House of Paine

comintern on state

comintern open letter to the I.W.W.
   1920
" WE REALIZE 
Many members of the I.W.W.
 do not agree 
with us about the state
you are against 
“the State in 
general.”
we are not 
 you propose
 to overthrow 
the capitalist State
 and 
to establish
 in its place 
immediately 
an " Industrial Commonwealth"

We Communists
 are also opposed
 to the “State” 
We also wish to abolish it
we also wish  
to substitute
 for the "government of men"
 the" administration of things"
------------------------------------


 unfortunately
 this cannot be done 
immediately

 The destruction
 of the capitalist State 
does not mean 
that capitalism
 automatically 
and immediately 
disappears

 The capitalists 
still have arms
 which must be
 taken away from 
them

 they are still
 supported by hordes 
of loyal bureaucrats,
managers 
superintendents
 foremen 
and 
trained men of all sorts
 who will sabotage 
Industry
 and 
these must be
 persuaded 
or compelled
 to serve 
the working class
 
they still have 
army officers
 who can 
betray the revolution
 preachers who 
can raise
 superstitious fears against
THE WORKERS 
REVOLUTIONARY POWER  
teachers and orators 
who can 
misrepresent
 it 
to the ignorant

 thugs can 
be hired 
to discredit it
 by evil behaviour 
newspaper editors
 who can deceive 
the people
 with  floods
   of lies 

 “yellow” 
Socialists 
and Labour fakers 
prefer 
capitalist “democracy”
 to the revolution
 
All these people
 must be 
"sternly repressed "

To break down
 the capitalist State
 to crush
 capitalist resistance 
and disarm 
the capitalist class
 to confiscate
 capitalist property
 and
 turn it over 
to the
 "WHOLE WORKING CLASS 
IN COMMON"

 for all 
these tasks 
a Government
 is necessary 

a State
" the Dictatorship 
of the Proletariat"
 in which the workers
 through their councils
can uproot 
the capitalist 
system
 with an iron hand

This is exactly 
what exists 
in "Council  Russia" 
to-day. 

BUT 
THIS "DICTATORSHIP 
OF THE PROLETARIAT" 
IS ONLY TEMPORARY

 We 
Communists 
also want to
 abolish the State
 
The State 
can only exist
 as long as
 there is 
class struggle

 The function 
of
 the Proletarian Dictatorship
 is to abolish
 the capitalist class 
as a class

 in fact
 to do away
 with all class divisions 
of every kind 
And
 when this condition
 is reached
 then 
the PROLETARIAN DICTATORSHIP
 THE STATE
 AUTOMATICALLY DISAPPEARS 

to make way
 for 
an "industrial administrative body"
 which
 will be something like
 the General Executive Board of the I.W.W.
----------------------------

In a recent leaflet
 Mary Marcy argues 
that although
 the I.W.W. 
does not theoretically 
recognise the necessity
 for the" Dictatorship 
of the Proletariat"
 it will be forced to do so 
IN FACT
 at the time 
of the revolution 
in order to suppress
 the capitalist
 "counter revolution" 

This is true
 but unless the I.W.W. 
acknowledges beforehand
 the necessity of 
the Workers’ State 
and prepares for it 
there will be
 confusion
 and
 weakness 
at a time
 when firmness 
and swift action
 are imperative "