The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1921-02-25
EDITORLAE
Illusions About" The Di@
ship of the ProletariaI
D ] :

lets" or 1.-The Dictatorship of tn
Proletariat9'D
EDITORIAL NOTE PhilosOpI err
sometimes erect straw man for th,
express purpose Of showing how easy il
is to knock him down, AT first glance
we thot comrade Reeisz was that sor
of philosopher, but we believe Ne il
really somewhat serious in ert ttins
this straw man, so we win tn
knock-down ourselves.
We do not believe It win be Seces
sary to print new dictionary ~
get a genuine definition of "Dietator
lship of the Proletariatl'' Comrade Reis,
states in paragraph two that the e,
preston is inaccurate when appApd to
either the capitalists Of the prole(ariat
Let us see. Call your capitalists
together, one hundred br one million it
makes no difference. Ask them which
they prefer, dictatorship of them.
selves over the workers or the giving
up of their power, their unearned
wealth. their ownership of factories.
their individual and class positions ?
What will they decidea I leave the
answer to you.
Comrade Reisz almost gave correct
definition in paragraph four. But in
order to complete, il Ilet us see just
what the dictatorship df the proletariat
is where it is in force. In Russia the
workers are very definitely divided in.
to three categories. 1st. The Com
munist Party, the mosf class conscious,
most aggressive, most enthusiastic, most
intelligent as well as MT self.denying
portion of the worS4gA A!ass. This IS
the vanguard which kesN the lead in
revolutionary activiti !, directs the
army, navy, industril controls the
government by being q tied to practc
ally all important POD ons This pOr
tion is mere handful impaired to the
great mass of Russian people. End. A
less active, less revolutl lary, less class
conscious portion, much arger than the
first, which gives the @ ,munist Party
its support, is willing 7 ,e led by it;
approves its methods, re IS to become
active against it, responds to its call
for aid in manyf ways, 3rd. This
category is indeeda y one. 1t com
prises that flabSy, hons tsssaas section
to be found in all couutsies, which nei-
ther opposes, ,or actively supports any
thing. 1t adjusts itself to all conditions
without any lass conception of its
position or duties. 1t supports the first
group by its acquiescence, which is a
form of support extremely valuable in
a period of revolution. If it does not
actively support, neither does it act
lively oppose. 1t is form of support
in that it does not engage in active T,
Now, the Communist Party, saturat-
es both the latter categories with its
agents and emmissaries for the purpose
of recruiting from them active, cour.
ageous and revolutionaryily conscious
elements for the express purpose of en-.
larging and sustaining itself. From
category No. 2 it enlists thousands
who join the Communist Party, take
a more active position and thus streng.
then the various, battle, industrial and
educational fronts. 1t is equally active
in category No 8. Into even the most
'emote villages it sends its teachers
md literature so as to awaken this
ethargic mass to revolutionary con.
ciousness and to gain active and con.
cious support for Communism.
Now, we believe with this knowledge
# actualities we are able to complete
he definition comrade Reisz began in
paragraph four. To the Communists
Dictatorship of the Proletariat"
ieans: Dictatorship by the majority or
he Communist Party PLUS the sup.
ort of category No. Q, PLUS the &C.
uiescence of category No. 8, such ac-
uiescence being a from of support
lso. This definition is good enough
or all practical purposes.