EPISODE · Dec 27, 2025 · 2H 28M
What Happens When Workers Don't Become Revolutionary on Their Own? | Lenin's Complete Philosophy
from sleepyphilosophyradio · host slphilosophy
This episode examines the question that defined Lenin’s entire project: What is to be done? It was not merely an organizational question but a philosophical challenge that separated Lenin from every other socialist of his generation and transformed Marxism from a theory of historical development into a theory of revolutionary action.Listen as we trace Lenin’s intellectual evolution from his provincial childhood in Simbirsk through the execution of his brother in 1887, his radicalization and years in exile, and his emergence as the twentieth century’s most consequential political thinker. We explore his major works including What Is to Be Done, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, and State and Revolution, examining concepts like the vanguard party, democratic centralism, revolutionary consciousness, and the dictatorship of the proletariat.The episode covers the dramatic events of 1917, the Civil War, the implementation of War Communism and the Red Terror, the strategic retreat to the New Economic Policy, Lenin’s final struggle against bureaucracy and Stalin’s rising power, and the contested legacy that continues to shape political debates today. This is intellectual history presented with scholarly fairness, acknowledging both Lenin’s ideas as he understood them and their profound historical consequences.CHAPTERS:(0:00:00) What Is to Be Done?(0:12:55) Simbirsk and the Making of a Revolutionary(0:22:23) The Execution of Alexander Ulyanov(0:30:17) Becoming a Marxist: Exile, Study, Organization(0:40:17) The Vanguard Party: Consciousness from Outside(0:51:02) Bolsheviks and Mensheviks: The 1903 Split(1:02:16) Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism(1:11:28) The State as Instrument of Class Rule(1:21:46) 1917: From February to October(1:32:15) The Seizure of Power(1:40:58) Civil War, Terror, and Survival(1:50:42) The New Economic Policy: One Step Back(1:57:26) The Testament and the Final Struggle(2:06:56) Death and the Lenin Cult(2:15:10) The Most Consequential ThinkerMusic: "Anguish" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
What this episode covers
This episode examines the question that defined Lenin’s entire project: What is to be done? It was not merely an organizational question but a philosophical challenge that separated Lenin from every other socialist of his generation and transformed Marxism from a theory of historical development into a theory of revolutionary action.Listen as we trace Lenin’s intellectual evolution from his provincial childhood in Simbirsk through the execution of his brother in 1887, his radicalization and years in exile, and his emergence as the twentieth century’s most consequential political thinker. We explore his major works including What Is to Be Done, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, and State and Revolution, examining concepts like the vanguard party, democratic centralism, revolutionary consciousness, and the dictatorship of the proletariat.The episode covers the dramatic events of 1917, the Civil War, the implementation of War Communism and the Red Terror, the strategic retreat to the New Economic Policy, Lenin’s final struggle against bureaucracy and Stalin’s rising power, and the contested legacy that continues to shape political debates today. This is intellectual history presented with scholarly fairness, acknowledging both Lenin’s ideas as he understood them and their profound historical consequences.CHAPTERS:(0:00:00) What Is to Be Done?(0:12:55) Simbirsk and the Making of a Revolutionary(0:22:23) The Execution of Alexander Ulyanov(0:30:17) Becoming a Marxist: Exile, Study, Organization(0:40:17) The Vanguard Party: Consciousness from Outside(0:51:02) Bolsheviks and Mensheviks: The 1903 Split(1:02:16) Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism(1:11:28) The State as Instrument of Class Rule(1:21:46) 1917: From February to October(1:32:15) The Seizure of Power(1:40:58) Civil War, Terror, and Survival(1:50:42) The New Economic Policy: One Step Back(1:57:26) The Testament and the Final Struggle(2:06:56) Death and the Lenin Cult(2:15:10) The Most Consequential ThinkerMusic: "Anguish" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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What Happens When Workers Don't Become Revolutionary on Their Own? | Lenin's Complete Philosophy
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