NOVANEWS
The last decade of the 20th century, which Lenin had hoped would usher in the socialist transformation of the whole world, has ironically opened its account with the dismantling of the first proletarian socialist state. Soviet Union has collapsed and Mr. Gorbachev, the architect of Glasnost and Perestroika finds no place in the ‘free society’ of his own creation. This last general .secretary of the party founded by Lenin remains yet another paradox of history who destroyed communism in order to save it. One must, however, go well beyond Gorbachev, the individual, to unearth the root causes behind the steady decomposition of the socialist state which had no resistance to offer except the much discredited August coup. And in this endeavour, which will obviously have to be a long-drawn-out one, communists all over the world must be ruthless in examining and re-examining the whole course of revolution and reconstruction in Soviet Union since 1917 itself.
In the realm of thought, we communists have nothing else to defend but the revolutionary core of the most scientific thought-system of Marxism. In the post second world war nuclear era, if Khruschev sought to revise Marxism to ‘suit the needs of modern age’, the only credible resistance came from Mao Zedong. It was he who pointed cut the existence of antagonistic class contradictions in socialist societies and the possibility of capitalist restoration in a peaceful evolutionary way through “Capitalist roaders” within the party itself. He underscored the necessity of constant vigilance and a protracted struggle, for the question ‘who will win, socialism or capitalism’ remained far from settled. Thus he not only repudiated the modern revisionism of Khruschev but also negated Stalinist metaphysics and dogmatism. In the battle to retrieve the revolutionary essence of Marxism, it is therefore not enough to condemn modern revisionism of Khruschev but to recognise the relevance and validity of Mao’s thoughts too, the logical culmination of the struggle against modern revisionism. The collapse of Soviet Union thus also symbolises the collapse of metaphysics in philosophy, revisionism in ideology and hegemonism in international politics. No nuclear bomb, no nuclear parity could prevent this collapse.
The collapse of Soviet Union thus also symbolises the collapse of metaphysics in philosophy, revisionism in ideology and hegemonism in international politics. No nuclear bomb, no nuclear parity could prevent this collapse.We, the Indian Marxist-Leninists, who are the true inheritors of this struggle on the Indian soil must combat all attempts to reject Marxism itself under the pretext of the Soviet collapse. More importantly, we must oppose the attempts at transforming Marxism, the living science, into some sort of religious dogma in the name of defending Marxist fundamentals. And in this process we shall have to contribute our mite in retrieving the revolutionary core of Marxism, its living dialectical spirit.
‘West has won the decisive battle against communism’, declared George Bush in his New Year’s address. Bourgeois ideologues and the capitalist press the world over are highly elated over the demise of Marxism, their sworn enemy for well over a century. Karl Marx while writing Capital had once said that ‘I am going to deliver such ‘a blow to the bourgeoisie from which it will never be able to recover’. The whole edifice of capitalism is built upon the extraction of surplus value from the labour process and despite all the scientific innovations and technological advances, capitalism invariably means misery to the broad masses of people on the other side of the fence. The people of the countries recently reintegrated into the world capitalist economy have already started realising this naked truth. Whenever in future they seek an alternative, they will opt for socialism, albeit of their own choice and own form. History never ends, it only repeats itself and while advancing in a spiral it begins and begins again.
To move ahead in the maze of complex political situations and new equations., the foremost task before the Party in 1992 remains that of intensifying Party education and enhancing its consolidation.
