this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2023
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Communism
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Oppression of the bourgeoisie by the proletariat, absolutely; the point is to eventually eliminate the bourgeois class. When class distinctions no longer exist, the state will, by definition (a tool for oppression of one class by another), cease to exist. How would you go about abolishing the state while classes still exist, or abolishing classes within a bourgeois dictatorship?
The issue is that where there is a state, definitively there will be still social classes - those with power within the state, and those without. If your position is "we can't abolish the state until there are no class divisions" then you've got an infinite loop.
Obviously with the way the world is there is no way to go straight from the current situation to communism, but the goal is still the abolition of the state, and so many leftists seem to get angry with the concept that we should (and have to) abolish the state. That's all I am saying - reading any deeper into my comment than that isn't recommended!
I'm not sure if anyone is getting angry that you're saying the state must be abolished. MLs fundamentally agree with that. It's what revolutionaries are aiming for.
The criticism is that you seem to be saying that revolutionaries cannot use the state because it's an incoherent notion:
By this do you mean to say that the idea of the dictatorship of the proletariat is logically contradictory? That it won't work? You seemed to agree, above, that you don't think that's the case (i.e. you think the state can be used as a tool), but here you appear to be saying just that?
It may be helpful here to reiterate the dialectical element of Marxism-Leninism. It's not a step-by-step sequence of events. First one, then the other. It's a dialectical development.
The plan isn't to seize the state, then to use the state to abolish classes. That won't work. It's anti-dialectical.
The idea is that by seizing the state and wresting control over the means of production from the bourgeoisie, the bourgeoisie will become redundant and whither away. This will take a long time. The state is needed to keep the reactionaries in line in the meantime.
It's taken China over half a decade to start the process and most of the rest of the world hasn't even begun the task yet. The DotP and the abolition of classes and the state are one process. They're interrelated.
Have you read State and Revolution or 'Better Fewer But Better' by Lenin?
Of course there will be social classes -- as I said, a state is a tool for the oppression of one class by another. For a socialist state, that means the workers (mainly the proletariat, but also other smaller classes of workers that remain from the pre-capitalist mode of production) oppressing the bourgeoisie. Most of the capitalists, especially the smaller ones, will gradually become proletarian. When there are only proletarians left, there will no longer be a state, unless the state stops acting in the interest of the proletariat at some point before that. A proletarian democracy (i.e. an actual democracy, where the people can force any elected representative to step down at any time if they're not satisfied, and money has no role in the electoral process) will eventually turn into a democracy for everyone as everyone becomes a proletarian (which is equivalent to a classless society, since a class only has meaning in relation to other classes).