Holy crap, I don't think I've seen a Scumbag Steve ballcap in a meme since 2014! Instantly recognizable!
this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2026
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Explanation: After the October Revolution, the Bolshevik faction took power in a coup from the Russian provisional government organizing elections. One of their many slogans was "All power to the Soviets!", the Soviets being the local democratic workers' councils.
After dissolving the democratically elected socialist-supermajority national legislature that was returned by the recent elections, they opted to... forbid the Soviets from having new elections to maintain their power over the Soviets without the risk of the workers making the 'wrong' choices. And after that, they would dissolve the other parties and allow only the (single, picked) candidate of the Bolsheviks to run in the elections (almost always uncontested).
NO power to the Soviets!
Do you have a good source to read more about this? I have been searching on this what feels like half an hour and the results are not saying anything on the topic or either boil down to 'Soviet=Communist dictatorship gulag 100 billion dead' or 'Your boot tastes so good comrade Stalin'
Sure, I have a few leftist commentaries on the matter I've cited before! Thank Marxists.org for being free and searchable, lmao, they're a darling resource.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1918/russian-revolution/ch04.htm
https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/wright/1937/12/intnotes1.htm
https://www.marxists.org/archive/kollonta/1921/workers-opposition/intro.htm
So I have read more on the topic but I still have some more confusions that I hope you can clear up. Firstly you said that the Bolsheviks banned the Soviets from having elections, but the sources I read just stated that they gradually lost power in favor of the of the central comitee of the CP and later the Politburo. Is this what you meant or did I overread something?. Later you talked about how they only allowed their people to be elected. Are you referring to the supreme soviet or soviets as a whole?
Firstly you said that the Bolsheviks banned the Soviets from having elections, but the sources I read just stated that they gradually lost power in favor of the of the central comitee of the CP and later the Politburo. Is this what you meant or did I overread something
Sorry, there are a lot of separate issues addressed - during the Russian Civil War, the Bolsheviks opted to refuse to seat any new representatives from the Soviets when they realized the public mood was turning against them in... either late 1918 or late 1919.
Later, when all other parties were formally banned, they graciously 'allowed' Soviets to elect members of the Communist Party, if they wanted.
Later you talked about how they only allowed their people to be elected. Are you referring to the supreme soviet or soviets as a whole?
All elections. There were no legal other parties after 1921, practically speaking, and independent 'non-party' candidates were only allowed if they were explicitly approved as individual candidates by the Communist Party - and they rarely were anything but Bolsheviks who voted in lockstep themselves.
The "Revolutions" podcast (season 10) by Mike Duncan goes into great detail about the Russian revolution.
Be for warned, the Russian revolution season is over 100 episodes (more than 50 hours). Each of the seasons start out slow, introducing the characters, setting, and background, but once it gets going it gets so good.
My recollections of the Russian revolution season was the Bolsheviks were pretty worthless and considered a joke. They kind of just succeeded because everyone else was so exhausted and apathetic by the time they tried to grab power. Also, Stalin was a Georgian bank robber.
All the seasons are good, but the first two (English and American) aren't as good. Mike was still trying to figure out how in-depth he wanted to be for the podcast and so those seasons are rather shallow. I particularly like the Mexican revolution (Zapata!).
Like how “drain the swamp” turned into bribes and ballrooms.
tbf, that one was at least obvious from the start. The Bolsheviks didn't have a long record, so thinking they might be sincere was a much more forgivable mistake.
Drain the swamp, we got a whole new swamp coming in and we need to make room
The problem with self government is that governing Is a shitty job that people will gladly let someone do for them.
The only solution is to never have more than a dozen or so humans in the same place at the same time or you’re gonna need a government.
The only solution is to never have more than a dozen or so humans in the same place at the same time or you’re gonna need a government.
try two. for someone keen on learning lessons, I fucked up understanding the amount of infrastructure necessary to keep TWO fucking people on the same page, TWICE.
A dozen sounds a little dangerous
I mean, I wouldn’t want to be there but some people are gregarious.
"Power to the Soviets?
No! Power to a small group of individuals over everyone else."