It is not open to argument at all. It is found in the words of
Lenine himself, in his claim that there is absolutely no contradiction
between the principle of individual dictatorship, ruling with iron hand,
and the principle upon which Soviet government rests. There has been no
compromise here, for if there is no contradiction in principle no
compromise could have been required. Lenine is not afraid to make or to
admit making compromises; he admits that compromises have been made. It was
a compromise to employ highly salaried specialists from the bourgeoisie, "a
defection from the principles of the Paris Commune and of any proletarian
rule," as he says. It was a compromise, another "defection from the only
Socialist principle," to admit the right of the co-operatives to determine
their own conditions of membership. Having made these declarations quite
candidly, he takes pains to assure us that there was no such defection from
principle in establishing the absolute rule of an individual dictator,
that there was absolutely no contradiction in principle in this.[76]
Moreover, there is no reason for regarding this dictatorship as a temporary
thing, if Lenine himself is to be accepted as an authoritative spokesman.
Pages:
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448