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0302020200~ [2] CONTENTS Page To the Reader................................ 9 Introduction................................. 14 Chapter I Philosophy As a Science........................ 14 l.The Fundamental Question of Philosophy. The Antithesis of Materialism and Idealism........ 14 2. The Concept of Method. Dialectics and Metaphysics ................................ 18 3. The Subject Matter of Marxist Philosophy..... 20 Chapter II The Rise and Development of Marxist Philosophy .... 25 1. The Conditions and Prerequisites for the Rise of Marxist Philosophy..................... 25 2. The Essence of the Revolution in Philosophy Carried Out by Marxism................... 29 3. The Creative Nature of Marxist-Leninist Philosophy ................................. 33 DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM Chapter III Matter and the Forms of Its Existence............. 38 1. What Is Matter........................... 38 2. Motion---a Form of Existence of Matter....... 46 3. Space and Time.......................... 52 3 Chapter IV Matter and Consciousness....................... 57 1. Consciousness---a Property of Highly Organised Matter................................. 2. Consciousness---a Product of the Development of Matter. The Origin and Development of Consciousness ............................ 57 62 71 Chapter V Marxist Dialectics As the Theory of Development and Universal Connection.......................... 1. Dialectics---Theory of Development........... 71 2. Dialectics---Theory of Universal Connection .... 74 3. Significance of Marxist Dialectics............ 78 Chapter VI Basic Laws of Materialist Dialectics................ The Law of the Unity and Conflict of Opposites 1. The Unity and Conflict of Opposites.......... 2. Diversity of Contradictions................. 3. Contradictions of Socialist Society and Ways of Eliminating Them........................ The Law of the Passage of Quantitative into Qualitative Changes.......................... 1. Quality and Quantity..................... 2. The Passage of Quantitative Into Qualitative Changes---a Law of Development............. 3. Diversity of Forms of the Passage from the Old Quality to the New....................... 4. The Nature of Qualitative Changes During the Transition from Socialism to Communism..... The Law of Negation of the Negation......... 1. Dialectical Negation and Its Role in Development ...............v.................. 2. The Progressive Nature of Development....... 3. How the Law of Negation of the Negation Operates Under Socialism..................... 80 80 80 84 92 95 96 98 103 106 109 109 112 115 4 Chapter VII Categories of Materialist Dialectics................ 119 1. Origin and Common Features of the Categories of Dialectics............................ 120 2. The Individual and the Universal............. 122 3. Content and Form........................ 128 4. Essence and Phenomenon.................. 132 5. Cause and Effect......................... 137 6. Necessity and Chance..................... 142 7. Possibility and Reality..................... 146 Chapter VIII The Theory of Knowledge of Dialectical Materialism 151 1. What Is Knowledge?...................... 151 2. Practice---Starting Point and Basis of the Process of Knowledge........................ 153 3. From Living Perception to Abstract Thought. . . 155 4. The Marxist Theory of Truth...........----- 163 5. Practice---Criterion of Truth................ 169 6. Means and Methods of Scientific Cognition..... 170 HISTORICAL MATERIALISM Chapter IX The Subject Matter of Historical Materialism........180 1. The Rise of Historical Materialism---a Revolution in Social Theories...................180 2. The Subject Matter of Historical Materialism ... 183 3. Historical Necessity and Human Freedom......185 4. The Unscientific Nature of Contemporary Bourgeois Sociology...................... 187 Chapter X A Socio-Economic Formation....................193 1. Natural Requisites for the Life of Society......193 5 2. Mode of Production---the Determinative Force of Social Development.................... 196 3. The Interaction of the Economic Basis and the Superstructure of Society.................. 201 4. Socio-Economic Formation---a Complex Social 205 Organism............................... 5. The History of Society as the History of Development and Law-Governed Succession of 209 Socio-Economic Formations................ 6. Communist Socio-Economic Formation....... 217 Chapter XI The People---the Decisive Force in Social Development. Society and the Individual....................... 225 1. The People Are the Real Makers of History, the Decisive Force in Social Development......... 225 2. Society and the Individual.................. 231 3. The Role of the Individual in History......... 234 Chapter XII Classes and the Class Struggle.................... 239 1. The Essence and Origin of Classes............ 239 2. The Class Struggle as the Source of Development of Antagonistic Class Societies.............. 240 3. The Class Struggle in Capitalist Society........ 243 4. Classes and the Class Struggle in the Transition Period from Capitalism to Socialism.......... 253 5. The Class Composition of Socialist Society..... 257 6. Ways of Eliminating Class Distinctions........ 259 Chapter XIII Historical Forms of Social Communities............264 1. Gens, Tribe, Nationality, Nation.............264 Chapter XVII Social Consciousness and Its Role in the Development of Society...................................355 2. Nations and National Relations in Capitalist Society 267 6 3. Socialism and Nations..................... 272 4. The Family............................. 276 Chapter XIV The State.................................... 281 1. The Origin and Essence of the State.......... 281 2. The State in an Exploiting Society........... 283 3. Dictatorship of the Proletariat............... 288 4. The Socialist State........................ 298 5. The Withering Away of the State............. 305 Chapter XV The Social Revolution..........................308 1. The Social Revolution---a Law of Development of an Antagonistic Class Society.............308 2. A Socialist Revolution.....................312 3. The Triumph of Lenin's Theory of the Socialist Revolution in the Contemporary Era.........316 ChapterXVI National Liberation Revolutions..................331 1. Struggle Against Colonialism and Neocolonialism 331 2. The Character and the Motive Forces of National Liberation Revolutions...............335 3. Winning of Economic Independence---an Important Task of the Revolution................340 4. The Path of Socialist Orientation............344 5. India. Thirty Years Along the Road of National Liberation and Social Progress.............350 7 1. Social Consciousness---a Reflection of Social Being.................................. 355 2. Individual and Social Consciousness. Social Psychology and Ideology................... 360 3. Marxist-Leninist Ideology.................. 364 Chapter XVIII Forms of Social Consciousness. Science............ 369 1. Political and Legal Ideas................... 369 2. Morality............................... 374 3. Religion................................ 382 4. Art................................... 386 5. Science................................ 390 Conclusion................................... 398 [8] __ALPHA_LVL1__ TO THE READERThis book is intended for those who are beginning to study Marxist-Leninist philosophy.
What does one gain from studying Marxist philosophy?
Marxist philosophy^^*^^ is a harmonious system of man's views of the surrounding world, the laws of its development and ways of cognising it. A study of philosophy, therefore, provides us with a coherent idea of the world and its development, of man's place in the world and whether he can cognise and transform it, why the life of society changes and how best to organise it, and so forth.
What is the practical significance of these general questions and how do they directly benefit man's life and work?
The practical significance of Marxist philosophy is enormous. Being a component part of Marxism-Leninism, Marxist philosophy renders invaluable assistance to all progressive forces in their struggle for humanity's better future by disclosing the more general laws of the development of nature, society and thinking, and showing the need and inevitability of socialist revolution and the triumph of socialism and communism.
Marxist philosophy offers a truly scientific explanation of nature and society and consequently is a powerful instrument of their revolutionary transformation.
Only the proletariat and its Party are concerned with acquiring a correct knowledge and carrying out a revolutionary transformation of the world. That is why dialectical _-_-_
^^*^^From the Greek---philosophia meaning love or pursuit of wisdom (phil + sophia).
9 materialism emerged and is developing as a theoretical, ideological weapon of the proletariat in its struggle against capitalism, for socialism and communism. The philosophy of Marxism is revolutionary in its very essence. Recognising neither immutable social systems nor eternal mainstays of private property, it theoretically proves that the doom of capitalism and the victory of the new, socialist, communist society are inevitable.It is especially important to master Marxist philosophy in our epoch of radical social change and the transition from capitalism to communism. It helps Marxist parties to find their bearings in the very complex conditions of our time, make a scientific analysis of the actual situation and then define the most important tasks and find the most effective ways of attaining them. ``Should the Marxist political party in its examination of questions base itself not on dialectics and materialism, the result will be one-sidedness and subjectivism, stagnation of human thought, isolation from life and loss of ability to make the necessary analysis of things and phenomena, revisionist and dogmatist mistakes and mistakes in policy. Application of dialectical materialism in practical work and the education of the party functionaries and the broad masses in the spirit of Marxism-Leninism are urgent tasks of the communist and workers' parties.''^^*^^
Marxist philosophy is a powerful theoretical instrument for cognising and transforming the world, but only if applied creatively and with strict consideration of the concrete historical conditions in which its laws and principles operate. In order to master Marxist philosophy it is not enough to learn by rote its propositions and conclusions; it is necessary to grasp its essence and to learn to apply it in practice in solving concrete tasks of the revolutionary struggle for peace, democracy, national liberation and socialism. For ages people dreamed of communism, a new society which would do away with exploitation and all sorts of oppression, and in which a man of labour would use all that his hands and intellect create and each member of the great community of working people would live in abundance and happiness. Mankind traversed a long and arduous road of _-_-_
^^*^^ The Struggle for Peace, Democracy and Socialism, Moscow, 1963,p.15.
10 titanic struggle, glorious victories and temporary setbacks before communism ceased to be a dream and became an immediate prospect of historical development, a supreme force of our day and age. For the Soviet nation communism is its immediate future, and already today the close-knit family of the peoples of the USSR is making practical efforts to build it.The struggle for the victory of communism envisages not only the creation of the material and technical basis and the moulding of communist social relations, but also the all-round and harmonious development of the human personality. But to be able to do this a member of society needs more than to be a specialist in his field. It is important to master the totality of human knowledge, and even more important, to learn to apply it. A person has to acquire a scientific world outlook in order that communist ideas combine organically with communist deeds in his behaviour, in his work and life. In contemporary conditions the acquisition by all Soviet people of a scientific world outlook on the basis of Marxism-Leninism as a harmonious system of philosophical, economic and socio-political views is a matter of primary importance.
The philosophy of Marxism helps the builders of communism to understand the course and prospects of world development and correctly grasp events taking place in the country itself and elsewhere in the world, and convinces them in the just nature of the revolutionary cause and the inevitability of the victory of socialism and communism throughout the world. It mobilises the people for the struggle against the reactionary imperialist ideology and the survivals of the past, helps to perceive and surmount the difficulties on the way to the successful building of communism and teaches how to work the communist way.
Marxist philosophy cultivates a broad, correct world outlook in a man and trains him to discern the importance of seemingly insignificant things. It stimulates thought, makes it more flexible and incisive and hostile to stagnation and routine, and imbues man with the valuable sense of the new. And this is most important, for in our age of unprecedented scientific and technical progress and the subjugation of the atom, in our age of electricity, automatic systems and 11 space exploration it is impossible to do without an incisive, resourceful mind.
Marxist philosophy shows the scientist the correct road in his studies. It is a beacon for the writer and artist in their creative endeavours and helps them deeply and vividly to portray the greatness of our age and the deeds of the Soviet people and the peoples of other countries in the building of a new life.
Knowledge of Marxist philosophy is essential for progressive young people of all countries because it helps them to gain political maturity and cultivate integrity, staunchness and courage in the struggle against national and social oppression. Without these qualities it is impossible to build a bright communist future.
In a word, those who fight for national liberation and social emancipation, who build socialism and communism and seek the truth, those who want to probe the secrets of the Universe and,life ought to master the invincible MarxistLeninist teaching and its life-asserting philosophy.
Life repudiates all sorts of nihilistic ideological conceptions invented in the West, according to which we are now witnessing either the general decline in the role and significance of philosophy and ideology in the system of scientific cognition and practical activity, or the automatic ``removal'' of all ideological problems and precepts by the very course of scientific and technical progress, the mathematisation of science and the introduction of cybernetics and modelling methods, or the ``inability'' of Marxist philosophy to meet the ``challenge'' of new successes, new problems of modern natural science, etc.
In actual fact the very nature of philosophical knowledge rules out such assessments because it is rooted in the requirements of social development itself and is designed to identify and develop eternal values and problems: the more common, universal conceptions of the world, of its past and future, the more general foundations and principles of life, cognisance and practical activity, the meaning of human existence, social progress, development of mankind, etc.
Philosophical knowledge is not a fruit of idle reflections of dilettantes, but a form of social consciousness which reflects the advances of scientific and social progress, the ideals and world outlook of different classes, social 12 contradictions and conflicts in the given country and in the given epoch. That was why Marx called philosophy the `` intellectual quintessence" of its time, ``the living soul of culture''.^^*^^
In 1978 the 16th World Philosophic Congress was held in Dusseldorf. It was attended by more than one thousand scientists, including mathematicians, physicists, chemists, astronomers and biologists from many countries. The choice of the main theme of the congress---``The Philosophy and Ideological Problems of Modern Science"---was indicative of the appreciation of the importance of philosophy for concrete natural and social sciences and recognition of the untenability of counterposing philosophy to natural sciences, and emphasised the bankruptcy of ideological nihilism.
In fact discussions at the congress went far beyond the limits of the main theme. It examined not only basic ideological problems of contemporary science, but also of contemporary social life; philosophical interpretations of our epoch, prospects of mankind's development in conditions of the struggle between the two opposite world systemssocialism and capitalism---and problems of their peaceful coexistence.
Life shows that the mounting complexity and intensification of revolutionary transformations in the world, the acceleration of the scientific and technical progress and the increasing influence of its social consequences imperatively call for a philosophical rethinking of the fundamental problems and patterns of social development and scientific cognisance, and of the ideological orientation of man's spiritual and practical activities.
_-_-_^^*^^Karl Marx, ``The Leading Article in No. 179 of the KolnischeZeitung'', in: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 1, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1975, p. 195.
[13] __ERROR__ Why this "INTRODUCTION" here? Where is the introduction!?!?!?INTRODUCTION
__NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER 1 __ALPHA_LVL1__ Philosophy As a Science __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]As any other science Marxist philosophy has its own subject matter. Before speaking about it, however, let us look into the problems which are solved by Marxist and all other philosophies. The main problem is the fundamental question of philosophy.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. The Fundamental Question of Philosophy.Philosophy is one of the oldest sciences. Many philosophical systems have been developed by the most diverse social classes and groups in different historical conditions and countries. In order to find our bearings in this multitude of philosophical systems, ascertain their scientific value and determine the place that each occupies in the history of philosophical thought, it is necessary in the first place to see how a philosophical system or a philosopher solves the fundamental question of philosophy.
If we look carefully at the surrounding world we shall see that all objects and phenomena are either material, or ideal, spiritual Material phenomena embrace everything that exists objectively, i.e., outside of man's consciousness and independently of it (objects and processes on Earth, the countless bodies of the Universe, etc.). On the other hand, all that exists in the consciousness of man and all that comprises the sphere of his mental activity (thoughts, sensations, emotions, etc.), is related to the sphere of the ideal, the spiritual.
How are the material and the spiritual connected? Is 14 the spiritual, the ideal engendered by the material, or vice versa? It is the nature of this connection, of the relation of consciousness to being, of the spiritual to the material that constitutes the fundamental question of philosophy.
The relation of consciousness to being is the fundamental question of philosophy because the answer to it determines the solution of all other philosophical problems: the unity of the world, the character of the laws governing its development, the essence of knowledge and ways of cognising the world, etc. Hence, it is impossible to create a philosophical system and draw a picture of the world as a whole without first solving the fundamental question of philosophy.
There are two aspects to this question. The first is the solution of the problem, what is primary, matter or consciousness---was it matter that was the source of consciousness---or vice versa. The other aspect answers the question, is the world cognisable, can man's reason penetrate the secrets of nature and ascertain the laws of its development.
Pondering the content of the fundamental question of philosophy it is easy to perceive that there can be only two diametrically opposite approaches:. to recognise either matter or consciousness as primary. That accounts for the existence of two basic trends in philosophy---materialism and idealism---which appeared a long time ago.
Philosophers who regard matter as primary and consciousness as secondary and as a derivative of matter, are materialists (from Latin materia, meaning matter). They maintain that matter is eternal, that no one had ever created it and that there are no supernatural forces in the world. As regards consciousness, it is the product of the historical development of matter, a property of that exceptionally complex material body, the human brain.
Philosophers who believe that the ``spirit'', or consciousness is primary are idealists. They maintain that consciousness existed prior to matter and brought it into being, and that it is the primary foundation of everything that exists. Idealists are divided on the question what kind of consciousness ``creates'' the world. The so-called subjective idealists assert that the world is ``created'' by the consciousness of the individual---the subject. Objective idealists, on the other hand, insist that the world is ``created'' by some kind of an 15 objective (super-individual) consciousness. Though in different philosophical systems this objective consciousness is called either an ``absolute idea'', or ``universal will'', etc., it is easy to discern that it presupposes God.
The views of the philosophers on the solution of the other aspect of the fundamental question of philosophy are likewise divided.
The world is knowable, assert the materialists. Man's knowledge of the world is trustworthy, his reason can penetrate the internal nature of things and cognise their essence.
Many idealists deny the knowability of the world. They are called agnostics (from Greek agnostos---unknown, unknowable, not knowing). Other idealists, even if they believe that the world is knowable, in reality distort the essence of knowledge. They claim that man cognises his own thoughts, emotions (subjective idealists), or a mystic ``idea'', a ``universal spirit" (objective idealists), and not the objective world, nature.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Whom Do Materialism and Idealism ServeMaterialism, in its contemporary, .Marxist-Leninist form is a progressive scientific world outlook. It correctly portrays the world and is a true ally of science and man's practical activity on the basis of which it itself has arisen and is developing.
Materialism has always been the world outlook of the advanced classes and sections of society interested in promoting the wellbeing of the people, the progress of mankind and its economic and cultural development. In the slaveowning society materialism was used by the democratic strata to fight against the aristocracy, the upper crust of the slave-owners. In the period of the rise of capitalism it was an ideological weapon of the bourgeoisie in its battles against the feudal lords and the church. Today materialism is a mighty weapon of the progressive part of mankind in its struggle against imperialist reactionary forces.
Idealism is at cross-purposes with a scientific interpretation of the world. Like religion it places supernatural forces in the centre of the picture of the world and essentially is a masked, refined form of religion. The reason is obvious: idealism cloaks the religious myth about the divine creation 16 of the world in subtle philosophical verbiage. Idealism is particularly dangerous because it tries to pose as a science and prey upon man's reason, not limiting itself to blind faith, as religion does.
As a rule, idealism serves the reactionary forces of society in their struggle against the progressive social forces. The exploiters always tried to use idealism and religion to enslave the working people spiritually and to justify and reinforce their domination. Today, too, the moribund capitalist system tries to rely on idealism and religion.
By preaching humility and submission and promising paradise religion distracts the attention of the working people from crucial social problems and from fighting against exploitation and poverty, for peace, democracy, national liberation and socialism.
Idealism, in effect, does the same thing. Denying the objective existence of the world and regarding it as a product of consciousness alone, it attributes all social contradictions and suffering, all the vices of capitalism to the delusions of the people and their moral failings. Thus, like religion, it diverts the working people from fighting against the forces of imperialist reaction.
There is a kinship between idealism and religion, but they should not be fully identified. And although some idealists made a certain contribution to the development of philosophical thought, on the whole, all of them gave a distorted picture of the world.
The achievements in science and practical experience demonstrated idealism's insolvency a long time ago. Yet idealist views are still popular in capitalist countries chiefly because this is in the class interests of the exploiters. The exploiting classes need idealism as a means of fighting against materialism and as an instrument of the spiritual enslavement of the working people. That explains why they support and spread idealism in every way.
Since there are no exploiters in socialist society there are no people interested in implanting idealism and no one disseminates it there. The scientific, materialist world outlook prevails under socialism.
We have established that philosophers are divided into materialists and idealists, depending on how they solve the fundamental question of philosophy. But as they draw a 17 picture of the world each of them unavoidably employs a specific method of cognition. What, then, is a method?
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. The Concept of Method. Dialectics and MetaphysicsIn the process of acquiring knowledge and in their practical activities people set themselves definite goals and tasks. But to set a goal or to formulate a task does not mean that it will be accomplished. It is very important to find the right road to the goal and effective methods for fulfilling the task. The road to the attainment of a goal, the aggregate of definite principles and ways of theoretical study and practical activity make up the method.
No practical or scientific problem can be solved without a method. If, for example, we want to ascertain the chemical composition of a substance, we have to master the method of chemical analysis in the first place, i.e., to learn how to test this substance with appropriate chemical reagents, decompose it, determine the chemical properties of its constituents, etc. If we have to smelt a metal, we must learn the technology of smelting, i.e., to master the practical methods elaborated by people in the process of metallurgical production.
Specific methods are just as necessary in studying physical, biological and other phenomena. That explains why people devote so much time and effort to devising and mastering methods of practical and theoretical work.
A method is not a mechanical sum of different ways of research chosen by people at random without consideration for the phenomena being studied. The method itself is largely determined by the nature of these phenomena and their intrinsic laws. Hence each field of science or practical activity devises its own methods. The methods of physics, for example, differ from the methods of chemistry, the latter differ from the methods of biology, and so on.
By generalising the achievements of different sciences and mankind's practical activity, scientific philosophy has evolved its own method of knowledge---materialist dialectics. This method differs from the methods of concrete sciences in that it provides a key to understanding absolutely all fields of nature, society and thought, a key to 18 understanding the world as a whole, and not only to understanding individual spheres of reality.
The word ``dialectics'' is of ancient Greek origin. Initially it meant the ability to conduct disputes and bring out the truth by disclosing and resolving contradictions in the arguments of the opponents. Later it was applied as a method of cognising reality. Drawing on scientific achievements and society's practical experience, at different stages of history, dialectics maintains that the world is an endless process of movement, regeneration, the demise of the old and the birth of the new. ``For it (dialectical philosophy) nothing is absolute...,'' Engels wrote. ``It reveals the transitory character of everything and in everything; nothing can endure before it except the uninterrupted process of becoming and passing away, of endless ascendancy from the lower to the higher.''^^*^^ Furthermore, dialectics views the internal contradictions inherent in objects and phenomena as the source of motion and development.
By explaining the process of development, the struggle of the new against the old and the inevitability of the victory of the new, dialectics helps the progressive people to combat the obsolete social order and reactionary class forces. In our day dialectics is a powerful instrument in the hands of the working class and its Marxist parties for the cognition and revolutionary transformation of the world.
Metaphysics is a method which is the antithesis of materialist dialectics.
The metaphysical approach to phenomena originated first in natural science, and in the 17th-18th centuries became current in philosophy, too. At the time metaphysics denied the development and the rise of the new, and understood motion as a simple displacement of bodies in space.
Since in our age of enormous social change and the scientific and technical revolution it is no longer possible to deny development as such, contemporary metaphysics has turned to misinterpreting the essence of development. Now it interprets development only as a qualitative increase or decrease, as simple repetition of what already exists, does _-_-_
^^*^^Frederick Engels, ``Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classics! German Philosophy'', in: Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Works in three volumes, Volume Three, Moscow, 1976, p. 339.
19 not recognise the emergence of the new, and negates internal contradictions as the source of development.Contemporary metaphysics which does not recognise the progressive nature of development, the struggle between the new and the old and the inevitability of the victory of the new, expresses the interests of the reactionary forces which use it to fight against everything progressive. For example, it is employed by the revisionists who renounce the class struggle, the socialist revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat and preach social peace between the exploiters and the exploited and the idea of the peaceful development of capitalism into socialism. Metaphysics is also the theoretical basis of dogmatism whose proponents turn a blind eye to the profound social changes taking place in the world and endeavour to solve vital contemporary problems without taking into account the continuously changing historical conditions.
Everyday life, science and practice prove the truth of dialectics. Its vitality is conclusively demonstrated by the contemporary development of society. The building of developed socialist society and progress in communist construction in the USSR, the formation of a powerful world system of socialism and the steady growth of the forces of peace, democracy, national liberation and socialism convincingly attest to the triumph of the principles of Marxist dialectics.
Now that we have gained a general idea of materialism and dialectics we can define the subject matter of Marxist philosophy, i.e., dialectical and historical materialism.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. The Subject Matter of Marxist Philosophy __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]When we define the subject matter of Marxist philosophy we ascertain the range of problems which it studies and discover how it differs from other sciences.
The subject matter of philosophy changed constantly throughout the long centuries of its development. At first philosophy embraced all the knowledge that had been accumulated: knowledge of the world as a whole, of its individual objects and phenomena---the Earth, man, animals, minerals, etc. Then, as production developed and more and 20 more knowledge was accumulated, mechanics, physics, chemistry, geology, history and other so-called concrete sciences separated from it one by one. And today there are scores of sciences which study the most diverse spheres of reality.
What does Marxist philosophy study?
The core of the subject matter of Marxist philosophy is the solution of the fundamental question of philosophy: the relation of consciousness to being. We already know that all philosophical systems must answer this question, but only Marxist philosophy has furnished a completely scientific, correct and consistent answer to it.
The philosophy of Marxism is dialectical materialism. It is materialist because in solving the fundamental question of philosophy it proceeds from the premise that matter, being is primary and consciousness is secondary. It recognises the materiality and knowability of the world, and examines the world as it really is. Marxist philosophy is dialectical because it examines the material world in constant motion, development and regeneration.
On the basis of a correct solution of the fundamental question of philosophy, dialectical materialism discloses and studies the more general laws of the development of the material world.
We know that concrete sciences also study the laws of the development of the material world, but each is concerned with a definite area of reality: physics studies heat, electricity, magnetism and other physical phenomena; chemistry studies the chemical transformation of substances; biology studies the processes occurring in plants and animals, etc. The laws of these sciences define development only in the given sphere of reality and cannot explain its other fields. Take the laws of classical mechanics, for example. They merely disclose the essence of mechanical motion, Le., simple displacement of bodies in space, and cannot explain chemical, biological or other processes. Although the laws of mechanics operate in all the above processes, they have no independent significance in them and are subordinated to other laws disclosing the essence of these processes (in chemical processes---the laws of chemistry, in biological processes---the laws of biology, etc.).
As distinct from the concrete sciences, dialectical 21 materialism studies the general laws regulating all spheres of reality. Thus, all inorganic and organic objects, the phenomena of social life and consciousness develop on the basis of the law of unity and conflict of opposites, the law of the passage of quantitative into qualitative changes, and the law of negation of the negation. These laws of materialist dialectics will be examined in detail in other chapters.
Dialectical materialism also studies the laws governing the process of cognition which are a reflection of the laws of the objective world. By equipping man with a knowledge of the laws of nature, society and thought, dialectical materialism shows people how to cognise the world and also how to bring about its revolutionary transformation.
Consequently, dialectical materialism is a science which on the basis of a materialist solution of the fundamental question of philosophy discloses the more general, dialectical laws of the development of the material world and the ways for its cognition and revolutionary transformation.
There were philosophers prior to Marx who also endeavoured to discover the more general laws of development and give a complete picture of the world, and many of them achieved a certain measure of success. Yet they were unable to draw a true scientific picture of the world either owing to their idealistic views, or the narrowness of the methaphysical method. Their main drawback, however, was that they all stood aloof from the revolutionary struggle and the interests of the working people.
Marx and Engels, thanks to their active participation in the revolutionary struggle of the working class, their selfless service to the people and profound knowledge of the outstanding achievements of science and philosophy, were able to disclose these general laws and discover the dialecticalmaterialist essence of reality.
It is important to note that they discovered the dialectical-materialist nature of social development as well. They created historical materialism, the only existing scientific theory of social development, a method of the cognition and revolutionary transformation of society. Historical materialism is a science which studies the more general laws of social development and is a component part of MarxistLeninist philosophy.
22 __ALPHA_LVL3__ Marxist Philosophy and Other SciencesThe laws of dialectical materialism, as we now know, are of a general, universal nature. They operate everywhere: in inorganic nature, in living organisms, in man and in his thought. The universality of the laws of Marxist philosophy is of tremendous importance, because thanks to it they can be used to cognise the most diverse phenomena in the world. Hence the enormous significance of dialectical materialism for the development of other sciences. Having arisen in intimate association with the experience and progress of concrete sciences and being a generalisation of their conclusions, dialectical materialism promotes their development and equips them with a scientific method of study.
At the same time dialectical materialism by no means makes it unnecessary for man to master concrete sciences and assimilate mankind's scientific, social and historical experience. Since dialectical materialism emerged and is developing on the basis of scientific advances and practical experience it is essential to know these advances in order to master and correctly apply the laws of dialectical materialism.
Some contemporary non-Marxist philosophers (the so-called positivists) deny the importance of philosophy, of a scientific world outlook for the development of science and distort the essence of the interconnection of science and philosophy. As exponents of ``positive'' (applied) scientific knowledge they divorce philosophy from science and endeavour to prove that science needs no philosophy whatsoever, that ``science is itself a philosophy''.
The history of philosophy and science overturns these primitive views, and conclusively proves that the two are inseparable. The great Russian thinker Alexander Herzen compared philosophy with a mighty tree trunk, and science and its innumerable fields, with its branches. Just as there can be no tree without a trunk and branches, so science and philosophy are inconceivable one without the other. ``Cut off the branches,'' he wrote, ``and what remains is a dead log. Remove the trunk and the branches will wither away.'' As it develops, natural science strengthens its links and interaction with philosophy. These links have become especially close in our day when natural scientists are 23 solving such complicated problems as the character of elementary particles of matter, the origin of life, the development of cosmic bodies and many others. Profound philosophical generalisations are absolutely essential in our age of momentous scientific advances; the tremendous progress of natural science and the deep revolutionary changes that are taking place in it require the closest union of philosophy and science. In these circumstances, Lenin noted, a natural scientist must be a dialectical materialist.
Hence, it is not accidental that an increasing number of natural scientists in capitalist countries are turning into conscious adherents of Marxist philosophy. It helps them to find their bearings in the objective, material world and to reveal the dialectics of nature in their concrete scientific studies.
[24] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER II __ALPHA_LVL1__ The Rise and Development of Marxist Philosophy __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]Marxist philosophy was evolved by the great leaders of the working class Karl Marx (1818--1883) and Frederick Engels (1820--1895). Is it merely the fruit of the brilliant minds of its founders, or is it the product of the epoch, a sign of the times? What causes had brought it into being?
The rise of Marxist philosophy was a natural result of historical development. It was brought about by concrete socio-economic conditions and had definite prerequisites in natural science and philosophy.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. The Conditions and PrerequisitesBy mid-19th century capitalism had replaced feudalism in many countries. Its advent promoted great progress in production and the rapid development of technology, science and culture.
At the same time capitalism created the proletariat, the class destined to destroy the capitalist system and carry out socialist transformations. Exploited by the bourgeoisie and deprived of elementary human rights, the proletariat began a bitter struggle against its enslavers. Under capitalism class contradictions became unusually acute and found their expression in numerous direct actions of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. French workers rose in Lyons and Silesian weavers in Germany, and the Chartist movement in Britain gained in strength. The workers demanded better 25 working conditions, higher wages, shorter working hours, etc. But in those days their actions were unorganised and spontaneous. They had a vague idea of the ultimate objectives for which they should fight and had no notion of effective ways and means of fighting against their class enemies. This created an urgent need for a scientific theory that would help the proletariat to learn the laws of social development, understand why the doom of capitalism was inevitable, and to become aware of its mission as the grave-digger of the bourgeoisie and the builder of a new, socialist system. It follows that the very development of the proletarian movement confronted science with the immensely important task of evolving a revolutionary theory and forging an ideological weapon for the proletariat in its struggle against capitalism and for socialism. And science in the person of its brilliant proponents Marx and Engels fulfilled this pressing demand of history: they created Marxism whose component part and theoretical foundation is Marxist philosophydialectical and historical materialism.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Prerequisites in Natural ScienceThe way for the emergence of Marxist philosophy was also paved by the entire progress of natural science and philosophical thought. The development of natural science was unusually rapid in the 19th century. It ceased to be a science which merely accumulated facts and studied individual objects and phenomena, and turned into a theoretical science concerned with explaining these facts and establishing the connections between them. Metaphysics in natural science gave way to dialectical ideas of the unity and historical development of the world.
The first breach in the metaphysical view of nature was made by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724--1804) whose cosmogonic hypothesis proved that the Earth and the Solar system were not eternal, but came into being as a result of the long evolution of matter. Then geology, a science that deals with the history of the Earth's crust, came into being and physics, chemistry, biology and other sciences began to develop at a very rapid pace.
Three great discoveries of natural science played a particularly important role in shaping and substantiating 26 dialectical materialist views on nature, namely, the discovery of the law of the conservation and transformation of energy, the theory of the cellular structure of living organisms and Darwin's theory of evolution.
The law of the conservation and transformation of energy discovered by the great Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, the German scientist Julius Robert von Mayer and the English physicist James Prescott Joule convincingly demonstrates the material unity of the world, and the eternity and indestructibility of matter and motion. It also shows the great qualitative diversity of matter and motion and their variability and ability to pass from one form to another.
The theory of the cellular structure of the living tissue evolved by the Russian botanist Pavel Goryaninov, the Czech biologist Jan Purkyne and the German scientists Matthias Jakob Schleiden and Theodor Schwann showed that a material element, the cell, was the basis of any more or less complex organism. By demonstrating the cell's ability to change they laid the groundwork for a correct understanding of the development of organisms.
With his theory of evolution the great English natural scientist Charles Darwin, as Lenin noted, overturned the view that the species of plants and animals were accidental, unconnected with anything, god-created and immutable. He scientifically proved that the complex, higher organisms had been formed from the simple, lower ones through the action of the laws of natural selection inherent in nature itself. Darwin also showed that man was a product of nature, a result of the prolonged evolution of living matter. This confirmed the basic idea of dialectics, namely the idea of development, of the transition from the lower to the higher, from the simple to the complex.
Alongside the achievements of natural science, the successes of philosophical thought in that period also played an enormous role in shaping a Marxist world outlook. As they evolved dialectical and historical materialism, Marx and Engels exhaustively studied the history of philosophy and used the best that philosophical thought acquired over the many centuries of its development. The direct theoretical source of Marxist philosophy was the 19th-century German classical philosophy, above all the philosophy of Hegel and Feuerbach.
27Marx and Engels did not arrive at positions of dialectical materialism at once. In their youth they were attracted by the idealistic philosophy of Georg Hegel (1770--1831) which was widespread in Germany in their days. Hegel was an objective idealist. He believed that the world was created by the supra-human, objectively existing consciousness---- Absolute Idea and World Spirit. Though the point of departure of his philosophical system was erroneous, he made a serious contribution to the development of philosophical thought by elaborating a harmonious system of idealistic dialectics as a totality of logical laws and categories.
Hegel evolved the basic laws of dialectics governing the development of ideas and thoughts. He showed that the development of ideas did not follow a closed circuit, but rose from lower to higher forms, that quantitative changes turned into qualitative ones in this process and that contradictions were the source of development. He characterised the basic concepts (categories) of dialectics and disclosed their interconnection and ability to turn into each other. It was dialectics that Marx and Engels borrowed from Hegel's philosophy and which they interpreted from materialist positions and used to develop dialectical and historical materialism.
The materialism of Ludwig Feuerbach (1804--1872) powerfully influenced the formation of Marx's and Engels's world outlook. Feuerbach who was a great materialist of his time rejected idealism and religion and emphasised that philosophy should not be confined to thought alone and that it had to study nature and man. Nature, he maintained, existed outside of man, it was the first, primary and underived being. As regards man, he was a part of nature, a product of its long evolution. Consciousness, in Feuerbach's opinion, did not precede nature, but merely reflected and cognised it. Matter, nature is cognisable and man can understand it by means of all his sensory organs.
The materialistic ideas in Feuerbach's philosophy helped Marx and Engels to discard Hegel's idealism and evolve dialectical and historical materialism. But as they used Feuerbach's philosophy the founders of Marxism discerned its narrow limits and idealistic interpreting of social life; they were not satisfied with its contemplative nature and isolation from life and the people's struggle for liberation. They 28 were firmly convinced that major philosophical and social problems had to be solved in the course of the revolutionary, political struggle and not in the solitude of studies.
Participation in the social and political struggle on the side of the working people and profound study of natural science, philosophy and history convinced Marx and Engels that idealism was insolvent and they resolutely moved from revolutionary democracy to the positions of scientific communism, of the proletariat. In the sphere of philosophy this meant that they created a qualitatively new philosophydialectical and historical materialism.
In evolving their philosophy Marx and Engels drew on Hegel's dialectics and Feuerbach's materialism which they critically revised, purged of all sorts of unscientific features and enriched with the vast experience of the revolutionary struggle of the proletariat and the latest scientific achievements.
By creating dialectical and historical materialism, Marx and Engels consummated a great revolution in philosophy.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. The Essence of the Revolution in PhilosophyTo ascertain the essence of this revolution means to establish what new features Marx and Engels introduced into philosophy and to perceive the new qualitative distinctions setting Marxist philosophy apart from the preceding philosophical systems.
What are the basic novel aspects of Marxist philosophy?
In the first place it differs from the past philosophical s^ ,tems by its class nature and the role it plays in social life.
With very few exceptions pre-Marxist philosophers were in the service of the exploiters and consequently did not set themselves the goal of remaking the world to suit the interests of the working people.
Marxist philosophy is another thing. It does not serve a handful of exploiters, but expresses the interests of the proletariat, the most advanced class, the interests of multi-- million masses which are the real makers of history. Marx and Engels not only founded the new philosophy but were also the leaders of the developing movement of the proletariat. 29 It was they who showed that the only road to the liberation of the working people lay through socialist revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat. They wholly dedicated their brilliant minds, enormous creative energies and outstanding talent for organisation to the lofty cause of emancipating the working people from exploitation, to the cause of socialism.
Having aligned themselves with the oppressed class, the proletariat, Marx and Engels created a philosophy which became its spiritual weapon in the struggle against capitalism and a powerful means of remaking life. This basically altered and tremendously increased the role of philosophy in social development. It gripped the minds of the masses and turned into a great material force. Describing this crucial feature of dialectical and historical materialism Marx wrote: ``The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.''^^*^^ Marxist philosophy owes its strength to its organic bonds with life, to the fact that it serves the struggle waged by the working class against capitalism, for socialism and communism.
The most important manifestation of the revolution which Marxism brought in philosophy is the attainment of organic unity of materialism and dialectics.
We have learned from the history of philosophy that dialectics and materialism originated long before Marxism. But the fault of the old philosophy was that materialism and dialectics in it were often separated from each other. Hegel was a dialectician, but not a materialist, while Feuerbach was a materialist, but not a dialectician. Only Marx and Engels bridged the gap between materialism and dialectics and united them into an integral dialectical-materialist world outlook. This is one of the most important aspects of Marxist philosophy making it qualitatively different from the preceding philosophies.
The rise of Marxism also signified a revolution in the views on society.
Pre-Marxist philosophers idealistically interpreted social development, in the belief that it was motivated only by the _-_-_
^^*^^Karl Marx, ``Theses on Feuerbach'', in: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 5, Moscow, 1976, p. 8.
30 ideas of people, by their consciousness. Marx and Engels contrasted this idealistic view with a materialistic interpretation of history. They were the first to raise and correctly solve the fundamental question of philosophy, the relation of consciousness to being as applied to society. They incontrovertibly proved that it was not the social consciousness of the people that determined their being, but, on the contrary, the social being and, above all, the production of material values, that determined social consciousness and that social development depended on material causes and not on people's ideas, wishes or intentions. As a result, the history of society came to be understood as a law-governed, natural process of the replacement of the lower modes of production by higher ones, and not as a chaotic conglomeration of phenomena. It was proved that this replacement was not spontaneous but followed objective laws which are independent of man's will and consciousness. __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Partisanship of Marxist PhilosophyBourgeois philosophers often claim that their philosophy is non-partisan and expresses the interests of all peoples regardless of their class affiliations. But why is it that their conceptions are always on the side of the capitalists, defend private property and justify exploitation and war? It turns out that the assertions of bourgeois philosophers that they are independent of classes and parties are not true and that they use the mask of ``non-partisanship'' to conceal the class, partisan nature of their philosophy and its utter dedication to the rich.
As distinct from the bourgeois ideologists who hide the class nature of their conceptions, the founders of MarxismLeninism openly proclaimed the principle of partisanship in philosophy. This principle characterises philosophy's inviolable connection with politics and the interests of definite social classes and parties. Since philosophy is a product of a definite epoch and classes, it always reflects the demands of that epoch and upholds the interests of those classes. Partisanship in philosophy does in fact consist of service to definite classes.
Marxist philosophy arose as the spiritual weapon of the working class in its struggle against the bourgeoisie. Its proletarian party spirit consists above all in its selfless 31 dedication to the working class, to the working people, and irreconcilability towards the policy of the reactionary bourgeoisie. The principle of partisanship in philosophy demands, as Lenin wrote, ``to pursue your own line and to combat the whole line of the forces and classes hostile to us''.^^*^^
Partisanship in philosophy is displayed by the adoption of a definite stand in the struggle between materialism and idealism which has been in progress for more than two millennia already. Far from abating, this struggle has intensified many times over in the present epoch and finds its expression in the struggle between the scientific world outlook and the idealistic world outlook of the reactionary bourgeoisie. Partisanship in Marxist philosophy means firm adherence in this struggle to consistent materialist positions, defence and development of dialectical and historical materialism and determined resistance against any ideology that is hostile to Marxism. This demand has become particularly urgent in our day when a bitter struggle between the two ideologiessocialist and bourgeois---is going on in the world, and when the bourgeoisie resorts to the most refined forms of idealism against Marxist philosophy. Integrity and vigilance in ideological issues have never been more important than they are today.
Following in the wake of bourgeois ideologists, modern revisionists distort the Marxist-Leninist principle of partisanship in philosophy and allege that partisanship and scientific objectivity are incompatible. They even say that bourgeois ideology is above-class and, therefore, the only scientific philosophy in the world. They demand an end to the struggle against this ideology because it allegedly embraces general human knowledge which is beneficial and necessary to all social classes.
In reality, however, the bourgeoisie continuously falsifies the laws of social development in the hope of perpetuating capitalism which history has doomed to extinction. As regards the proletariat, it is remaking the world and therefore has to know the real laws. It is all for science because a scientific world outlook is the only reliable guide to action.
The proletariat's ultimate goal is the victory of _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Materialism and Empiric-Criticism'', Collected Works, Vol. 14, p. 343.
32 communism. At the same time the movement towards communism is the objective content of contemporary social development. It follows then that the objective course of history and the class interests of the proletariat fully coincide. That is why the coincidence between the consistent defence of the proletariat's interests and scientific objectivity is a key feature of partisanship in Marxist-Leninist philosophy. __ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. The Creative Nature of Marxist-Leninist Philosophy __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]Marxist philosophy is a creative, developing science and not a parcel of immutable, petrified principles taken on trust. It does not stand still, but moves forward keeping abreast of the continuously changing life and is daily enriched by the latest achievements in society's historical development and in natural science.
Marxist philosophy arose at a time when capitalism was ascending and social development was relatively slow and tranquil. The historical situation changed radically at the turn of the 20th century. Capitalism passed into its last, imperialist, stage, and economic and political contradictions became particularly acute. The period of relatively peaceful development ended with the advent of imperialism and gave way to social storms and revolutions.
This period, characterised by a radical break-up of social relations, coincided in time with a revolution in natural science. The discovery of the electron, radioactivity and other major scientific achievements overturned the old conceptions of matter and its properties because metaphysics regarded them as final and immutable.
Obviously, these new conditions necessitated the creative development of Marxist philosophy. It was imperative to generalise the newly-acquired experience of the proletariat's revolutionary struggle and the latest achievements of natural science, all the more so because the forces hostile to Marxism became more active and intensified their attacks on dialectical and historical materialism, the theoretical foundation of the working class's world outlook.
At the end of the 19th century the centre of the international working-class movement began to shift to Russia where the first bourgeois-democratic revolution of the __PRINTERS_P_33_COMMENT__ 2---389 33 epoch of imperialism with the proletariat as its hegemon was maturing, and objective prerequisites for its development into a socialist revolution were taking shape. Russia became the birthplace of Leninism. Leninism is Marxism of the new historical epoch, the epoch of imperialism and proletarian revolutions, the epoch of the transition from capitalism to socialism and the building of communist society. Therefore, it is not fortuitous that the further creative development of Marxist philosophy is indissolubly bound up with the name of the leader of the Russian and international proletariat, Vladimir Lenin (1870--1924). His contribution to Marxist philosophy is so great and multifarious that it constitutes a stage, an epoch in the history of philosophical thought.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Leninist Stage in the Development of PhilosophyThe Leninist stage in the development of philosophy covers a period from the end of the 19th century to the present day.
Lenin made a great contribution to philosophy by upholding and further developing dialectical and historical materialism in the new historical conditions. His theoretical work was directly connected with the revolutionary struggle of the proletariat and socialist construction in the USSR. He not only enriched Marxist philosophy but applied its principles in practice. Lenin founded the Communist Party, a party of a new, revolutionary type, under whose leadership Russia's workers and peasants destroyed capitalism and built the world's first socialist state. He drew up the plan for socialist and communist construction and to his last days stood at the head of the people and the party which are translating this plan into reality.
In the new historical epoch it was up to the working class and its Marxist party to transform society along revolutionary lines, destroy capitalism and build socialism. Consequently, Lenin devoted special attention to analysing the patterns of social development, and above all, to ascertaining the essence of capitalism and determining the ways of establishing and consolidating the new society. Taking account of the changed historical conditions, he further developed the Marxist theory of socialist revolution and produced arguments proving that socialism could be built first 34 in several or even in one country. His theory of socialist revolution had an enormous impact on the course of social development.
Lenin also enriched the Marxist teaching on classes and the class struggle, the dictatorship of the proletariat and its forms, the role played by the masses in his'tory, the role played by the party of the working class, by progressive ideas, etc.
He made a major contribution to the elaboration of problems of dialectics. In the struggle against metaphysicians of all hues he upheld and further developed the Marxist theory of the laws and categories of materialist dialectics, devoting particular attention to the nucleus of dialectics--- the law of unity and the conflict of opposites.
Lenin evolved the dialectical-materialist theory of knowledge. He searchingly analysed the crisis which occurred in natural science at the turn of the century as a result of scientific discoveries and showed that only materialist dialectics could resolve it.
He fought consistently against bourgeois ideology, revisionism and dogmatism. By exposing the essential features of revisionism and dogmatism and the trends of their development, he armed the Marxists for the struggle against revisionists and dogmatists.
Lenin's contribution to Marxist philosophy will be examined in greater detail in the ensuing chapters.
After Lenin, the philosophy of Marxism has been developed by his associates and pupils, prominent leaders of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the fraternal communist and workers' parties.
Marxist-Leninist philosophy has been further developed in the decisions of Congresses, Conferences and Central Committee Plenary Meetings of the CPSU and other Marxist parties and in the resolutions of international meetings of Communists. By developing Marxist philosophy these documents attest to the correct application of its propositions and conclusions in analysing the historical situation, in the revolutionary struggle and in socialist and communist construction. The creative development of the scientific theory of Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist philosophy, its organic combination with the revolutionary struggle of the working people, and with socialist and communist 35 construction are the most powerful and the most notable aspect of the entire historical activity of the CPSU. It is stated in the Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 25th Congress of the Party which was delivered by General Secretary of the CC CPSU Leonid Brezhnev that the Party bases its whole revolutionary activity on the sound foundation of Marxist-Leninist theory. ``Marxism-Leninism derives its power from its constant and creative development. That is what Marx taught. That is what Lenin taught.''^^*^^ As it develops Marxist theory, the CPSU conducts an offensive against the ideology of anti-communism and various bourgeois and revisionist conceptions.
Marxist-Leninist philosophy develops in a bitter struggle chiefly against reactionary bourgeois ideology. The age-long history of philosophy has not put an end to the division of philosophers into two opposing camps---materialists and idealists. And today the battle between these two trends is a reflection of the struggle between progressive and reactionary classes.
Being the world outlook of the revolutionary proletariat and all the working people, Marxist-Leninist materialist philosophy is a formidable weapon in the struggle against imperialist reaction, for socialism and progress. It is opposed by the idealist philosophy of the reactionary, moribund imperialist bourgeoisie. This philosophy plays a reactionary role because it endeavours to save the capitalist system, keep millions of workers in the grip of idealism, refute Marxism-Leninism and prevent the ideas of materialism and dialectics from influencing broad sections of the people.
There are many trends and schools in contemporary bourgeois philosophy, but the distinctions between them are inessential. In the main thing---their idealist substance, anti-Marxist trend and service to imperialist reaction---they are all alike. Some of these trends overtly advocate idealism, mysticism and hatred for science. Others do this in a more refined way; they try to use the latest achievements of science for this purpose and to adapt themselves to the requirements of social development. Still others openly _-_-_
^^*^^ Documents and Resolutions. XXVth Congress of the CPSU, Moscow, 1976, p. 87.
36 revive medieval scholasticism and glorify religious dogmas.But try as they might the ideologists of contemporary imperialist bourgeoisie will neither disprove Marxist-Leninist theory, nor stem the growth of its influence. More and more convincingly history demonstrates the triumph of MarxismLeninism and its materialist philosophy.
[37] __NOTE__ "DIALECTICAL MATERIALSM" and "HISTORICAL MATERIALISM" should be LVL1 headings, but, there would be only two (2), everyone has seen that split before, and there are plenty of LVL4s that need to be elevated to LVL3.DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM
__NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER III __ALPHA_LVL1__ Matter and the Forms of Its Existence __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]We already know that the main thing in the subject matter of dialectical materialism is the solution of the fundamental question of philosophy---the relation of matter to consciousness. Let us now analyse in detail what is matter and what are the forms of its existence.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. What Is Matter __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]Man is surrounded by an infinite number of the most diverse bodies. These include both bodies of inorganic nature---from infinitesimal particles of the atom to huge cosmic bodies, and living organisms---from the simplest to the most complex. Some are next to us: we live amidst them and constantly feel their presence, while others are removed from us by extremely great distances. Some we see with the naked eye, but to observe others we have to use the most sophisticated instruments and equipment. These bodies possess the most diverse properties, qualities and features.
Amazed by the diversity of the world, man long ago pondered the possibility of all the surrounding bodies stemming from a single basis and having similar features.
Gradually, man's practical activities and the development of science have convinced him that however much objects and phenomena differ, however diverse their properties, they are all material and exist outside and independent of his consciousness. Natural sciences have indisputably proved that the Earth had existed many millions of years before man and living organisms in general appeared on it. This 38 signifies that matter, nature is objective and independent of man and his consciousness, and that consciousness itself is merely a product of the long evolution of the material world.
The philosophical concept, or category, of matter expresses the general property of objects and phenomena, which consists in their being objective reality, existing outside of man's consciousness and reflected in his consciousness.
Recognition of the objectivity of the world around us and recognition of the ability of the human mind to cognise this world constitute the basic principles of the dialecticalmaterialist world outlook. This means that the concept of matter, reflecting these cardinal principles, is the most important, pivotal category of dialectical materialism.
The category of matter is an extremely broad concept, encompassing not a separate object or process, not a group of objects and phenomena, but all of objective reality. Abstracting itself from the given distinctions, properties and sides of separate objects, from their concrete connections and interaction, this concept expresses the common, main thing in all these objects, namely, objectivity, i.e., their existence independent of man's consciousness. The concept of matter not only gives an idea of the general properties of the objective world as such; it is also a primary category of knowledge. Pointing to man's ability to cognise the world and indicating the source of our knowledge, it also provides the basis for solving major problems of the theory of knowledge of dialectical materialism.
The concept of matter is also of great importance for the other sciences, particularly natural science. Any science would be reduced to a meaningless exercise of the human mind if it did not study one or another aspect of objective reality.
A truly scientific, all-embracing definition of matter was given by Lenin in his book Materialism and Empirio-- Criticism. ``Matter is a philosophical category,'' he wrote, `` denoting the objective reality which is given to man by his sensations, and which is copied, photographed and reflected by our sensations, while existing independently of them.''^^*^^
_-_-_^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Materialism and Empiric-Criticism'', Collected Works, Vol. 14, p. 130.
39It is difficult to overestimate the significance of the Lenin's definition of matter. Summing up mankind's experience over the centuries, it gives people a correct understanding of the world around them, teaches them to proceed in their practical work and theoretical studies from reality itself, from the objective material conditions and not from arbitrary, subjective ideas. Asserting that the world is knowable, it opens up boundless vistas to human reason, stimulates the mind and helps man penetrate the deepest secrets of the world.
Lenin's definition of matter reflects the fundamental contrast of materialism to idealism and agnosticism. It also has a deep atheistic meaning. Indeed, if matter is primary and eternal, it is Uncreatable and indestructible, it is the inner final cause of everything existing. In a world where matter is the primary cause, the primary foundation of everything, there is room neither for God nor any other supernatural forces.
That is why idealists and the clergy have always bitterly fought against recognition of matter. Idealists of the past, from Plato to Berkeley, engaged in ``destroying'' the concept of matter, while Machists^^*^^ even launched a crusade against it. Today there are numerous idealists and revisionists who continue the battle. The purpose of the attacks on the concept of matter has been to undermine the fundamental concept of materialism, to drive matter out of philosophy and science, and thereby clear the way for idealism, agnosticism and religion.
These attacks, however, are absolutely pointless. Scientific progress and all man's practical experience conclusively prove that matter does exist as objective reality and that it is infinite and eternal. All things, objects and processes are merely manifestations or forms of matter in motion. That is why the world around us is a single material world. But the forms of matter, as we can see from personal experience and scientific discoveries, are diverse. This signifies that the material world is a unity of diversity. In the material world _-_-_
^^*^^ Machists were proponents of an idealist trend in philosophy at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries named after the Austrian philosopher Ernst Mach. Lenin gave a profound and comprehensive critique of Machism in his Materialism and Empiric-- Criticism published in 1909.
40 there is not a single thing, however minute, which can arise out of nothing or disappear without trace. The destruction of one thing gives rise to another and this to a third, and so on ad infinitum. Concrete things change, they are transformed one into another, but matter neither disappears nor is created anew in the process. __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Concept of Matter and the Picture of theThe philosophical concept of matter must be distinguished from the picture of the world given by natural science, from the views on the structure, state and properties of concrete forms of matter which are elaborated by natural science in the course of its development. These views constantly change, develop and at times undergo a radical transformation. This, however, does not affect the truth of the philosophical understanding of matter as objective reality existing independent of our consciousness.
In an effort to refute materialism idealists deliberately confuse the philosophical concept of matter with the views of natural science on the structure of concrete material bodies. A change in these views, renunciation of old ideas and their replacement by new, more exact and improved ideas, is held up by them as the ``disappearance'' of matter, as the ``collapse'' of materialism.
For many centuries, for example, many materialists, metaphysically identified matter with the atom, which they regarded as impenetrable and indivisible. But at the end of the 19th century scientists discovered the electron, a minute integral part of the atom, and then other particles. As a result, the atom, which for centuries had been regarded as the ultimate, indivisible unit of the world, proved to be an extremely complex phenomenon. The properties of the electron, it was discovered, were entirely unlike the formerly accepted conceptions of the properties of the atom. This confused metaphysically-thinking physicists, while idealist philosophers, who took advantage of the ensuing difficulties, gained a pretext for speaking about the `` dematerialisation" of the atom and the ``disappearance'' of matter.
In Materialism and Empirio-Criticism Lenin proved the 41 untenability of these assertions. He showed that the latest discoveries of natural science do not result in the disappearance of matter, but only of obsolete knowledge of it. Yesterday the limit of our knowledge was the.atom, today it is the electron, while tomorrow this limit too will disappear. Our knowledge reaches deep into matter, revealing more and more of its properties, its ever deeper and finer formations. The electron which was discovered in its time is precisely such form of matter. Lenin, referring to the latest achievements of science, concluded that ``the electron is as inexhaustible as the atom, nature is infinite''.^^*^^
Lenin's ideas of the qualitative diversity of matter and the inexhaustible diversity of its structure and properties have been fully corroborated by the findings of contemporary science, and of physics in particular.
Substance is a form of matter known in modern physics. Everything that has a mechanical mass or, as physicists say, a rest mass, is a substance. All visible or, as they are also called, macroscopic bodies that surround man are substantive. These bodies consist of molecules which in turn contain atoms. Bodies, molecules and atoms are exceptionally diverse. This, however, does not exhaust the qualitative diversity of substance. The atoms themselves have a very intricate structure, consisting of so-called elementary particles---protons and neutrons, which make up the nucleus of the atom, and electrons that revolve around the nucleus at a tremendous speed. The enumerated particles and also other ``elementary'' particles known to science (mesons, hyperons, neutrinos, etc.) are the smallest particles of substance known today. They are called elementary, because so far scientists have not succeeded in splitting them into smaller material formations. There is no doubt, however, that they too, like the atom, have an intricate structure. It is worth noting that elementary particles exist not only as part of atoms and nuclei, but also in a free state. Many of these particles, for example, are contained in cosmic radiation.
In recent years, antiparticles (positrons, antiprotons and others) have been discovered; they differ from the corresponding particles of substance (electron, proton) by their _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Materialism and Empiric-Criticism'', Collected Works, Vol. 14, p. 262.
42 opposite electrical charge.When Lenin wrote Materialism and Empirio-Criticism only one elementary particle was known, the electron. Today there are dozens of elementary particles and antiparticles known to science. Physicists have discovered not only numerous particles of the atom but, by establishing their diverse properties, have also demonstrated that these particles, like the atom, are inexhaustible. Today the electron can no longer be conceived as some kind of an unchanging tiny sphere. It possesses properties of discontinuity and continuity, or properties of both a particle and a wave, and also a mass, an electrical charge, a magnetic moment, etc. Other elementary particles, too, possess a wide range of properties.
Substance exists in a variety of states. In our everyday life we usually deal with solid, liquid or gaseous substances. And yet the most widespread state of substance in the world is plasma, a gaseous condition created by electrically charged particles---electrons and ions. Stars, nebulae, interstellar gas are in a state of plasma, while solid, liquid and gaseous bodies, which are so widespread on the Earth, are, on the whole, a great rarity in the Universe.
Plasma resembles gas, but it has different properties: under the influence of a powerful magnetic field the movement of its particles acquires a specific, so-called spiral character. The magnetic field acts as the walls of a vessel capable of retaining plasma in a set condition and volume. In view of these properties plasma is also regarded as yet another, fourth form of matter.
Today scientists devote especially great attention to plasma. Its study creates infinite opportunities for technical progress; in particular, it opens the way for controlling thermonuclear reactions and thus obtaining a practically inexhaustible source of energy.
If an ordinary solid substance is compressed to an exceptionally great density, the electrons of its atoms penetrate the atomic nucleus and by uniting with its protons turn into neutrons. This creates another, neutron condition of substance. The distinguishing properties of a substance in a neutron form is its enormous (tens of thousands of times greater than in metals which are the best conductors) electric conductivity, the appearance of powerful magnetic fields when electricity passes through it, and amazing, 43 unparalleled density. Suffice it to say that just one cubic centimetre of a substance in its neutron state weighs not less than a million tons.
The field is another basic form of matter known to modem science. The physical field is a material formation which interconnects bodies and transmits action from one body to another. The gravitational field (gravity) and the electromagnetic field (light is one of its varieties) were known already in the 19th century. Photons are particles of the electromagnetic field, which differ from particles of substance in that they have no rest mass characteristic of the latter. Moreover, in a vacuum photons always travel at a constant velocity of 300,000 kilometres per second, whereas the velocity of particles of substance can vary greatly, but cannot be higher than that of photons.
In addition to the gravitational and electromagnetic fields there are also the nuclear, meson and electron-- positron fields. Corresponding to each field are definite particles, whose properties are not identical with the properties of photons.
Thus, both substance and field are diverse and inexhaustible in their structure and properties.
The boundaries between substance and field are distinct only in the macroscopic, visible world. In the sphere of micro-processes, however, these boundaries are relative. Some particles of substance (for example, mesons) are at the same time also particles (quanta) of the corresponding field. Substance and field are inextricably connected; they interact and under certain circumstances are capable of being transformed one into another. In certain conditions two particles of substance (electron and positron) can be transformed into photons, particles of the electromagnetic field. The practical realisation of this experiment was one of the greatest achievements of physics, which once again demonstrated the material unity of the world, its changeability and mobility.
