" What ruling class ever
failed to make that claim? Was it not the habit of the Czars, all of them,
during the whole revolutionary epoch, to indulge in the pious cant of
proclaiming that they were motived only by their solicitude for the
interests and well-being of the peasants?
It is a curious illustration of the superficial character of the Bolshevist
mentality that a man so gifted intellectually as Lenine undoubtedly is
should advance in justification of his policy a plea so repugnant to
morality and intelligence, and that it should be quietly accepted by men
and women calling themselves radical revolutionists. Some years ago a
well-known American capitalist announced with great solemnity that he and
men like himself were the agents of Providence, charged with managing
industry "for the good of the people." Naturally, his naive claim provoked
the scornful laughter of every radical in the land. Yet, strange as it may
seem, whenever I have pointed out to popular audiences that Lenine asserted
the right of two hundred thousand proletarians to impose their rule upon
Russia, always, without a single exception, some defender of the
Bolsheviki--generally a Socialist or a member of the I.
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