First in a series of stories of; where we have already been and where we may be heading.
Vladimir Illich Ulyanov (later known as Lenin) was born in Simbirsk, Russia, on April 10, 1870. He and several other men forever changed the political and social direction that Russia was headed into.
Lenin was a radical who studied politics at various universities in Russia and became influenced by the teachings of Karl Marx. He wanted change in the country which was then an autocracy.
The first great war broke out in 1914 setting the stage for revolution at the hands of the Social Democratic Labor Party, the Bolsheviks and other socialist groups of the day. In 1917 the country was reeling economically from the war and the time was right for revolution. During this time of social unrest, labor strikes and governmental breakdown, the framework for what would become the new Soviet Union was formed.
Lenin in a speech in 1917 urged the peasants of Russia, to take the land from their rich landlords and for the industrial workers to seize the factories.
Ideas such as these shocked Russia’s revolutionaries. Most had supported ideas by Karl Marx that a communist revolution could only take place in an advanced capitalist country with a politically charged working class. It was also believed at the time that a revolution led by a small elite would result in a military dictatorship.
Lenin at various times was instrumental in forming the new government and at the same time was on the run for various charges including being a spy. He was on the rise to power when he was shot and left paralyzed on one side of his body. He needed to have some one that he trusted be his spokesman and elected a follower of his, named Joseph Stalin, who soon took over as Secretary General and went on to be the Supreme Dictator of the Soviet Union.
The country went through a series of bloody internal conflicts and Lenin finally died in 1924.
Stalin set himself up as the head of the country and realized that the only way to remain in power was to eliminate the opposition. Most were sent into exile and the rest were rounded up on false charges and executed. He formed the secret police and used them to protect him and inflict terror on the population to gain control. Lenin’s vision of a working class controlling the government was shattered by a power hungry butcher who now ruled the working class with an iron fist. No one dared oppose him under threat of death.
Karl Marx’s idealized world of communism and Lenin’s vision of a united workers union were no where in sight and in the end, Stalin’s government had none of these elements at all. Millions of innocent people were slaughtered at the hands of this man, the exact amount may never be known. He was ruthless and feared by many and maintained a tight grip on the people for many years.
All of this despair brought about by someone wanting change. No society is perfect, but by far the best system of government that was a boon to prosperity and the development of a group of people from a small beginning to the leader of the free world, is the United States of America. Our system of government has been successful for over two hundred years. People have a voice in government and through a system of checks and balances set up by a few very smart and wise men, this government has weathered many challenges successfully.
Now we face a great threat to our way of life as we know it. The system of checks and balances is broken. Our government, that was set up to serve us is now in a position to control us. Our leadership has abused it’s powers and is tightening it’s control over us at an alarming rate and we as the citizens of this great nation will have to stand up to this or watch our freedom disappear. The time is now.
Change to some, is the end of all as the rest of us know it. Do you want to go down the same dark path as Russia did? Do we have a new Lenin among us? Do we need the kind of change that we are seeing unfold with our very eyes. This is the greatest nation on the face of the earth! A beacon for all of the oppressed! Rise to the occasion Patriots! Stand down the threat that faces us!
brucester1959