Studies of the particles larger than molecules, known as polymeric chemical compounds (rubber, proteins, cellulose, starch and others), have provided an important contribution to the theory of the structure of matter. The main distinction of these compounds is that they are formed through numerous repetitions of similar groups of atoms bound into 44 chains or other more complex formations.
By the discovery of polymers, the human mind penetrated a field which really lies on the boundary between the micro- and the macro-world. Since many of the polymeric compounds, particularly proteins, serve as material for the formation of living substance, their successful study is an important step in ascertaining the essence of the phenomena of life, in mastering and controlling vital processes.
All the achievements of modern physics, chemistry and other sciences thus confirm the theses of dialectical materialism concerning the objectivity of matter, the unity and diversity of the world, the infinity of matter and boundlessness of human knowledge. It should be noted, however, that each science, notwithstanding its great achievements, also has its difficulties and unsolved problems which are used by the enemies of materialism in order to discredit it.
For instance, some bourgeois philosophers and idealistically-minded physicists take advantage of the fact that elementary particles cannot be directly observed and say that they are logical (reasoned) substances and not material bodies.
Actually, however, the atomic particles are just as material and objective as the atom itself, as the molecules formed from atoms and the bodies formed from molecules. All of them are only elements of one nature, the material world. If the atom and the particles comprising it did not exist, then the atomic power stations, the first of which was built by the Soviet people, would not have functioned, and the atomic icebreakers, the first of which bears the name of great Lenin, would not have sailed the seas.
And so our knowledge about the structure and properties of definite material formations, whether electron, atom, molecule or any other body, is relative, and subject to change. It changed in the past and will change again in the future. But for all that matter remains an objective reality. It is the categorical, unqualified recognition of the existence of matter outside man's consciousness and sensations that sets dialectical materialism apart from all forms of idealism, including agnosticism.
The world by its nature, as we have seen, is material: all that exists represents various forms and kinds of matter. But matter is not something inert and stagnant. It constantly 45 moves in time and space. Motion, space and time are the basic forms of being of matter. For a deeper understanding of the material essence of the world we have to examine these forms. We shall begin with motion.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. Motion---a Form of Existence of Matter __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]The universal character of the motion of matter was recognised by pre-Marxist materialists, but they interpreted it in a narrow, metaphysical way. They did not associate motion with change, development of bodies, and often conceived it only as mechanical displacement in space.
Dialectical materialism does not reduce the diversity of forms of motion to a single mechanical or any other form, but associates motion with change, development of bodies, the coming into being of the new and the passing away of the old. Motion is understood by dialectical materialism as any change, as change in general which encompasses all the processes transpiring in the Universe---from the simplest mechanical displacement to such an extremely complex process as human thinking.
Matter exists only in motion, through which it manifests or reveals itself. The facts of daily life, the development of science and practice have given convincing proof of this.
Let us take, for example, the atom. It exists as a definite material body only in so far as the elementary particles forming it are in constant motion. Outside of the motion of these particles the atom could not exist, nor could there be any other body without motion. As soon as metabolic interchange between the organism and the environment ceases (this .is also a form of motion), the living organism perishes.
Due to motion material bodies manifest themselves, act on our sense organs. The Sun, for example, constantly irradiates countless moving particles into cosmic space. When they reach the Earth, these particles act on our sense organs and make the existence of the Sun known to us. If it were not for the movement of these particles we would not even suspect the Sun's existence; after all, the Sun is about 150 million kilometres away from the Earth.
Similarly, all other material bodies exist, manifest themselves only in motion. Not only elementary particles in atoms are in motion, but also the atoms in molecules and the molecules in bodies. The whole vast mass of terrestrial 46 and cosmic bodies is in motion. Likewise,living organisms and social life undergo changes. It is impossible to find a single particle of the material world which does not move or change.
Motion is thus a form of the existence of matter, its inalienable attribute. ``Motion is the mode of existence of matter. Never anywhere has there been matter, without motion, nor can there be,''^^*^^ Engels wrote.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Motion Is Absolute. Rest Is RelativeThe motion of matter is absolute and eternal, it can neither be created nor destroyed, inasmuch as matter itself is uncreatable and indestructible. The law of conservation and transformation of energy is the proof furnished by natural science that motion is uncreatable and indestructible. This law states that, like matter, motion does not disappear and does not arise anew, but is merely modified, is converted from one form into another.
But if motion is eternal, absolute, can we speak of rest?
Of course we can and must speak of it.. In the course of material changes there are also moments of equilibrium, of rest But they affect only particular objects and processes and not matter in its entirety. The absoluteness of motion necessarily presupposes rest as well, the latter being an indispensable prerequisite for the development of the world. An object arises in motion, while rest fixes, as it were, the result of motion, in consequence of which this object is preserved for a certain time and remains what it is.
In contrast to the absoluteness of motion, rest is relative and must not be understood as some kind of a dead, inert state. A body can be at rest only in relation to some other body, but it necessarily takes part in the general motion of matter. The house in which we live is in a state of rest in relation to the Earth's surface, but together with the Earth, it revolves around the Earth's axis, around the Sun, etc. Moreover, even when a body is in a state of rest, physical, chemical or other processes take place in it all the time.
The motion of matter is eternal, absolute, while rest is temporary, relative: it is only a moment of motion.
_-_-_^^*^^ Frederick Engels, Anti-Diihring, Moscow, 1977, p. 77.
47 __ALPHA_LVL3__ Forms of Motion of MatterThere are many kinds and forms of motion. Drawing on the achievements of natural science, dialectical materialism classifies the kinds of motion, singling out from their diversity the basic forms. Engels gave the first scientific classification of the forms of motion of matter. In the basic forms he included: mechanical, physical, chemical, biological and social; moreover, he associated each one with a definite form of matter---mechanical, with celestial and terrestrial bodies; physical, with molecules, etc.
Engels' classification of the main forms of motion still retains its scientific value, but the latest achievements of science have substantially enriched our knowledge of these forms.
In the 19th century mechanical motion, for example, was chiefly understood as the displacement of macroscopic bodies in space. Now, however, it has been established that spatial displacement is inherent in all material formations, from elementary particles to a living organism. Mechanical motion must not be associated only with one form of matter, macroscopic, that is, visible bodies. This motion is inherent in any kind of matter, in any other form of motion, although in other, non-mechanical forms, it is of a subordinate, auxiliary character.
Our ideas concerning the physical form of motion of matter have been substantially enriched, above all due to the profound penetration of physics into the atom. Scientists have discovered and studied such hitherto unknown kinds of physical motion as intra-atomic and intra-nuclear motion. Engels associated the physical form of motion chiefly with molecular processes. In the light of contemporary data, however, this form of motion embraces thermal, electrical, magnetic, intra-atomic and intra-nuclear processes as well as numerous other processes occurring in solid, liquid and gaseous bodies due to the movement of elementary particles.
The chemical form of motion of matter is connected with the combination or separation of atoms, with the resultant formation or break-up of molecules, of which all chemical compounds consist. Chemical processes are accompanied by the motion of electrons forming the outer shell of 48 atoms. Chemical transmutations are widespread in both inorganic and organic nature.
Biological mo tion is one of the most complex forms of motion of matter, encompassing all the diverse processes occurring in living organisms. These processes are associated with protein bodies, the carriers of life, which maintain continuous metabolic change with their environment. This metabolism results in a constant self-regeneration of the chemical composition of the protein bodies, which is the chief characteristic of any living thing.
Social life, the history of human society, is an even higher form of motion of matter, which differs essentially and qualitatively from all the preceding ones. It appeared with the rise of human society and its major distinction is the process of material production, determining all other aspects of social life.
The forms of motion of matter are interconnected and inseparable. Their unity and interconnection is based on the material unity of the world. One form of motion, given appropriate conditions, can turn into another. Mechanical motion, for example, may cause heat, sound, light, electricity and other kinds of physical motion. The interaction of physical processes leads to chemical transformations, while chemical processes in certain conditions give rise to organic life.
The lower forms are necessarily included in the higher form of motion of matter. For example, biological motion is connected with definite mechanical, physical and chemical processes. But higher forms of motion cannot be reduced to lower ones. The higher form of motion possesses its own particular laws, which distinguish it from the lower and determine its qualitative specific features. Thus, the laws of metabolism set organic life apart from inorganic nature. The mechanical, physical and chemical processes inherent in organisms have no independent significance and are subordinated to the chief process in the organismmetabolism.
Recognition of the absolute and universal character of motion, with necessary account of the qualitative distinction of each form, the 'ability of these forms to become mutually transformed, and the impossibility of reducing the higher forms to lower ones---this is the essence of the dialectical-materialist concept of motion.
49 __ALPHA_LVL3__ Matter Cannot Be Divorced from MotionWe have stated earlier that there can be no inert, immobile state of matter, that matter and motion are inseparable. Yet even today some people think of matter as such without motion, divorcing matter from motion.
Such, for example, are the proponents of the so-called theory of the heat death of the Universe who, distorting the findings of science, predict the coming ``end'' of the world, the ``death'' of everything existing. They proceed from the fact, long ago established by science, that all forms of energy are easily converted into thermal energy, while the reverse process is more complex and demands an additional expenditure of energy. It is also true that any heated body, placed in an environment with a lower temperature, cools, transferring its heat to it.
Applying these principles to the entire Universe, these theorists arrive at the conclusion that, in time, fiery celestial bodies will transfer all their heat to cold cosmic space. That being the case, the Universe, in their opinion, will ultimately reach a state of ``heat balance" or ``heat death'', turning into a monstrous conglomeration of frozen bodies, while all forms of motion of matter will become thermal energy incapable of further conversion, and matter will lose the ability to move. Although this theory was criticised and refuted by Engels,^^*^^ idealists and theologians continue to defend it and use it as ``proof'' that the ``end'' of the world is inevitable.
Scientifically, the theory of the heat death of the Universe is completely unfounded and ignores the law of conservation and transformation of energy which asserts the indestructibility of motion not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. According to this law, motion cannot exist in only one form, nor can matter exist in a state of immobility, i.e., a state in which motion would no longer pass from one form into another. The transformation of forms of motion is as natural and law-governed as the quantitative conservation of motion during these transformations.
The latest discoveries of astronomy show that the cycle _-_-_
^^*^^ See Frederick Engels, Dialectics of Nature, Moscow, 1974, pp. 38--39.
50 of matter in the Universe does not cease for a single moment. In some regions of cosmic space matter and energy are dispersed, in others they are re-concentrated, giving rise to new celestial bodies. Soviet scientists have established that new stars are still being formed, and not merely single stars but entire groups (associations) of stars. This proves that there can be no immobile state of matter.But then, perhaps, motion exists by itself, without any material carrier?
This is precisely what the advocates of energetism, a trend in philosophy and natural science which arose at the turn of the century, think. They reduce matter to motion and energy, this is nothing more than a refusal to recognise matter and is idealism pure and simple.
Present-day champions of energetism are particularly vociferous in their idealist views. Falsifying the latest achievements of science, they speak of the ``annihilation'' of matter, its conversion into ``pure'' energy. To this end, for example, they idealistically interpret the conversion of a pair of elementary particles of substance (electron and positron) into photons, particles of the electromagnetic field (light). By regarding light as ``pure'' energy, energy without matter, and substance as the only form of matter, adherents of energetism have arrived at the absolutely erroneous conclusion that in this instance matter disappears and is converted into energy. The photon, however, is a particle of the field, a special form of matter. The conversion of the electron and positron into photons is not transformation of matter into energy, but conversion of one kind of matter---substance, into another---the field.
The complete bankruptcy of energetism is disclosed by the advances of modern physics and above all by the law of the interconnection of mass and energy discovered early in this century. According to this law, the mass of a body is always connected with a corresponding quantity of energy. It is difficult to establish this dependence at relatively small speeds, but when a body travels at a velocity close to that of light (and elementary particles possess such velocities during nuclear transformations), the increase of its mass becomes noticeable. That the mass changes depending on velocity has been confirmed experimentally. Mass, however, is a measure of matter, while energy is a measure of motion. 51 Consequently, the given law reveals the direct connection between die unity of matter and motion.
It follows from the above that there is neither matter without motion nor ``pure'' motion divorced from matter, nor could there be any. Matter and motion are inseparable.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. Space and Time __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Philosophical Concept of Space and TimeWhen we look closely at the objects around us we find that each one is not 'only in motion, but also possesses extension, or size. Objects may be big or small, but they all have length, width and height, occupy a definite place, and have a volume. Objects in nature possess not only extension, but are also located in a certain way in relation to each other. Some of them are located farther away from us or nearer to us than others, higher or lower, to the right or to the left.
The philosophical concept of space reflects the universal property of material bodies to possess extension, to occupy a definite place and to be located in a particular way among other objects of the world.
Objects not only exist in space, but also follow each other in a definite sequence. The place of some objects is taken by others, which in turn are replaced by still others and so on. Every object possesses some duration of existence, has a beginning and an end, and goes through certain stages or states in its development. Some objects are only beginning to arise, others have become established and are developing, while still others are in the process of destruction.
The philosophical concept of time reflects the universal property of material processes to follow one after another in a definite sequence, to possess duration and develop by stages.
Space and time are universal forms of the existence of matter. ``There is nothing in the world but matter in motion, and matter in motion cannot move otherwise than in space and time,''^^*^^ Lenin wrote.
_-_-_^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Materialism and Empiric-Criticism'', Collected Works, Vol. 14, p. 175.
52The most important attribute of space and time is their objectivity, i.e., independence of man's consciousness. This is natural for they are the basic forms of objectively existing matter.
Idealism denies the objectivity of space and time. Subjective idealists consider them the product of man's consciousness, while objective idealists claim that they are engendered by the absolute idea, the universal spirit.
In Materialism and Empirio-Criticism Lenin convincingly demonstrated the insolvency of idealist conceptions of space and time. If, he wrote, we are to believe the idealists that space and time are merely products of human reason, what happens to the incontrovertible fact, proved by science, that the Earth had existed in space and time long before the appearance of man? The Earth has been in existence for thousands of millions of years, while man only for tens of thousands of years! Clearly, this leaves no room for any ``creation'' of space and time by man or by some mystical absolute idea, or universal reason.
Pointing to the objectivity of space and time, dialectical materialism also reveals their other most general properties, proceeding from the premise that they are determined by the nature of matter itself. The eternity and infinity of matter thus determine the eternity of time and infinity of space. This means that they have never had a beginning and will never have an end. Modern science penetrates the distant regions of outer space and studies immense periods of time. With the aid of powerful radio telescopes astronomers study material bodies at a distance of thousands of millions of light-years from the Earth. (Light travels at a velocity of 300,000 kilometres per second.) However immense these distances, they are infinitesimally small as compared with the infinite world. Similarly minute, as compared to the eternity of the Universe, are the vast periods of time, measured in thousands of millions of years, which modern geology studies.
Space as a form of existence of matter is tridimensional, which means that every material body has three dimensions: length, width and height. Correspondingly, bodies can move in die three mutually perpendicular directions.
In contrast to space, time has only one dimension. That is why all bodies develop in time in one direction only, from 53 the past to the future. Time is irreversible, it moves only forward and it is impossible to revert its movement, to bring back the past. This is a natural fact, yet one which is stubbornly refuted by reactionary Western politicians who endeavour to reverse the course of history and bring back the bygone era of capitalism's undivided sway in the world. But history cannot be reversed; it is impossible to turn the world of the 20th century in a world of the 19th century. Times are different now and so is the correlation of forces on the world scene. Today there is a mighty world socialist system which upholds peace, democracy, national liberation and socialism, and determines the direction of social progress.
Such are the most general properties of space and time.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Concepts of Space and Time in Natural ScienceThese philosophical concepts of space and time as universal forms of the existence of matter should be distinguished from the concepts about the space and time properties of concrete material objects accepted in natural science.
As science develops these concepts too are developed and specified, new properties of space and time are discovered and the dependence of these properties on the material nature of bodies is more definitely established.
Classical mechanics, recognising the objectivity of space and time, separated them from matter, and held them to be absolutely uniform and immutable. Isaac Newton (1643--1727), the founder of classical mechanics, for example, pictured space as a huge receptacle in which things were placed in a definite order, but these things themselves supposedly had no relation to space whatsoever.
Newton held that spatial properties of all bodies of the Universe are similar and fully covered by Euclidean geometry which is taught at school and which he regarded as the only possible, the absolute geometry.
His views of time were similarly metaphysical.
The great Russian mathematician Nikolai Lobachevsky (1792--1856) elaborated a new, non-Euclidean geometry, which refuted the metaphysical views of space and extended man's ideas of the spatial properties of bodies. Lobachevsky arrived at the conclusion that the properties of space are not 54 identical in different regions of the Universe, that they depend on the nature of physical bodies and on the material processes taking place in them. Convinced that in nature there are bodies whose spatial properties do not fit into the framework of Euclidean geometry, he discovered these new properties, demonstrating specifically that on definite surfaces the sum of angles of a triangle is not equal to 180°, as in Euclidean geometry, but is smaller.
The theory of relativity, elaborated by Albert Einstein (1879--1955), one of the greatest physicists of all time, is the modern theory of space and time in natural science. This theory reveals the organic connection of space and time both with each other and with matter in motion.
The special theory of relativity demonstrates the dependence of space and time properties of bodies on the velocity of their movement. At relatively small velocities it is impossible to trace this dependence because the space and time, properties change on a scale which can be practically detected only at speeds close to that of light.
The theory of relativity shows that at speeds close to that of light the length of a moving body compared to a body in a state of rest decreases as the speed increases. Moreover, time too does not remain invariable: with the increase in speed the course of time is slowed down. These conclusions, which follow from the theory of relativity, have been corroborated experimentally. For example, the life of the meson (an elementary particle which arises during the fission of an atomic nucleus) is very short, but if its speed is increased, the ``lifetime'' of the meson is lengthened.
According to the theory of relativity, space and time change not by themselves but in inseparable interconnection. This connection is so firm that they form an unbreakable whole and time acquires, as it were, the role of a fourth dimension, in addition to the three dimensions of space. The theory of relativity also gives a strictly mathematical expression to the organic connection of space and time.
The general theory of relativity or the theory of gravitation, has demonstrated that the properties of space and time also depend on the presence of masses of matter. Bodies possessing a huge mass and great force of gravity produce a change in the properties of space near them; as physicists 55 say, space ``is curved''. Time too changes correspondingly: it slows down.
At first glance, the conclusions of the theory of relativity seem to run counter to our customary notions about the properties of space and time. But they are true and are confirmed by scientific experiments. Their unusual character merely goes to show that in knowledge man must not confine himself to customary notions, but must go farther and deeper, and reveal the entire complexity and diversity of the material world.
We have seen that the concepts about the properties of space and time, given by natural science, undergo change. But this changeability does not in any way challenge the propositions of dialectical materialism concerning their objective existence. On the contrary, each success of science furnishes more and more proof of the objectivity of space and time, and their inseparable connection with matter in motion.
[56] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER IV __ALPHA_LVL1__ Matter and Consciousness __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]In the preceding chapter we examined matter and its forms. We also learned that matter exists outside of man's consciousness and independent of it. But what is consciousness, what is its relation to matter, how does it arise? Let us examine these questions.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. Consciousness---a Property of HighlyBefore discussing the essence of consciousness let us recall that man's conscious, spiritual activity includes his thoughts and emotions, will and character, sensations, ideas, views, etc.
What is the nature and the source of all these phenomena?
Natural science and philosophy traversed a long and hard road before they were able to answer this question correctly. Contemporary science has proved that consciousness is a product of the long evolution of matter. Matter and nature have always existed, while man is a result of a relatively later development of the material world. It took millions upon millions of years before the development of matter resulted in the emergence of society and with it, man capable of thinking. Consciousness is a product of nature, a property of matter, though not of all of it, but only of highly organised matter, the human brain.
Consciousness, having arisen as a result of the development of matter, is inseparably bound up with it. It is indivisible from thinking matter, the brain, whose attribute it is. 57 The celebrated Russian physiologists Ivan Sechenov (1829--1905) and Ivan Pavlov (1849--1936) established that all mental activity is based on definite material processes, namely, physiological processes, which transpire in the human brain, particularly in the cortex of the cerebral hemispheres. Disturbance of the normal activity of the brain, its lesion caused by disease, injury of other causes, leads to a sharp derangement in man's thinking, to a mental disorder.
Drawing on numerous experimental data, Pavlov concluded that ``psychical activity is the result of the physiological activity of a certain mass of the brain''.
Pavlov's doctrine of higher nervous activity confirms the fundamental thesis of dialectical materialism concerning the dependence of consciousness on matter. It convincingly demonstrates that the brain and physiological processes in it are the substratum (basis) of human consciousness and the material conditions without which thinking is impossible.
But is the human brain alone enough for the functioning of consciousness? Can it think by itself, independent of the influence of the surrounding world upon it?
No, by itself the brain is incapable of thinking. Consciousness is inseparably bound up with man's material environment, and it cannot function without the influence of this environment. Visual, auditory, olfactory and other sensations arise in the brain only under the influence of objectively existing objects with their intrinsic colours, smells, sounds and other properties. These objects and their properties act on the sense organs and the resultant irritation is transmitted along the nerve channels to the cortex of the cerebral hemispheres where the respective sensations arise. Sensations create perceptions, ideas and also concepts and other forms of thought. All of them represent only images, more or less exact reflections of objectively existing objects and phenomena. Outside of them these images cannot arise in man's consciousness. This means that ability to reflect the material world is the specific distinction of consciousness as a property of the brain.
Needless to say, not only images of existing objects and phenomena arise in man's consciousness, but also images of things which are not yet in existence. For instance, man creates images of future buildings, machines and many other 58 artificial things, and also images of future social order, etc. But these images arise on the basis of reflection of what already exists, on the basis of the knowledge of the surrounding objective reality, its potentialities and trends of development.
Thus, in answer to the question about the nature of consciousness we can say that man's consciousness is a special property of highly organised matter, the brain, to reflect material reality.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Insolvency of Vulgar Materialism and IdealismSince consciousness is inseparable from highly organised matter and is its product, then is it not a variety of matter and identical to it? That, precisely, is what vulgar materialists maintain.^^*^^ Speculating on the indivisibility of consciousness and matter, they also consider them identical and assert, in particular, that the relation of thought to the brain is approximately the same as that of gall to the liver, and that the brain allegedly secretes thought.
Being fully consistent with the achievements of natural sciences dialectical materialism rejects the vulgar-materialist understanding of consciousness. Although consciousness is connected with definite material physiological processes, it cannot be reduced to these processes. Thought is inseparable from matter, from the brain, but it must not be identified with matter. Lenin held that to regard thought as material means to make a wrong step towards confusing materialism with idealism.
Thought is not a thing, it cannot be seen or photographed. Thought is the image of objects and phenomena existing in the world. It is an ideal and not a material image. It is not a simple photograph of reality, not a lifeless copy of it. Marx wrote about thought that ``the ideal is nothing else than the material world reflected by the human mind, and translated into forms of thought''.^^**^^ Reality, acting on man, always passes through the prism of the laws governing thought, such as analysis and synthesis, generalisation, etc.... What sets man apart from animals is his ability to think, i.e., _-_-_
^^*^^ Vulgar materialism is a philosophical trend which originated in Germany in the mid-19th century.
^^**^^ Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. 1, Moscow, 1974, p. 29.
59 to actively reflect reality, to influence it, to set himself certain aims and work for their achievement.Dialectical materialism rejects the vulgar-materialist understanding of consciousness. It regards as a profound mistake the assertion that consciousness or thought is an attribute of all matter. The great Dutch philosopher Spinoza, for example, held that consciousness is as much a necessary attribute (property) of all nature as extension, corporeality.
This view is wrong, because it ignores the qualitative differences between inorganic and organic matter (thinking matter in particular). Lenin held that sensation in a clearly manifest form is inherent only in higher, organic forms of matter, whereas all matter possesses only the property of reflection, i.e., the ability to react in a definite way to external influences. To a certain extent this property is akin to sensation, but is not identical with it and therefore consciousness cannot be regarded as a property of all matter.
Speculating on the ideal nature of consciousness, idealists maintain that it exists on its own, independent of matter. Their line of reasoning runs as follows: if thought is ideal, is not a thing and therefore cannot be found in the human brain, it is consequently not connected with matter or the brain, and exists independently. It is allegedly not only independent of matter, but even ``creates'' it. Idealists refuse to see behind thought its prototype, the things and objects of the objective world.
Attempts to divorce thought from the brain are also absolutely untenable. Lenin aptly called a philosophy which endeavours to do so and asserts that thought exists without the brain a ``brainless'' philosophy. Natural science, Lenin wrote, firmly upholds that consciousness does not exist independently of the body, that it is secondary, a function of the brain, a reflection of the outside world.
At the same time Lenin maintained that there was no absolute antithesis between consciousness and matter, that it is absolute only within the framework of the fundamental question of philosophy, i.e., of the question what is primary, matter or consciousness. Outside the limits of the fundamental question of philosophy this antithesis is relative. In the first place this is manifested in the fact that consciousness is a property of highly organised matter, 60 arises and develops under the influence of material factors, and, in the second place, in the fact that, having arisen on the basis of matter, consciousness acquires a degree of independence and actively influences the development of the material world.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Consciousness and CyberneticsThe world is witnessing the rapid development of a new science, cybernetics which studies various control systems and control process, and has created some remarkable machines. Some of them guide trains, aircraft or intricate production processes, others translate texts from one language into another, still others perform logical operations, extremely complex mathematical calculations, etc. These machines can be fed information, ``memorise'' and process it and perform useful functions. In some respects these machines surpass man: for instance, they perform calculations hundreds of thousands of times faster than man, study a vast amount of data, analyse a mass of variants, and so forth. Machines are being designed which will be able to perfect the programme of their work and even improve its own structure on the basis of preceding activity. A machine can operate where man cannot work either due to danger (for instance in places where atomic and other harmful processes take place), or inaccessibility (remote outer space).
The progress of cybernetics has given grounds to ascribe to automatic machines the ability to experience sensations and even to think. Moreover, there is talk that it is possible to develop an automatic machine whose intellectual capacity will enable it to surpass, and, in the final count, to replace man. It is claimed that the era of robots will replace the era of mankind.
In reality, even the most perfect machine cannot experience sensations, let alone think. A machine does not think, it merely imitates or models certain logical functions inherent in man, and only those of them which can be formalised or mathematically processed. The fact that as science progresses the range of thinking operations which can be formalised broadens does not change the essence of matter: man and man alone is capable of thought, which is a property of the brain as a specially organised matter, a product 61 of the prolonged evolution of the material world and, above all, of the social environment. Thought is social in nature, while a machine, no matter how perfect, has been and will always be a lifeless mechanism created and controlled by man.
Man singles himself out from nature, he actively cognises the surrounding world, and influences and transforms it. He possesses inexhaustible creative powers and an amazingly profound and broad range of sensations, thoughts, emotions, interests, etc. The machine is deprived of all this. It is the product of the astute mind and skilled hands of man who programmes its functions no matter how difficult or amazing they may be.
Just as an ordinary machine facilitates man's physical efforts, the cybernetic machine facilitates his mental efforts, freeing his mind from the need to perform tiring, monotonous and uncreative operations, and broadens his intellectual abilities. But however high the level which cybernetics may attain in its development, an automatic machine will never become a vehicle of human consciousness and will never replace man as a social being. It will always remain an instrument, a means of solving production and cognitive problems confronting mankind.
Now let us examine the origin and development of consciousness.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. Consciousness---a Product of the Development of Matter. __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Origin and Development of ConsciousnessAs we pointed out earlier, all matter possesses the intrinsic general property of reflection, i.e., the ability to reconstruct itself internally under external influences, to react to them accordingly. Reflection is always connected with the interaction of two (or more) bodies: the acting one and the one subjected to the action. That is why the character of reflection depends both on external influences and on the internal state of the body reacting to the influence.
If we examine an inorganic body, a living organism and man from this point of view we find that they reflect the world differently.
Simple, passive reflection is inherent in an inorganic body. Such a body does not differentiate between the 62 factors of the environment, does not single out the favourable ones and is jncapable of protecting itself from the unfavourable ones.
A living organism reacts differently to external influences. It adapts itself to the environment, reacts in a different way to various external stimuli, making use of favourable factors and avoiding unnecessary, harmful ones. Here we have active, selective, but so far unconscious reflection.
We find a qualitatively new, higher form of reflection in man who possesses the ability to consciously reflect reality. He not only adapts himself to the environment, but acts upon it, transforms it on the basis of the knowledge he has gained.
To establish the origin of consciousness amounts to tracing how, during the transition from inorganic matter to living matter and thence to thinking matter (the human brain), the non-living, passive reflection turned into active, selective reflection inherent in everything living, and how the ability to think developed from the latter.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ From Inorganic to Living Matter, and ThenceNatural sciences command a vast array of facts showing that living nature arose out of non-living, inorganic nature. There is no impassable boundary between them. Chemical analysis shows that both inorganic bodies and living organisms are formed from the same chemical elements. Organisms contain large quantities of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and particularly carbon, which comprises the basis of the chemical composition of living organisms and the products of their vital processes.
Scientists have put forward the hypothesis that the primary gas-dust matter from which our Earth was formed originally contained the simplest compounds of carbon and hydrogen, hydrocarbons, from which the more complex organic compounds were subsequently formed. Entering into chemical associations with each other, the organic compounds became more and more complex until amino acids, the basic elements of the protein molecules, were formed. As organic substances became more differentiated and complex, their reflective ability became more diverse and intricate.
63Hundreds of millions of years later the molecules of this primary chemical protein, formed from amino acids, had turned into a living protein body and thereby acquired the property of metabolism, which is the basic feature of everything living. Landing in a favourable environment and entering into a metabolic interchange with it, this protein body became an organism.
Metabolism is a contradictory process of assimilation (absorption of nutritive substances from the environment and their conversion into the living cells and tissues of an organism) and dissimilation (disintegration, destruction of this living tissue). This process is inherent only in living protein, in an organism. Metabolic exchange with the environment and constant self-regeneration differentiate the simplest living organism from the most complex non-living body. Only by assimilating nutritive substances and excreting the products of their disintegration, can an organism live and develop. ``Life is the mode of existence of protein bodies, the essential element of which consists in continual metabolic exchange with the natural environment outside them, and which ceases with the cessation of this metabolism,''^^*^^ Engels points out.
The coming into being of the first simplest organisms was a tremendous step forward in the development of reflection, a general intrinsic property of matter, in the emergence of consciousness. Reflection of reality, inherent in inorganic nature, turned into a qualitatively new, biological reflection. The simplest form of biological reflection is response to stimuli, irritability, which is inherent in all organisms and serves as a means of their orientation, or adaptability to the external environment.
Plants, for example, are especially sensitive to sunlight. They literally reach out for it; for them light is the source of life. The simplest monocellular organism, the amoeba, reacts to food stimuli, but if it has just swallowed food, the food stimuli have no effect upon it. This means that the amoeba, like any other organism possessing the property of responding to stimuli, reflects the outside world not passively, but selectively. Its organism, as it were, gravitates towards useful, needed stimuli and shuns harmful, unnecessary ones. _-_-_
^^*^^ Frederick Engels, Dialectics of Nature, p. 301.
64 But its selective power is not great. A simple organism has neither organs nor tissues, nor cells, specially receptive to particular forms of stimuli. It responds to outside excitations in its entirety.In the course of further evolution, as the organisms themselves and the environment became more complex, an even higher form of reflection, sensation, arose on the basis of response to stimuli. Like response to stimuli, sensation was a result of the action of the outside world on the organism, but here the range of external stimuli to which the organism responded in one way or another broadened considerably. The organism reacted to colour, smell and sound, it developed the sensations of taste, cold, heat, moisture and responded to mechanical, physical and other influences. Organs capable of perceiving only a definite range of external influences (colour, sound, smell, etc.) appeared in the organism. Subsequently, as the organisms developed, their sensations became more subtle and diverse. The adaptability of the organism to the environment increased and a special organ for maintaining contact with the environment, the central nervous system, came into being.
In the field of biology the study of reflexes has graphically shown that lower and higher animals do not have the same ability to reflect the surrounding world, to adapt to the environment. Reflexes are responsive reactions of the organism to external influences, as well as to its own internal changes. All of them are divided into unconditioned and conditioned reflexes. Unconditioned reflexes are inherent in all organisms, both lower and higher, and are inborn, hereditary. A man instantly draws away his hand if it is touched by something hot---this is an unconditioned reflex. The intricate intertwining of unconditioned reflexes forms instincts (sex, food and others), which play a major role in the life and development of an organism.
Higher animals, however, also have conditioned reflexes which are of a temporary nature and are formed in definite conditions. If for a certain time a dog is fed to the accompaniment of the ringing of a bell, there will come a moment when the dog reacts to the ringing of a bell in the same way as when it is fed: saliva will be secreted. A temporary connection has been formed in the brain of the dog whereby the sound of the bell has become the signal for food. All __PRINTERS_P_65_COMMENT__ 3---389 65 other conditioned reflexes are formed on the same principle. Thanks to them the organism adapts itself very delicately to the environment and is very sensitive to its influences. The conditioned reflexes which acquire particular importance for the organism become fixed and turn into unconditioned ones; on the basis of the latter new temporary connections arise, part of which again become fixed. Hence, in the course of the evolution of living organisms psyche progressed continuously, and this ultimately led to sentient matter acquiring the ability to think.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Decisive Role of Labour in the Rise of ConsciousnessBoth man and higher animals possess the intrinsic ability to experience sensations. This ability, according to Pavlov, rests on a physiological basis which is common for both man and animals; namely, the first signal system. It is a mechanism through which the organism responds directly to the action of concrete objects and phenomena. Being the sole signals for an animal, these objects act on its sense organs and arouse corresponding sensations in its nervous system.
But man's sensations, in contrast to those of animals, are always illuminated by the light of reason. Man is capable of abstract thinking, i.e., of a generalised reflection of reality in concepts expressed in words. Every word denotes a definite object, phenomenon, or action with which it is inseparably associated. That is why man reacts to words just as to the direct influence of the objects themselves. Inasmuch as the first signals are the objects themselves, the words designating them acquire the role of secondary signals. They, as Pavlov pointed out, are the ``signals of signals''. He called the physiological mechanism through which man reacts to words, to speech, the second signal system. This system is inherent in man alone.
The first and the second signal systems are organically connected, giving man an all-round and profound knowledge of reality.
And so, man's consciousness qualitatively differs from the mentality of animals.
The cause of this difference lies in the fact that the mentality of animals is a product of biological development only, whereas man's consciousness is above all a result of 66 historical, social development.
The very sensations of man radically differ from those of animals. The eyes of an eagle, for example, see much farther than those of man, but man has immeasurably greater insight than the eagle into what is seen.
Marx held that the formation of man's five sense organs is a product of the whole of world history. Man's musical ear, his eye for nature's beauty, his fine taste and other sense organs have developed on the basis of the practical experience of human society at various stages of its history.
Labour, i.e., production of material values, is the decisive factor in the development of man, in the emergence and development of his consciousness. ``Labour created man himself,'' Engels pointed out. Due to labour our distant ape-like ancestor developed into the modern man, Homo Sapiens. Labour gave man food, clothing, shelter and not only protected him against the elements, but also enabled him to subjugate them, to place them at his service. Through labour man changed himself beyond recognition and also changed our planet. Labour is man's greatest possession and is indispensable to his life and development.
Anthropoid apes already had the prerequisites of labour. They used sticks, stones and other objects to procure food. But they did it unconsciously and accidentally. Neither apes nor any other animals can make even the simplest tool. Man, however, consciously makes and uses tools, and in this lays the qualitative distinction of his labour. To leam this man needed hundreds of thousands of years, throughout which there took place the highly intricate process of man's emergence and the formation and development of his consciousness.
The adoption of a vertical posture by anthropoid apes was of great importance in creating conditions for labour and the appearance of the first glimmers of consciousness. This posture meant that the front limbs were relieved of their use as an aid to walking and could now be used for work. At first, with the help of his hands, our distant ancestor used ``implements'' of labour (sticks and stones) in their natural state and then began to make tools out of natural objects. The first of them were extremely primitive (a roughly-hewn stone, a sharpened stick, etc.). The consciousness of the man of that age was primitive too. He did not 67 yet distinguish the essence of objects, did not see what they had in common, did not know how they could be of use to him.
The further development and improvement of labour was accompanied by an advance in man's consciousness. Coming in contact with various natural objects in the course of obtaining his means of subsistence, he learned their properties, compared them and singled out what they had in common and what recurred.
The making and improvement of labour implements played a particularly important role in the development of consciousness. The implements, which were handed down from generation .to generation, embodied work habits and knowledge. Succeeding generations, knowing the methods of making and using the implements of their ancestors, were able to improve and develop them.
The consciousness of primitive man was organically bound up with his labour; it was, so to say, interwoven with his labour activity. And this is understandable because man first of all learned that which was directly connected with his labour, the satisfaction of his wants. It is no accident that the portrayal of man's labour occurs so often in primitive art.
In the process of labour man acquired not only consciousness, i.e., ability to reflect the surrounding world, but also self-consciousness, i.e., awareness and the ability to assess his thoughts and sentiments, interests, motives and deeds, and his place and role in society. This, in turn, prompted the further improvement of his work habits and the establishment and development of society.
Thus, in unity of labour and thought, and on the basis of labour activity, man's consciousness developed and improved.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Language and ThoughtLanguage, articulate speech, was of great importance in forming man's consciousness. Language, which arose together with consciousness on the basis of labour, played a very great part in enabling man to emerge from the animal kingdom, to develop his thinking and organise material production. Labour has always been social. From the first days of their existence people had to unite to fight the mighty 68 forces of nature, to wrest the means of livelihood from it. That is why in the process of labour there arose the need for communication between people, the need to tell each other something. Through this pressing need the undeveloped larynx of the ape was transformed into an organ capable of uttering articulate sounds. That was how articulate speech or language came into existence.
Marx called language the direct reality of thought. And he did so because thought can exist only in the material shell of the word, or a substitute sign, or symbol. Whether a man thinks to himself, voices his thoughts aloud, or puts them down in writing, the thought is always vested in words. Thanks to language thoughts are not only formed, but also transmitted and perceived. In words and combinations of words man fixes the results of reflection of the objective world in his consciousness, which not only enables people to exchange thoughts, but also to pass them on from one generation to another. Without speech and written language, the priceless experience of many generations would be lost and each new generation would be compelled to begin anew the very hard process of studying the world.
Language is not connected with reality directly, but through thought. Hence, at times it is not easy to establish the direct connection of a given word with a specific material object. In different languages and even in one language frequently the same word denotes various objects, or various words denote the same object. All this creates the illusion that language is independent of reality.
This illusion is pursued by the semantic idealists, proponents of a trend in contemporary bourgeois philosophy. They sever language from thought and thought from reality, maintaining that words are coined by man arbitrarily and do not designate anything real, that words are mere combinations of sounds. From this premise some seek to prove'that contemporary capitalism, exploitation, aggression, etc., are merely empty words or sounds. People, they claim, only have to replace these words by others for all sources of social conflict to vanish, for all vices of contemporary capitalism to disappear.
Words are not coined by people arbitrarily, however; they are attached to definite objects and phenomena in the process of knowledge and practical activity. These objective 69 processes are neither altered nor eliminated by the replacement of words. The apologists of capitalism, for example, have coined dozens of sweet-sounding words for describing contemporary capitalist society: ``people''s capitalism'', ``affluent society'', ``industrial society'', etc. But these words have not abolished capitalism and its exploitation, unemployment and class antagonisms, national oppression and wars. Capitalism will disappear only as a result of the proletariat's struggle against the bourgeoisie, as a result of socialist revolution.
Consciousness is, thus, a product of the evolution of matter. But, having arisen on the basis of matter, it actively influences the latter's development.
In an effort to discredit materialism, idealists claim that since materialists take matter as the basis of everything existing and maintain that things exist objectively, independent of consciousness, they underestimate the role of consciousness, and regard it only as a passive reflection of being.
Dialectical materialism, however, does not in the least underestimate the role of consciousness in the development of matter, of being. As a product of matter and as its reflection, consciousness does not remain passive, but actively influences the world. It is in this sense that Lenin wrote that ``man''s consciousness not only reflects the objective world, but creates it''.^^*^^
This does not mean, of course, that consciousness directly influences being, or that it creates the world; by itself, thought is incapable of moving even the tiniest blade of grass. What is meant is that consciousness, if it reflects the. world correctly, can serve as a guide in man's creative work in transforming life.
The active role of consciousness, particularly in the life of society, will be examined in greater detail in later chapters.
_-_-_^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Philosophical Notebooks'', Collected Works, Vol. 38, p. 212.
[70] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER V __ALPHA_LVL1__ Marxist Dialectics as the Theory of DevelopmentThe philosophy of Marxism is dialectical materialism, in which materialism and dialectics are indissolubly interconnected. In the preceding chapters we have examined the essence of Marxist philosophical materialism. Our task now is to analyse in detail Marxist materialist dialectics and its practical significance.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. Dialectics---Theory of Development __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]Marxist dialectics, as we have pointed out, examines the world in constant movement, change and development. Our daily experience, the development of science and the history of society convince us that all objects and phenomena of the world are not immutable.
Everything in the world develops. The innumerable bodies of the universe, the solar system, the Earth and everything on it are the product of the long development of matter. Man himself also arose in the process of evolution of the material world.
Human society too is developing. This is vividly demonstrated by the present century, the age of great historical progress and unprecedented social change. The capitalist system is crumbling and a new, socialist society is inexorably coming to take its place. The socialist system has already struck root in a considerable part of the world. This system is steadily developing and accumulating strength displaying its advantages and vast potentialities. Imperialism's colonial system has disintegrated, and, in fierce struggle against colonialism, scores of nations have gained independence.
71We are witnessing a tremendous revolution in science and technology. Man has penetrated the depths of the atom and harnessed its mighty energy. The bounds of outer space are receding in the face of omnipotent human reason.
In reflecting the development of the material world, the consciousness of people, their ideas, theories and views change as well.
Thus, constant development, the passage of objects and phenomena from one state into.another, their supersession, represent an important feature of the material world. Hence, to gain knowledge of objects and phenomena, it is necessary first of all to study their constant change and development. To really know an object we must examine it in its development, ``self-movement'', change.
Study of the general picture of the world's development is an important task of materialist dialectics. Dialectics, Engels wrote, is ``the science of the general laws of motion and development of nature, human society and thought''.^^*^^
How does Marxist dialectics understand the process of development as such?
It regards development as movement from the lower to the higher, from the simple to the complex, as a leap-like, revolutionary process. Moreover, this movement proceeds not along a closed circuit, but in the form of a spiral, each spire being deeper, richer and more diverse than the preceding one. Dialectics sees the sources of development in the intrinsic contradictions of objects and phenomena. Only Marxist dialectics furnishes the correct, truly scientific understanding of the process of development.
The basic laws of materialist dialectics give a general picture of the development of the world, its cognition and transformation. The law of the unity and conflict of opposites reveals the sources, the driving forces of development. The law of the passage of quantitative into qualitative changes indicates the leap-like, revolutionary change of the world, the continuous transformation of intrinsic quantitative changes of objects into fundamental qualitative changes. The law of negation of the negation characterises the progressive, spiral-like character of development. All these laws will be examined in the next chapter.
_-_-_^^*^^ Frederick Engels, Anti-Diihring, p. 172.
72 __ALPHA_LVL3__ Invincibility of the NewThe development of the material world is an interminable process of the dying off of the old and the emergence of the new. The history of the Earth's crust, for example, is the history of the formation of ever new geological structures. In the vegetable and animal kingdoms old organic forms give way to new and better ones. Just as cells are constantly regenerated in living organisms (old ones die and new ones arise) so in society too the obsolete forms of social structure die and new, progressive ones are born.
The advanced, the new is thus constantly coming to the fore to succeed the old, and nothing can prevent this process. The invincibility of the new is the prime feature in the development of nature, society and thought.
Marxist dialectics, however, does not regard every new phenomenon or everything that claims to be new, as truly new. Imperialist and reactionary forces, for instance, portray their economic expansion in the developing countries as a ``new'' policy, as assistance to their peoples. In reality this ``assistance'' is merely a new form of colonialism, or neocolonialism.
The new is that which is progressive, improved and viable, which constantly grows and develops. At first the new is usually quite weak and at times hardly noticeable, while the old prevails and seems invincible. Nevertheless, the old deteriorates and dies, while the new develops and triumphs in bitter struggle against the old.
After the Second World War the first small groups of the progressive-minded military appeared in the Ethiopian army. They were no match for the monarchy and the overwhelming majority of the military who supported it. Gradually, however, these groups gained in strength and number. On September 12, 1974, with the backing of the working masses, they deposed the Ethiopian monarch.
Why is the new invincible?
The new is invincible above all because it stems from the very course of development of reality and best of all corresponds to the objective conditions. Long ago, for example, plants with seeds that had no protective shell (so-called gymnospermous plants) predominated on Earth. Then new plants appeared, better adapted to the environment. Their 73 seeds were reliably protected from the vagaries of the weather and this made them greatly superior to the other species. As a result these plants ousted the older species, rapidly spread over the Earth and changed the entire appearance of its vegetation.
The invincibility of the new is particularly apparent in social development. The new in society triumphs because it corresponds to the requirements of economic life, of material production. The socialist system is gaining the upper hand over capitalism because it provides scope for the development of the productive forces and eliminates private capitalist property, the big barrier in their way.
The new meets the interest of the advanced, progressive classes of society and that is why they fight vigorously for its victory. Currently national democratic revolutions which are a new, progressive stage in social development, are under way in some Asian, African and Latin American countries. A revolution is in the interests of the working class, of all working people; they naturally support it and become more and more involved in it, and that is an earnest of its victory.
The new in social development is also invincible because its social basis is constantly growing, expanding. The new, as it emerges, rallies round itself the most progressive forces of society. The world socialist system, which enjoys the support and respect of all progressive-minded people of the world, is a mighty centre of attraction for contemporary progressive forces. Its alliance with the international working-class and national liberation movement is an important factor of the invincibility of the world revolutionary process.
The invincibility of the new does not mean that its victory comes of itself, automatically. This victory must be prepared, must be doggedly fought for. The conscious activity of the people, the advanced classes, the progrssive parties plays a decisive part in the victory of the new over the old in social life.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. Dialectics---Theory of Universal Connection __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]The material world is not only a developing, but also a connected, integral whole. All its objects and phenomena develop not of themselves, not in isolation, but in 74 inseverable connection or unity with other objects and phenomena. Each of them acts on other objects and phenomena and itself is subjected to reciprocal influence.
Science provides extensive data proving the interconnection and interdependence of phenomena and objects. Some elementary particles, for example, interacting with each other, form atoms. But atoms too are not isolated; entering into connections, they form molecules and the latter, in turn, form macroscopic bodies. The interaction of macrobodies is proved by the law of gravitation. According to this law, the Earth is connected with the Sun and other planets of the solar system and the latter is connected with still larger cosmic formations.
Living organisms are bound by an intricate chain of interaction: separate plants and also animals form species, species are united in genera, classes, etc. Organisms are connected not only among themselves, but also with the environment from which they get their necessary nutrition and energy.
The Russian scientist Kliment Timiryazev (1843--1920) discovered the connection of plants with the life-giving energy of the Sun. He showed that under the influence of solar energy carbon dioxide is decomposed in the chlorophyll of the green leaves of plants. The carbon is assimilated by the plant, while the oxygen, indispensable to man's respiration, is released into the air. The resultant organic substances accumulate solar energy in the form of chemical energy, which is then utilised by man when he uses plants either as food or fuel. ``The green leaf, or more exactly, the microscopic green granule of chlorophyll,'' Timiryazev wrote, ``is the focus, the point in world space to which solar energy flows at one end, while all manifestations of life on Earth take their source at the other end. The plant is the connecting link between heaven and Earth. It is truly the Prometheus who stole fire from heaven. The stolen sun ray shines both in the tiny flame of a burning splinter and in the dazzling spark of electricity. The sun ray is the source of energy for the monstrous fly-wheel of a gigantic steam engine, of the artist's brush and the poet's pen.''
Man is connected with nature through material production. This connection is effected through labour, an indispensable condition of man's existence. Thanks to labour 75 man wins from nature his means of subsistence. In the process of labour the economic, production relations of people take shape and give rise to other connections, including political, legal and moral.
Thus, universal connection and interdependence of objects and phenomena are an essential distinctive feature of the material world. Therefore, as Lenin pointed out, in order to gain real knowledge of an object it is necessary to study all its aspects and connections. The study of the world as an integral connected whole, examination of the universal connections of things is an important task of materialist dialectics.
Since objects and phenomena of the material world are diverse, their interconnection, interaction are also diverse. Marxist dialectics studies not all, but only the most general connections, i.e., those which exist in all spheres of the material and spiritual world.
The laws and categories of materialist dialectics are a reflection of these connections in man's consciousness.
Knowledge of connections is of tremendous importance because, by revealing them, people discover the laws of the objective world. Knowledge of these laws is an indispensable requisite for the practical activity of people. It is the task of science to disclose these laws and place them at the disposal of man. Let us give a more detailed explanation of law.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Concept of LawVery many laws operate in the objective world. There are laws of inorganic nature and the organic world, of society and thought. But laws in any sphere of reality have certain features in common which are covered by the philosophical concept of law. What are these features?
To begin with, a law is a relation or connection between developing objects or aspects of these objects. A law, however, is not any connection, but only a stable, recurrent connection, inherent not in one object or a small group of objects, but in a vast mass of objects and phenomena. For example, the periodic law, discovered by Dmitri Mendeleyev (1834--1907), indicates the dependence of the properties of all chemical elements on the magnitude of the positive charge of the nucleus. A law, thus, is not a single, but a general connection between phenomena.
76Another important feature of a law is that it does not represent all recurrent connections, but only those which are necessary and essential. The biological law of the interconnection of an organism and the environment fixes the necessary,' important connection of the organism with the conditions of its existence.
Being necessary, essential in phenomena, a law operates only if there are the appropriate conditions which bring about not any, but a basically definite course of events. Strict definiteness in the operation of laws is of great practical importance: a knowledge of the laws and direction of development helps people to foresee the future. For instance, an understanding of the laws of social development and the conditions in which they operate enables people to control social processes and foresee the course of historical events.
Thus, a law is an essential and necessary, general and recurrent connection among phenomena of the material world, which brings about a definite course of events.
A struggle over the question of the character of laws has been in progress between materialism and idealism for a long time now. Idealists hold that laws are made either by man or by a mythical ``absolute idea'', ``a universal spirit''. In the final analysis, this standpoint leads to recognition of the divine origin of laws and to the assertion that every law of nature is a law of God, every power in nature is a deed of God.
In contrast to idealism, dialectical materialism proceeds from recognition of the objective character of laws. This means that man is unable to make or change laws at will, he can only cognise, reflect them. The world is matter moving in conformity to law, Lenin wrote, and our consciousness, being the highest product of nature, is in a position only to reflect this conformity to law.
The objectivity of laws also implies that they operate independently of the will and desires of man and therefore any attempt to act contrary to laws is foredoomed. For example, it is impossible to ignore the law of gravitation and to go into outer space without overcoming the Earth's gravity. Nor is it possible to ignore the laws of social development. This, for example, is attested to by the futility of the desperate attempts made by the imperialists to halt the 77 inexorable process of the mankind's development from capitalism to socialism.
Dialectical materialism, attacking the idealist conception of laws, also rejects fatalism (from Latin fatalis, meaning decreed by destiny), i.e., blind worship of laws, disbelief in the power of human reason and the ability of people to cognise laws and make use of them. Man cannot abolish or create laws, but he is able to cognise them and utilise them in his practical activity. Knowledge of nature's laws enables man not only to control the destructive action of water, wind and other natural elements, but also to make them serve his needs. Drawing on the laws of social development, people transform social life.
The most favourable conditions for learning and applying laws are provided by the socialist system where the operation of the laws governing social development coincides with the interests of all the people, where the dominance of socialist property enables society to use the natural resources in a planned way and purposefully to improve social relations. Let us take, for example, the law of planned, proportionate development of the economy under socialism. Knowledge and application of this law are necessary, inasmuch as socialist production cannot be developed without a plan. At the same time this law fully corresponds to the interests of the working people, because socialist production is developed for the purpose of satisfying ever more fully their constantly growing material and cultural requirements. That is why the working people are interested in cognising this law and placing it at their service. One of the main tasks facing the national democratic revolutions in socialist-oriented countries is that of organising centralised national planning based on socialist principles.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. Significance of Marxist DialecticsMarxist materialist dialectics is a profound and allembracing theory of development and universal connection. By giving a general idea of material processes it comprises a scientific method of'cognising the world and helps man to comprehend the most diverse phenomena of reality. But in addition to being a method of knowledge, Marxist dialectics 78 is also an instrument of the revolutionary transformation of the world, and is of enormous importance for the practical activity of the working class and its Marxist party.
Materialist dialectics is basically critical and revolutionary. It maintains that nothing is immutable or eternal. Nothing, with the exception of infinite progress, perpetual and inexorable advance, can stand up to it.
It is an irreconcilable opponent of metaphysics and reaction, of all attempts to defend the moribund social system and perpetuate private property and exploitation, wars and national oppression. It helped to discover the historically transitory nature of capitalism and proved the inevitability of its doom and replacement by the new, socialist system. That is why it is regarded with hatred and horror by the bourgeoisie and its ideologists.
Being critical and revolutionary, Marxist dialectics is wholly consistent with the revolutionary spirit of the working class and its Marxist party, with the turbulent, dynamic nature of the contemporary epoch. It substantiates and illumines the steadfast struggle of the working class and its Marxist .party against imperialism, for peace, democracy, national liberation and socialism.
Marxist dialectics rejects everything backward and obsolete in reality; it does not tolerate stereotyped practices and stagnation and dogmatism in theoretical thought. It demands farsightedness and reliance on progressive social forces. That is what the CPSU does. Relying on advanced forces and cultivating the priceless sense of the new in Soviet people, it successfully leads the Soviet people along the road to communism.
[79] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER VI __ALPHA_LVL1__ Basic Laws of Materialist Dialectics __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.] __NOTE__ This chapter has an additional LVL layer after LVL1 causing two sequences of 1...2...3... at level LVL3 where usually such a sequence is at LVL2 in other chapters.Marxist dialectics is the teaching of development and universal connection. The main thing in development is the question of its sources, its driving forces. Since the answer to this question is furnished by the law of the unity and conflict of opposites, we shall begin with this law in our exposition of the basic laws of materialist dialectics.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ The Law of the Unity and Conflict of Opposites __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]Lenin called the law of the unity and conflict of opposites the essence, the core of dialectics. This law reveals the sources, the real causes of the eternal motion and development of the material world. Knowledge of this law is of fundamental importance for understanding the dialectics of development of nature, society and thought, for science and revolutionary practice.
An analysis of the contradictions in objective reality and disclosure of their nature are a major requisite for Marxist scientific study and practical action.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ 1. The Unity and Conflict of Opposites __ALPHA_LVL4__ [introduction.]Before discussing the law of the unity and conflict of opposites as such, let us see how Marxist-Leninist dialectics understands ``opposites'', the ``unity'' of opposites.
__ALPHA_LVL4__ The Unity of Opposites __NOTE__ This is a 4th LVL heading, even though it looks like a 3rd level, because CHAPTER VI has multiple "1. 2. ... N." series in it; each series is preceded by a title in 2nd LVL position, e.g., "The Law of the Unity and Conflict of Opposites" is before "1. The Unity and Conflict of Opposites".All of us have used an ordinary magnet at one time or another and we know that its main feature is that it has a 80 north and a south poles which are mutually exclusive and at the same time interconnected. However hard we try to separate the north pole of a magnet from the south pole, we shall not succeed. Even if it is divided into two, four, eight or more parts a magnet will still possess the same two poles.
Opposites are, then, the internal sides, tendencies, forces of an object, which are mutually exclusive but at the same time presuppose each other. The inseverable interconnection of these sides makes up the unity of opposites.
All objects and phenomena have contradictory sides which are organically connected, make up the indissoluble unity of opposites. In the centre of the atom there is the positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons. The chemical process is a contradictory unity of association and dissociation of atoms.
There are opposites in living organisms as well. Recall the opposite processes of assimilation and dissimilation which constitute the process of metabolism inherent in living matter. In addition, organisms also have such intrinsic contradictory properties as heredity and adaptability. Heredity is the tendency of the organism to preserve hereditarily acquired characteristics; adaptability, on the other hand, is the ability to develop new characteristics corresponding to the changed conditions.
Man's mental activity is marked by the opposite processes of excitation and inhibition, concentration and irradiation of excitation in the cortex of the cerebral hemispheres.
Societies dominated by private property relations have opposite classes---the slaves and slave-owners in slave society; the serfs and feudal lords under feudalism, the proletariat and bourgeoisie under capitalism.
Contradictory sides are also inherent in the process of knowledge. Man employs such opposite and interconnected methods of study as induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, etc.
Contradictoriness of objects and phenomena of the world is thus of a general, universal nature. There is no object or phenomenon in the world which could not be divided into opposites.
Opposites are not only mutually exclusive, but also necessarily presuppose each other. They coexist in one object or phenomenon and are inconceivable one without __PRINTERS_P_81_COMMENT__ 4---389 81 the other. We have already mentioned the inseverable unity of the opposite poles of a magnet. Similarly inseparable are assimilation and dissimilation in living organisms, and analysis and synthesis in the process of knowledge. Capitalist society is impossible without opposite classes---the proletariat and bourgeoisie. As long as capitalism lasts, the worker is forced to hire himself out to the capitalist, and the capitalist always tries to exploit the worker to the maximum.
``And it is just as impossible to have one side of contradiction without the other,'' Engels wrote, ``as it is to retain the whole of an apple in one's hand after half has been eaten.''^^*^^
__ALPHA_LVL4__ The Conflict of Opposites Is the Source of DevelopmentAnd so, objects and phenomena are a unity of opposites. What is the character of this unity? Do opposites peacefully coexist in this unity or do they enter into contradiction, into struggle with each other?
The development of the most diverse objects and phenomena shows that opposite sides cannot coexist peacefully in one object: the contradictory, mutually exclusive character of opposites necessarily causes a struggle between them. The old and the new, the emergent and the obsolete must come into contradiction, must clash. It is contradiction, the conflict of opposites that is the main source of development of matter and consciousness. ``Development is the `struggle' of opposites,'' wrote Lenin.~^^**^^ He stressed that this conflict is absolute, just as development or motion is absolute.
The proposition that the conflict of opposites is decisive in development in no way belittles the importance of their unity. The unity of opposites is a necessary condition of the conflict, because it takes place only where opposite sides exist in one object or phenomenon.
Lenin pointed out that a state of temporary equilibrium too could exist between opposites; this means that, at a certain stage in the development of a process, neither side predominates.
_-_-_^^*^^ Frederick Engels, ``The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State'', in: Kbrl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Works in three volumes, Volume Three, p. 241.
^^**^^ V. I. Lenin, ``On the Question of Dialectics'', Collected Works, Vol. 38, p. 358.
82In any process the equilibrium of opposites is relative because, if it were constant, eternal, there would be no development in the world at all. Conflict alone is the source, the driving force of development.
Many modern bourgeois philosophers distort the revolutionary essence of the core of Marxist dialectics by regarding the equilibrium of opposites as absolute and by denying the conflict of opposites. They see the main thing not in the conflict of opposites, but in their reconciliation, their equilibrium. Thereby, bourgeois ideologists, in fulfilment of the instructions of the capitalists, endeavour to perpetuate capitalist society, reconcile the interests of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat and in this way divert the people from the struggle for socialism, from striving to resolve the profound contradictions of capitalism by revolution.
