Marx’s chief instruction to all his followers was that they should study life as it actually is. Thus only can a practical program be drawn up. It is self-evident, therefore why our program begins with a description of the capitalist regime.
The capitalist regime has now been overthrown in Russia. What Marx prophesised is being fulfilled under our very eyes. The old order is collapsing. The crowns are falling from the heads of kings and emperors. Everywhere the workers are advancing towards revolution, and towards the establishment of soviet rule. In order fully to understand how all this has come about, it is necessary to be thoroughly well acquainted with the nature of the capitalist system. Then we shall realise that its breakdown was inevitable. Once we grasp that there will be no return of the old system and that the victory of the workers is assured, we shall have full strength and confidence as we carry on the struggle on behalf of the new social order of the workers.
Literature
- Reports of the April Conference, 1917.
- Materials for the Revision of the Party Program.
- BUKHARIN, and SMIRNOV, articles in “Spartakus” Nos. 4-9.
- LENIN, article in “Prosveshcheniye” Nos. 1 and 2, 1917.
- Reports of the eighth Congress.
Concerning the scientific character of the Marxist program, consult the literature of scientific socialism: GOLUBKOV, Utopian and Scientific Socialism; ENGELS, Development of Socialism from Utopia to Science; MARX and ENGELS, Communist Manifesto.