As discussed in section H.5.1, vanguardism rests on the premise that the working class cannot emancipate itself. As such, the ideas of Lenin as expounded in What is to be Done? contradicts the key idea of Marx that the emancipation of the working class is the task of the working class itself. Thus the paradox of Leninism. On the one hand, it subscribes to an ideology allegedly based on working class self-liberation. On the other, the founder of that school wrote an obviously influential work whose premise not only logically implies that they cannot, it also provides the perfect rationale for party dictatorship over the working class (and as the history of Leninism in power showed, this underlying premise was much stronger than any democratic-sounding rhetoric — see the appendix on "What happened during the Russian Revolution?").

It is for this reason that many Leninists are somewhat embarrassed by Lenin's argument in What is to be Done?. Hence we see Chris Harman writing that "the real theoretical basis for his [Lenin's] argument on the party is not that the working class is incapable on its own of coming to theoretical socialist consciousness . . . The real basis for his argument is that the level of consciousness in the working class is never uniform." [Party and Class, pp. 25-6] In other words, Harman changes the focus of the question away from the point explicitly and repeatedly stated by Lenin that the working class was incapable on its own of coming to theoretical socialist consciousness and that he was simply repeating Marxist orthodoxy when he did.

Harman bases his revision on Lenin's later comments regarding his book, namely that he sought to "straighten matters out" by "pull[ing] in the other direction" to the "extreme" which the "economists" had went to. He repeated this in 1907 (see below). While Lenin may have been right to attack the "economists," his argument that socialist consciousness comes to the working class only "from without" is not a case of going too far in the other direction; it is wrong. Simply put, you do not attack ideas you disagree with arguing an equally false set of ideas. This suggests that Harman's attempt to downplay Lenin's elitist position is flawed. Simply put, the "real theoretical basis" of the argument was precisely the issue Lenin himself raised, namely the incapacity of the working class to achieve socialist consciousness by itself. It is probably the elitist conclusions of this argument which drives Harman to try and change the focus to another issue, namely the political unevenness within the working class.

Some go to even more extreme lengths, denying that Lenin even held such a position. For example, Hal Draper argues at length that Lenin did not, in fact, hold the opinions he actually expressed in his book! While Draper covers many aspects of what he calls the "Myth of Lenin's 'Concept of The Party,'" in his essay of the same name, we will concentrate on the key idea, namely that socialist ideas are developed outside the class struggle by the radical intelligentsia and introduced into the working class from without. Here, as argued in section H.5.1, is the root of the anti-socialist basis of Leninism.

So what does Draper say? On the one hand, he denies that Lenin held this theory (he states that it is a "virtually non-existent theory" and "non-existent after WITBD"). He argues that those who hold the position that Lenin actually meant what he said in his book "never quote anything other than WITBD," and states that this is a "curious fact" (a fact we will disprove shortly). Draper argues as follows: "Did Lenin put this theory forward even in WITBD? Not exactly." He then notes that Lenin "had just read this theory in the most prestigious theoretical organ of Marxism of the whole international socialist movement" and it had been "put forward in an important article by the leading Marxist authority," Karl Kautsky. Draper notes that "Lenin first paraphrased Kautsky" and then "quoted a long passage from Kautsky's article."

This much, of course, is well known by anyone who has read Lenin's book. By paraphrasing and quoting Kautsky as he does, Lenin is showing his agreement with Kautsky's argument. Indeed, Lenin states before quoting Kautsky that his comments are "profoundly true and important" [Essential Works of Lenin, p. 79] As such, by explicitly and obviously agreeing with Kautsky, it can be said that it also becomes Lenin's theory as well! Over time, particularly after Kautsky had been labelled a "renegade" by Lenin, Kautsky's star waned and Lenin's rose. Little wonder the argument became associated with Lenin rather than the discredited Kautsky. Draper then speculates that "it is curious . . . that no one has sought to prove that by launching this theory . . . Kautsky was laying the basis for the demon of totalitarianism." A simply reason exists for this, namely the fact that Kautsky, unlike Lenin, was never the head of a one-party dictatorship and justified this system politically. Indeed, Kautsky attacked the Bolsheviks for this, which caused Lenin to label him a "renegade." Kautsky, in this sense, can be considered as being inconsistent with his political assumptions, unlike Lenin who took his assumptions to their logical conclusions.

