r/theIrishleft • u/padraigd Eco-socialism • 9d ago

December 2024 edition of Socialist Voice - newspaper of the Communist Party of Ireland

Post image
28 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

7

u/PintmanConnolly 9d ago

On "Are Street Demonstrations Working?", they're making the right sounds, but let's see them put these into practice. I eagerly await the proposed "revolutionary and radical people’s community councils"

AIA has been saying the same thing for 6 or 7 years, and I'm sure others have been saying it for much longer.

Any day now.

It's easy to criticise "liberal" demonstrations from the sidelines and dream up dual-power structures. It's not so easy to put in the work to build that revolutionary alternative

1

u/ElsterRoemerWright 3d ago

In fairness they had an article in that paper criticising the dual power structures bollocks a few months back.

1

u/PintmanConnolly 3d ago

You should probably read Lenin. Dual power structures are core to the socialist project.

https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/apr/09.htm

The basic question of every revolution is that of state power. Unless this question is understood, there can be no intelligent participation in the revolution, not to speak of guidance of the revolution.

The highly remarkable feature of our revolution is that it has brought about a dual power. This fact must be grasped first and foremost: unless it is understood, we cannot advance. We must know how to supplement and amend old “formulas”, for example, those of Bolshevism, for while they have been found to be correct on the whole, their concrete realisation has turned out to bedifferent. Nobody previously thought, or could have thought, of a dual power.

What is this dual power? Alongside the Provisional Government, the government of bourgeoisie, another governmenthas arisen, so far weak and incipient, but undoubtedly a government that actually exists and is growing—the Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies.

What is the class composition of this other government? It consists of the proletariat and the peasants (in soldiers’ uniforms). What is the political nature of this government? It is a revolutionary dictatorship, i.e., a power directly based on revolutionary seizure, on the direct initiative of the people from below, and not on a law enacted by a centralised state power. It is an entirely different kind of power from the one that generally exists in the parliamentary bourgeois-democratic republics of the usual type still prevailing in the advanced countries of Europe and America. This circumstance often over looked, often not given enough thought, yet it is the crux of the matter. This power is of the same type as the Paris Commune of 1871. The fundamental characteristics of this type are: (1) the source of power is not a law previously discussed and enacted by parliament, but the direct initiative of the people from below, in their local areas—direct “seizure”, to use a current expression; (2) the replacement of the police and the army, which are institutions divorced from the people and set against the people, by the direct arming of the whole people; order in the state under such a power is maintained by the armed workers and peasants themselves, by the armed people themselves; (3) officialdom, the bureaucracy, are either similarly replaced by the direct rule of the people themselves or at least placed under special control; they not only become elected officials, but are also subject to recall at the people’s first demand; they are reduced to the position of simple agents; from a privileged group holding “jobs” remunerated on a high, bourgeois scale, they become workers of a special “arm of the service”, whose remuneration does not exceedthe ordinary pay of a competent worker.

This, and this alone, constitutes the essence of the Paris Commune as a special type of state. This essence has been forgotten or perverted by the Plekhanovs (downright chauvinists who have betrayed Marxism), the Kautskys (the men of the “Centre”, i.e., those who vacillate between chauvinism and Marxism), and generally by all those Social-Democrats, Socialist-Revolutionaries, etc., etc., who now rule the roost.

1

u/ElsterRoemerWright 3d ago

I have read Lenin... but if you're thinking ireland in 2024 is petrograd in 1917...and that dual power structures are on the horizon any time soon...well, I have a bridge I can sell you, buddy.

1

u/PintmanConnolly 3d ago

The passage above explains perfectly well the necessity of dual power. There's no need for me to explain further. I suggest re-reading the passage and the full linked text to clear up the matter for you.

1

u/ElsterRoemerWright 3d ago

Yes sure Pintsized Brain, tell me more things I don't know.

1

u/PintmanConnolly 3d ago

It's quite telling that you feel the need to resort to insults. Have a nice day.

1

u/ElsterRoemerWright 3d ago

It's quite telling you that you can't reason logically but nonetheless feel the urge to "explain" to others things they already know...presumably because you aspire to be some flavour of a 'theoretically informed' socialist. Addio.

