Marx and Engels now believed that revolution was inevitable. Should they wait for it to come? Marx and Engels both decided that it had become their manifest duty to see that the revolution was vigorously promoted. They believed that the ‘old society’ was doomed. (Sound familiar?) They believed that the change could save a dozen generations from exploitation and injustice simply by compressing this entire phase of social evolution into a single generation of violent readjustment. (Do we see this happening today?) They felt it could be done in three steps:
> First, by wiping out the old order…Revolutionary Terror [Quoted from the Neue Rheinische Zeiyung, by J.E. LeRossignol in From Marx To Stalin, pg. 231].
> Second, the representatives of the working class must then set up a Dictatorship of the Proletariat. During this period Stalin identified four things which must be accomplished:
1. Completely suppress the old capitalist class.
2. Create a mighty army of “defense” to be used “for the consolidation of the ties with the proletarians of other lands, and for the development and victory of the revolution in all countries.”
3. Consolidate the unity of the masses in support of the Dictatorship.
4. Establish universal socialism by eliminating private property and preparing all mankind for the ultimate adoption of full Communism.
> Third, the final step is the transition from socialism to full Communism. Socialism is characterized by state ownership of land and all means of production. Both Marx and Engels believed that after a while when class consciousness has disappeared and there is no further resistance to overcome, the state will gradually wither away and then property will automatically belong to all mankind “in common”. The dictatorship would be “an organization for the systematic use of violence by one class against the other…But, in striving for Socialism it will develop further into Communism…and there will vanish all need for force…people will grow accustomed to observing the elementary conditions of social existence without force and without subjection.” [V.I. Lenin, Imperialism: The State and Revolution, pg. 187].
Even in the latter stages of Socialism, Lenin visualized a world without courts, lawyers, judges, rulers, elected representatives and even policemen. All these would be swept down into the limbo of forgotten and useless appendages which characterized the old order of decant capitalism. The new society would even change human nature until resistance to the communal society would become “a rare exception and will probably be accompanied by such swift and sever punishment…soon the necessity of observing the simple, fundamental rules of everyday social life in common will have become a habit…the door will then be open for transition to full Communism.” [Ibid, pg. 759].
Just a short detour. Who would have ever thought a few years ago that a church could be shut down by government authorities and a pastor arrested during a service for not complying? Currently there are three pastors in Canada who are facing time in jail for holding church services…in at least two cases…outdoors. Another thought. Let’s say that you have a three bedroom home. You only need two of the bedrooms for those who live there. The government says you have more than you need so, therefore, you will have to permit someone else live in your home. Under Communist rule your home is government property and if you don’t comply you could find yourself living on the street while your home is occupied by ‘friends’ of the government. Think about it?
Individuals must forget that there was ever a time when income could be secured from the mere ownership of property or from productive labor. They must forget that some people once received very large incomes while others received small ones. Do we see greed and envy creeping in? In the Communist world people must forget all about differences in skill, training, and mental or physical abilities. By Communist promise, “Each will produce according to his ability and each will receive according to his need.” The individual must give up his old profit-motive incentive and become socially minded so that he will work as hard as he can for the benefit of society as a whole, and at the same time be content to receive, as a ‘reward’ for his work, an amount determined by a government official, of income based on his needs in consumption. Under such a system both Marx and Engels presumed the output of production would be so tremendous that they could dispense with markets, money (a ‘mark of the beast’ will suffice), and prices. Commodities would be stockpiled at various central places, and all individuals who worked would be entitled to help themselves on the basis of their needs. Dependency on government, not God, would be the controlling factor in the lives of people. The inevitability of excesses on the part of individual persons is not considered, nor is the need to suppress such excesses. Armed citizens will keep this from happening. How can lack of concern about excesses be justified? We all know that the fundamental social cause of excesses is the exploitation of the masses, their want and their poverty. With the removal of this chief cause, excesses will inevitably begin to ‘wither away’.
The government as it now exist is presumed to be nothing more than the tool of an oppressive class of capitalist and consequently, if the capitalist were destroyed, the need for any kind of government would be obliterated. The Communist leaders have always felt confident that when the proletariat takes over it will not want to oppress anyone and therefore the need for government will be nonexistent. We have seen what a massive lie that is. The Communist will have government but not by the people. Now comes the Communist ‘fairy tale’. Lenin wanted the proletariat to be an “armed people”. He had unmitigated confidence that the members of the proletariat would never abuse their power as the capitalist had done. (Is that why citizens under Communist control have been disarmed?) Lenin assumed that the proletariat had the instinctive capacity to recognize justice on sight. I can’t make this up. He believed that they would use their weapons to put down any nonsocial acts in the community by spontaneous “mass action”, and would genuinely and heroically suppress any selfish, nonsocial tendencies in themselves. With the machinery of government by the people gone and with Communist leadership in charge and with the Communist pattern of a classless, stateless society established throughout the world (world government), finally “it becomes possible to speak of freedom!” [E. Burns, Handbook of Marxism, pg. 745].
How a society could fall for such false promises is beyond me. They are totally against human nature even as confused as human nature is nowadays. From the beginning of time man has strived to better himself. Some have gone well beyond the average in that quest. Today we have men…and women…who want to travel to the moon or Mars. Is it because they seek a better life than they have on Earth? No, it’s because it is man’s nature to seek and find that which is a mystery. Man will not sit back and let some politician tell him how he should think. The dedicated Communist would try to convince us to give up our freedom for their world societal care and ‘leisure’. I’m here to say right now…it won’t happen. Too much time, and too many lives have been sacrificed to go back in time. Since most politicians are just looking out for themselves, our church leadership needs to take up the gauntlet of both spiritual and physical freedom. If that doesn’t happen we may go to church one Sunday and find a lock on the door and a sign reading “NO LONGER IN BUSINESS”.
Next week we will look at how the Communists will approach a solution to world problems. I can assure you that the church is not in the mix and if the church is considered, it is as a hinderance rather than an asset.
-Bob Munsey
“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and living wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. [2 Thessalonians 2:9-12].
Geezer Politics 