How, after showing the obvious fact that "the crucial 'Leninist' theory was really Kautsky's," he then wonders "[d]id Lenin, in WITBD, adopt Kautsky's theory?" He answers his own question with an astounding "Again, not exactly"! Clearly, quoting approvingly of a theory and stating it is "profoundly true" does not, in fact, make you a supporter of it! What evidence does Draper present for his amazing answer? Well, Draper argued that Lenin "tried to get maximum mileage out of it against the right wing; this was the point of his quoting it. If it did something for Kautsky's polemic, he no doubt figured that it would do something for his." Or, to present a more simple and obvious explanation, Lenin agreed with Kautsky's "profoundly true" argument!

Aware of this possibility, Draper tries to combat it. "Certainly," he argues, "this young man Lenin was not (yet) so brash as to attack his 'pope' or correct him overtly. But there was obviously a feeling of discomfort. While showing some modesty and attempting to avoid the appearance of a head-on criticism, the fact is that Lenin inserted two longish footnotes rejecting (or if you wish, amending) precisely what was worst about the Kautsky theory on the role of the proletariat." So, here we have Lenin quoting Kautsky to prove his own argument (and noting that Kautsky's words were "profoundly true and important"!) but "feeling discomfort" over what he has just approvingly quoted! Incredible!

So how does Lenin "amend" Kautsky's "profoundly true and important" argument? In two ways, according to Draper. Firstly, in a footnote which "was appended right after the Kautsky passage" Lenin quoted. Draper argued that it "was specifically formulated to undermine and weaken the theoretical content of Kautsky's position. It began: 'This does not mean, of course, that the workers have no part in creating such an ideology.' But this was exactly what Kautsky did mean and say. In the guise of offering a caution, Lenin was proposing a modified view. 'They [the workers] take part, however,' Lenin's footnote continued, 'not as workers, but as socialist theoreticians, as Proudhons and Weitlings; in other words, they take part only when they are able . . .' In short, Lenin was reminding the reader that Kautsky's sweeping statements were not even 100% true historically; he pointed to exceptions." Yes, Lenin did point to exceptions in order to refute objections to Kautsky's argument before they were raised! It is clear that Lenin is not refuting Kautsky. He is agreeing with him and raising possible counter-examples in order to refute potential objections based on them. Thus Proudhon adds to socialist ideology in so far as he is a "socialist theoretician" and not a worker! How clear can you be? As Lenin continues, people like Proudhon "take part only to the extent that they are able, more or less, to acquire the knowledge of their age and advance that knowledge." In other words, insofar as they learn from the "vehicles of science." Neither Kautsky or Lenin denied that it was possible for workers to acquire such knowledge and pass it on. However this does not mean that they thought workers, as part of their daily life and struggle as workers, could develop "socialist theory." Thus Lenin's footnote reiterates Kautsky's argument rather than, as Draper hopes, refutes it.

Draper turns to another footnote, which he notes "was not directly tied to the Kautsky article, but discussed the 'spontaneity of the socialist idea. 'It is often said,' Lenin began, 'that the working class spontaneously gravitates towards socialism. This is perfectly true in the sense that socialist theory reveals the causes of the misery of the working class ... and for that reason the workers are able to assimilate it so easily,' but he reminded that this process itself was not subordinated to mere spontaneity. 'The working class spontaneously gravitates towards socialism; nevertheless, ... bourgeois ideology spontaneously imposes itself upon the working class to a still greater degree.'" Draper argues that this "was obviously written to modify and recast the Kautsky theory, without coming out and saying that the Master was wrong." So, here we have Lenin approvingly quoting Kautsky in the main text while, at the same time, providing a footnote to show that, in fact, he did not agree with what he has just quoted! Truly amazing — and easily refuted. After all, the footnote stresses that workers appreciate socialist theory "provided, however, that this theory does not step aside for spontaneity and provided it subordinates spontaneity to itself." In other words, workers "assimilate" socialist theory only when socialist theory does not adjust itself to the "spontaneous" forces at work in the class struggle. Thus, rather than refuting Kautsky by the backdoor, Lenin in this footnote still agrees with him. Socialism does not develop, as Kautsky stressed, from the class struggle but rather has to be injected into it. This means, by necessity, the theory "subordinates spontaneity to itself."

