True socialism, in Marxist terms, requires the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat. The Mensheviks argued that Russia must first undergo a bourgeois-democratic revolution to develop capitalism, create an industrial proletariat, and only later pursue socialism. Furthermore, The Mensheviks allied with liberal bourgeois parties like the Kadets during the 1905 and 1917 revolutions.
They advocated for parliamentary democracy, gradual reforms, and legal trade unionism within capitalist frameworks. Their approach was fundamentally opportunist and it perpetuated capitalist exploitation. Genuine socialism requires abolition of the bourgeois state, not participation in it.
Their faith in bourgeois democracy and the notion of gradual reform ignores the very core of Marx’s materialist analysis. Capitalism cannot be reformed into socialism because its state exists to protect private property and class rule.
To sum up, their embrace of liberal democracy and refusal to pursue proletarian revolution disqualified them as socialists. Their platform prioritized preservation of capitalist property relations over economic emancipation, the very system socialism seeks to abolish.
What a bizzare claim. It was a socialist party of Marxist socialists.
True socialism, in Marxist terms, requires the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat. The Mensheviks argued that Russia must first undergo a bourgeois-democratic revolution to develop capitalism, create an industrial proletariat, and only later pursue socialism. Furthermore, The Mensheviks allied with liberal bourgeois parties like the Kadets during the 1905 and 1917 revolutions.
They advocated for parliamentary democracy, gradual reforms, and legal trade unionism within capitalist frameworks. Their approach was fundamentally opportunist and it perpetuated capitalist exploitation. Genuine socialism requires abolition of the bourgeois state, not participation in it.
Their faith in bourgeois democracy and the notion of gradual reform ignores the very core of Marx’s materialist analysis. Capitalism cannot be reformed into socialism because its state exists to protect private property and class rule.
To sum up, their embrace of liberal democracy and refusal to pursue proletarian revolution disqualified them as socialists. Their platform prioritized preservation of capitalist property relations over economic emancipation, the very system socialism seeks to abolish.