of annual paid leave?
— Under which system were the public goods of Health and Education universal, public and free? When and where was there a state health protection system that provided the entire population with free prevention and medical care? When and where was illiteracy eradicated so quickly and students enjoyed high-level education?
— What was the system that transformed quickly a backward, largely peasants' country into a pioneering global superpower in the fields of technology and science? What socio-economic formation led, in just a few decades, a country dominated by outdated 19th century methods of production to space technology?
— What system paved the way for the social emancipation of women by granting them full political rights and establishing special laws to protect the working mother?
“All right, but what about freedom in socialism?”, the apologists of capitalism will respond. But, actually, about what “freedom” are they talking about? What is the essence of the “freedom” they refer to? It is the freedom of a handful of people, of a tiny minority, to exploit and reap the labor of the majority. In a few words, it is the freedom to capitalist profit, to “competitiveness” among monopoly groups, miserable wages and terrible labor conditions, layoffs and mass unemployment. It is the kind of “freedom” that subjugates the needs of popular strata to the interests of the few; the “freedom” in the capitalist ownership of the means of production and the perpetuation of social inequalities.
If that's the case then, indeed, this kind of “freedom” was violated by the 1917 October Revolution. And rightfully so. After all, the infringement of that freedom is a necessary condition for the working class and the people in order to take the wealth they produce in their hands and to become the masters of their own land.
Today, 107 years after the October Revolution, in times of imperialist barbarism and capitalist crisis, socialism remains more relevant than ever before. Its timeliness and necessity can neither be exorcised nor buried, simply because it is reality herself that creates the conditions for a socialist transformation of modern societies.
The road opened by Lenin and the Bolsheviks in October 1917 will be “walked” again in the 21st century, with new socialist revolutions. The red flag with the hammer and sickle, a symbol for millions of people across the globe, will rise again. In our era, socialism is the answer, whatever the question
The October Revolution confirmed in practice the indisputable fact that the driving force of history is the class struggle. “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”, Marx and Engels noted in the Manifesto of the Communist Party, about 70 years before the Revolution. The very history of social systems verifies the correctness of the Marxist concept: Slavery was replaced by feudalism which, in turn, was overthrown by the bourgeoisie after major (bourgeois) revolutions with the most important being the 1789 French Revolution. The October Revolution in Russia, as well as the other socialist revolutions in a series of countries during the 20th century, overthrew capitalism.
However, as it happened with any socio-economic system, socialism didn't prevail all at once. This should be taken into consideration by those who, in an anti-scientific and anti-historical way, talk about the “end of history” and the supposedly final and irreversible “dominance of capitalism”. The setback that occurred with the counterrevolutionary overthrows in the end of 1980s doesn't overturn the laws of the class struggle nor does it erase the necessity and relevance of socialism. On the contrary, the necessity of socialism is and will be strengthened as the contradictions of the capitalist system are deepening and intensifying.
The bourgeoisie and its mouthpieces are well aware of this. That is why they systematically spreading incredible lies and inaccuracies about the actually existed socialism of the 20th century, the Soviet Union and the other socialist states, in an effort to slander the marxist-leninist worldview. “Communism failed wherever it was implemented” is the biggest lie the bourgeois propaganda has ever expressed. Nonetheless, this false and unscientific argument hides the truth for two reasons:
First, because it consciously conceals that the 20th century socialism - the socio economic system established in the Soviet Union and the other socialist states – was the immature stage of communist society. The USSR and the other socialist societies never developed into mature, fully formed in all its aspects communist societies. Bourgeois propaganda deliberately approaches the 20th century socialism through the distorted prism of an “ideal communist society”, in order to tarnish and undermine the perspective of communism by labeling it as a “failure” and a utopian chimera.
Secondly, the proven historical truth is that socialism didn't fail. On the contrary, it gave birth to unprecedented social conquests. Despite all existing weaknesses, the superiority of socialism as a socio-economic system was demonstrated in practice, bring to the fore a superior organization of society, radically different from previous social systems. A distinctive difference is the abolition of the exploitation of man by man, that is the abolition of the hiring of foreign labor power.
Actually, those who talk about the “failure of socialism”, should answer the following simple questions:
— What system established permanent and stable labor for 41 hours per week - 36 hours/week for certain jobs?
— Under which system was social security for workers universal, public and compulsory, with the contributions coming from the state budget and state company funds?
— What system, other than socialism, established legally – Article 119 of the Soviet Constitution – the right of working men and women to rest and leisure, with the provision of annual paid leave?
— Under which system were the public goods of Health and Education universal, public and free? When and where was there a state health protection system that provided the entire population with free prevention and medical care? When and where was illiteracy eradicated so quickly and students enjoyed high-level education?
— What was the system that transformed quickly a backward, largely peasants' country into a pioneering global superpower in the fields of technology and science? What socio-economic formation led, in just a few decades, a country dominated by outdated 19th century methods of production to space technology?
— What system paved the way for the social emancipation of women by granting them full political rights and establishing special laws to protect the working mother?
“All right, but what about freedom in socialism?”, the apologists of capitalism will respond. But, actually, about what “freedom” are they talking about? What is the essence of the “freedom” they refer to? It is the freedom of a handful of people, of a tiny minority, to exploit and reap the labor of the majority. In a few words, it is the freedom to capitalist profit, to “competitiveness” among monopoly groups, miserable wages and terrible labor conditions, layoffs and mass unemployment. It is the kind of “freedom” that subjugates the needs of popular strata to the interests of the few; the “freedom” in the capitalist ownership of the means of production and the perpetuation of social inequalities.
If that's the case then, indeed, this kind of “freedom” was violated by the 1917 October Revolution. And rightfully so. After all, the infringement of that freedom is a necessary condition for the working class and the people in order to take the wealth they produce in their hands and to become the masters of their own land.
Today, 107 years after the October Revolution, in times of imperialist barbarism and capitalist crisis, socialism remains more relevant than ever before. Its timeliness and necessity can neither be exorcised nor buried, simply because it is reality herself that creates the conditions for a socialist transformation of modern societies.
The road opened by Lenin and the Bolsheviks in October 1917 will be “walked” again in the 21st century, with new socialist revolutions. The red flag with the hammer and sickle, a symbol for millions of people across the globe, will rise again. In our era, socialism is the answer, whatever the question
The piece is an updated version of an article written on the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution.
* Nikos Mottas is the Editor-in-Chief of In Defense of Communism.