We have surveyed the economic system of capitalism. Let us now examine its political structure, the State.
You have been taught that we live in a democracy, that the institutions of this country are bulwarks of freedom, that the government of the U.S.A. is a government by, for and of the people. From time to time you are allowed to cast your vote, and on this occasion you are told that by universal suffrage the “sovereign will of the people” is expressed.
Yet, somehow or other, you as a worker and millions like you have small chance with the State. Take such an issue as unemployment insurance. A law to guarantee every unemployed worker a certain subsistence minimum is a vital necessity for the workers. Four years have passed since the beginning of the crisis. Numerous laws have been passed to protect the bankers, the real-estate owners, the mortgage holders, the railroad magnates — but not a single law to alleviate the sufferings of the unemployed through direct State aid. Apparently the State is not there to aid the workers.
Or take another example. There are laws and courts and jails for the criminals — and you were told that all citizens are equal before the law. But you know perfectly well that a big swindler, a banker who robbed a great many poor people of their savings, a racketeer who is extorting hundreds of thousands from innocent people, seldom lands in jail, and if he does, he is soon pardoned or else his imprisonment is turned into something like a vacation in a country club. But if you, a worker, steal a loaf of bread to satisfy your hunger, the law will be after you and there will be no mercy.
The truth of the matter is that this is a rich man’s State and a rich man’s government. The State is there to act on behalf of finance capital and to protect its interests against the people. The government is the executive committee of the big trusts.
You, an American worker, may be shocked to hear such a statement. You have been fed so much “democracy” bunk that you think it almost sacrilege to reveal the true nature of the State. This is exactly what your masters are after with their propaganda. They want you to believe that the State is holy and that its high functionaries are like saints surrounded by halos. All the pulpits, schools, newspapers, radio, lectures, moving pictures and other sources of information controlled by big business are engaged in giving you false notions about the State. Yet consider for a moment the simple fact that 1 per cent of the population controls nearly two thirds of the nation’s wealth, — and it will not be difficult for you to realize that the individuals composing this one per cent must have vastly more power than the individuals composing the 87 per cent of the population who own, together, only 10 per cent of the national wealth. Compare your own influence with the influence of the big banker of your community in dealing with the precinct policeman, the police captain, the judge, the prison warden, the governor, the legislature. Why, a plain worker doesn’t count at all when it comes to what they call the seats of power.
The State is an instrument of power in the hands of the big industrialists, bankers and landlords, who by this token are the ruling class. The State is there to effect the exploitation and oppression of the workers and the poor and small farmers, and also of the subjugated colonial peoples, by the ruling class. The Constitution, the government, its laws, its agencies: the army, the militia, the police, the courts, the jails, the legislatures — all are there to effect the exploitation and oppression of you and millions like you.
We know you, an American worker, may hate to call yourself “exploited” and “oppressed.” You have been taught false pride, not the pride of refusing to be exploited, but the pride of refusing to admit that you are exploited. Your refusal, however, does not change the fact that the coal barons squeeze the last drop of your life blood for the sake of their profits and that when you go out on strike the State sends its deputy sheriffs and militia to crush your resistance. Here, in labor disputes, you can easily recognize the State as the executive committee and the strong arm of entrenched wealth.
We Communists do not like the expression, “labor dispute”. It suggests a disagreement among people on an equal basis. It suggests a friendly bickering of parties to an agreement who happen to disagree on a certain point. It suggests an amicable and perfectly lovely settlement of mutual grievances. What a false and misleading notion! There are no labor disputes. There is the wish of the capitalist to press some more sweat and blood out of the workers, and there is the wish of the workers to fight their enemy, who feeds on them.
There is war. It is class war. It is waged by the representatives of one class, the oppressors, against the mass of another class, the oppressed. In this war, the State is always and invariably on the side of the oppressors. Some of its representatives may try to achieve the ends of capital by cajoling and wheedling. But they always keep the big stick ready. The State — that is the big stick of the owners of wealth, the big stick of the big corporations.
This is the only realistic view of the State. Every one who tries to persuade you that the State is your friend, your defender, that the State is impartial and only “regulatory,” is misleading.
