How do you become a proffessional revolutionary?

[jacobin1949]

I have a question about being a professional revolutionary. Exactly how does one become a cadre? What does a cadre do day to day? How do cadre make a living? Whats life like as a proffessional revolutinary?

[Aurora]

Interesting questions.
1)I have no idea how someone becomes a cadre.But i'll ask next branch meeting im at.
2)i presume a large amount of time is spent writing lead-offs,organising events,printing leaflets,contacting members,finding information about subjects,keeping up with current events etc
3)Cadres live off of the subscriptions of members of the party.
4)no idea

[RNK]

If there is such a thing as a "professional revolutionary" it would be someone who implants revolutionary thought into their everyday lives -- not someone who lives off the party's paycheque and files papers and distributed leaflets.

[Forward Union]

The whole point of joining the working class struggle is that you're a worker - or in other words, you have a proper job. You can't really have a 'career' - that's generally associated with upward mobility or successes. The fact that you want to make one out of the working class struggle says to me that you're some advantageous student who isn't content with a cliche office job and wants to be a bit different. I mean, you'll get all the girls. :rolleyes:

But in short. No. A couple of Anarchist Newspapers, and Socialist parties may provide some sort of cash-reimbursement and reward for work done at a high level occasionally.

But they can&#39;t provide a platform for your careerism. <_<

[Tiparith]

The concept of a professional revolutionary right now is completely absurd (no offence ment). It is understandable that one would want to involve themselves so much as to be able to live off of their involvement as a career and later on this may be possible. Right now however notice the few people getting paid for there job are the ones who are reformist or as has been mentioned: really high in the political world. When I meet someone who is payed for the job they do for there revolutionary organization I look keenly for corruption.

Later on however I see it as very likely some members will be asked to succede from regular life and take up the revolution 24/7.

[Janus]

The term "professional revolutionary" seems pretty "iffy" and smacks of vanguardism and substitutionalism.

But as far as becoming a cadre member goes, I believe that most Party members are cadre members. The whole concept of the cadre is built around the idea that they are the advanced backbone of the movement and help to solidify and build the party&#39;s base.


Whats life like as a proffessional revolutinary?
You&#39;re a full-time political organizer.

[RedLenin]

First off, the term "professional revolutionary", as Lenin originally used it, simply meant someone that devoted all or nearly all of their free time to revolutionary activity. It did not mean that one lives off of revolutionary work.


The whole point of joining the working class struggle is that you&#39;re a worker - or in other words, you have a proper job.
That is absurd. So you are saying that one must waste time that could be spent on revolutionary activity working for a capitalist? How does that benefit anyone at all? Full-time revolutionary activism seems like a good thing to me, and every serious organization should have that option open. It seems only logical that the most dedicated individuals, who are willing to do full time revolutionary work, should have that opportunity open to them.


The fact that you want to make one out of the working class struggle says to me that you&#39;re some advantageous student who isn&#39;t content with a cliche office job and wants to be a bit different.
No, it means that you want to put all of your effort into revolutionary activity. How is it in any way beneficial to have all members of an organization be "pure" proletarians? Full-timers can greatly help an organization, and can serve as a way for the most dedicated comrades to fully apply themselves to the struggle. That said, I do not think any organization should be fully composed of full-time activists.

[The Grey Blur]

What RedLenin said.

Most full-timers also have to accept lower wages than in their previous job so as to illustrate their dedication to the cause.

[Sadena Meti]

Join FARC-EP.

[IronAcorn]

But unlike what Lenin said, If you spend to much time on a revolution it loses meaning and purpose.

(In Playa Del Carmen, Mexico there are whole stores dedicated to the beloved hero Che&#33;) ;)

[cenv]

If you spend to much time on a revolution it loses meaning and purpose.

What an absurd statement. Revolution will have "meaning and purpose" to me as long as it&#39;s in my class interests and it presents the possibility of an improved condition of existence. As long as I live in a society where the capitalists are sucking our blood to make more money, there&#39;s no such thing as spending "too much time on a revolution".


In Playa Del Carmen, Mexico there are whole stores dedicated to the beloved hero Che&#33;
That has nothing to do with spending "too much time on a revolution" and everything to do with reproducing revolution and revolutionary leaders as harmless, commodified images to be purchased by utterly unrevolutionary, petty-bourgeois consumers.

[Rawthentic]

Couldn&#39;t have said it better my fellow Leaguer :D .

I too often see kids wear "Che" shirts and I will occasionally ask them if they know who he is, and they&#39;ll say, "Yeah, some rebel dude from Cuba."

[Red October]

Originally posted by [email protected] 26, 2007 09:13 pm
Couldn&#39;t have said it better my fellow Leaguer :D .

I too often see kids wear "Che" shirts and I will occasionally ask them if they know who he is, and they&#39;ll say, "Yeah, some rebel dude from Cuba."
i own a che shirt and im proud to wear it. as long as you know who he was and believe in what he fought for, i see no problem with wearing a che shirt.

[Rawthentic]

Yeah, that&#39;s the whole point of it. The problem is those who wear it because he is some "cool" symbol and not a revolutionary.

[jacobin1949]

From the CPUSA MANUAL:

http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/partie...manual/ch04.htm (http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/parties/cpusa/1935/07/organisers-manual/ch04.htm)

WHO ARE THE PROFESSIONAL REVOLUTIONISTS?