3

u/padraigd Eco-socialism 9d ago

General election results in the 26 Counties by Eugene McCartan

The results of the General Election are now in, with the two major establishment parties – Fianna Fáil (48 seats) and Fine Gael (38) just falling two short of securing an overall majority with 86 TDs combined. Elsewhere, Sinn Féin won 39 seats, the Labour Party won 11, the Social […]

Profiting from Old Age by Graham Harrington

The 26 counties has a rapidly ageing population. According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the amount of the population aged 65 or over grew 40% between 2013-2023, from 569,000 to 806,000. By 2051, the number will double to 1.6 million. As with everything in this country, the lack of […]

Construction Workers Union, CMFEU, Suffer Unprecedented Take Over by Labour Party Government by Report by A.C. O’Connor

One of Australia’s biggest and most radical construction workers’ unions is on the defensive after being taken under state administration by the ruling Australian Labour Party (ALP). 270 elected leaders of the CMFEU (Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union) have been removed under this administration, barring union leaders from undertaking […]

The Caring Rebrand: Women on the Front Lines of the Climate Crisis by A.C. O’Connor

Our island floats on the backs of unpaid women. Ireland has the third highest amount of unpaid work in the EU, consisting primarily of care work. The state has continued to support a gendered distribution of this work, rather than attempt any dual caregiving model, like those of Scandinavian countries […]

The importance of language in revolutionary struggle by Sami Kupswezski, of Social Rights Ireland

The terms left and right originated following the French Revolution. In the French national assembly, the right comprised aristocrats and the rich. The left comprised the poor and working class who demanded democracy and wanted more tax on the rich. Throughout history, the concept of left and right has changed

Are Street Demonstrations Working? by Barry Murray

Despite more than 12 months of demonstrations, millions marching, and other actions, we are not seriously rupturing the hegemony of the prosecutors of any imperialist wars or of those complicit in the present Palestinian genocide. The liberal approaches inherent in too many demonstrations have failed and were always destined to […]

Statement on the outcome of the 2024 General Election in the 26 Counties by Communist Party of Ireland

The outcome of the general election in the 26 counties will do nothing to solve the multiple crises of homelessness, health provision, rising prices and precarious employment facing many urban and rural working-class communities. Nor will it deal with the continuing erosion of democracy which sees the Irish government unable […]

Pan-African anti-imperialist conference in Senegal by Bartosz Bieszczad

While the Western bourgeois elite is slowly being overwhelmed by panic over the impending defeat of NATO in Ukraine, on other continents, the peoples of the world are raising their heads and taking advantage of the weakness of imperialism, demanding their rightful place in the arena of history. From 25th […]

Statement: Whoever stands up for Cuba today, stands up for all times by Communist Party of Cuba

“To the political parties, social and popular movements, progressive and leftist forces and the world movement of solidarity with Cuba, To friends of Cuba in the world in general, Since the previous administration of President Donald Trump, the economic, commercial and financial blockade measures imposed by the United States government […]

Successful ICTU Motion on Health Services by Gearóid Ó Machail

Comrade Gearóid Ó Machail, SIPTU NIDC Workplace Representative and National Executive Committee member of the Communist Party of Ireland, succeeded in having the below resolution passed at the recent NIC-ICTU Biennial Delegates Conference in the Guildhall, Derry. MOTION: This motion calls on ICTU to lead an active campaign to highlight […]

Arts & Culture

Review: Lost Gaels by Peadar Thompson, and Blood & Thunder – Rugby and Irish Life: A History by Liam O’Callaghan by Richard Mullen

In the past few months, two important contributions to Irish sports history hit the shelves of bookshops around the country. Labelling these books as Irish sports history is potentially reductive, as both authors make it very clear that the history they write is a shadow of what we would call […]

Nobel Prize for Literature: Han Kang by Jenny Farrell

On 10th December 2024, Han Kang will be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making her the second South Korean and the first Asian woman to receive this honour. Known for her focus on South Korea’s complex history of violence, oppression, and resistance, Kang’s win resonates powerfully with progressives, as […]

On the centenary of Puccini’s death by Jenny Farrell

Europe in the mid-19th century experienced widespread political upheaval. The Revolutions of 1848, which swept across France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Italy, demanded political reform and national self-determination. While most of these revolts failed in the short term, they exposed tensions between conservative monarchies and the bourgeoisie, who pushed for […]