You've heard about it, here it is: The cyberLeninist Manifesto The principle of "information wants to be free" fits Leninism as a bullet does a rifle in what turns out to be the ultimate nightmare for the bourgeoisie. Leninism, as a continuation of the practical and theoretical work of Karl Marx, had two stages in the period while Lenin was alive. The period from Lenin's death to approximately the present period has represented the third stage of Leninism. Now, as the coming revolution in digital communications promises to link-up class-conscious workers in every country, we are entering the fourth stage. Leninism I . . . . . . (1896 - 1917) Building a party that withstood repression and fought emergent social-democracy Leninism II . . . . . (1917 - 1923) State power under harsh conditions Leninism III . . . . (1924 - approximately today) Leninism in the hands of its enemies Leninism IV . . . . (after the fall of the Soviet Union                                   and the development of the web) Classical Leninism plus "information wants to be free" Beam me up, Scotty Leninism I Building a party that withstood repression and fought emergent social-democracy . T he period from the late 1890's until 1917 represents the first stage of Leninism, in which Lenin developed the outlines of a party of a new type--able to maintain extensive ties with the workers (create, publish and widely distribute in illegal conditions an underground press--build underground organizations of workers in the factories capable of organizing strikes and other actions) and carry out a complete program of revolutionary work despite heavy repression from the Tsarist government. During this period Lenin led the fight against social-democracy--which got its start in life as most of the mainstream leaders of the marxist movement in Europe betrayed the proletariat, went over to the side of the bourgeoisie and supported the mutual slaughter of worker by worker now known as the first world war. Beam me up, Scotty Leninism II State power under harsh conditions . T he period after the conquest of state power in October 1917 represents the second stage of Leninism. During this period the survival of the young revolution, (engaged in a brutal civil war and international intervention, surrounded by enemies and in the midst of a population which--after the defeat of the white armies by 1921--grew increasingly restless and disenchanted with the existing misery, hunger and general harsh conditions and engaged in a series of armed revolts) necessitated a series of emergency measures in which all political opposition to the bolsheviks, whether representing the efforts of the international bourgeoisie or the misguided strivings of petty bourgeois trends (which would have worked to the advantage of the bourgeoisie and ushered in bourgeois rule), was ruthlessly suppressed. T he harsh conditions during this period necessitated that the "normal" democratic rights associated with bourgeois democracy, such as freedom of the press and freedom of political association, were suspended for the entire population and even for members of Lenin's own bolshevik party. Any election during this period would have proven that the popular support the bolsheviks had initially enjoyed had long since eroded. The bolsheviks were living atop a lighted stick of dynamite. The revolutionary government had the right and the duty to carry out these repressive measures, as emergency measures for a temporary period of time. But such measures, necessary as they were, constituted a grave and severe threat to the long-term health of the revolution and led to its eventual suffocation. D uring this period, many serious mistakes were made. Some mistakes, such as the practice of confiscating from peasants, at gunpoint, all grain beyond the most minimal necessary for survival, were recognized and repudiated by Lenin in March 1921. But Lenin did not have time to recognize from practice and correct all the mistakes of this period, nor to lead the transition away from the temporary emergency repressive measures and toward a more open system allowing workers to more freely organize, improvise and experiment politically and economically from below and learn from their own mistakes. Lenin was incapacited by a series of strokes beginning in May 1922 and his political life was over in less than a year. Two months before his stroke, however, in his last major address to the party, Lenin warned the 11th Party Congress that "History knows all sorts of metamorphoses" and that "the real and main danger" was that the party might degenerate along bourgeois lines but retain "communist flags inscribed with catchwords stuck all over the place". And this, in a very approximate way, is what happened. Beam me up, Scotty Leninism III Leninism in the hands of its enemies . H istory has not necessarily made clear whether conditions existed for the 1917 revolution to defeat its enemies and reach the stage where it could have afforded the relaxation of the restrictions on independent political activity which would have been necessary for its long-term health. Possibly with a few good harvests and some restoration of the economy the bolsheviks would have had enough of a breathing space to begin the process of opening things up. O n the other hand, if--after several years--it became clear that such conditions did not exist--that the population was not ready to undertake the sacrifices necessary for economic development on a voluntary basis (ie: without severe repression and the continued denial of essential democratic rights)--a correct course for the bolsheviks to take may have been to prepare for a retreat from power. If long-term repression of the population was a necessity of economic development--it may have been better to have let the bourgeoisie undertake this task--and to take the credit for it also--rather than to allow generations of workers to associate "communism" with a permanant, repressive police-state. W hile it may not be possible to know for certain whether conditions existed for the long-term success of the revolution and a gradual thaw of repressive measures--it can be said that historically--this is not what happened. Instead, following Lenin's death, the bolshevik leadership began to become increasingly and narrowly preoccupied with its own immediate survival. The easing of the repression of "normal" democratic rights appears to never have been put on the agenda. By the late 1920's or early 1930's it was becoming more clear that the revolution had been compromised and its principles betrayed. A new class of privileged functionaries acquired a permanent existence and--to complete the process--in the mid and late 1930's the bulk of the bolshevik leaders of Lenin's time were shot. D uring this period, Leninism continued to evolve--but it evolved in the hands of its enemies. Leninism was mummified and turned into a set of dead dogmas by the counter-revolution. The principles for which Lenin had