cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/55083659

The question of when to support an imperfect faction and to what extent is perhaps the biggest political question of the modern day. “Faction” here should be understood to mean both parties and organizations, as well as states. Many people have assumptions about what he believed and argued for, but these are sometimes based on incomplete readings of his work, or just picked up from osmosis from other people discussing it.

Obviously, Lenin’s perspective is not dogma, and not necessarily applicable to modern day conditions. However, I consider his analysis insightful, and it is rather nuanced and complex at times, which is why I consider a deep analysis like this to be important.

The way I’ve framed the question is very broad, so I have broken it down into more specific cases:

  1. Should socialists participate in bourgeois elections?

  2. Should socialists support the “lesser evil” or “underdog” in geopolitical affairs?

  3. Should socialists support bourgeois-led national liberation movements?

Due to length, my analysis will be posted in the comments.

[NB: Not all the quotes I cite are continuous, but I have made a good faith effort to represent his positions accurately to the best of my understanding, without cherry picking or proof-texting.]

  • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    6·
    5 days ago

    There’s also the issue of participating in elections as one of many tactics attracting people who think participating in elections as the only tactic.

    We participate in elections because this particular tactic is particularly suited for this particular historic moment. -> We participate in elections because this optimal tactic is suited for most historic moments. -> We participate in elections because this general strategy has few edge cases where it is not viable. -> We participate in elections because there is no alternative.