Uphold the banner of communism
The great October Revolution
of 1917 is by far the most progressive event in human history.
It ushered in the era of the downfall of
imperialism and the victory of proletarian revolution. Despite all reverses,
this is the era we continue to live in; and with capitalist economic crisis
again raging, there has never been a better time to revisit the lessons of
October.
The history of almost the entire 20th century was
shaped by the tremors set in motion by this gigantic earthquake in erstwhile
tsarist Russia.
Defying all predictions, and in the teeth of bitter
hostility on the part of the overthrown exploiting classes as well as of
international imperialism, the Soviet proletariat went on to build a powerful
socialist state and a powerful socialist economy, in which planned production
to satisfy the constantly rising needs of the working masses replaced the
anarchy of capitalist production, whose sole motive force is the production of
ever increasing amounts of surplus value to satisfy the insatiable greed of a
handful of exploiters.
By 1935, the USSR was the only country that had got
rid of the scourge of unemployment, while the capitalist world saw the
devastating waste of capitalist crisis; unemployment rates in US (and
elsewhere) hit 25 per cent, and the only ‘way out’ for the imperialist nations
(Britain, US, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, etc) was to drive the entire world
to war, at the phenomenal cost of more than 60 million lives (in WW2 alone).
Such was the vitality and strength of the social
system of the USSR that she made the single most important contribution to the
defeat of the allegedly invincible Nazi war machine. The courage and heroism
with which the Soviet soldier and civilian alike fought against fascism shall
ever remain an eloquent tribute to the socialist system engendered by the
October Revolution, as well as a source of pride to proletarians throughout the
world.
By its earthshaking achievements in the field of
socialist construction, the Soviet proletariat, for the first time, provided
living proof of the assertion that the working class everywhere is not only
capable of destroying the old but also of building the new.
The once mighty USSR finally collapsed in 1991 for
reasons which cannot be gone into in a small leaflet. At the time of its
collapse, the imperialist bourgeoisie triumphantly pronounced the end of
communism, declaring that capitalism was the final stage in the long march of
humanity. Soviet workers were duped into believing that the restoration of
capitalism in the Soviet Union would usher in an era of unlimited prosperity
for them.
But starvation disease, unemployment, wage arrears,
homelessness and destitution have become the lot of the ordinary Russians and
Soviet industry and wealth has been stolen by a handful of Russian Mafiosi and
their imperialist backers. Capitalism has nothing to offer the Russian masses.
Whatever the zigzags of history, the final victory
of communism is inevitable, as is the demise of capitalist imperialism.