Communism needs democracy like the human body needs oxygen.
Leon TrotskyRead
In inner-party politics, these methods lead, as we shall yet see, to this: the party organization substitutes itself for the party, the central committee substitutes itself for the organization, and, finally, a dictator substitutes himself for the central committee.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the concentration of power within party structures, leading to authoritarianism.
Leon Trotsky's quote reflects on the dangers of political power dynamics where the established structures of a party become self-serving. It highlights how, in inner-party politics, those in leadership positions can gradually replace the democratic elements of the party with a singular, authoritarian rule, ultimately resulting in a dictatorial regime devoid of true representation or accountability.
Themes
PoliticsPowerDictatorshipPartyAuthority
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on the importance of checks and balances in government.
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Man will become immeasurably stronger, wiser, and subtler; his body will become more harmonious, his movements more rhythmic, his voice more musical. The forms of life will become dynamically dramatic. The average human type will rise to the heights of an Aristotle, a Goethe, or a Marx. And above these heights, new peaks will rise.
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The masses go into a revolution not with a prepared plan of social reconstruction, but with a sharp feeling that they cannot endure the old regime. Only the guiding layers of a class have a political program, and even this still requires the test of events and the approval of the masses.
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History has different yardsticks for the cruelty of the Northerners and the cruelty of the Southerners in the Civil War. A slave-owner who through cunning and violence shackles a slave in chains, and a slave who through cunning or violence breaks the chains – let not the contemptible eunuchs tell us that they are equals before a court of morality!
Leon TrotskyRead
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