04/22/2024
Celebraying the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
April 22, 1870 – January 21, 1924
More than any other figure, Lenin helped birth the modern Communist movement. Addressing the unique circumstances of the revolutionary working-class movement in Russia, his What Is to Be Done? advanced the concept of a new type of political
party, worker-led and directed, waging a many-sided struggle for dominance in the arenas of ideas, politics, and class struggle.
Following Marx and Engels’ thesis on the independent and leading role of the working class, Lenin’s concept was a new thing, a party led politically and ideologically by workers, that would lead the whole of society to a new form of civilization.
Lenin stresses — no, insists — on the party’s advocacy of socialism while fighting for reforms.
Lenin was not wedded to any particular form of struggle. Everything depended on a concrete analysis of a concrete situation.
The founding of the new working-class state and the elaboration of the laws of transition from capitalism to socialism are among
Lenin’s most important if not his signal contributions.
His legacy lives on in the modern communist and workers movement, where each party attempts to find a path to socialism according to its unique conditions and circumstances.
