“Only he is a Marxist who extends the recognition of the class struggle to the recognition of the dictatorship of the proletariat. That is what constitutes the most profound distinction between the Marxist and the ordinary petty (as well as big) bourgeois. This is the touchstone on which the real understanding and recognition of Marxism should be tested.” - Lenin, The State and Revolution

Many comrades display ignorance of basic Marxist principles such as the nature of power and how it is obtained, the nature and role of the Party in bourgeois elections, principled proletarian internationalism, the nature and purpose of the state, and the mass line. This is not surprising, and it’s not necessarily entirely the fault of the comrades who are ignorant of Marxist theory and praxis while calling themselves Marxists. There has never been a proletarian revolution in a late stage imperialist country, revolutions are scary and difficult, and principles are hard to keep under pressure. Meantime, the ruling class offers many carrots to the unwary, sugar coated bullets. They have always been willing to allow the less conscious workers and petit-bourgeois intellectuals false hope in the form of Zohran Mamdanis, Nithya Ramans, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezes. The political education practice of Maoism is to constantly explain to the masses and our comrades who have fallen prey to these sugar coated bullets, not to harangue and lambast. To do the former is to educate, to do the latter is to engage in ultra-left sectarianism and lends itself to dogmatism.

Firstly, the nature of the bourgeois state, and social democracy. Revolutionaries from Marx to Mao to George Jackson have painstakingly explained and demonstrated that social democracy, or the welfare state, is perfectly compatible with capitalism and imperialism. Imperialists are more than willing to provide a cut of the loot extracted from the global proletariat to workers at home in exchange for class peace. Labor aristocrats in the form of mainstream union bosses, lawyers, and bureaucrats negotiate the terms of this class peace, betray workers’ root interest (revolution) every step of the way, and enforce bourgeois law upon the working class. Following comrades J. Sakai and George Jackson, labor aristocrats can also be expanded to include the “pig class”, the people who live off managing the distribution of the fruits of imperialism, police, and others who have as their task the maintenance of the imperialist order. The ruling class litigated and legislated away the right to real, political strikes, and have brought the bulk of the workers’ movement under its heel and control. Social democracy does this writ large. “There is no need for revolutionary LARPING, let’s just work to get Zohran and AOC and Nithya elected! Socialism is filling potholes, food in your stomach, a free bus, and well paid civil servants!”

The social democrats have never been able to accomplish their goals in the United States. Our political system is dominated by the bourgeoisie, which controls both the Republican and Democratic Parties.

The mainstream trend in the Republican Party in 2026 is openly fascist. Trump, Vance, Hegseth and Rubio have, as of the writing of this piece, kidnapped the president of the sovereign country of Venezuela, along with his wife, murdering dozens of Venezuelan and Cuban citizens in the process. They, along with the Zionist regime in Israel,  have made an illegal war against the peoples of Iran, Lebanon, and Yemen, slaughtering thousands, while also continuing to aid and abet the genocide of the Palestinian people and deprive them of their land and liberty. They have kidnapped thousands of our class siblings off the streets by force, deporting them or interning them in concentration camps, from the children to the elderly. They have stripped workers’ rights, civil rights, democratic rights, and every other right that we have secured through our blood. All through this, the social democrats and mainstream liberals have provided nothing but weak statements and symbolic votes that are drowned by the reactionaries in the Congress of the bourgeoisie.

The Democrats, on the other hand, routinely offer up the social democrats that run on their ballot line as sacrificial lambs, stifling their campaigns and allowing AIPAC to punish them when they fly the coop. Instead of a true people’s opposition, they offer up reactionary identitarianism and temper tantrums a la Jasmine Crockett, or gerontocratic machine politics a la Jim Clyburn. We have seen Cori Bush have her seat purchased away from her on behalf of Wesley Bell, who voted to thank ICE, as one example. This will continue to happen, even with hopeful upset victories  like Darializa Avila Chevalier in NYC.

The ruling class will allow one or two, even ten symbols, to fly high for a bit before the fascists move against them, as they are now against Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who was subjected to the indignity of having her house raided in the early morning hours in a jerryrigged “immigration investigation”, aka naked political retaliation. For all the talk of power, the social democrats have none. We live in a fascist country. They have been talking about Medicare for All, Blocking the Bombs, free university, and everything else for almost two decades. They have not delivered, and never will. Only Communism stops fascism. Social democracy does not. This was proven in the streets of Berlin in 1945.

The State is the instrument of one class for the suppression of another. It is an armed body, which has as its primary goal the enforcement of control for the class which set it up.

