DeepSummary
The transcript is a discussion between Robert Raymond and guests Brett O'Shea and Allison Escalante, co-hosts of the podcast Red Menace. They analyze Vladimir Lenin's seminal text "What Is To Be Done?" and its relevance to revolutionary leftist movements today. They explore the difference between spontaneous protests and disciplined, conscious organization through a vanguard party.
The speakers emphasize the limitations of spontaneous uprisings like Occupy Wall Street and the George Floyd protests, arguing that without a centralized, revolutionary party to provide political leadership and theory, such movements will inevitably fizzle out or be co-opted by bourgeois forces. They posit that a vanguard party is necessary to unite various struggles under a common proletarian cause.
Brett and Allison contend that while reforms are important, they are ultimately subject to being dismantled under capitalism unless achieved through revolutionary class struggle. They assert that building a national mass party is the key task for U.S. communists today, as no current organization meets the criteria of a true vanguard party with working class support.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Lenin's text "What Is To Be Done?" remains highly relevant today in analyzing the need for disciplined revolutionary organization over mere spontaneous protest.
- A vanguard communist party is essential to unite various struggles under a cohesive proletarian revolutionary framework and provide necessary theory and leadership.
- Reforms achieved through revolutionary class struggle are preferable to those granted by the bourgeoisie, which can always be rescinded absent a revolutionary seizure of power.
- Spontaneous protest movements inevitably face limitations, opportunism and co-option without the unifying vision and organization provided by a vanguard party.
- Building a national mass communist party remains the key task for U.S. revolutionaries, as no current organization adequately meets the criteria of a true vanguard party.
- The vanguard model allows incorporating the revolutionary potential of the intellectual class while subordinating its individualistic tendencies to the proletarian movement.
- While difficult, the necessity of a vanguard party outweighs criticisms of its potential authoritarianism or elitism in achieving revolutionary liberation.
- Ongoing militant organizing and political education remain crucial foundations for eventually constituting a vanguard party amid intensifying capitalist crises.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Reforms are won as a result of the revolutionary class struggle, as a result of its independence, mass force and steadfastness. Reforms are always false and ambiguous. They are really only in proportion to the intensity of the class struggle. By merging our slogans with those of the reformist bourgeoisie, we weaken the cause of revolution and consequently the cause of reform as well, because we thereby diminish the independence, fortitude, and strength of the revolutionary classes.“ by Vladimir Lenin
- “Tendencies obsessed with horizontalism and spontaneity. Lenin argues that, quote, 'this is a quote within a quote. This is Lenin. Great revolutionaries are degraded to the level of an amateur among amateurs,' end quote. Which is why in occupy, for example, one could walk into a meeting and a freshman at the local college who's never organized a day in his life, would have just as much say in how the movement should progress. As a 40 year old veteran organizer with decades of experience, this is not a strength, it's a weakness.“ by Brett O'Shea
Entities
Company
Product
Person
Organization
Book
Podcast
Episode Information
Revolutionary Left Radio
Revolutionary Left Radio
10/23/23
UPSTREAM INTERVIEW W/ BREHT AND ALYSON:
What Is To Be Done? This is the question so profoundly posed by the Russian Revolutionary and Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, in his landmark text of the same name. Although it was written well over a century ago, this text, the questions it asked, and the paths forward that it provided, are just as relevant today as they were a hundred years ago. And just as urgent.
What roles do spontaneity and disciplined organization have in leftist movements? Can we focus simply on economic reform, or do our actions need a larger political framework to structure, guide, and propel them?
Why does it feel like even though so many of us are motivated to work towards structural change, that things continue to get worse? Why does it seem like potential revolutionary struggles in the West always seem to stall and fail to move from a singular moment to a protracted movement?
These are old and familiar questions — a lot of ink has been spilled and speeches made exploring them — and in this Conversation, we’ve brought on two guests who've not only thought about these questions in depth, but who have some pretty compelling answers that draw from revolutionary theory and practice in both their personal lives and from the deep well of wisdom bequeathed by theorists Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Mao.
Breht O’Shea is the host of the podcast Revolutionary Left Radio and a co-host of Guerrilla History. He’s been on the show multiple times so you may already be familiar with his voice. Alyson Escalate, who has also been on the show, is the co-host, along with Breht, of Red Menace, a podcast that explains and analyzes revolutionary theory and then applies its lessons to our contemporary conditions.
Further Resources:
- Red Menace – What Is To Be Done? - V.I. Lenin
- Revolutionary Left Radio – Politics in Command: Analyzing the Error of Economism
- Red Menace – The Wretched of the Earth - Frantz Fanon: On Violence and Spontaneity
- Red Menace – Understanding Settler Colonialism in Israel and the United States
- Revolutionary Left Radio on Instagram
- Upstream – Buddhism and Marxism with Breht O'Shea (In Conversation)
- Upstream – Trans Liberation and Solidarity with Alyson Escalante (In Conversation)
- Upstream – Revolutionary Leftism with Breht O'Shea (In Conversation)
This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support
If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship
For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky.