
The Pete Quiñones Show Pete and Aaron from Timeline Earth Read Vladimir Lenin's 'State and Revolution' - Complete
Oct 12, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Aaron from Timeline Earth joins Pete to read and provide insights on Lenin's 'State and Revolution.' Together, they navigate the intricacies of Marxist theory, exploring the state's role in class antagonisms and revolutionary violence. They delve into lessons from the Paris Commune regarding the necessity of player accountability and abolishing bureaucracy. The duo debates how proletarian centralism can emerge from local communes while rejecting opportunism, all underscored by a vision of a future devoid of state apparatus.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Reclaiming Marx On The State
- Lenin frames State and Revolution as a corrective to opportunist distortions of Marx and Engels about the state.
- He intends to quote Marx and Engels extensively to prove opportunists like Kautsky misread them.
State As A Coercive Machine
- Engels defines the state as a power that arises when class antagonisms become irreconcilable and must be suppressed.
- Lenin emphasizes that the state consists mainly of special bodies of armed men and coercive institutions, not mere administration.
What 'Withering Away' Really Means
- "Withering away" refers to the proletarian state after revolution, not gradual abolition without revolution.
- Lenin insists revolution must replace bourgeois special coercive forces with proletarian ones first.


















