Address of the Central Committee to the Communist League by Marx and Engels
www.marxists.org

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19813426

Even where there is no prospect of achieving their election the workers must put up their own candidates to preserve their independence, to gauge their own strength and to bring their revolutionary position and party standpoint to public attention. They must not be led astray by the empty phrases of the democrats, who will maintain that the workers’ candidates will split the democratic party and offer the forces of reaction the chance of victory. All such talk means, in the final analysis, that the proletariat is to be swindled. The progress which the proletarian party will make by operating independently in this way is infinitely more important than the disadvantages resulting from the presence of a few reactionaries in the representative body. If the forces of democracy take decisive, terroristic action against the reaction from the very beginning, the reactionary influence in the election will already have been destroyed.

Karl Marx Address of the Central Committee to the Communist League London, March 1850

  • VerbFlow@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    4 days ago

    By the way, “democrat” in 1850 was completely different from the D-Party today.

    • GodlessCommie@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      Let’s see, they’re both right wing, they both cater to the capitalist class, they both support indentured servitude, via Wage slavery. It appears that Democrats of 1850 are identical to Democrats today.

      • VerbFlow@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        3 days ago

        To be fair, the “must not be led astray by the empty phrases” phrase makes sense. In my opinion, the best way for revolution differs across nation-states, and even cities across the continents. In some places, like the United States, Guatemala, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, revolution is best done in an immediate overthrow, or the immediate establishment of a breakaway state. In the European Union, Brazil, or Canada, it would be best to establish unions and syndicates through which worker’s rights can be maintained, with some action that I don’t know yet.

        I should’ve made it clear that, as a world superpower, the United States situation is of paramount concern, and the establishment of Cascadia-California, independent Hawaii and Alaska, and other breakaway states might certainly make things better. However, these are very byzantine topics, and I can’t say for sure what the best course of action is.

        Either way, I blame the entire failure on Dems and will not claim that “voters aren’t doing enough”. Chuck Schumer’s strategy of focusing mostly on middle-class Suburban Republicans is not only ineffective because of its focus on people who won’t be affected by Trump’s policies, it ignores that, in a state of extreme wealth inequality, the people who have less money will be greater in number. You don’t even need to be a well-read Marxist to understand that mansions are empty and cheap apartment blocks are packed, and why that is. The Dems today became the Democrats of 1850 from their sheer stupidity.