In reality, however, it is impossible to reconcile class contradictions; this is convincingly shown by the entire history of mankind, and by the revolutionary struggle of the working class.
The history of science and of society proves that the conflict of opposites is the source of development. Yet we must bear in mind that in different spheres of material world this conflict is manifested in different ways.
The conflict (interaction) of such opposite forces as attraction and repulsion is prevalent in inorganic nature. The interaction of mechanical, electrical and nuclear forces of attraction and repulsion plays a very great part in the rise and existence of atomic nuclei, atoms and molecules. The conflict of these forces, as modern cosmogonic theories show, was the most important source in the birth of the solar system.
Modern astronomy has also demonstrated that the interaction of forces of attraction and repulsion is one of the important sources of the diverse processes taking place in outer space. No absolute balance of these forces exists in the various areas of the Universe: one force always prevails over the other. Where repulsion predominates, matter and energy are dispersed and stars die. Where attraction predominates, matter and energy are concentrated and as a result new stars are born. Matter and energy thus move eternally in the Cosmos in the course of the conflict, interaction of these opposite forces.
__PRINTERS_P_83_COMMENT__ 4* 83We have pointed out earlier that opposite processes of assimilation and dissimilation are inherent in living organisms. It is their conflict, interaction that constitutes the specific source of development of everything living. These opposite processes cannot be in a state of absolute equilibrium; one of them must prevail. In a young organism assimilation gains ascendancy over dissimilation and determines its growth, development. When dissimilation prevails the organism grows old and deteriorates. In all organisms, however, young or old, these processes interact. It is their interaction, contradiction that makes up life. When this contradiction ends, life ceases.
Social development also proceeds on the basis of the unity and conflict of opposites. Contradictions in material production, especially between productive forces and relations of production, are particularly important among the contradictions of social development. In antagonistic class societies the contradiction between productive forces and relations of production is expressed in the conflict between hostile classes, which leads to social revolution, to replacement of the old social system by the new.
And so, objects and phenomena have opposite sides, they represent the unity of opposites. Opposites not merely exist side by side, but are in a state of constant contradiction, conflict between themselves. The conflict of opposites is the inner content, the source of development of reality.
Such is the essence of the dialectical law of the unity and conflict of opposites.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ 2. Diversity of Contradictions __ALPHA_LVL4__ [introduction.]A multitude of the most diverse contradictions exists in the world. We come up against them all the time in our daily life. They are taken up by various sciences. Marxist dialectics, as distinct from the other sciences, studies the most general contradictions. We shall examine internal and external, antagonistic and non-antagonistic, basic and nonbasic contradictions, these being large and important groups of contradictions.
84 __ALPHA_LVL4__ Internal and External ContradictionsMarxist dialectics first of all differentiates between internal and external contradictions.
The interaction, the struggle of opposite sides of a given object make up its internal contradictions. The contradictory relations of a given object to its environment, to the objects of this environment are its external contradictions.
The opponents of Marxist dialectics distort the role of different groups of contradictions in development. They deny the decisive significance of internal contradictions and regard external contradictions as the sole source of development. From their viewpoint, for example, the source of development of class society is not the struggle of opposite classes, but the contradiction between society and nature. They do not want to understand that the relation of man to nature as such and the degree of his domination over it depend on class relations in society, on the character of the social system.
Both internal and external contradictions are inherent in objects and phenomena of the material world, but internal contradictions, contradictions within the object itself, are the principal, decisive ones in development. It is these contradictions that are the main source of development. Thus, Marxist dialectics regards motion as self-motion of matter, as internal motion, whose driving forces or impulses are contained within the developing objects and phenomena themselves.
The interaction, the struggle of wave and corpuscular properties of matter, the forces of attraction and repulsion, assimilation and dissimilation and other opposites, which we mentioned earlier as the sources of development in various spheres of reality, are not introduced into objects and phenomena from outside, but are inherent in them.
Internal contradictions are the source of development because they determine the appearance or nature of the object itself. If it were not for its internal contradictions, the object would not be what it is. An atom, for example, could not exist without the interaction, the ``struggle'' of the positively charged nucleus and negatively charged electrons; an organism could not exist without assimilation and dissimilation, and so on.
85All outside influences exerted on an object are always refracted through its intrinsic contradictions, and this is also a manifestation of their determining role in development. Changes in the external environment merely give an impulse to the development of organisms. But in what direction and to what ends development ultimately leads depends in the final account on the organism's metabolism, i.e., on the interaction of assimilation and dissimilation characteristic of this organism.
The source of social development also lies in society itself, in its intrinsic internal contradictions. But the direction in which a country develops and what social system it has depend on how its internal, class contradictions are resolved. Revolution is not made to order, it cannot be imposed on the people from without. It was internal contradictions---between the peasants and the feudal class, between the working class and the bourgeoisie, between the broad masses and imperialism---that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and precipitated national democratic revolution in Ethiopia.
It is true that there have been instances when the social system was imposed on a country by external reactionary forces. But regimes foisted on a people from outside are not stable and collapse at the first serious trial.
Although materialist dialectics emphasises the decisive role of internal contradictions, it does not deny the significance of external contradictions in development. Their role is diverse and they are very often a necessary requisite for development. Such, for example, is the contradiction between society and nature from which man has to win his material wealth.
External contradictions can facilitate development or impede it, lend it different shades or forms, but usually are unable to shape the main course of a process or of development as a whole. The victory of socialism in the Soviet Union, for example, was ensured by correctly resolving the internal contradictions, above all the antagonism between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie which had been overthrown but not yet fully liquidated. But the advance to socialism continued in spite of the external contradictions that existed between the Soviet state and the capitalist countries, which did everything in their power to restore the 86 capitalist system in the USSR. Political boycott and economic blockade, foreign intervention in the early years of Soviet power, repeated military provocations and, lastly, the Nazi invasion greatly impeded the Soviet Union's development, but all these intrigues of imperialism could not halt the victorious advance of socialism.
Since internal contradictions determine the development of all objects and phenomena, it is especially necessary in practical activity to be able to bring to light and resolve these contradictions. At the same time it is essential not to neglect the external contradictions either, because they, too, are important in development.
Success cannot be achieved unless the interconnection, interaction of internal and external contradictions are taken into account.
__ALPHA_LVL4__ Antagonistic and Non-Antagonistic ContradictionsWhen we speak of antagonistic and non-antagonistic contradictions we have in mind above all the sphere of social phenomena. It is true that there are antagonisms of a certain kind in living organisms---between certain types of bacteria, predatory and non-predatory animals, and between some plants---but they must not be confused with social antagonisms.
Antagonistic contradictions are above all contradictions between classes, whose interests are irreconcilably hostile. These are the most acute and obvious contradictions caused by the profoundly opposite conditions of life, by the aims and purposes of different classes. The main feature of these contradictions is that they cannot be resolved within the framework of the social system of which they are typical. As they grow deeper and more acute, these antagonistic contradictions lead to bitter clashes, to conflicts. A social revolution is the only means for resolving them.
The contradiction between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is the most acute and profound contradiction in capitalist society. The antagonism between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is a result of their objective positions in society. The bourgeoisie owns all the means of production and by virtue of this appropriates the lion's share of the material wealth produced by society. It dominates politically and enjoys everything that culture can give. The 87 proletariat owns no means of production and hence is compelled to work for the bourgeoisie. It produces all the material wealth but receives only a negligible part of it. Its political rights are limited and it is frequently deprived of the possibility of benefiting from scientific and cultural achievements.
The interests of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat are diametrically opposite: the bourgeoisie seeks to perpetuate its rule, while the proletariat wants to emancipate itself from exploitation. As a result, a bitter class struggle goes on between them, which inevitably ends in the socialist revolution. The class struggle and the socialist revolution are thus special forms of resolving capitalism's antagonistic contradictions.
Bourgeois ideologists and revisionists deny the existence of class antagonisms in contemporary capitalist society. They call a bourgeois state a ``welfare state'', and assert that in a modern capitalist society there are no antagonistic classes and no class struggle. These fabrications are needed to slacken the vigilance of the working class and weaken its positions in the struggle against the bourgeoisie.
In reality, however, far from vanishing, these antagonistic contradictions of capitalism are growing more and more acute. They will remain as long as capitalism exists and will disappear only with the victory of socialism.
A distinguishing feature of the developing countries is the antagonistic contradiction between the counter-- revolutionary front (the feudal class, and compradore and bureaucratic bourgeoisie), which is supported by imperialism, and the broad front of revolutionary forces that rests on the alliance of workers and peasants. A close ally of the revolutionary front is the petty bourgeoisie; other oppressed sections of society, and progressive and patriotic elements which have transcended the limits of their class also side with the revolutionary front.
This contradiction is solved when the resistance of the counter-revolutionary forces is crushed by the combined efforts of the revolutionary forces, the working class and the peasantry in the first place. The solution of this contradiction begins in the course of the national democratic revolution and is completed in the course of the socialist revolution.
Non-antagonistic contradictions are contradictions 88 between those classes and social groups, whose fundamental interests coincide. These contradictions are gradually overcome and are not solved through a social revolution. Such, for example, are the contradictions between the working class and the peasants. Under capitalism the town exploits the country and, to a certain degree, the peasant extends his animosity for the town to the worker. The peasant owns property (land, draught animals, implements, etc.) and is interested in preserving it. The worker, on the other hand, has no property. The interests of the workers and peasants also clash in the market where the peasant tries to sell the products of his labour at the highest price possible. Taken together, all this makes for certain contradictions between the working class and the peasants under capitalism.
The interests of the workers and the peasants are contradictory in particular things, but in the fundamental thing they fully coincide: they are both exploited classes. That is why they strive to put an end to exploitation and in this. fundamental question their interests are identical. This community of fundamental interests creates an objective basis for the alliance of the working class and the peasants in the struggle against the capitalist system.
The CPSU took into account the community of the vital interests of the workers and peasants, and united them in a mighty social force which defeated capitalism. Subsequently, in the course of socialist construction, the contradictions between the working class and the peasants, inherited from capitalism, were eliminated and their unity in the common effort to build socialism and communism is becoming ever stronger and more invincible.
The contradictions of socialist society, too, are of a nonantagonistic nature; this will be explained later in greater detail.
__ALPHA_LVL4__ Basic and Non-Basic ContradictionsObjects and phenomena, from the simplest to the most complex, contain not one but several contradictions simultaneously.
To find our way in all these contradictions we must single out the basic, cardinal contradiction. The basic contradiction is that which plays the decisive, leading part in development and influences all other contradictions.
89The basic, decisive contradiction of the chemical process, for example, is the contradiction between association and dissociation of atoms; of the biological process, the contradictory nature of metabolism, etc.
It is particularly important to find the basic contradiction of social life, which is exceptionally complex and many-sided. The discovery of this basic contradiction helps the advanced classes of society and the Marxist parties to elaborate the correct line of action and efficiently organise practical work.
A mass of contradictions is present in contemporary society. In any capitalist country there is the antagonism between the social character of the production process and the private form of appropriation, between labour and capital. There are contradictions between capitalist countries, between their groupings, blocs, and so on. Certain contradictions and differences exist between socialist countries.
Which is the basic, decisive contradiction in this multitude of contradictions in contemporary society?
The contradiction between the forces of socialism, as represented by the world socialist system, on the one hand, and the reactionary forces of imperialism, on the other, is the basic, decisive contradiction of contemporary society as a whole. It embodies two lines, two historical trends. One, represented by the world socialist system, is the line of progress, peace and constructive endeavour. The other, represented by imperialism, is the line of reaction, oppression and wars.
The contradiction between socialism and imperialism has a tremendous impact on the entire course of world history. It influences the struggle of classes in the capitalist countries themselves, the struggle of the peoples in the colonies and dependent countries against their oppressors and the contradictions between the imperialist countries themselves. The existence of the world socialist system is a great stumbling block to the imperialists and prevents them from unleashing another world war and from trampling upon the sovereign rights of other nations with impunity; it fires the hearts of working people in capitalist countries with confidence in the righteousness of their cause and lends them strength in their struggle against the exploiters. As the 90 socialist system develops economically, politically and culturally, its influence in the world grows. That is why Marxist parties organise their practical work with account for the operation of this paramount contradiction of our age-the constant growth in the might of the socialist forces and the weakening of the imperialist and reactionary forces.
The basic contradiction of the present epoch, the contradiction between socialism and imperialism, does not remove the deep contradictions within the capitalist world.
The Final Document of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties held in Moscow in June 1969 notes that contemporary conditions are characterised by the aggravation of the existing contradictions of capitalism and the rise of new ones. In the first place, they include the contradiction between the unusual opportunities afforded by the scientific and technical revolution and the obstacles to their exploitation in the interests of the whole of society which capitalism creates by using a large part of scientific achievements and enormous material resources for military purposes, thus squandering national wealth; »the contradiction between the social character of modem production and the state-monopoly character of controlling it; the growing contradiction between labour and capital and also the deepening antagonism between the interests of the overwhelming majority of the nation and the financial oligarchy; the aggravation of the contradiction between the newly-free countries and imperialism, which endeavours to shackle them with the fetters of neocolonialism.
It is up to the Marxist parties to make the most of all the contradictions of capitalism and thus wage a successful struggle for peace, democracy, national liberation and socialism.
There are no hard and fast boundaries between internal and external, antagonistic and non-antagonistic, basic and non-basic contradictions. In reality they are intertwined, pass into one another and play a different part in development. That is why each contradiction should be approached separately, taking into account the conditions in which it manifests itself and the role it plays.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union approaches 91 the contradictions of social development concretely: it takes into account historical conditions, singles out the chief contradictions and employs the main forces and resources to resolve them. In the first years ef Soviet power the contradiction between the advanced political system established in the country and the backward economy inherited from tsarist Russia made itself felt very strongly. This contradiction was solved in the process of industrialisation.
As industrialisation made headway, the contradiction between socialist industry and small-scale peasant farming became more and more acute. This contradiction, too, was solved by the efforts of the people and the Party through the organisation of the peasants in collective farms. The elimination of these contradictions was of decisive significance in building socialism in the Soviet Union.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ 3. Contradictions of Socialist SocietyThe victory of socialism in the Soviet Union resulted in the abolition of the exploiting classes and of the causes that give rise to the exploitation of man by man, in the elimination of the antithesis between town and country, between manual and mental labour. The community of fundamental interests of the workers, peasants and the intelligentsia formed the basis for the socio-political and ideological unity of the Soviet people. Friendship among the many Soviet peoples struck firm root and grew stronger. As the USSR advances to communism this unity is further strengthened, the nations and social groups draw closer together, they enrich each other and the distinctions between them gradually disappear. This, however, does not mean that there are no contradictions under socialism. Socialist society develops continuously and where there is development there always exists the old and the new and, consequently, struggle between them. ``Antagonism and contradiction,'' Lenin wrote, ``are not one and the same thing. Under socialism the first will vanish, the second will remain.''^^*^^
_-_-_^^*^^ Lenin Miscellany XI, Russ. ed., Moscow, 1931, p. 357.
92Lenin pointed not only to the existence of contradictions under socialism, but also disclosed their major distinction, their non-antagonistic character. This is because there are no hostile classes and no exploitation in socialist society where public ownership of the means of production unites the people. The contradictions of socialist society are contradictions and difficulties of growth connected with the rapid advance of the socialist economy and the rise in the material and cultural requirements of the people. These are contradictions between the new and the old, the progressive and the backward.
The contradictions of Soviet society are overcome by the common effort of all the working people led by the Communist Party and the Soviet Government. The Party's correct, scientifically substantiated policy, the unity of the Party and the people, the full support given by the people to steps taken by the Party and the Government ensure the timely disclosure and elimination of all contradictions. That is why contradictions of socialism do not turn into conflicts, do not assume the character of social upheavals. Under capitalism the solution of contradictions leads to its doom, while the elimination of socialism's contradictions actually strengthens the socialist system and facilitates the Soviet Union's advance to communism.
In socialist society production relations correspond to the nature of productive forces inasmuch as the social nature of productive forces corresponds to social ownership of the means of production and social forms of distribution. Means of life are distributed not depending on capital possessed, but in accordance with the quantity and quality of work done. This correspondence between productive forces and production relations, however, does not preclude the existence of certain contradictions between them.
Production relations under socialism are a chain of economic interaction of people whose separate links do not always manage to keep abreast of the growth of the productive forces and thus become obsolete. As a result they enter into a contradiction with the productive forces and may arrest economic development.
The Communist Party and the Soviet state continuously improve socialist production relations, replace their old links with new, advanced ones, and in this way overcome 93 the contradictions of socialist production. Here is an example. In the period when the mechanisation of agriculture in the Soviet Union was still low, small agricultural production co-operatives with relatively small cultivated areas were set up. Later the level of mechanisation of agriculture increased immensely, but owing to small size of the co-- operatives it was impossible to effectively employ farm machinery. This gave rise to certain contradictions in agricultural production. But they were solved by means of enlarging the co-operatives, and agricultural production increased.
The development of socialist society is accompanied by the rise and solution of contradictions between the new dimensions and objectives of the national economy, the new tasks which confront society, and the mechanism of management, the forms and methods of running the economy and administering society in general. The Party and the socialist state solve this contradiction by keeping on improving the economic mechanism and the entire system of administration. To this end the 25th Congress of the CPSU adopted a comprehensive programme for raising the level of management envisaging the further improvement of planning and organisational structure and methods of management, more skilful use of economic stimuli, and deepening democratic centralism and democracy in management.^^*^^
The vast majority of the Soviet people actively participate in building communism, but there are individuals who still cling to the old, obsolete methods of production, to backward technology, etc. There are also those whose minds are infected with survivals of capitalism. The interests and actions of these individuals run counter to the interests of society. These individuals are re-educated by the efforts of the people and the Communist Party, while penalties are imposed on the more incorrigible ones.
It should be stressed that contradictions between the vast majority of Soviet people and individuals who carry survivals of the old do not stem from the nature of the socialist system but from the legacy and influence of capitalism, from shortcomings in ideological work, education, etc. These contradictions are temporary and will be fully _-_-_
^^*^^ See Documents and Resolutions. XXVth Congress of the CPSU, pp. 69--74.
94 eliminated in the course of communist construction.How are the contradictions of socialism brought to light and solved?
The method of disclosing the contradictions of socialist society lies in criticism and self-criticism. But, having brought to light contradictions, the method of criticism and self-criticism by itself is unable to resolve them. Their solution depends on the labour efforts of the entire nation and the competent organisational and educational work both of the Party and the Government. Constant development and improvement of production, active participation of the people in communist construction, the painstaking and multifarious work of the Party in educating the Soviet citizen---such are the main means of eliminating contradictions of socialist society.
Besides internal contradictions, the Soviet Union and the entire world socialist community are in antagonistic contradiction with the world capitalist system. Although this contradiction is external, it considerably affects the country's development and it must not be underestimated. The CPSU and the Soviet Government are doing all they can to solve this contradiction in a peaceful way, on the basis of peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems. A world thermonuclear war would result in colossal loss of human life and destruction and greatly retard mankind's progress. That is why the struggle to prevent another world war and to preserve universal peace is the overriding duty of all honest people.
Struggle for peace is an essential requisite of social progress and of the successful building of socialism and communism.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ The Law of Passage of Quantitative intoThe law of the passage of quantitative into qualitative changes shows how, in what way development proceeds and what is the mechanism of this process.
To understand the essence of this law we should first of all understand quality and quantity.
95 __ALPHA_LVL3__ 1. Quality and QuantityWe are surrounded by very many of the most diverse objects and phenomena and all of them are in a state of constant motion or change. Nevertheless, we do not confuse these objects, but differentiate between them and define them. They do not merge into some kind of grey mass; each one differs from the others by certain specific properties of its own.
Let us take, for example, such a metal as gold. It has a characteristic yellow colour, ductility and malleability, a definite density and heat capacity, melting and boiling points. Gold dissolves neither in alkali nor in many acids; it is not very active chemically and does not oxidise. All this taken together sets gold apart from other metals.
All that which makes an object what it is, what distinguishes it from innumerable other objects, is its quality.
All objects and phenomena possess quality. It is this that enables us to define and distinguish them. What, for example, sets living matter apart from non-living matter? The ability to enter into metabolic interchange with the environment, purposively to respond to external influences, to propagate. These and certain other properties make up the quality of living matter.
Social phenomena, too, differ qualitatively. The dominance of commodity production, the existence of capitalist property, wage labour and other features distinguish capitalism from feudalism. For instance, thousands of peasant associations, each uniting a definite number of peasants, have been set up in some socialist-oriented countries. But such an association is not simply a sum total of its members, but a new quality. It is a peasant union, the beginning of their collective life and new relations between them, relations of mutual assistance and cooperation.
Quality is manifested in properties. A property characterises a thing from one side only, whereas quality gives the general idea of an object as a whole. Yellow colour, malleability, ductility and other features of gold taken separately are its properties, while taken together they constitute its quality.
Besides a definite quality all objects possess quantity. As distinct from quality, quantity reflects the degree of 96 development or intensity of an object's intrinsic properties and also its size, volume, etc. Quantity is usually expressed by a number. Size, weight, volume of objects, the intensity of their intrinsic colours, of the sounds they emit, etc., are expressed numerically.
Social phenomena also have quantitative characteristics. Each socio-economic system has a corresponding level or degree of development of production. Any country possesses a definite productive capacity, labour, raw material and power resources.
Quantity and quality are a unity inasmuch as they represent the two sides of one and the same object. But there are also important distinctions between them. A change in quality leads to a change of the object, to its conversion into another object; on the other hand, a change in quantity within certain limits does not bring about a noticeable transformation of the object. If capitalist property, i.e., the most important qualitative feature of capitalism, is abolished and socialist property is substituted for it, a new, qualitatively different system, socialism, will supersede capitalism. But if capitalist property is enlarged, centralised, concentrated in the hands of a small group of monopolists or of the bourgeois state, as is the case in the capitalist world today, capitalism will not cease to be capitalism.
The unity of quantity and quality is called measure. Measure is a kind of boundary, a framework within which the object remains what it is. A ``disturbance'' of this measure, of this definite combination of quantitative and qualitative sides, leads to a change in the object, its conversion into another object. For example, the measure for mercury in liquid state is the temperature from---39°C to + 357°C. At -39°C mercury solidifies, while at +357°C it begins to boil and becomes vapourised.
Suantitative and qualitative definiteness is inherent in phenomena as well.
Capitalism and socialism, being qualitatively unlike social systems, have their own quantitative distinctions that reflect the dynamics and the level of development, indicators of the state of phenomena and aspects (productive forces, economic growth rates, labour resources, population, education, social maintenance, subsistence minimum, occupational injuries, crime, free time, etc.), correlation, 97 proportions of the economic subdivisions and branches ( accumulation and consumption, industrial and agricultural production, etc.). Here it is also necessary to reckon with the fact that a-range of quantitative features are intrinsic either to socialism or to capitalism in view of the contrasting aims of production under these social systems and the specifics of their economies.
It should also be stressed that a planned and balanced transformation of quantitative and qualitative features of various sides of the life of society is typical of socialism.
In both cognition and practice it is very important to take into account the unity of the quantitative and qualitative sides of phenomena.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ 2. The Passage of Quantitative into QualitativeWe pointed out earlier that a change in quantity within certain limits does not lead to a change in the qualitative state of an object. But as soon as these limits are overstepped and the ``measure'' is upset, the seemingly inessential quantitative changes inevitably bring about a radical qualitative transformation: quantity passes into quality. In the process of development, Marx wrote, ``merely quantitative differences beyond a certain point pass into qualitative changes''.^^*^^
The passage of quantitative into qualitative changes is a universal law of development of the material world.
Moreover, development itself is, above all, a conversion of quantitative changes into qualitative ones, inasmuch as the movement of objects and phenomena from the lower to the higher, from the old to the new takes place in the course of this conversion.
In order to reveal the universal character of this law let us see how it operates in different spheres of reality.
Modern physics has proved that some elementary particles can be transmuted into other, qualitatively different ones. The process of their transmutation is always connected with a certain quantitative accumulation: it takes place _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. I, p. 292.
98 only if the particles possess a certain, sufficiently high level of energy.The numerous changes of substances from one state to another (from solid to liquid, from liquid to gas, etc.) are also manifestations of the law of the passage of quantitative into qualitative changes. When water, for example, is heated above 100°C it is transformed into a different quality, steam. The properties of steam are distinct from those of water. Salts and sugar, for example, do not dissolve in steam whereas they do in water.
The law of the passage of quantitative into qualitative changes is strikingly apparent in chemical processes. Mendeleyev's periodic law shows that the quality of chemical elements depends on the quantity of the positive charge of their atomic nucleus. Within certain limits a quantitative change in the charge causes no qualitative changes in the chemical element, but at a definite stage these quantitative changes lead to the formation of a new element. Thus, during radioactive disintegration, as the uranium nucleus loses atomic weight and charge, it is ultimately transmuted into a qualitatively new element, lead.
In general, chemistry is the science that studies qualitative transformations of substances resulting from quantitative changes. A molecule of oxygen, for example, contains two atoms, but as soon as one more atom of oxygen is added it becomes ozone, a qualitatively new chemical substance.
In the organic world too quantitative changes pass into qualitative ones. One can daily perceive the dependence of the changes in quality on quantitative accumulations by observing the cyclical development of plants and animals whose passage from one stage into another takes place in keeping with the laws of the biological rhythm which has strict chronological limits and is caused by changes in the quantity of light, heat, moisture, etc. Under the influence of a certain amount of moisture and heat, a seed turns into a stalk; but a different quantitative proportion of these natural components is needed for an ear to emerge and mature. A chicklet or a nestling will develop and hatch from an egg only if the latter receives a definite quantity of heat of a certain temperature and over a definite quantity of time (knowledge of these quantitative proportions is applied in
99 Emacs-File-stamp: "/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1980/MP399/20070504/199.tx" __EMAIL__ webmaster@leninist.biz __OCR__ ABBYY 6 Professional (2007.05.04) __WHERE_PAGE_NUMBERS__ bottom __FOOTNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [*]+ __ENDNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [0-9]+ incubators which replace a sitting hen).The. passage of quantitative into qualitative changes takes place in social development as well. Thus, the transition from capitalism to socialism, effected by the socialist revolution, has definite quantitative prerequisites: growth of the productive forces under capitalism, growth of the social character of production, and an increase in the number of revolutionary proletariat, etc.
In objective reality we witness not only the development of quantitative changes into qualitative ones, but also the reverse process of an increase in quantity under the influence of qualitative changes. The radical qualitative change in the social system, the replacement of capitalism by socialism, entails a substantial change in various quantities: increase in the volume of industrial and agricultural output, more rapid rates of economic and cultural development, growth of the national income, the wellbeing of the people, etc.
Quantitative and qualitative changes are thus interconnected and influence each other.
__ALPHA_LVL4__ The Unity of Continuity and Discontinuity (Leap)Quantitative changes are relatively slow and continuous, while qualitative transformations are discontinuous, leaplike. Development therefore appears as the unity of two differing but interconnected forms or stages---continuity and discontinuity (leap).~^^*^^
Continuity in development is the stage of slow, imperceptible quantitative accumulation. It does not affect the quality of an object, but introduces insignificant quantitative changes in it; it is a process of increasing or decreasing of what exists.
Discontinuity, or leap, is a stage of radical qualitative change in an object, a moment or period when the old quality passes into a new one. In contrast to the concealed, slow - quantitative changes, a leap is a more or less open, relatively swift change in the quality of an object. This _-_-_
^^*^^ Continuity and discontinuity are inherent not only in the development, but also in the state of matter. Matter, as we know, has wave (continuous) and corpuscular (discontinuous) properties.
100 change occurs in a relatively rapid manner, even when the qualitative transformations assume the form of a gradual transition.Leaps in the development of the material world may be: formation of some elementary particles from others, a change in the state of a substance, the birth of a new chemical element, of a previously non-existent species of plant or animal, of a new social system, etc. Each one of them results from definite quantitative accumulation.
Since a leap results in destruction of the old and development of what is new and progressive, leaps are of tremendous importance in development.
Leaps are particularly significant in the development ol society, where they often acquire the nature of social revolutions abolishing the old and establishing a new social system, thereby removing obstacles to social progress. Such a leap is national democratic revolution currently under way in some socialist-oriented states. It has put an end to the monarchy where it existed, to the archaic, autocratic monarchical rule, and nationalised the land, industry and insurance companies. These and other revolutionary measures are designed to set up a new society---a people's democratic republic led by the party of the working class.
Since development always appears as a unity of quantitative (continuous) and qualitative (leap-like) changes, in practice and in cognition it is necessary to take both these stages of development into account. To ignore any one of them means to distort the process of development, to lapse into metaphysics.
It is most typical of metaphysicians to deny that qualitative changes take place, and to reduce development to imperceptible quantitative accumulation. The theory of preformation is an example of such understanding of development in the field of biology. The proponents of this theory maintain that the embryo is a fully developed, mature organism, but on a microscopic scale. Development of the organism, from their point of view, is simple growth, an increase in the embryo's size. In reality, however, the embryo undergoes deep qualitative changes in the course of its development.
Bourgeois ideologists follow this metaphysical line of thought in seeking to explain social development. They 101 understand social development as pure continuity without leaps or revolutions. By doing so they deny the need for a socialist revolution and try to perpetuate the capitalist system.
The metaphysical denial of leaps in social development is inherent in revisionism. Just as bourgeois ideologists, revisionists deny the need of qualitative changes in society. They oppose the Marxist-Leninist theory of socialist revolution with the idea of the gradual transformation of capitalism into socialism. By doing so they divert the working class from revolutionary struggle which alone can bring about socialist change.
It is similarly wrong to ignore quantitative changes, to reduce development merely to leaps, to a break in continuity, as was done, for example, by the French 19th-- century scientist Georges Cuvier. He claimed that some kind of catastrophes occurred on Earth one after another, as a result of which old species of plants and animals were fully replaced by new ones. Moreover, Cuvier denied any connection between the new and the vanished species.
Denial of quantitative changes serves as the theoretical basis of anarchism, a petty-bourgeois trend hostile to Marxism. Anarchists scoff at the prolonged, painstaking work to accumulate forces, organise the people and gradually prepare them for revolutionary action. Recklessness and conspiratorial activities are typical anarchist tactics which have seriously harmed the working-class movement.
Marxist dialectics demands a competent analysis of continuous and leap-like forms of development, particularly of their unity in social development. Since a leap or revolution is decisive in the development of society, the transition from capitalism to socialism can be effected neither through slow, quantitative changes nor through reforms, but only through a qualitative transformation of the capitalist system, through a socialist revolution.
The CPSU is a consistently revolutionary party. This is borne out by its heroic history. From the very outset it embarked on the course of effecting a revolutionary transformation of society and undeviatingly pursued it by leading the struggle of the working people for the destruction of capitalism and the victory of the qualitatively new, socialist, system.
102But a revolution cannot win if it is not thoroughly prepared. Therefore, the Party painstakingly raised the class army of the revolution, assembled forces and created the necessary conditions for the revolution. A brilliant example of this is the preparation for, and the consummation of, the Great October Socialist Revolution. Working in extremely difficult conditions of tsarist rule the Party organised and ideologically tempered the workers, accumulated forces and gained influence among the broad sections of the working people. And when the conditions for revolutionary action became ripe it boldly led the working class and its allies into an assault against capitalism, along the road of the revolutionary reorganisation of society.
And so, quantitative and qualitative definiteness, quantity and quality are inherent in all objects and phenomena. Quantity and quality are interconnected; in the process of development imperceptible, gradual quantitative changes pass into basic, qualitative changes. This passage takes the form of a leap.
This is the essence of the dialectical law of the passage of quantitative into qualitative changes.
A leap is a universal, indispensable form by which quantitative changes pass into qualitative changes. Since, however, the most diverse objects and phenomena exist in the world, leaps too are diverse. Let us examine this question in greater detail.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ 3. Diversity of Forms of the Passage fromThe basic feature of any leap is a radical turn in development or formation of a new quality. But in different objects this turn, the passage from the old quality to the new, takes place differently, in various forms. The form of the leap indicates how, in what way the transition from the old to the new takes place---swiftly, completely, at once or gradually, in stages. Some leaps are sudden and swift, with the old quality passing into the new completely and at once.
Other leaps are less rapid and not so sudden. In this case the old quality does not pass into the new at once and completely, but in stages: the elements of the old gradually 103 wither away and are replaced by elements of the new quality just as gradually. A leap of this kind, as a gradual qualitative change, must not be confused with a gradual quantitative accumulation. For all its graduality this leap too is a much faster and more noticeable change than the most intensive change of quantity. Moreover, gradual quantitative changes do not affect the essence, the nature of an object, whereas every leap, even a gradual one, is always a decisive turn in development, it transforms the object and turns it into a qualitatively new object.
On what does the form of a leap depend? First of all it depends on the character of the phenomenon undergoing development. Each phenomenon passes into another, a new one, in its own particular way. For example, the transmutation of certain elementary particles into others takes place through an explosion. As soon as an electron and positron clash at sufficiently high energies, a flash (explosion) occurs instantly, testifying to the transmutation of the original particles into others (photons). The transmutation of certain chemical elements into others during an increase or decrease in the charge of the atomic nuclei is just as instantaneous.
In organic nature leaps as a rule are of a gradual character. The birth of new species usually depends on the environment. The environment, however, changes slowly, gradually. This largely explains why new species of plants and animals do not arise at once, but in the process of a long development, in the course of which organisms gradually acquire and pass on by heredity new characteristics which conform to the changed environment, and lose the old characteristics which no longer correspond to the new conditions.
Man too, as we know, arose not at once but in the course of evolution. Notwithstanding the gradual character of transformation of the anthropoid ape into a man, the transformation as such was the greatest leap, turning point in the development of the animal world. It marked the emergence and development of human society.
The form of a leap depends on the conditions in which the phenomenon develops. During radioactive disintegration, for example, the nuclei of some chemical elements are transmuted into nuclei of other, lighter elements, and this process is accompanied by the conversion of atomic energy 104 into thermal energy. This conversion, depending on the conditions, may assume the form of an explosion (in an atomic bomb) or the gradual conversion of atomic energy into heat (in reactors of atomic power plants).
In social development transition from the old quality to the new may take the form of rapid and violent changes or gradual changes.
The 1917 October Socialist Revolution in Russia, the greatest qualitative turning point in history which ushered in a new era in the development of mankind, the era of socialism and communism, was a rapid and violent leap. As a result of this armed uprising the Russian proletariat in alliance with the peasants, put an end to the political rule of the bourgeoisie by a single blow, and came to power.
The cultural revolution in the Soviet Union was also a leap, a revolutionary transition to a new, socialist culture; it was effected, however, not at once, but gradually, in step with the successes of socialist construction, which creates conditions for a radical improvement of public education and political education of the masses and the rise of a new, socialist intelligentsia.
It is very important to take into account the distinctive features of leaps in practice. Without ascertaining these distinctive features it is impossible to find the correct ways for a transition from the old to the new.
The question of the forms of transition from capitalism to socialism in different countries is particularly important at present. The transition to socialism in any country can be effected only through a socialist revolution. Without a qualitative leap, without a revolution, transition to socialism is impossible. But the concrete ways in which the revolution will proceed in each individual country depend on the level of the country's development, the strength and organisation of the working class and its allies, the traditions and customs of the people, the strength and the resistance of the bourgeoisie, and a number of other internal and external factors.
The experience of building socialism in the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries shows that the development of the socialist revolution in various countries cannot be the same, and that in future the forms of development will be ever more diverse.
105The national democratic revolution in Ethiopia is following a course of its own. In view of the country's backwardness, the existence of the survivals and mainstays of feudalism, and the smallness of the working class and its inadequate organisation, the progressive part of the army became the main revolutionary force. It is important to note that the people of Ethiopia had to take up arms in order to protect the gains of the revolution and the country's territorial integrity against internal and external reaction.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ 4. The Nature of Qualitative Changes DuringCommunist society passes through two phases in its development---socialism and communism.
Socialism and communism are two stages of one and the same socio-economic formation, stages differing in the degree of economic development and maturity of social relations. They have a common economic foundation in the public ownership of the means of production, and, consequently, have relations of cooperation and mutual assistance among people and a single communist ideology. The law of planned, proportionate development of society operates both under socialism and under communism. The aim of social production (to fully satisfy the material and cultural requirements of the working people), and the ways for achieving this aim (the constant development and improvement of production on the basis of advanced technology) are also identical under socialism and communism.
At the same time there are qualitative distinctions between socialism and communism. Communism is the higher stage of the communist socio-economic formation. Under communism mechanisation and automation will be exceptionally high. The level of production will be high enough to enable society to change from the socialist principle of distribution: ``From each according to his ability, to each according to his work'', to the qualitatively new, communist principle: ``From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.'' The nature of labour too will be greatly altered. All members of society will develop an inner 106 urge to work for the common good voluntarily and in accordance with their abilities.
With the victory of communism important qualitative changes will take place not only in the economy, but also in social relations, the way of life and consciousness of people. Essential distinctions between town and country will disappear and then distinctions between manual and mental labour will be obliterated: all citizens in the country will become workers of communist society. Under communism the state will wither away and the socialist state will develop into communist public self-government.
Such deep-going qualitative transformations take time, but above all they depend on definite material, political and spiritual prerequisites: a highly developed material and technical basis, perfect social relations between people who know no exploitation, a rich culture and a high level of awareness of the people. Since all these conditions can be created only in the course of socialist construction, it is impossible to perform a leap from capitalism directly into the highest stage of communism. Lenin wrote: ``From capitalism mankind can pass directly only to socialism, i.e., to the social onwership of the means of production and the distribution of products according to the amount of work performed by each individual.''^^*^^
Communism naturally and necessarily grows out of established, mature socialism and develops on the basis of its great economic and cultural achievements. Already today a developed socialist society has tangible and visible features of communism. Commum'st forms of labour, organisation of production and public forms of satisfying the material and cultural needs of the people are rapidly developing. These communist features will continue to develop and improve.
The transition to communism takes place on the basis of the preservation and improvement of the achievements of socialist economy and culture. That is why it is a gradual, phased process, and not a sudden leap. ``Socialism,'' Lenin wrote, ``must inevitably evolve gradually into communism.''^^**^^
_-_-_^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``The Tasks of the Proletariat in Our Revolution'', Collected Works, Vol. 24, pp. 84--85.
^^**^^Ibid.,p. 85.
107For instance, the transition to the communist principle of distribution will take place in stages and not at once. At first the wellbeing of the people will rise to a level that will enable all members of society to live in easy circumstances. Later, when the material and technical basis of communism is built, there will be an abundance of material values for the whole population and society will come close to applying the principle of distribution according to requirements.
The gradual development of the socialist principle of distribution into the communist principle takes place on the basis of the development and improvement of distribution according to work in combination with the growth of public funds distributed free among all members of society. A considerable part of the material and cultural benefits is already distributed through the public funds, including state expenditure on education, public health, culture, sport, etc. In future, as the material and technical basis of communism is built up, this form of distribution will steadily develop and gradually take the place of the socialist principle of distribution according to work done.
Moral stimuli, which are already part and parcel of the labour of a Soviet citizen, will also gradually prevail. The transfer of the functions of state administration to public organisations and the remoulding of the mentality and way of life of the builders of communism will not take place at once either.
The transition from socialism to communism is thus a process of improvement and development of socialist social relations, the gradual withering away of old and the birth of new forms of life, their intertwining and interdependence. This gradual transition is incompatible with undue haste, with the premature application of the principles of communism. The new forms of economic development, social organisation and way of life will strike root consecutively, step by step, as the material and spiritual prerequisites mature.
The gradual character of the transition to communism is governed by laws and determined by the very nature of the socialist system. Under socialism there are no classes opposed to society's advance to communism. The conscious planned activity of the Party and the Soviet state ensures the timely disclosure and elimination of contradictions 108 arising in the course of this advance. This precludes social upheavals and sudden changes in the life of society; development becomes gradual and takes place without recessions which are so typical of capitalist society.
Graduality in no way signifies a slow pace of development. On the contrary, the transition to communism is an accelerated process of economic and cultural progress. In future, this process will develop even faster on the basis of the high level of development of the productive forces and the ever more active participation of millions of working people in building communism.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ The Law of Negation of the Negation __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]The law of negation of the negation reveals the general direction, tendency of development of the material world.
In order to grasp the essence and significance of this law we must first of all ascertain what is dialectical negation and what place it holds in development.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ 1. Dialectical Negation and Its Role in Development __ALPHA_LVL4__ [introduction.]The passing away of the old which has outlived its age and the rise of the new and advanced proceeds constantly in every sphere of reality. It is the replacement of the old by the new, of the dying by the emerging that constitutes development, while the overcoming of the old by the new, arising from the old, is called negation.
The term ``negation'' was introduced in philosophy by Hegel, but he invested it with an idealist meaning. From his point of view, negation was present in the development of the idea, of thought.
Marx and Engels preserved the term ``negation'' but interpreted it in a materialist way. They demonstrated that negation is an integral part of development of reality itself. ``In no sphere can one undergo a development without negating one's previous mode of existence,''^^*^^ Marx wrote.
_-_-_^^*^^ Karl Marx, ``Moralising Criticism and Critical Morality'', in: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 6, Moscow, 1976, p. 317.
109The development of the Earth's crust, for example, has passed through a number of geological eras, each new era, arising on the basis of the preceding one, represents a certain negation of the old. In the organic world, too, each new species of plant or animal, arising on the basis of the old, at the same time represents its negation. The history of society also consists of a chain of negations of the old social order by the new: primitive-communal by slave-owning society; slave-owning society by feudalism; feudalism by capitalism; capitalism by socialism. Negation is also inherent in the development of knowledge and science. Each new, improved scientific theory negates the old, less developed.
Negation is not something introduced into an object or phenomenon from outside, but is the result of the object's or phenomenon's own, internal development. Objects and phenomena are contradictory and develop on the basis of their internal opposites; they themselves create the conditions for their destruction, for the passage into a new, higher quality. Negation is the overcoming of the old through internal contradictions, a result of self-- development, self-movement of objects and phenomena. Thus, socialism comes to take the place of capitalism because it resolves the internal, intrinsic contradictions of the capitalist system. As they grow deeper and more acute, these contradictions find their solution in a socialist revolution.
National democratic revolutions in socialist-oriented states are also a negation---negation of the monarchy, of the semi-capitalist society.
__ALPHA_LVL4__ Dialectical and Metaphysical UnderstandingDialectics and metaphysics differ in their understanding of the essence of negation. Misinterpreting the process of the development of the material reality, metaphysics regards negation as the casting aside, the absolute destruction of the old. Lenin called such an understanding of negation ``empty'' and ``futile'', because it precludes any possibility of further development.
That is how negation was understood by supporters of petty-bourgeois trends which existed in the early years of Soviet power. They advocated the view that the culture that had arisen under the bourgeois system should be discarded 110 and a new, proletarian culture should be created from scratch. Such conception of negation, far from promoting development, did irreparable harm. That is why, in criticising such views, the Communist Party and Lenin pointed to the need for making use of the cultural heritage of the past, maintaining that only by critically assimilating this heritage was it possible to create a genuinely proletarian, socialist culture.
Marxist dialectics reveals the true essence of dialectical negation. What is characteristic of Marxist dialectics, is not ``empty'', ``futile'' negation, but negation as a moment of connection, as a moment of development, retaining the positive.
In its interpretation of negation dialectics proceeds from the premise that the new does not completely obliterate the old, but retains the best in it; in fact it not only retains it, but assimilates it and raises it to a new, higher level. Thus, when higher organisms negate the lower ones on whose basis they arose, they preserve the intrinsic cellular structure of the lower organisms, their selective nature of reflection and other features. A new social system, negating the old, preserves its productive forces, achievements of science, technology and culture. The connection of the new and the old likewise exists in knowledge, in science.
Thus, recognition of continuity, the connection of the new and the old in development, is a feature of the Marxist understanding of negation. But we must bear in mind that the new never takes over the old completely, as it is. It takes from the old only certain elements or aspects; moreover, it does not absorb them mechanically, but assimilates and transforms them in conformity with its own nature. Marxist dialectics calls for a critical attitude to the past experience of mankind, creative application of this experience and the strict account of the changed conditions and the new tasks of revolutionary practice. Marxist philosophy, for example, did not simply accept the progressive ideas of previous philosophies, but critically reworked and enriched them with the new achievements of science and practice, and raised philosophy as a science to a qualitatively new, higher stage.
The working class with its Marxist party is the most careful custodian of the finest achievements of the past. 111 Upon coming to power the proletariat not only cleverly draws on all the achievements of the past epochs, but makes great progress in all areas of the economy, science and culture as it builds a new society.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ 2. The Progressive Nature of Development __ALPHA_LVL4__ Development as ProgressAnd so, we have ascertained that as a result of negation one or another contradiction is solved, the old is destroyed and the new arises. But does this bring development to an end? No, the rise of the new does not stop development. Anything new does not remain new for ever. While developing, it prepares the prerequisites for the rise of something newer and more progressive. And when these prerequisites and conditions ripen, negation again occurs. This is a negation of the negation, i.e., the negation of that which itself previously overcame the old; this is replacement of the new by something newer. The result of this second negation is again negated, overcome, and so on ad infinitum. Development thus appears as a countless number of successive negations, as an endless replacement or overcoming of the old by the new.
Since each higher stage of development only negates what has become obsolete in the lower and at the same time accepts and augments the achievements of preceding stages, development as a whole becomes progressive. Progress is the general direction that is typical of dialectical development.
Progress takes place in all spheres of reality. Let us outline the progressive development on our planet.
We have said that gas-dust matter containing the simplest chemical substances was the primary material from which the planets of the solar system, including the Earth, were formed. In the course of nature's development these substances became more and more complex. As a result living, organic nature arose. Living organisms also developed from the simple to the complex: from pre-cellular forms to the cell, from unicellular to multicellular and then to more complex animals, whose evolution led to the appearance of anthropoid beings and later to the appearance of man. With 112 the rise of man the process of social development began. The consecutive stages in the progressive development of society were: primitive-communal, slave-owning, feudal, capitalist, and socialist systems.
Constant acceleration of the rate of development is a primary distinction of the progress of society. The process of man's development began approximately a million years ago. Since the history of contemporary man is limited to tens of thousands of years, we can imagine how slow the process of man's emergence was. Progress in the slave-- owning and feudal societies was faster, although it, too, dragged out for millenniums. Capitalism developed much faster than feudalism. With the transition to socialism, the rate of economic and cultural growth has been tremendously accelerated. In future when communism triumphs throughout the world, when mankind gets rid of capitalist relations retarding progress and gains the opportunity to concentrate all efforts on harnessing the forces of nature to improve conditions of life and the development of man, this growth will proceed at an unprecedented pace.
__ALPHA_LVL4__ The Spiral-Like Character of DevelopmentThe progressive character of development is the principal but not the only feature of the law of negation of the negation. This law describes development not as movement along a straight line, but as an extremely complicated, spiral-like process, with a definite repetition of stages already passed, a certain return to the past. ``A development that repeats, as it were, stages that have already been passed, but repeats them in a different way, on a higher basis ('the negation of negation'), a development, so to speak, that proceeds in spirals, not in a straight line.''^^*^^
The spiral-like character of development may be seen in various spheres of reality.
Mendeleyev's periodic law is perhaps one of its most striking manifestations in inorganic nature.
In the periodic table chemical elements are arranged according to the magnitude of the positive charge of their atomic nucleus. They form periods and series in which we observe a certain repetition of properties. Let us take, for _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Karl Marx'', Collected Works, Vol. 21, p. 54.
__PRINTERS_P_113_COMMENT__ 5---389 113 example, the second period beginning with lithium. Lithium is an element with certain pronounced metallic properties, it is an alkali metal. As the charge of the nucleus in the elements following lithium grows, the properties characteristic of metals diminish and the non-metallic properties gradually increase. At the end of the period we find a typical metalloid (non-metal) fluorine and the inert gas neon. The next, third period again begins with an alkali metal (sodium) and ends with the non-metallic chlorine and the inert gas argon. The same is repeated in the subsequent periods where the metallic properties are negated by the non-metallic, and then in the following period the latter are again negated by the metallic properties. A seeming return to the old, the negation of negation, takes place.This system of elements can be roughly pictured as an ascending, unwinding spiral. A repetition of the properties occurs at increasing intervals (two elements in the first period, eight in the second period, and so on), and it proceeds on a qualitatively different basis at each stage: the elements of each new period have a bigger nuclear charge, a more complex structure and new properties.
Spiral-like development occurs in the organic world as well. Engels illustrated the operation of this law by referring to the development of a grain of barley. From a grain, landing in favourable conditions, there grows a stalk; this represents a negation of the grain. Then, an ear with new grains grows on the stalk; the new grains are a negation of the stalk---the negation of the negation. At the same time there is a certain return to the starting point, the grain, but on a new basis. The new grains differ from the original grain not only quantitatively (10--20 instead of 1) but often also in terms of their properties. Here development proceeds in the form of a spiral. It begins with a single grain from which several grow, and these in turn give rise to an even larger number, and so on.
Spiral-like development also takes place in social life. The primitive-communal system was the first form of social organisation. It was a classless society based on common ownership of the extremely primitive tools. Further development of production led to the negation of this system by the class, slave-owning society. Then slave-owning system gave way to feudalism which in turn was negated by 114 capitalism. In place of capitalism has come socialism, the first stage of communism. This is also a certain negation of the negation, a return to the initial point of development in a certain sense, but on an entirely different, qualitatively new basis. Negation of the negation means a certain periodicity, recurrence in the progressive development of matter. But we should stress that a repetition of past stages of development is not' an actual return to the old, bu* a rise of the new which often bears only an outward, formal resemblance to the old and has a totally different essence. Sodium which opens the third period in Mendeleyev's Table belongs, like lithium, to the group of alkali metals, but it has a more complex structure and its own intrinsic properties.
Social property prevailing under socialism reproduces, in a certain sense, the communal property of primitive society, but reproduces it on an entirely new material and spiritual basjs, which can in no way be compared with the primitivecommunal system.
And so, development occurs through the negation of the old by the new, the lower by the higher. Since the new, negating the old, retains and develops its positive features, development acquires a progressive character. At the same time development proceeds along a spiral, with repetition at higher stages of certain aspects and features of the lower stages.
Such is the essence of the dialectical law of negation of the negation.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ 3. How the Law of Negation of the NegationThe law of negation of the negation operates in socialist society as well, but in a specific way.
The dominance of socialist property, the absence of antagonistic classes, the socio-political and ideological unity of the Soviet people fully preclude such forms of negation in Soviet society as social revolution, class battles and sudden political explosions characteristic of antagonistic class societies.
Under socialism the old is negated when it becomes clear that it no longer corresponds to the new conditions 115 and tasks, when the objective prerequisites for its overcoming mature. The Soviet people, led by the Communist Party and the Soviet Government, consciously replace the old, that which hinders progress, by the new. In the Soviet Union there is a continuous process of supplanting obsolescent machinery by new, more improved, of replacing old forms of organisation of production and economic management by new forms, etc. The negation of the old and obsolete reinforces the economic, political and ideological mainstays of socialist society and is one of the important factors of its progressive development.
The development of socialist society is marked by steady progress and vigorous advance towards communism. This is one of the principal distinctions in the way the law of negation of the negation operates under socialism.
The Soviet Union, the world's first socialist country, is a recognised standard-bearer of social progress. It is admired by the working people of the world who link their hopes for a brighter and happier future with it.
The sources of its unprecedented progress are to be found in the very nature of the socialist system, in the great ideas of communism. The great cause of socialist construction is an inexhaustible fount of the creativity and enormous energy of the Soviet people which enable them to tackle the most complicated tasks.
Of course a certain advance, which is fairly rapid when conditions are favourable, takes place in capitalist society too.
But there this movement is limited and one-sided. Priority development is given to those branches of industry which bring the employers big profits; this especially applies to plants working on military contracts. Under capitalism periods of advance give way to periods of deep recession, of crisis.
In socialist society, on the other hand, progress is continuous in all spheres of economic, political and cultural life. This is strikingly demonstrated by the high rates of development in the USSR.
Industrial growth rates in the USSR are considerably higher than in the more industrialised capitalist countries. The Soviet Union needed 40 years to increase industrial output 30 times, while it took the United States, Britain 116 and Germany from 80 to 150 years to make similar progress. Moreover, in these 40 years the USSR had to fight in devastating wars which wrought great destruction in the national economy and retarded its development.
Great changes have taken place in agriculture since the establishment of Soviet rule. Once a backward, petty-goods peasant economy, it is now a large-scale socialist economy capable of supplying industry with raw materials and the population with food products in ever increasing quantities.
Soviet science and culture have many great achievements to their credit. Not so long ago the country was backward with nearly 80 per cent of the population illiterate, but it has now become a land of universal literacy where the transition to universal secondary education has been completed in the main. Soviet universities and colleges train millions of highly-qualified specialists. Artificial satellites of the Earth and Sun, powerful space rockets and interplanetary spaceships, atomic power plants, the first in history manned orbital space flights of Soviet citizens attest to the enormous scientific progress in the USSR and are a symbol of the creative power of triumphing communism.
It would be wrong, however, to assume that under socialism progress follows a straight line. Here too development has a spiral-like character and in various spheres of social life there is a certain repetition of stages already passed.
In particular this applies to economic management in the USSR, democracy, socialist emulation, culture, public education and other spheres where some of the current forms and methods are, so to say, a revival and development of the old but only on a new, deeper and broader foundation which makes for their fuller development and maximum efficiency.
Hence, this is not an absolute repetition, not a mechanical imitation of the old but a qualitatively new state, a transition to a higher level with the preservation of positive experience.
The first communist subbotnik that was organised in Soviet Russia in 1919, for example, signified a prompt accomplishment of the production tasks facing the production collective. It was shock work of the workers at their jobs: a group of workers at a Moscow marshalling yard 117 repaired locomotives and carriages and performed loading and unloading operations in their off-work hours without remuneration, in the course of which their productivity of labour was higher than during the ordinary performance of their duties. This subbotnik attracted Lenin's attention and he called it a ``great beginning''.
Later, however, communist subbotniks were chiefly organised for the purpose of fulfilling various auxiliary tasks, including the cleaning of production premises and compounds, city blocks, construction sites, etc. This was a justified measure during the periods of economic dislocation and economic rehabilitation. But with the growth of socialist production such subbotniks led to the elimination of personal responsibility and irrational use of qualified manpower, which divested communist subbotniks of their basic principle, shock work in off-work hours at places of employment.
Recently, the original form of the subbotniks has been revived, but on an incomparably higher level. Today the entire Soviet people, the masses, and not merely individual groups of workers take part in them. The communist subbotniks which are organised on the anniversaries of Lenin's birth are nation-wide shock-work shifts of the people at their work places. The enormous economic and moral effect of these subbotniks leaves the old indicators far behind.
__*_*_*__In this chapter we have discussed the basic laws of materialist dialectics. These laws furnish the key to understanding universal motion and development in the material world, reveal their sources and driving forces which are contained in internal contradictions. These laws disclose the leap-like, progressive character of development; they show that reality makes progress through constant replacement, through negation of the old by the new.
To gain a better idea of development we should now turn to the main categories of materialist dialectics.
[118] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER VII __ALPHA_LVL1__ Categories of Materialist Dialectics __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]Any science, no matter what sphere of material reality it investigates, is not only a system of laws, but also of definite categories, i.e., the most general concepts which are elaborated in the process of development of each science and constitute its foundation. In mechanics, for example, such concepts are: mass, energy, force; in political economy---commodity, value, money, and so on.
In generalising the achievements of science and people's practical activity, philosophy has its own system of categories. Philosophical categories are concepts reflecting the general features and connections, sides and properties of reality. We have already analysed certain major categories in our study of philosophical materialism. These are first of all the categories of matter and consciousness, then motion, space and time. Studying the basic laws of Marxist dialectics, we have also examined such categories as contradiction, quantity, quality, leap, negation. In this chapter we shall discuss one more group of categories: the particular and the universal, content and form, essence and phenomenon, cause and effect, necessity and chance, possibility and reality.
A study of these categories will considerably broaden our understanding of the universal development and connections of the material world, the basic laws of Marxist dialectics.
The laws and categories of dialectics are interconnected. When we studied the basic laws of Marxist dialectics we learned that they, in effect, represent the relationship or connection of categories. The law of the passage of quantitative into qualitative changes, for example, expresses a 119 definite connection of the categories of quantity and quality, etc. Hence, without a knowledge of categories it is impossible to comprehend the laws. On the other hand, knowledge of the laws enables us to understand the essence of categories of dialectics. The law of the unity and conflict of opposites thus makes it possible to reveal the real meaning of such antithetical categories as content and form, necessity and chance, possibility and reality, etc.
Before proceeding to discuss particular categories, let us ascertain their origin and consider some of their common features.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. Origin and Common Features of the Categories of DialecticsThe categories of Marxist dialectics are a result, a generalisation of the centuries-old experience of people, of their labour and knowledge. In the course of his practical activity man, coining in contact with, and cognising objects and phenomena of the world, has singled out their essential, general features and has fixed the results in categories, concepts. Categories of cause and effect, content and form and others took shape in man's mind as he came into contact, billions of times, with objectively existing causes and effects, the content and form of definite material bodies and other major aspects of reality. Hence categories are a result of man's practical and cognitive activity, a stage in his knowledge of the world around him. ``Man is confronted with a web of natural phenomena,'' Lenin wrote. `` Instinctive man, the savage, does not distinguish himself from nature. Conscious man does distinguish: categories are stages of distinguishing, i.e., of cognising the world.''^^*^^
A result of practice and knowledge, the categories of materialist dialectics are of great importance for man's practical and cognitive activities. As stepping stones to knowledge, they help people to find their way in the intricate web of phenomena in nature and society, reveal the interconnection and interdependence of things, the definite order and the law-governed character of their development, _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Conspectus of Hegel's Book The Science of Logic'', Collected Works, Vol. 38, p. 93.
120 and to choose the right course of practical activity.Marxist dialectics discloses the essence of categories, the sources of their origin and above all emphasises their objective character. Categories have their source in objects and phenomena existing independent of man' and reflect their most general, essential features. Categories of cause and effect thus reflect the objectively existing relation between objects and processes, by which some of them cause other objects and processes to come into being, these latter being their effect.
In contrast to materialism, idealism denies the objective character of categories. From the point of view of subjective idealists, for example, categories exist only in the consciousness of man and have no relation to reality. The German philosopher Immanuel Kant maintained that before man begins to cognise the world his consciousness already contains categories of causality, necessity, chance, etc., which allegedly helps him to introduce order into the chaotic world of natural phenomena. Present-day subjective idealists, the neo-positivists in particular, also claim that categories are general concepts which are connected only with the direct sense-emotions of the subject and have no relation to the objective world existing independent of man. While paying lip service to the objective character of categories, the objective idealist Hegel in fact regarded them as stages, moments in the development of the absolute idea, the universal spirit.
Idealist views of the origin of categories are absolutely untenable. Practical activity, the development of science and people's personal experience show that categories were not invented by man, but discovered by him in objective reality.
From the standpoint of Marxist dialectics categories have other important features, namely interconnection, changeability and mobility which reflect the unity of the material world itself, the universal connection, interaction and development of its objects and phenomena. Categories are so closely connected that Under certain conditions one can turn into another; thus, cause becomes effect and vice versa, necessity becomes chance and chance turns into necessity, and so on. Categories are not only interconnected, but also changeable and mobile. As they reflect the 121 constantly developing material world, they themselves change.
Metaphysicians of all sorts misrepresent the dialectical nature of categories. As a rule, they separate categories from one another, ignoring the role played by some of them and absolutismg the significance of others. And this perverts reality and often leads to reactionary political conclusions.
