[pdf http://54.72.113.178/cpgb-ml/wp-content/mediaoctober_20071110.pdf 700 800][b]Uphold the banner of communism[/b]
The great October Revolution of 1917 is by far the most progressive event in human history. It ushered in the era of the downfall of imperialism and the victory of proletarian revolution. The history of almost the entire 20th century was shaped by the tremors set in motion by this gigantic earthquake in the erstwhile Czarist Russia.
Defying all predictions, and in the teeth of bitter hostility on the part of the overthrown exploiting classes as well as of international imperialism, the Soviet proletariat went on to build a powerful socialist state and a powerful socialist economy, in which planned production to satisfy the constantly rising needs of the working masses replaced the anarchy of capitalist production, whose sole motive force is the production of ever increasing amounts of surplus value to satisfy the insatiable greed of a handful of exploiters.
By 1935, the USSR was the only country that had got rid of the scourge of unemployment. By its earthshaking achievements in the field of socialist construction, the Soviet proletariat, for the first time, provided living proof for the assertion that the working class everywhere is not only capable of destroying the old but also of building the new.
By getting rid of the system of exploitation of one person by another, which is the basis of all social strife, the Russian proletariat created the conditions for proletarian internationalism in place of bourgeois nationalism, fraternal solidarity and friendship between nations in place of national strife. By introducing women on an unprecedented scale into social production and creating the necessary facilities (such as crèches, kindergartens and public dining facilities), without which it is impossible for women to achieve equality with men, the Soviet proletariat laid the solid foundations for the equality of the sexes and the elimination of the oppression of women.
The salvos of the October Revolution not only gave a tremendous impetus to the national liberation struggle of hundreds upon hundreds of millions of colonial slaves, but also rendered a priceless service to the working class in the imperialist heartlands, for the very threat of the repetition of October forced the bourgeoisie of these countries to embark on a number of economic and political reforms to ease the plight of their ‘own’ proletariats.
Such was the vitality and strength of the social system of the USSR that she made the single most important contribution to the defeat of the allegedly invincible Nazi war machine.
The courage and heroism with which the Soviet soldier and civilian alike fought against fascism shall ever remain an eloquent tribute to the socialist system engendered by the October Revolution, as well as a source of pride to proletarians throughout the world.
The once mighty USSR finally collapsed in 1991 for reasons which cannot be gone into in a small leaflet. At the time of its collapse, the imperialist bourgeoisie triumphantly pronounced the end of communism, declaring that capitalism was the final stage in the long march of humanity. Soviet workers were duped into believing that the restoration of capitalism in the Soviet Union would usher in an era of unlimited prosperity for them.
Seven years later, Russian production had been halved; the Soviet economy, the second largest in the world, had been reduced to that of the tiny Netherlands; the Russian stock market was valued at less than that of the British water industry; while starvation disease, unemployment, wage arrears, homelessness and destitution were the lot of the ordinary Russians. Soviet industry and wealth had been stolen by a handful of Russian Mafiosi and their imperialist backers. Capitalism has nothing to offer the Russian masses.
More than that, capitalism, as can be seen from the crisis of overproduction engulfing the world-capitalist economy, has no solutions to the problems of downtrodden humanity; it can only offer them unemployment and homelessness, misery and starvation, war and national strife, racism and sex discrimination. It is equally clear that communism, far from being dead, offers the only real future for humanity, for the continuation of capitalism is the continuation of barbarism.
In these difficult times, when it has become fashionable to practise renegacy, the CPGB-ML considers it extremely important to celebrate the anniversary of the glorious October Revolution and to declare that the bright future of humanity lies along the road of October. It declares further that communism (Marxism Leninism) is the ideology of the modern proletariat, which can no more be exterminated than can the proletariat itself.
Whatever the zigzags of history, the final victory of communism is inevitable, as is the demise of capitalist imperialism.
[b]Long live the Great October Revolution!
Long live communism![/b]
