...indicated quite precisely the main correction of their transitional program, namely, "the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery, and wield it for its own purposes." In other words, the correction was directed against the fetishism of bourgeois democracy. Marx later...

...occurred to Marx in 1848, when he observed the Paris Commune. His conclusion was that "the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made State machinery, and wield it for its own purposes." Therefore, instead of a "proletarian coup d'etat," the revolution was to result in "the abolition of...

...to the Communist Manifesto admitted that the Paris commune had taught them that "the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery and wield it for its own ,, «<; purposes. There is no doubt whatever that the revolutionary element in Marx's writings was, even if unconsciously,...

...details become antiquated. One thing especially was proved by the Commune, viz., that 'the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made State machinery, and wield it for its own purposes'. ( The Civil War in France; Address of the General Council of the International Working-men's Association,...

...revolution, and therefore as procedure of freedom and equality. As to the first point: "But the working class cannot simply lay hold of the readymade state machinery, and wield it for its own purposes."78 Faithfully, Engels can comment: "From the very outset the Commune was compelled to recognise...

...greens? As Marx writes with respect to the class dictatorship of the proletariat: 'the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery, and wield it for its own purposes.'82 This observation that the state cannot be steered in any direction that one likes seems,...

...respect of the reactionary bureaucrats, Marx and Engels repeatedly cautioned us: "The working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery, and wield it for its own purposes." (Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 2) They must use revolutionary violence to smash the state...

...their own destiny by seizing upon the government power'. A naive delusion, he argues. The working class cannot simply 'lay hold of the ready-made state machinery and wield it for its own purposes': one might as well try playing a piano sonata on a tin whistle. Fortunately the Commune had quickly...

...repr. in People's China, ed. Milton, 293-298. For a discussion of the Paris Commune, see: Karl Marx, The Civil War in France. Address of the General Council of the International Working Men 's Association t 1 87 1 ). repr. in Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. Selected Works tNew...

...uprising in Paris in 1871 (the "Paris Commune"), Marx had drawn the conclusion that "the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery and wield it for its own purposes"7 through the winning of a socialist majority in parliament; that in order to raise itself...