In order to comprehend the true nature of categories and use them as an instrument of scientific cognition and practical activity, they have to be approached from the standpoint of dialectical materialism. Later, when we examine separate categories, we shall endeavour to show their scientific and practical significance.
In studying the material world, man first of all notices the countless multitude of particular, individual objects and phenomena. Then, comparing them, he singles out features and connections that they have in common. We shall do the same and begin the examination of categories with the individual and the universal.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. The Individual and the Universal __ALPHA_LVL3__ What Is the Individual and the Universal?Every object possesses a number of particular, intrinsic features. Let us take the poplar next to our home. It has size, a certain number of branches arranged in a particular way, special configuration of the roots and some other features.
Every man has his own idiosyncrasies, abilities and habits, interests and inclinations, gait and manner of speech. This is what singles him out from hundreds of millions of other people inhabiting our planet.
The poplar, the man, the individual object or phenomenon of the material world are the individual or the particular.
Anything particular or individual, however, does not exist by itself; it is connected with other objects and phenomena. A man lives on Earth where there are many other people. He has much in common with them being connected with them by thousands of the most diverse threads. He has a vocation, and this means that he possesses some 122 features inherent in all people of that vocation. Man belongs to a definite class and a definite nation, therefore he has certain national and class distinctions. All people possess such features as anatomo-physiological structure, ability to feel and think, to work and speak, etc. Similarly, each object, besides having its own peculiar, individual features, has features in common with other objects.
The universal is that which is present in many individual, particular objects. While individual features set the given object apart from others, the universal draws it together with these other objects, connects it with them and places it in a definite species or class of homogeneous objects.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Dialectics of the Individual and the UniversalThe individual and the universal are found in dialectical unity in any object. On the one hand, the individual contains the universal. It exists only in the connection that leads to the universal. Each individual organism is thus connected with the universal, the species to which it belongs and with which it has common features; and through the species it is connected with what is even more universal, the genus. Taking into account the connection of the particular with the universal, the existence of the universal in the particular, dialectical materialism considers that each particular is universal in one way or another.
On the other hand, the universal exists only in the particular or through the particular. There is not a single species of plant or animal outside individual plants or animals. Being universal in relation to the individual, the species does not embrace all the features of the individual organisms it includes, but only the essential, recurring ones. That is why Lenin described the universal as a side or essence of the particular.
The individual and the universal are not only interconnected but also change constantly. The boundary between them is not fixed. In certain conditions, during development, they pass into one another: the particular becomes the universal, and vice versa.
In the development of organisms there have been instances when a new, useful characteristic acquired by an individual organism is transmitted by heredity, and in time 123 becomes common to the mass, the vast number of individual organisms, i.e., it turns into a universal characteristic, a distinctive of the species. If, however, a universal characteristic loses its significance for the vital processes of the species, it gradually withers away, becomes atrophied and in succeeding generations will only seldom occur; it may be met in individual organisms as an atavism, a reversion to the organisation of remote ancestors. Here the universal has turned into the individual.
Dialectics of the universal and the individual manifests itself in social phenomena as well.
Let us examine the rise and significance of communist subbotniks in the light of their principled assessment that was made by Lenin who perceived in a single, and what seemed to be an ordinary, fact a general law of the development of communist society.
The participation of the workers in the first subbotnik turned the latter into a great beginning because it inaugurated a mass movement for a communist attitude to labour which developed into a method of building a new society.
In the incredibly difficult conditions of the civil war, economic dislocation and famine the workers set the first examples of communist labour; they voluntarily participated in the subbotnik in their off-work hours without expecting to receive any benefits or honours, and their labour productivity on that day was the highest ever attained in those times.
In Lenin's opinion this was a turning point in the consolidation of the new system.
He regarded this as a revolution in the consciousness of the working people, a revolution in the attitude to the future of society, a revolution in the attitude to labour. Were it not for this revolution it would have been impossible to build a new society. He pointed out that it was up to the masses themselves to build living, creative socialism, that the strength and invincibility of the new social system lay in the consciousness of the people, in the fact that the masses, displaying unprecedented heroism and self-sacrifice, did this willingly, fully convinced that the new system was consistent with their fundamental, vital interests. That explains why the emergence and development of the sense of 124 being master of his land is a distinguishing feature of the new man.
Lenin believed that communism really began when masses of workers and peasants started to show concern for rehabilitating and promoting production, for protecting the products which were made available to society as a whole, to all the working people.
Of course, a revolution in the consciousness of the working people, development of a communist attitude to work, did not take place instantaneously; it was a gradual process but one which developed and is continuing to develop in all fields of activity on the basis of a new system, embracing ever new sections of the working people and acquiring ever new forms.
Today there is every reason to say that these individual shoots of communism have turned into universal ones and have become part and parcel of the life of the new society in the USSR and in other socialist countries; they are also becoming universal in the socialist-oriented developing countries where their new forms are of international theoretical and practical interest.
The competition for the title of shock-workers and communist-labour collectives is the highest form of socialist emulation in the USSR. In Moscow, for instance, there are more than two million shock-workers of communist labour and about 200 communist-labour collectives (enterprises and organisations).
The working masses in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, demonstrating a highly conscious attitude to the solution of acute economic problems, voluntarily agreed to a temporary reduction in wages and an increase in the working day.
The citizens of Cotonou in the People's Republic of Benin cultivated thousands of acres of vacant land near their city in the course of ``red Saturdays''. As a result, factory and office collectives and the personnel of educational institutions now have their own plantations which contribute to a higher living standard of the working people. Thanks to these same ``red Saturdays" in the course of which all people come out into the streets with brooms and spades, Cotonou is now one of the tidiest towns on the Western coast of Africa.
125In order to speed up the solution of the housing problem in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan the workers and employees of the Kabul housebuilding factory voluntarily turned up for wcrk on their day off thus accelerating the production of items needed by the people's state.
And so, the ``great beginning" is turning into a universal initiative reflecting the growing role and diversity of forms of the history-making activity of the masses.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Importance of the Categories of the IndividualIt is very important in scientific and practical activities to take into account the dialectics of the individual and the universal. Only knowledge of the interconnection, the dialectics of the individual and the universal enables us to find our way in the maze of diverse processes of objective reality, to discover the laws of its development and apply them properly in practice. Moreover, knowledge of the universal and its connection with the particular forms the basis of scientific forecasts, makes it possible not only to disclose important features of known objects and phenomena, determine their main course, the direction of their development, but also to deduce the existence of other particular objects and processes so far unknown to man. Mendeleyev, for example, proceeding from the periodic law of chemical elements which revealed their most general properties, deduced the existence of four chemical elements unknown at that time. Later he described in detail the properties of three of chem. After a certain time these elements (gallium, scandium and germanium) were discovered.
Strict account of the interaction of the individual and the universal is of great importance in social life, especially at the present time when mankind is making the great transition from capitalism to communism. The course of this transition largely depends on the correct solution to the question of the correlation between the general laws of the socialist revolution and national distinctions in one country or another. That is why such an acute worldwide ideological struggle is now being fought on this issue.
It is clear from the experience of socialist construction in the USSR and other countries that the replacement of capitalism in all countries is a uniform revolutionary process 126 which has common, fundamentally important laws. In the first place, they are the leading role of the Marxist-Leninist party---the party and vanguard of the working class; the consolidation of the power of the working class in one form or another; the transformation of the economy and all social relations along socialist lines; and defence of the revolution against all attacks by class enemies.
Present-day nationalists and revisionists ignore the general laws governing socialist development; they absolutise the individual, concrete national conditions of various countries. In contrast to the theory of scientific communism, they promote unscientific ideas of ``national communism" which, in effect, is renunciation of the socialist revolution. These ideas are wholly repudiated by the entire course of the international working-class and communist movement.
Dogmatists, on the other hand, ignore the need to take into account concrete historical conditions in a revolution. They claim that revolutions everywhere are made according to one and the same pattern, pre-cast once and for all. What makes this position harmful is that it belittles the creative initiative of the masses, undermines their faith in socialism and thereby greatly impedes the movement towards socialism.
Marxism-Leninism, while pointing out that these general laws are indispensable for the transition to socialism, does not at all ignore the national distinctions of each country. On the contrary, it calls for the creative application of these laws to concrete historical conditions. No two countries have the same level of economic development, nor the same correlation of class forces, nor the same historical and national traditions. All this taken together determines the specific features and distinctions in the forms and methods of building socialism and the pace of socialist changes in various countries. It is a key task of Marxist parties to take into account the national features of each individual country and to find the forms and methods of applying the general laws of socialist revolution in it.
Now that we have given an idea of the particular and shown that it is bound up with the universal, we shall go further into it and find out what are the particular objects, things and phenomena which man constantly encounters.
127The category of content and form gives an idea of what a given object actually is.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. Content and Form __ALPHA_LVL3__ What Is Content and Form?Content is the sum-total of elements and processes constituting the given object or phenomenon. Form is the structure, the organisation of the content. It is not something external in relation to content, but is inherent in it.
Elementary particles, and processes associated with their movement, make up the content of the atom of a chemical element. Their arrangement in the atom constitutes its form. Metabolism, irritability, contractibility and other processes, and also the organs, tissues and cells in which these processes take place make up the content of the living organism. The form of the living organism is represented by the way vital processes transpire in it and by the structure of its organs and tissues.
Content and form are inherent in all social phenomena as well. Thus, the productive forces (in particular the instruments of production and the people who use them) represent the content of a historically determined mode of production. Relations of production (the relations of people in the process of production based on their relation to these instruments) constitute the form of a mode of production.
Dialectical materialism proceeds from the unity of content and form, their inseparability. Both form and content are inherent in the given object and therefore cannot be separated from one another. There is no content in general, but only formed content, i. e., content which has a definite form. Similarly there is no pure form without any content. Form always has content, it presupposes a definite content whose structure or organisation it represents.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Decisive Significance of ContentHaving learned that each object represents a unity of content and form, let us now examine how content and form are interconnected, how they interact in the process of the development of objects.
128Content is very active. By virtue of its intrinsic contradictions it constantly develops, moves. Then, with the change in the content, the form also changes. Content determines form.
Let us trace, for example, the development of social production. It always begins with the content---the productive forces. In an effort to produce as much material wealth as possible, people constantly improve the instruments of production and increase their own skill. This inevitably leads to a change in the form of social production---the relations of production.
In nature, too, content determines form. From biology we know that a change in the conditions of existence of a living organism is followed at first by a change in its functions (the intrinsic type of metabolism and other processes which make up the content of life), by the appearance of new protein substances, etc. Only then, on the basis of the change in content, does the form---the organisation or structure of the organism---change as well. If, for example, a plant is transferred from a humid to a dry climate, its metabolism changes. This change will proceed in such a way as to enable the plant to obtain more and lose less moisture in the new conditions. The structure of the organism will change correspondingly: its roots will penetrate deeper into the soil, drawing additional moisture; the leaves will become narrower so that less moisture will be evaporated.
Although form is the product of content, it does not remain passive in relation to it. It actively influences content, facilitates or retards its development. A new form, corresponding to the content, promotes the latter's development. An old form, not corresponding to the content, however, retards its development. If we take as an example social production again, we shall find that its form, relations of production, not only depends on the content, but itself plays an active part in its development. Progressive, socialist relations of production, for example, ensure exceptionally high growth rates of industrial and agricultural output and an advance of the entire socialist economy. But production relations of contemporary capitalism restrain, hamper the development of productive forces, and at times result in their stagnation and even destruction.
It follows, therefore, that the role and significance of 129 form in development must not be underestimated. Yet we have learned from the history of the CPSU that the opponents of Marxism, the opportunists, in their efforts to prevent the establishment of a revolutionary party of the new type denied the role played by the party's organisational forms, declaring that the form was passive, inert and had no influence at all on the content of the revolutionary struggle.
Lenin overturned the opportunists and disclosed the enormous significance of organisational forms in the party's entire activity. In his work One Step Forward, Two Steps Back he formulated the party's organisational principles which were translated into life by the party of the new type which he founded. The perfect organisational form of the Communist Party which is based on the principle of democratic centralism, enabled it successfully to guide the revolutionary struggle of the proletariat and the building of socialism, and today successfully direct communist construction.
In analysing the interaction of form and content we should also bear in mind that, depending on the conditions, one and the same content can develop in different forms.
The international communist movement knows from experience that the dictatorship of the proletariat, which makes up the content of the transition period from capitalism to socialism, is possible in more than one form. In the USSR the dictatorship of the proletariat has the form of the Soviets of People's Deputies and in other countri of the world socialist system, the form of People's Democracy. It is possible that the future may produce new forms of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
The diversity of forms reinforces the content, makes it richer and more varied, enables it to develop in the most different conditions. That is why in revolutionary struggle and communist construction it is so important to be able to choose the forms which best of all suit the concrete historical conditions.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Contradiction Between Form and ContentIn order to get a better idea of the correlation of content and form, it is important to explain its contradictory nature. We have already said that form is more stable than content. That is why it lags behind content's development, becomes obsolete and comes into contradiction with it. The 130 contradiction between the old form and the new content usually culminates in rejection of the old form and its replacement by a new one, as a result of which content acquires scope for further development.
Thus, as conditions change, an organism is compelled to assimilate new nutritive substances. In connection with this, the content of the organism, i. e., its intrinsic metabolism and all its vital activity, changes more or less rapidly. As for the form, the structure of the organism, it does not keep pace with the development of the content and comes into contradiction with it. This contradiction is resolved by a change in the structure of the organism that brings it into conformity with the changed content. As a result, existing organs are transformed or new ones arise. For example, when organisms pass from an aquatic environment to conditions of amphibian life, they gradually develop lungs instead of gills, limbs instead of fins, etc.
In social life, too, there is contradiction between content and form, as is clearly demonstrated by the above example relating to the development of social production.
In the course .of development the new content ( productive forces) comes into contradiction with the old form (relations of production). This contradiction is resolved through the replacement of the obsolete relations of production by new ones which ensure the further unhindered development of the productive forces. Under capitalism the contradiction between the content and form of production is antagonistic. Hence the need for a socialist revolution whose mission is to replace the old, capitalist form of production with the new, socialist form. -
Under socialism, too, for example in the USSR, there is a contradiction between the form and the content of social production. But this contradiction is not of an antagonistic character and is successfully eliminated by the Soviet people led by the Communist Party.
By overcoming these and other contradictions and difficulties, Soviet people dispense with the old, obsolete forms hindering communist construction. At the same time the process of improving all forms of economic, political and cultural life of Soviet society steadily continues.
Now that we have examined what the content and form of an object are, let us see whether all its elements and 131 aspects are equally important, whether all of them play an equal part in the existence and development of the given object. To answer this question we must examine the categories of essence and phenomenon.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 4. Essence and Phenomenon __ALPHA_LVL3__ What Is Essence and Phenomenon ?The concept of essence is similar to the concept of content but is not identical with it. Whereas content represents the sum-total of all elements and processes constituting a given object, essence is the chief, internal, relatively stable side of an object (or the total of its sides and relations). Essence determines the nature of an object, all its other sides and characteristics follow from it.
Metabolism is the essence of a living organism. It underlies all the vital functions and comprises the inner nature of all living bodies. As Engels pointed out, from metabolism, which represents the essential function of protein, follow all other factors of life: irritability, contractibility, the possibility of growth, internal movement.^^*^^
In social phenomena essence also expresses the internal, chief side of processes. Describing imperialism, the higher stage of capitalism, Lenin defined it as monopoly capitalism. It is monopoly rule, which has replaced rivalry, that is the essence of imperialism. From the domination of the monopolies stem all other features of imperialism, above all the extraction of monopoly superprofits by those capitalists who are members of monopoly associations. In their quest for superprofits the imperialists form international monopoly unions and divide the world into their spheres of influence, monopolise finance, export capital instead of goods, and intensify the exploitation of the working people in their own countries and also of the peoples in the colonies and dependencies. All this extremely aggravates capitalism's intrinsic contradictions. Imperialism is the stage of decaying, moribund capitalism, it is the eve of the socialist revolution.
National liberation revolutions, too, have their essence, _-_-_
^^*^^ See Frederick Kngels, Anti-Diihring, pp. 104--05. 132
132 namely, to win national independence, cast off the political and economic oppression of world capitalism, promote national economies and culture, and create people's democratic states.The essence of socialist society is the dominance of socialist property, absence of exploitation, planned economy, cooperation and mutual assistance of members of society, and the fullest satisfaction of the material and cultural requirements of the members of society through the development and improvement of production on the basis of advanced techniques.
What is a phenomenon? A phenomenon is the outward, direct expression of essence, the form in which it is manifested. Metabolism as the essence of everything living is revealed in the most diverse phenomena. It is manifested in the nearly half a million species of plants and about one and a half million species of animals. All of them differ from each other in appearance and degree of development; they assimilate nutrition, grow and propagate differently.
The essence of imperialism is manifested in the aggressive wars (world and local) which it unleashes; in the arms race;in the ever deepening general crisis (economic, political and moral) of capitalism; in the intensified exploitation of the labouring people; in the growing unemployment; in the decline in living standards; in the growth of crime; in the increasing exploitation of undeveloped and dependent countries, etc.
The essence of socialism is expressed in the following phenomena of daily Soviet life: the peaceful foreign policy of the USSR; the steady improvement of the Soviet people's wellbeing; large-scale construction of new factories and powerful electric stations; vigorous technical progress in the most diverse branches of the economy; the unprecedented pace of building houses and cultural establishments; reduction of the working day; rising wages; improvement of social maintenance and everyday services, etc.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Dialectics of Essence and PhenomenonHaving discussed what essence and phenomenon are, let us see in what relation they stand to each other.
By generalising scientific achievements and practice, dialectical materialism asserts the unity of essence and 133 phenomenon which are interconnected and inseparable. Essence appears phenomenally, phenomenon is essential, Lenin wrote. Phenomenon is the selfsame essence as manifested in reality. The outward, surface side of reality, the individual properties, moments and sides of things make up the phenomenon. Essence is the same phenomena, the same multifarious moments, sides, but taken in their most stable, profound and general form. Lenin compared essence to a relatively calm, powerful and deep current of a swiftly flowing river, which on the surface has waves and foam. ``...The foam above and the deep currents below. But even the foam is an expression of essence.''^^*^^
Essence is necessarily revealed in each phenomenon, but not fully, only a certain small part of it. Phenomenon does not exhaust essence, but presents it from one side only.
There is no ``pure'' essence, i. e., the kind that would not manifest itself in anything. Every essence reveals itself in a mass of phenomena. The essence of socialism manifests itself through many events and facts of the socialist way oi life.
Essence and phenomenon are not only indivisible, they are also antithetical and never fully coincide. Their antithesis is an expression of the internal contradictoriness of the objects of reality themselves. Essence is not seen on the surface, it is hidden and cannot be directly observed. It can be disclosed only in the course of prolonged comprehensive study of an object. If the form of manifestation and the essence of things coincided directly, Marx wrote, every science would be superfluous. It is the task of science to reveal essence, the internal, deep and underlying processes behind the multitude of phenomena, outward sides and features of reality.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Importance of the Categories of Essence and PhenomenonKnowledge of the dialectics of essence and phenomenon is very important in social life, in science and practical activity.
This knowledge gives scientists the confidence that however complex the process of cognising the phenomena they _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Conspectus of Hegel's Book The Science of Logic'', Collected Works, Vol. 38, p. 130.
134 study, however deeply essence is hidden behind these phenomena, it will eventually become known. Astronomers, for example, conducted thorough observations of the Sun for many years. With the aid of instruments they discovered spots and protuberances on the Sun and traced the fluxes of various particles emitted by the Sun. But all these phenomena by themselves gave no clue to the processes taking place within the Sun, to the source of solar energy. It took science a long time to discover the essence of the processes behind these phenomena. It was ascertained that a thermonuclear reaction (formation of helium from hydrogen) takes place in the Sun. It is the colossal energy released as a result of this reaction that maintains the very high temperature of the Sun.Knowledge of essence is particularly indispensable because phenomena often tend to give a false idea of the character of processes. It seems to us, for example, that the Sun moves around the Earth, while in reality we know that the Earth moves around the Sun. It might seem that broad democracy exists in the imperialist world; after all, universal suffrage, freedom of speech, of the press, freedom to form political parties and groups, etc., are proclaimed there. But in reality democracy under imperialism is a mere deception, it is limited democracy, democracy only for the rich.
Knowledge based only on manifestations of essence, cannot give a correct picture of the world or serve as a guide to action. Inability to differentiate phenomenon from essence leads to serious mistakes in theory and practice.
The founders of Marx ism-Leninism made unique analyses of the essence of social phenomena. Among them is the discovery by Marx of the essence of capitalist production which constituted a whole epoch in the development of social thought.
Bourgeois economists and sociologists, confining themselves to a study of phenomena, of what only appears to be true, have claimed, and continue to claim, that there is no exploitation in capitalist society, that the worker receives all that he earns from the capitalist. From their point of view, the source of capitalist profit is not the exploitation of the workers, but the capital invested by the capitalists in production.
What is the real state of affairs?
In reality the situation is entirely different. The worker 135 needs a certain amount of means of subsistence for himself and for his family. To obtain them he is compelled to sell his labour to the capitalist. It may appear that an ordinary purchase-and-sale transaction takes place between the worker and the capitalist: the worker sells his labour and the capitalist buys it; the worker works, while the capitalist pays him wages.
Outwardly it seems to be an equal transaction between the capitalist and the worker. Bourgeois ideologists, limiting themselves to it, arrive at the absolutely false conclusion that under capitalism there is no exploitation. They do not want to see the true essence of capitalist production.
Marx did not confine himself to an analysis of the superficial phenomena of capitalist society. Behind the phenomenon, the semblance of an equal transaction between the capitalist and the worker, he disclosed the exploitative essence of capitalist production. Marx showed that labour power is a special commodity capable of producing material values. Moreover, the values it produces are worth much more than the wages paid by the capitalist. The capitalist pays for only part of the value of the goods produced by the worker and keeps the rest. It is this, and this only, that is the source of capitalist profit.
Marx's discovery of the essence of capitalist exploitation is of tremendous historical importance. It made it possible to reveal the basis of the antagonism between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, to show why struggle between them is inevitable and ultimately leads to the socialist revolution and the fall of capitalism.
This classical example of how social phenomena should be analysed clearly shows the immense importance which knowledge of the essence of objects and processes has for science and revolutionary practice.
And so, we have analysed the individual and the universal, content and form, essence and phenomenon, i. e., everything that helps us to understand a given object or phenomenon. Objects and phenomena, however, do not exist in isolation, but are interconnected and none of them can be understood outside of this connection. To study an object in connection with others means above all to establish the cause of its origin. Now we shall examine the categories of cause and effect.
136 __ALPHA_LVL2__ 5. Cause and Effect __ALPHA_LVL3__ What Is Cause and Effect?In the objective world we observe the constant interaction of phenomena, as a result of which some phenomena give rise to others; these in turn give'rise to still others, and so on. Friction, for example, causes heat, drought leads to crop failure, etc. The interaction of phenomena is also observed in social life. The national liberation movement, for example, has brought about the break-up of imperialism's colonial system.
A phenomenon or group of interacting phenomena which precede and give rise to another phenomenon or group are called cause. The phenomenon produced by the action of the cause is called effect.
Cause always precedes effect, but succession in time is not an adequate sign of cause. Day, for example, follows night, but night is not the cause of day. The alternation of day and night is caused by the rotation of the Earth on its axis. Causal dependence between two phenomena exists when one of them not only precedes the other, but inevitably gives rise to it.
Cause should not be confused with occasion. Occasion is an event which directly precedes the effect; it is not the cause itself, but sets it in motion. Thus, the legitimate assistance provided by the Soviet Union and Cuba to their natural allies---the peoples of Angola and Ethiopia---at the request of their governments for the purpose of repelling external aggression, was an occasion for a sharp intensification of aggressive actions by NATO countries on the African continent. Under the pretext of ``saving'' it from the ``Soviet-Cuban threat" imperialism launched a crusade against independent Africa.
The true cause of this campaign is imperialism's desire to stop and reverse the mounting movement for national and social liberation on the African continent, re-establish full control over the immensely rich sources of mineral raw materials and fantastically cheap labour power, exploit them unscrupulously and obtain net superprofits.
Cause should also be distinguished from the conditions in which it operates. Productive labour is the cause of all social wealth. But for labour to produce wealth, an object 137 of labour and tools for working on this object are needed. Neither the object of labour nor the tools bring wealth by themselves, but they are a necessary condition for man's labour.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Criticism of Anti-Marxist Views of CausalityIn the material world causality has a general, universal character. No phenomena exist or can exist without cause, for everything has its cause. ``There is no smoke without fire,'' as the old saying goes. Causality is objective, it has not been introduced into reality by man's reason or by some supernatural force. Causality is inherent in reality and is discovered by man in the process of cognition and practical activity.
The dialectical-materialist understanding of causality diametrically differs from the religious interpretation of the world, according to which God is the cause of everything existing: God supposedly created the world order and he refashions it, and divine will is the prime cause of everything existing. Religion also preaches the ideological theory of the world, which regards the development of the world as the realisation of some kind of supernatural, preordained aims. From the standpoint of teleology, Engels wrote, cats were created to eat mice, mice, to be eaten by cats, and all of nature, to prove the wisdom of God.
There are, however, neither miracles nor preordained aims. Everything develops on the basis of natural causes, objective laws. It goes without saying that nature cannot and does not set itself any aims. In society the situation is different, because people act consciously, set themselves definite aims, and work to achieve them. These aims, however, are not preordained by the Almighty, but are determined by objective causes, by the entire course of historical development. Communism, mankind's great goal towards which the Soviet people are now working, is such an aim based on a thorough analysis of objective causality and the patterns of social development.
The doctrine that the natural cause of things is subordinated to objective causality, governed by laws, is called determinism. Determinism is the opposite of indeterminism, an idealistic doctrine denying objective causality, necessity, laws. Indeterminism, Lenin observed, is an idealist approach 138 to causality; it looks for the order, the causes of development of phenomena, not in the outside objective world, but in consciousness, in reason.
Dialectical materialism is opposed not only to indeterminism, but also to mechanistic determinism, which reduces the whole diversity of causes to outward, mechanical influences. Such determinism prevailed in natural science in the 17th and 18th centuries when mechanics was the most developed of all the natural sciences.
Mechanistic determinism may be applied in studying the movement of macro-bodies, in technical calculations of machines, bridges and other installations. But attempts to explain numerous biological processes, mental activity and social life from the point of view of mechanistic determinism are erroneous.
Mechanistic determinism also proved inapplicable to quantum mechanics, a new field of physics. The micro-- particles studied by quantum mechanics qualitatively differ from the macro-bodies studied by classical mechanics. Whereas the co-ordinate (position in space) and speed of a macro-body can be determined exactly and simultaneously by the laws of classical mechanics, this cannot be done with an elementary particle. In the micro-world where the laws of classical mechanics are invalid, the laws of quantum mechanics operate. They make it possible to determine either the co-ordinate or the speed of the particle in each given moment of time, not with absolute accuracy, but only approximately, with a certain degree of probability.
When the opponents of materialism realised that mechanistic determinism cannot be applied to micro-objects they proclaimed the ``collapse'' of determinism in general and the triumph of indeterminism. They declared that causality in micro-processes is created by man himself in the course of observation and measuring operations. In reality, however, modern physics in no way refuted the dialecticalmaterialist principle of causality; on the contrary, it furnished additional proof of it. At the same time it showed that determinism appears in different ways in various spheres of reality.
Dialectical materialism is also opposed to the metaphysical separation of cause and effect. Proceeding from the achievements of science and practice, dialectical materialism 139 asserts that cause and effect are inseparably connected, that there is no effect without cause and vice versa. The connection between cause and effect is of an internal, law-governed character. This is the kind of connection in which effect stems from cause, is a result of its action. Engendered by cause, effect does not remain indifferent to its cause and exerts a reverse action upon it. Thus, economic relations between people in the process of production are the cause, the source of political, philosophical and other ideas, but these ideas, in turn, influence the development of economic relations.
The interconnection of cause and effect also means that one and the same phenomenon can be the cause in one connection and the effect in another. The combustion of coal in boilers at electric power plants is the cause of the conversion of water into steam. Steam, being the effect of coal combustion, is itself the cause of motion of the generator's rotor. Its rotation generates electricity, which is the source, the cause of motion of numerous machines and mechanisms giving people heat, light, etc. This train of argument could be taken further. What is characteristic of causality is this endless chain of reciprocal connections, the universal interaction of objects and phenomena of the world where each link is simultaneously both a cause and an effect.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Scientific and Practical Importance of CausalityKnowledge of the causal dependence of phenomena is extremely important in science and practice. By discovering the causes of useful phenomena man can facilitate their action and thereby accelerate the development of the useful phenomena and processes he needs. Knowing, for example, that good tillage, on-schedule sowing, irrigation, introduction of fertiliser, and other farming methods are the cause of high yields, we can considerably raise cropping capacity by constantly improving these methods.
Knowledge of the causes of harmful phenomena enables man to eliminate these phenomena, restrict their action and thereby prevent the onset of effects undesirable for man.
The ability to reveal the main causes of the given phenomenon is particularly important for practical activity. By discovering the main causes, people can understand the 140 origin and essence of a phenomenon, its place in relation to other phenomena, and the laws governing its' development.
The main cause is the one without which the given phenomenon could not arise; it determines the main features of this phenomenon.
What, for example, was the main cause of the Soviet people's victory over the Nazi invaders in the Second World War? This cause was the social and state system of the Soviet Union, the might of the Soviet Armed Forces, and not the vast territory or the rigorous Russian winter and similar claims put forward by bourgeois ideologists. The latter factors, although playing some part, were by no means the chief, determining causes.
The Communist Party always looks for the chief, decisive causes. The ability to pick them out from the innumerable other causes makes it possible to find that particular, main link in the chain of events, which enables the Party and the people to cope with every task confronting them in any given period. Lenin maintained that the art of politics consists in finding this main link in the chain of social phenomena, grasping it firmly and thereby ensuring full success.
The CPSU believes that the main, decisive foreign policy link which can ensure the best conditions for the growth and the successes of the world forces of peace, democracy, national liberation and socialism, and the progress of the whole of mankind, is the Leninist policy of peaceful coexistence of states with different socio-political systems, international detente, universal and complete disarmament, a policy of mutually beneficial, equal economic and cultural cooperation. This policy fully reflects the aspirations and vital interests of the peoples of the whole world and opens favourable prospects for the developing countries to solve their problems in conditions of peace. The foreign policy of the CPSU is designed to achieve the implementation of the Leninist principles of peaceful coexistence. Only by grasping this main and decisive link will the world's peace-loving forces be able to solve all vital problems confronting mankind.
Causality is the most general, universal connection. But it does not exhaust all the many connections of reality and represents, as Lenin pointed out, only a small part of the world connections. Necessary and chance connections are 141 also very important in the intricate web of the world's causal connections. We shall now examine them.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 6. Necessity and Chance __ALPHA_LVL3__ What Is Necessity and Chance?In order to understand necessity and chance let us first answer the following question: are all the events necessary in given conditions? Must all of them proceed in a certain way and not in any other way?
We know that if a seed is planted it will germinate, given moisture and heat. But the young plant may perish as a result of a downpour. Are both these events (the germination of the seed and the perishing of the plant) necessary?
Not both of them. Our day-to-day experience tells us that the germination of the seed in given conditions, i.e., in the presence of corresponding heat and moisture, is necessary. Such is the nature of the plant itself. But the downpour is something which might or might not have been, and it might have destroyed or merely damaged the plant. The downpour does not at all follow from the nature of the plant and was not necessary in the given conditions.
A phenomenon or event which, under definite conditions, must take place is called necessity (in our example the germination of the seed is a necessity). Day follows night, one year follows another necessarily. The birth and growth of the communist movement of the working class under capitalism is a necessity. It is engendered by the living conditions of the working class, its social position and its historical tasks.
Necessity follows from the essence, the internal nature of the developing phenomenon. It is constant and stable for the given phenomenon.
In contrast to necessity, chance (in our example the destruction of the plant by the downpour) need not necessarily happen. In the given conditions it might occur and it might not occur, it might proceed in one way or in another. Chance does not follow from the nature of the given object, it is unstable and temporary. But chance is not without cause. Its cause is not in the object itself, but outside of it---in external conditions.
142 __ALPHA_LVL3__ Dialectics of Necessity and ChanceNecessity and chance are dialectically interconnected. One and same event is necessary and accidental simultaneously---necessary in one respect and accidental in another. The same downpour, being accidental in regard to the destruction of the plant, is a necessary effect of the atmospheric conditions in the area where it happened.
In contrast to dialecticians, metaphysicians deny the interconnection of necessity and chance. Some of them recognise only necessity and deny the possibility of chance factors in development. From their point of view, everything is inevitable, necessary, and therefore man is powerless to do anything about it, and must passively await the inevitable, inexorable course of events. Other philosophers recognise only chance, which in effect means renunciation of science, and refusal to recognise man's ability to foresee the course of events and to direct them.
Necessity and chance can pass into one another: what is chance in certain conditions is necessity in other, different conditions, and vice versa. In primitive society, for example, the exchange of commodities had an accidental character. Everything produced by a commune was as a rule consumed by it. With the rise and development of private property the exchange of goods was extended, and under capitalism it turned into objective necessity.
Necessity and chance do not exist in isolation from each other. In a process necessity appears as the main direction, the trend of development, but this trend breaks its way through a mass of chance phenomena. Chance supplements necessity, is a. form of its manifestation. The mass of chance phenomena always conceals objective necessity or law. Chance serves as the form for the manifestation of necessity in social development too.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Importance of the Categories of Necessity and ChanceIn science and practice it is very important to take into account the objective dialectics of necessity and chance. The task of science is to discover the internal, necessary connections behind the external appearances, the numerous chance events and connections. Knowledge of the laws, of objective necessity enables man to subordinate the 143 numerous phenomena of nature and social life to his needs. Every science must primarily aim at cognition of necessity. The task of social science is, therefore, to reveal the objective necessity of social development and, on the basis of this cognised necessity, to transform the social order in the interests of the workers.
Science, however, should not ignore chance. Since accidents occur and exert some kind of influence on life, science must take into account their role in development, and protect man from them.
In different historical conditions the interconnection of necessity and chance is not identical. The dominance of capitalist property determines the spontaneous operation of necessity in capitalist conditions. The law of value, the law of anarchy and competition break their way through a mass of chance events and this means that under capitalism people are deprived of the opportunity to plan the life of society. They are mere toys of these spontaneous forces. Market is the necessary regulator of capitalist production, but it operates through numerous accidental fluctuations of market prices, which depend on similarly accidental changes in supply and demand. The distribution of labour under capitalism is also accidental. All this creates insecurity for the worker---he may become unemployed and lose his means of livelihood at any moment. Even the businessman has no peace of mind under capitalism, particularly the small or medium employer who may be ruined at any moment, because he cannot withstand the competition of more powerful rivals.
It should be noted, however, that state-monopoly regulation and prognostication of economic development are becoming widespread in capitalist countries. But quite often this sort of regulation does not transcend monopoly limits. Moreover, it does not eliminate market fluctuations which continue to be the main regulator of capitalist production in general.
The chaos on the capitalist market most seriously affects the peasants, farmers and agricultural workers, particularly in the developing countries where it puts them on the verge of physical extinction and dooms to chronic undernourishment, inevitable ruin and impoverishment. Moreover, in view of the specifics of agricultural production 144 resulting directly from natural causes, the chance events occurring in nature have the most devastating effects in these countries. It is not by accident that drought, floods, hurricanes and other calamities of nature result in national tragedy, the loss of millions of human lives, millions of head of cattle, etc.
Socialism alone puts an end to the devastating play of chance. It ensures the planned, steady growth of agricultural production and of the living standards of all people engaged in it.
The promotion of this growth is a national task, and involves the efforts of other branches of the economy and many sciences.
Such an approach to agriculture in the USSR has made it possible to place its resources at the service of the people and to carry out such immense transformations as the development of enormous tracts of virgin and fallow lands, irrigate 16 million hectares of land and drain 15.2 million hectares.
Relying on their own social advantages and the assistance of the CMEA member states, some socialist-oriented developing countries have also started work on gigantic projects of subduing the elements. For instance, the planting of a green belt has been going on in Algeria since 1973. This green belt, a forest strip 1,500 kilometres long and 20 kilometres wide, will hold back the advancing sands of the Sahara which annually consume approximately 200,000 hectares of land.
Under socialism, due to the operation of its inherent laws, people have an opportunity to foresee the course of history and plan their activities accordingly in all spheres of life. Social necessity appears in the conscious, purposive activity of people. National economic plans in the USSR are witnesses to the skilful use of the objective necessity of social development.
The effect of chance in socialist society is greatly reduced by the conscious, planned effort of the people led by the Communist Party. Accidents occur, however, even under socialism. Sometimes due to chance circumstances some branches of industry or agriculture lag behind, individual factories do not fulfil their plans, etc. This leads to some disproportions and discrepancies in the development __PRINTERS_P_145_COMMENT__ 6---389 145 of the economy. Accidents are also caused by weather conditions, drought, floods, storms, etc.
The Communist Party and the Soviet Government strive to reduce to a minimum the adverse influence of chance in society. To these ends improvements are constantly being made in the planning and organisation of production, and the latest scientific achievements are applied. A ramified system of state reserves is built up to meet exigencies.
Necessity always appears in definite objective conditions. But these conditions change, and so necessity, too, changes and develops. Each new necessity, however, does not arise in a ready, fully-shaped form, but at first exists merely as a possibility and turns into reality only in given favourable conditions.
Let us examine the categories of possibility and reality.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 7. Possibility and Reality __ALPHA_LVL3__ What Is Possibility and Reality?The new, the developing is necessary, but it does not arise at once. At first only definite prerequisites, factors making for its birth appear; these prerequisites then mature, develop, and by virtue of the operation of objective laws, the new object or phenomenon arises. These prerequisites for the birth of the new, which are present in the existing, are called possibilities. Thus, every germ possesses the possibility of development, of transformation into an adult organism. The adult organism which develops from the germ is a reality. Reality is the achieved, realised possibility.
Possibilities stem from objective laws, are engendered by them. The law of the unity of the organism and the environment, for example, creates the possibility, through a change of external conditions, to act purposively on organisms, to create new species of plants and animals. Here, needless to say, it is necessary to take account of the heredity of the organism which in the final analysis determines the direction of its change. The law of planned, proportionate development of the national economy under socialism creates the possibility of planning, etc.
Since objects and phenomena of the world are contradictory, possibilities, too, are contradictory. We should 146 differentiate between progressive (positive) and reactionary (negative) possibilities. Any social revolution, for example, contains both the positive possibility of victory by the progressive forces and the negative possibility of victory by the reactionary forces. But, owing to the operation of history's objective laws, the progressive possibilities ultimately triumph, while victory of reactionary possibilities, although it occurs in some instances, is only temporary, transitory. The victory of reaction in the Russian revolution of 1905--07, for example, was temporary. A few years later, in 1917, the working class, in alliance with the peasants, won a decisive victory, first over tsarism, and then over the bourgeoisie.
Like everything in the world, possibilities are in constant motion: some of them grow, while others diminish. The USSR was the first nation to break the chain of imperialism and for several years was surrounded by imperialist states. That is why immediately after the victory of the Revolution, alongside the possibility of socialism's victory there was a certain possibility of the restoration of capitalism. As the strength of the Soviet Union grew, the possibility of socialism's complete victory steadily increased and became reality. ``Socialism,'' it is stressed in the Programme of the CPSU, ``which Marx and Engels scientifically predicted as inevitable and the plan for the construction of which was mapped out by Lenin, has become a reality in the Soviet Union.''^^*^^ On the other hand, as socialism advanced, the possibilities of restoring capitalism steadily diminished and now practically no longer exist, because there are no forces in the world which could restore capitalism in the Soviet Union and crush the mighty socialist community. The victory of socialism in the USSR is complete and final.
Marxist dialectics differentiates between abstract and real possibilities.
An abstract (formal) possibility is one which cannot be realised in the given historical conditions. The possibility of a collision between planets of the solar system and other large celestial bodies, for example, is abstract: the chance of its occurrence is infinitesimally small.
Abstract, formal possibility must not be confused with _-_-_
^^*^^ Road to Communism, Moscow, 1962, p. 459.
147 the impossible. The impossible can never be realised because it runs counter to objective laws. It is impossible, for example, to reconcile the interests of the bourgeoisie and the working class. Abstract possibility does not run counter to objective laws and, in principle, can become reality, but only when the appropriate conditions mature.A real possibility has prerequisites for realisation in given definite historical conditions. For example, the possibility of liberating all the colonies and dependent countries from foreign dependence is real. This process is in fact taking place at present.
The distinctions between abstract and real possibilities are relative. In the process of development an abstract possibility can become real. Only a few years ago the possibility of man's flight to other planets was abstract because the technical facilities were lacking. Now, this possibility has become real, particularly after the world's first orbital flights of Soviet cosmonauts. Man has already set foot on the Moon and the time is not far off when he will set foot on other planets of the solar system. The dream of Utopian Socialists early in the 19th century about the possibility of transition to socialism was abstract: at that time the force necessary for socialism had not yet matured, there was no adequately organised revolutionary proletariat. But in the present epoch this possibility has become real and has already turned into reality in a large part of the world.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Conversion of Possibility into RealityIn nature, possibility turns into reality spontaneously, unconsciously. In society, on the other hand, the purposive, conscious activity of people is of decisive importance in the realisation of possibilities. Without the intervention of man, acting on the basis of cognised laws, possibility does not turn into reality. The possibility of preserving peace which exists at present is becoming reality as a result of the vigorous efforts of all the peace-loving forces.
No task is more important today than that of uniting all people of good will for the struggle in defence of peace. The number of peace supporters and their prestige are growing on all the continents; the various trends and organisations working for peace are displaying greater unity and 148 coordination. The movement for peace is becoming more and more massive and international in character, and public opinion is playing an increasing role in the fight against those who sermonise the fatal inevitability of war and against the arms race, and in dispelling the myth about a ``Soviet threat" and unmasking the aggressive manoeuvres of imperialism and neocolonialism.
In the course of their practical activities, transforming the world, people discover the intrinsic possibilities and work to turn them into reality. In socialist conditions it is particularly important to take into account real possibilities and work for their realisation.
The Soviet socialist system contains immense possibilities for economic, political and cultural progress. These possibilities are ably taken into account and realised in good time by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union which carefully supports and nurtures the shoots of the new, the progressive. Everyone is interested in the realisation of progressive possibilities and that is why in socialist society possibilities are being rapidly turned into reality.
The possibility of building socialism, which arose as a result of the October Socialist Revolution, was realised by the Soviet people in a very brief period. The building of socialism gave rise to another possibility that is of the utmost importance for humanity---the real possibility of building communism.
The Soviet Union now has all the possibilities for building communism. It has a social system of tremendous creative force; a powerful industry equipped with first-class machinery, a large-scale mechanised agriculture; the most advanced science; splendid, highly-qualified personnel capable of accomplishing the most complex tasks of communist construction; domination of the all-conquering Marxist-Leninist teaching; and leadership by the wise, battle-tested Party. The country's natural wealth is vast and this is a prerequisite for unlimited economic development.
Communism is built by the people, it is the fruit of their energy and intellect. And this means that in order to turn the possibilities of building communism into reality each Soviet citizen must assiduously perform his particular job. Communism is built directly at enterprises and construction sites, at collective and state farms and research institutions. 149 Reference to this, was made at the 25th CPSU Congress which was marked with great optimism, confidence and purposefulness. ``This,'' states the Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the Congress, ``is the result of the feasibility of our plans, a result of their understanding that when the Party charts its goals relying on its collective wisdom, and sets itself and .the whole country tasks, these goals will be attained, these tasks will be fulfilled.''^^*^^
An examination of the laws and categories of Marxist dialectics has given us an idea of universal development and connections of the material world. Our task now is to ascertain how this material world is cognised by man. For this we have to study the theory of knowledge of dialectical materialism.
_-_-_^^*^^ Documents and Resolutions. XXVth Congress of the CPSU, p. 109.
[150] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER VIII __ALPHA_LVL1__ The Theory of Knowledge of Dialectical Materialism __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]Dialectical materialism takes account of the wealth of experience accumulated by mankind and the greatest achievements of science and revolutionary practice, and on this basis concludes that the world is fully knowable and that man through his reason is capable of forming a correct idea of material reality.
Let us examine in detail the process of cognition of the world.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. What Is Knowledge?Knowledge is active, purposive reflection of the objective world and its laws in man's mind. The source of knowledge is the outside world around man. It acts on man and arouses in him corresponding sensations, ideas and concepts. Man sees forests, fields and mountains, feels the heat and sees the light of the sun, hears the singing of birds, smells the scent of flowers. If these objects existing outside of man's consciousness did not act on him, he would not have the least idea about them. It should be noted that man not only perceives objects and phenomena of the world, but actively, practically, acts upon them. We shall examine how he does this in more detail further on in the book.
The Marxist theory of knowledge is based on recognition of the objective world, its objects and phenomena as the sole source of human knowledge.
Idealists do not consider objective reality the source of our knowledge. In idealist philosophy the object of knowledge is either consciousness, sensation of the individual 151 man (subject) or some kind of a mystic consciousness which is supposed to exist independent of man (take ``absolute idea'', ``universal spirit'', etc.).
A serious blow at idealism was struck by pre-Marxist materialists who regarded knowledge as a reflection of external objects in man's mind. But their ideas on the process of knowledge were also limited. Being metaphysicians they were unable to apply dialectics to the process of knowledge. They regarded reflection as a passive imprint of a thing on man's brain, comparing the latter with wax upon which things leave their imprint. Pre-Marxist materialists took no account of the activity, the life of man engaged in cognition. Moreover, their chief limitation lay in their failure to evaluate the role of practice in knowledge.
Marx and Engels went beyond the limits set by preceding philosophies in understanding the cognitive process and created a qualitatively new, dialectical-materialist theory of knowledge.
The fundamental distinction of the Marxist theory of knowledge is that it bases the process of cognition on practice, the material, production activities of people. It is in the course of this activity that man comes to know objects and phenomena. In Marxist philosophy practice is both the point of departure, the basis of the process of knowledge, and the criterion of truth, of correctness of knowledge. ``The standpoint of life, of practice, should be first and fundamental in the theory of knowledge. And it inevitably leads to materialism,''^^*^^ Lenin wrote.
It is in practice, in the material productive activity of people that knowledge manifests its activity, its purposeful nature. Man actively influences the world in the course of practice not all by himself, but together with other people, with society as a whole. And this means that if the object of knowledge, its source, is the material world, then the subject of knowledge and its carrier is the human society. Recognition of the social nature of knowledge is a key distinctive feature of the Marxist theory of knowledge.
The founders of Marxism discovered the dialectics of knowledge. From the point of view of dialectical _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Materialism and Empiric-Criticism'', Collected Works, Vol. 14, p. 142.
152 materialism knowledge is an endless process of approximation of thought to the cognised object, the movement of thought from ignorance to knowledge, from incomplete, inexact knowledge to more complete and more exact. -Replacing obsolete theories with new ones, rendering old theories more exact, knowledge marches onward, revealing ever new sides of reality.Inasmuch as practice serves as the basis of knowledge, let us examine it and the role it plays in the cognitive process.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. Practice---Starting Point and BasisPractice is the active work of people in transforming nature and society. The basis of practice is labour, material production. Practice also includes the political side of life, the class struggle, the national liberation movement and scientific experience, experiments. Practice is social in character. It is, above all, the activity of large groups of people, of all working people, the producers of material wealth, and not of isolated individuals.
In the course of practice man not only transforms objects existing in nature, but also creates objects which are not available in ready-made form in nature. Man produces many artificial materials which at times surpass anything known to nature in durability and other important properties.
Practice is the starting point and basis of knowledge. Why? First of all because knowledge itself arose on the basis of practice, chiefly under the influence of material production. From the very first steps of his existence man had to work, to win his means of livelihood. In the process of work he came up against the forces of nature and by transforming them and making them serve his needs he gradually came to understand them. The further development of production demanded new knowledge. Even in antiquity man was faced with the need to measure land areas, to count the number of tools and the products he made. As a result, the first rudiments of mathematics appeared. Man built dwellings, bridges, roads, irrigation 153 systems and other structures which called for the knowledge of mechanics. Thus, under the influence of practical requirements his cognitive abilities gradually developed and gave birth to science. Practice was also behind the birth of the social sciences. Marxism itself, as we know, arose on the foundation of the proletariat's revolutionary struggle.
Practice sets knowledge definite tasks and facilitates their accomplishment, thus advancing knowledge. The experience of socialist production in the Soviet Union, it was noted at the 25th CPSU Congress, shows that it is necessary to conduct research in the first place in areas which have a direct bearing on the all-round development of production and its management, and to draw up recommendations aimed at substantially raising the effectivity of production. This is the main task of Soviet economists.
Finally, practice provides instruments and equipment for scientific cognition and thereby facilitates the progress of knowledge. Without superpowerful particle accelerators and other very intricate scientific instruments and installations produced by modern industry scientists would not have been able to discover the secrets of the atomic nucleus. We cannot imagine science today without electronic microscopes, space rockets and many other simple and complex instruments of knowledge. All these instruments are in fact the product of the material, practical activities of people.
Practice is not only the basis, but also the aim of knowledge. Man studies the surrounding world and learns the laws of its development in order to utilise the results of knowledge in his practical activities. It is true that these results are not always applied at once. The disintegration of the atom, for example, was discovered over 80 years ago, but it was only recently that man learned how to use atomic energy for practical purposes. And although often decades pass before scientific discoveries are applied, they are all determined, brought into being by the requirements of life.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Unity of Theory and PracticeCognition is one of the forms of people's activity---it is their theoretical activity. But theory in itself is incapable of changing reality and this sets it apart from practice. Theory only reflects the world, generalises mankind's practical activity. But, while generalising practice, theory exerts a 154 reverse influence upon it, contributes to its development. Theory without practice is pointless, practice without theory is blind. Theory indicates the way and helps to find the most efficient means of achieving practical objectives.
Let us take, for example, natural science. It has arisen on the basis of practice, as a result of the generalisation of people's production experience but at the- same time it renders valuable assistance to production. It helps discover new methods of production, create highly efficient machinery and equipment, artificial raw and other materials, and so on.
Marxist-Leninist theory is very important for society's development. Being a correct, deep reflection of reality, a generalisation of the proletariat's revolutionary struggle, it guides the proletariat in its struggle for socialism and communism. What makes Marxism-Leninism viable is that it is true and, by revealing the true laws of social development, it enables Communist parties not only to act correctly today, but also to foresee the future, to scientifically plan practical activities for many years ahead. The Communist Party regards it as its sacred duty to further develop Marxist-- Leninist theory, investigate the general laws of mature socialism and continue to promote the process of world development.
Unity of theory and practice is the supreme principle of Marxism-Leninism. This principle has acquired particularly great significance at the present time when cadres have to keep raising their knowledge of theory, Marxism-Leninism and skills and efficiency, when the present stage of communist construction calls for prompt solution of the complex problems relating to economic and social management. Therefore, theory must continue to pave the way for practice and ensure a strictly scientific approach to the management of the economy and cultural life of the Soviet people. Broad and well-organised theoretical work is a beacon illuminating the road to communism.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. From Living Perception to Abstract Thought __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]Knowledge does not stand still, but constantly moves and develops. This development of knowledge is expressed in its movement from direct living perception to abstract thought. ``From living perception to abstract thought, and 155 from this to practice,---such is the dialectical path of the cognition of the truth,''^^*^^ Lenin wrote.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Sensory KnowledgeKnowledge always begins with a study of objects of the outside world with the aid of our sense organs. This we know from our day-to-day experience. If we want to study an unfamiliar object, we first of all carefully examine it, and, if need be, touch it with our fingers, taste it, etc. Direct perception of things is the initial phase, the first step on the road to knowledge. Man, on coming into contact with objects and phenomena of nature in the course of his practical activity gains his first impressions of these objects and phenomena through his sense organs. The sense organs are a kind of a window through which the outside world `` penetrates" man's consciousness and which enables him to perceive the colours, odours, and sounds of nature, the taste of its fruits, etc.
Sensation is the main form of sensory knowledge. Sensation is a reflection of individual properties, distinctions or sides of an object. Objects can be hot or cold, dark or light, smooth or rough---all these and many other properties, acting on our sense organs, arouse certain sensations.
Man's organism possesses a corresponding physiological apparatus for the formation of sensations. This apparatus consists, firstly, of sense organs, secondly, of nerve fibres through which, just like electricity along wires, excitation is transmitted to the respective parts of the cerebrum and, thirdly, of the sections of the brain where the excitations are transformed into corresponding sensations. Excitation caused by a definite sound in man's ear is transformed into the sensation of sound, while the action of light on the eye is transformed into the sensation of light, and so on.
What makes sensations tremendously important in the process of cognition is that they provide material enabling us to judge an object The entire subsequent process of knowledge rests on the information about objects which sensations give us.
Lenin defined sensation as a subjective image of the
_-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Conspectus of Hegel's Book The Science of Logic'',
Collected Works, Vol. 38, p. 171.
One of the main indications of the subjective nature of sensations is the fact that people differently perceive identical outside influences.
Does this mean then that sense organs give us an incorrect idea of the world? No, it does not. Daily experience and scientific data prove that sense organs do not deceive us. If the indications of one sense organ arouse doubts, we turn to the others. If a man does not believe his own eyes,he resorts to the use of his fingers, and if this is not enough, he has at his service the eyes and fingers of other people. If, lastly, even this is not enough, man turns to instruments, experiments, practical experience. Thus, sense organs, checked by each other, by the sensations of other people, by experience, experiment and practice, give us, on the whole, a correct idea of things accessible to us.
In addition to sensations, sensory knowledge consists of perceptions and ideas. Perception is a higher form of sensory knowledge. It reflects an object in its sensory, direct entirety, the total of its external aspects and distinctive features. An idea is the reproduction in man's mind of earlier perceptions. We, for example, can reproduce in our mind, can bring to mind the image of our teacher, although we may not have seen him for many years.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Logical KnowledgeThe picture given by sense organs is uncommonly rich and colourful. It is, however, limited and far from complete. Sensory knowledge gives us an idea only of external aspects of things. With the aid of sense organs, for example, it is possible to perceive an electric bulb but it is impossible to imagine that electricity is a stream of electrons moving at a certain velocity. Nor is it possible to perceive, through sense organs, the tremendous velocity of light, the movement of 157 elementary particles in the atom and many other complex phenomena of nature and social life.
In a word, sensory knowledge cannot reveal the inner nature of things, their essence, the laws of their development. Yet this is the main purpose of knowledge. Only knowledge of laws, of the essence of things can serve man as a guide in his practical activity. It is here that abstract or, as it is also called, logical thought comes to his aid.
Logical thought is a qualitatively new, higher stage in the development of knowledge. Its role is to reveal an object's chief properties and features. It is at the stage of logical thought that man gains knowledge of the laws governing the development; of reality, so needed for his practical activity.
Concept is the main form of logical thought. A concept reflects in objects not all their aspects, but only what is essential and general; it abstracts, casts aside secondary features. Let us consider, for example, the concept ``man''. Not all the features of an individual are reflected in this concept It contains no information about his nationality, age, place of residence, the time when he lives, and so on. Fixed in this concept is only what is general and essential, inherent in every man---the ability to work, to produce material wealth, to think and to speak. Similarly, the concepts ``tree'', ``animal'', ``society'', ``production'', ``class'', ``party'', etc., cover what is general and essential in objects.
Concepts arise on the basis of practice. Before forming, for example, the concepts of triangle, square and other geometric figures, man in his practical activities came into contact with numerous objectively existing triangular, square and other objects. Practice is the basis of the generalising activity of the mind, the processing of the data furnished by sensory knowledge. As man acted upon the objects of the material world, he compared them and, abstracting from everything accidental and secondary, singled out what was general and essential in them, and ascertained their objective importance in the process of production and their place in man's labour and life. It is the continuous process of creative work and man's ceaseless efforts to make nature serve him and the interests of production that gave rise to scientific concepts such as ``electric power'', ``atomic energy'', ``hybridisation'', ``melioration'' 158 and many, many others.
At first glance it might seem that concepts or abstractions are poorer than direct sense perceptions. But, Lenin noted, even the simplest concept reflects nature more deeply, fully and truly because it reflects 'the internal aspects of reality inaccessible to direct sensory cognition. It reflects nature more fully, because it covers not one bbject or small group of objects, but their mass, their boundless multitude.
The transition from the sensory to the abstract represents a dialectical leap in the process of knowledge, in its movement from the lower to the higher. This leap is made through practice. Only the practical activity of people, aimed at transforming objects and phenomena of the world, makes it possible to penetrate their essence, to differentiate between the important and the secondary, the internal and the external. The higher the degree of development of practical activity, and the more powerful its transforming force, the deeper and more diverse is the knowledge of man.
Concepts reflect the changing world, the constantly developing practice, and hence they themselves must be flexible and mobile. Mobility and flexibility of concepts is expressed in the amplification and deepening of existing concepts and also in the formation of new ones corresponding to the changed objective conditions, the changed practice.
Other forms of thought---judgements and conclusionsare formed on the basis of concepts.
Judgement is a form of thought in which something is asserted (for example, ``socialism is peace'') or something is denied (for example, ``Marxism is not a dogma''). As we see, a judgement consists of definite concepts. In the judgements given above these are the concepts ``socialism'', ``peace'', ``Marxism'', and ``dogma''. At the same time it is impossible to understand these concepts without other judgements, such as ``socialism is a social system based on public ownership'', etc. Concepts and judgements are thus interconnected. Judgements are also interconnected. Their connection makes up a special form of logical thought---conclusion. A conclusion is a new judgement obtained on the basis of other judgements (premises). Through conclusions drawn from available knowledge we can gain new knowledge, and 159 this is what makes for their great importance in cognition.
Such higher forms of knowledge as hypothesis and theory represent an intricate combination of concepts, judgements and conclusions. A hypothesis is an assumption about phenomena, events, laws. The assumptions about the origin of life on Earth or the origin of the solar system are examples of hypotheses. Scientific theories embody deep, all-round knowledge of definite processes or fields of activity. This type of knowledge has been tested by experiment and practice. For example, the modern theory of the atomic nucleus, the theory of relativity in physics, and the materialist theory of heredity in biology are all scientific theories. Historical materialism is the truly scientific theory of the development of society.
Thus, we see that knowledge in its dialectical development traverses a long road, from the simplest sensations to complex scientific theories.
This picture of the formation of scientific theories constitutes only a general trend in the dialectical-materialist process of knowledge. In reality it often happens that under the influence of practical needs the researcher first conceives an idea which foreshadows the movement of thought and indicates the main directions of scientific study. At times this idea provides only a very vague, approximate response to demands posed by practice. In the course of the realisation of the idea and in the process of investigation concepts, images and judgements arise that concretise the idea, embody it in the flesh of scientific premises, conclusions, and laws which after passing the test of practice turn in their totality and unity into scientific theory.
It should be noted that the idea which foreshadows theory is born not only under the impact of practice; it is also dictated by the logical development of science itself. And in both cases the idea is not simply the fruit of its author's imagination. Accumulating, as it does, the already available knowledge, it is in its way a result of the development of science and practice. An immense role in the formation of ideas and their realisation and development into a scientific theory is played by the scientist, by his experience, knowledge, intuition, imagination and creative abilities.
160 __ALPHA_LVL3__ Unity of the Sensory and the Logical in KnowledgeSensory knowledge and abstract thought represent a unity: they reflect one and the same material world and have a common basis: the practical activity of mankind. Both these stages of knowledge have one physiological basis, man's nervous system.
Abstract thought is impossible without sensory knowledge inasmuch as the information furnished by the sense organs is the sole material for forming concepts. There can be nothing in thought that is not given to man by his sense organs. But, having arisen on the basis of sensations, abstract thought goes deeper than sensory knowledge, enriches and extends its bounds. Sensory impressions, illumined by the light of reason, acquire new content.
