You Should Read "Left Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder"

My cat, Judah, is begging you to read The Infantile Sickness of ‘Leftism’ in Communism (better known as Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder, but I prefer the translated title to the English retitle).

The book is available for free online here, or get the one with this beautiful cover from Marxist Books here.

You see, I am in the process of editing my documentary about the left/right dichotomy and its root in material class distinctions, and Judah is extremely needy, attempting to pry me away from it at all times. He seems to think that if people just read this book by Lenin, I would have nothing to do and would turn all my attention to him.

He is incorrect about that, but I agree with him that you should read it.

Written by Vladimir Lenin in 1920, it offers a timeless critique of the errors of “the left deviation,” which Lenin saw as an expression of impatience and immaturity in the communist movement. At its core, the text argues for a flexible, context-sensitive approach to politics rather than a rigid adherence to doctrine.

Here are a few reasons to read it:

• Historical Context: Understanding the challenges and debates within the Communist movement post-Russian Revolution, a time period that’s commonly misunderstood, particularly in the USA.

• Pragmatic Tactics: Lenin discusses the importance of strategic participation in bourgeois systems and working with reformist trade unions, which he argues can be used as platforms to advance revolutionary aims.

• Critique of Dogmatism: The book dresses down dogmatic approaches hard.

• Relevance to Modern Politics: The discussions on the role of a vanguard , the interaction with wider working-class organizations, and how to handle disagreement within a movement are more relevant now than ever, as these things are heavily neglected or even ignored.

Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder is essential reading for anyone involved in political activism who wishes to learn from past mistakes and successes. It encourages a reflective, critical approach to political engagement, urging activists to think strategically and tactically rather than merely ideologically.

The scope of my documentary is to argue that “leftism” itself isn’t just an infantile sickness but an ideological justification for bourgeois class rule, which is different than Lenin’s critique of the left’s tactics and maturity. However, Judah cannot tell the difference; he is a cat! He is not thinking about the fact that these works address different aspects of a problem. He just wants to use me as a bed!

Lenin’s work is vital, and I do recommend you read it. Particularly Infantile Sickness, which is a critique desperately needed. I do some summarization of it in my documentary, but the full text is good to review.

And if you don’t do it for my cat, do it for Lenin’s!