Draper argues that this "modification" simply meant that there "are several things that happen 'spontaneously,' and what will win out is not decided only by spontaneity" but as can be seen, this is not the case. Only when "spontaneity" is subordinated to the theory (i.e. the party) can socialism be won, a totally different position. As such, when Draper asserts that "[a]ll that was clear at this point was that Lenin was justifiably dissatisfied with the formulation of Kautsky's theory," he is simply expressing wishful thinking. This footnote, like the first one, continues the argument developed by Lenin in the main text and in no way is in contradiction to it. As is obvious.

Draper argues that the key problem is that critics of Lenin "run two different questions together: (a) What was, historically, the initial role of intellectuals in the beginnings of the socialist movement, and (b) what is - and above all, what should be - the role of bourgeois intellectuals in a working-class party today." He argues that Kautsky did not believe that "if it can be shown that intellectuals historically played a certain initiatory role, they must and should continue to play the same role now and forever. It does not follow; as the working class matured, it tended to throw off leading strings." However, this is unconvincing. After all, if socialist consciousness cannot be generated by the working class by its own struggles then this is applicable now and in the future. Thus workers who join the socialist movement will be repeating the party ideology, as developed by intellectuals in the past. If they do develop new theory, it would be, as Lenin stressed, "not as workers, but as socialist theoreticians" and so socialist consciousness still does not derive from their own class experiences. This places the party in a privileged position vis-à-vis the working class and so the elitism remains.

Ironically, Draper agrees with Kautsky and Lenin as regards the claim that socialism does not develop out of the class struggle. As he put it, "[a]s a matter of fact, in the International of 1902 no one really had any doubts about the historical facts concerning the beginnings of the movement." The question is, "[b]ut what followed from those facts?" To which he argues that Marx and Engels "concluded, from the same facts and subsequent experiences, that the movement had to be sternly warned against the influence of bourgeois intellectuals inside the party." (We wonder if Marx and Engels included themselves in the list of "bourgeois intellectuals" the workers had to be "sternly warned" about?) Thus, amusingly enough, Draper argues that Marx, Engels, Kautsky and Lenin all held to the "same facts" that socialist consciousness developed outside the experiences of the working classes!

Draper, after rewriting history somewhat in his laborious and hardly convincing arguments, states that it "is a curious fact that no one has ever found this alleged theory anywhere else in Lenin's voluminous writings, not before and not after [What is to be Done?]. It never appeared in Lenin again. No Leninologist has ever quoted such a theory from any other place in Lenin." However, as this theory was the orthodox Marxist position, Lenin had no real need to reiterate this argument continuously. After all, he had quoted the acknowledged leader of Marxism on the subject explicitly to show the orthodoxy of his argument and the "non-Marxist" base of those he argued against. Once the debate had been won and orthodox Marxism triumphant, why repeat the argument again? As we will see below, this was exactly the position Lenin did take in 1907 when he wrote an introduction to a book which contained What is to Be Done?.