Since the sensory and the logical act in unity, supplementing and enriching each other, neither the indications of the sensations nor the conclusions of reason must be ignored in the process of cognition. Yet there are trends in philosophy which understand the process of knowledge onesidedly.
Supporters of empiricism (from the Greek empeiria, meaning experience) underestimate the role of abstract thought in knowledge, maintaining that sense impressions alone give man a true picture of the world. Since concepts cannot be perceived by the senses (it is impossible, for example, to imagine a ``man in general'', a ``tree in general'', and so on), empiricists claim that in reality nothing corresponds to concepts, that they are the product of man's imagination.
Empiricism is widespread in modern bourgeois philosophy and sociology. This is not surprising. Bourgeois ideologists fear broad generalisations and are anxious to avoid solutions of concrete social problems and withdraw into the realm of insignificant facts and superficial observations.
In contrast to empiricists, supporters of rationalism do not trust the sense organs and consider reason, abstract thought the sole source of true knowledge. Rationalists underestimate the role of sensory knowledge and assume that man is capable of cognising the world intuitively, without any experience. By divorcing concepts and other forms of thought from sensations and perceptions, rationalists 161 ultimately lapse into idealism.
It follows that logical knowledge must not be divorced from sensory knowledge because this inevitably leads to a distortion of the cognitive process, to the divorce of thought from reality; this is typical of all trends of idealism. Idealism has certain gnosiological^^*^^ and class roots which account for its tenacity. Let us examine these roots.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Gnosiological and Class Roots of IdealismIt is the one-sided exaggeration, absolutisation of the aspects of the most complex process of knowledge, their divorce from reality, from the objective world, that make up the gnosiological roots of idealism.
Lenin called idealism a sterile flower, but a sterile flower that is not groundless, but grows on the living tree of fertile and powerful human knowledge. The gnosiological roots of idealism are contained within the process of knowledge itself which, as we have seen, is uncommonly complex and contradictory.
Knowledge possesses the possibility of deviation, divorce of thought from the cognised object, from reality. This deviation can be seen in the simplest concepts which man uses all the time, such, for example, as a ``house in general'', a ``table in general''. In reality there is neither a ``house in general" nor a ``table in general'', but only definite houses, definite tables. The concepts ``house'' and ``table'', as we know, single out only the general essential features which all houses and all tables have. The moment we forget that concepts have their source in real objects and divorce them from reality, we can imagine that they have arisen and exist of themselves, independently of the object. This is idealism.
This is how objective idealism arose. Its supporters hold that the concept exists independently of the object, `` creates" this object On the other hand, subjective idealists, proceeding from sensations as the direct source of our knowledge, declare that the only thing that exists is these sensations, and regard objects and phenomena as the sum-total of sensations.
_-_-_^^*^^ Gnosiology (from the Greek gnosis---knowledge, and logos- word) is the science of knowledge, the theory of knowledge.
162Thus, rectilinearity and one-sidedness, subjectivism and subjective blindness are, according to Lenin, the gnosiological roots of idealism.
It should be noted, however, that the gnosiological roots create only the prerequisites, the possibility for idealism to exist and that definite social forces turn this possibility into reality. These forces are the reactionary classes interested in a perversion of the truth. It is their class interests that cause them to consolidate the subjectivist, one-sided approach to knowledge, the divorce of thought from reality.
The spread of idealism is also facilitated by the antithesis between mental and manual labour which exists in an antagonistic class society and gives rise to a seeming independence of the consciousness of men from their material, productive activity. Their monopoly of mental labour enables the exploiting classes to propagate and support idealism in every way and utilise it to justify and maintain their rule.
Idealism has not only gnosiological roots, but also class roots---the definite interests of the reactionary classes.
And so, knowledge develops from the sensory to the logical through practice. The results of knowledge naturally have to be verified; it is necessary to ascertain whether they are true. It could not be otherwise as only true knowledge can serve the practical requirements of people.
Before describing how the results of knowledge are tested, how truth is reached, let us examine truth.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 4. The Marxist Theory of Truth __ALPHA_LVL3__ Objectivity of TruthDialectical materialism understands truth as that knowledge of an object which correctly reflects this object, i.e., corresponds to it. For example, the scientific propositions that ``bodies consist of atoms'', that the ``Earth existed prior to man'', that ``the people are the makers of history'', etc., are true.
On what does truth depend? Does it depend on man, in whose mind this truth arises, or on the object it reflects?
Idealists hold that truth is subjective, that it depends on man who himself determines the truth of his knowledge 163 without regard for the real state of affairs.
In contrast to idealism, dialectical materialism, relying on scientific discoveries and man's age-long practical experience, maintains that truth is objective. Since truth reflects the objectively existing world, its content does not depend on man's consciousness. Objective truth, Lenin wrote, is the content of our knowledge which depends neither on man nor on mankind. The content of truth is fully determined by the objective processes it reflects.
Let us consider, for example, the statement: ``The Earth is shaped like a sphere.'' This assertion is true inasmuch as it corresponds to reality. But does the shape of the Earth depend on man's cbnsciousness? Not in the least; the Earth existed long before man, and its spherical form was shaped by natural forces. Examining any other truth, we arrive at a similar conclusion.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ From Relative to Absolute TruthRecognising the objectivity of truth, dialectical materialism also solves another important problem of knowledge: how man cognises objective truth---at once, as a whole, unconditionally, absolutely or only approximately, relatively. This question, as Lenin pointed out, concerns the relationship of absolute to relative truth.
The distinctions between absolute and relative truth are determined by the varying degree of correspondence of man's knowledge to reality. Some knowledge fully corresponds to reality, with absolute exactness, other knowledge only partially. Absolute truth is objective truth in its entirety, an absolutely exact reflection of reality.
Is it possible to cognise absolute truth in its entirety? In principle, yes, since, on the one hand, nothing is unknowable while, on the other, there are no bounds to the cognitive abilities of the human mind.
An individual, or a particular generation of people, however, is limited in knowledge by the corresponding historical conditions, the level of development of production, science and experimental techniques. That is why man's knowledge at each stage of history is relative; it inevitably assumes the character of relative truth. Relative truth is the incomplete correspondence of knowledge to reality. Lenin called this truth the relatively true reflection 164 of an object which is independent of man. Corresponding to reality in essence, this knowledge needs to be further specified, deepened and tested in practice.
That being the case, perhaps absolute truth is not knowable at all? No, that is not so. True, it is impossible to cognise absolute truth at once, in its entirety, for it can only be reached in the endless process of knowledge. With each new achievement of science man draws closer to the cognition of absolute truth, to knowing its new elements, links and sides. Knowledge progresses because man, by cognising relative truths, cognises absolute truth as well.
Let us take as an example the modern theory of the atom. In the main, it corresponds to reality, but as a whole it is, nevertheless, relative truth. We cannot say that man knows absolutely everything about the atom. So many secrets are still hidden in the atom that it will take more than one generation of scientists to uncover them. Science has to solve the very intricate problem of the internal structure of elementary particles which make up the atom, the causes of their changes, transmutations and many other problems. At the same time the atomic theory contains grains of absolute truth, of complete, absolutely exact knowledge; what science has learned about the existence of the atom, of its nucleus with tremendous latent reserves of energy and numerous mobile and variable particles, etc., is absolute, non-transient knowledge.
This means that relative truth must also contain grains of absolute truth. Man's knowledge is both absolute and relative: relative because it is not exhaustive and can be endlessly developed and deepened, revealing new sides of reality; absolute, because it contains elements of eternal, absolutely exact knowledge.
Man has gained many ideas about individual sides of reality which are of a non-transient, absolute character. Such, for example, are the propositions of Marxist philosophy: ``matter is primary, consciousness is secondary'', ``consciousness is a property of the brain'', the law of conservation and transformation of energy and other laws and conclusions of the natural and social sciences. The fundamental theses of Marxist-Leninist theory, whose correctness has been confirmed by practice, are absolute truth. Although Marxist-Leninist theory is constantly developing, its 165 basic principles cannot be refuted.
``Human thought,'' Lenin wrote, ``...by its nature is capable of giving, and does give, absolute truth, which is compounded of a sum-total of relative truths. Each step in the development of science adds new grains to the sum of absolute truth, but the limits of the truth of each scientific proposition are relative, now expanding, now shrinking with the growth of knowledge.''^^*^^
More than half a century ago Lenin wrote that the human mind, which discovered so many wonders in nature, would discover much more and thus increase its power over it. What a striking confirmation of his profound predictions are the achievements of modern science, including Soviet science.
Man has penetrated the innermost depths of the atom and has placed its mighty, truly inexhaustible forces at his service. The harnessed atom generates electricity, turns the propeller shafts of atomic ships, helps in the treatment of diseases and performs many other useful services.
Man is gradually extending his power over the boundless expanse of the Universe. Through his reason he penetrates matter deeply and extensively, discovering new secrets of outer space. Not so long ago it was thought that outer space is a void illuminated only by the faint light of distant stars and penetrated by rare meteorites. Now, as a result of space research, we know that the Earth is girded by belts of charged particles. Information has been received about the upper layers of the atmosphere, their composition and density, cosmic rays and micro-meteorites, the tiny particles of interplanetary substance.
Mankind's age-old dream, the exploration of the Cosmos, is now being realised. Mars, Venus, Saturn and other planets of the solar system and their satellites, including the Moon, the satellite of the Earth, are being studied. Space exploration is already adding new invaluable grains of knowledge to the infinite sum comprising the absolute truth.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Concreteness of TruthAccording to dialectical materialism, truth gained in the process of knowledge is always related to a definite, _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Materialism and Empiric-Criticism'', Collected Works, Vol. 14, p. 135.
166 concrete sphere of reality which likewise develops in definite conditions. There is no abstract truth, truth is always concrete.Is classical mechanics, for example, true? Yes, it is true, but only in definite, concrete spheres of reality, not in all of them. It correctly reflects the movement of macroscopic bodies, but loses its true character in the micro-world. The new, quantum mechanics is true here. And this is the case with any other truth: while correctly reflecting certain concrete phenomena, it is unable to reflect others correctly.
Even for one and the same process, however, truth cannot be eternal or fixed once and for all. This process itself develops, the conditions in which it takes place change and naturally the truth reflecting it also undergoes change. What was true in certain conditions may become untrue in other changed conditions.
The principle that truth is concrete is particularly important in the present-day situation for the successful struggle of the peoples for peace, democracy, national liberation and socialism. This principle demands, above all, a correct understanding of the contemporary epoch. The main content of our epoch is the transition from capitalism to socialism, when the world socialist system is turning into the decisive factor of mankind's development. It is on the basis of these fundamental characteristics of our epoch that Marxist parties solve the fundamental issues of our time, about prospects of the struggle against capitalism and for socialism, and the ways and means of pursuing it, about war and peace, etc.
Let us take such a cardinal issue of our age as the question of war and peace.
An analysis of the reactionary essence of imperialism brought Lenin to the conclusion that under imperialism wars are inevitable. He based his conclusion on the existing situation: the imperialists ruled the world, had divided it among themselves and were engaged in a relentless battle for its re-division. In Lenin's lifetime there was no world socialist system, but even then he predicted that mankind would inevitably be faced with the historic task of turning the dictatorship of the proletariat from a national phenomenon existing in one country into an international one, into a dictatorship of the proletariat existing in at least several 167 advanced countries and capable of exerting influence on all world development.
Lenin called for a dialectical approach to the question of wars, i.e., for strict account of the concrete historical situation and changes in the balance of forces in the world. This correlation of forces has now radically changed in favour of peace and socialism. A world socialist system has arisen and is vigorously developing, there is a widespread movement of the people for peace, headed by the working class, the most implacable foe of aggressive wars, and the number of peace-loving non-socialist states is growing. All this taken together has given the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and other Marxist parties grounds for concluding that at present war is not fatally inevitable and that conditions exist for preventing war.
Dogmatists and sectarians are attacking this creative, genuinely Marxist solution of the problem of war and peace. They ignore the new conditions and cling to obsolete conclusions and propositions. Divorced from concrete reality, refusing to see the new correlation of forces in the world, they declare that today, too, wars are inevitable. By denying the possibility of preventing another world war, dogmatists thereby exert a demoralising influence on the working people. Indeed, is it worth building a'new life, if it will be later consumed in the flames of an atomic war?
Yet the assertion that wars are no longer fatally inevitable does not mean that every possibility of war has been removed: imperialism is still a permanent threat to peace and social progress. Hence the need for an active struggle of the peoples against the danger of war, and for stronger unity of all peace-loving forces.
Marxist-Leninist parties condemn dogmatism and sectarianism, and in all their multifarious activities consistently apply the principle of a concrete historical approach to reality.
In its internal and foreign policy the CPSU never fails to reckon with concrete historical conditions, the changing objective possibilities, the level of economic development and other social factors. It was with account for concrete historical conditions that the Party carried out important measures which ensured the victory of socialism in the USSR (transition to a new economic policy, NEP, 168 industrialisation and so forth). It was with account for internal conditions and the international situation that plans for building communism are being drawn up and implemented.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 5. Practice---Criterion of TruthTo find a criterion of truth is to find the objective basis which does not depend on man and makes it possible to distinguish truth, true knowledge, from delusion.
Practice is the sole criterion of truth. We can argue as much as we like about the true character of any idea or scientific theory, but this dispute can only be settled by practice, i.e., in economic production, political life or scientific experiment. ``The question whether objective truth can be attributed to human thinking is not a question of theory but is a practical question,'' Marx wrote. ``Man must prove the truth, i.e. the reality and power, the this-worldliness of his thinking in practice.''^^*^^
Idealists of all kinds disagree with this important proposition of dialectical materialism. They deny the importance of practice in knowledge and maintain that man himself, his thought, is the criterion of truth. What is useful, what is beneficial is true---this idea is asserted, for example, by pragmatists, representatives of a trend in idealist philosophy which is especially widespread in the United States. Such an understanding of truth leads pragmatists to justify the reactionary actions of contemporary capitalism. Since the exploitation of the workers, imperialist wars and plunder of less developed countries are of benefit, and bring profit to the capitalists, they are, from the pragmatists' viewpoint, true and natural.
Usefulness, however, cannot serve as a criterion of truth. On the contrary, only true knowledge brings benefit to mankind. Man can rely in his practical work only on true correct knowledge; only truth can bring him the results he expects. Therefore, if man, acting on the knowledge gained, reaches during his practical activity the aim he set himself, obtains the expected results, this signifies that his _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx, ``Theses on Feuerbach'', in: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 5, p. 3.
169 knowledge corresponds to reality, is true.Here is one example. More than half a century ago, the Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky developed the scientific theory of rocketry. He expressed the unusually bold idea, a truly fantastic idea at that time, that rockets could be used for flights to other celestial bodies. ``Man will take a rock from the Moon,'' Tsiolkovsky wrote more than half a century ago.
It took a great deal of effort to turn Tsiolkovsky's brilliant ideas into reality. The first artificial satellite of the Earth which was launched from a Soviet cosmodrome, Yuri Gagarin's first orbital flight, and the flights of Soviet and US space stations paved the way for the first landing on the Moon of a piloted spaceship. This took place on July 20, 1969. Several hours after the landing Neil Armstrong and Adwin Aldrin set foot on the lunar surface and took the first samples of moonrock and dust. This was practical confirmation of Tsiolkovsky's ideas, ideas that had seemed fantastic in their time.
Social theories and ideas too are tested in practice, in the revolutionary struggle of classes, the political activities of states, of various parties, and in the struggle of the peoples for peace and progress. The truth of the MarxistLeninist theory is being confirmed by life itself, by the practical activities of the international working-class and communist movement and by the struggle of the imperialistoppressed peoples for national and social liberation. The irrepressible movement of mankind from capitalism to communism offers incontrovertible proof of the great vital force, the great truth of the Marxist-Leninist teaching.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 6. Means and Methods of Scientific Cognition __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]The purpose of scientific cognition is to ascertain the inner nature, the essence of objects and phenomena, and the laws governing their functions and development. But essence and laws do not lie on the surface of phenomena. In order to discover them a range of means and methods of scientific cognition have been elaborated in the course of the long and complex development of science and practice. These means and methods are of universal significance and 170 can be applied in all sciences investigating the most diverse phenomena of reality.
What are the means and methods of scientific cognition?
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Observation and ExperimentOne of the most widespread methods of scientific cognition, especially in natural science, is scientific observation, a purposeful contemplation and perception of objects and phenomena in their natural state, i.e., such as they are in reality. The results of observation depend on the extent of the researcher's preliminary knowledge of the object which he studies, on his ability correctly to formulate the purpose of his investigation and his determination to achieve his aim, and his skill to give a faithful and exhaustive description of the results obtained.
As distinct from observation, an experiment is investigation of an object that is placed in artificial, carefully considered conditions. This makes it possible to fix and study the object in its pure form and to ascertain how the object as a whole and its individual aspects change under the influence of specific conditions. For example, having obtained one or another chemical substance in its pure form, a chemist studies its properties and finds-out how they change under the influence of temperature, humidity, pressure and other factors.
Experiment is one of the most important methods of cognition. It is broadly employed in natural science and is steadily gaining in importance in social sciences. There are all kinds of experiments ranging from small laboratory tests to vast production ones. Today, when science is becoming a direct productive force, production is turning into a huge experimental field where scientific discoveries, new machines and technology, and new scientific methods of the organisation of labour and management are put to severe and all-round tests.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Role of Instruments in ScientificPeople conduct observations and experiments mainly with the help of their sense organs. But the perceptive powers of these organs are limited. For instance, a naked eye can discern an object which is not smaller than 171 one-fortieth of a millimetre. The limited capacity of the sense organs is augmented by instruments without which science, particularly modern science, is inconceivable. The modern electronic microscope, for instance, enlarges the image of objects millions of times, and an analytical balance measures ``weights'' as small as one millionth of a milligram.
Science employes the most diverse instruments. Above all they are means of making measurements and observations---chronometers, telescopes, microscopes, voltmeters, amperemeters, analytical balances, seismographs, the Wilson chamber (for studying elementary particles) and others; they are recording devices: photographic equipment, microfilms, memory tapes, control clocks and so forth; they are communications means---telegraph, telephone, radio, television, radars, photoelements, dictophones, signalling devices, etc; finally, they are computers---arithmometers, slide rules, electronic computers, mathematical tables, and so forth.
An especially great role in modem science is played by computers which enormously broaden man's intellectual capacity and rid him of the need to perform tedious operations (calculations, search for necessary data and so forth). Computers are a very powerful means of gathering, storing and processing information whose volume in our day of the scientific and technical revolution is increasing at an exceptionally rapid pace.
Instruments are indispensable for studying microprocesses which cannot be directly perceived. At the same time they have a ``disturbing'' effect on the object of investigation. For instance, in a certain way they change, or modify the properties of elementary particles. This provides idealists with the pretext to deny the objective reality of microparticles and to assert that their properties are created by instruments in the course of observation and measurement. But the fact that one and the same property can be observed with the help of different instruments, and that with the help of one instrument it is possible to observe various properties of particles, shows that the idealistic view of the microcosm is untenable. Nevertheless, when investigating the microcosm it is important to take the influence of the instruments into account, to segregate this influence and pick out the objective properties of the particles in their more or less ``pure'' state.
172 __ALPHA_LVL3__ Analysis and SynthesisAny object is a totality (a system) of various interacting components, characteristics and aspects. What has to be done to determine the intricately linked components of an object and find out its essence? An important role in the investigation of such systems is played by analysis. Analysis is the breaking up of an object into its fundamental elements in order to ascertain their place and pick out the most essential ones. Analysis, Lenin wrote, is ``separation of components'', a division of the given concrete phenomenon. There can be a factual analysis and a logical analysis. The factual analysis is mainly used to investigate inorganic nature. For instance, a chemical analysis divides a molecule into its components---atoms, ions and radicals. If, for certain reasons, the object cannot be destroyed then logical analysis is used. It is most widely employed in studying living organisms and social systems. Only the analytical activity of thought can disclose the diversity and complexity of a socio-economic formation, class, nation and other social phenomena.
As distinct from analysis, synthesis is the material or mental combination of an object's components and aspects with the view to determining their inner, essential links and consequently its inherent laws. Chemists, for instance, synthesise molecules out of atoms, radicals and ions, and study the laws of chemical motion. Sociologists mentally unite various aspects of the life of society and thus obtain a general idea of society.
Man acquired his aptitude for analytical and synthetical cognition in the course of practical activity. During his life and work man encountered numerous objects and phenomena which he divided into parts and united into various implements of labour, mechanisms and structures. Pondering the results of practical analysis and synthesis he gradually turned them into very efficient methods of scientific research.
Analysis and synthesis are a unity since the object and its components are also a unity. They are interacting aspects of a single analytical and synthetical method of scientific cognition. Marx, investigating in his Capital the capitalist mode of production, at first broke it up into its components (production proper, circulation, distribution, etc.) and 173 studied them. After that he united all these components and acquired a thorough knowledge of capitalism as a whole. As a result, he fathomed the secret of capitalist exploitation, disclosed the irreconcilable contradictions of capitalism and concluded that its doom was inevitable.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Induction and DeductionInduction is an instance of reasoning from individual phenomena to general conclusions. Law, as we know, is general and is repeated in phenomena. But the general exists only in the individual. Since induction is a means of obtaining knowledge of the general from knowledge of the individual, it is an important method of cognising regularities, and causal relationships. Thus, on the basis of an infinite number of facts proving that one form of motion of matter turns into another form, and invariably without any loss of quantity physicists discovered the fundamental law of nature---the law of conservation and transformation of energy.
Induction is a method of obtaining new knowledge because it helps to extend the already available knowledge to a range of new, still unstudied objects. But by extending knowledge about one class of objects to another and broader one, induction does not in the main alter the essence of knowledge. This attests to the limited nature of induction. Hence the need to supplement it -with analysis, synthesis, generalisation and other methods of investigation.
Deduction is an instance of reasoning from the general to the individual. Given knowledge of a class of objects as a whole it is possible by means of deduction to extend this knowledge to any object of the same class. For instance, thanks to our knowledge of Mendeleyev's periodic law of chemical elements we can assert that the properties of any elements, whether known or still undiscovered, depend on the positive charge of its atomic nucleus.
Deduction is used as a means of formulating scientific theories. For example, contemporary science widely employs the axiomatic method when a scientific theory is built up in keeping with specific rules and laws drawn from the totality of axioms, i.e., propositions that are accepted without proof.
Induction and deduction, like analysis and synthesis, are 174 a unity. Indeed, in order to cognise the general it is necessary to know the particular, and vice versa. Using induction and deduction as one, a researcher cognises reality as a unity of the particular and the general.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Historical and Logical Methods ofEach specific object, as we know, appears, develops and, finally, disappears to give place to the new. In other words, an object has its history. Celestial bodies, plants and animals, all have their history. Mankind also has a long history of development in the course of which it moved from the primitive to the socialist system. The history of mankind in its turn includes the histories of different socio-economic formations, continents and countries.
History is a maze of innumerable events: general and individual, necessary and accidental, major and secondary, etc. Historical processes are studied from different viewpoints and with the help of the different methods. One of them is a detailed study of history, of all its events. This is the historical method of investigation. Another method, the logical method is the study of the general, of what is repeated in the historical process. In essence the logical is the same as historical, but purged of the mass of details, of all that is accidental. Logical study, Engels wrote, is ``nothing else but the reflection of the historical course in abstract and theoretically consistent form''.^^*^^
The historical and logical methods are a unity, for they are used to study the appearance and development of one and the same object. Neglect of one and absolutisation of the other lead to serious errors in theory and practice. Disregard for the historical method causes a researcher to lapse into subjectivism, pointless theorisation and elaboration of logical constructions not connected with the actual historical process. A researcher who ignores the logical method interprets the historical process as a conglomeration of empirical facts devoid of unity and inner links. Being the logic of scientific cognition, Marxist dialectics examines _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx, ``Preface to Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy'', in: Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Works in three volumes, Volume One, p. 514.
175 phenomena and processes in their connection with other phenomena and processes, in their unity with concrete historical experience. __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Abstract and the ConcreteAnother method of studying an object in its movement and development, of its inner relations is ascendance from the abstract to the concrete.
Abstraction is a result of the mentally isolating certain aspects or properties of an object so as to attend to others, more important and essential at the given stage of investigation. This gives rise to abstract concepts which, as we know, are an important form of logical cognition.
The concrete, as distinct from the abstract, is the result of the fusion of concepts, which are obtained in the process of abstraction, into a single whole. The concrete is the reflection of the unity of the components, of the connections and relations of the object being cognised.
Since the abstract and the concrete are logical categories they rest on objective reality, on the unity, wholeness of objects and phenomena and on the existence of their components, sides and properties. Taking this into account, Marx viewed the cognition of an object as movement of thought from the abstract to the concrete, from simple, elementary concepts reproducing certain components or sides of an object, to more complex concepts and scientific theories and systems reproducing the object fully in its entire complexity.
Marx's Capital is a brilliant example of how scientific knowledge is acquired by means of ascending from the abstract to the concrete. Proceeding from the concept of commodity, the starting point of abstraction characterising the essence of capitalist production, Marx went on to more and more abstractions (money, capital, surplus value, wages, etc.) and gradually recreated a complete picture of capitalist economy. As a result capitalist production appears as the concrete, as a ``synthesis of many concepts'', as ``unity of multiformity''.^^*^^
_-_-_^^*^^ Karl Marx, Grundrisse der Kritik der Politischen Okonomie (Roh entwurf), 1857--1858, Moscow, 1939, S. 218.
176Nevertheless, all this does not repudiate an important premise of dialectical materialism that cognition begins with the sensory perception of an object. Prior to formulating abstract concepts and then synthesising them into a concrete whole, Marx scrupulously studied innumerable facts, aspects and features of capitalist reality which could be directly perceived. On the basis of these facts Marx formulated abstract concepts and then ascended from the abstract to the concrete.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Mathematical MethodsA distinguishing feature of modern science is the mounting role of mathematical methods in scientific research. Mathematics is widely applied in natural sciences and is penetrating social sciences.
It is common knowledge that all phenomena and processes have measure, unity of quantitative and qualitative features. Since qualities are manifested in properties that have quantitative gradations such as magnitude, level of development, etc., it is possible to use mathematics in investigating nature and society.
Mathematics has penetrated other sciences because it is highly abstract and has an extraordinary broad range of principles. And this is consistent with one of the main trends in the development of modem science---the growth of abstract knowledge. Today there are scientific trends which cannot be visually expressed and substantiated by laboratory experiments. But mathematics has a range of concepts (function, set, group, infinite set, etc.), which'in terms of their breadth and universality are close to philosophical and thus make it possible to reflect the general quantitative characteristics of qualitatively different phenomena.
Moreover, mathematics has an exceptionally strict inner logic. If there are certain premises and if they are true, then owing to the inner logic of mathematics their corollaries are true.
Another reason why mathematics is penetrating other sciences is that the indices with which it operates are not necessarily numerical. It has a formidable arsenal of means (models, matrices, functions, graphics, symbols, etc.), which alongside quantitative can also express certain qualitative features of objects and phenomena, and disclose their __PRINTERS_P_177_COMMENT__ 7---389 177 intricate relations and interdependence.
Yet it would be wrong to overestimate the role that mathematics can play. Mathematical methods produce results only when the qualitative nature, the essence of objects and phenomena are known. Hence the need for a close alliance of mathematics with other sciences.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ ModellingThe modelling of objects and processes is becoming increasingly widespread in contemporary science. Objects and processes even of the most different kind are, in some respects, similar. For example, a geographical map and the terrain which it depicts are similar, and so is a photograph and the original.
Due to the similarity of various objects it is possible to model, i. e., to reproduce an object (system) with the help of another object which resembles it in some respects. The method of cognition which with the help of one system (natural and, more often than not, artificial or man-made) makes it possible to reproduce another, more complicated system that is the object of study is called scientific modelling, and the system which reproduces this object is called its model. Modelling is a simplified reproduction of the original, but this simplification should not be arbitrary and excessive, otherwise the model will not resemble the original, and no fresh knowledge about the original will be obtained.
There are two basic classes of models. Material models are material reproductions of objects which are being studied. Such, for example, are electronic models of the nervous system, the heart, kidneys and other organs and tissues of the living organism that are now used in biology and medicine. Ideal models are a totality of reasoning elements---mathematical and other formulas, equations, logical symbols, diverse signs, and so forth. An important place in the class of ideal models is occupied by mathematical models. The similarity of certain qualitative features in various objects makes it possible to investigate them with the help of the contemporary mathematics, particularly mathematical logic, the theory of probabilities, theory of sets and others, and also electronic computers.
A model is an effective means of scientific cognition. It 178 comes to the assistance of the researcher when the object being investigated cannot be studied directly, because it is too big, too massive or too far away; because it has excessively high or low temperatures and pressures, and toxic or other properties harmful to man; because its direct study may violate its function and even destroy it, and so forth.
Another merit of modelling is that with its help it is possible to study objects which do not exist as yet, or which are to be created. First a model is made and then, after it undergoes theoretical and experimental tests, the object itself is made on its basis. For instance, the development of new machines, mechanisms, aircraft, buildings, etc., usually pass through the modelling stage.
Models are used fairly extensively in physics, chemistry, cybernetics and biology, and are gradually making their way into social sciences, particularly economics. They help to improve the organisation and management of the economy and certain social processes. Already today mathematical models are successfully used in solving certain economic problems, for example, the optimum distribution of machine loading, rationalisation of transportation, analysis of requirements with the view to improving the supply of commodities to the population, and others.
[179] __NOTE__ The following "HISTORICAL MATERIALISM" is a LVL1 but not marked-up to be a LVL1 since the DM/HM split is very familiar and it would be an unnecessary use of a LVL.HISTORICAL MATERIALISM
__NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER IX __ALPHA_LVL1__ The Subject Matter of Historical Materialism __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]Marx and Engels revealed the dialectical-materialist character of development not only of nature but also of society, creating thereby the only scientific theory of social development, historical materialism. We shall now explain what historical materialism is.
First of all, let us ascertain the nature of the revolution made by Marxism in social theories.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. The Rise of Historical Materialism---aThinkers long ago pondered over questions about society. How does human society develop? What are its driving forces? Are the changes in society accidental or are they dictated by necessity, by objective laws? If society's development is causally conditioned, what is the chief cause, the foundation of social life? It was natural that these and many similar questions arose. Man lives in society, is bound to it by countless threads, and cannot but take an interest in the fate of society, the ways in which it develops.
. Many correct ideas about social development were expressed by scholars even before Marxism. The French 18th-century materialists, for example, asserted that man, his views and behaviour are a result of the influence of social environment. French bourgeois historians (Guizot, Thierry, Mignet) pointed to the existence of opposite classes and the class struggle in society. The British bourgeois economists (Smith and Ricardo) tried to find in economic life a basis for the existence of classes. The Utopian 180 Socialists (Saint-Simon, Fourier and Owen) anticipated individual features of future communist society.
A big contribution to the theory of social development was made by Belinsky, Herzen, Chernyshevsky and other Russian revolutionary democrats of the 19th century. Their ideas about the role of economic life in social development, about the people as the makers of history, the irreconcilability of the class interests of the exploited and the exploiters, the class character of philosophy, literature, art, and so on, were profound for their time.
Nevertheless pre-Marxist sociology was not scientific. What were its main failings?
To begin with, prior to Marx idealism reigned supreme in sociology. The French materialists, having shown the influence of the social environment on man, erroneously regarded this environment as the product of human reason. ``Ideas rule the world"---this was the epitome of their views of society.
Other pre-Marxist materialists likewise had an idealist view of society. And the unscientific nature of the idealists' views of social development is self-evident. Hegel, although he made a valuable contribution to philosophy by his ideas of historical necessity and although he attempted to view the history of mankind dialecticaUy, ultimately arrived at the false conclusion that society is ruled by divine will. God rules the world, the realisation of his plans constitute world history. This sums up Hegelian philosophy of history.
Another shortcoming in pre-Marxist sociology also stemmed from the approach to society in an idealist way. Pre-Marxist sociologists, acting on the premise that ideas rule the world and that these ideas are fathered by outstanding individuals---kings, military leaders, scholars, etc., arrived at the wrong conclusion that these great men alone make history. They -did not see the decisive role played by the working people in historical development.
Pre-Marxist sociologists also proved incapable of revealing the dialectics of the historical process. In the presentation of these sociologists history appeared as a conglomeration of unconnected facts. Being idealists they were unable to grasp the unity and interconnections of social life, the real driving forces and material sources behind historical events.
181Only Marx and Engels proved capable of penetrating the nature of society and fully revealing its complex and contradictory development. They overcame the shortcomings of the old sociology and created a qualitatively new theory of social development, historical materialism, thereby causing a revolution in social theories.
What is the substance of this revolution?
Marx and Engels drove idealism from social science. They correctly solved the fundamental question of philosophy as applied to society and formulated the principal postulate of historical materialism: social being determines social consciousness.
What is social being and social consciousness?
The sphere of social being encompasses the material life of society, and above all people's productive activity, the economic relations between them in the process of production. Social consciousness is the spiritual life of people, the ideas, theories and views which guide them in what they do.
In asserting that social being is primary and social consciousness secondary, Marx and Engels acted on the premise that before people can engage in science, art, philosophy, and so on, they must get food, clothing and shelter, for which they must work, produce material wealth. From this it follows that ``the production of the immediate material means of subsistence and consequently the degree of economic development attained by a given people or during a given epoch form the foundation upon which the state institutions, the legal conceptions, art, and even the ideas on religion of the people concerned have been evolved, and in the light of which they must, therefore,. be explained, instead of vice versa, as had hitherto been the case''.^^*^^ Historical materialism is a genuinely scientific, materialist understanding of history.
Marx and Engels, by singling out from the numerous social relations the economic, production relations as the chief, decisive ones, arrived at the concept of the socioeconomic formation, a fundamental concept of historical materialism.
The socio-economic formation is the totality of social _-_-_
^^*^^ Friedrich Engels, ``Das Begr\"abnis von Karl Marx'', Marx/Engels, Werke, Dietz Verlag, Berlin, 1962, Bd. 19, S. 335--336.
182 phenomena and processes (relating to the economy, ideology, family, way of life, etc.), based on a historically determined mode of production. Society develops through the natural replacement of one socio-economic formation by another, more improved. History has progressed from the primitive-communal system to the slave-owning system, then to feudalism and to capitalism and, finally, to the communist formation.By creating historical materialism Marx and Engels proved that the masses, the working people, are the real makers of history. The people by their labour produce all the material wealth. The labour of millions of ordinary men and women constitutes the indispensable foundation of mankind's life and progress.
Marx and Engels overcame the metaphysical nature of the old sociology and revealed the objective dialectics of social development. Thanks to this great accomplishment history ceased to be a chaotic conglomeration of unconnected facts, and appeared as an integral and harmonious process governed by dialectical laws.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. The Subject Matter of Historical MaterialismThe subject matter of historical materialism is the study of society and the laws of its development.
These laws are as objective, i.e., independent of man's consciousness, as the laws of nature's development. Like the laws of nature, they are knowable and are applied by man in his practical activity. There are, however, essential distinctions between the laws of social life and the laws of nature. The laws of nature reflect the operation of blind, spontaneous forces, while the laws of social development are always manifested through people, acting as intelligent beings who set themselves definite aims and work to achieve them.
The laws of social life are studied not only by historical materialism, but also by the other social sciences: political economy, history, aesthetics, pedagogics, and so on. But all these sciences study a certain group of social phenomena, examine society from one angle, without giving an idea of the process of social development as a whole. Political economy, for example, studies the economic, production 183 relations between people. History is concerned with society's development in different epochs and in different countries. Aesthetics is confined to the sphere of art, and so on.
In contrast to the concrete social sciences, historical materialism studies the most general laws of social development. As an integral part of the Marxist-Leninist world outlook, historical materialism furnishes a scientific, dialecticalmaterialist interpretation of phenomena of social life. It solves such important general problems of historical development as the connection between social being and social consciousness, the importance of material production in people's lives, the origin and role of social ideas and of their corresponding institutions. Historical materialism enables us to understand what role the people and individuals play in history, how classes and the class struggle arose, how the state appeared, why social revolutions occur and what is their significance in the historical process, and a number of other general problems of social development.
Not all the laws studied by historical materialism have the same sphere of operation. Some of them operate at all stages and others at particular stages of society's development Among the former are the law of the determining role of social being in relation to social consciousness and the law of the determining role of the mode of production in society's development. Among the latter is the law of the class struggle which operates only in societies divided into hostile classes.
Historical materialism also elaborates the corresponding categories or concepts which reflect the most general and essential aspects of social development. These include ``social being'', ``social consciousness'', ``mode of production'', ``basis'', ``superstructure'', ``social progress'', and many others. Only the sum-total of the laws and categories of historical materialism furnishes a single and harmonious picture of social development.
Historical materialism arose as a result of the generalisation of people's practical experience throughout history and the achievements of the social sciences, and it is absolutely inconceivable outside of them. On the other hand, without historical materialism, without a knowledge of the general laws of social development no social science can develop fruitfully. Historical materialism is the methodological 184 foundation of all the other social sciences. It enables historians, economists and other scholars to find their way in the intricate maze of social phenomena and determine the place and significance of each phenomenon in social life. Knowing, for example, the basic premise of historical materialism that people play the decisive role in social development, it is possible to bring out the genuine character of a particular istorical event, for instance, to ascertain the causes of the social revolution, and its motive forces, and explain the source of the strength of socialism, etc. The premise of historical materialism that society's spiritual life depends on economic, material relations between people, helps to trace the sources of various theories and views and correctly assess their role in history, particularly in revolutionary periods when the replacement of one type of economic relations by another results in the fall of old conceptions and the rise of new ones.
Knowledge of the laws of historical materialism enables us not only to understand complex social phenomena, but also to influence social life, to transform it in the interests of the working people. To transform reality on the basis of the laws of social development means to give effect to the historical necessity of mankind's progressive development. In the process of this development man gains-genuine freedom. Let us examine what historical materialism understands by necessity and freedom.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. Historical Necessity and Human FreedomHistorical necessity is that which naturally follows from the internal connection of social phenomena and therefore, is bound to take place. Material production, for example, necessarily determines all aspects of social life. Social revolutions or the succession of one social order by another also take place of necessity. Today capitalism is necessarily being replaced by communism.
The proponents of religious ideology do not recognise historical necessity. They claim that the entire historical process is predetermined by divine will, and that people are mere playthings in the hands of providence. The Bible says that without God's will not a single hair will fall 185 from man's head.
In distorting the essence of social development and rejecting historical necessity, many sociologists go to the other extreme and advocate subjectivism, the reign of arbitrary will in social activity. In their opinion, the behaviour or actions of people are determined by their subjective wishes and concepts. At the same time bourgeois sociologists accuse Marxists of fatalism, of worshipping historical necessity and claiming that man is impotent in the face of social laws.
The ideologists of the bourgeoisie will not agree that historical necessity, far from precluding, presupposes people's conscious activity. Men are unable to abolish the laws of social development or to create new laws, but they are capable of understanding these laws and historical necessity, and, through being aware of necessity, to actively intervene in the sGCio-histoncal process. Practical experience has conclusively shown that, by understanding objective necessity, people subordinate not only the laws of nature to their will, as witnessed by the achievements of modern science and technology, but also the course of social events. It is knowledge of objective necessity and its employment in the interest of man that' constitute human freedom.
Freedom does not abolish objective necessity, it signifies that man understands necessity and exploits it for his own ends. Man's activity is only free when it corresponds to objective necessity and his freedom consists not in imaginary independence from the laws of nature and society, but in knowledge of these laws and the ability to make them serve human needs.
Freedom is the result of prolonged historical development. As science and production progressed man began to bring nature under his control, learned its objective laws and thereby gradually subordinated necessity operating in nature to his will and became free in relation of nature. Man's domination over nature, however, does not give him control over social processes. Historical necessity, the law-governed development of pre-socialist societies, acted as a spontaneous force which people were unable to control. Under capitalism, for example, the law of anarchy and competition makes man a pawn in the hands of chance and dooms to 186 failure his attempts to plan his activity in advance.
It is only socialism that for the first time creates the possibility of mastering historical necessity and achieving genuine freedom. The socialist revolution makes public ownership predominant and removes class antagonisms, as a result of which people become able to consciously direct the economic, political, and cultural life of society. With the victory of socialism society makes a tremendous leap from the kingdom of necessity into the kingdom of freedom. Moreover, as socialist society advances to communism,man's freedom becomes wider and more diverse, his domination over nature and the social processes grows, and he learns voluntarily and consciously to combine his personal interests and aspirations with the lofty ideals of society.
An indispensable condition for the growth of genuine freedom in society is the conscious productive and political activities of the people, based on the knowledge and competent application of Marxist-Leninist theory.
The Marxist-Leninist theory of necessity and freedom has been applied in the Soviet Union. Real freedom---- mankind's age-old dream---has struck root here finally and irrevocably. It has been attained as a result of the triumphant socialist revolution, the heroic labour and selfless effort of the Soviet people headed by the Communist Party. Having become masters of their country, having understood historical necessity, the Soviet people gained an opportunity to make their own history consciously and purposively.
The attainment of freedom under socialism, however, does not rule out the operation of historical necessity, of objective laws. Under socialism, too, necessity constitutes the objective basis for man's free activity, and objective laws operate, but these laws are consciously used by the Soviet people, who under the guidance of the Party and the Government are fulfilling the greatest historical necessity and are building communist society.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 4. The Unscientific Nature of ContemporaryHistorical materialism, the only scientific theory of social development indicating man's true road to a better 187 future, is hated by the reactionary bourgeoisie and its ideologists. Gripped with fear of the future and unable to check the advance of mankind to communism, the bourgeoisie seeks at least to retard historical progress and prolong the existence of the capitalist system. To this end the bourgeoisie and its ideologists resort to all possible means---economic, political and ideological. Contemporary bourgeois sociology holds an important place among their ideological weapons.
There is an endless number of trends and schools of this sociology but they all stem from the same idealistic and metaphysical root.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Renunciation of the Objective Laws ofThe most characteristic feature of contemporary bourgeois sociology is the rejection of the objective laws of social development. This rejection assumes the most diverse forms in different sociological trends.
The group of undisguised idealists says outright that no historical laws exist, that history is an unknowable realm of chaos and chance.
Proponents of the psychological school see the basis of social development in psychological factors---the wishes, will and instincts of man. In their opinion, the cause of social disorder and the suffering of the working people in capitalist society is rooted in the imperfection of the worker's mentality and not in the objective laws of capitalism, not in private capitalist ownership. Perfection of mentality is the remedy offered by psycho-sociologists for curing major social ills.
The biological school favours scientific sociology in words, but .in fact substitutes biological laws for the genuine laws of social development and places man on a level with animals blindly fighting for existence. This is an attempt to ``justify'', by allegedly natural laws, exploitation, predatory wars, colonialism, racialism and other ugly features of capitalism.
Bio-sociologists refuse to concede that it is scientifically untenable to reduce the laws of social development to biological laws because society develops according to its own specific laws, which qualitatively differ from the laws of 188 development of animals and plants.
Rejection of the major laws of social development is also typical of micro-sociology, or, as it is also called, empirical sociology. Micro-sociologists do not openly reject knowledge of social life, but in the intricate chain of social phenomena they study only petty facts of capitalist reality, do not examine them in their interconnection, not wishing to see behind them the internal laws of society's development. This, in effect, signifies renunciation of consistent scientific analysis and the need to raise and solve the basic social problems of our time.
Refusal to recognise the laws of social development is nothing but an attempt to clear the way in social life for religious faith. There is nothing accidental in the fact that many bourgeois sociologists maintain that the historical process is predestined by God. For example, the English historian Arnold Toynbee insists that the aim of history is to set up the kingdom of God and history is God revealing himself.
By rejecting the law-governed character of social development, many bourgeois ideologists thereby distort the real course of history, embellish capitalism and attempt to justify its reactionary domestic and foreign policies.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Negation of Social ProgressThe unscientific nature of contemporary bourgeois sociology is also manifested in the negation of historical progress and society's advance.
In this connection it should be noted that the views of sociologists on the character of the historical process have undergone important changes. When the emerging capitalist class was fighting for power, bourgeois enlighteners had a lot to say about social progress. The idea of progress served the bourgeoisie as a weapon for breaking up the old feudal system and establishing the more progressive capitalist society. But once the capitalist class came to power its understanding of social progress became amazingly one-sided. The ideologists of the bourgeoisie began to praise the capitalist order to the skies and to hold it up as the eternal kingdom of freedom and justice, an embodiment of the ideals of progress. Bourgeois sociologists declare that the aim of 189 social progress has been attained and that there is no further road ahead. It is fear of the future which holds out no favourable prospect for capitalism, and fear of the new, communist world that is logically coming to replace the old bourgeois society, that makes them negate progress.
Quite often contemporary bourgeois sociologists put up in contrast to the concepts of ``progress'' and `` development" the term ``social change" which they apply to numerous secondary processes that take place in society and exert no noticeable influence on the course of history, and thus side-step the question of the progressive nature of social development. They want thereby to divert attention from the radical, revolutionary changes now taking place in society, to belittle their significance, and also to avoid solving the burning social problems of our age.
Renunciation of the idea of social progress by bourgeois sociologists is also manifested in the numerous theories of the ``cycle'', ``stagnation'' and ``regress'' of society which they are now assiduously spreading.
In the 1920s, the ``cycle'' theory was preached by the ideologist of German imperialism, Oswald Spengler. In his book The Decline of the West he sought to prove that society is unable to escape the ``vicious circle" in which the selfsame three stages are invariably repeated: rise, apex and decline. In Spengler's opinion, capitalism is the apex of civilisation and culture. With its decline mankind will inevitably revert to barbarism. From this follows condemnation of the fight against capitalism and rejection of the need for the socialist revolution and socialism, which are alleged to be generally impossible since society cannot arrive at something new.
In recent years the reactionary theory of the ``historical cycle" has been revived by Arnold Toynbee who negates the universal progressive development of society, calling it an ``illusion of progress''. By opposing socialism and asserting that all attempts to undermine capitalism lead to the degeneration and decline of civilisation, Toynbee endeavours to present capitalist society as eternal and inviolable.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Life Overturns the Views of Bourgeois SociologistsContemporary bourgeois ideologists misrepresent the course of historical process. Sensing the approaching 190 collapse of capitalism, they shout about the death of civilisation and humanity in general, and identify the inevitable doom of capitalism with the doom of humanity. Capitalism will definitely, perish, but humanity will continue to live and develop and will certainly rise to the shining peaks of communism.
Bourgeois sociologists misrepresent the character of the historical process for a definite reason: to stave off the doom of capitalism, embellish the crumbling fagade of the capitalist edifice, and vilify socialism and refute MarxismLeninism, the sole scientific teaching of society.
To attain these objectives these diplomaed flunkeys of capitalism slander socialism and Marxist-Leninist theory, frenziedly justify capitalism and deliver false discourses about a ``people's state'', about a bourgeois state being a ``welfare state''. They evolved the notorious theory of convergence which claims that since advanced capitalist and socialist countries have highly developed industry, technology, science and other common features, the world is witnessing the drawing together of capitalism and socialism and their transformation into a sort of a synthetic society based, of course, on slightly modernised capitalism. Sometimes this synthetic society is called ``single industrialised society" and lately either a ``post-industrial'' or ``technotronic'' society which derives its essence wholly from an exceptionally high level of scientific and technical development. It goes without saying, of course, that a convergence of these two opposing social systems is inconceivable, if only because capitalism rests on private ownership and exploitation, while socialism rests on public ownership and on relations of cooperation and mutual assistance of the working people.
However hard the apologists of imperialism try, history follows its course and most forcefully demonstrates the great truth of Marx ism-Leninism.
Science and the history-making activity of the people prove beyond all doubt that social progress is a continuous natural historic process which takes place in keeping with objective laws which are independent of man. The history of society is an endless chain of development, revolutionary transitions from the more simple, lower social systems to the more complex, higher ones. Moreover, social progress is based on the growth and improvement of material 191 production. In its development production has moved from principal tools---sticks and stones---with which man began his battle for survival, to sophisticated automatic machines and mechanisms driven by electric and atomic energy. As production advances, so do other spheres of social life.
Life, the enormous economic, social and cultural progress in the USSR and other socialist countries, humanity's relentless advance from capitalism to socialism and communism shatter the pseudo-scientific theories of contemporary bourgeois sociologists. All these ``theories'' strikingly evidence the crisis that has gripped modern capitalism and the reactionary sociology which defends it.
[192] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER X __ALPHA_LVL1__ A Socio-Economic Formation __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]The cornerstone of historical materialism is the teaching about socio-economic formation which is based on a historically determined mode of production of material wealth. But production can only take place if there are definite natural requisites: a geographical environment and population. Let us examine these requisites and ascertain their importance in social life.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. Natural Requisites for the Life of Society __ALPHA_LVL3__ Geographical Environment and SocietySociety as a distinct entity is .a part of nature. It is inseparable from the rest of nature and constantly interacts with it. That part of nature, with which society interacts most closely and influences and is in turn influenced by, is called geographical environment, and includes climate, soil, rivers and seas, vegetable and animal life, relief and minerals.
The geographical environment is a necessary condition for man's productive activity. Without interaction with nature no labour, no productive activity is conceivable. In the struggle against nature man gains his means of subsistence.
The geographical environment can exert a dual influence on the development of society. Favourable natural conditions (mineral resources, forest, rivers, a good climate, etc.) promote society's development. On the other hand, unfavourable natural conditions adversely affect social development. The absence of minerals, for example, impedes industrial development; an arid climate hinders the progress of agriculture, etc.
193Acting on the importance of the geographical environment in social development, proponents of the geographical trend in sociology overestimate its role and claim that social development is determined either by the environment as a whole or by some of its elements---the climate, rivers, etc.
It is clear that the geographical trend is scientifically untenable. It does not and cannot explain the causes of social development, or why, for instance, two countries which are developing in approximately the same geographical conditions stand at different levels of economic and political organisation.
The geographical trend does not take into account that, while being subject to the influence of nature, society on its part actively acts upon nature, and that as it transforms and makes nature serve its interests, society accelerates and modifies certain natural processes. The extent to which society acts upon the geographical environment in the final analysis depends on the level of development of production, science and technology. The socialist system, where society for the first time in history can consciously and in a planned way transform nature in the interests of the working man, creates particularly favourable conditions for acting upon nature.
It follows that the geographical environment is not the determining factor in society's development, although it is a necessary condition of social life. It is only capable of facilitating or retarding society's development.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Population and SocietyPopulation is another necessary condition for the material life of society. Production is impossible without people, whose labour constitutes the mighty force which subjugates nature and puts it to the service of man. In certain conditions, therefore, a large or small population and its high or low growth rate can accelerate or slow down a country's development. Large manpower resources and a high population growth rate are undoubtedly an important factor in the Soviet Union's great successes.
But does population play a decisive role in society's development? History answers this question in the negative. There are countries with a high population density and growth rate which lag economically,politically and culturally 194 behind countries with considerably lower population density and slower growth rates.
This means that population density and growth do not determine society's progress. On the contrary, they themselves depend on the character of a social system.
Nevertheless, supporters oi malthusianism, a reactionary trend in bourgeois sociology, proceed from the assumption that it is the growth of population that determines the course of social development. The father of this theory, the English clergyman and economist Thomas Malthus, at the end of the 18th century announced his ``discovery'' of the ``universal principle" that the means of subsistence grow in arithmetical progression, while the population grows in geometrical progression and that this is the cause of the poverty, starvation, unemployment and other suffering which afflict the working people. Malthus also proposed a ``way'' to get rid of these evils---the poor should abstain from marrying and having children.
Malthus needed the pseudo-scientific ``theory'' of population to exonerate capitalism and to justify the hardships capitalism inflicts on the working people. Malthusianism is now used by the imperialist bourgeoisie to mask the deep contradictions of imperialism, and to justify their aggressive foreign policy. Present-day malthusianism has become openly misanthropic: it no longer confines itself to preaching celibacy and birth control, but proposes that H-bombs, germ warfare and other monstrous means of destruction should be used to do away with the ``superfluous'' mouths.
Science and practical experience refute malthusianism. Marx proved that the causes of the working people's poverty and starvation under capitalism are rooted not in the natural laws of population, but in the very essence of the capitalist system, in the extremely unjust distribution of material wealth. The lion's share of this wealth is appropriated by the capitalists, while the working people are often deprived of even the most essential means of subsistence. Malthusianism has been conclusively refuted by the economic progress of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries where capitalism has been abolished, and starvation, poverty and unemployment have been banished for all time, where man's life is becoming increasingly secure and prosperous.
195Neither the geographical environment nor the population are the determining factors in social development. The determining factor is the mode of production of material wealth, which we shall now examine.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. Mode of Production---the Determinative ForcePeople cannot exist without food, clothing, shelter and other necessities of life. Nature, however, does not provide these things ready-made; to produce them people must work. Labour is, therefore, the basis of social life, a natural necessity for man. Without labour, without productive activity human life itself would be impossible. The production of material wealth is consequently the chief, determinative factor of social development.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Productive ForcesIn the labour process people transform natural objects to satisfy their needs. To make a machine, for example, iron ore is mined, smelted, converted into steel and then treated accordingly.
Material production is impossible without the objects and means of labour.
Objects of labour are the things to which human labour is applied. Means of labour are the machines, equipment, tools, production buildings, transport and so on. The objects and means of labour constitute the means of production.
Instruments of production, with which people act on objects of labour and transform them, are the most important means of labour. Production is inconceivable without instruments of labour as nature does not willingly part with its riches and they cannot be wrested by brawn alone. Man can only gain his means of livelihood with the aid of these instruments and the better they are, the greater means of livelihood he gets.
Instruments of labour on their own, however, do not produce material wealth. They must not only be made, but also be put to use. The most perfect machine will eventually rum into a useless pile of metal if no human hand touches 196 it. Only man can set a tool in motion and organise material production. That is why he is an essential element of production.
The productive forces are the means of production, and above all the instruments of labour created by society and the people who produce the material wealth. In our age of the great scientific and technical revolution, science, as we shall see further on, is increasingly turning into a direct productive force.
The productive forces determine the relations of man to nature and his power over it. The working people are the principal element of the productive forces. People's constructive labour sets in motion the tools they have devised and makes these implements give mankind the immeasurable quantities of the things it needs.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Relations of ProductionProductive forces are not the only factors in material production. People can only produce jointly by organising in a society. That is why labour is and always has been social in character. ``In order to produce,'' Marx wrote, ``they [people---V.~A.] enter into definite connections and relations with one another and only within these social connections and relations does their action with nature, does production take place.''^^*^^
People were connected by labour at the dawn of primitive society. In nomad hunting tribes, for example, this connection was that of fellow-hunters. As the productive forces and the division of labour grew, the relations between people became more and more diverse. Connections were established between crop growers and herdsmen, peasants and craftsmen, craftsmen and merchants, etc. With the development of the machine industry, the connections between the producers became especially diverse and manysided.
People's relations in the production process constitute relations of production, which are an integral part of material production. A certain historical mode of production, therefore, appears as the unbreakable unity between the _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx, ``Wage Labour and Capital'', in: Karl Marx,Frederick Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 9, Moscow, 1977, p. 211.
197 productive forces and the corresponding relations of production.Relations of production are based on the form of ownership, i.e., the relation of people to the means of production---the land, its mineral resources, forests, waters, raw materials, factory buildings, instruments of labour and so on. On the form of ownership depends the dominating or subordinate position of various social groups in production, their relations in the production process or, as Marx put it, the mutual exchange of their activity. If property is publicly owned (if the means of production belong to the working people), relations of production assume the nature of cooperation and mutual assistance between workers free of exploitation, as is the case under socialism. If property is privately owned (if the means of production belong to the exploiting minority) the relations of production are relations of domination, subordination and exploitation characteristic, for example, of capitalism. Since the working people in an antagonistic class society are deprived of the means of production they are forced to work for the exploiters who own these means.
The form of distribution also depends on the nature of the ownership of the means of production. Private capitalist ownership determines the extremely unjust distribution of society's material wealth under capitalism. The owner of the means of production appropriates most of the wealth produced, although he himself does not take a direct part in production. Public ownership in socialist society ensures the principle of distribution according to work, which meets the interests of all the working people. Under socialism all the material wealth produced belongs to the people.
The sphere of production relations encompasses the forms of ownership of the means of production and also the consequent position of the various social groups in production and the forms of distribution of material wealth.
Relations of production are formed objectively, independent of people's will and desire, on the basis of the development of the productive forces.
The mode of production develops by virtue of its own causes, its intrinsic dialectics. Let us examine these causes, and the internal dialectics of the development of production.
198 __ALPHA_LVL3__ Dialectics of the Productive ForcesProduction does not stand still, it constantly grows, develops and improves. It could not be otherwise, for in order to live people must produce material wealth, and produce it on a growing scale. This is necessary because the number of people on our planet is continuously growing and their requirements are increasing all the time. Primitive man needed very little: coarse food, an animal skin, a cave or a roof over his head and a fire in his hearth. But the material and cultural needs of the man of today are very, very great.
The only way to satisfy the increasing needs of the ever growing number of people is to constantly expand and improve production. Development of production is an objective necessity, a law of social life. The history of society is the law-governed development of social production, the necessary process of replacing a lower mode of production by another, higher one.
How does production develop?
The development of production begins with a change in the productive forces. But the productive forces, as we have learned, are instruments of production and the people who utilise these instruments. Which of these elements of the productive forces develops first? History shows that within the framework of the productive forces the instruments of production develop first. To lighten labour, to obtain more material wealth with the least expenditure of labour people constantly improve the existing instruments and devise new and more efficient ones.
The development and improvement of the instruments of production, technical progress, are a result of the work of the people engaged in production. But together with improvement of the instruments of labour, people themselves develop. Their production know-how and skill grow and new trades emerge. In the long run, as the instruments of labour improve and the workers develop, the relationship of people in the production process, the relations of production, also change.
The productive forces give rise to and form definite relations of production. But the productive forces existing at a 199 Emacs-File-stamp: "/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1980/MP399/20070504/299.tx" __EMAIL__ webmaster@leninist.biz __OCR__ ABBYY 6 Professional (2007.05.04) __WHERE_PAGE_NUMBERS__ bottom __FOOTNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [*]+ __ENDNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [0-9]+ certain time bring into being only those production relations which correspond to the internal nature of these forces. The capitalist manufacture which originated within feudalism brought into being capitalist, and no other, relations of production.
Arising on the basis of the productive forces, the relations of production themselves, too, do not remain passive. They actively influence the productive forces, accelerating or retarding their development. We should bear in mind that progressive, new production relations, corresponding to the nature of the productive forces, accelerate the development of social production and are the prime mover in the development of the productive forces. On the other hand, old production relations which lag behind the development of the productive forces hinder their advance.
Production relations must conform to the nature of the productive forces for production to develop. In one form or another this has been the case in all the socio-economic formations. In the pre-socialist formations based on private property and exploitation, however, production relations cannot permanently conform to the developing productive forces. It is only at the initial stage of such mode of production that production relations conform to the nature of the productive forces and consequently act as the prime mover in the development of production. Then the production relations gradually became obsolete, lag behind the development of the productive forces, and this results in a contradiction between the new productive forces and the old production relations.
This contradiction is not accidental, it stems from the intrinsic nature of various sides of social production. Productive forces are the most mobile element of production. They constantly change, and even within the bounds of the same mode of production these changes can be very considerable. As regards the relations of production, they, too, undergo certain changes, but basically remain unaltered within the bounds of the given mode of production. During the existence of capitalism, for example, its productive forces have undergone deep changes, but the relations of production today, as before, are based on private capitalist ownership.
