This is a translation of an article that can be found on the website of the Russian Scientists of Socialist Orientation by Yuri Antonov. You can find the original article here

Many of our comrades have an idea of ​​revolution as some kind of event of a change of power. Some of them go further and include in the concept of revolution also a change in the form of ownership of the means of production.

In fact, a revolution is a radical change in the entire social system, both the superstructure (of which power is only a part) and the base (the form of ownership, this is only part of the relations of production), and the change in the labor force is generally forgotten.

The revolution stretches out over a long period, during which parallel changes occur in all aspects of social life. To limit oneself to changes in one parameter, even the most important one, is to put the revolution itself at risk.

Revolutionary measures were proposed and analyzed by previous generations of communists. However, the issue of the schedule for the coordinated implementation of these events, their interaction and influence on each other was not considered.

The fact is that no factor of the previous organization of society can be abolished without a corresponding replacement. For example, the Bolsheviks, by decree of the Soviets, could immediately abolish landlord ownership of land, because a communal system of land ownership existed and replacement was possible. The abolition of ownership of industrial enterprises was possible only in favor of the state, and then only to a limited extent due to the lack of a prepared administration.

In general, all transformations should be prepared in advance, both from the point of view of preparing the appropriate replacement system, and from the point of view of training the performers.

Thus, it is the program of the revolution that dictates not only the form of the new state, but also the meaning and sequence of replacing its parts. Consequently, there is a need for training and education for future performers of government functions, specifically in specific areas.

A revolution is a period of formation of a new state, which is one of its most important tasks. The revolution not only creates a new state, but imposes on it the conditions of its existence.

A revolutionary state is a special state, a state called upon to participate in the revolution and carry out its activities

Revolutionary period

The revolution begins long before the transfer of power and occurs primarily in the minds of people. Rejection of the existing state system is born, and specific people performing the functions of this state are considered to be to blame for its shortcomings. Only a minority develops the understanding that changing people in leadership will not change anything, that the entire system needs to be changed, that the system gives rise to the policies of the leaders, no matter who they were before.

 And only a few think about what kind of transformations should be made to fundamentally change the system in order to fulfill the basic aspirations of the population. Rejection of the existing government system, of course, is one of the signs of a revolutionary situation, but it can be the basis for a spontaneous revolution with an unpredictable end.

Successful revolutions have always taken place under the main slogans “For something”, and not against something. People realized what they were fighting for

Awareness by the masses of the need and goals of the revolution gives it an organized character, even without the presence of its governing bodies, in which case they will appear on their own.

The governing bodies of the revolution are needed for something else. Only they can determine the moment for decisive action, keep the masses from premature actions and coordinate the actions of the activists with the movement of the indignant masses and with the actions of the security forces that have come over to the side of the people.

To make all this feasible, a lot of preparatory propaganda work is required. At first glance, this work has little prospects, since the authorities sense the situation and attract the population with patriotic appeals and corresponding near-patriotic actions. In addition, the removal of individual individuals who have exhausted the patience of the people provides a temporary increase in the authority of the authorities. You need to understand that this situation is temporary, the system is a system, and its anti-people character will manifest itself. Then all our propaganda will work.

Moreover, the consciousness of revolutionary actions allows, in the process of revolution, to form a political and economic structure that can best organize the development of revolutionary transformations.

About the revolutionary state

The main task of the revolution is the creation and development of a revolutionary state. How is it different from what existed before?

Capitalist and previous economic systems were interested in preserving and strengthening the state protecting the existing system. What is a revolutionary state?

Firstly, this is a state capable of carrying out revolutionary changes, and secondly, it is a dying state.

The revolution is interested in the withering away of the state.

What is the withering away of a revolutionary state? This is not the abolition or weakening of the state, on the contrary, it is its expansion to the size of the entire society. This is the merging of the state with society. This is the expansion of power to universal, including all members of society. This is the transfer of state functions from special bodies to the entire organized society. This is the formation of a system that allows every member of society to participate in managing the life of society.

The implementation of the principle of centralized self-government increases the role of everyone in the life of society, and at the same time fosters responsibility for making decisions and not only their own.

The mass of all kinds of remnants (survivals) of capitalism prevents the creation of such a state. The capitalist state permeates all aspects of social life and cannot be eliminated immediately.

Firstly, because the state in every detail stabilizes relations between people, both industrial, personal and legal. The destruction of all these functions of the state will create chaos and disintegration of society.

Secondly, because the old state created the corresponding habits of the population, the corresponding mentality, the corresponding property inequality.

These circumstances hinder the construction of a new state. A sequence of activities must be developed and provided for in order to get rid of interfering remnants of the past and enable new relationships to develop. The principle of gradual displacement of old relationships by new ones must be strictly observed.

This process must be continuous. Stopping leads to stagnation and even reverse processes.

Each revolution is characterized by the state it created.

Replacing major remnants

If the nationalization of the means of production is the initial step of the transition process, it alone does not solve the issue of building a socialist society.

The main remnants of capitalism are wage labour and commodity-money exchange.

The alternative to wage labour is free labour. No wonder V.I. Lenin called the first subbotniks the Great Initiative

However, this great initiative was not accepted by the Soviet administration. Subbotniks did not become a system and were often used as a means to eliminate management mistakes. Most importantly, the economic system for their regular use was not thought out.

Unfortunately, no direct connection was established between subbotniks and public funds. It is public funds that can supplant commodity-money exchange.

In addition, both of these create conditions for the transition of state ownership of the means of production to the entire people. Signs of public property:

— the work of workers is not regulated by government agencies.

– the result of labor becomes public property and is excluded from commodity-money exchange.

 An enterprise with a predominant use of free labor becomes self-governing.

The free labour movement was distorted by the nomenklatura leadership. His freedom was destroyed by orders and the voluntary-compulsory principle. The results of labour for the most part became state property. As a result, labour became not free and produced a negative educational result.

Changing views on the dictatorship of the proletariat

Until now, it has been assumed that the dictatorship of the proletariat is primarily a political structure of power, characterized by proletarian democracy, democratic centralism, representativeness and responsibility.

Hence it was believed that economic, production and economic management was the work of specialists invited by the proletarian government, and the dictatorship of the proletariat was only subject to accounting and control. And even those were entrusted to hired specialists.

A nomenklatura was formed, to which economic power passed, and with its development, great influence on political power. In the end, the dictatorship of the proletariat became a figurative expression. And we were also reproached for totalitarianism. What kind of totalitarianism is there! Bureaucracy, and ideology for many leaders has become a ritual, meaningless window dressing.

The removal of the dictatorship of the proletariat from economic leadership led to the absence of its necessity for the proletariat, the need, according to Lenin’s commandment, to study and learn leadership, not only economic, but ultimately political. Which then led to the loss of power of the people in general.

The importance of maintaining the economic leadership of the dictatorship of the proletariat must be taken into account throughout the entire process of revolution.

The dictatorship of the proletariat must also be prepared in advance. Education and self-education of the proletarian masses is the only way to train its personnel. And this is only possible if there is a mass proletarian organization.

The work today to create a mass proletarian organization is the first stage in the formation of a future revolutionary state, which largely determines future government activity, and the fate of the revolution itself.