We hear Roosevelt saying that the State is there to protect both industry and labor. But under capitalism you cannot protect both “industry” (meaning the capitalists) and labor (meaning the workers)! When you protect “industry” you give it freedom to exploit “labor”. When you protect labor you make it possible for labor to get more out of industry. You cannot keep fire and water reconciled.
In reality the State under Roosevelt is a more efficient instrument at the service of big capital than it was under Hoover. In the name of creating jobs it has instituted inflation which has cut the value of the dollar. Under the pretext of raising wages it has raised prices of consumers’ goods to such an extent that the actual earnings of the workers in terms of goods have been slashed. Under the pretext of aiding the farmers it has made secure the mortgages for the mortgage holders, while making the farmers foot the bill under administration control. Under the pretext of saving the credit structure of the country it has allowed the big banks to swallow a number of small banks, and the latter to swallow the savings of numberless workers and farmers. Under the pretext of security for commerce it has launched a tremendous program of naval construction. Under the pretext of regulating industry it has made it possible for the big corporations to gain additional power at the expense of the small business man and particularly the worker.
The State under Roosevelt is working overtime. All these administrators, adjusters and consolidators are nothing but agents of the State serving the interests of big business. The States locally are especial instruments of the capitalists. The militia is rampant everywhere. Sheriffs are breaking up strikes. Policemen are carrying out evictions. Militant workers are being imprisoned for strike activity. Unemployed workers and their leaders are being clubbed and jailed for demanding relief. Negroes are lynched under the benevolent guardianship of the State.
The State is active indeed, and if you, a worker, fail to realize that these bluecoats and district attorneys, judges and prison wardens, governors and presidents, generals and admirals together with the gentlemen in the legislatures, State and Federal, are nothing but a corps of agents of big capital, you are merely reacting the way these gentry wish you to.
The Communists are the only group in present day society who recognize the basic nature of the capitalist State. The State may change its appearance and its appendices. It may use the parliamentary system, with a limited freedom of speech to opponents — as long as this opposition is not too dangerous. It tightens the screws and tries to silence the opposition when the situation becomes disturbing for big capital — as this was done under Wilson during the war. It may do away with parliamentary procedure altogether and institute an open reign of terror when danger to capitalism becomes particularly acute due to the rising tide of the revolutionary labor movement, as was done in fascist Germany. The forms change. The phraseology differs according to time and place. The essence remains. The essence of the capitalist State is service in the employ of capitalism for the preservation of capitalism.
On the question of the State the Communists naturally and unavoidably come into clash with other political parties. The question is put squarely: Can the workers achieve their liberation by merely taking over the state machinery of capitalism? To this question the liberals answer in the affirmative; the Laborites answer in the affirmative: the Socialists answer in the affirmative; the Communists answer in the negative.
The liberals are dissatisfied with the functions of the State. They point out its “shortcomings.” They do not close their eyes to the fact that there is inequality. They know the war-breeding nature of the capitalist State. But what do they propose to do? They propose a little tinkering here and there. Direct primaries were one act of such tinkering. The abolition of the lame duck session is another. The initiative and referendum is a third. But that has nothing to do with the very nature of the State as a bulwark of private property and capitalist exploitation.
An improvement in the electoral laws, an extension of the freedom of the press, no matter how important for the working class, does not touch upon the fundamentals of the capitalist State, namely, its being an instrument of power in the hands of the big owners of wealth. Improve the State — and you have made it more flexible, more capable of adapting itself to circumstances; you have made it a better instrument of oppression.
The American labor leaders of the William Green, Matthew Woll and John Lewis type, do not wish to have a revolutionary political party organized to defend the interests of the working class. They are not opposed to the capitalist system even in words. They propose to support such representatives of the Republican and Democratic parties as are willing to introduce reforms on behalf of labor.