Being more stable, production relations do not keep 200 pace with the development of the productive forces and, falling behind, begin to retard their advance and come into contradiction with them. As the productive forces develop further, the retarding role of the production relations is felt more and more, and the contradiction between the two becomes more acute, growing ultimately into a conflict. Social revolution becomes a necessity in order to destroy the old production relations and introduce new ones.
This is the objective dialectics of the productive forces and relations of production in an antagonistic class society.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. The Interaction of the Economic BasisWe have already, stated that the mode of production of material wealth is the chief, determinative force of social development. How the mode of production and the relations of production shape all the other social relations (political, legal, moral, etc.) and how the latter, in their turn, influence society's economic development are questions answered by the Marxist-Leninist theory of basis and superstructure.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ What Is the Basis and the Superstructure?Of all the diverse social relations historical materialism singles out the material, production relations as the main and determinative ones. It is the totality of these production relations that constitutes the economic structure of society, its basis. The totality of production relations should be understood to mean the forms of property and, arising out of them, the relations between people in the process of production and the way material wealth is distributed.
Each society has its own basis. The type of basis as the totality of production relations depends on the condition of the productive forces. No basis can appear until the corresponding material conditions, the productive forces necessary for its birth, arise within the old society.
Once it arises, the basis plays a tremendous part in the life of society. It enables people to organise the production and distribution of material wealth. Without entering into economic relations, people cannot produce, and, 201 consequently, cannot distribute the means of subsistence.
The basis is important because it serves as the real foundation upon which the superstructure arises, i. e., political, legal, philosophical, moral, artistic and religious views and their corresponding relations, institutions and organisations. That is why the basis is that aspect of the mode of production which directly moulds the face of society, its ideas and institutions.
The superstructure also plays a very important role in social development. Arising on a definite economic basis, it ultimately expresses the attitude of people to this basis. Various ideas help people to justify the need to strengthen or destroy the given basis, while institutions and organisations (the state, political parties, etc.) enable them to apply these ideas. It is through the basis that the superstructure influences the development of the productive forces. For example, the Communist Party, the Soviet state, the socialist superstructure as a whole, play a great role in building the material and technical base of communism, in developing communist production forces.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Determinant Role of the Basis in RelationThe superstructure is brought into being by the basis and is inseparably bound up with it. The superstructure depends on the basis. Let us take, for example, the basis of primitive society. The absence of private property and classes, and consequently of class contradictions, was the reason why the superstructure of primitive society had neither state, political and legal ideas, nor the corresponding institutions.
The birth of private property and classes, i. e., the appearance of the basis of slave-owning society, brought into being a superstructure of a different kind. Ideas were conceived which justified the rule of the slave-owner over the slave and also institutions (the state and others) protecting this rule.
The basis of an antagonistic class society has its contradictions. By expressing the different relationships of people to the means of production, it reflects the antithesis of class interests, the antagonism between the oppressed and the oppressors. The economic basis of modern capitalism, for 202 example, is marked above all by antagonism between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, although the economic structure of bourgeois society must not be confined only to the relationship between these two main antagonistic classes. In addition to the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, capitalist society has other classes and social groups---the working peasants, artisans and the petty bourgeoisie in both town and country, whose interests clash with those of the monopoly bourgeoisie.
Since it is a reflection of the contradictions in the basis, the superstructure of an antagonistic class society also contains contradictions. It includes the ideas and institutions of different classes and social groups, but the ideas and institutions of the class which dominates economically prevail. ``...The class, which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force,''^^*^^ wrote Marx and Engels. Under capitalism the bourgeoisie dominates economically so that bourgeois ideas and institutions prevail and are used by the bourgeoisie to fight the working class and to perpetuate its own rule.
In capitalist society the bourgeoisie, however, is opposed by the working class which forms its own ideas and sets up its own institutions. Gradually the proletarians begin to understand the essence of capitalism and become aware of the need to abolish it. They set up their own organisations to fight the bourgeoisie---a political party, trade unions, co-operatives, and so on. In the course of the revolutionary struggle the working class masters Marxist theory, creates its own morality, and its own political, legal and aesthetic views.
The determinative role of the basis in relation to the superstructure is manifested not only in the basis giving rise to the superstructure, but also in that the essential changes in the economic system necessarily lead to changes in the superstructure. During the transition from pre-monopoly capitalism to imperialism, for example, the capitalist economy underwent important change: free competition gave way to monopoly. The bourgeois superstructure also changed accordingly. In a number of countries the capitalist _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, ``The German Ideology'', in: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 5, p. 59.
203 class went over or is going over from bourgeois-democratic forms of government to reactionary---fascist or semi-fascist forms. The rights of the working people are being increasingly curtailed and Communist parties and progressive organisations are not infrequently being persecuted. Bourgeois art and morality are degenerating, reactionary forms of idealism are becoming predominant in philosophy, and religion is spreading.The changes in the superstructure are especially deep when one economic basis supersedes another as a result of social revolution. In the course of a revolution the political rule of the old class is replaced by the rule of the new class. A new state machinery (the system of political and legal institutions) is created in place of the old one. Social consciousness changes: the old ideology is ousted by the new corresponding to the new basis. ``The old `superstructure' falls apart,'' Lenin wrote, ``and ... a new one is created by the independent action of the most diverse social forces.''^^*^^
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Relative IndependenceThe superstructure, brought into being by the basis, also possesses relative independence which is manifested in the continuity of its development. A revolution in the superstructure, which takes place when the old basis is replaced by the new, does not signify the automatic elimination of all the features of the old superstructure. With the destruction of the old basis, the old superstructure as a whole, as a system of views and institutions of the old society, ceases to exist. But its individual features outlive the basis which gave rise to the old superstructure and pass into the superstructure of the new society. The new superstructure takes only those elements from the old one which can serve the classes of the new society, and are consistent with their interests. For instance, a newly emerged exploiter society assimilates only those ideas of the old superstructure which vindicate exploitation and uphold political and legal institutions of the exploiters.
_-_-_^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Revolution Teaches'', Collected Works, Vol. 9, p. 146.
204The superstructure of any society also has non-- transitory features which are important for all mankind. These include man's general moral standards and the finest creations of literature and art.
Because of its continuity, the superstructure of each society is very complex. It incorporates both the ideas and institutions inherited from the old society and the ideas and institutions which grew up on its current economic basis.
The relative independence of the superstructure is also seen in that, having arisen on the economic basis, it plays an active part in the development of this basis. The ideas and institutions prevailing in an antagonistic class society protect and strengthen its basis. They justify the rule of the class which brought them into being and whose interests they are destined to defend. In antagonistic societies these ideas and institutions are the theoretical means of sanctifying and organising the struggle of the ruling class against other classes, above all against the working classes, stifling their desire for liberation from exploitation, colonial and other oppression.
Let us take, for example, bourgeois ideas and institutions. When the capitalist basis was taking root, they actively contributed to its development and consolidation and were a powerful weapon in the struggle against the feudal class. Now that the capitalist basis has been doomed by history, bourgeois ideas and institutions are used for crushing progressive forces in order to preserve it at any cost, and to prevent or at least postpone the fall of capitalism. Capitalism is still alive, above all, because its interests are guarded by the bourgeois state and law, by all the media of ideological influence which play an extremely big role in the defence of capitalism.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 4. Socio-Economic Formation---a Complex Social OrganismNow that we have studied the mode of production of material wealth, the economic basis and the superstructure of society, we can extend and deepen our ideas of the socioeconomic formation and realise that it is a complex social organism. The mode of production is the material and economic basis of a formation, its backbone, or shall we say, its 205 skeletal frame, while its economic and spiritual image is characterised by the superstructure. Consequently, production, basis and superstructure are the key links, the components of any socio-economic formation, but with distinctive features in each given formation.
Besides production, basis and superstructure a socioeconomic formation is characterised by other social features: specific historical human communities (tribe, clan, nationality, nation), mode of life, family and marriage, language, natural sciences and certain public organisations (scientific and technical, and sports). Without being parts either of the basis or of the superstructure, these features are essential components of any formation, for without them society cannot exist and develop. Indeed, can people work and think without language which is a means of intercourse and exchange of views, or to reproduce the human race without family and marriage? Of course they cannot.
As a rule, all these features are typical of all formations and are subject to profound change in the course of transition from one formation to another. The forms of human communities change: in the primitive society the typical human communities were clans and tribes, under feudalism there were nationalities, and under capitalism---nations. With the transition from capitalism to socialism bourgeois nations are replaced by socialist nations. The mode of life, family and marriage, etc., change with each successive formation. As regards language, it changes in the process of social development and can pass from one formation to another. This also applies to achievements in natural science which are also assimilated and used in everyday life and in the process of labour by people in different formations.
The social phenomena comprising a socio-economic formation are organically connected and influence each other either directly or indirectly so that a formation is a complex, developing social organism.
We have already spoken about the unity and direct interaction of the productive forces and production relations, the basis and the superstructure. The superstructure is also connected with the productive forces, though not directly but through the economic basis. Elements of the superstructure also interact: politics, for example, influences art, morality, philosophy and other forms of the 206 spiritual life of the people. Production, basis and superstructure leave their imprint on family relations, on the mode of life, etc. In a word, a socio-economic formation is wickerwork of the most diverse .social phenomena whose interaction is occasioned above all by material production which permeates all the different social phenomena, determines the role and importance of each one of them, and dominates and transforms them in conformity with its own nature.
By showing the inviolable unity of social phenomena and their material basis, the concept of socio-economic formation completely overturns idealistic and metaphysical social theories which were predominant in pre-Marxist philosophy. The concept of formation also puts an end to the non-historical, abstract views of social life and shows that there is no such thing as society in general, but only a concrete historical society, i. e., a society which, to quote Marx, stands ``at a definite stage of historical development, a society with a peculiar distinctive character''.^^*^^ Every society has its own, intrinsic productive forces, a certain type of production relations, a specific spiritual life, etc. In conformity with the general laws of history, every society also has its own, specific laws. The intrinsic laws of the communist formation, for example, are the law of planned, proportionate development of the national economy, the law of satisfying the growing requirements of people, the law of uninterrupted crisis-free development of the productive forces, etc.
Thus, the concept of socio-economic formation makes it possible to sort out all the historical formations and events. And although none of them are exact replicas of others, the concept of socio-economic formation enables us to single out what is most essential, common and recurrent, i. e., to disclose the laws of social development. This means that history is not a haphazard, chaotic conglomeration of phenomena, but a law-governed natural historic process of replacement of one socio-economic formation by another, higher and better one. At the same time the objective basis of what is common and recurrent---a historically definite _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx, ``Wage Labour and Capital'', in: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 9, p. 212.
207 type of production relations corresponding to a no less definite nature of production relations---is brought to light. ``...Only the reduction of social relations to production relations and of the latter to the level of the productive forces, provided a firm basis for the conception that the development of formations of society is a process of natural history.''^^*^^The elaboration of the teaching about socio-economic formations has made it possible to periodise history on a strictly scientific basis. The primitive-communal, slave-- owning, feudal, capitalist and communist formations are the most important stages, or periods of history, whose succession was law-governed and a natural historical necessity. Neither does history stand still within the framework of each socio-economic formation. Historical development is not only a series of qualitative changes, of gigantic leaps from formation to formation; it also moves from a lower to a higher phase within one and the same formation. Capitalism goes through two stages of development---pre-monopoly and monopoly, or imperialist. The communist formation also develops from the lower stage---socialism, to the higher---mature communism.
History also shows that not all nations necessarily pass through all the formations without exception in their development. Slav and German tribes moved from the tribal system directly to feudalism, bypassing the slave-owning system. Some peoples (in the Central Asian republics of the USSR, and in the Mongolian People's Republic) attained socialism bypassing not only capitalism, but also partially the stage of mature feudalism. But this does not refute the general objective tendency of mankind's development from one formation to another, nor does it violate the unity of the entire historical process.
The fact that the concept of socio-economic formation
discloses that which is common and recurrent in the
development of peoples in various countries and continents does
not mean that peoples in one and the same formation have
no specific features of their own. These features, for
example, manifest themselves in the uneven rates and varying
_-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``What the 'Friends of the People' Are and How They
Fight the Social-Democrats'', Collected Works, Vol. 1, pp. 140--41.
Thus, a socio-economic formation, from the point of view of the countries concerned, presents a very complex and varied picture. Moreover, history knows no absolutely ``pure'' formations. In every formation there are survivals of the past in various spheres of social activity, and also the embryos or requisites of the new formation. Large-scale capitalist production, for example, is the material prerequisite of socialism, and the working class which arose on the basis of this production is the social force whose mission is to establish socialism.
It follows that the development of society is a lawgoverned, natural historical process of humanity's movement from formation to formation. Moreover, being a tendency this movement forces its way through a mass of concrete and very diverse historical factors. Let us now investigate humanity's advance from formation to formation in greater detail.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 5. The History of Society as the HistoryHistory knows five succeeding socio-economic formations: primitive-communal, slave-owning, feudal, capitalist and communist. We shall examine them in this order.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Primitive-Communal FormationThe history of society begins with the appearance of man whose ability to make and use implements of labour sets __PRINTERS_P_209_COMMENT__ 8---389 209 him apart from animals. Labour holds the most important place in the emergence and development of man. It was in the process of labour that man himself was moulded and the forms of his social organisation arose and developed.
The primitive-communal system was the first and lowest form of organisation of people and it existed for tens of thousands of years. During this long period man succeeded in advancing from the use of objects of nature---sticks and stones---to making primitive tools. At first these were crude adzes, knives, chisels, javelins and spears, fishing hooks, etc., made of stone, wood, horn or bone. As time went on these implements were improved and carefully shaped. Then new implements appeared---bows and arrows, boats, sleighs and so on. Man learned how to make fire, which was of particularly great importance for the progress of humanity.
Together with the perfection of implements, people developed and improved their work. From the gathering of natural products (edible fruit, berries and grasses) man went over to cultivating plants, to farming, and from hunting wild animals, to their taming and domestication, to livestock raising.
The extremely low level of the productive forces under the primitive-communal system also determined the corresponding relations of production, which were based on common ownership of the means of production and were therefore relations of cooperation and mutual assistance between people. These relations were conditioned by the fact that people with their primitive implements could only withstand the mighty forces of nature together, collectively.
In primitive society people lived in groups, in clans based on consanguineous ties. They worked the communal land together with common tools, had a common dwelling which sheltered them from bad weather and wild beasts. The products they obtained were shared equally. The level of the productive forces was so low that people barely managed to obtain enough -food to survive. There was nothing that could be appropriated. Therefore, private property, classes and, consequently, exploitation did not exist.
Even in primitive society the productive forces developed steadily, though very slowly. The instruments of labour were improved and skills were gradually accumulated. The transition from stone to metal tools was a tremendous leap forward in production. The new implements---the wooden 210 plough with a metal plough-share, the bronze or iron axe, etc.---made labour more productive. It became possible to grow crops and raise livestock on a wider scale. The first big social division of labour took place when stock raising became separated from crop growing. Later the crafts (making of tools, weapons, clothing, footwear, etc.) emerged as an independent branch of production. Exchange of products began to develop.
With the growth of labour productivity the clan began to break up into families. Private property arose and the family became the owner of the means of production. However, the means of production were mainly concentrated in the hands of families of the former clan elite. Since the producer began to make more things than were necessary for his own subsistence, the possibility arose of appropriating the surplus product and, consequently, of some members of society enriching themselves by exploiting others. The spread of private property and commodity exchange speeded up the disintegration of the clan. Primitive equality gave way to social inequality. The first antagonistic classes, slaves and slave-owners, appeared.
This is how the development of the productive forces led to the replacement of primitive society by slave-owning society.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Slave-Owning FormationThe productive forces inherited from primitive society were further developed in the slave-owning socio-economic formation. The wooden and stone implements were completely superseded at first by bronze and then iron implements. The wooden plough with a metal plough-share and then the iron plough, the metal sickle and other implements increased labour productivity in agriculture. Alongside crop growing the cultivation of fruit and vegetables arose. People built canals, dykes, water-raising devices, etc. to irrigate the land, and mills to mill grain into flour. Ore mining and smelting developed, with people employing the simplest tools such as picks and hammers for mining the ore, crushing mills or mortars for crushing the ore, and primitive furnaces for smelting the metal.
The division of labour continued. In the crafts various branches emerged: metal smelting and forging, making of __PRINTERS_P_211_COMMENT__ 8* 211 weapons, clothing and footwear, weaving, tanning, pottery making, etc. More and more special tools were used by the craftsmen and a primitive lathe and bellows appeared.
Construction, shipbuilding and weapon-making became widely developed, towns grew up and commerce spread.
The development of the productive forces in the slaveowning formation was promoted by the corresponding production relations. These relations were based on the slave-owner's absolute ownership of both the means of production and the slave himself and everything he produced. The owner left the slave only the bare minimum necessary to keep him from dying of starvation.
Production relations, the economic basis of slave-- ownership, gave rise to the social superstructure: the slave-owning state with diverse institutes of coercion (army, court, officialdom, etc.) and the ideology of the slave-owners. This superstructure faithfully served its basis and protected private property and exploitation.
In the slave-owning society there existed relations of domination and subjection, cruel exploitation by the handful of slave-owners of the mass of slaves who possessed no rights at all. For a time these relations promoted the development of the productive forces, but then their potentialities were exhausted and they became an impediment to the expansion of social production. Production demanded the constant improvement of implements, higher labour productivity, but the slave had no interest in this because it would not improve his position in the least. Moreover, the slave himself---the main productive force---owing to inhuman exploitation was both physically and mentally degraded.
As time went on the contradiction between the productive forces and the production relations in the slave-owning society became extremely acute. This contradiction was manifested in slave revolts. The slaves, ruthlessly exploited and brought to sheer desperation, rose up against their enslavers. These revolts, together with raids from neighbouring tribes, undermined the foundations of the slave-owning system, and on its ruins arose a new, feudal formation.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Feudal FormationThe progressive development of the productive forces continued under feudalism. It was in this period that men 212 began to employ, in addition to their muscular strength, the power of water and wind, to make use of water- and winddriven mills, sailing ships, etc. Men learned how to produce iron out of pig iron, invented paper, gun-powder, book printing and made a number of other discoveries which played a great role in the history of mankind.
The crafts advanced further; new implements and machines were invented and old ones improved. Progress was particularly apparent in textile production in which a spinning-wheel, ribbon loom, twisting machine and other innovations were introduced. The labour of the craftsman became specialised, considerably raising productivity. With the development of the crafts and trade towns grew, some of them becoming major world craft and trading centres.
Agriculture made progress as new varieties of grain, fruit and vegetables were cultivated; the soil was tilled more thoroughly and fertilisers were introduced. Animal husbandry was extended, draught animals were employed on a wider scale and the output of animal products was increased.
The development of the productive forces under feudalism was facilitated by the feudal relations of production. These relations were based on the feudal lord's ownership of the means of production (mainly the land) and incomplete ownership of the serfs. The serfs had to work for the feudal lord and perform all kinds of labour services for him. He could buy and sell serfs, but their lives no longer belonged to him.
The production relations under feudalism, as in the slaveowning society, were relations of domination and subjection, exploitation of the serfs by the feudal lords. Nevertheless, they were more progressive, because they made the producer to some extent interested in his labour. The peasants and the artisans had their own property (the peasant could own a plot of land, a horse and other livestock, and farming implements; the artisan owned tools or simple machines) with which, after performing all feudal duties, they worked for themselves. They were interested in improving the implements and methods of farming and handicraft.
As regards feudal society's superstructure, it was in effect just as exploitative as that of the slave-owning 213 formation. The only difference was that it protected the economic and political interests of the feudal lords, and not of the slave-owners, and was designed to preserve and strengthen feudal private property and the production relations which rested on it, i.e., the economic basis of feudalism. The state apparatus and the armed forces expanded, religion became dominant in the intellectual life of society and was used by the ruling class to justify private property and the exploitation of the labouring people.
As time went on the productive forces continued to develop. A particularly big impetus to their progress was given by the great geographical discoveries at the turn of the 16th century (the discovery of America, the route to India, and so on). An international market began to take shape and the demand for various commodities increased, which handicraft production was no longer able to satisfy. Manufacture came to take the place of the handicraft workshop. Manufacture brought together under one roof a large number of workers, introduced a wide division of labour between them and thereby greatly increased labour productivity. The rise of manufacture signified the birth within feudal society of new, capitalist production and its intrinsic, opposing classes---the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
With the appearance of manufacture the productive forces came into contradiction with the feudal production relations. Manufacture demanded a free worker while feudalism tied the serf to the land; manufacture needed a broad international market, the establishment of which was hampered by the closed feudal economy, its isolation and the natural economy. It became necessary to replace the feudal relations of production with new, capitalist relations. This was accomplished by a number of bourgeois revolutions in which the main fighting force were the serfs and the lower sections of the urban population led by the bourgeoisie.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Capitalist FormationLarge-scale machine production is the specific feature of the productive forces of capitalism. Huge factories, plants and mines took the place of artisan workshops and manufactures. ``Subjection of Nature's forces to man, machinery, application of chemistry to industry and agriculture, 214 steam-navigation, railways, electric telegraphs, clearing of whole continents for cultivation, canalisation of rivers, whole populations conjured out of the ground"^^*^^---this is how Marx and Engels described the capitalist productive forces in the Manifesto of the Communist Party. In a century or two capitalism accomplished much more in developing the productive forces than had been done in all the preceding eras of human history.
This vigorous growth of the productive forces was facilitated by the capitalist relations of production, based on private capitalist ownership which gradually but inexorably ousted feudal ownership. Under capitalism the producer, the proletariat, is legally free, being attached neither to the land nor to any particular factory. He is free in the sense that he can go to work for any capitalist, but he is not free from the bourgeois class as a whole. Possessing no means of production, he is compelled to sell his labour power and thereby come under the yoke of exploitation.
The production relations and the economic basis of capitalism gave rise to a corresponding superstructure---- bourgeois ideas and institutions. The growing resistance of the working class to capitalist oppression and also the reactionary domestic and foreign policy of the bourgeoisie led to a gigantic growth of the state machinery, particularly of the armed forces and other organs of coercion. Spiritual life (political and legal views, art, morality, philosophy) is permeated with the spirit of capitalist profit, violence and inhumanity. The mission of the capitalist superstructure is ideologically to substantiate the permanence and inviolability of capitalist ownership and exploitation. The ideology of the working class arises and develops alongside bourgeois ideas and in the struggle against them.
Capitalist relations of production brought into being capitalist profit which is a great stimulus to the development of production. It is in the drive for profit that the capitalist extends production, improves machinery and production methods in industry and agriculture. These relations, however, not only determined an unprecedented _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, ``Manifesto of the Communist Party'', in: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 6, p. 489.
215 growth in production, but also gave rise to productive forces which placed the capitalist system as a whole on the brink of doom. Marx and Engels likened capital to a sorcerer, whose incantations brought into action forces so powerful that he was unable to control them.With the titanic growth of the productive forces, capitalist relations of production cease to correspond to them,and fetter their development. The deepest contradiction of the capitalist mode of production is the contradiction between the social character of production and the private capitalist form of appropriation. Production in capitalist society bears a strikingly pronounced social character. Many millions of workers are concentrated lat large plants and take part in social production, while the fruits of their labour are appropriated by a small group of owners of the means of production. This is the basic economic contradiction of capitalism.
Towards the end of the last century capitalism grew into imperialism, its highest and last stage. The main feature of imperialism is the domination of monopolies, which replaces free competition. Monopolies are large associations of capitalists who concentrate in their hands the production and marketing of the bulk of commodities. The aim of the monopolies is to extract the highest profits possible.
To this end the imperialists intensify the exploitation of the working people in their own country and in the colonies and dependent countries. Having divided up the world among themselves, the imperialists engage in a bitter struggle for its re-division.
Imperialism aggravates all the contradictions of capitalist society to the extreme, especially the contradiction between the social character of production and the private form of appropriation. This contradiction gives rise to economic crises and unemployment, causes fierce class battles between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat and constitutes the economic basis for the socialist revolution. The victorious socialist revolution abolishes the capitalist production relations and ushers in the new, communist socio-economic formation.
216 __ALPHA_LVL2__ 6. Communist Socio-Economic Formation __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]The communist socio-economic formation, as we have said earlier, passes through two stages (phases)---socialism and communism---in its development.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ SocialismSocialism is characterised by domination of public ownership of the means of production and absence of exploitation. Consequently, it cannot rise in the womb of capitalism, like the capitalist system arose in feudal society.
This does not mean, however, that socialism springs up from nothing. The prerequisites for socialism---large-scale machine production, a high degree of concentration and socialisation of labour, and a high level of science and technology---arise under capitalism. The social force destined to build socialism, namely the working class, which becomes steeled in the struggle against the bourgeoisie, organises its own party and masters scientific ideology, also forms in capitalist society.
But these prerequisites alone are by no means all that is necessary for the building of socialism. Socialism does away with private ownership of the means of production, for ever abolishes exploitation and all forms of social, national and racial oppression. For this to happen a socialist revolution and then a period of transition from capitalism to socialism are necessary. In this period the working class, which has taken power in its hands together with all the working people, consciously and in a planned way builds the new, socialist society. Nationalisation, cooperation of agriculture, industrialisation and cultural revolution---these are the main elements of Lenin's plan for socialist construction which has been successfully carried into life by the Soviet people under the guidance of the Communist Party. They have built up socialist production, and the basis and superstructure of socialism.
The foundation of socialism as that of any other society, is the production of material wealth. Socialist production is a dialectical unity of the productive forces and relations of production. Socialist industry and agriculture, transport and communications, the construction industry, and also people working in these spheres of the national 217 economy, are the productive forces of socialist society.
The technological foundation of the socialist economy consists of large-scale, constantly progressing machine industry,, based on the wide use of electricity and chemistry as well as atomic energy in some branches, and extensive mechanisation and partial automation. Heavy industry is the cornerstone of the socialist economy, the source of its might and wealth.,
The people---workers, collective farmers, technicians and engineers---are the principal element of the productive forces of socialism. In Soviet times they have accumulated vast production experience; they are successfully operating the most diverse and intricate machines, and ensuring steady technical progress and the constant growth of labour productivity.
Development of the productive forces---constant improvement of the means of production and professional skill---is a necessary requisite for the socialist economy's progress.
Socialist relations of production have arisen and are developing on the basis of socialism's productive forces. These relations are founded on social socialist ownership of the means of production. There are two forms of social property: state, i.e., property belonging to the whole people represented by the socialist state, ana co-operative collective-farm, property, i.e., the property of individual collective farms or co-operatives. Both forms of property are socialist in character and ensure the accomplishment of the tasks of communist construction. State property is the dominant form in socialist society.
Socialist ownership determines the production relations of fraternal cooperation and mutual assistance between workers. The greatest advantage of socialist production relations and their fundamental distinction from production relations in antagonistic class societies is that they preclude all exploitation of man by man.
The socialist principle of distribution according to work has been applied on the basis of socialist ownership. ``He who does not work, neither shall he eat.''
Socialist society has done away for ever with the antagonistic contradiction between the social character of production and the private form of appropriation inherent in capitalism. In socialist society, relations of production 218 conform to the character of the productive forces. Under socialism production bears a strikingly pronounced social character. Millions of people work at large industrial and agricultural enterprises. But in contrast to capitalism where the fruits of the labour of millions are appropriated by a small group of exploiters, in socialist society the fruits of labour belong to the producers, the working people themselves. The dominance of social ownership, which constitutes the basis of socialist production relations, also determines the social nature of distribution. Three-quarters of the Soviet Union's national income goes to satisfy the personal material and cultural requirements of the working people. The rest of the national income is used for expanding production, for defence purposes and for other social needs, i.e., it also belongs to the working people.
Since they conform to the productive forces, socialist relations of production afford great scope for their advance and are a powerful factor in the expansion of production. -It is not the quest for profit, but the interest of all the working people in production's progress that is the driving force behind the development of the socialist economy.
The socialist relations of cooperation and mutual assistance are most clearly evident in socialist emulation, through which the working people, displaying mass labour heroism eliminate shortcomings in their work, assist those who lag behind and make them advance to the level of the leading workers.
Socialist production relations also contain a powerful stimulus to economic progress in the form of material interest of the workers in the results of their labour. The better and more efficiently a worker, collective farmer or intellectual works, the greater is his remuneration. This also benefits society. Organic combination of personal and social interests in socialist society is an important factor in the development of production.
Thanks to the socialist relations of production, the Soviet people, led by the Communist Party, have transformed backward Russia into a country with powerful industry and agriculture. In 1978, the production of pig iron in the Soviet Union was 26 times greater than in tsarist Russia in 1913; steel, nearly 40 times; oil, 56 times; coal, 25 times; and electricity, 600 times. Socialist agriculture 219 has also made good progress and can now fully satisfy the ever increasing requirements of the country in foodstuffs and raw materials.
Socialist production relations ensure rapid economic growth in all the socialist countries. It is important to note that socialist production developed at a considerably faster rate than production in capitalist countries. In 1978, for example, socialist countries produced 23 times more industrial output than was produced on the same territory in 1937, while production in capitalist countries in that period rose by 6.2 times.
Socialist production relations are the economic basis of socialism. The necessary condition for building up the economic basis of socialism is the establishment of the workingclass state. Having concentrated all the basic means of production in its hands,'the proletarian state organises the planned development of socialist relations of production in town and country.
As distinct from the basis, some of the elements of the future socialist superstructure appear in the preceding capitalist formation. The Marxist-Leninist theory, the party of the working class, trade unions, proletarian morality, literature and art come into being during the domination of the capitalist basis and then turn into the superstructure of the socialist society. Moreover, this superstructure includes the greatest achievements in science, culture and philosophy of the preceding epochs. Yet all these elements do not make up the socialist superstructure as a totality of ideas and institutions. As a whole it is built only after the socialist basis is formed.
The socialist ideology and its institutions---the socialist state, the Communist Party, the trade unions, the Komsomol, cultural and educational, defence and other organisations---make up the socialist superstructure.
The progressive socialist basis also determines the nature of the socialist superstructure, its dynamic, revolutionary, transforming nature. Reflecting the actual course of history---mankind's inexorable advance from capitalism to communism---the socialist superstructure promotes this movement with every means and strengthens and develops the socialist basis.
The distinguishing features of the socialist society's 220 superstructure are its unity, absence of antagonistic contradictions, all of which are due to the solidity of the socialist basis. Under socialism there are no classes which entertain and spread reactionary ideas and views, and the absolute majority of the working people are interested in the further development of socialist society, in its successful advance towards communism. They are doing everything possible to strengthen the economic basis of socialism, and broaden and improve its superstructure.
The socialist superstructure is truly of the people. It expresses and protects the interests of the working people and enjoys their unremitting backing. Hence its great dynamism and its enormous influence on the development of the basis and the entire progress of socialist society. It should be noted that as Soviet society advances towards communism, the importance of the superstructure, particularly of the Communist Party and the Soviet state, its influence on the development of the basis and society in general steadily increases. This is due to the vast scale of the tasks of cultural and economic development in the USSR, the active participation of ever increasing masses in public life and the heightening role of ideological education.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Developed Socialism``In the USSR,'' states the new Constitution of the USSR which was adopted on the eve of the 60th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, ``a developed socialist society has been built. At this stage, when socialism is developing on its own foundations, the creative forces of the new system and the advantages of the socialist way of life are becoming increasingly evident, and the working people are more and more widely enjoying the fruits of their great revolutionary gains.''^^*^^
The distinctive features of developed socialism in the economic field are mighty productive forces which are utilised according to a single plan, stable rates of growth of production and of labour productivity on the basis of the latest achievements in science and technology, and a steadily rising wellbeing of the people.
_-_-_^^*^^ Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Moscow, 1977, p. 13.
221In the political field it is a genuinely democratic political system which ensures effective administration of public life, increasingly active participation of the working people in state affairs, combination of rights and freedoms enjoyed by the citizens with their duties and responsibilities to society.
In the social field---mature socialist social relations which developed on the basis of full domination of socialist ownership, the established socio-political and ideological unity of society, and the socialist way of life; a new-- historical community---'the Soviet people---has taken shape^ in developed socialist society.
In the intellectual sphere---a high level of science, culture and education, and universal spread and affirmation of the scientific, Marxist-Leninist world outlook.
Developed socialism is a society of working peoplepatriots and internationalists---with a high level of organisation, moral integrity and civic duty; a society whose law of life is the concern of all people for the wellbeing of each individual; a society in which increasingly favourable conditions for the all-round development of the individual are being formed. The stage of developed socialism is an essential fink in the chain of social transformations, a relatively long stage in society's movement from capitalism to communism.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Communism``Communism,'' in the words of the CPSU Programme, ``is a classless social system with one form of public ownership of the means of production and full social equality of all members of society; under it, the all-round development of people will be accompanied by the growth of the productive forces through continuous progress in science and technology; all the springs of co-operative wealth will flow more abundantly, and the great principle 'From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs' will be implemented. Communism is a highly organised society of free, socially conscious working people in which public self-government will be established, a society in which labour for the good of society will become the prime vital requirement of everyone, a necessity recognised by one and all, and the ability of each person will be employed to the 222 greatest benefit of the people."^^*^^
Communism fulfils the historic mission of delivering all people from social inequality, from every form of oppression and exploitation, from the horrors of war, and brings Peace, Labour, Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood and Happiness to all people on earth.
The establishment of communism in the world will bring deep changes in all spheres of life---production, social relations, culture and the way of life, people's ideas and views. Communism will provide all members of society with conditions of life which most fully meet the innermost aspirations of man and conform to the loftiest human ideals.
Communist society will be distinguished above all by a very high level of continuously expanding production and an unprecedentedly high level of labour productivity resulting from rapid scientific and technical progress. Communist society will attain the highest stage of planned economy and ensure the most purposive and rational use of material wealth and natural resources. People will be equipped with the best and mightiest technology, man's power over nature will be raised to tremendous heights, enabling him to control its spontaneous forces to a much greater extent and to employ them in his own interests. The aim of communist production will be to ensure continuous social progress, to give each member of society material and cultural necessities and comforts, satisfying his constantly growing requirements, interests and tastes.
While catering for diverse needs of the people, communism, ^owever, will not be a society of anarchy, idleness and indolence. Labour will be the chief source of its material and spiritual wealth. Under communism everyone will voluntarily work according to his ability, multiplying the wealth and reinforcing the might of society. The very nature of work will change. Labour will cease to be merely a means of subsistence and will turn into life's prime want, into genuine creative endeavour, into a source of joy and happiness.
Communism will put an end to the division of society into classes and social groups. Workers and peasants as _-_-_
^^*^^ Road to Communism, Moscow, 1962, p. 509.
223 classes will disappear as distinctions between town and country are eradicated in the social and economic spheres, in culture and way of life, and as the two forms of socialist property merge into one communist property. Manual workers will attain the cultural and technical level of intellectuals and hence there will be no intelligentsia as a separate social group under communism. Each member of society will engage in mental and manual labour, and mental and physical efforts in his work will be organically combined.All members of communist society, by virtue of their equal relation to the means of production, will be in the same position, enjoy equal conditions of work and distribution and actively participate in administering society's affairs. Harmonious relations between the individual and society will become the rule because social and personal interests will be fully combined.
Human culture will soar to unprecedented heights. The culture of communist society, inheriting and developing all the best created by world culture, will represent a new, higher stage in mankind's cultural development. It will incorporate all the diversity and wealth of spiritual life, the lofty ideals and humanism of the new society. It will be a classless, internationalist culture of all mankind.
Under communism there will be a new man, who^^1^^ will combine spiritual wealth with moral purity and physical perfection, and who will have a high communist consciousness, industriousness, discipline and devotion to society's interests. The exceptional organisation and precision demanded of man by communist production will be ensured not by compulsion but by a profound sense of civic duty. Man's development will be comprehensive and harmonious; his abilities and talents will be given full rein and will blossom forth, his finest spiritual and physical qualities will be manifested to the full.
The building of communism will signify the attainment of the Communist Party's supreme goal of building a society on whose banner will be inscribed: ``From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.'' The Party's slogan ``Everything for the sake of Man, for the benefit of Man" will be applied in full measure.
[224] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER XI __ALPHA_LVL1__ The People---the Decisive Force in SocialWe have stated earlier that society develops on the basis of its own laws, historical necessity. But social laws are always manifested through the conscious deeds and actions of people who make their own history.
Of what importance are people in the historical process, and what is the role of the people and the individual in history?
Historical materialism proceeds from the premise that the people are the makers of history. Let us find out why it is that people make history and what part the individual plays in social development.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. The People Are the Real MakersIn order to explain the people's role as the makers of history we must first be clear about what we mean by the people.
The people is not something which is immutable, that stands outside of history and is fixed once and for all. Nor is it a grey, disorderly ``mob'', ``the rabble'', hostile to any civilisation and progress, as the ideologists of the exploiting classes claim.
The people above all arc those who work; in an antagonistic class society they are the exploited. In slave society they were chiefly the slaves, and in feudal society they were the serfs and artisans. In capitalist society the people include the working class, the peasants, the working 225 intellectuals and other groups which contribute to social progress.
In an antagonistic class society the people constitute the majority of the population, but not the entire population. In contemporary capitalist society, for example, opposite the people stand the reactionary imperialist upper strata.
In socialist society the entire population---the working class, peasants and intelligentsia---are the people.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The People As the Makers of HistoryThe decisive significance of the people in the historical process stems from the determinative role played by the mode of production in society's development. Material production, as we have learned earlier, is the basis of social life, and the working people are the chief productive force. The working people consequently are the decisive force in social development, the real makers of history.
In what way is the people's role in history manifested?
The working people make history first and foremost by their productive labour.lt is they who create all the material wealth: the towns and villages, factories and mills, roads and bridges, motors and machines, clothing and footwear, food and household utensils, in a word, everything without which we could not exist.
The people are the main driving force of technical progress. Painstakingly and perseveringly, from day to day, from year to year, from century to century, often unaware of it themselves, they devised and perfected the implements of labour, and this in the final count led to radical technical revolutions, to changes in the productive forces. The development of the productive forces, in its turn, has brought about a change in the mode of production as a whole. Even under the most onerous oppression, the labour of the ordinary people created the material prerequisites for mankind's progress, for the transition to a new social system.
The people's role in history, however, is not limited to developing the productive forces and thereby preparing the material conditions for the transition to a new social system. The people are also the main force which decides the fate of social revolutions, of political and national liberation movements. The class struggle, above all the working people's struggle against their oppressors, of which the social revolution is the highest form, serves as the driving 226 force in the development of antagonistic class societies. Slave uprisings undermined the foundations of slave-owning society and were a prime cause of the transition to feudalism. The peasants and the urban poor were an important driving force in the bourgeois revolutions as a result of which feudalism gave way to the more progressive, capitalist system.
In pre-socialist societies the people did not enjoy the fruits of their labour and struggle, but their work and struggle were the principal factors which ultimately led to their emancipation' and the rise of the advanced, socialist system.
The people have made a tremendous contribution to the development of mankind's spiritual culture. ``The people,'' Maxim Gorky wrote, ``are not merely the force which has created all material values; they are the exclusive and inexhaustible source of spiritual values; they are the first and foremost philosopher and poet in point of time, beauty and genius, the creator of all the great poems that exist, all the tragedies in the world, and, greatest among these tragedies, the history of world culture.''
The people's labour, their creative endeavours are wellsprings of science and culture. Many prominent scientists and writers, artists and other leading figures in the field of culture whose great creations have enriched mankind, have come from among the ordinary people. The people create remarkable epic poems and fairy tales, songs and dances which bring the greatest enjoyment. The most outstanding artists have always taken the models for their finest works from the inexhaustible treasure-house of folk art.
By prouucing everything necessary for man to live and work, the people provide mental workers with time to engage in intellectual activities. Finally, the masses create and improve language without which communication among men and, consequently, social activity, science, culture and art are inconceivable.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Growing Role of the People in Historical DevelopmentThe people make history; they do not make it at will, but in accordance with the objective conditions, and, above all, with the mode of production which is historically determined. Since material production constantly develops from 227 the lower to the higher, the people's role in the historical process also changes. Moreover, as mankind progressively develops, the people's role in history rises. Marxism has established that the deeper the social transformations and the more important the tasks facing society, -the larger is the number of people taking part in the historical process and the greater is their activity. ``Together with the thoroughness of the historical action,'' Marx and Engels wrote, ``the size of the mass whose action it is will... increase.''^^*^^
In slave-owning and feudal socio-economic formations the working people were deprived of the most elementary human rights; their creative powers had no outlet and, consequently, could not display themselves to the full. The slave-owners and feudal lords monopolised the state administration, politics, science and art, and kept the people in darkness and ignorance, dooming them to unbearable toil. The people's activity in those days was relatively restricted and their disunited and spontaneous actions against the exploiters were ruthlessly suppressed. At that time, as Lenin noted, history could only crawl at a painfully slow pace.
The material prerequisites for the emancipation of the working people from exploitation are created under capitalism. Large-scale machine production appears along with the proletariat, the class capable of leading the people in the fight against capitalism and achieving the victory of socialism. This class creates the Communist party which is guided by the theory of Marxism-Leninism and heads the revolutionary struggle of the working people. For these reasons the people play a bigger part in life under capitalism. Millions upon millions of working people are drawn into active political struggle and this considerably accelerates the course of history.
The working people are the main driving force in the socialist revolution. In contrast to preceding revolutions in which the people simply destroyed the old social system, in the course of the socialist revolution they not only demolish the old, capitalist society, but also create the new, socialist society.
_-_-_^^*^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, ``The Holy Family'', in: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 4, Moscow, 1975, p. 82.
228The activity of the people and their role in social affairs are especially great under socialism. Socialism is consistent with the fundamental interests of the people, and that is why they are vitally concerned with building it. ``Living, creative socialism is the product of. the masses themselves,'' Lenin wrote.^^*^^ Greater activity of the people in building a new life is a law of socialist development. This has been strikingly displayed in the Soviet Union, the first country in which socialism triumphed.
The role of the people in socialist conditions greatly increases mainly due to the very nature of the socialist system, the dominance of socialist production relations. Socialist ownership, which is now firmly established in socialist countries, unites, welds together all sections of the working people and ensures their active participation in building socialism and communism.
Only socialism promotes the harmonious combination of social and personal interests and stimulates the material interest of the working people in the results of their labour. In capitalist society the working people produce the greatest material and spiritual values, and are the main participants in all progressive social movements but the great part of the fruits of their labour, their struggle and efforts are appropriated by a handful of exploiters. The situation is different in socialist society: here the workers are vitally interested in strengthening and developing the socialist system because it is the basis of their political freedom, material wellbeing and cultural progress. The people are aware that they work for themselves, for their own society, and this is the source of their enthusiasm for work, stimulates their initiative, pioneering endeavours and mass socialist emulation.
The people's role under socialism increases also because of the immensity of the tasks confronting them in building communism. The victory of communism will signify a gigantic leap in society's development, it will be a result of vast, unparalleled changes in all spheres of social life; and all this is absolutely inconceivable without the energetic participation of the millions of working people. The Soviet people are renowned for their heroism and labour exploits. _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Meeting of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee, November 1917'', Collected Works, Vol. 26, p. 288.
229 In the most difficult conditions they secured the world historic victory of socialism. They safeguarded the gains of socialism and saved humanity from enslavement in the titanic struggle against the nazi invaders in the Great Patriotic War of 1941--1945. They rehabilitated the war-ruined economy, made further progress in their creative labour, built a developed socialist society and are now building communism.The Soviet people feel the nearness of communism whose shoots are already sprouting in their life and work as a result of their owri efforts and are aware that the time when communism triumphs depends on them, on their contribution to the great cause of communist construction. Hence their colossal labour and political enthusiasm which has found its reflection in the nation-wide movement for the fulfilment of the great programme of communist construction drawn up by the CPSU.
Leadership by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is a primary factor of the people's enhancing role in socialist society. The Party equips the Soviet people with a scientific policy which is based on objective laws and takes into account the requirements of society's material life. Acting on the basis of the current production level, of the real possibilities, the Party sets the people further tasks and indicates the ways and means of accomplishing them. The Party educates the people constantly, stimulates their activities and seeks to enlist them on an ever wider scale in building the new society.
The masses are the decisive political force of our age. Proof of this are the unprecedented successes of the Soviet people who are building communism, the enormous creative enthusiasm of the peoples of other socialist countries who are building socialism, the vigorous participation of the working people in capitalist states in the struggle for democracy, social progress and socialism, and the further deepening of the national liberation movement of the peoples in the developing countries. In our day the labouring masses are ardent, consistent champions of world peace. Their struggle for peace seriously impedes the efforts of the imperialist forces to unleash another world war.
230 __ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. Society and the Individual __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]The masses are not an abstract category. They include many millions of individuals. In order to understand what an individual is, it is necessary first to establish what is a man, for individual means personality, a concrete human being.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Human EssenceEfforts to disclose the human essence were made long before Marx. But nothing came of them because philosophers entertained idealistic views of society's development. It cannot be denied, however, that 18th-century French Enlighteners and materialists conjectured that man was a product of the environment and circumstances, but it the same time they regarded the social environment as a modification of human ideas. Pre-Marxist social views therefore spun in a vicious circle: man, his thoughts and emotions were a product of the environment, while the environment was a result of the same human thoughts and emotions. This gave rise to the cult of the abstract man or ``man in general'', independent of time and space, a biological being connected with other individuals only through natural, biological relations.
Marx held an opposite view, namely that the human essence was social. Of course, nature provided the necessary biological material for the rise of man, but the transformation of this material into a human being, a human organism was brought about by social factors, and primarily by labour, by productive activity. Labour, as we said earlier, created man and also found its embodiment in the structure of the human body. Man became man not because he consists of organs, tissue and cells, because he breathes with lungs and nurses children with milk, but because he can work, think and speak, create implements of labour with which he transforms the surrounding world, nature and is capable of entering into social relations with other people.
In the course of his own development, from birth to death, the individual is humanised and socialised, i. e., he acquires human qualities per se, and comes to know his social environment that has been created by the labour and struggle of countless generations. Man cannot act in that 231 environment and assimilate its achievements and experience in isolation from other people. He becomes socialised under the influence of his relations with other people, i. e., social relations, of which he is always a link.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The IndividualMarx and Engels rejected an abstract approach to man. They showed that man is always a concrete individual, and belongs to an historically determined social formation, class, nation, a working collective, etc.
In addition to qualities common to all people such as the ability to work, think, communicate with other people by means of language, etc., the concrete man, or individual possesses the qualities of the collective to which he belongs (nation, class, party, a production collective). Besides, a concrete individual has personal qualities which together with the qualities mentioned above make him what he is, namely a concrete individual Individual qualities disclose his personality from all sides---education, occupation, skill, cultural level, family status, etc.
Numerous manifestations of life, and qualities of an individual are formed under the influence of social relations. Concrete social production and economic relations give rise to such social types of individual as slave or slave-owner, peasant or feudal lord, worker or capitalist and so forth.
Through their vehicles (class, nation, etc.) class, national and other relations inherent in society give rise to class, national and other .peculiarities of the individual which are in fact a manifestation of his social life. For instance, the working class moulds such qualities as consciousness, organisation, discipline, integrity, intolerance of capitalism and bourgeois ideology, revolutionary spirit and so on in the individual that belongs to it.
The economic and social relations predominant in society and its spiritual culture, particularly its dominating ideas form manifestations of the individual's intellectual life---his thoughts and emotions, character, interests and aims.
In their unity an individual's qualities, i. e., his diverse vital manifestations---economic, social and spiritual---are a product and an expression of the totality of diverse social relations. ``The essence of man,'' wrote Marx, ``is no abstraction inherent in each single individual. In its reality it 232 is the ensemble of the social relations.''^^*^^
A concrete man, an individual, as we have seen, is a product of the social .environment, of the society in which he lives and develops. At the same time one may well ask: why are there so many different individuals in one and the same society and why does one or another individual embody only some of the features of the given society, and not in equal measure at that?
The fact of the matter is that any society'is heterogeneous. It includes vestiges of the old, the foundations of the present and the embryos of future social relations. For instance, under socialism there are vestiges of the old, capitalist division of labour and the survivals of the past in the consciousness of people. Since the given society is heterogeneous it is natural that man is influenced by its different qualities. And though the decisive role in the formation of the individual is played by the relations which are predominant in society, man may also come under the influence of the survivals of the old socio-economic relations which breed in him feelings that are incompatible with the demands of the given society.
The society in which an individual lives and develops does not exist in isolation from societies of a different socio-economic and spiritual character. For instance, capitalism exists alongside socialism in the present epoch. And, obviously enough, in view of the very extensive development of the mass media and intensive inter-state relations alien ideas of bourgeois society penetrate the socialist world. This is yet another reason why there are individuals whose deeds and thoughts do not fully conform to social demands.
An important reason for the existence of a multitude of different individuals is that each of them lives and develops both in the given social environment (society in general) and in a micro-environment, i. e., in his direct environment, which includes the family, school, production collective, street, and so forth. The micro-environment is the prism through which the influence of the general social environment---economic and social relations, spiritual culture---is _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx, ``Theses on Feuerbach'', in: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 5, p. 4.
233 refracted. Thanks to the infinite diversity of concrete conditions making up the micro-environment, there is an endless number of variations and gradations in the make-up of the individual who comes from a common social environment, which can be explained only on the basis of an all-round investigation of these conditions.Finally, another reason for the existence of numerous individuals in one and the same society is that an individual is an active being. The measure of his activity depends on the nature of the society in general and of the micro-- environment in which he acts, and also on his personal qualities, experience, cultural level and his specific anatomical, physiological and psychic qualities (willpower, character, etc.). A -concrete individual does not passively assimilate the influence of the social environment, but does so actively and selectively, in keeping with his specific personal qualities, interests, requirements and aims.
Being a product of the social environment the individual does not dissolve in society; he is not merely a cog in the social mechanism. He forms society to the same extent as social conditions form him. It should not be forgotten that it is people who change conditions.
Let us now see how people -change conditions or, in other words, what role the individual plays in history.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. The Role of the Individual in History __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]Because Marxists recognise historical necessity, bourgeois ideologists often accuse them of denying the role of individuals, of great people, of leaders, in history. These accusations are unfounded, for Marxism far from underestimates the role of the individual. Although Marxists maintain that individuals cannot change the objective course of history at will, they admit that the individual plays no small part in social development. ``The idea of historical necessity,'' Lenin noted, ``does not in the least undermine the role of the individual in history: all history is made up of the acticns of individuals, who are undoubtedly active figures.''^^*^^ Only Marxisrn has demonstrated the real _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``What the `Friends of the People' Are and How They Fight the Social-Democrats'', Collected Works, Vol. 1, p. 159.
234 importance of the individual in social development and has also indicated the conditions in which the individual can play an important part in history.An individual makes history by his labour, political activity, will and reason, and the greater is social progress the greater the influence of the individual on society. With the development of history, the deepening and extension of historical tasks, and the progress of science, technology and culture more and more people participate in historical events and each individual plays a mounting role in the historical process and increases his contribution to the treasure-store of material and spiritual culture. The creative activity of the individual is particularly great in socialist society where there are favourable conditions for free labour and activity in various spheres of social life.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Role of Leaders in HistoryWe know that the people, the masses make history. The people are divided into classes, which in the course of the class struggle organise their own political parties from whose ranks come leaders, the most experienced, trained and active members. The role of these leaders in history consists in forming parties and organising the people, rousing them to action, setting them definite tasks and mobilising them to carry out these tasks.
The more active the parties and the masses in history are and the wider the circle of people who influence social life, the more pressing is the need for experienced, mature leaders. Without leaders the advanced class and its vanguard are incapable of gaining political power, maintaining and consolidating its political rule, building its own state and fighting their political enemies successfully. ``Not a single class in history has achieved power, without producing its political leaders, its prominent representatives able to organise a movement and lead it,''^^*^^ Lenin wrote.
The role of leaders, of ideologists is particularly great in the proletariat's revolutionary movement. For the proletariat, organisation and iron discipline, unity and cohesion are the most important means for achieving the aims _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``The Urgent Tasks of Our Movement'', Collected Works, Vo\. 4, p. 370.
235 confronting it. And an organisation is inconceivable without experienced and battle-hardened leaders. Without highly authoritative leaders, intrepid organisers and wise ideologists, the working-class movement could not have found the right ways and means of fighting the exploiters. __ALPHA_LVL3__ Why Outstanding Personalities AppearGreat people do not appear by chance but by historical necessity, when the corresponding objective conditions are ripe. Outstanding political figures, leaders of the people, come to the fore in a period of radical revolutionary changes in society, very great political actions and popular uprisings. Men of genius appear in science most often when production requires some great scientific discovery. Great artists, as a rule, display their talent at the most significant turning points in history. Moreover, a talented person will go down in history only if his talent, character and intellect are needed by society at a given stage of its development.
Many names are recorded in history, but far from all of them were really great. There were men who acted contrary to historical necessity and sought to set the clock back. These men, by expressing the interests of reactionary classes, inevitably suffered defeat together with the evil cause they championed.
A man can be truly great only if he dedicates his life and energies to society's progress, if he, without sparing any effort, works for the new, the progressive, and tirelessly helps the advanced classes of society to introduce a progressive social system.
Why is an outstanding personality capable of accomplishing such great and difficult tasks? What is the source of his strength?
An outstanding personality's strength lies above all in the strength of the progressive social movement which he champions and leads. A great man is great because he understands the objective course of the historical process, sees the requirements of society's development and knows how to satisfy these requirements, how to improve social life. An outstanding personality is strong because he serves the interests of the advanced classes, the people, and therefore enjoys their trust and support.
236The personal qualities of a great man are of no small importance. Only a man endowed with uncommon abilities and personal qualities---great intellect, inexhaustible energy, resolution and bravery---can cope with the tasks history sets him. The fuller the personal qualities of a great man correspond to social needs, the more notable and important is his role in history.
The leaders of the proletariat and all the working people, Marx, Engels and Lenin, were outstanding personalities who left a deep imprint on history. They were leaders of a qualitatively new type, splendid theoreticians and organisers of the greatest movement of the people, the revolutionary movement of the proletariat. They had resolution and bravery, unshakable inner conviction in the justice of the communist cause, love for the people and hatred for their enemies. They were closely bound up with the people, taught them and in turn learned from the people, generalising their rich revolutionary experience.
The great cause initiated by them is being successfully continued by their disciples and followers, prominent leaders of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the other fraternal Communist and Workers' parties who are heading the most powerful movement of our age, the people's movement towards communism.
Marxism-Leninism recognises the big part played by outstanding personalities in history; at the same time it is incompatible with the personality cult, the blind worship of a great man allegedly endowed with superhuman ability to make history at his own will. The personality cult runs counter to socialist ideology and seriously harms the communist movement. Marx, Engels and Lenin always opposed the personality cult and exaggeration of the role of individual leaders as well as showering praise and flattery on them. The founders of Marxism-Leninism held that only collective leadership ensures the revolutionary movement's success.
The personality cult is harmful because it belittles both the people's role as makers of history and the role of the Communist Party and its central bodies as the collective leader of the people. It fetters the development of the Party's ideological life and the creative energies of the people, and accustoms them to passively waiting for orders 237 from above. The personality cult and the consequent violations of the Leninist norms of Party and state life, of socialist law and democracy are deeply alien to the democratic nature of socialism which is characterised by sovereignty of the people, and not by the omnipotence of one individual. That was why the CPSU condemned the personality cult and resolutely liquidated its consequences.
While resolutely condemning the personality cult, Marxism-Leninism holds that it would be wrong and harmful to confuse it with the authority of leaders. Lenin wrote that ``the working class, which all over the world is waging a hard and persistent struggle for complete emancipation, needs authorities.''^^*^^ Marxism-Leninism calls for safeguarding the authority of leaders devoted to the people and to the Party, who dedicate all their knowledge and energies, their rich experience to the great cause of communism.
All historical development shows that however great an individual is, he is incapable of determining the course of history. It is the people who make history and social revolutions and produce all the material and spiritual wealth of mankind.
_-_-_^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Preface to the Russian Translation of K. Kautsky's Pamphlet: The Driving Forces and Prospects of the Russian Revolution'', Collected Works, Vol. 11, p. 412.
[238] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER XII __ALPHA_LVL1__ Classes and the Class Struggle __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]In the previous chapter we showed that the working people are the chief and decisive force in society's development. Society, however, is not homogeneous, it is made up of definite classes, social groups and social sections.
What are classes and what is their role in social development? This question is answered by the Marxist-Leninist theory of classes and the class struggle.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. The Essence and Origin of ClassesScholars knew that people were divided into classes and that the class struggle existed in society before the birth of Marxism. But, being idealists in their understanding of social life, they were unable to find the objective basis for the division of society into classes. They did not see that the reason for the class division of society should be sought in material production, the principal sphere of human activity.
A comprehensive definition of classes was given by Lenin in his work A Great Beginning. ``Classes,'' he wrote, ``are large groups of people differing from each other by the place they occupy in a historically determined system of social production, by their relation (in most cases fixed and formulated in law) to the means of production, by their role in the social organisation of labour, and, consequently, by the dimensions of the share of social wealth of which they dispose and the mode of acquiring it.''^^*^^
_-_-_^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``A Great Beginning'', Collected Works, Vol. 29, p. 421.
239The relation of a class to the means of production is its chief feature determining its place and role in social production, and also the way it obtains its income and the size of that income.
The division of society into classes is not eternal. In primitive society, there were no classes. Production was at such a low level that it yielded only means of subsistence barely enough to keep the people from starvation. There was no possibility for accumulating material wealth, for the birth of private property, classes and exploitation.
Subsequently, however, as the productive forces developed and labour productivity increased, people began to produce more than they consumed. It became possible to accumulate material wealth and appropriate means of production. Private property appeared, as a result of the increasing division of labour and growth of trade.
The development of private property in place of communal property increased the people's economic inequality. Some men, mainly the tribal nobility, became rich and seized the communal means of production. Others, deprived of the means of production, were compelled to work for those who became their owners. This was how the disintegration and the class stratification of the primitive community took place. This process was consummated in the birth of opposing classes and exploitation.
Classes arose when the primitive-communal system began to disintegrate and the slave-owning system began to take root. The antithetical position of classes in society was the source of their bitter struggle. For many centuries the class struggle was the primary feature in the development of mankind.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. The Class Struggle as the SourceThe history of antagonistic class societies is the history of the class struggle. ``Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either 240 in a revolutionary re-constitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.''^^*^^
The struggle of antagonistic classes is irreconcilable because of the basic differences in their economic and political status in society. For countless centuries the working people, whether slaves, peasants or industrial workers, have been brutally exploited by the ruling classes and it is natural that they should struggle against oppression and strive for a free and happy life.
A class society has basic and non-basic classes. The basic classes are those connected with the mode of production prevailing in society. In an antagonistic class society they are, on the one hand, the class owning the means of production and, on the other, the oppressed class standing in opposition to it. Slaves and slave-owners in slave-owning society, peasants and feudal lords under feudalism, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie under capitalism---these are the basic classes in antagonistic societies.
Antagonistic societies also have non-basic classes which are not directly connected with the prevailing mode of production (free artisans in slave-owning society, peasants in capitalist society and others), and also various social groups (the intelligentsia, clergy and others).
The class struggle in an antagonistic society takes place above all between the basic social classes. The non-basic classes and social groups usually have no line of their own in this struggle, vacillate and in the long run side with one of the basic antagonistic classes and defend its interests.
The class struggle is a mighty driving force, the source of development of an antagonistic class society. This struggle determines the development of an antagonistic society both in relatively ``peaceful'' periods and particularly in periods of revolutionary storms and upheavals.
In capitalist conditions the class struggle is an important factor in the development of the productive forces. Were it not for the struggle of the workers, for example, the capitalists would be less concerned with the development of technology. It would be much simpler and cheaper for them _-_-_
^^*^^Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, ``Manifesto of the Communist Party'', in: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 6, p. 482.
