11/10/2025
The Attitude of the Workersβ Party to Bourgeois Democracy (1919):
βParticipation in elections and in the struggle on the parliamentary rostrum is obligatory for the communist party precisely for the purpose of educating the backward strata of its own class, and for awakening and enlightening the undeveloped, downtrodden, and ignorant rural masses.β
elections arenβt about winning power under capitalism, but about building capacity. The party uses the stage of bourgeois democracy to expose it. Itβs agitational, not reformist.
The State and Revolution (1917):
βTo decide once every few years which members of the ruling class are to repress and crush the people through parliament β such is the real essence of bourgeois parliamentarism.β
Do NOT confuse participation with faith in the system. Elections are a means, not an end. Revolution isnβt born from ballots, but from organization and confrontation. Dismissing elections altogether just isolates revolutionaries from the masses.
Daniel De Leon, Socialist Reconstruction of Societyβ (1905):
βTo imagine β¦ that the election will put an end to capitalism β¦ from the ballot box the socialist society will arise like a fairy.β
relying on the ballot alone, expecting elections to end capitalism is absolutely delusional.
Because:
βMake no mistake: the organization of the working class must be both economic and political. The capitalist is organized upon both lines. You must attack him on both.β - Daniel De Leon
Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder (1920):
βTo refuse to take part in parliaments would be to leave the masses under the influence of the reactionary leaders of the bourgeoisie. It would mean leaving the uneducated or backward masses to the mercy of the reactionary politicians, instead of helping them to overcome their prejudice by their own experience.β
You canβt teach the masses by abandoning them. Revolutionaries participating in bourgeois parliamentarianism can help workers see through the system when their representatives openly clash with capitalist power.
You organize where the people are at: work, in unions, in politics and you use both fronts to build leverage.
If your ideas arenβt capturing the working class, the problem isnβt the people β itβs your method.
Small wins matter. Momentum matters. Accessibility matters. You canβt just sit around waiting for a perfect uprising or s**t on every imperfect step. Revolution isnβt about being the smartest person in the room,
itβs about looking at your conditions, organizing where the people are, and using both the industrial and political fronts to create leverage against Capitalism.
If anyone thought I meant reformism or electoral politics will defeat capital, didnt fully read the Mamdani post completely. I was pretty clear about what meant. Hopefully this will clear things up without having to make a strawman of my argument.
