The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-07-08

ing this period of civil war, national
war, and class war, the proletariat
will change its human nature. Thus,
political forms, economic forms, the
changing of the human nature of the
proletariat,- all processes of an
evolutionary nature. From this it fol-
lows clearly that every attempt at
catastrophe development is one coun-
ter revolutionary.
6. The special law of this process.
Here we must make a distinction in
principle. Capitalistic development is
production of the contradictions of
capitalism and is thus the main
cause of its downfall. That is a CON
ception which is different in principle
from that of the reformists. After
the conquest of power we had not the
expanded reproduction of these con-
Predictions but their restriction. We
cannot destroy all the contradictions
of capitalism, which exist with us,
with one blow. We could not inn
mediately after the conquest of power
organize everything. The crises in the
early stages of the construction of So
cialist economy were absolutely in
evitable occurrences. These social con-
Predictions can only gradually be
overcome. The chief differences con
sis in that we have a law Of social
evolution which is different in prin-
ciple from all others.
Opposing Alliances.
Z. The question of alliances under
the dictatorship of the proletariat
In the last stage of the development
of capitalism, an alliance takes place
between the two sections of property
owners-between the industrial mag
mates and the great landowners. Real
antagonism exists between them,
nevertheless, in this last stage of
capitalism, they appear as a fairly
compact mass. In opposition to this
alliance, appears the alliance of the
proletariat and the peasants. In prac-
tice, we have the reflection of this
theoretical idea in the colonial ques-
|
ton.
s. The problem of culture in this
period. The question is important not
only from the standpoint of the pre-
paratory period, but it plays a great
part after the conquest of political
power. From this point of view we
perceive a difference in principle be-
tween bourgeois and proletarian re-
volution. This difference is that the
bourgeois order grew up, as whole,
within the feudal system. The whole
apparatus of capitalism, the whole
capitalistic hierarchy, not only the
workers, but also the directors of the
processes of production-all were
there. In the feudal system the bour
geoisie is not the exploited but the ex-
plotting class. 1t divides its gains, in
the form of taxes, with the feudal
class, but it exploits the proletariat
within feudal society. 1t is thus not
only an oppressed class, but it stands
on higher level than the ruling class.
1t is not economically exploited, it is
only partly, politically oppressed. Gull
turally it is not oppressed. All culture
concentrates in the towns.
Social Democrats Blind.
The process of proletarian revolu-
ton is quite otherwise. We have never
seen it before, and the social-demo-
Gratis will never see it. The basis of
socialism is technique, science and
the working class itself. But work
ing class captains of industry cannot
develop within capitalist society it.
self. That would be a contradiction
in principle. Socialism grows within
capitalism quite differently from the
growth of capitalism within fuedal
society. The working class is OPP
pressed not only politically but also
economically. Some comrades-for
example Bogdanov-do not agree with
this. Bogdanov says that with the de-
velopment of the automatic machine
the proletarian approaches nearer and
nearer to the engineer. This is not
true. For with the growth of the
technical skill of the worker the skill
of the engineer also rises. For this
reason the proletariat, even before
the conquest of political power, needs
assistance from other sections-from
the bourgeois intellectuals After the
conquest Of political power this prob
lem becomes still more acute. We are
confronted with the most difficult
problems because we have no geolog-
lists, engineers, mathematicians, pro-
fessors, etc. The question Of the
expert" of securing specialists from
outside becomes acute. "The building
up of culturally qualified cadres" in
the proletariat is great question.
In his last book Kautsky says that
the period of transition consists in a
coalition government, but he says not
word about industry. In coalition
government we could never solve the
problem Of culture.
Experience Lacking.
9. The possibility of the degenera-