__PRINTERS_P_241_COMMENT__ 9---389 241 to extract profit by such tried and tested methods as prolonging the working day and cutting wages. But the stubborn struggle of the workers, in addition to competition between the capitalists, forces the latter to introduce new machinery and advanced technology. ``...Almost all the new inventions were the result of collisions between the worker and the employer.... After each new strike of any importance, there appeared a new machine,'' Marx wrote.^^*^^The class struggle is even more important in the political life of an antagonistic society. The struggle of the working class in the present period, for example, undermines the positions of imperialism. It is an important obstacle in the way of the imperialists' aggressive schemes, of their efforts to crush the national liberation movement, truncate or eliminate democratic freedoms and thereby retard society's progressive development.
Without the class struggle there would be no social progress. Society's progressive development is usually taster, the more stubborn and organised is the struggle of the exploited against the exploiters. The social revolution, the highest form of the class struggle, plays a particularly great part in social progress and results in the destruction of the old and the establishment of a jiew, more progressive social system.
The history of class-divided societies is one of struggle between the exploited and the exploiters.
There was a bitter struggle between the slaves and the slave-owners in slave-owning society which took on the most diverse forms from breaking tools to mass uprisings, like that led by Spartacus (first century B. C.) involving more than 100,000 slaves.
The class struggle intensified under feudalism, where the peasants and the feudal lords were the main contending classes, and the urban working people, specifically the artisans, often sided with the peasants. Uprisings turned into peasant wars in which hundreds of thousands of people were involved. These wars often spread over vast territories and lasted for many years, like Wat Tyler's Revolt in England (14th century)-, the Jacquerie in France (14th--15th _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx, ``The Poverty of Philosophy'', in: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 6, p. 188.
242 centuries), the Peasant War in Germany (16th century), the uprisings headed by Bolotnikov and Razin (17th century) and Pugachev (18th century) in Russia, the Taiping Rebellion in China (19th century), and so on.The uprisings of the oppressed in slave-owning and feudal societies, however, could not put an end to exploitation, because the conditions were not yet ripe for this. The level of production did not permit the shift to a system without exploitation and oppression. These uprisings were spontaneous and at times the rebels had no clear idea either of the common aims of the struggle or the ways of achieving them and went into battle either under a religious banner or with slogans demanding a ``good monarch''. They had no progressive theory to illuminate their road, nor their own party. As we shall see later, these conditions are only created under capitalism.
Nevertheless, the slave and peasant uprisings played a big and progressive part in history. The slaves undermined the mainstays of slave-owning society, and the serfs were one of the principal forces which brought about the fall or feudalism and the transition to the more progressive capitalist system.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. The Class Struggle in Capitalist Society __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Struggle Between the BourgeoisieThe bourgeoisie and the proletariat are the basic classes in capitalist society. In its quest of profit the bourgeoisie exploits the proletariat and this exploitation is intensified as capitalism develops. The worker's labour is increasingly speeded up and he is reduced to a mere appendage of the machine. The proletariat especially suffers from such intrinsic features of capitalism as economic and financial crises, unemployment and predatory wars.
The proletariat naturally cannot reconcile itself to all this. The nature of capitalism which robs the worker of the fruits of his labour and the worker's position in society impel him to fight the bourgeoisie. The history of capitalist society is, therefore, the history of struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. This struggle is law-governed __PRINTERS_P_243_COMMENT__ 9* 243 and is the primary source of capitalist development. The struggle of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie becomes especially intense in the epoch of imperialism when the economic and political contradictions of capitalism become extremely acute.
It is the proletariat's mission to abolish exploitation and capitalism and build a classless communist society. No other social class is able to fulfil this great and lofty task, for owing to their objective positions none of them is consistently revolutionary.
The bourgeoisie was revolutionary only when it fought the feudal lords for domination in society. But having gained power it becomes more and more reactionary, and now its sole aim is to perpetuate exploitation.
The middle sections, in particular the peasants and artisans who are quite numerous under capitalism, are also not revolutionary to the end. They hold no independent position in society and, with the development of capitalism, they become stratified. The majority of the peasants and artisans are reduced to ruin and join the ranks of the proletariat; and a negligible number break their way into the capitalist class. In the fierce class struggle the peasants vacillate. The proletariat, therefore, has the task of winning them over to its side and making them its reliable allies.
The intelligentsia (engineers and technicians, doctors, teachers, scientists and others) cannot be consistently revolutionary either. The intelligentsia is not a class and is not homogeneous. Its top echelon is recruited from the ruling classes and faithfully serves the bourgeoisie, while the bulk of the intellectuals are hired workers whose status is close to that of the working class, but they are more susceptible to the influence of bourgeois ideology.
The proletariat is the only consistently revolutionary class in capitalist society. It is connected with the most progressive form of production, machine industry, and is constantly growing and developing. The very nature of capitalist production helps unite, organise and educate the working class. In fighting for its liberation, the proletariat is capable of organising and leading all other working people who share its hatred for the capitalist system. By emancipating itself, it emancipates all other working people and abolishes for ever exploitation of man by man. On gaining 244 victory, it returns to the working people everything they produce, eliminating thereby the greatest social injustice---a social system in which a handful of oppressors appropriate the fruits of labour of the millions.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Forms of the Class Struggle of the ProletariatAs capitalism develops so does the proletariat, and the forms of its struggle against the bourgeoisie become more diverse and acute. There are three main forms of the proletariat's class struggle---economic, political and ideological.
Economic struggle, the effort of the proletariat to improve material and working conditions, is the simplest form most accessible to the workers. They demand higher wages, better working conditions, shorter hours and so on from the employers and if these demands are not met they go on strike.
The economic struggle, historically the first form of the proletariat's class struggle, plays a big part .in the development of the revolutionary movement. It helps to draw the mass of workers into the class struggle and serves as a good school of organisation for them. The class awareness of the workers and their class solidarity grow in the course of this struggle, and the first workers' organisations---trade unions, co-operatives, mutual aid funds---appear.
At the same time the economic struggle has a limited character. It is not yet the struggle of the entire working class against the bourgeoisie as a class, but clashes of groups of workers with one capitalist at a factory in a particular district or with several capitalists in one or another branch of production. Moreover---and this is the main thing---it does not affect the bases of capitalism, private property, and does not aim to overthrow the political rule of the bourgeoisie. The purpose of this struggle is not to abolish exploitation, but merely to restrict and mitigate it.
With the growth of the proletariat, the economic struggle of the workers in individual factories and districts merges into the common struggle of the working class against the capitalist class as a whole. The class struggle enters its higher, political form.
Political struggle is, in the final analysis, the struggle for the demolition of the mainstays of the capitalist system, for state power, for a working-class state.
245Through economic struggle the proletariat can somewhat improve its material conditions and wrest some economic concessions from the bourgeoisie. But it can satisfy its fundamental economic and political interests and abolish exploitation forever only by destroying the political rule of the bourgeoisie and establishing its own power.
It is to achieve this aim that the proletariat wages the political struggle, employing the most diverse means: political strikes and demonstrations, peaceful parliamentary struggle and armed struggle. All these means, however, are in the final count subordinated to preparing and carrying out the socialist revolution. The socialist, proletarian revolution is the highest stage in the class struggle of the proletariat, a decisive and sole means of abolishing capitalism and winning political power.
Of great importance in the proletariat's revolutionary movement is the ideological struggle, i. e., the struggle against bourgeois ideology which dominates in capitalist society, and the struggle for the victory of the socialist, proletarian ideology.
The development of capitalism inevitably solidifies and organises the proletariat. But to abolish, the capitalist system the proletariat must not only organise as a class, but also become conscious of its class interests, of its great historic mission. For this, revolutionary theory is needed. Due to the lack of sufficient time, means and adequate education, the proletariat was unable to create this theory. It was elaborated by intellectuals who sided with the proletariat. This new revolutionary theory was created by Marx, Engels and Lenin.
The task, however, was not only to elaborate a progressive revolutionary theory, it was necessary to spread it among the workers. Ideological struggle is consequently a struggle against spontaneity in the working-class movement, struggle for the mastery of advanced Marxist-Leninist ideology by the working masses.
Marxist-Leninist theory is constantly being attacked by bourgeois ideologists, reformists and revisionists. Therefore, the effort to keep the Marxist-Leninist theory pure and to defend it from all enemies, above all from the ideology of imperialist reaction, is also a part of the ideological struggle.
246Like the economic struggle, t,he ideological struggle is not an aim in itself; it is subordinated to political tasks, those of overthrowing the bourgeoisie and bringing the proletariat to power.
__NUMERIC_LVL3__ The Marxist Party As the Organiser and LeaderOnly the political party of the proletariat can competently lead the working people's class struggle and properly combine all its forms. The party's role is particularly great in the imperialist era when, owing to the extreme aggravation of capitalist contradictions, the socialist revolution becomes an immediate practical task.
The parties of the Second International which favoured reforms and compromise with the bourgeoisie were unable to provide proper leadership to the proletarian movement in the new historical conditions. A party of a new type, a revolutionary, Marxist party was needed and such a party was founded by Lenin.
The Marxist party is the advanced revolutionary detachment of the proletariat, its vanguard. As the highest form of organisation of the proletariat, it rallies together all its other organisations (trade unions, co-operatives, etc.), gives them a political leadership and concentrates their efforts on the single goal of overthrowing capitalism and building socialist society. ``By educating the workers' party,'' Lenin wrote, ``Marxism educates the vanguard of the proletariat, capable of assuming power and leading the whole people to socialism, of directing and organising the new system, of being the teacher, the guide, the leader of all the working and exploited people in organising their social life without the bourgeoisie and against the bourgeoisie.''^^*^^
The Marxist party is capable of fulfilling its mission as the vanguard, the advanced detachment of the working class and leader of the entire people because it is equipped with scientific Marxist theory, knowledge of the laws of social development and knows how to apply these laws to secure the revolutionary transformation of society.
As the advanced, politically conscious detachment of _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``The State and Revolution'', Collected Works, Vol. 25, p. 409.
247 the proletariat, the party constantly develops the workers' socialist consciousness and protects the working class from the influence of decaying bourgeois ideology; the party wages an implacable struggle against any attempt to falsify or ``revise'' Marxism, it develops Marxist theory on the basis of the latest scientific achievements and the practical experience of society.The Marxist party is the advanced, conscious and organised detachment of the working class bound by a common desire to apply the revolutionary ideas of Marxism-Leninism in practice. The party is intolerant of all kinds of opportunists who seek to destroy its unity, to undermine it from within and render it incapable of leading the proletariat's class struggle.
The Marxist party is a genuine people's party, it unites the finest representatives of the people and it is bound by thousands of threads with the working people. By expressing the people's innermost aspirations and selflessly defending their vital interests, the party enjoys their confidence and support. The Marxist party draws its invincible strength and support from its close ties with the people.
Such a truly revolutionary, people's party is the Communist Party of the Soviet Union which was founded by Lenin.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Bankruptcy of Bourgeois and Opportunistic TheoriesIn contrast to the Marxist theory of classes and the class struggle, bourgeois ideologists preach class peace under capitalism. They especially persist in denying the existence of classes and the class struggle in contemporary bourgeois society.
Some bourgeois sociologists declare that in present-day capitalist society there is neither exploitation nor hostile classes, that there are only social groups according to profession, education, income, age, religious and political views and a number of other features. No property relations apparently connect people belonging to these groups, and relations between them are completely harmonious. A man can easily move from one group to another at will.
Other bourgeois sociologists admit that classes exist, but maintain that in modern bourgeois society class distinctions 248 are being eliminated and classes are gradually converging into one huge ``middle'' class. They say, for example, that very shortly everyone in the United States will belong to this ``middle'' class, and that in present-day America it is difficult to find any difference between exploiters and exploited.
The ideologists of the bourgeoisie claim that the workers are no longer proletarians, that their standard of living is high, they have savings and buy shares, and therefore, like the factory owners, get the profits. On the other hand, the rights of employers are supposedly becoming more and more restricted by the state, as a result of which they play a smaller part in production.
The fables that there are no classes and no class struggle in contemporary bourgeois society invented by capitalism's apologists are echoed by reformists and revisionists who insist that there are no classes in the present-day capitalist society, that ``all are workers" there, and that in the final analysis the interests of the farmers, industrial workers, businessmen, office employees and intellectuals all coincide.
They brand Lenin's definition of classes as ``obsolete'' and replace it by concepts like ``group'', etc. People, they maintain, unite in groups not according to their relation to the means of production, but according to other, secondary considerations. By denying the existence of classes, the revisionists renounce the class struggle and believe that workers should not fight against the bourgeoisie in our day and age but must promote technical progress which will supposedly place power in the hands of the people automatically without the class struggle and revolution.
The apologists of the bourgeoisie and their reformist yes-men spread fraudulent theories about the absence of classes and the class struggle in contemporary bourgeois society and proclaim an era of ``class peace'', ``social partnership" and ``harmony of labour and capital'', in order to mislead the working class, make the workers think that the class struggle against the bourgeoisie is futile and direct the working-class movement along the reformist path.
What is the actual state of affairs?
It is quite true that the standard of living of some workers in the US, above all the upper section, is high, particularly in comparison with that of the working class in other 249 capitalist countries. But we must not forget that far from all American workers enjoy this high standard.
In the USA in 1975 an estimated 33.2 million Americans, or 17.3 per cent of the population lived below the official ``poverty line''. At the same time one per cent of the population accounted for 25 per cent of the national wealth. Forty people had capitals ranging from $200 million to $1,500 million.
Some American workers have savings. But what is their share in the total savings? Half of the population owns only one per cent of the savings, while the other half owns the remaining 99 per cent.
Some American workers own shares as well But the market value of all the shares they own only amounts to 0.2 per cent of the value of all the shareholdings in the United States and is only one-tenth of the value of the shares owned by one family of the financial oligarchy, the Du Ponts.
In the face of these facts, how can they speak of the disappearance of classes, of the ``great American middle class''! The United States is a country of vast social contrasts and deep social contradictions. In most of the other capitalist countries the working people are in a much worse position than in the United States and the contradictions between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat are deeper and sharper.
It is beyond doubt that capitalist ownership prevails in contemporary bourgeois society; consequently there exist antagonistic classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, and the fierce struggle between them continues.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Class StruggleThe class struggle of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie in. the capitalist countries is now waged at a new stage of capitalism's general crisis, when the world socialist system is turning into the decisive factor of world development. This situation has now become more favourable for the working-class movement due to the successes of the Soviet Union and the entire world socialist system, the deepening of the crisis of world capitalism, the growing influence of the Communist parties among the people, and 250 the ideological, bankruptcy of reformism. The possibilities for the working-class movement have been further extended by the people's dissatisfaction with the reactionary policy of the imperialists, particularly the fanning of war psychosis and the arms race, the main brunt of which is borne by the people. More and more people are becoming convinced that socialism is the only way out of their predicament and this creates favourable conditions for drawing them into the active struggle against the bourgeoisie. The power of the proletarian movement is multiplied by the achievements of the socialist system, which clearly show socialism's advantages over capitalism. These achievements inspire the workers in the capitalist countries in their struggle and make them confident in the coming victory of socialism.
The struggle of the proletariat for socialism is now combined with the movement of the peoples for peace, national independence and democracy, and this is the main specific feature of the working-class movement today. We shall examine contemporary democratic movements in greater detail further on.
In the struggle for its rights, for democracy and socialism, the proletariat employs the most diverse methods: strikes, demonstrations, meetings, conferences and so on. It also resorts to parliamentary struggle.
The traditional form of struggle, the strike, is the most widely used method in present-day conditions. The fact that the strike movement in the capitalist countries is growing in size and strength refutes the assertions of bourgeois and reformist scribblers about the harmony of the interests of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. In 1976, more than 60 million working people took part in strikes in the capitalist world as compared with 36 million in 1965.
The demands of the workers, it should be noted, go beypnd purely economic bounds and acquire a political character. The working class and its revolutionary vanguard, the Marxist parties, direct their main blow at the capitalist monopolies, the bulwark of reaction and aggression, which bear direct responsibility for the arms race and the hard lot of the working people.
A distinctive feature of the contemporary working-class movement is that the workers acquire more and more allies in their anti-monopoly struggle. Their traditional ally is the 251 peasantry which is a major political force. The middle urban strata (petty entrepreneurs, artisans and traders) are defending their interests with increasing determination. As a result of the scientific and technical revolution the army of hired labour is being steadily swelled by the intelligentsia whose interests are becoming more and more linked with the struggle of the working class for democracy and socialism. Young people are displaying increasing activity: realising that they have no future under capitalism, the progressive part of the young people and students fight not only for their own rights but also against the mainstays of capitalist society. Masses of believers and women also oppose the monopolies.
The exceptionally broad-scale and considerable intensification of the political activity of the working people in the struggle against imperialist reaction, for peace, democracy and socialism is a typical feature of the contemporary workingrdass movement.
The growth of Communist and Workers' parties convincingly attests to the profound change that has taken place in the consciousness of the working people. More than 60 years ago, when the Bolshevik Party led by Lenin rallied the people for the battle against capitalism, there were only 400,000 Communists in the world. Now the communist movement has tens of millions of fighters and is the most massive and influential political force.
The reactionary imperialist circles employ the most brutal measures against the communist and democratic movement. They increasingly resort to methods of open dictatorship by the monopoly bourgeoisie, abolish the remaining elements of democracy and use an old means to suppress the people, a ``strong-hand'' government. Ominous symptoms of fascism are appearing in some capitalist countries.
The broadening of the social base of the revolutionary movement creates a firm foundation for the united antimonopoly front. ``In the course of anti-monopolist and antiimperialist united action,'' states the Document of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties which took place in Moscow in 1969, ``favourable conditions are created for uniting all democratic trends into a political alliance capable of decisively limiting the role played by the 252 monopolies in the economies of the countries concerned, of putting an end to the power of big capital and of bringing about such radical political and economic changes as would ensure the most favourable conditions for continuing the struggle for socialism. The main force in this democratic alliance is the working class.''^^*^^
Imperialist reaction and its henchmen in the labour movement, the anti-communist Right-wing Social-- Democratic leaders and also opportunists of all shades, impede working-class unity, pursue a splitting policy, distort the essence of Marxist-Leninist theory and try to discredit the communist movement. In view of this, it has become highly important at the present stage to fight opportunist tendencies in the working-class and communist movement and resolutely overcome Right and ``Left'' revisionism inasmuch as neither the one nor the other is compatible with the basic principles of Marx ism-Leninism. Right or ``Left'' deviations from the Marxist-Leninist line are particularly dangerous when they are connected with manifestations of nationalism and hegemonism.
Consistent defence of the unity of the international working-class and communist movement and prevention of any actions which could undermine this unity are necessary conditions for victory in the struggle for national independence, democracy and peace, for the successful accomplishment of the tasks of the socialist revolution, socialist and communist construction.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 4. Classes and the Class Struggle in the TransitionWe know that an implacable struggle has been going on between the exploited and the exploiters ever since the birth of private ownership of the means of production and antagonistic classes. This struggle ultimately leads to the socialist revolution, as a result of which the rule of the bourgeoisie is replaced by the government of the working people, the dictatorship of the proletariat. This ushers in the transition period from capitalism to socialism.
_-_-_^^*^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, Moscow 1969, Prague, 1969, p. 27.
253 __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Class Struggle During the TransitionThe class struggle in the period of transition from capitalism to socialism is inevitable. The overthrown bourgeoisie will not reconcile itself to its loss of power to the working men it has exploited for decades; the bourgeoisie will not forgive these people for having encroached on its holy of holies, private property. The bourgeoisie simply cannot believe that an end has come to its idle, carefree life which seemed eternal and inviolable, to its wealth, privileges and unlimited rule. That is why it resists the new, proletarian power so frenziedly and with such fanatical obstinacy.
In this period the bourgeoisie employs every means in the struggle against the proletariat. Making use of its economic positions, former ties with the top intellectuals, civil servants and army leaders, it tries to disrupt the country's economy, the functioning of state institutions and' the defence. It also strives to influence the minds of the people. Lastly, in order to restore capitalism, it launches an overt armed struggle against the working people, placing its main hopes on the help of international capital. History (the campaign of fourteen imperialist powers against the young Soviet Republic, the intervention of the imperialists in Korea, the events in Hungary in October 1956, etc.) shows that the victorious proletariat is compelled to wage a bitter struggle not only against the capitalists of its own country but also against -the reactionary international bourgeoisie.
In other words, the dictatorship of the proletariat does not eliminate the class struggle which continues in the transition period as well. But this struggle is waged in conditions when the proletariat has political power and controls key positions in the economy. The forms of the class struggle change correspondingly. ``The dictatorship of the proletariat,'' Lenin wrote, ``is not the end of the class struggle but its continuation in new forms. The dictatorship of the proletariat is class struggle waged by a proletariat that is victorious and has taken political power into its hands against a bourgeoisie that has been defeated but not destroyed, a bourgeoisie that has not vanished, not ceased to offer resistance 254 but that has intensified its resistance.''^^*^^
The new forms of the class struggle in the period of transition from capitalism- to socialism are: suppression of the resistance of the exploiters and this does not exclude the use of force, struggle to emancipate the peasant from the influence of the bourgeoisie and draw him into socialist construction, enrollment of bourgeois specialists to work in the national economy, and educating the people in the spirit of socialist discipline.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Attitude of the Proletariat to the Use of ForceThe implacable struggle of the working class and the peasants against the defeated but resisting bourgeoisie is a major factor in social development in the transition period from capitalism to socialism. This struggle ultimately leads to the complete abolition of the social roots of the bourgeoisie as a class and to the establishment of a-society without exploitation of man by man.
What means does the working class use to overcome the resistance of the bourgeoisie and what is its attitude to the use of force?
Bourgeois ideologists portray the dictatorship of the proletariat as a reign of unrestricted terror and destruction and claim that the proletariat uses force, armed struggle, as the sole means of fighting the bourgeoisie. In reality, however, Marxism-Leninism, both in theory and in practice, proceeds from the principle that different methods, both forcible and peaceful, can be used to overcome the resistance of the bourgeoisie.
The proletariat is the most humane class of our age. It strives to preserve and to enhance the achievements of human culture, to raise the level of production and to protect the principal productive force---man, the working people. That is why the proletariat is vitally interested in peaceful transition from capitalism to socialism. The peaceful way safeguards huge material values, saves many human lives and therefore, as Lenin wrote, is the most painless, easiest and most advantageous path for the people to follow.
_-_-_^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Foreword to the Published Speech 'Deception of the People with Slogans of Freedom and Equality''', Collected Works, Vol. 29, p. 381.
255But whether the socialist revolution will develop peacefully or non-peacefully after the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat does not depend on the will of one or another class and even less so of an individual, but above all on the objective correlation of class forces in the given country, and particularly on the strength of the resistance of the bourgeoisie or on its willingness to make concessions.
If the forces of the victorious working class and its allies are far superior to the forces of the bourgeoisie, it will realise that armed resistance is futile and will prefer, as Lenin said, to ``save its heads'', and the revolution then can follow a peaceful path. If, on the other hand, the bourgeoisie does not submit to the demands of the new authority and resorts to arms in an attempt to reverse the course of history, the working class has no option other than to crush the resistance of the bourgeoisie by armed force, for in the circumstances this is the only thing it can do to safeguard its gains and the vital interests of all working people.
In the Soviet Union, the first country of the socialist revolution, the bourgeoisie tried to regain its lost power, property and privileges by force of arms and enlisted the armed assistance of international capital. In these conditions the working class had to resort to force to smash the bourgeoisie. The suppression of the bourgeoisie by force of arms, the civil war, was a specific form of the class struggle in the Soviet Republic during the transition period.
The experience of the European socialist countries, however, has shown that forcible suppression of the bourgeoisie is not always a necessary form of the class struggle in the transition period. There was no civil war in these countries because real power was on the side of the proletariat. The main positions of the reactionary forces in these countries had already been destroyed in the course of the liberation struggle against German fascism, while the remaining part of the bourgeoisie, not possessing sufficient strength, did not venture to offer armed resistance to the people's government.
The acuteness of the class struggle in the transition period differs not only from country to country, but also in one and the same country at different periods of its development The experience of the Soviet Union and other 256 socialist countries shows that as the dictatorship of the proletariat is consolidated and socialist construction makes headway, the balance of the class forces steadily changes in favour of socialism with the result that the resistance offered by the remnants of the hostile classes grows weaker. This is the general tendency in the class struggle in a country in the transition period from capitalism to socialism.
Acting on the principle that the class struggle can acquire diverse forms in the transition period, the proletariat and its Marxist party set themselves the aim of mastering all forms of class struggle and applying those which best correspond to the concrete situation, to the objective correlation of the class forces.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 5. The Class Composition of Socialist SocietyWith the completion of socialist construction in the Soviet Union, the class composition of Soviet society radically changed. Private ownership of the means of production and the exploitation of man by man were abolished for ever. The exploiting classes disappeared both in town and country.
There remained two friendly classes, the working class and the collective-farm peasantry, plus the working intelligentsia all of which basically changed in Soviet times.
The working class was no longer the proletariat which had been exploited and deprived of all rights under capitalism. Together with all the other people, it owns the means of production and is the true master of the country. The working class has grown numerically since the establishment of Soviet power: in 1978, it totalled 75.7 million people, compared with 9.8 million in 1913, 23.7 million in 1940 and 64.3 million in 1970. Its cultural, technical and educational standards have risen greatly and so has its political activity. Being the main productive force of the society and its most revolutionary, disciplined, organised and conscious class the working class in developed socialist society holds the leading place in the social structure, in the entire system of social relations.
The collectivisation of agriculture and the cultural revolution changed the position of the Soviet peasants beyond 257 recognition. From a disunited, downtrodden class, exploited by the landlords and kulaks, the peasants became a genuinely free class.
Collective labour for the benefit of the country brought the peasant out of his age-old isolation, helped him overcome his private-owner psychology and fostered a spirit of collectivism, friendship and cooperation in him. Its culture and technical knowledge grew immensely. The extensive use of modern machinery necessitated the training of large contingents of farm-machine operators whose labour differs little from that of the workers.
The intelligentsia too has changed greatly. The Soviet intelligentsia, the majority of whom come from the ranks of the working class and the peasants, is inseparable from the people and serves them loyally and selflessly. The ranks of the intelligentsia, particularly technical and scientific, are swelling rapidly as a result of the growth and improvement of production, and progress in science, technology and culture. In 1978 alone, the national economy received 1,999,000 specialists, of whom 771,500 had a higher education and 1,228,400 a specialised secondary education.
Class relations, of domination and subordination have been abolished for ever in the Soviet Union; there are no privileged classes or groups in it and all members of society have an equal relation to the means of production; therefore exploitation, the appropriation of someone else's labour is impossible. Each has an income that depends on the amount of work he puts in, and not on capital invested.
Since there are no exploiters and exploited but only working classes and social groups in socialist society, there is no class struggle. A solid alliance of the working class, the collective-farm peasantry and the people's intelligentsia has been formed.
The social, political and ideological unity of the Soviet people has been formed in socialist society. This unity has its source in the community of the basic economic and political aims of the working class, the peasants and the intelligentsia, in their unanimous striving to build communist society which will bring them the greatest material and cultural benefits. This community of interests enables the Soviet people to act together, harmoniously, in order to 258 overcome by concerted effort thd hardest trials and to accomplish tasks of great historic importance. The strength of millions of people, bound by their community of interests, welded together by unity of action and inspired by the mighty ideas of communism, constitutes a great, indestructible force.
The class composition of Soviet society is mobile: it is moving from class differentiation towards social homogeneity, and class distinctions are being overcome.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 6. Ways of Eliminating Class Distinctions __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]Socialist society has two friendly classes, the working class and the peasants. This is because under socialism two forms of socialist property---state and co-operative collective-farm---are preserved, as a result of which essential distinctions between town and country remain. Under socialism there is also the intelligentsia, a large and important social group which owes its existence to the still existing essential distinctions between manual and mental labour.
That is why the process of eliminating both class differences and the distinctions between the intelligentsia, on the one hand, and the workers and the peasants, on the other, actually entails the abolition of the distinctions between town and country, between mental and manual labour. ``The Party's policy,'' notes the Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 24th CPSU Congress, ``is directed towards helping to bring the working class, the collective-farm peasantry and the intelligentsia closer together, and gradually erasing the essential distinctions between town and countryside and between brainwork and manual labour. This is one of the key sectors in the building of a classless communist society.''^^*^^
Social distinctions in Soviet society are gradually erased on the basis of the steady development of the productive forces and socialist production relations and their development into communist relations.
_-_-_^^*^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, Moscow, 1971, p. 87.
259 __ALPHA_LVL3__ Ways of Eliminating the Essential DistinctionsUnder capitalism, the town ruthlessly exploits the country, and there is consequently an irreconcilable antithesis of interests. Socialism removed the antithesis between town and country, but essential distinctions between them remain as regards the economy, culture and way of life. The main reason is that in town, in industry, property belongs to the state, to the whole people, while in the countryside, in collective-farm production, group, co-operative and collectivefarm property prevails. Moreover, the countryside is somewhat behind the town in the cultural level and its way of life differs.
In the course of building communism collective-farm property is further consolidated and developed, and gradually draws closer to the property of the whole people. This process takes place as the technical facilities of the collective farm grow, causing agricultural labour gradually to become a variety of industrial labour. Greater mechanisation steadily raises labour productivity and agriculture's efficiency, and this leads to a further increase in the incomes of the collective farms and the collective farmers. The amounts and the forms of labour remuneration received by the collective farmers are drawing closer to the amounts and forms of labour remuneration of urban workers at factories.
The changes in the nature of agricultural production alter the face of the countryside, improving the way of life of the peasants and raising their cultural standard. Inter-- collective farm and state and co-operative associations specialising in the production or processing of specific types of farm products are being set up in the countryside. They greatly resemble urban industrial enterprises in terms of their technical equipment and the high qualification of their workers.
Large-scale construction of canteens, kindergartens and nurseries, bakeries, shops and various service establishments is underway in the rural areas. Housing construction has also assumed extensive proportions, and more and more urbantype houses with central heating, water supply, and all other amenities are being built. The collective farm villages are gradually turning into modern, urban-type settlements.
260The collective farms are investing large funds in the construction of cultural centres, clubs, libraries, schools, stadiums, playgrounds, etc. The book and the radio, telephone and TV are permanent features of collective-farm life. Universities of culture, people's theatres, music schools, and amateur arts are increasingly spreading in rural areas.
Town and country are drawing together also as a result of the change in vocational composition of the population. A large number of engineers, technicians, agronomists, livestock experts and farm-machine operators have become residents in the countryside. More and more teachers, doctors and other specialists serve rural areas.
As the Soviet Union draws nearer to communism, living conditions of the urban population will greatly improve. The negative aspects of urban life will be eliminated, and people will have more air, light and greenery. In this respect their working and living conditions will draw closer to those in the countryside.
That is how the essential distinctions between town and country are being removed. Once this is achieved, the division of society into the working class and the peasantry will disappear for ever.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Ways of Eliminating the Essential DistinctionsThe vast majority of mental workers, intellectuals, have served the ruling classes for centuries and helped to oppress the working people, the manual workers. This further deepened the age-old antithesis between manual and mental labour. Socialism has abolished this antithesis as well. Soviet intellectuals are working for the good of their socialist country hand in hand with the manual workers, the workers and the peasants. Under socialism, however, essential distinctions between manual and brain workers still remain: the cultural and technical level of the workers and peasants still lags behind the cultural level and the technical knowledge of the intelligentsia. To obliterate this distinction it is necessary to raise the culture and technical education of the workers and peasants to the level of the intelligentsia. This task is being accomplished in the period of full-scale communist construction.
261The main means of solving this problem is technical progress and the attendant change in the nature of labour itself. Technological progress, the introduction of new complex and highly efficient machines, automation and complete electrification of production, the use of atomic energy and the wide application of the achievements of chemistry and other sciences demand not only a great number of special technical skills from the workers, but also an advanced general education and knowledge of the fundamentals of science. Technical progress is indissolubly bound up with the general cultural and technical advance of the workers and peasants. It is primarily in the process of labour, the main sphere of human activity, that a member of communist society, an all-round developed individual will be moulded.
The system of public education also plays its part in eliminating the distinctions between mental and physical labour. This system is developing and improving, and establishing still closer ties with productive labour in order to enhance the education of the rising generation and the training of specialists for all the branches of the economy. The Soviet Union is broadening the network of correspondence and evening higher and secondary specialised educational institutions, general education schools, various schools of innovators, courses for agronomists and livestock specialists, and schools for farm-machinery operators so that an ever increasing number of workers and peasants will be able to enhance their professional qualifications and cultural standards. It was not by chance that of the total number of people employed in the national economy in 1977 more than 75 per cent had a higher or secondary (either complete or incomplete) education. The transition to universal secondary education has been completed in the main.
The Communist Party and the Soviet Government have taken .care to give the people the free time necessary for gaining more knowledge and raising their cultural level. Measures for reducing the working day are being carried out In 1967 it was decreed that industrial and office workers in the USSR should have two days off a week, a 41-hour working week retained.
When communism is built there will no longer be any 262 essential distinctions between mental and manual labour. Both the narrow, specialised mental labour and the purely manual labour will disappear in communist society. A qualitatively new type of labour will arise in which the physical and mental activity of the members of communist society, people of all-round development, will be harmoniously blended.
[263] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER XIII __ALPHA_LVL1__ Historical Forms of Social Communities __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]We know that in addition to the mode of production, basis and superstructure a socio-economic formation includes definite historical communities of people---gens, tribe, nationality and nation. Let us examine these communities.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. Gens, Tribe, Nationality, Nation __ALPHA_LVL3__ Gens and TribeA gens is a historical community of people who are united by blood relationships and certain economic ties, and who jointly protect common interests and combat the elements. The economic basis of a gens was collective ownership and use of the means of production. Its members worked together and together consumed the means of livelihood they produced. A gens was headed by a council made up of all the adult men and women who elected or removed the leaders---elders and military commanders.
In the initial stage of the development of the gens its members were those whose descent was reckoned through the mother (matriarchate). Later when the labour of men became socially more important, particularly with the spread of stockbreeding and tilling, the matriarchate was replaced by patriarchate. The father tried to leave the family property to his heirs and the gens' property gradually became separated from collective, clan property.
Several gentes would unite into a tribe characterised not only by a common ancestry, but also a common language and territory.
The gens and tribe existed under the primitive system 264 and played a tremendous role in the development of society: people settled almost throughout the planet and laid the foundation for mankind's material and spiritual, culture.
With the development of production and the rise of a class society and the state, blood relationships gradually fell apart and the gens and tribe gave way to a new historical community of people---the nationality. But the survivals of the tribal system persist for a long time and in some Asian and African countries they have remained to this day as a result of the imperialist colonial policy.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ NationalityAs an historical community of people nationality is more typical of the slave-owning and feudal systems. Unlike the gens it is not based on consanguinity, but above all on common territory, language and culture. Nationalities emerged mainly as a result of the union of kindred tribes.
The common territpry and community of language and culture typical of a nationality rested on a definite material foundation---natural, primarily agricultural economy with no social division of labour worth mentioning, peasant crafts and, later, manufacturing. Yet a nationality was not a sufficiently durable community of people because under the slave-owning system and feudalism the development of country-wide economic ties, without which close, stable connections between people could not emerge, was impossible. There were, of course, exchange of commodities and markets in the slave-owning society and under feudalism, but they were merely of local importance and were incapable of overcoming economic and political disunity.
Some nationalities, that emerged in the slave-owning system and in a number of countries under feudalism, have remained under capitalism and socialism but they have acquired specific capitalist or socialist features.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ NationThe disunity characteristic of feudal society disappears in the course of capitalist development and a single national market is formed as a result of which nationalities turn into 265 nations. ``Nations,'' wrote Lenin, ``are an inevitable product, an inevitable form, in the bourgeois epoch of social development.''^^*^^
A nation, like a nationality, has such features as common territory, language and culture. But as distinct from nationality it is a durable community of people and, as Lenin noted, it owes its durability to ``profound economic factors''.^^**^^
Community of economic life is a key feature of a nation. It is the economy, economic links that unite people living on common territory and having a common language into a single whole, into a nation. Economic and political development fosters a common psychology which is manifested in the historical traditions of a nation and in its distinctive culture and mode of life.
Nations are not races. Racial distinctions are certain external biological traits such as the colour of skin, the shape of the eyes, and others. On the basis of these distinctions humanity has been divided into three basic races: white, yellow and black.
Imperialist ideologists claim that the economic, political and cultural level of one or another people, or the position of a person in society depend on racial traits. They talk a lot about the ascendancy of the white race which, they say, has been assigned by nature itself to dominate the ``coloured'' races. But historical experience and scientific data prove that people of all races have equal abilities. As regards the backwardness of some peoples which do not belong to the white race, it is not due to the colour of their skin or hair, as bourgeois ideologists assert, but to the centuries of colonial oppression by the white exploiters. Now that they have cast off the imperialist yoke, the peoples of the former colonies and dependencies are successfully developing their economy and culture. Particularly rapid progress is being made by the socialist-oriented countries.
_-_-_^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Karl Marx'', Collected Works, Vol. 21, p. 72.
^^**^^ V. I. Lenin, ``The Right of Nations to Self-Determination'', Collected Works, Vol. 20, p. 397.
266 __ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. Nations and National Relations in Capitalist Society __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]Although the working class and other sections of working people make up the overwhelming majority of a nation in capitalist society, it is the bourgeoisie that plays the dominating role in it. All the means of production, state power and the mass media are in its hands. That is why bourgeois economy, politics and ideology in the main determine the image of a nation in capitalist society. The domination of economically and militarily more powerful nations over the weaker ones is consistent with the laws of development of bourgeois nations. This accounts for the fact that the development of nations under capitalism is inseverably connected with the intensification of the liberation struggle of the oppressed peoples. The national question, i.e., the question of the ways and means of the liberation of the oppressed nations, abolition of national oppression and the establishment of equal relations between nations is particularly acute under capitalism and is one of the main issues of social progress.
The content of the national question is not the same at various stages of capitalist development. In the period of the rise of capitalist society this question did not, as a rule, transcend the limits of individual stales. It was Russia, Austria-Hungary and some other multinational states, where some nations oppressed others, that were the main arena of the national liberation struggle. There the national question was in essence a question of national minorities, of their struggle for liberation and the right to establish their own statehood and economy, and foster their own culture.
National relations changed with the advent of the epoch of imperialism. The world split into a handful of dominating nations---the more advanced capitalist countries---and the majority of colonial and dependent nations and countries. Lenin regarded the division of nations into those that oppressed and those that were oppressed as ``basic, significant and inevitable under imperialism''.^^*^^ The colonial system of imperialism came into being. Having entered the imperialist stage, capitalism, which at the dawn of its history helped _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Social Revolution and the Right of Nations to Self-Determination'', Collected Works, Vol. 22, p. 147.
267 the peoples to throw off the feudal and clerical yoke, turned into the greatest oppressor of nations and mercilessly suppressed the independence of peoples. Thus, the content of the national question changed and became much broader. It ceased to be an internal matter of a state and turned into an international issue bearing on the future of hundreds of millions of people.Under imperialism the national question is no longer a question of national minorities within the boundaries of one state, but a national-colonial question. Above all it is a question of the people's struggle against the colonial rule, of their liberation and 'development along the road of progress.
Noting the importance of the national question, Marx, Engels and Lenin did not regard it, however, as the fundamental question of the revolutionary movement. They always subordinated it to what is the most important in Marxism---the teaching of the dictatorship of the proletariat---and viewed it from the standpoint of the interests of the interna; tional proletarian movement, the struggle for peace, socialism and social progress. They proceeded from the assumption that the national question as a whole could not be solved under capitalism, but only under the rule of proletariat, in a socialist society.
Lenin discovered two contrasting trends in the development of national relations under capitalism. One of them is manifested in the awakening to national life and in national movements, in the struggle against all national oppression and in the rise of national states. The other is expressed in the development of relations between different nations, in the destruction of national barriers, and in the formation of a single economy, of a world market. The first trend is predominant in the epoch of rising capitalism, the other, in the epoch of imperialism.
Both trends are consistent with social development and are progressive in terms of their inner historical meaning. But under capitalism they assume ugly forms that are incompatible with their objectively progressive content. Imperialism creates giant international banks and trusts and an all-embracing world economy, and increasingly unites, internationalises society's economic, political and cultural life. But this drawing together, ``rapprochement'' of nations under the domination of capitalist monopolies can take 268 place only through violence, colonial plunder and the oppression of peoples by others that are more advanced and powerful. Under imperialism whole nations, big and small, and vast continents fell prey to the colonial expansion of a handful of imperialist predators who used the most brutal methods to crush all the efforts of the oppressed peoples to liberate themselves. It follows that the trend of the nations to draw together, to unite under capitalism directly contradicts the trend towards national independence and the formation of national states.
The above trends in the development of national relations are reflected in bourgeois ideology and policy and manifest themselves in the form of nationalism. Being intolerant of all manifestations of bourgeois nationalism, Marxism-Leninism at the same time draws a line between the nationalism of the dominating nations (Great Power chauvinism and racialism) and the nationalism of the oppressed nations. The ideology of Great Power chauvinism and racialism which justifies the domination of one nation over another is absolutely reactionary and is unconditionally rejected by the working class. On the other hand, the nationalism of the oppressed nations contains the progressive tendency of fighting for independence, against imperialism, and is therefore supported by the proletariat. ``The bourgeois nationalism of any oppressed nation,'' Lenin wrote, ``has a general democratic content that is directed against oppression and it is this content that we unconditionally support.''^^*^^ Such, for instance, is the nationalism of some Asian and African countries today. This nationalism owes its progressive nature to the struggle against imperialism and colonialism, against feudal reaction and backwardness, a struggle which awakens the self-awareness of the people, of millions of peasants in the first place.
It should not be overlooked that the progressive trend in the nationalism of the oppressed nations cannot be permanent. It is transitory because the historically progressive role of the national bourgeoisie in the national liberation movement is also transitory. Hence, when it supports the liberation struggle of the oppressed peoples, the party of the _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``The Right of Nations to Self-Determination'', Collected Works, Vol. 20, p. 412.
269 working class strives to rid the working people of the influence of nationalism, for bourgeois nationalism is incompatible with proletarian internationalism. By disclosing the decisive role played by the class struggle in any social movement, including the national movement, and appealing for the unity of the proletariat of all countries, a Marxist party overcomes the ideology of bourgeois nationalism and asserts proletarian internationalism in the consciousness of the working people. __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Collapse of Colonialism---aIn the face of inhuman exploitation by the imperialist predators the peoples of the colonies and dependent countries launched a liberation struggle against colonial oppression, for freedom and national independence.
The Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia which awakened the colonial world and drew the colonial peoples into the general stream of the world revolutionary movement gave a mighty stimulus to the national liberation movement. The Soviet Union, the world's first socialist state, became an inexhaustible source of political and moral support for the oppressed.
The new correlation of forces on the international scene after the Second World War, the triumph of socialist revolutions in a number of European and Asian countries, and the emergence of the world socialist system created especially favourable conditions for the successful national liberation struggle of the peoples. Imperialism suppressed the national independence and freedom of the majority of the peoples and put the fetters of brutal colonial slavery on them, says the CPSU Programme, but the rise of socialism marks the advent of the era of emancipation of the oppressed peoples. A powerful wave of national liberation revolutions is sweeping away the colonial system and undermining the foundations of imperialism. Young sovereign states have arisen, or are arising, in one-time colonies or semi-colonies.
Radical changes have taken place in Asia and Africa. Latin America, where US imperialists held undivided sway for decades, is rising for the struggle against the domination of foreign monopolies. Heroic Cuba, where a people's 270 revolution was accomplished, has become a beacon for the peoples of Latin America in their just struggle for national freedom and social progress. It wifl not be long now before colonialism, that infamous phenomenon in human history, will be wiped out for ever. The complete collapse of colonialism is inevitable. The downfall of the system of colonial slavery under the onslaught of the national liberation movement ranks second in historical importance to the formation of the world system of socialism. The significance of the disintegration of the colonial system of imperialism lies in the fact that it awakens fresh hundreds of millions of people to the task of moulding their own history. The peoples of the sovereign states that have emerged on the ruins of the colonial empires are now building a new life and actively participating in world politics, and are one of the mighty revolutionary forces that are destroying capitalism.
The peoples that have rent the yoke of colonialism are destined to play a great role in averting another world war and preserving and strengthening peace. Together with the peoples of the socialist countries they comprise two-thirds of humanity which is a great force that can compel the imperialist aggressors to retreat.
Many complex tasks confront the peoples of the liberated countries. The most important of them is to choose the path of further development. The bourgeoisie endeavours to direct the development of the nations along the capitalist road and thus preserve private ownership and exploitation. As regards the masses, the working people, they are beginning to realise that socialism is the only road that leads to freedom and happiness.
It is up to the peoples themselves to choose their path of development. Today, in view of the growth of revolutionary forces in the world and the existence of the world socialist system upon whose support and assistance the newly-free peoples can rely, they can advance towards socialism bypassing capitalism, by taking the path of socialist orientation. In order to accomplish this great social leap they have to struggle and to work with the utmost dedication, building up material (modern production) and social (working class and its party) conditions for the socialist transformation of society.
271 __ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. Socialism and Nations __ALPHA_LVL3__ Solution of the National Question in the USSR __ERROR__ Above LVL3 is either not needed (since it is the only LVL3 under this LVL2) or it should have been incorporated into the LVL2.Capitalist society, which is based on private ownership and exploitation and foments discord and hostility between peoples, cannot solve the national question. Only socialism, which eliminates exploitation and class antagonisms, puts an end to national discord and ensures the true flourishing, mutual trust and rapprochement of the peoples. ``In proportion as the exploitation of one individual by another is put an end to, the exploitation of one nation by another will also be put an end to.''^^*^^
The socialist revolution in the USSR sundered the chains of national oppression, vanquished the age-old enmity between peoples and paved the way for their allround cooperation and rapprochement. It granted the people the right to decide their own future and develop national statehood, economy and culture.
The Communist Party and the socialist state attached special importance to the national question from the moment the Soviet Republic was founded. Already on November 15, 1917 the Soviet Government adopted the Declaration of Rights of the Peoples of Russia which solemnly proclaimed the equality and sovereignty of all its peoples, and their unlimited right to self-determination up to and including secession and the formation of independent states. It repealed all national privileges and restrictions and guaranteed the free development of national minorities and ethnic groups.
The adoption of this declaration signified the abolition of national oppression and the establishment of political and juridical equality of the numerous nations and nationalities inhabiting the country. It also laid a firm foundation for the voluntary alliance of all nations and nationalities into a single state. This unification was completed in the formation, on December 30, 1922, of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world's first multinational state _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, ``Manifesto of the Communist Party'', in: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 6, p. 503.
272 based on national equality and voluntary accession. The establishment of the USSR enhanced the economic and military might and the political status of the Soviet republics and created conditions for the further drawing together of the peoples and for their joint struggle for socialism.Needless to say, the emancipation of nations could not be confined solely to the abolition of national oppression and ensurance of their political and juridical equality. The main thing was that the Soviet socialist state successfully accomplished the difficult task of surmounting the age-old economic and cultural backwardness inherited by the new society from tsarist Russia. It not only granted the formerly oppressed nations the right to free development, but helped them to overcome their backwardness and raise their national economy and culture to great heights.
Having rehabilitated the economy that the imperialist First World War and the Civil War had left in ruins, the Communist Party and the Soviet Government immediately launched the industrialisation of the national republics. Thanks to the concern of the Party and the state and the disinterested assistance of other nations, the Russians in the first place, the formerly backward republics set up new branches of industry which developed at an unprecedented rate. It should be noted that these rates of growth were considerably higher than the rate of industrial development in the USSR as a whole. For instance, while gross industrial output in the whole of the USSR in 1940 was 11.7 times greater than in 1913, the figures for Kirghizia and Tajikistan were 153 and 277 respectively. Ferrous and non-ferrous metal, automobile, electrotechnical and other new branches of industry appeared in the national republics.
Agriculture in these, republics also changed beyond recognition: it is now collective and highly mechanised.
The development of the productive forces in the Soviet republics stimulated the growth of skilled national personnel and a numerous intelligentsia. Cultural backwardness was surmounted. The peoples of the Soviet Union accomplished not only a most profound revolution in the economy, but also the greatest cultural revolution.
There is universal literacy in all the Soviet republics which have numerous schools, institutions of higher learning and research and cultural establishments. They have a __PRINTERS_P_273_COMMENT__ 10---389 273 flowering culture which is socialist in content and national in form. In terms of cultural growth the Soviet national republics have greatly outstripped not only the capitalist countries of the East but also many industrialised capitalist countries in the West.
Thus, as a result of the victory of socialism in the USSR, Russia's former national borderlands that were tsarism's economically and culturally backward raw materials appendages, became advanced sovereign socialist republics with a highly developed industry and productive agriculture, with their own working class and a numerous intelligentsia. Bourgeois nations became qualitatively new, socialist nations. Numerous nationalities also consolidated into socialist nations on the new socio-economic basis. Many of them bypassed the capitalist stage and with the help of other, more developed peoples, reached the level of the advanced nations.
The development of nations in the USSR does not take place through the strengthening of national barriers and cultivation of national narrow-mindedness and egoism as is the case in capitalist society, but through the drawing together of nations, their fraternal mutual assistance and friendship. The rapid and all-round development of each nation, on the one hand, and the increasing rapprochement of socialist nations on the basis of proletarian internationalism, on the other, are the two interconnected progressive tendencies in the national relations under socialism. As a result, a new, formerly unknown historical community, ``the Soviet people which is based on the solid alliance of the working class, the peasantry and the intelligentsia... the friendship of all the big and small nations of our country,''^^*^^ has come into being. This community arose on the basis of public ownership of the means of production, uniformity of economic, socio-political and cultural life, Marxist-Leninist ideology and interests and communist ideals of the working class. Rallied round the Communist Party this great family of nations is advancing towards the common goal---- communism.
Relations of fraternal cooperation and mutual assistance _-_-_
^^*^^ Documents and Resolutions. XXVth Congress of the CPSU, p. 98.
274 between peoples, relations that had never before existed in the world took shape in the USSR on the basis of the complete domination of socialist relations of production. The lasting friendship of the Soviet peoples which became a permanent factor of Soviet reality as a result of the victory of socialism in the country has turned into a mighty motive force of socialist society and a major source of its indestructibility and strength. The full and consistent solution of the most complicated national question inherited by the USSR from the old system vividly attests to the triumph of the ideas .of Marx ism-Leninism, of proletarian internationalism.Judging by the great progress of the Soviet nations and nationalities it is clear that only socialist revolution creates conditions for the complete elimination of national oppression, for the voluntary union of free and equal peoples in a single state, for the true flourishing and rapprochement of nations. Today the states of the world socialist system draw upon the Soviet Union's experience as they try to solve the national question at home and within the framework of the socialist community of nations as a whole. This invaluable experience is also of great importance for the peoples of the young sovereign national states that had cast oft the colonial yoke, and for peoples who are fighting against colonialism. For them the successes of the peoples of the USSR are a source of inspiration and strength in their difficult fight against imperialism. In the present of the socialist nations they see their own future.
Developed socialism and the building of communist society are a new stage in the development of national relations in the USSR which is characterised by the further drawing together of nations and the achievement of full unity, and not only legal but actual equality.
The creation of the material and technical base of communism stimulates the further all-round development of the economy of the Union republics, improves the division of labour between them and promotes the expansion of the existing and establishment of new economic links. Each of them contributes to the common cause of augmenting the growth of the country's productive forces and fostering, closer economic unity of the socialist nations.
The successes in communist construction, the obliteration of class distinctions and the development of communist __PRINTERS_P_275_COMMENT__ 10* 275 social relations solidify the social homogeneity of nations and stimulate the development of common communist features in their culture, morality and mode of life. All this enhances their mutual trust and friendship. The spiritual unity of nations is strengthening. There is an all-round flourishing of the socialist culture of the peoples of the USSR and mutual enrichment and rapprochement of the national cultures.
Taking the interests of the Soviet state into consideration, the Party will continue undeviatingly to pursue the Leninist line of strengthening the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. It will also take into account the specific conditions of development of each of the Soviet republics as it works consistently to promote the further burgeoning and rapprochement of all socialist nations.
The further drawing together of nations in the course of communist construction is an objective process, and the Party is both against spurring it on artificially and against any attempts to hold it up, to create obstacles in its way under any pretext and to deliberately consolidate national isolation. The Party resolutely counters all manifestations and survivals of nationalism and chauvinism, and opposes tendencies towards national seclusion and exelusiveness, the idealisation of the past and concealment of social contradictions in the history of peoples, and obsolete customs and morals.
The drawing together of nations will eventually lead to their merger. But the merger of nations and the obliteration of distinctions between them is a much longer process than the obliteration of distinctions between classes. Class distinctions will disappear with the victory of communism, but national distinctions, particularly in language, will persist for a considerable time.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 4. The Family __ALPHA_LVL3__ Family as a Social GroupAnother important social group is the family. It is a very complex and specific group of people whose natural and social functions, the latter being predominant, closely intertwine. The natural (physiological) function finds its 276 expression in the relations between sexes, and in the birth of children. But all this acquires a social and, in a class society, a class content. Relations between men and women, parents and children, population growth, etc., depend on social, above <all economic, relations, on the mode of production.
The family is the product of marriage, a more or less stable, intimate union between man and woman which in a certain way, governs their relations and ensures the birth of children. This union presupposes mutual attraction, common interests and spiritual affinity of husband and wife.
What is the family's social content and what are its social functions?
In a class society the family has three social functions: First, regulation of the relations between sexes on the basis of society's dominant economic and political system and specific legal and ethical norms.
Second, the reproduction and education of posterity, of people who are social beings capable of working, or, in other words, the reproduction of labour power.
Third, housekeeping and servicing its members.
It follows that the family performs very important social functions and is closely connected with the entire system of social relations. Possessing as it does a certain ambunt of property (household goods and chattels at least), a family in a class society is an elementary economic cell which, while enjoying relative independence, is a part of the system of society's economic relations. Since it is subject to legal and ethical norms the family is also part of the system of ideological, spiritual relations.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Types of FamiliesA family is an historical category. It changed and developed as the mode of production and social relations changed and developed. In the primitive herd, which preceded the tribal system, relations between sexes were of a haphazard nature and consequently no family existed. As a social phenomenon the family appeared in the primitive society. At first, at the matriarchate stage it had a group character when all the women of a gens were the possible 277 wives of all the men of another gens. Children did not know their fathers. They belonged to the maternal family consisting of a group of the mother's nearest relatives. Gradually a paired family appeared within the group marriage. At first it was a chance, temporary cohabitation of individual pairs, and then it developed into a more or less lasting one. The fragile paired family which had no household of its own was replaced by a more durable monogamic family which arose following the transition from the matriarchate to the patriarchate. The husband and father became the head of the family, and his wife and children lived with him under one roof. The family acquired property which the children inherited from the father together with his name.
With the rise of the class antagonistic society the development of the family became closely connected with the development of private ownership and relations of exploitation. At first it was a slave-owning family; then it was succeeded by a feudal and capitalist family depending on changing socio-economic systems.
In the slave-owning and feudal societies a slave or a peasant could have a family only with the consent of, or at the discretion of, his master''. As regards slaves they were often enough forbidden to have families. Under feudalism relations in a family acquired a clearly expressed class nature: marriages between people belonging to different estates were not permitted. A typical feature of a slave-- owning or feudal family was the unlimited authority of its head over his wife, children and property, and the debased and oppressed status of the woman.
The rule of the family head and the unequal status of the woman are preserved in the capitalist family in spite of the proclaimed freedom of marriage-family relations. The role played by material considerations was never greater than it is in a bourgeois family whose main aim and purpose is accumulation of wealth and its inheritance by descendants.
Another family which exists in capitalist society is that of a working man. Here marital relations usually rest on love, respect and cooperation of husband and wife. But this family, too, experiences the demoralising influence of capital. Capitalism deprives many low-paid workers, not to mention the unemployed, of a chance of marrying. A 278 woman under capitalism carries a double burden: she is forced to work for the capitalist and usually for a lower wage than a man, and also to do the lion's share of the work involved in housekeeping and bringing up children. The woman's unequal status is determined by law and consecrated by bourgeois morality and religion.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Socialist FamilyBy doing away with private ownership and exploitation socialism puts an end to all oppression and inequality, including the inequality of women. It makes for, a harmonious family, frees it from the influence of the' principles of private ownership and creates conditions for the family and marriage to rest on the love, friendship and cooperation of husband and wife. Here the woman has equal rights with man. She has every opportunity to work and get paid on a par with men, be active in public life and in administering society, and to develop intellectually. Women in the USSR comprise a considerable part of industrial workers, collective farmers and the intelligentsia; they make up the majority of school teachers, medical workers and the personnel of the service industry. Hundreds of women are deputies of the highest organ of state power, the USSR Supreme Soviet. Women participate in all spheres of social activity thanks to the concern for women, mothers and children on the part of socialist society, which has built numerous nurseries, kindergartens, boarding schools, public catering establishments and set up an extensive service industry. All this helps to strengthen the family and introduce socialist, truly humane principles into family relations. A socialist family is a qualitatively new type of family created by the very essence of socialism, by socialist social relations.
It should be borne in mind that survivals of the past, primarily a certain inequality of women in family, in everyday life, continue to exist under socialism. In a socialist society a family has its household economy and most of the tasks involved are performed by women who as a rule also play a great part in bringing up children. Survivals of the old, feudal attitude to women (early marriages, bride-money, etc.) still exist in some national republics. The last vestiges of the inequality of women will gradually disappear in the 279 course of communist construction. Society will assume the main burden of the provision of everyday services and child upbringing. Under communism a family will cease to be an economic cell, but it will continue to perform the functions of regulating relations between sexes, ot reproduction and, partially, of bringing up children. Family relations wil-1 lose their class nature and will be governed by standards of communist morality.
[280] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER XIV __ALPHA_LVL1__ The State __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]No question has been more confused by bourgeois sociologists than that of the state, Lenin pointed out, because no other question is as vital to the interests of the ruling classes. Bourgeois ideologists picture the state as some kind of supernatural force given to man by providence since time immemorial. It supposedly has no class character and is merely an innocuous ``instrument of order'', an ``arbiter'' called upon to resolve disputes which may arise between people regardless of their class affiliation. Such a ``theory'' of the state serves to justify the privileges of the bourgeoisie and the existence of exploitation and capitalism.
Marxism-Leninism alone has scientifically explained the origin of the state, its essence and the role it plays in society's life.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. The Origin and Essence of the State __ALPHA_LVL3__ The State as a ProductIn contrast to bourgeois ideologists, Marxism has demonstrated that the state is not something introduced into society from the outside, but is a product of society's internal development. The state was brought into being by changes in material production. The succession of one mode of production by another causes a change in the state system.
The state has not always existed. Primitive society which had no private property and no classes had no state either. Naturally, there were certain social functions, but 281 they were performed by men chosen by all of society which had the right to dismiss these people at any time and to appoint others. In those distant times relations between people were regulated by public opinion.
The further development of the productive forces, as we have already observed, led to the disintegration of primitive society. Private property appeared, accompanied by classes---slaves and slave-owners. It became necessary to protect private property, the rule and security of its owners, and this brought the state into being. The birth of the state and its further development were accompanied by a fierce class struggle.
The state is a product of class society. It arose with the appearance of classes and it will vanish, wither away with the disappearance of classes. But this will happen only under communism.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Essence of the StateIn an antagonistic class society the state is a political instrument, ``a machine for maintaining the rule of one class over another''.^^*^^ The class dominating economically, i.e., possessing the means of production, acquires in the state a powerful instrument for the subjection of the oppressed and exploited. The state has a clearly defined class character. Being the principal component of the superstructure founded on the economic basis of society, the state takes every measure to strengthen and protect this basis.
