Leon Trotsky, politician: “State property becomes socialist to the extent that it ceases to be state property”
This leader became president of the Saint Petersburg Soviet on October 6, 1905.
Throughout history, there have been countless politicians who have transcended beyond their own era. Leon Trotsky was one of them. Considered one of the most important leaders of the Soviet Revolution, this politician became president of the Saint Petersburg Soviet on October 6, 1905. He did so after going into exile in London just three years earlier.
It was precisely during this transfer to the islands that he met Lenin. Although he initially sympathized with the Mensheviks, he later declared himself completely independent of factions. Not only did he become president of the Saint Petersburg Soviet, but in 1917 he joined the Bolsheviks and was also elected president of the Petrograd Soviet.
The distinction between state property and socialist property explained by Trotsky: “The State loses its reason for being”
One of the most shared quotes by the Russian thinker was captured in ‘The Revolution Betrayed,’ from 1936. In this writing, Trotsky draws a distinction between state property and socialist property. For him, the former is the assets and companies that legally belong to the State.
The second is related to the means of production that are owned by society, and the State allows them to function as an entity separate from it. Thus, the central idea shared by Trotsky is that the State should progressively lose its role as owner and as a power separate from society.
'“State property is not that of "the whole people" except insofar as privileges and social distinctions disappear and, consequently, the State loses its reason for being. In other words: state property becomes socialist to the extent that it ceases to be state property” , is the complete paragraph of the quote from ‘The Revolution Betrayed’.'