Comrade Lenin in his writings always stressed the necessity of developing a core of comrades from among the best, tested mass leaders, to such a point that they would be able to serve the proletariat as trained, skilled revolutionary leaders. There is a misconception in the ranks of the Party as to what a professional revolutionist, in the Leninist sense, is. Some are of the opinion that a professional revolutionist is a comrade whom the Party takes out of the factory and assigns as full-time functionary; in other words, that the Party organization (Section -District--Center) supports him while he spends all his time on Party work. This notion is wrong.

A professional revolutionist is a highly developed comrade, trained in revolutionary theory and practice, tested in struggles, who gives his whole life to the fight for the interests of his own class. A professional revolutionist is ready to go whenever and wherever the Party sends him. Today he may be working in a mine, organizing the Party, the trade unions, leading struggles; tomorrow, if the Party so decides, he may he in a steel mill; the day after tomorrow, he may be a leader and organizer of the unemployed. Naturally, these professional revolutionists are supported by the Party organization if their assignment doesn&#39;t send them to work in shops or mines. From these comrades the Party demands everything. They accept Party assignments-the matter of family associations and other personal problems are considered, but are not de- cisive. If the class struggle demands it, he will leave his family for months, even years. The professional revolutionist cannot be demoralized; he is steeled, stable. Nothing can shake him. Our task is to make every Party member a professional revolutionist in this sense.

[RNK]

First of all, that sort of practice is dangerous in that it risks alienating the "core" of comrades from the rest of the proletariat.

Secondly, you do realize that the CPUSA is by no means worthy of the term "revolutionary"?

[TC]

The only sense in which anyone is a professional revolutionary is the full time members of armed revolutionary organizations, everyone else is just a propagandist not a revolutionary. If people could find out how to join them just by asking online they wouldn&#39;t last very long.

[Organic Revolution]

This thread seems ridiculous. Why don&#39;t you get a job and organize in your workplace?

[jacobin1949]

Originally posted by [email protected] 28, 2007 05:53 pm
From the CPUSA MANUAL:

http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/partie...manual/ch04.htm (http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/parties/cpusa/1935/07/organisers-manual/ch04.htm)

WHO ARE THE PROFESSIONAL REVOLUTIONISTS?

Comrade Lenin in his writings always stressed the necessity of developing a core of comrades from among the best, tested mass leaders, to such a point that they would be able to serve the proletariat as trained, skilled revolutionary leaders. There is a misconception in the ranks of the Party as to what a professional revolutionist, in the Leninist sense, is. Some are of the opinion that a professional revolutionist is a comrade whom the Party takes out of the factory and assigns as full-time functionary; in other words, that the Party organization (Section -District--Center) supports him while he spends all his time on Party work. This notion is wrong.

A professional revolutionist is a highly developed comrade, trained in revolutionary theory and practice, tested in struggles, who gives his whole life to the fight for the interests of his own class. A professional revolutionist is ready to go whenever and wherever the Party sends him. Today he may be working in a mine, organizing the Party, the trade unions, leading struggles; tomorrow, if the Party so decides, he may he in a steel mill; the day after tomorrow, he may be a leader and organizer of the unemployed. Naturally, these professional revolutionists are supported by the Party organization if their assignment doesn&#39;t send them to work in shops or mines. From these comrades the Party demands everything. They accept Party assignments-the matter of family associations and other personal problems are considered, but are not de- cisive. If the class struggle demands it, he will leave his family for months, even years. The professional revolutionist cannot be demoralized; he is steeled, stable. Nothing can shake him. Our task is to make every Party member a professional revolutionist in this sense.
There has to be a disciplined cadre to guide the vanguard

[gilhyle]

THe concept of a professional revolutionary is a vanguardist concept.....have no doubts.

There are people who dedicate their whole lives to the cause and after twenty or thirty years at it - whether full time or not - they will have many relevant skills, whether those are publishing, writing, speaking, analysing.

Some are paid, some work in ordinaryjobs. That is not the key point.

Gotta say, while it may be great in a period of political instability, my observation is that over recent decades the experience of full timers has been a narrowing one and a damaging one - however much their administrative and organising role helps to keep parties going.

I wouldnt abandon the idea, but I hesitate to give the full time jobs to leadership members and I prefer the idea of circulating paid administrator roles if full timers are needed.

I suspect it is often weakness on the part of leadership comrades that they insist on taking the full time posts.

[Die Neue Zeit]

Originally posted by [email protected] 26, 2007 07:32 pm
If there is such a thing as a "professional revolutionary" it would be someone who implants revolutionary thought into their everyday lives -- not someone who lives off the party&#39;s paycheque and files papers and distributed leaflets.
In other words, you&#39;ve got to be a good litterateur (as Lenin described himself).


Gotta say, while it may be great in a period of political instability, my observation is that over recent decades the experience of full timers has been a narrowing one and a damaging one - however much their administrative and organising role helps to keep parties going.

That&#39;s exactly what happened to the Bolsheviks in their revolutionary years. As much as this "Leninist" Marxist hates to admit it, but they weren&#39;t as organized as they claimed to be. If so, they would&#39;ve taken power before the war (the proletarian support being already there).

In the present situation, while doing litterateur&#39;s work, one can only wait before the next big imperialist conflict once the multi-polar world sets in. If one can accelerate the coming of the impending conflict in any way without resorting to either NGO terrorism (horrendously ineffective except at getting yourself in jail for doing something worthless) or being in Big Business (careerism seeps in before you come back), one should. At least such work, coupled with Hezbollah-esque charity work, will get more support. If the far-right in Europe&#39;s doing that, as well - with their soup kitchens et al - why can&#39;t we?

[KC]

There has to be a disciplined cadre to guide the vanguard

Stop listening to the CPUSA; they&#39;re not communist.