Not much breath need be wasted on the program of the labor leaders of “punishing enemies and rewarding friends.” The Republican and Democratic parties are the parties of big capital. They may fight one another at the elections for the control of the administration, but they differ little from each other and they do the bidding of the big trusts. Their treasuries are filled from the coffers of the big industrialists and bankers and, quite often, their chief leaders are, themselves, big industrialists or bankers or both (Andrew Mellon, Charles Dawes, Dwight Morrow in the Republican Party; Owen D. Young, John Raskob, Bernard Baruch in the Democratic Party). To expect that the gentlemen of these parties will help the workers achieve their end is to expect that the leopard will change its spots.
The Socialists, on the other hand, have their own political party and they claim to be opposed to the capitalist system. They sometimes wax eloquent in denouncing the evils of the capitalist system. But what do they propose? They propose to “improve” the capitalist State so as to make it an instrument for doing away with private ownership of wealth. In other words, they preach the nonsense of turning the exploiters’ club, by the power of prayer, into a rosebush. Since this “theory” appears in the garb of Socialism and since there are a number of workers who lend it their ear, it is necessary to dwell on it a little longer.
The Socialists say there is no need of a revolution. They say democracy has prepared for the workers all the means necessary to achieve Socialism. Let the workers use universal suffrage, they say, to send Socialists into the legislative assemblies. Let the Socialists form a majority in these assemblies. When this is done, the road is open to pass laws abolishing the capitalist system. Of course, there is the Federal Constitution which prohibits the confiscation of property by legal procedure, but this, says the leader of American Socialists, Mr. Norman Thomas, can be overcome. Let us have a Constitutional Convention to amend the Constitution so as to permit Congress to enact Socialist legislation. Let Congress then enact a law which orders the big corporations to cede their industrial establishments and all their property to the State. Let us not expropriate them, say the Socialists, not by any means! Let us pay them with bonds issued by the government and redeemable in thirty years. This will mean introducing Socialism by pacific methods. No revolutions; no seizure of power; no infringement upon the law; no mass action; no expropriation of the exploiters. Everything lawful. Everything in a gentlemanly fashion. The electoral law works. The citizens vote. The legislators assemble. They count noses and find a Socialist majority. The Socialist majority, both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, passes a law. Capitalism passes out. The big trusts bow before the “will of the people.” “Gentlemen, you are the lawful heirs of our system,” they say politely, and leave the stage for the Norman Thomases and their associates.
What a sweet picture! And how deceptive! We are sorry to mar such an idyllic scene. But we Communists are realists, and we do not wish to be carried away by fancies, especially when these fancies are beneficial to the capitalist system as they tend to keep workers from fighting the capitalist State.
Let us not argue at length about the ingenious invention of paying the owners of industrial establishments with bonds, which means recognizing that the exploiters are entitled to their monopoly of the means of production and that, if they are to give them up, it is to be only through sale. It is not really difficult to see that if you pay your exploiters with bonds, you continue their exploitation in another form. You may have taken over the factories but you still continue working for the profits of the former owners. Everybody can see that. Let us rather examine the proposal of introducing Socialists by means of the ballot.
What does the State consist of? It consists not only of the legislative assemblies, which, by the way, play a lesser and lesser role as big monopoly capitalism grows. It consists first of all of the army with its commanding staff, the militia, the police force and the executive branch of the government which uses the armed forces to achieve the ends of capitalism. Is it possible to get a majority of Socialist Congressmen? Even assuming that such a miracle would happen, it still wouldn’t spell Socialism. Even before there is any danger of a majority of Socialists actually ready to legislate Socialism, the electoral laws can be changed to prevent such an emergency. Even were a Socialist majority to convene, their decisions may not be carried out. One squad of soldiers is sufficient to disperse an entire legislative assembly, the way this was done in Italy, in Germany, and in many other countries.
In case of a Socialist majority, we have before us one of two possibilities. Either the capitalists are certain that the Socialist leaders are harmless to capitalism — as was the case on numerous occasions in Germany and England when power was in the hands of the Socialist leaders; in such a case they will rather be glad to have them carry the burden of government for capitalism; or the capitalists do not like that Socialist majority for one reason or another — and then they will have every means to get rid of the unwelcome legislators.
