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Socialism
101
 What is
Socialism? Socialists obviously don't have
a monopoly on compassion, however. What distinguishes socialists from other
socially concerned people is that we do not view these problems as normal,
natural, eternal, or an inherent feature of the human condition. We believe
that these problems are historically and socially created and that they can
be solved by human beings through conscious, organized political struggle
and change. continued
How to Make a
Revolution: First of all, you have to have
clear in your mind the meaning of the word “revolution.” Many people have a
stereotyped picture of what a revolution is like. They say a revolution is
when people come with guns, when they surround a fortress or take over a
city. What they do is they confuse revolution with insurrection.
Insurrection is just one stage of revolution. Revolution is a lot more.
It’s a long process. continued
Marxism vs.
Anarchism: In the worldwide movement for
social justice, many young people are attracted by the ideas of anarchism -
even if they don’t call themselves anarchists. Anarchists seem to stand for
the same thing we Marxists do - a classless society, a self-organized and
self-managed society - what we often sum up with the phrase ‘workers’
power’. Like us, many anarchists say they stand for revolution. No bosses,
no police, social equality, no rich and no nuclear bombs. People not
profit. continued
What Will a
Socialist America Look Like? While
the formal program of revolutionary socialism does not embody a picture of
what the future socialist society will look like, revolutionary socialists
share a vision of that society, if only in its broad outlines. There is no
reason to be concerned about the absence of precision on this question. We
cannot know what the socialist generations will decide to do, but the
general lines of development we are able to forecast give us confidence in
the wisdom of these decisions. continued
Why Do We Need
a Vanguard Party? You cannot have a spontaneous
socialist revolution. You cannot make a socialist revolution without really
trying. And you cannot have a socialist revolution commandeered from the
top, ordered around by some omniscient leader or group of leaders. You need
both ingredients in a socialist revolution: the highest level of
consciousness possible, and the highest level of self-organization and
self-activity by the broadest possible segment of the population. continued
Overview of
What Socialists Stand For: Socialism
has been pronounced dead many, times before - and it has always revived to
continue the struggle. One instance was the time of deep demoralization
that followed the defeat of the Russian Revolution of 1905. Lenin said at
that time that the "official professors" who declared Marxism to
have been "refuted and annihilated" were utterly befuddled.
continued
Socialists
and Elections: With elections coming up again
a lot of politically conscious people are hitting the pavement to campaign
for their candidates. Voter registration drives, leafleting and yard sign
distribution have become the order of the day for many activists. We
certainly commend people who take politics seriously and who are committed
to fighting for what they believe in. However, when asked who we will be
supporting in the upcoming elections, we have to say “nobody.” continued
Communist
Manifesto [Audio]
Chapter 1 of the Communist Manifesto
Chapter 2 of the Communist Manifesto
Chapter 3 of the Communist Manifesto
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