Mobilizing for Communism Will Inspire More
SEATTLE, USA, November 4—The Russian revolution was a big deal. We’re still feeling the aftershocks.
Workers, soldiers and youth can not only grasp communism, they will fight for it with all their being. That’s what we emphasized at our potluck commemorating the 100th year anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution.
The bosses realize this also. They’ve spent some 100 years and a boatload of money building cynicism about communism’s potential.
They want us to believe that everyone is out for themselves. That humans are greedy. That teenagers are too self-centered. That now is not the time to mobilize for communism. Even potential revolutionaries sometimes buy into these ideas. Communist organizers always wrestle with this question. This was the focus of our discussion before, during and after the potluck.
The toastmaster raised a beer to celebrate the accomplishments of the Russian workers in 1917. In North America, two sparks from the revolution landed in Seattle, WA (USA) and Winnipeg, Canada. Both had general strikes: Seattle for 5 days, Winnipeg for 40 days.
Strikers took over the cities. They fed and cared for people. A Seattle strike veteran reported that the fact that masses carried out these duties without being paid raised questions in many people’s minds about whether the wage system was necessary.
The bosses freaked out. This was a dangerous example. Using their state power (cops, military, vigilantes), they put an end to them.
The Soviet communists seized the opportunity to take power when the tsarist state collapsed under the weight of WWI. But how were the workers to run an area that had 1/6 of the world’s population? They invented a program on the run.
They made mistakes, chief of which was maintaining a money-driven economy. “At first, the communist-inspired workers were able to beat back capitalism. But like the lead-poisoned water in Flint you can drink a small glass and you’ll still be okay. Over time it will make you sick. Eventually it will kill you,” said the toastmaster.
“But I believe people are greedy,” said a friend. Later on, he changed his tune.
“Maybe people are a blank slate. To him I am god,” he said pointing to his son asleep in his arms. “I tell him something and he’ll believe it. At least for a while.” Everyone laughed, especially those who had or have teenage children.
Under communism greedy people will have to quit cold turkey, because they won’t have anything to practice their greed on. How can you greedily amass private property when there is no private property? How can you covet a huge salary and stock options when there are no wages and no stocks? Life’s necessities will be collectively provided without exchanging money.
From the Potluck to the Classroom
A high school student said her class had read the viciously anti-communist novel Animal Farm.
“Do you use Animal Farm in your history classes?’ we asked a H.S. history teacher in attendance. “Not me!” he answered.
He discusses the Bolshevik revolution with his freshman history class. “How do they react?” He shrugged his shoulders.
The discussion asked how to make the revolution more interesting to these 14- year-olds. The Bolsheviks had published a book that ran through the alphabet. Each letter was accompanied by a colorful poster that depicted some aspect of the revolution. Each page had a poem, some of which were quite good.
The teacher took seven posters to show to his class. A Boeing worker will take them to some Red Flag distributers at another high school.
Then we discussed the Gorky colony. Street kids built their own school and dormitories even as the communist-led masses waged war to consolidate the revolution. The comrade in charge of organizing the colony spelled out how this experiment in communist education worked, combining work and book learning. He wrote a three-volume set on his experiences.
The teacher took them to prepare a class lesson. A far cry from the cynical shrug of the shoulder!
Commemorating the Bolshevik revolution does not end with a potluck. We’ll help realize the full potential of communist revolution by regularly bringing communist history to our worksites and schools.
Russian Revolutionary Poster, “The ABCs of Communism, 1917 October 25-November 7 1921.” Banner says: “All Power to the Soviets”
The Poem:
The world situation
Was a bloody mess
Blood was nothing to the bourgeois
They took us all for fools.
Many soldiers were killed
The people endured it without murmuring
A blow was struck.
The dawn broke
A hostile government was replaced by the Soviets.