An Australian Revolution

Gerry lays down a challenge to me in the comment he made to Workers Power and the Russian Revolution. He wants to know Australians can make the transition from Capitalism to Communism.

The simple answer is through the mass movement of workers taking control of the businesses, factories, farms, bureaucracy, military, police, banks, and the courts. That is, all the instruments of State power become subject to popular power.

The descriptive answer is that an Australian Revolution will be:

• Distinctly Australian - although we can learn from other revolutions as they are happening now in Venezeula and Argentina, Australian culture and history will influence how the revolution will unfold;
• Democratic - it will be up to the Australian workers to decide if, when, and how they want to make the transition;
• Episodic - there will be alternating periods of advance and retreats for the achievements of the workers;
• Iterative - there will be cycles of learning and acting;
• Long in the transition - there will be many cycles of advance and retreat, and of learning and acting.

The more complex answer is that the raising of the consciousness of the working class and the willingness to act in unison forms the basis of a revolution. Consciousness of what the current situation is and what other possibilities there are, is the result of education, debating, and reflection.

That consciousness is achieved when the working class understands and intreprets, for itself,

Australian and World history,

the origins and workings of Australian and World Capitalism,

the Australian State and its associated instruments of power.

Examples of consciousness among workers, that I have found, include Gerry, Ron, Weezil, and Pat. All of these people are honestly educating themselves on the political and economic situation, and they are making their honest opinions known to the rest of the world. They are the conscious workers. You will note that their (and mine) consciousness is uneven. In some areas, they have deeper understanding than in others. This is to be expected - no human being developes in exactly the same manner and at the same rate.

As the political consciousness of the working class increases, the ability to act decisively becomes possible. With successful actions, comes confidence.

With the possiblity of decisive action by the workers comes the question of how to achieve unity in action. The anarchist answer tends to be that everything will be alright on the night.

The Leninist answer is that there must a political party that has nearly all of the advanced conscious workers acting together. This unity in action is built up over many years through mutual trust and respect in the democratic centralist nature of the party. That is, the central leadership is elected by and responsible to the whole membership, and the party members will carry out the instructions of the central leadership to the best of their ability. It is this democratic centralism of a Leninist party, I believe, will be decisive in the moments of crises during the most intense periods of transition from Capitalism to Communism.

In conclusion, I probably have not given what Gerry was looking for: "...a workable, clearly articulated plan". Because, at this stage of the Australian Revolution, there are so few people involved in it. As more people join, more detailed plans can be worked out as a clearer vision of what a Communist Australia would be like.