State and the Revolution - Vladimir Lenin

I thought a lot about choosing a book to read last weekend, but failed miserably in choosing one. This was mainly because I really didn't want to read some random novel and didn't have any other book idea. However, I then remembered the list I made about Marxist books I might want to read in the near future and "State and the Revolution" seemed like a good choice among them. I found a copy  in my college library which was a 1935(!) edition of the book. I was astonished by the success of the translation as the language of the book was completely understandable.

Lenin in disguise

So, I knew some stuff about Marxism before but never really read a book written by Marx/Engels or Lenin. The book (or pamphlet) was written by Lenin in 1917 to combat right opportunism (bourgeoise tendencies) and anarchist distortions of Marxism. He starts with a rather pretentious claim stating "During the lifetime of great revolutionaries, the oppressing classes relentlessly persecute them and meet their teachings with the most savage hostility, the most furious hatred and the most ruthless campaign of lies and slanders. After their death, attempts are made to convert them into harmless icons, to canonize them, so to say, and to surround their names with a certain halo for the consolation of the oppressed classes and with the object of duping them". These sentences stroke me as not just for revolutionaries but for most outcast people these words are true-being persecuted for your whole life and then posthumously being declared a saint. After this robust opening statements, he starts combating his various contemporary political adversaries during early 20th century. Most of the discussions are quite out-dated, however they still include some valuable knowledge about Marxist thought. One that I found interesting was about the intrinsic structure of the state. According to him, the state is the product of the irreconcilability of class antagonisms. So, we can deduct that if there are no class antagonisms, than there won't be an entity called state. He continuous logically by stating that the state  is the instrument for the exploitation of the oppressed class. that state is  He then labels the military and bureaucracy as the tools used by bourgeois(the minority) to help them suppress the working class(the majority). It is interesting to point out that he doesn't see the state as something to be revered, but rather a mere instrument. This I believe is one of the main points where Marxism is completely opposite to Hegelian philosophy.

Later parts of the book is mainly composed of discussions concerning the feasibility of a stateless society and thus exceeds my aim in writing this post. An interested person can further investigate on those subjects as well. Even though Marxism is long dead practically and barely surviving theoretically, I believe one can still find some information useful for understanding the world (which is true for most philosophies). So, if you have some spare time and like reading political books "State and Revolution" might be a good book to spice up your knowledge about the world.

"A standing army and police are the chief instruments of state power." Lenin

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