Opportunism and class struggle

Discussion

After reading section 3 of chapter 2 in State and Revolution, Lenin brought up an extremely relevant point, which is that Marx's "main point" isn't just the class struggle, but that the class struggle extends to the overthrow and complete abolition of the bourgeoisie. In other words, it's an opportunist distortion and falsification of Marxism if you merely recognize the class struggle without recognizing the dictatorship of the proletariat. Why? Because just talking about class struggle is completely acceptable in bourgeois politics ~ and when push comes to shove, these petty-bourgeois democrats, as Lenin describes them, repudiate proletarians taking power. Kautsky embodied this opportunism and reformism by giving the bourgeois position of class struggle while paying lip service to the dictatorship of the proletariat.

More recent examples of the bourgeoisie discussing class struggle but stopping at the dictatorship of the proletariat would be Francis Fukuyama declaring the "end of history" after the fall of the Soviet Union, declaring a final win for capitalism. And also Warren Buffet's famous words, "It's my class, the rich class, making war, And we're winning."

Socialists, what are some ways you talk politics with coworkers and neighbors that give not just a class struggle perspective, but class struggle with the aim of winning them over to a proletarian revolutionary perspective?

Posted Aug 3, 2025, 3:02 PM UTC

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