States are founded and prolonged through use of force, and the monopoly of such. The office of the President of the United States is the chief executor of the will of the bourgeoisie and imperialists. Their job is not to be a tribune of the people, but to beguile them, keep them under control, and keep the profits for the imperialists coming in. They are the exploiter in chief. Laws made in Congress are not for the well-being of the proletariat, but for the maintenance of bourgeois order and class peace. The Supreme Court of the United States, as we have seen, is a reactionary body, which serves the interests of exploiters and their helpers. These instruments are not beholden to the working class, and never will be. Failure to understand the nature of these instruments, thinking that they can be captured on behalf of our class, is a delusion and a revision of Marxist principles.

“The Bolsheviks took part in bourgeois elections!” our reformists and revisionists cry. Indeed, they did. The purpose of the Bolshevik entry into the Duma was to agitate, expose the ruling class and its crimes, and lay, step by step, the foundations for revolution. They did not have their picture taken smiling next to the Tsar, or delude themselves into thinking that they would seize power by getting enough deputies elected. Comrades must seriously and thoroughly study the activities of our predecessors, instead of looking for quotes to justify their opportunism. The role of a proletarian party like DSA aspires to be is to prepare the masses for what is coming, unite firmly with them in struggles against landlordism, militarism, fascism, and all other structures of exploitation.

The role of the proletarian party is to conquer power.

Electoral organizing can be part of that, as the Bolsheviks demonstrated, but it must be firmly under the command of the proletarian general staff. The Bolsheviks did not allow their deputies to do whatever they wanted, as DSA has allowed AOC (who wasn’t even a member in good standing for 7 years, only renewing her dues recently), Zohran (who cannot seem to shake himself of his Zionist cadre, Jessica Tisch), or Nithya Raman and the DSA-LA city council members who are currently campaigning against her on behalf of Karen Bass, opposing their own comrade! A Party that cannot even enforce basic discipline on its chapters and elected officials simply has no business calling itself a party, let alone trying to contest the highest office in the bourgeois sphere of politics.

Why are comrades so dedicated to this farce? Once again, the sugar coated bullets of the bourgeoisie. They dream of staffer/government jobs, and the emotional high provided by getting “a win”. Their concept of  “a win” is in and of itself bourgeois. They don’t see winning as the number of new cadres that we make, dedicated to the task of proletarian revolution and working toward that necessity. They see winning in the term of “gains” made under the bourgeois system. “The bourgeoisie have allowed us a Congressman, a Senator, a President! We are winning! We have power!” This is the epitome of the social democratic mindset, which has failed to take a firm  proletarian stand. Zohran fills potholes, attends rallies standing next to Zionists, and demolishes public housing. Nithya Raman stumbles through a debate and continues to remain wedded to Israel’s right to exist, but she’s a wonk, beloved by wonks. AOC cries, marks herself present, and condemns Palestinian protesters. Every type of thinking bears the mark of a class, and the thinking of our social democrats has been stamped with the mark of the rotten, dying liberal bourgeoisie. They don’t understand the true nature of how power is obtained, because it upsets their carefully constructed and arrogantly held, but wrong, views of the world.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, if elected President, will have a Secretary of Defense, directors of the CIA, NSA, and FBI, and be the head of the repressive apparatus. She will work for the bourgeoisie, not for the proletariat.

Many comrades in DSA identify, proudly, as Marxists, yet remain ignorant of basic Marxist principles. Opportunism, individualism, and reformism are engendered in the soil of the United States, a country where the default politics is so far right that charlatans like Sanders, Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez are allowed to parade as socialists. The struggle for the soul of our organization, our future Party, continues. The NPC, with the arrival of new Bread and Roses representatives from YDSA, has, for the time being, a slim rightist majority. Bread and Roses has chosen to come out in favor of endorsing AOC (who has not even announced a presidential run!), joining the reformists in Groundwork and SMC. This was to be expected.

It remains to those of us with principle to stand firm and unite. We commend our comrades from Marxist Unity Group, Red Star, Springs of Revolution, Libertarian Socialist Caucus, and others who have been struggling alongside us for accountability and discipline. We encourage comrades to continue to unite all who can be united with to beat back this right-opportunist trend.

Convention approaches, and before that, the struggle for delegates. We encourage comrades to prepare solid Left slates. Elect comrades who, if they are returning to convention, voted in favor of R22 in 2025. If they did not vote in favor of R22, ask them why they chose to stand against the Palestinian people and their resistance. Do not fall prey to the mistake of prioritizing friendships over matters of political line. You will be presented with “Run AOC Run!” resolutions by the opportunists in your chapter. Oppose and defeat them, encourage your comrades to do the same. Continue to distinguish yourselves through work and principle. Through organization, discipline, revolutionary spirit, and iron will, we will defeat the bourgeois line within our organization.

Cast away illusions, prepare for struggle.

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