Remember that the Socialists are against revolutionary methods. Remember that they are against using force against force. Remember that they do not appeal to the masses to offer resistance against brutal capitalist oppression. And do not forget that capitalism is armed to the teeth and that it will use its armed force to secure its domination. Capitalism never gives up its wealth and power voluntarily and it has little respect for its own laws when it comes to defend its rule.
He who says that you can use the capitalist State to abolish capitalism verily resembles one who says you can demolish the enemy fortress by the sounds of trumpets.
It would seem at first glance that the Socialists are merely engaged in day dreaming. Unfortunately, it isn’t as harmless as that. The activities of the Socialist leaders are actually harmful to the interests of the workers.
What is the real role of the Socialist leaders? We have no quarrel with those rank and file workers who are at heart revolutionists and Socialists but do not see through the fog of Socialist phrases. But we are obliged to point at the pernicious role of the Socialist leaders. At a time when it is necessary for the workers to understand the real nature of the State as an instrument of exploitation and oppression, they tell the workers that the State, as constituted at present, can be a means of liberating them from exploitation and oppression. At a time when it is necessary for the workers to gather strength and fight against the capitalist State and its laws, the Socialists preach to the workers a reliance on this very State and its laws. At a time when it is necessary for the workers to develop the will to power which shall ultimately crush the capitalist State and make the workers and farmers the ruling power in a State of their own making, the Socialists tell the workers that nothing of the kind is needed and that they have to remain within legal limits prescribed for them by the ruling class.
Do not be surprised if you hear Communists uttering harsh words against the Socialist leaders. Here we have anti-working-class activities carried on in the name of Socialism; destructive tactics parade here as means to liberate the workers. A class-conscious worker can find no words harsh enough to characterize such line of action.
Our dispute with the Socialists is not a dispute in words. It is a clash in politics. Perhaps we need not go so far as the summer of 1917 in Russia, when the Socialists, holding power, refused to ally themselves with the workers and peasants organized in Soviets against the exploiters and their State, but rather entrenched themselves in the capitalist State together with the exploiters against the workers and peasants, until they were dislodged by the November, 1917, Revolution, under Bolshevik leadership, which crushed the capitalist State and established the Soviet State as the organ of power of the workers and poor peasants.
Perhaps we need not go back to 1918 and 1919 in Germany, right after the November, 1918, Revolution, when the Socialists, taking over the power in the capitalist State, actually crushed the uprising of the workers, flooded the country with workers’ blood and thus secured Germany for capitalism. We have facts of the more recent past which are no less illuminating. For fourteen years the Socialists held power in Germany. There is a cruel logic to the situation of a Socialist leader becoming a defender of the capitalist State. Once you defend the State there is no reason why you should not become a member of the Cabinet in the government of that State. The Socialists became ministers, chiefs of police, judges, prison wardens, executioners. This was the case not only in Germany, but also in Great Britain, in Austria, in Belgium, and elsewhere. Once you are part of the machinery of the capitalist State, you of necessity do the bidding of the owners of wealth. Such is the nature of that State. The Socialists everywhere fought against the revolutionary labor movement which was trying to secure higher wages, shorter hours and better working conditions. They suppressed workers’ demonstrations by force of arms. Remember Wedding and Neukoeln, sections of Berlin, where a Socialist chief of police, using Socialist policemen, fired machine guns point-blank at workers celebrating May First by a street demonstration, and where scores of workers were killed. Remember a Socialist air minister in the Socialist McDonald cabinet of Great Britain sending military airplanes to drop bombs on Arabian villages in territories in which an oppressed nation arose against foreign rule. Remember a Socialist war minister in the same Cabinet sending troops to India to crush the struggles of the workers and peasants for Indian freedom and thus to secure India for the British capitalist exploiters. Remember the activities of the German Socialist leaders in cutting the wages of the workers, in cutting the unemployment insurance of the workers, in voting appropriations for the construction of battleships and allowing the Fascists full freedom of propaganda, organization and action. When the Fascist danger became acute, the Socialist leaders, instead of agreeing to united action of all the workers, whether Socialist or Communist, against Fascism, made common cause with von Hindenburg, appealing to the workers to vote for him as the savior of “democracy.” The German Socialist leaders did not defend the interests of the workers but they defended the interests of the capitalist State in its democratic form. They allowed the Nazis to grow strong and to seize the power of State.
There is blood on the hands of the Socialist leaders, blood of the workers. Do not call us vindictive when we say that the Socialist leaders are traitors to the working class. We merely call a spade a spade. We are realists.
We have discussed the war danger. What is the stand of the Socialists towards the war danger? In 1912 the Socialist parties of the world met in Basle, Switzerland, at an extraordinary congress of the Socialist International, and passed a resolution pledging everybody to fight for Socialism in case of war. But when the imperialist world war came, in 1914, each Socialist party leadership joined hands with its capitalist government in delivering the masses to fight the war for the profits of the capitalists, for colonies, for markets, for plunder. Since then the parties of the Socialist International have been instrumental in preparing the war and in carrying out the war policies of their capitalist overlords.
An extraordinary international Socialist Conference met in Paris at the end of August, 1933. The Socialist leaders discussed the question of Fascism, the question of war and peace. Did they suggest any effective remedy against Fascism? There is only one such remedy — a revolution of the working class to overthrow capitalism by first destroying the capitalist State. The Socialist leaders again talked “democracy” instead of revolution. They talked League of Nations and disarmament conferences instead of a real mass struggle against war, a struggle which must culminate in transforming the imperialist war into a war against the home exploiters and oppressors. What was the actual achievement of the Socialist conference? It spread illusions among the workers to the effect that by using the instrumentality of the capitalist state, they can abolish the evils of capitalist oppression and by using the instrumentality of capitalist international institutions like the League of Nations or the Hague Tribunal, they can abolish wars.
What holds true of Socialists generally, holds true of various groupings of Socialism. Socialists are divided into “Conservative” and into “Radical” groups (in the U.S.A., the Musteites). What unites them is their fight against the revolutionary movement of the workers and their support of and belief in the capitalist State. We in America have not seen Socialists in the role of Cabinet members or Senators. But we have seen Socialist Congressmen, Socialist mayors (Milwaukee, Reading). Socialist judges and Socialist chiefs of police. Were they in any way fighting the capitalist State? Not at all. A Socialist Congressman during the imperialist world war gave his consent to all the military appropriations. Another Socialist Congressman later gave his consent to the predatory Versailles Treaty, the venomous child of the war. The Socialist city administrations were as adamant in refusing to introduce unemployment insurance as were the Republican and Democratic city administrations. Workers demanding home relief and unemployment insurance were just as brutally beaten up in Milwaukee and Reading under a Socialist mayor, as were their class brothers in Pittsburgh and New York under Republican and Democratic mayors. A Socialist mayor in Milwaukee was no less prompt in cutting the wages of city employees than was his Democratic master in the White House in cutting the wages of the federal employees. And just as the Socialists of every other country condone and support the wage-slashing actions of the capitalists, so the Socialists of the United States condone and support the National Recovery Act which is a concerted attack on the living standards of the masses.
The Socialists of the United States are not in the Cabinet, but they have “arrived.” They are treated by the capitalist masters with respect. They are “good”. They are peaceful. They are loyal. They are held up as a shining example in opposition to the dissatisfied militant Communists. The labor baiter, Mr. Grover Whalen, one time chief of police of New York and now N.R.A. administrator for that city, appeals to the Republican, Democratic and Socialist politicians alike to help him in the blue eagle drive. Time is not far distant when the Socialists will be called to governmental positions — to stem the tide of rising workers’ revolts by means of sweet phrases about achieving Socialism by the power of the ballot.
The capitalist State is a glaring fact. It is flesh and blood of the capitalist system. It stands in the way of the workers’ progress towards a new, free life. Can it be abolished by gradual transformation? Those who say it can are the staunchest supporters of the capitalist robbers and the most active promoters of imperialist wars. Their theory is not harmless, indeed. It is a poisonous theory. It is a smoke screen behind which cruel capitalist exploitation is hiding.
We Communists say that there is one way to abolish the capitalist State, and that is to smash it by force. To make Communism possible the workers must take hold of the State machinery of capitalism and destroy it.
Next: V. A Program of Action