In contradiction to Draper's claim, Lenin did return to this matter. In October 1905 he wrote an a short article in praise of an article by Stalin on this very subject. Stalin had sought to explain Lenin's ideas to the Georgian Social-Democracy and, like Lenin, had sought to root the argument in Marxist orthodoxy (partly to justify the argument, partly to expose the Menshevik opposition as being "non-Marxists"). Stalin argues along similar lines to Lenin:

"the question now is: who works out, who is able to work out this socialist consciousness (i.e. scientific socialism)? Kautsky says, and I repeat his idea, that the masses of proletarians, as long as they remain proletarians, have neither the time nor the opportunity to work out socialist consciousness . . . The vehicles of science are the intellectuals . . . who have both the time and opportunity to put themselves in the van of science and workout socialist consciousness. Clearly, socialist consciousness is worked out by a few Social-Democratic intellectuals who posses the time and opportunity to do so." [Collected Works, vol. 1, p. 164]

Stalin stresses the Marxist orthodoxy by stating Social-Democracy "comes in and introduces socialist consciousness into the working class movement. This is what Kautsky has in mind when he says 'socialist consciousness is something introduced into the proletarian class struggle from without.'" [Op. Cit., pp. 164-5] That Stalin is simply repeating Lenin's and Kautsky's arguments is clear, as is the fact it was considered the orthodox position within social-democracy.

If Draper is right, then Lenin would have taken the opportunity to attack Stalin's article and express the alternative viewpoint Draper is convinced he held. However, Lenin put pen to paper to praise Stalin's work, noting "the splendid way in which the problem of the celebrated 'introduction of a consciousness from without' had been posed." Lenin explicitly agrees with Stalin's summary of his argument. He argues that "social being determines consciousness . . . Socialist consciousness corresponds to the position of the proletariat" and then quotes Stalin: "'Who can and does evolve this consciousness (scientific socialism)?'" and answers (again approvingly quoting Stalin) that "its 'evolution' is a matter for a few Social-Democratic intellectuals who posses the necessary means and time.'" Lenin does argue that Social-Democracy meets "an instinctive urge towards socialism" when it "comes to the proletariat with the message of socialism," but this does not counter the main argument that the working class cannot develop socialist consciousness by it own efforts and the, by necessity, elitist and hierarchical politics that flow from this position. [Lenin, Collected Works, vol. 9, p. 388]

That Lenin did not reject his early formulations can also be seen from in his introduction to the pamphlet "Twelve Years" which contained What is to be Done?. Rather than explaining the false nature of that work's more infamous arguments, Lenin in fact defended them. For example, as regards the question of professional revolutionaries, he argued that the statements of his opponents now "look ridiculous" as "today the idea of an organisation of professional revolutionaries has already scored a complete victory," a victory which "would have been impossible if this idea had not been pushed to the forefront at the time." He noted that his work had "vanquished Economism . . . and finally created this organisation." On the question of socialist consciousness, he simply reiterates the Marxist orthodoxy of his position, noting that its "formulation of the relationship between spontaneity and political consciousness was agreed upon by all the Iskar editors . . . Consequently, there could be no question of any difference in principle between the draft Party programme and What is to be Done? on this issue." So while Lenin argues that he had "straighten out what had been twisted by the Economists," he did not correct his early arguments. [Collected Works, vol. 13, p. 101, p. 102 and p. 107]

Looking at Lenin's arguments at the Communist International on the question of the party we see an obvious return to the ideas of What is to be Done?. Here was have a similar legal/illegal duality, strict centralism, strong hierarchy and the vision of the party as the "head" of the working class (i.e. its consciousness). In Left-Wing Communism, Lenin mocks those who reject the idea that dictatorship by the party is the same as that of the class.

Ultimately, the whole rationale for the kind of wishful thinking that Draper inflicts on us is flawed. As noted above, you do not combat what you think is an incorrect position with one which you consider as also being wrong or do not agree with! You counter what you consider as an incorrect position with one you consider correct and agree with. As Lenin, in WITBD, explicitly did. This means that later attempts by his followers to downplay the ideas raised in Lenin's book are unconvincing. Moreover, as he was simply repeating Social-Democratic orthodoxy it seems doubly unconvincing.

Clearly, Draper is wrong. Lenin did, as indicated above, actually mean what he said in What is to be Done?. The fact that Lenin quoted Kautsky simply shows that this position was the orthodox Social-Democratic one, held by the mainstream of the party. Given that Leninism was (and still is) a "radical" offshoot of this movement, this should come as no surprise. However, Draper's comments remind us how religious many forms of Marxism are. After all, why do we need facts when we have the true faith?