Modern Dual Power in the United States: A Synthesis of Lenin, Mao, and Deng
Wade T. Paton
Abstract
This article develops a theoretical and strategic synthesis of Lenin’s, Mao’s, and Deng Xiaoping’s contributions to revolutionary praxis, proposing a modern framework for building dual power within the contemporary United States. Wade T. Paton argues that Lenin’s principle of constructing a parallel proletarian state, Mao’s emphasis on the Mass Line and base-area development, and Deng’s pragmatic approach to socialist construction through adaptive use of market mechanisms together provide a comprehensive model for revolutionary transformation under late capitalism. The paper outlines the material and ideological crises of U.S. capitalism — rising inequality, state failure in healthcare, housing, and infrastructure, and the erosion of legitimacy — and argues that these contradictions create fertile ground for building alternative, socialist-oriented institutions that prefigure a new state. Paton envisions a disciplined, vanguard-led movement constructing community assemblies, worker cooperatives, and a federated network of party-owned industries that both meet immediate needs and form the material base of a future socialist economy. Synthesizing Marxist theory with practical organizational models, the article concludes that dual power represents a long-term, dialectical strategy for revolutionizing society from within, replacing bourgeois institutions through superior governance, service, and production.
Keywords
dual power, Leninism, Maoism, Deng Xiaoping, socialist construction, revolutionary strategy
