Permanent Party Control as Tyranny
Lenin’s vanguard party theory transformed Marx’s concept into permanent dictatorship by Communist Party elites. Stalin’s USSR and Mao’s China entrenched power in a small group using secret police and propaganda. The “temporary” phase never ended as promised. North Korea’s continuing Kim dynasty shows how far this strayed from Marx’s vision. Workers gained no real power while new ruling classes emerged, creating systems more oppressive than those they replaced, with no path toward the promised stateless society.