fought were codified and transformed into a political religion given the name "Marxism-Leninism" (a phrase never used by Lenin). All of the temporary emergency repressive measures taken during the time of greatest emergency and hardship were enshrined as permanent features of the "proletarian" dictatorship. The workers' political party must not, it was proclaimed, ever have different sections organized on the basis of differing political views or overall assessment. No real debate, involving the masses, on issues of fundamental principle could ever be allowed. All political life must be channeled thru and approved by a supreme directing center--a single point of control. Political life itself was seen as a severe threat and the greatest necessity was for society to be completely inert politically--to be politically dead. Beam me up, Scotty Leninism IV Classical Leninism plus "information wants to be free" . T his brings us to the fourth stage of Leninism: Leninism not only as it is neeeded today but as it would have evolved in the event that the 1917 revolution had not been suffocated but instead had been successful. This stage of Leninism would have brought about genuine proletarian democracy--a phenomena that historically has only existed fleetingly and never in any developed sense. This stage of Leninism would correspond to the objective requirements of developing a complex economy via worker initiative and would involve a ceaseless search for bottom-up methods by which the interdependent (simultaneously competing as well as cooperating) economic and political actions of many thousands and millions of workers would at all levels be an indispensable component of orderly and planned (as well as chaotic and unplanned) economic development. I propose that this fourth stage be called cyberLeninism. CyberLeninism would be those principles corresponding to the objective necessity for organizing a complex economy under modern conditions--free of the rule of the market or the laws of commodity production. CyberLeninism corresponds to the unleashing of mass initiative in the period where information goods and services will dominate the economy. C yberLeninism represents the repudiation of the third stage of Leninism (ie: Leninism in the hands of its enemies, Leninism as a political religion, Leninism as "Marxism-Leninism") and goes back to the basic living principles for which both Marx and Lenin fought. C yberLeninism involves the explicit addition, to classical Leninism, of the principle of "information wants to be free". In a modern, developed, complex society, the principle of "information wants to be free" fits classical Leninism as a bullet does a rifle --and in the age in which information is increasingly flowing in ways which cannot be stopped--restores to Leninism the status of a weapon which, in the hands of the proletariat, will prove to be invincible. .

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. What can you do to help ? How you can help to build a powerful and healthy communist movement A number of readers have sent email asking my opinion on what they can do to help build a communist movement. Unfortunately, I am too incompetent to give more than very general answers. Here are the suggestions I was able to come up with: Learn about the communist movement Use the potential of cyberspace to learn about the history of the communist movement and the vital issues that are important for its development. Check out the websites, the activity and the positions (ie: "political line") of various groups on all the important questions. Check out both groups that do and do not claim to be communist. Here are some other things you can do: keep a private political journal to record observations and focus your mind on the kinds of questions you need to be asking yourself take part in the various forums (usenet, email lists or web-based discussion boards) which are popping up to discuss marxism and/or issues relating to the class struggle survey the web sites of radical organizations, read, ask questions via email and see if you can get answers (sometimes you can and sometimes you can't) create your own political web site so that others you may want to talk with can easily see what's on your mind, where you are coming from and what sites you link to. (Anonymous web sites are best--to avoid harassment at present or future schools or workplaces.) You can set up free, anonymous email and websites by using: www.hotmail.com, www.geocities.com, www.tripod.com, or www.angelfire.com. keep informed about important national and international news events Make contact with radical political organizations Nearly all countries have a variety of leftist organizations. If you live in a country where leftist activity is illegal or is punished by government-supported death squads (ie: many parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America) you would, of course, want to be extremely cautious about this. For everyone else, however, making contact with (and working with) left organizations may be the best way to gain practical experience in the class struggle. At the same time, however, it is important to keep in mind that nearly all leftist organizations are severely flawed from one direction or another, usually by one or another degree of reformism or sectarianism or both. This does not mean that you should refrain from getting involved with a leftist group. On the contrary, without first-hand experience with the flaws of groups on the left, it would be much more difficult to understand the nature of the existing problems. But do keep your eyes open. Try to become familiar with as broad a variety of leftist groups as you can. Read their press (leaflets, newspapers and web sites), talk to their supporters, try to form a general picture of their activity, the type of work they do, the issues they do or do not deal with and the struggles with which they are involved. Do not: "drink the kool-aid" Unfortunately, some organizations have an internal life which is similar to that of a cult. In their competition with other political trends, they may use tactics which tend to cut their supporters off from meaningful political interaction with rival trends. One aspect of this tactic (which I call "information isolation") is to incite their supporters against other trends in such a way that intelligent discussion is no longer possible. This is usually accomplished by conditioning their supporters to think of rival trends as "black hats" and their own trend as "white hats". Activists who fall into this trap are known as sectarians. Unfortunately, it is not that uncommon for supporters of rival trends to do nothing but trade "political" insults when they meet one another. The best antidote to sectarian attitudes is to recognize that all trends have strengths as well as weaknesses and to always maintain the kind of honest curiosity that allows intelligent discussion to take place between activists of competing trends. .