108th Anniversary of Great October Socialist Revolution
November 7, 1917
Outstanding Developments in Political Theory
The Great October Revolution, besides other things, brought forth outstanding developments in political theory. For the first time in human history political theory placed the working class and other working people in a sovereign position. According to this political theory, executive power is subordinate to the legislative power, and the legislative power subordinate to the working class and other working people. People had the right to elect and be elected, and had the right to re-call. Nonetheless, as socialism was constructed in the initial stage, there arose the need for the further development of this political theory in order to facilitate the further development of socialism. This political theory had the economic conditions in place for its advance, but such an advance in political theory never took place. The working class begins today the fight for a socialist society from an advanced level in political theory. According to this advanced theory, political parties assume a role in the education and politicization of the masses, and provide a mechanism for the masses to directly govern themselves.
The most momentous advance that the Great October Revolution brought about, aside from political theory, was in economic theory. For the first time in human history, the initial construction of socialist society established the motive of production as the satisfaction of the ever increasing material and cultural needs of the working class and other working people. Massive developments took place in the economy with the productive forces galloping forward at an unprecedented clip. The Soviet Union was industrialized in a matter of a mere 10 years, something that took England and many other countries several hundred. The Soviet Union was able to recover from the devastation of World War II within a matter of a few years as well.
The further development of socialism required that the working class and other working people be able to determine the prices of their products and the remuneration due to them. The task of central socialist planning belongs to the entire society, but the distribution of production belongs to the collectives and individuals. What to produce and how much to produce appertain to everybody, and is executed through central socialist planning by the government. Remuneration for work performed and the setting of prices of what is produced belong to the individuals and their collectives. Even in the darkest days of medievalism, there was honour gained when a peasant haggled over the price of what they produced. Under capitalism the working class holds its head high, and brings dignity and culture to itself by not accepting the wage offered by the capitalist but making wage demands based on its own sound judgement. If the working class does not fight for what they think their remuneration should be, they lose all dignity and self-respect.
In the Soviet Union, once Soviet Power was forsaken, the working class became apathetic and indifferent for they had no role to play in distribution. It was necessary to establish in the sphere of economic theory that all people have claims on the social product by virtue of being human. The social product must be divided on the basis of reconciling and harmonizing the individual interests with that of the collective; and the interests of the individual and the collective with the general interests of the society. Such a development in economic theory did not take place in the Soviet Union. The working class has to fight for the socialist economic base on this new basis.
Momentous developments in theory, philosophy and ideology began to take place even before the Great October Revolution. The Great October Revolution affirmed these developments and created the conditions for the new and more far-reaching changes. The role of the working masses led by the vanguard of the working class, the Bolshevik Party, in effecting revolutionary changes was there for everyone to see during the various stages of the October revolution; especially during the period of the socialist revolution and construction of socialism at its initial stage.
The main change effected was in the sphere of the relations of production, the expropriation of the old exploiting classes and the creation of the fraternal working masses. The role of theory, philosophy, ideology and of ideological work was decisive during this entire period of socialist revolution and socialist construction. For socialism to develop further, the role of theory, philosophy, ideology and of ideological work had to be brought to a level at which it could guarantee the uninterrupted revolutionization of the relations of production, the strengthening of the link with the very movement developing before their eyes. Such a role, however, could be further developed only if the theory of knowledge, philosophy and ideology were to recognize that revolutionary consciousness also develops dialectically. The development of socialism from its initial stage required the waging of different forms of class struggle; whether ideological, or theoretical and philosophical, or polemical. The working masses were reduced to merely discussing the Party line as passive bystanders instead of being active fighters in these forms of class struggle.
The working class has to start the fight for socialist revolution and construction of socialism from this level; that is, by placing the role of different forms of class struggle in the sphere of ideas at par with the demands of revolutionization of the relations of production, and the concept that the masses must govern themselves. In other words, theory and philosophy, and ideology have to become the concern of the working masses.
There is pressure put on the working class to disgrace itself by appealing to the good graces of the monopoly capitalist exploiters to hand back the “gains” that they took away as part of the anti-social offensive. Far from acting like chickens clucking and banging pathetic wings in a futile attempt to fly, the working class must act like a majestic eagle and soar the heights necessary under the present conditions. With keen eyes the working people should gain insight into how to fight the contemporary battle for the establishment of the socialist society on a new basis.
Anything which blocks the working class from doing this must become the target of our polemic. The aim of waging this polemic is to provide the working class with the consciousness necessary to train itself for the decisive battles in which it is engaged. While participating in the day-to-day struggles and the necessary defensive class battles of today, it must make sure it positions itself for the battles which lie ahead. In other words, the polemic must ensure that the working class is not diverted from defending its immediate interests of fighting for the pro-social trend, and its long-term interests of establishing a socialist society on the basis of the experience of the Great October Revolution.
The ultimate aim of the working class is the creation of a communist society which it can do only if it takes up the polemic in all earnest at this time, and provides itself with the modern definitions required which give rise to the consciousness of just such a socialist society. The role of the polemic in this work is indispensable as is the role of ideological struggle, theoretical and philosophical struggle, and ideological work.
(1995 — Archives, Hardial Bains Resource Centre)
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