Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov – better known as Lenin – was born in 1870 in Ulyanovsk, Russia and died in Gorki Leninskiye, Russia in 1924, aged 53.
He was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician, and political theorist who served as leader of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1917, then concurrently as Premier of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death.
He replaced the former Russian Empire with the Soviet Union; all wealth including land, industry and business was nationalized according to his political theories which, in turn, were based on the theories of Karl Marx.
In 1893 he was arrested for sedition and exiled to Siberia for three years. Later, he fled to Western Europe where he became known as a prominent party theorist. He encouraged violent insurrection and later campaigned for the First World War to be transformed into a Europe-wide proletariat revolution. After the Tsar was ousted, following the 1917 February Revolution, he returned to Russia.
Under his leadership both homosexuality and abortion were legalized, as was no-fault divorce. universal free healthcare, and free education.
Superficially, a Socialist paradise. So what went wrong?
Following Lenin’s death, the intrigue and in-fighting among the party leadership led to a power struggle which resulted in the faction led by Joseph Stalin gaining control. Those who opposed him were dealt with harshly.
The Soviet Union became a police state in every meaning of the word. The price for Socialist benefits was the elimination of any form of personal or political freedom. Countless millions were tortured and murdered to secure the framework of the state.
Nevertheless, Time Magazine named Lenin one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century, and one of their top 25 political icons of all time.
Lenin could be figuratively “spinning in his grave” had he seen what became of his legacy.
Think about that as you delve through our LifeDaily selection of aspects of Lenin’s ideology:
- One man with a gun can control 100 without one.
- The goal of socialism is communism.
- Fascism is capitalism in decay.
- Sometimes – history needs a push.
- A lie told often enough becomes the truth.
- Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.
- The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
- No amount of political freedom will satisfy the hungry masses.
- It is true that liberty is precious; so precious that it must be carefully rationed.
- The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency.
- There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel.
- Our program necessarily includes the propaganda of atheism.
- If Socialism can only be realized when the intellectual development of all the people permits it, then we shall not see Socialism for at least five hundred years.
- Any cook should be able to run the country.
- When there is state there can be no freedom, but when there is freedom there will be no state.
There can be no doubt that, to some extent, the remnants of Lenin’s ideology still have some influence today.
On balance, do you think that is a power for good or evil? You can share your thoughts by using the comments feed provided below.
