Rosa Luxembourg

This quote is very notable for Luxembourg’s essay.  By the time Luxembourg was writing this, it had become conventional wisdom in Communist circles that the only way to induce a revolution was to have a vanguard party like Lenin did.  The notion that a mass of people would lead the revolution had become outdated; the fact that many left-wing parties like the SPD supported the First World War I only proved this.  If you give people the choice, they will inevitably be cowardly and go back to the status quo.  But Luxembourg saw that this was not a real revolution.  The entire socialization of the masses has to change for a true revolution to occur.  She stresses this idea - socialization - in her writings.  It will take more than just politics to create a true revolution; the human spirit itself has to change first as well.  It’s not enough to just change the government.  This will certainly make things more equal but it will not last because it’s not a genuine revolution.  

I feel that Luxembourg’s message has a large connection to nihilism. In her essay, she says that humanity has a choice:  either continue down the road of capitalism or have a socialist revolution.  But the capitalists have “forfeited” their right to rule by marching millions to their slaughter.  In other words, a continuation of capitalist power would lead to the destruction of humanity.  All of society has to start over, not reform itself.  This is a very nihilist message because she is saying the entire order has to be imploded for everyone’s benefit - in fact, necessity since the present order is literally causing the destruction of humanity.