Human Nature

[Thumpalumpacus]

Was Lenin's decision correct because it was correct, or was it correct because he read the moment and decided to act upon the discontent of the time? In other words, was he screwing the people, or were the people empowering him?

Puts another laughable cast upon who:whom, now doesn't it?

It was correct because he read the moment I would say. However I wouldn't say that people were empowering him - it was simply that masses weren't giving a shit and thus provisional government fell. There is this lovely tidbit in Victor Sebestyen Russian Revolution:

The Bolsheviks won because the Provisional Government under Kerensky was
even more incompetent and divided, and because they didn’t take the Bolsheviks
seriously until it was too late. But mainly it was because most of the people didn’t
care which side won.

[V. Sebestyen, Russian Revolution,p.98-99]

So apathy amongst the populace is in his view a big factor as well in the revolution's success? Not to discount the Kerensky government's being out of touch, but that was a lesser factor? That seems to imply that a shitshow goes to shit not only from malign leadership, but also from the refusal of the people to actually do something.