We still owe a debt to the Russian revolution
Opeds | Steven Argue
Forward to New October Revolutions!
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]rod Lemansky writes, “Let’s step back and realize that all revolutions in the 20th century led back to capitalism.”
This is false. The Cuban, North Korean, and Bielorussian revolutions maintain socialism that has had only limited capitalist inroads. While imperfect in several ways, these countries continue to show the massive gains made possible through socialist revolution even in countries that had suffered the worst of imperialist exploitation and war. In addition to those three countries, the Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian, and Syrian revolutions still maintain a number of the gains of their socialist economies and socialist revolutions, despite the fact that they have had big setbacks with a large number of capitalist inroads into their economies.
Even the defeat of the USSR has not been a complete setback of the gains of the October 1917 Russian Revolution. The USSR suffered a capitalist counterrevolution in 1992 that decreased life expectancy by 10 years within 10 years, yet, before that catastrophe, socialism turned one of the poorest countries in the world into an industrial powerhouse capable of defeating two major imperialist invasions, including Nazi Germany, and rebuilding to provide everyone with a job, health care, and an education. In addition, that example forced countless progressive reforms on capitalist countries including women’s rights, improved health care, better labor rights, and anti-colonial revolution.
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[dropcap]A[/dropcap]nd despite the capitalist counterrevolution in Russia, with Putin has come some re-nationalization of some important economic sectors. In addition, Putin has brought the return of healthy stands by Russia against U.S. imperialism. This includes their efforts that have helped break the imperialist economic blockades of Cuba, Syria, Belarus, and Iran. In addition, Russia is a counterbalance to U.S. imperialist mass murder in Syria, Ukraine, and South Ossetia. The present day strength of Russia as a counterbalance to bloodthirsty and rapacious U.S. imperialism we still owe largely to the victory of the October 1917 Russian Revolution.
All revolutions are firmly rooted in the lessons of revolutions the past including the Paris Commune and the Russian Revolution. Through history, those leaders who falsely claim those lessons are outdated tend to be those who have abandoned revolution itself.
A true revolutionary stands up for the gains of actually existing socialism in the world as it presently exists in the deformed workers states of Cuba, Belarus, North Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Syria, and China. We defend these countries from U.S. imperialism and internal capitalist counterrevolution, while also calling for an end to capitalist inroads in these countries and calling for legitimate workers democracy and broader revolutionary internationalism. Likewise, we stand with the hard fought ideological gains of the revolutionary movement, attempting to serve as a memory for the working class, and promoting great revolutionary thinkers who remain essential for revolution today,
Forward to New October Revolutions!
[box type=”bio”] -Steven Argue of the Revolutionary Tendency[/box]
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