To be lost in the forest...

The greatest conquest of the developing proletarian movement has been the discovery of grounds of support for the realisation of socialism in the economic condition of capitalist society. As a result of this discovery, socialism was changed from an "ideal" dreamt of by humanity for thousands of years to a thing of historic necessity.

Communism is for us not a state of affairs which is to be established, an ideal to which reality [will] have to adjust itself. We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things. The conditions of this movement result from the premises now in existence. (Marx)

Consequently, the economic notion of "capitalist" no longer signifies an isolated individual. The industrial capitalist of today is a collective person composed of hundreds and even of thousands of individuals. The category "capitalist" has itself become a social category. It has become "socialised"–within the frame-work of capitalist society.

This is ever the more true now. Today, we do not even conceive of capitalists in terms of nations. The capitalists are a unified organism of the propertied with feelers in each nation.

Bernstein’s socialism is to be realised with the aid of these two instruments: labour unions–or as Bernstein himself characterises them, economic democracy–and co-operatives. The first will suppress industrial profit; the second will do away with commercial profit.

So that’s a ‘no’ to trade unions and cooperatives. “O’ but dear Rosa, we love you” says the anarchists of the mutualistic and syndicalist tendencies. Well, the truth is she doesn’t love you.

Every legal constitution is the product of a revolution. In the history of classes, revolution is the act of political creation, while legislation is the political expression of the life of a society that has already come into being. Work for reform does not contain its own force independent from revolution. During every historic period, work for reforms is carried on only in the direction given to it by the impetus of the last revolution and continues as long as the impulsion from the last revolution continues to make itself felt. Or, to put it more concretely, in each historic period work for reforms is carried on only in the framework of the social form created by the last revolution. Here is the kernel of the problem.

Reform brings about a more humane bourgeois society. If reform could do otherwise, we wouldn’t be living under capitalist society. At best the struggle for reforms is the struggle for the amelioration of the proletariat; however, amelioration isn’t political power and, therefore, the struggle for reforms should be secondary to struggle for revolution.

Thus these "premature" attacks of the proletariat against the State power are in themselves important historic factors helping to provoke and determine the point of the definite victory.

‘aufheben’

Rosa Luxemburg’s Reform or Revolution? is a well thought out and excellent polemic against social democracy and for revolutionary socialism. Though portions of her work seem irrelevant today, if we were to replace Bernstein’s name for Blair’s or Dean’s the work would at large still make sense.

The most antiquated bits come from Luxemburg’s critique of Bernstein’s economism; however, today instead of the trade-union struggle we have the anti-globalisation movement. Social democracy is no longer considered with trade unions and cooperatives but instead welfare and fair trade.

My recommendation? I suggest that we Marxists create an updated version of Rosa’s work. By historical necessity, her work neglects corporations and modern globalisation. It is, therefore, our task to update Rosa’s work featuring the same form: a dialectical and materialist critique of reform incorporating all aspects of reform, revolution, the anti-globalisation movement, etc.

Until that time has come, I recommend that every person that is new to Marxism read Luxemburg’s Reform or Revolution?

Also, I apologize for the lack of detail in this post. I’m taking summer courses, which take up my time and energy, that are supposed to help me improve my ACT score. Insomniacs and overachievers of the world, unite (and proceed to crash)!

p.s. I also suck at citing sources

---

Marx, Karl, and Frederick Engels. “The German Ideology” Marxists Internet Archive 1932. 15 June 2006.
<http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01a.htm>.