We now come to consider the active factor of the revolution from capitalism to socialism,—the Proletariat. It may be stated without any fear of contradiction that this question of the role of the proletariat in bringing about the transformation from capitalism to socialism, and how and under what circumstances it will execute this role, in which last is included the question of the so-called breakdown of capitalism, is the real bone of contention between the so-called old-school Marxists and the Revisionists; this being merely the reverse side of the question of the Social Revolution, and all other questions are only tributary to it. As was already stated before, the purely theoretical questions of philosophy and political economy are not the proper field of Revisionism, and these theories are drawn into the discussion only in so far as they have, or are believed to have, any bearing on the present question. The paramount question of revisionism is: Who is going to bring about the transformation from capitalism to socialism, and how will it be done? Everything else is only interesting in so far as it throws some light on this subject. We have already shown in the preceding chapters the role which some of our social elements, those which may be called passive, will play in this transformation and how the ground will be prepared and broken. Now we will consider the active factor, its development and the conditions under which the work can be successfully done by it.
Before proceeding any further, however, attention must be called to a peculiar feature of the discussion on this sub-
