Lenin on the nature of the State (Part-V)

Reviewing Lenin’s lecture delivered at the Sverdlov University July 11, 1919

In addition, the new structure of state, which emerged as a result of capitalism protected and helped the capitalists to exploit the proletarian class by transferring to them the ownership of Capital, land and labor. In this way, the new phase of the state emerged as more exploitative and class centric. Likewise, in order to disguise its exploitative nature, it proclaimed the universal suffrage in name of democracy and speculated it through its scholars, champions, theorists and philosophers. This happened when the Soviet Union was established; it started fighting the state which dragged a series of criticism from the bourgeoisie class for violating the liberty and freedom. Likewise, the state structure across the world is same because it depicts the real face of Capitalist domination ranges from severe exploitation to marginalization. In case of Russia, it was the Mensheviks, who sided with the Tsarist regime and began supporting bourgeoisie democracy by establishing provincial government. On the contrary, the Bolshevik’s condemned the Russian involvement in War while the Mensheviks supported the monarchy. If we take a thorough look at the bourgeoisie politics around the globe, the richest news outlets and think tanks around the globe, which spent millions of dollars in propagation and research are spreading bourgeoisie lies and the policies of imperialist nations. In this regard, if we want to understand these lies and propaganda then we must have understanding about the nature of state: what state actually is? These accusations were propagated against the socialist regime in Russia after the Bolshevik revolution and when the Soviet Union was established. It is because, the Capitalist states which were before our eyes were created based on the bourgeoisie theories, which were developed before the outbreak of ‘First Great War’. Therefore, in order to understand structure of the existing state, we must have a thorough understanding about those theories and views, which were developed before the war.[1]

Similarly, since the dawn of the twentieth century, the psychology of the ordinary masses was trapped with bourgeoisie lies and propaganda.[2] For Lenin, in order to understand the essence of the capitalist state, we should read the famous work of Frederick Engels ‘The origin of Family, private property and the state’. According to this book, every state which emerged as a result of private ownership of land and means of production, whether democratic or autocratic is a capitalist state—it is like a machine, which is used by the capitalists to dominate and rule over the working and proletarian class. For capitalists, the state and its law is tool for them to subjugate the ordinary masses with the contemplation of class division. The Law of the state is an instrument of the capitalists to rule over the proletarian masses and to maintain the order through class division. In the latter context, the universal suffrage, a constituent assembly, and parliament is merely a form, a sort of promissory note, under the guise of which, the state hides its cruelty and exploitation—it has been vivid in the course of human history.

 

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[1] If we dig out the social contract theories of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and J.J Rousseau ‘They have explained the evolution of state in the social contract theory. For them, men came out of the ‘state of nature’ through social contract that has given birth to the concept of community and society. Likewise, the emergence of state was actually the extension of the social contract to various domains society ranges for law, morality, traditions, customs and culture. The social contract theories all three bourgeoisie theories various across interpretation—for instance, according to Locke, men in state of nature was in the same of perpetual war because there was no law to control the human nature. Therefore, in order to initiate the peace, finally men entered into the social contract and thus formed community and society. For Rousseau, Men in the state of nature were not in perpetual war rather he was in the state of peace because the nature of man is cruel but cooperative. Thus, in order to formulate the structure of community and society men entered into the social contract. For Hobbes ‘The human nature is cruel, brutish and short’.

[2] So far the nature and structure of the state has always been studied socially or through social theory and hence, it has never been examined psychologically.