"(…) In other words, the law of violent proletarian revolution, the law of smashing of the bourgeois state machine as a preliminary condition for such a revolution, is an inevitable law of the revolutionary movement in the imperialist countries of the world.
Of course, in the remote future, if the proletariat is victorious in the principal capitalist countries, and if the present capitalist encirclement is replaced by a socialist encirclement, a “peaceful” path of development is quite possible for certain capitalist countries whose capitalists, in view of the “unfavourable” international situation, will consider it expedient “voluntarily” to make supposition concessions to the proletariat. But this supposition applies only to a remote and possible future. With regard to the immediate future, there is no ground whatsoever for this supposition."
(link)
Commentary:
Thankfully, Stalin wrote “peaceful” between quotes. Make no mistake, there is no victory for the working class without class struggle, without active engagement of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie.
What was meant by this, is that in the case of successful socialist revolutions in currently imperialist countries, the capitalist encirclement of socialist revolutions in exploited countries would be weakened, and therefore the capitalist countries previously affected by imperialism would be left alone uninterrupted in the event of a revolution.
A socialist encirclement would also certainly pressure the bourgeois class of different countries to make concessions to the working class. When the USSR was destroyed by imperialist pressure, this left the bourgeoisie free to cowardly exploit the working class even more, and it’s exactly what happened (and is happening) worldwide.
In any case, don’t forget to study and especially organize. Marxist-Leninist organizations usually offer their militants some kind of theoretical education, so by organizing you’re also receiving your obligatory theory dose.
The importance of theory is not dogma or whatever complaints are made. What theory shows us is that it explains the material reasons for why things are the way they are. Why does Socialism take the shape it takes in the periphery of the imperial core? Because the material conditions don’t allow for the world revolution we want to peacefully transition to Communism in the presence of capitalist encirclement. The western imperial countries had a much longer headstart and inevitably will be the most important in order capital to be defeated by the proletariat.
I mean, yeah, this is pretty much true.
If China and its allies can prod, say, Europe for example, then no doubt Europe will turn red through legal means. Not every fight has to be illegal. I know that may be unpopular, but we can route certain countries without firing a shot, at least in theory. That being said: other countries turning communist around the world is generally a pretty good morale-booster to riots and urban rebellions happening in North America.
I know that I feel much more confident knowing that the US has enemies and that a country’s reactionary forces can be thrown into the defensive, as what happened in Chile.
