Lenin on the State and Revolution-- Comments by Engels

In any case, for a party whose goal and raison d'????tre does not end with the establishment of Socialism but pushes on to the abolition of the state and democracy as well--i.e., that wants to establish Communism, the term "Social-Democrat" is technically incorrect. Be that as it may, it is hardly worth making a fuss over. Engels remarks: "The names of real political parties are never wholly appropriate; the party develops, while the name persists." For 21st century Communists to want to remove "Communist" from their party's name might raise suspicions that they were developing backwards!

Anyway, Lenin says the party's name is "incomparably less important" than the relation of the revolutionary working class to the state Our real problem is that there is no revolutionary working class movement (to speak of) in the US or Europe right now (not considering the rest of the world) and the relation of the working people to the state is one of impotence and subservience-- a relation which Communist parties and their allies must and are working to overcome.

It is important to understand why Engels says Communism overthrows democracy as well as the state. In order to gain this understanding Lenin says we must grasp the economic basis behind the "withering away of the state. We will do this next when we analyze Chapter Five: "The Economic Base of the Withering Away of the State."

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