What are the features of a state?
The main feature of a state is the existence of public (social) authority representing the interests of the class which dominates economically and not of the entire population. This authority rests on armed force---the army and the police.
In primitive society all the people were armed. But in a society divided into hostile classes, the armed forces are in the hands of the ruling class and are used to suppress the people, to subordinate them to a handful of exploiters. Representative bodies (parliaments), the huge bureaucratic administrative machine with a whole army of officials, intelligence agencies, the courts, procurator's offices and _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``The State'', Collected Works, Vol. 29, p. 478.
282 prisons---all are used for the same purpose. All of them combined make up the political authority of the exploiting state.As class contradictions deepen and the class struggle intensifies, the state machine expands. This process is particularly intensive in contemporary capitalist society where the state machine and the armed forces have grown to an unprecedented size. The maintenance of this colossal state machine and the armed forces is a heavy burden for the people, especially today when imperialist circles are engaged in the arms race.
While in primitive society people settled in consanguineous groups, in a state the population is grouped territorially, i.e., in districts, counties, states, regions, etc. Territorial settlement is a result of the development of production, the increasing division of labour and the growth of trade and commodity exchange.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. The State in an Exploiting Society __ALPHA_LVL3__ Functions of Exploiting StatesThe state of any exploiting society (slave-owning, feudal, or capitalist) is designed to protect the interests of the ruling class both within the country, in relations with other classes, and outside, in relations with other states. There are therefore two main trends or functions in the activities of a state: internal and external. The internal function is the main one and it determines all the foreign affairs of a state.
Let us examine these functions.
The internal function of an exploiting state is to suppress the working people, to subordinate them to the small group of oppressors. This reflects the class nature of the state and is expressed in its internal policy, the struggle against the oppressed classes. Economic compulsion alone, which the exploiters can apply owing to their monopoly over the means of production, is not enough to win this struggle. They need a special political machine of coercion, the exploiting state.
The first exploiting state was the slave-owning state. It was succeeded by the feudal state, which in turn was 283 superseded by the capitalist state. In spite of certain differences, all the three had one task in common: to keep the people in check and to crush any attempt of the working people to emancipate themselves from exploitation.
The slave-owning state used armed force to put down the slaves who rose against their masters. The feudal state forcibly bound the peasants to the landlord's estate and cruelly punished those who refused to toil for the landlord. The numerous peasant uprisings ended in blood baths. The capitalist state, although it likes to parade in democratic garb, is also a machine for the subjection of the working people. Its real purpose is to protect private capitalist property, maintain wage-slavery and crush the revolutionary movement of the proletariat.
The external function of the exploiting state is to seize foreign territories or defend its own land from attack. This is reflected in its relations with other states and is expressed in its foreign policy. Foreign policy stems from home policy and is a continuation of the latter. The reactionary, predatory foreign policy of contemporary imperialism is a natural supplement to its home policy of suppressing the working class and all other progressive forces.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Types of State and Forms of RuleStates differ according to the class they serve and the economic basis on which they arose. Four types of state are known in history: slave-owning, feudal, capitalist and socialist. In contrast to the first three, which defend the interests of the exploiters, the socialist state is a state of a new type, a genuine state of the people.
Each type of state has its intrinsic form of government, i. e., order, organisation of rule by the dominant class. The form of government depends on the concrete historical conditions in each country, on the balance of the class forces and external conditions. However diverse the forms of government, however much they may change, the type of state, its class nature, remains unaltered within the framework of the given economic system.
Lenin noted that a slave-owning society had different forms of government: a monarchy---the rule of one man, the emperor, the monarch; a republic---elective rule; aristocracy---the rule of a relatively small minority; democracy--- 284 the rule of the majority. In spite of these differences, the state in the slave-owning era, Lenin said, was a state of the slave-owners.
Feudal society presented a similar picture. A monarchy was the most widespread form of government in the feudal state, but at times it also appeared in other forms, for example, a republic. Whatever the form, the feudal state served as an instrument for suppressing the serfs and the artisans.
Diversity of form is also true of the bourgeois state. Most frequently this state appears as a republic (the United States, France, Italy and other countries). Under capitalism the. monarchic form seldom exists and the rule of the monarch is in one way or another restricted by the constitution (Britain and Belgium). In the imperialist era the bourgeoisie also makes use of fascist dictatorship (Hitler Germany, Franco Spain, and so on). The unlimited power of the bourgeoisie is exercised in any form of the bourgeois state.
With society's development the types and forms of the state changed.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Reactionary NatureBourgeois ideologists and politicians are fond of talking about the progressive role of the bourgeois state. They claim that only this state has brought the people full freedom, that it is the highest type of democracy, genuine democracy. Today reformists are particularly vociferous in this respect. They portray the bourgeois state as a force standing above classes, equally restraining both labour and capital. The capitalist state, in their opinion, has ceased to be the organ of only one class, the capitalist class, and now serves all classes in society. There is, however, no evidence to support the statements of the reformists about the progressive, democratic nature of the contemporary bourgeois state.
At the dawn of capitalism the bourgeois state did in fact possess some progressive features: it helped to introduce and develop capitalist production relations, which were more advanced than feudal relations. Even in its heyday, however, the bourgeois state was not a democracy for all, 285 but only for the select, for the bourgeoisie. The democracy of capitalist society, Lenin wrote, is democracy for the negligible minority, for the rich.
The bourgeois state, whatever its form, is dictatorship of the capitalists, a machine for suppressing the working class and all working people which always employs coercion against its class enemies in varying degrees and forms. With the advent of imperialism the bourgeois state directly turns towards reaction and assumes the inglorious historical role of defending the economic basis of imperialism which long ago became a brake on historical progress.
Imperialism is reaction along all lines, Lenin wrote, in state policy first of all. ``Both in foreign policy and in home policy imperialism equally strives towards violation of democracy, for reaction. In this sense imperialism is indisputably the `negation' of democracy in general, of all democracy.''^^*^^
State-monopoly capitalism becomes widespread under imperialism. It combines the power of the monopolies with the power of the state into a single machine for enriching the monopolies, crushing the proletarian movement and the national liberation struggle, attempting to save the capitalist system and unleashing aggressive wars. The state becomes a committee for administering the affairs of the monopoly elite. In the interests of the latter the state constantly interferes in the process of capitalist production, applies various regulating measures and takes over individual branches of the economy in order to ensure the maximum profits to the monopolies.
The reactionary nature of the home and foreign policies pursued by the contemporary bourgeois state cannot be concealed either by oratory about freedom, democracy, human rights, references to bourgeois constitutions or declarations about the civilising mission of capitalism. The constitutions of many imperialist states are not wanting in articles proclaiming all sorts of freedoms and rights for all citizensuniversal suffrage, free elections, freedom of speech and of the press, and so on and so forth. In reality these freedoms often remain a dead letter for the overwhelming majority of _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``A Caricature of Marxism and Imperialist Economism'', Collected Works, Vol. 23, p. 43.
286 citizens, for the working people. Only the bourgeoisie, which controls all the instruments of economic and political domination, enjoys them to the full.The ``free'' world of capitalism has millions of unemployed; in other words, bourgeois rule is unable to ensure the right to work for everyone.
However much the capitalists and their lackeys boast about the capitalist paradise, capitalism remains a system of oppression of an overwhelming majority of people by a handful of exploiters, a society where lack of rights, poverty and unemployment are the lot of millions of working people. The essence of ``freedom'' in the imperialist world is freedom to exploit the working class and all working people not only at home but also in other countries.
Under imperialism, the financial oligarchy increasingly resorts to the most reactionary methods of government---to outright terrorist dictatorship, to fascism; it relies on the army and the police as a last resort to protect it from the people's wrath and hold up its inevitable doom.
Mankind has not forgotten the horrors of the fascist regimes of Hitler, Mussolini and their allies in Europe, the horrors of the Second World War unleashed by fascism. Dangerous signs of fascism, however, have reappeared in some capitalist countries. Complete subordination of the state to the giant monopolies, militarisation of the economy, expansion of the state machine, the frenzied drive against the working-class and the communist movement, persecution of peace supporters and members of other progressive organisations, racial discrimination and restriction of democratic freedoms---this is the content of the domestic policy pursued by contemporary imperialist states.
The foreign policy of contemporary imperialist states is also reactionary. Posing as champions of ``liberation'' of the colonial peoples, the imperialists are actually waging a vicious struggle against the national liberation movement and are imposing in new forms the very same colonialism which is so hated by the peoples. In order to gain control over countries which have formally won their independence, the imperialists inveigle them into their aggressive blocs, make use of economic ``aid'' to less developed countries and other means. They support reactionary regimes, engage in 287 the arms race and have surrounded the Soviet Union and other socialist countries with a ring of military bases.
The imperialist states, characteristically enough, pursue their reactionary domestic and foreign policies under the flag of struggle against the ``communist menace" from the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries, despite the fact that neither the Soviet Union nor any other socialist country threatens anyone. On the contrary, the states of the socialist system are the most consistent fighters for peace throughout the world, for peaceful coexistence with the capitalist countries.
The working class cannot be indifferent to the form of bourgeois state that exists in its country. Despite the restricted nature of bourgeois democracy, it affords the working class more favourable conditions than open dictatorship for waging a successful struggle against the bourgeoisie, for the dictatorship of the proletariat and for socialism. That is why the working class in the capitalist countries, heading all the progressive forces, persistently combats the onslaught of the reactionaries, and figh.ts for democracy and curtailing monopoly rule.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. Dictatorship of the Proletariat __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]The proletariat has the great historical mission of destroying capitalism and building a classless communist society. Yet this new society does not grow out of capitalism directly and at once. Between capitalism and socialism ``lies the period of the revolutionary transformation of the one into the other. Corresponding to this is also a political transition period in which the state can be nothing but the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat.''^^*^^
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Dictatorship of the ProletariatThe dictatorship of the proletariat arises as a result of the successful socialist revolution and thorough demolition of the bourgeois state machine. It is a qualitatively new type _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx, ``Critique of the Gotha Programme'', in: Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Works in three volumes, Volume Three, p. 26.
288 of state and differs radically from the previous states in regard to its class nature, the forms of state organisation and the role it is destined to play.All the preceding types of state were tools of the exploiting classes used for the subjection of the working people and designed to reinforce the system of exploitation and to perpetuate the division of society into oppressors and oppressed. The dictatorship of the proletariat, however, is the rule of the working class which, together with all other working people, destroys capitalism and builds a new society, a society without antagonistic classes and exploitation.
``If we translate the Latin, scientific, historico-- philosophical term `dictatorship of the proletariat' into simpler language,'' Lenin wrote, ``it means just the following:
``Only a definite class, namely, the urban workers and the factory, industrial workers in general, is able to lead the whole mass of the working and exploited people in the struggle to throw off the yoke of capital, in actually carrying it out, in the struggle to maintain and consolidate the victory, in the work of creating the new, socialist social system, in the entire struggle for the complete abolition of classes.''^^*^^
The theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat is the crux of Marxism. Only dictatorship, the undivided power of the proletariat, enables the proletariat to put an end to capitalism and build socialism. It is only natural, therefore, that the question of the dictatorship of the proletariat has always been, and remains, the pivot of the ideological struggle of Marxism-Leninism against reformism and revisionism. Lenin called the dictatorship of the proletariat the touchstone for testing the real understanding and recognition of Marxism. To be a Marxist it is not enough merely to recognise the struggle of classes, he said. You can only be a Marxist if you extend recognition of the class struggle to recognition of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Lenin implacably fought against the reformist leaders of the Second International and revisionists who denied the need for the dictatorship of the proletariat. He tirelessly _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``A Great Beginning'', Collected Works, Vol. 29, p. 420.
289 proved that the dictatorship of the proletariat is the only means for building socialism. And history has fully corroborated him. It is due to the dictatorship of the proletariat that socialism scored complete and final victory in the Soviet Union, and that other countries are successfully advancing along the socialist road.Present-day revisionists, however, continue to deny the need for the dictatorship of the proletariat, although they do so in more refined ways than their predecessors. Unable to ignore the existence of the dictatorship of the proletariat in the countries of the socialist system, they do not regard it as a universal, natural form of transition from capitalism to socialism, but as a national form applicable only to economically backward countries like the pre-revolutionary Russia. They assert that dictatorship of the proletariat is applicable only in economically backward countries, with a low level of development of the productive forces and almost no forms of political democracy. As regards the industrialised countries, there, in the opinion of the revisionists, the transition to socialism is effected through ``pure democracy'', meaning bourgeois democracy.
The views of the reformists and revisionists run counter to history, which convincingly shows that it is impossible to build socialism without the dictatorship of the proletariat. In the course of socialist construction, the dictatorship of the proletariat solves a number of major problems by performing specific functions---the main aspects of its activity. We shall now examine these functions.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Functions of theThe state of the dictatorship of the proletariat is a state which exists in the period of the transition from capitalism to socialism. This period is characterised by a multistructural economy and the bitter class struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The crucial task facing the proletariat at that time is to break down the resistance of the bourgeoisie, and together with all the working people to build socialism. This task determines the functions of the proletarian state.
One of the main domestic functions of the proletarian state in the transition period is the function of suppressing 290 the exploiting classes, the bourgeoisie in the first place. Deprived of its political domination the bourgeoisie in any country cannot reconcile itself to its defeat and the loss of power and privileges, and therefore viciously resists the victorious proletariat.
The dictatorship of the proletariat is necessary for overcoming the resistance of the bourgeoisie, for defeating it in fierce class battles. ``The dictatorship of the proletariat,'' Lenin wrote, ``means a most determined and most ruthless war waged by the new class against a more powerful enemy, the bourgeoisie, whose resistance is increased tenfold by its overthrow....''^^*^^
The suppression of the exploiters is a compulsory task of the proletarian state whatever its form, but this can be done in various forms depending on historical conditions.
The suppression of the bourgeoisie, however, is not an aim in itself for the proletariat. Its main aim is to build socialism, to create a .new, socialist economy. What makes this task so difficult is that the socialist revolution begins when there are no ready-made economic forms of socialism. It is the task of the dictatorship of the proletariat, of the proletarian state, to organise the economic life of society, to build up a new type of economy superior to capitalism, the economy of socialism. ``The dictatorship of the proletariat,'' Lenin wrote, ``is not only the use of force against the exploiters, and not even mainly the use of force.... The proletariat represents and creates a higher type of social organisation of labour compared with capitalism. This is what is important, this is the source of the strength and the guarantee that the final triumph of communism is inevitable.''^^**^^
The activities of the state in building up socialist economy and guiding all economic affairs in the country is the main economic and organisational function of the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The task of the proletarian state in fulfilling this function is to secure socialism's economic victory over capitalism and attain a higher level of the social organisation of labour than under capitalism. _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``~`Left-Wing' Communism-An Infantile Disorder'', Collected Works, Vol. 31, pp. 23--24.
^^**^^V. I. Lenin, ``A Great Beginning'', Collected Works, Vol. 29, p. 419.
291 Once it has nationalised the basic means of production the proletarian state immediately takes over command positions in the economy and organises its planned, science-based management. Under the guidance of the Marxist party the state carries out the socialist industrialisation of the country and collectivisation of agriculture and, on the basis of the continuous development and improvement of production, raises the material wellbeing of the people. As socialism progresses the economic and organisational function of the state gains in scope and with the victory of socialism embraces literally all branches of the national economy.Yet socialist construction is not confined to the establishment of a socialist economy. It is inconceivable without a steadfast growth of the awareness and culture of the people, and the obliteration of the survivals of the past in their consciousness. It is only natural, therefore, that the education of the working people, particularly the semi-- proletarian strata and the peasantry, in the spirit of socialism, the promotion of their general education and professional and cultural level is one of the key tasks of the proletarian state. It is all the more important to solve this problem because the exploiters for centuries enslaved the working people and in every way suppressed their striving for culture and knowledge. The proletarian state guides the cultural revolution which is an important element of the socialist revolution. The role played by the state in promoting cultural development and the education of the working people finds its expression in its cultural and educational function.
In the sphere of foreign policy the activity of the proletarian state is characterised by the function of the struggle for peace between the peoples, and the function of the country's defence against imperialist aggression. As it persistently works for peace the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat constantly strengthens the country's defence and its armed forces.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ A New Type of DemocracyBourgeois ideologists and their reformist hangers-on shout from the roof-tops about ``universal democracy'', ``democracy for all'', which allegedly exists in the capitalist world. They hold up this ``pure'' bourgeois democracy in 292 contrast to the dictatorship of the proletariat which is supposed to be a bureaucratic, undemocratic rule.
In reality the very opposite is the case. The much-- vaunted bourgeois democracy, as we have already seen, is merely a screen for the omnipotence of the moneybags and for the actual lack of rights of the working people. The aim of bourgeois democracy is to perpetuate the capitalist system, the exploitation of the millions of working people by the negligible minority of the rich.
Only the proletarian state is truly democratic. The dictatorship of the proletariat is a qualitatively new type of democracy. This, as Lenin wrote, is democracy for the overwhelming majority of the people and the exclusion of the exploiters and oppressors from this democracy. In the process of its development it increasingly turns into socialist democracy of the whole people.
The qualitatively new type of democracy under the dictatorship of the proletariat stems from its very nature, its aims and purposes. Only in a firm alliance with all the working people and with the democratic forces, only with the support of the masses can the proletariat break down the resistance of the exploiting classes, retain power, build socialism and in this way bring the people a life of happiness. That is why the alliance of the working class and the non-proletarian sections of town and country, above all the peasants, constitutes the basis, the supreme principle of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the fullest and all-round expression of the genuine democracy of the proletarian state.
The alliance of the working class with the working people of town and country is founded on the community of their basic political and economic interests, on the common desire to abolish exploitation and build socialism. Only socialism is capable of emancipating the workers from capitalist wage-slavery and the peasants and other non-- proletarian working sections from ruin arjd poverty. It was in joint struggle against exploitation, for the new, socialist system that the alliance of the working class with all the working people and democratic forces arose and is developing. It is the source of the might of the proletariat.
__NOTE__ [?????] for missing word (no ink where word should be).The proletariat, however, Lenin noted, does not need just an alliance with semi-proletarian strata, but one in which it plays the leading role. The peasants and the [?????] 293 petty bourgeoisie are inconsistent. They are, at the same time, both working people and small owners and they often vacillate between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Only the proletariat, the most advanced, consistently revolutionary and organised class, headed by the Marxist party, is capable of overcoming their vacillation, wresting them away from the bourgeoisie and leading them along the socialist road.
A primary distinction of proletarian democracy is that it not only proclaims the rights of the working people, but also provides the conditions for the people to exercise them. Under the dictatorship of the proletariat the working people possess not formal rights, as in a bourgeois state, but they actually govern the country and directly, or through their representatives, manage its entire economic, political and cultural life.
The proletarian state guarantees the exercise of democratic rights by providing the corresponding material facilities. The working people own all the means of production, and this enables them to manage the country's economy and to exercise their right to work. Schools, universities, scientific and cultural institutions, health and holiday homes give them the opportunity to exercise their rights to education and to rest and leisure. The working people have at their disposal printshops, stocks of paper, radio stations, the best buildings, etc., and this enables them to enjoy freedom of the press, speech, assembly, freedom of organisation, etc.
The working people actively take part in the political life of the country, in state affairs, through their wide participation in the Soviets or other state bodies, in numerous committees and commissions set up by the Soviets and also through their own social organisations. In a word, proletarian democracy, as Lenin said, is a million times more democratic than any bourgeois democracy.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Various Forms ofThe transition from capitalism to socialism can take place through the dictatorship of the proletariat. However, being the content of the transition period, the 294 dictatorship of the proletariat can assume different forms in different countries. ``All nations will arrive at socialism---this is inevitable,'' Lenin stated, ``but all will do so in not exactly the same way, each will contribute something of its own to some form of democracy, to some variety of the dictatorship of the proletariat, to the varying rate of socialist transformations in the different aspects of social life.''^^*^^
The form of the dictatorship of the proletariat depends above all on the concrete historical conditions in a country, i.e., on the level of its economic development, the balance of class forces and the acuteness of the class struggle, the national and historical traditions of the people and on the international situation.
In 1917, the revolutionary action of Russia's working class brought into being such a form of the dictatorship of the proletariat as the Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies. In a number of other European and Asian countries another form of the dictatorship of the proletariat, People's Democracy, came into being.
What are the differences between such forms of the dictatorship of the proletariat as People's Democracy and the Soviets?
Firstly, a People's Democracy has a multi-party system, i.e., it allows the existence of a number of parties standing for socialist construction and recognising the leading role of the Communist Party. For instance, a multi-party system has taken shape in Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic, Poland and Czechoslovakia. The Soviet Union, however, has a one-party system, because the petty-bourgeois parties of Russia, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, for instance, refused to cooperate with the Communists and sided with the counter-revolutionaries.
Secondly, a People's Democracy has a people's ( national) front---a mass organisation which unites the most diverse sections of the people for the purpose of building socialism. The people's front is a specific organisational form of the alliance between the working class, the peasants, intellectuals and also the petty bourgeoisie and part of _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``A Caricature of Marxism and Imperialist Economism'', Collected Works, Vol. 23, pp. 69--70.
295 the middle bourgeoisie, in which working class and its party play the leading role.Thirdly, in the European People's Democracies the parliamentary forms and traditions were used in the fight against capitalism and for socialism. In autocratic Russia the parliamentary system was not widely developed and had no established parliamentary traditions. People's Democracy, as a form of the dictatorship of the proletariat, reflects the specific development of the socialist revolution in conditions when imperialism is weakened and the correlation of forces in the world changes in favour of socialism. It is also dependent upon the historical and national peculiarities of the countries which have embarked on the socialist road of development.
History has so far produced two forms of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the Soviets and the People's Democracy. But other forms of the dictatorship of the proletariat could also arise. In those cases, too, the leading role of the working class and its Marxist party is absolutely essential. ``The transition from capitalism to communism is certainly bound to yield a tremendous abundance and variety of political forms, but the essence will inevitably be the same: the dictatorship of the proletariat,''^^*^^ Lenin pointed out.
__NUMERIC_LVL3__ The Leading Role of the Marxist PartyThe Marxist party, as the advanced, politically aware and organised detachment of the working class, is that leading force which brings about the overthrow of the political rule of the bourgeoisie and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat. It is difficult to seize power, but it is much more difficult to'retain it, to finally defeat the overthrown bourgeoisie, and it is incredibly harder (a thousand times more difficult, as Lenin put it) to eradicate the private-property instincts of millions upon millions of peasants and other small owners, to wrest them away from the bourgeoisie and turn them into politically aware builders of socialism. The working class can accomplish these extremely hard tasks and build socialism and then _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``The State and Revolution'', Collected Works Vol. 25, p. 413.
296 communism only if it maintains the strictest organisation and discipline and is confident that it has chosen the right road. Only the Marxist party can organise the proletariat, maintain iron discipline in its ranks, educate the working class, protect it from petty-bourgeois influence, direct its political activities and, through it, influence all the working people. That is why the successful building of socialism is inconceivable ``without a party of iron that has been tempered in the struggle, a party enjoying the confidence of all honest people in the class in question, a party capable of watching and influencing the mood of the masses...''.^^*^^After the victory of the socialist revolution, the MarxistLeninist party becomes the party of the ruling class. This places special responsibility upon it and immeasurably enhances its role as the leader of the working class. Utilising its knowledge of the objective laws of social development and summing up and drawing upon the revolutionary experience of the people, the party directs all the economic, political and cultural activities of the proletarian state. It maps out a single political line in all spheres of the country's life and works to ensure the application of this line.
Under the dictatorship of the proletariat the unity of the Marxist party is more important than ever before. Only if there is unity of will and action among all its members will the party be able to lead society, uphold and consolidate the rule of the working class and organise the building of socialism and communism. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist and Workers' parties in all the other countries which embarked on the road to socialism are irreconcilably opposed to any factionalists and splitters who seek to undermine the unity of the party.
The Marxist party exercises its leading role through the system of state bodies and numerous social organisationstrade unions, co-operatives, all kinds of youth, artistic and other organisations. The party unites the efforts of these organisations and directs them towards one goal; it does not substitute for state and other bodies, but stimulates their initiative to the utmost and strives for the broadest democracy in their activities. Through a network of state and _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``~`Left-Wing' Communism---An Infantile Disorder'', Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 44.
297 social organisations the party is connected with millions of working people, teaches and educates them and learns from them. The party solves all the principal problems of socialist construction together with the people, with the entire proletarian state in which the people are widely represented.The Marxist party constantly works to strengthen the proletarian state, to develop democracy, to enlist more and more people in administering the country. The broad ties which are formed between the party and the people in the course of the struggle against imperialism develop in the period of the dictatorship of the proletariat into a solid unity of the party and the people. This is the source of the strength of the Marxist party and an earnest of the success of its great cause.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 4. The Socialist State __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]The consolidation of the economic basis occasioned changes in the socialist superstructure, particularly in the state and its functions. Let us consider these changes.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The State of the Whole PeopleWith the completion of socialist construction the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat turns into a state of the whole people---the political organisation of the whole people in which the leading role is played by the working class and its vanguard, the Communist Party.
The main tasks of this state, says the Constitution of the USSR, are ``to lay the material and technical foundation of communism, to perfect socialist social relations and transform them into communist relations, to mould the citizen of communist society, to raise the people's living and cultural standards, to safeguard the country's security, and to further the consolidation of peace and development of international co-operation''.^^*^^
A distinctive feature of the state of the whole people is that it does not have to perform the function of suppressing the exploiting classes because they have ceased to exist as a _-_-_
^^*^^ Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, pp. 14--15.
298 result of the victory of socialism. This, however, does not mean that the working class has completely withdrawn from the class struggle: it wages its class struggle in close unity with the cooperated peasantry and the working intelligentsia against international imperialism and bourgeois and petty-bourgeois ideology. Furthermore, relying on the support of all working people, on their consciousness and organisation, it takes recourse to necessary measures of coercion with regard to persons who violate the laws, standards and principles of socialist society.Dictatorship of the proletariat and the state of the whole people are not qualitatively different types of state. In point of fact they are stages in the development of a socialist-type state. The state of the whole people continues the cause of the dictatorship of the proletariat and organises the building of communist society. Its' social basis is the working class, the collective-farm peasantry and the intelligentsia, with the working class---the most advanced, organised and conscious force of socialist society---playing the leading role. The state of the whole people raises to a new height that what was the main content of proletarian dictatorship---proletarian, socialist democracy. It preserves and develops the basic functions of the dictatorship of the proletariat, with the exception, as we have noted, of the function of suppressing exploiters.
It follows that the socialist state invariably safeguards people's rights and freedoms and socialist law. The state is particularly concerned with safeguarding socialist property, the economic foundation of socialism, whose all-round development and consolidation is vital for successful communist construction. The protection of socialist property and of the rights and freedoms of Soviet citizens, and the maintenance of socialist law and order are important functions of the socialist state. Having emerged at the initial stage of its existence, these functions became fully developed under socialism.
With the victory of socialism in the USSR the socialist state began to exercise its main functions, that of managing the economy and promoting culture and education, to the full.
Owing to rapid economic growth, the managerial function became much more complex and multiform. In the
299 Emacs-File-stamp: "/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1980/MP399/20070504/399.tx" __EMAIL__ webmaster@leninist.biz __OCR__ ABBYY 6 Professional (2007.05.04) __WHERE_PAGE_NUMBERS__ bottom __FOOTNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [*]+ __ENDNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [0-9]+ transition period from capitalism to socialism this function of the state was designed to ensure the economic victory of the socialist forces over the capitalist forces in the country, whereas with the building of socialism its purpose is to build the material and technical base of communism, transform socialist relations into communist relations and further improve the wellbeing of the people. The state is coming to play an increasing role in controlling the measure of labour and the measure of consumption.With the completion of socialist construction a major change took place in the Soviet state's cultural and educational function, for the higher the consciousness and culture of the people, the faster the transition to communism. The moulding of a new man unweighted by survivals of the past, a profoundly educated, conscious toiler for whom work for the benefit of the country is not an obligation but a vital requirement, the cause of his life---that is one of the main tasks of communist construction.
The foreign policy function of the Soviet state broadens in the period of the gradual transition from socialism to communism in view of the serious changes in the international situation. The strengthening and development of the fraternal cooperation with the socialist countries---such is the new function of the Soviet state which it has to perform in view of the rise of the world socialist system. Another new function is to support the struggle of the peoples for liberation from colonial and neocolonial oppression. The Soviet state has preserved and broadened its function of working for universal peace and maintaining normal relations with all countries.
At the same time the state strengthens the country's defensive capacity in every way because, as long as imperialism which is pregnant with the threat of aggressive wars exists, a socialist country cannot feel itself ensured against attack. Protection of the socialist homeland, the organisation of its reliable defence and security and the strengthening of the Soviet Armed Forces are important functions of the socialist state. At the same time the Soviet Union regards as its internationalist duty to ensure together with other socialist countries the security and defence of the entire socialist system.
300 __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Further Development of Socialist DemocracyThe solution of the immense tasks involved in the building of communism is inconceivable without the further development of democracy and active participation of all people in socialist construction.
In the period of the gradual transition from socialism to communism, the Soviet state develops in the direction of the further promotion of democracy combined with improvement of its economic-organisational and culturaleducational activity. ``All-round extension and perfection of socialist democracy, active participation of all citizens in the administration of the state, in the management of economic and cultural development, improvement of the government apparatus, and increased control over its activity by the people,'' states the CPSU Programme, ``constitute the main direction in which socialist statehood develops in the period of the building of communism.''^^*^^
The CPSU and the Soviet Government are consistently strengthening the Leninist norms of Party life and government activity and further broadening Soviet democracy. The Leninist principle of democratic centralism which ensures the proper combination of centralised leadership with the maximum encouragement of local initiative, the extension of the rights of the Union republics, local organs of government and economic executives, has been given all-round development.
Legislation in the fields of law, the administrative and territorial structure and in other important fields of economic, state and cultural development has been invested in the Union republics. The Soviets of People's Deputies play an increasing role in communist construction. By their very nature the Soviets have been and continue to be not only state organisations but also public organisations, and, in view of the increasing and direct participation of the people in their activity, are becoming even more so as society advances towards communism. For example, more than 30 million activists take part in the work of the standing commissions, non-staff departments, people's voluntary inspections, groups of non-staff instructors, etc., which have been _-_-_
^^*^^ Road to Communism, p. 548.
301 set up by the Executive Committees of the Soviets.A law was adopted in the USSR on the status of a deputy which precisely defines the rights and duties of deputies, and the duties of state and public bodies with respect to them. Laws on village, settlement, district and city Soviets were also passed. They enhanced the role of these bodies in directing economic, social and cultural development on territories under their administration.
On October 7, 1977, the new Constitution ( Fundamental Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics---the law of life of developed socialism--- was adopted. It gives a full picture of mature socialism, its economic and political system, social structure and spiritual development and its foreign policy, and shows the great gains of socialist democracy, the extensive rights and freedoms of the citizens and their duties, the national-state structure of the USSR, the system of the organs of power and administration, and other important principles of statehood.
The development of democracy in a socialist society finds its expression in the growth of the role played in it by mass public organisations of the working people--- the trade unions, the Leninist Young Communist League (YCL), cooperatives, and cultural and educational societies. Public organisations have always been faithful assistants of the Communist Party and the Soviet Government, channels of their policy, and in the course of communist construction their functions in the solution of important matters of state will continue to grow.
The trade unions play an increasing role in the spheres of economic and cultural development. They are a school of communist education, a school of economic management.
The trade unions directly further the exercise of democracy in production, the basic sphere in which man's creative efforts are applied. Their main task is to protect the rights and interests of the working people and actively deal with everyday social questions. The trade unions are wholly dedicated to the working man's interests and, therefore, they are concerned with boosting production, strengthening labour discipline and promoting labour productivity.
A major role in communist construction and the communist education of young people is played by YCL 302 members. The task now facing the YCL is to further increase the participation of young people in economic and cultural development, in the country's political affairs, to cultivate in young men and women a high level of ideological integrity and devotion to the Party's cause, love for their socialist homeland, preparedness to protect it, a sense of fraternal friendship for the people of other socialist countries, and internationalist solidarity with all the exploited and the oppressed.
The importance of the co-operatives (collective farms, consumer and other co-operative organisations) is growing, and creative unions, scientific, scientific and technical, cultural and educational, sports and other societies and organisations are broadening their activities.
The role played by work collectives is also increasing. As the USSR Constitution notes they take part in considering and deciding state and public affairs, in planning production and social development, in training and placement of personnel, in examining and deciding matters pertaining to the management of enterprises and offices, the improvement of working and living conditions, the administration of funds allocated for expanding production and for social and cultural purposes and material incentives. Work collectives promote socialist emulation, the spread of advanced methods of work, and the strengthening of labour discipline, educate their members in the spirit of communist morality, promote their political awareness, culture and professional skill.
Development of socialist democracy directly depends on the consolidation of the state, the increased organisation of society and the consolidation of socialist law and order and discipline. With this aim in view the Party helps to improve Soviet legislation, the work of the militia, the procurator's offices, courts and judiciary bodies.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The CPSU's Growing Role in Communist ConstructionThe Communist Party of the Soviet Union, states the USSR Constitution, is the leading and guiding force of Soviet society, and the nucleus of its state system and of all state and public organisations. The CPSU exists for the 303 people and serves the people. Armed with Marxism-- Leninism the Communist Party determines the general perspectives of the development of society and the course of the home and foreign policy of the USSR, directs the great constructive work of the Soviet people and imparts a planned, systematic and theoretically grounded character to their struggle for the victory of communism. All Party organisations function within the framework of the Constitution of the USSR. By means of a system of state and public organisations the Party brings the idea of struggling for communism to the consciousness of the masses in the form of specific, concrete tasks and directs the efforts of each collective, of all Soviet people towards their solution.
The role played by the Communist Party increases in the course of further development. This is due to the growing scope and complexity of the tasks of communist construction, the rise in the creative activity of the masses, the further development of socialist democracy, the mounting importance of scientific theory and the need to improve the communist education of the working people.
The Party is a living, developing organism which steadfastly augments its ranks and takes care that the working class occupies the leading position in its social composition. It improves the forms and methods of its work, bringing them into conformity with life and the needs of communist construction. Its main task is to formulate the general perspective of social development, a correct political line, and to organise the people for the job of translating it into reality. The Party directs the communist education of people, supervises the selection and placement of cadres and verifies the execution of its own and the state's decisions.
In its life and work the Party abides by Leninist principles and norms which have been checked, confirmed and enriched in the course of decades of historical experience. The most important of these principles, a tested weapon and the Partyls greatest political asset is collective leadership. Only on the basis of the Leninist principle of collective leadership is it possible correctly to analyse the situation, soberly and objectively appraise successes and bring to light and cope with shortcomings in good time. Complacency and 304 admiration of its own successes are alien to the Party. It critically assesses its activities, strives to concentrate on shortcomings and unresolved questions, and to continuously improve the organisation, forms and methods of its work.
``The dynamic development of Soviet society, the growing scale of communist construction, and our activity in the international arena,'' says the Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 25th Congress of the Party, ``insistently require a steady raising of the level of Party guidance of economic and cultural development, the education of our men and women, and improvement of organisational and political work among the masses.~''^^*^^
The Party's tested organisational instrument in the building of communist society are Party Rules which impose high demands on each member: a Communist has to exemplify a communist attitude to labour, lofty moral fibre, intolerance of shortcomings, money-grubbing and parasitism, tact and consideration for people, dedication to the Party and the people. They also envisage the further development of inner-Party democracy, and the enhancement of the role of the Party's local organs and primary organisations.
An essential condition for the success of communist construction is the further broadening and deepening of the Party's links with the people. The Party regards it as its sacred duty to consult the people on all key issues of home and foreign policy, and to draw the non-Party masses into its activity.
The leading and guiding role of the CPSU and its organisational and educational work are a key factor of the communism's imminent victory.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 5. The Withering Away of the StateThe fact that it is necessary to strengthen and develop the socialist state does not mean that it will exist for ever. As socialist statehood develops, says the CPSU Programme, _-_-_
^^*^^ Documents and Resolutions. XXVth Congress of the CPSU, p. 79.
__PRINTERS_P_305_COMMENT__ 11---389 305 it will gradually become communist self-government of the people which will embrace the Soviets, trade unions, cooperatives, and other mass organisations of the people.Needless to say, public functions similar to those performed by the state today in the sphere of economic and cultural management will be preserved under communism. They will be modified and perfected as society develops. But their character and the ways in which they are carried out will be different from those under socialism. The state bodies lose their political character as society moves towards communism. With time they will merge with society and become organs of public self-government through which all members of society will participate in economic and cultural management. The state will wither away.
It would be incorrect, however, to imagine that the withering away of the state and the transformation of state administration into public self-government under communism will take place suddenly and all at once. The withering away of the state is a long, gradual process covering an entire historical epoch. For a certain period elements of state administration and public self-government will coexist and intertwine, and the need for the state will disappear only when society becomes fully mature for self-- government, i.e., under developed communism. ``The state will be able to wither away completely when society adopts the rule: 'From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs', Le., when people have become so accustomed to observing the fundamental rules of social intercourse and when their labour has become so productive that they will voluntarily work according to their ability.~''^^*^^
The internal condition for the withering away of the state is the building of developed communist society. But there have to be external conditions too for the state to wither away, namely the victory and consolidation of socialism on the international scene. When speaking about the withering away of the state it is necessary to take the international situation into account. If _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``The State and Revolution'', Collected Works, Vol. 25, p. 474.
306 communism triumphs in one or another country or a group of countries, but armed imperialist predators continue to exist in the world, then the communist society will definitely retain the state function of defending the country. This function will become obsolete only when the threat of an attack by reactionary imperialist forces disappears for ever. [307] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER XV __ALPHA_LVL1__ The Social Revolution __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]We have seen in the preceding chapter what the state is, how it arose and what types of states are known in history. The following questions now arise: Why is one type of state replaced by another?
Why do social orders change?
Why is one ruling class replaced by another?
How do social orders and types of state change?
The Marxist-Leninist theory of the social revolution answers these questions.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. The Social Revolution---a Law of DevelopmentA social revolution is a deep-going upheaval in the political, economic and ideological life of society. It is a revolution that brings about the succession of ruling classes and types of states, abolishes old relations of production, introduces new ones and radically changes social views and institutions.
A social revolution does not take place by accident but is a natural product of the material conditions of society's life at definite stages of its development, of its internal contradictions. Pointing to the causes of the social revolution, Marx, in his preface to A Contribution to the Critique of the Political Economy wrote that at a certain stage of their development, the productive forces of society come in conflict with the existing relations of production within 308 which they have hitherto been at work. From forms of development of the productive forces these already obsolete relations turn into their fetters. Then begins an epoch of social revolution.
The conflict between the new productive forces and the old relations of production is the objective economic foundation of the social revolution. We have ascertained earlier that relations of production cannot indefinitely lag behind the development of the productive forces. Sooner or later they must conform to them. And they are brought into conformity by a social revolution.
A conflict in the sphere of production is always expressed in a conflict of class interests. The reactionary class, the vehicle of old relations of production, is opposed by the progressive class, the vehicle of new relations of production. Hence the irreconcilable struggle of the progressive class against the reactionary class, of which the social revolution is the highest expression and the consummation.
The old, reactionary class never gives up its rule voluntarily. It uses the full power of the state to preserve the old production relations. To abolish the old production relations and introduce new ones, therefore, the progressive class must gain political power. In other words, whether the new relations of production win or not, ultimately depends on whether the revolutionary class gains state power. Therefore state power is the basic question of any revolution.
Social revolutions are of tremendous importance in the life of society. It is only through radical, revolutionary changes that the old, reactionary social system can be abolished and a new, progressive system introduced. Only social revolutions resolve economic and class contradictions which matured in the long period of preceding social development. Only revolution helps to remove obstacles to economic, political and cultural progress (obsolete production relations and their reactionary vehicle, the old classes). The creative energies of the people are awakened in time of social revolution, and millions upon millions of people are drawn into active social life, as a result of which the process of social development is greatly accelerated. For this reason Marx called revolutions the locomotives of history.
309 __ALPHA_LVL3__ A Revolutionary Situation.A revolution is not made ``to order" or at someone's will. Definite historical conditions, objective and subjective prerequisites, are necessary for a revolution.
The sum of objective conditions needed for a revolution is called a revolutionary situation, Lenin regarded the following as signs of a revolutionary situation:
1. On the one hand, the impossibility for the ruling classes to live and rule in the old way, the so-called crisis ``from above'', and, on the other, the unrest of the oppressed classes which do not want to live in the old way, the crisis ``from below''. ``Revolution is impossible without a nation-wide crisis (affecting both the exploited and the exploiters),~"^^*^^ Lenin wrote.
2. Extreme aggravation of the poverty and suffering of the oppressed classes.
3. A considerable increase in the activity of the people. While in ordinary times the masses are relatively calm, in conditions of crisis the situation itself impels them to take independent revolutionary action.
Not every revolutionary situation, however, leads to a revolution. There was a revolutionary situation in Russia from 1859 to 1861, but no revolution occurred. A revolutionary situation, the maturity of the objective factor, merely creates the possibility for a victorious revolution. But to turn this possibility into reality the subjective factor, too, must be ripe, Le., the revolutionary class must be ready and able to undertake revolutionary mass action which is sufficiently strong to overturn (or undermine) the old government which, as Lenin wrote, will never ``fall'' until it is ``pushed''. A victorious socialist revolution is possible only if the working class is organised and politically aware, if it has reliable allies and the revolution is led by an experienced, battle-seasoned Marxist party.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Nature and Driving Forces of a RevolutionSocial revolutions differ in nature and driving forces. The nature of a revolution depends on the class which _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``~`Left-Wing'Communism---An Infantile Disorder'', Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 85.
310 comes to power and the relations of production introduced as a result of it. For example, a revolution in the course of which the rule of the feudal lords is replaced by the rule of the bourgeoisie and correspondingly new, capitalist relations of production are established instead of feudal relations, bears the nature of a bourgeois revolution.The driving forces of a revolution are the social classes which make the revolution and fight against the reactionary classes for the triumph of new relations of production. One of the classes making the revolution is the leader and it is followed by all the other classes and social groups taking part in the revolution.
What the driving forces of a revolution are and what class is the leader depends both on the nature of the revolution and the historical conditions in which it takes place. In the bourgeois revolutions which took place in the West when capitalism was on the ascent (from the 17th to the first half of the 19th century) the driving forces were the peasants and the artisans, while the leader was the bourgeoisie which led all the other fighters against feudalism.
Bourgeois revolutions in the era of imperialism often acquire a strongly pronounced democratic nature (the revolution of 1905--07 and the February revolution of 1917 in Russia). The widest sections of the people take part in them, they put forward their own demands, pursue an independent line and exert a tremendous influence on the course of the revolution. The imperialist bourgeoisie acts as a reactionary class in these revolutions. It is afraid of the full victory of the revolution, fears wide democratisation, because the fuller the freedom and the wider the democracy, the more favourable the conditions for the struggle of the working class against its rule. The monopoly bourgeoisie seeks to end the revolution halfway by coming to terms with the landlords, with the old authority. That is why in the new conditions the monopoly bourgeoisie ceases to be the leader and the driving force of the revolution; in a number of countries it openly supports the counter-- revolution. The proletariat and the peasants, with the proletariat as the leader, are the driving forces of bourgeois revolutions in the epoch of imperialism.
311 __ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. A Socialist Revolution __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]In order to get rid of exploitation and national oppression, unemployment and poverty, the proletariat has to destroy capitalism and establish socialist society. This can be achieved only through a socialist revolution.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Essence of the Socialist RevolutionA socialist revolution radically differs from all the preceding types of social revolution.
What is the difference?
Firstly, all previous revolutions did not aim to abolish exploitation, but merely modified its forms. A socialist revolution, however, abolishes every exploitation for all time and ushers in the era of construction of a classless society.
Secondly, previous revolutions did not have to create a new economy. They only brought political power into line with the new economic relations which arose within the old society. One of the principal tasks of a socialist revolution is to create a new economy, the economy of socialism, which does not arise within the womb of capitalism.
Thirdly, no revolution is marked by such great activity of the people as a socialist revolution. In the course of it the proletariat rallies round itself the- broad sections of the working people and the democratic forces to fight against capitalism and for socialism.
The working class is the decisive force of a socialist revolution. Headed by the Marxist party the proletariat, being the most advanced, revolutionary class, leads all the working people who are fighting against the old, capitalist society. It organises the attack on capitalism, which holds political sway, and establishes its own rule. Having seized political power, the working class continues to lead all the working people along the socialist road.
The main question of a socialist revolution is the winning of political power by the proletariat and its further development and consolidation. We know that the working class can discharge its mission---abolish capitalism and build a new society---only by creating its own proletarian state. The destruction of the bourgeois state machine and the building of a new, proletarian state are the principal tasks of a socialist revolution.
312 __ALPHA_LVL3__ Inevitability of the Socialist RevolutionReformists have always opposed the socialist revolution. They are particularly obstinate in their attempts to refute the Marxist-Leninist theory of the socialist revolution at the present time, when mankind's movement from capitalism to socialism is the main feature of history. In order to prevent this law-governed process at all costs, preserve capitalism and divert the working class from revolutionary struggle, the reformists claim that in present-day conditions there is no need for a socialist revolution, that the possibility has arisen for the evolution from capitalism to socialism through reforms. Contemporary capitalism, they maintain, has ceased to be the capitalism of which Marx wrote in Capital; it has become ``people''s capitalism'', a society without exploiters and exploited. The bourgeois state, too, has changed: they claim that it has lost its class nature and has become a ``welfare state" capable of bringing about socialism by reforms within the framework-of the existing political system.
The views of the reformists who deny the need for a socialist revolution have been taken up by contemporary revisionists. The growth of state-monopoly planning and regulation of economy in a number of capitalist countries is their main argument attesting to the conversion of contemporary capitalism into socialism. They regard the mounting state-monopoly tendencies in capitalist countries as graphic proof that mankind has entered the era of socialism.
Revisionists do not even toy with the idea of destroying the cornerstone of capitalism, private property; they refuse to see that state-monopoly capitalism which they extol, far from abolishing, only concentrates property in the hands of the capitalist state, and even if it has any plans they are designed solely to sweat the working people even more ``systematically''. They deny the leading role of the proletariat in the revolution and the need for a proletarian state.
Facts show that no ``people's capitalism'', capitalism without exploiters, no ``welfare state" exists under imperialism, nor could there be any. Imperialism possesses an extremely reactionary nature expressed in greater exploitation of the working class, a frenzied drive on the standard of living and democratic rights of the working people, the arms 313 race and preparations for another world war. All this inevitably deepens the antagonism between the working class and all the working people, on the one hand, and the bourgeoisie, on the other, which is expressed in sharper class struggles, wider popular movements against imperialism, for an improvement of their standard of living, for peace, democracy and socialism. This struggle naturally leads to the victorious socialist revolution, to the abolition of capitalism and to the victory of socialism.
The socialist revolution is inevitable in the epoch of imperialism. Only the proletarian revolution is capable of removing capitalist production relations, the formidable obstacle to the development of the modern productive forces, to mankind's progress, and of meeting the most pressing requirements of historical development. And although imperialism is still strong enough and superprofits enable it to bribe the upper crust of the working class, although bourgeois ideologists and their revisionist aides so far succeed in addling the minds of part of the working people, capitalism is historically doomed.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Lenin's Theory of the Socialist RevolutionThe founders of scientific communism, Marx and Engels, proved that the doom of capitalism and the victory of socialism were inevitable. They exposed the antagonism between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat and reached the conclusion that the further development of this antagonism unfailingly led to socialist revolution.
They, however, lived at a time when capitalism was on the upgrade and developed more or less evenly. Proceeding from this, they held that the proletarian revolution could be victorious simultaneously in all, or in a majority of the advanced countries, because at that time any attempt to establish socialism in one country would have been crushed by the combined efforts of all the capitalists.
At the turn of the century, when capitalism entered its final stage, imperialism, and the conditions for the socialist revolution substantially altered, Lenin advanced a new theory of the revolution corresponding to the epoch of imperialism.
In his book Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution, Lenin elaborated the important 314 question of the bourgeois-democratic revolution growing into the socialist revolution. Analysing the specific features of the revolutionary movement of the working class in the new historical conditions, above all the specific features of the 1905--07 revolution in Russia, he came to the conclusion that only the proletariat, which is directly interested in taking the revolution right to the end, could and should be the leader of the bourgeois-democratic revolution in the period of imperiab'sm. In the course of the revolution the proletariat first carries out democratic changes and then, as Lenin pointed out, proceeds at once from the democratic to the socialist revolution.
Lenin's brilliant discovery of the possibility of the socialist revolution being victorious first in one country or several countries, is the most important element in his theory of the revolution. To substantiate this discovery he referred to the fact that the development of capitalist countries under imperialism is uneven, spasmodic. Some countries, which formerly fell behind, overtake and outstrip the economically advanced countries. The balance of forces is upset and conflicts and wars for the redivision of the world break out. As a result, the positions of world capitalism are weakened and the possibility arises of breaking the chain of imperialism at its weakest link. ``The development of capitalism proceeds extremely unevenly in different countries,'' Lenin wrote. ``It cannot be otherwise under commodity production. From this it follows irrefutably that socialism cannot achieve victory simultaneously in all countries. It will achieve victory first in one or several countries, while the others will for some time remain bourgeois or pre-bourgeois.~"^^*^^
Lenin's theory of the socialist revolution has tremendous practical significance. It unshackles the revolutionary initiative of the working people and makes the working class of each country confident in the victory of its great cause, in the inevitable doom of capitalism and the victory of socialism and communism.
_-_-_^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``The Military Programme of the Proletarian Revolution'', Collected Works, Vol. 23, p. 79.
315 __ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. The Triumph of Lenin's Theory of the SocialistGuided by Lenin's theory of the socialist revolution, Russia's working class, in alliance with the peasants and headed by the Bolshevik Party, abolished the rule of the landlords and capitalists, and took political power into its own hands. 7 November 1917 has gone down in history as the beginning of a new era in mankind's development---the era of the fall of capitalism and the triumph of the new, socialist society. ``From now on,'' Lenin said on that historic day, ``a new phase in the history of Russia begins, and this, the third Russian revolution, should in the end lead to the victory of socialism.''^^*^^
His words were prophetic. The more than 60 years that have passed since that day have strikingly proved the correctness of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism. Mankind saw the rise of a true socialist society whose very existence repudiates exploitation and all forms of social oppression. The building of developed socialism and the Soviet Union's entry into the period of communist construction are the main result of the growth of Soviet society since the Great October Socialist Revolution.
This revolution gave a powerful impetus to the world revolutionary movement, contributed to the further disintegration of the capitalist system and deepened the general crisis of capitalism. It inaugurated the transition from capitalism to socialism.
After the Second World War a number of countries in Central and Southeast Europe and Asia fell away from the capitalist system. Capitalism ceased to be the only world socio-economic system. Two systems now exist in the world---moribund capitalism and the young and growing socialism.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The World Socialist SystemThe world socialist system is a social, economic and political community of free, sovereign peoples, having _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Meeting of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, October 25 (November 7), 1917'', Collected Works, Vol. 26, p. 239.
316 embarked on the socialist ahd communist path, and united by an identity of interests and goals and the close bonds of international socialist solidarity. The states of this system occupy a large territory of Europe, Asia and Latin America. The socialist community is the most dynamic, economically stable and progressive force in the world. The CMEA membercountries alone, which account for just slightly over 10 per cent of the earth's population, produce more than 33 per cent of world industrial output.The world socialist system is a qualitatively new type of economic and political relations between countries. These relations are based on the identity of their economic and political interests and the single Marxist-Leninist ideology. Social ownership of the means of production is the economic foundation of the socialist system. Its political foundation is the rule of the people headed by the working class. Its ideological foundation is the theory of Marxism-- Leninism. Socialist countries have one goal---the building of socialism and communism.
Full equality of states, big and small, non-interference in each other's domestic affairs, respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity, fraternal economic assistance, close cooperation in the economic, political and cultural spheres---these are the basic principles underlying the relations between the socialist countries.
The forms of cooperation and mutual assistance between the socialist countries are very diverse. In the economic sphere they are expressed in the socialist economic integration, the coordination of national economic plans, specialisation and cooperation of production, all-round scientific and technical cooperation, etc. In the political sphere they consist in joint struggle against imperialist reaction, for peace, socialism, and social progress. In the sphere of culture they are manifested in ever wider and multifarious cultural cooperation between the socialist countries, resulting in greater mutual enrichment of their national cultures.
The establishment of a new type of relations and cooperation between socialist countries is a fairly complicated process, with its specific difficulties and problems. The reason is that these countries have different levels of economic and cultural development, different histories, 317 traditions and customs. Moreover, as the peoples draw closer together they have to overcome the survivals of the past, and particularly of nationalism, in their consciousness. Hence the need to strengthen the unity of the socialist countries which multiplies the might of socialism and helps it to successfully counter the forces of imperialist reaction. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union makes every effort to promote the cohesion of the socialist community on the basis of Marxism-Leninism, and to enhance its might and influence; it broadens economic, scientific, technical and ideological cooperation and cultural links, and educates the Soviet people in the spirit of friendship and international solidarity with the peoples of the fraternal countries.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Transformation of the World Socialist SystemHistory has witnessed numerous clashes between different social systems which in the final count ended in the victory of the more progressive ones. And there can be no doubt that the present struggle between the two opposing systems---socialism and capitalism---will end in the complete victory of the socialist system. This firm belief rests on a scientific analysis of the laws of social development, on the facts of life. There can be no better proof of the strength and vitality of socialism than such events of world-historic importance as the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution and the consolidation of socialism in the USSR, and the development of the world socialist system. At the same time the aggravation of the general crisis of capitalism, the falling away of a number of countries from the capitalist system and the collapse of the colonial system of imperialism leave no doubt that the doom of capitalism is inevitable.
The world of socialism is expanding while the world of capitalism is shrinking. Socialism will inevitably replace capitalism everywhere. Mankind's transition from capitalism to socialism is the main content of our day and age. ``Our epoch, whose main content is the transition from capitalism to socialism,'' states the CPSU Programme, ``is an epoch of struggle between the two opposing social systems, an epoch of socialist and national liberation revolutions, of the breakdown of imperialism and the abolition of the colonial system, an epoch of the transition of more and more 318 peoples to the socialist path, of the triumph of socialism and communism on a worldwide scale. The central factor of the present epoch is the international working class and its main creation, the world socialist system.''^^*^^
The entire course of mankind's development in our epoch convincingly shows that the world system of socialism now stands in the centre of the socialist and of all progressive forces of the world in general. Being a beacon for mankind's progressive movement and exerting revolutionary influence on the course of world development, the world socialist system is at the same time a great material force embodying the immortal ideas of MarxismLeninism, a force which bears the main burden of the struggle against imperialism and the greater share of responsibility for the future of the world.
Above all the socialist system influences the course of world development by its economic growth whose high rates continuously augment its share in world industrial and agricultural production. The greater the socialist system's success in economic development and the bigger its economic and political potential, the more important is the role it plays in finding solutions to crucial international issues, the problem of war and peace in particular. Thanks to the strength of the forces of socialism and peace it is now possible not only to expose but also frequently to cut short the reactionary intrigues of the imperialists.
The world socialist system plays a tremendous role in modern history also due to its ever increasing influence on the struggle of the peoples of the non-socialist states. By force of example it revolutionises the minds of the working people in capitalist countries inspiring them to fight against capitalism, and for peace and social progress, for the triumph of democracy and the victory of socialism. Today the peoples which are stirring to revolutionary action can rely on the support from the socialist system in their struggle against the export of counter-revolution by the world reaction. The socialist countries also assist them in the building of anewsocietv. The socialist countries are the most irreconcilable opponents of colonialism and staunch champions of national equality and state independence of the peoples. The _-_-_
^^*^^ Road to Communism, p. 449.
319 world socialist system opposes colonial domination and gives every support to the struggle of the peoples for independence; it is a mighty factor of the further successes of the national liberation movement. __ALPHA_LVL3__ Peaceful Coexistence as a Form of ResolvingA specific form of resolving contradictions between the world socialist and capitalist systems is peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems.
The principle of peaceful coexistence was formulated and substantiated by Lenin. He firmly believed that sooner or later socialism would triumph throughout the world, but maintained that this victory would not take place in all countries at one and the same time. Depending on the level of economic development, the acuteness of the class struggle, the correlation of forces between the proletariat and bourgeoisie and other conditions, some countries would arrive at socialism sooner than others. Proceeding from this premise, Lenin drew the conclusion that during a certain historical period when there would be both capitalist and socialist countries in the world, the coexistence of socialist and capitalist countries is inevitable. Lenin was a proponent of peaceful coexistence, and the CPSU and the Soviet Government firmly adhere to this principle in their foreign policy whose main aim is to ensure peaceful conditions for the building of communism in the USSR and the development of the world socialist system, and, together with all the peace-loving peoples, to save mankind from the horrors of a devastating world war.
Today when there are monstrous weapons of mass destruction and the means for delivering them to any point on the globe, when another world war would take a colossal toll of lives and cause terrible destruction, the problem of war and peace has become the most acute issue of our time. It has become a problem of life and death for hundreds of millions of people, a problem of the very existence of whole nations and states. That is why the peoples are against war and for peaceful coexistence.
Peaceful coexistence presupposes renunciation of war as a means of settling international disputes, and their solution by negotiation; equality, mutual understanding and trust 320 between countries; consideration for each other's interests; non-interference in each other's domestic affairs and recognition of the right of each nation to solve all its problems by itself; strict respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries; promotion of economic and cultural cooperation on the basis of complete equality and mutual benefit. The CPSU and all other Marxist parties devote a great deal of attention to these lofty tasks.
Thanks to the efforts of the CPSU, the fraternal Communist parties and all peace-loving forces of the world there is a growing trend towards international detente and peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems. The USSR is fully determined to make detente irreversible, to add military to political detente and to build a reliable material foundation for it.
This is borne out by the decisions of the 25th Congress of the CPSU which adopted the Programme of Further Struggle for Peace and International Cooperation, and for the Freedom and Independence of the Peoples.^^*^^ In addition to deepening and developing the measures envisaged in the Peace Programme adopted at the 24th CPSU Congress (disarmament, reduction and limitation of strategic weapons, reduction of armed forces and armaments in Central Europe, etc.), the 25th CPSU Congress mapped out new important measures, including work for a world treaty on the non-use of force in international relations, and promotion of Asian security through joint efforts by the states of that continent. These measures aroused great interest and approval throughout the world.
Consistently implementing the principle of peaceful coexistence Marxist parties take into account that powerful forces which can safeguard and strengthen peace have arisen and are developing in the world. Alongside the world socialist system which is steadily developing and gaining in strength and is the natural centre of attraction for all peaceloving forces in the world, the extensive zone of peace also includes a large group of peaceable non-socialist countries, many of which had cast off the colonial yoke. A major factor in the struggle for peace is the anti-war movement of _-_-_
^^*^^ See Documents and Resolutions. XXVth Congress of the CPSU, p. 30.
321 the broad masses which are more and more actively taking the solution of the.problem of war and peace into their own hands.The existence of these powerful peace-loving forces has made it possible for the CPSU and the Marxist parties of other countries to reach the conclusion that in our age war can be averted.
The ability of the peace-loving forces to prevent another world war, however, does not mean that every possibility of a war breaking out has been precluded. Such a possibility will exist so long as capitalism exists. Only communist society will establish eternal peace on Earth. In present conditions, however, the unremitting, consistent struggle of the USSR and other socialist countries, and all honest people for peace and security encounters the bitter resistance of reactionary imperialist circles, the military-industrial complex in the first place. Faced with the danger of another world war, the Soviet Union is compelled to take the necessary measures to strengthen its defences and protect the Soviet people and the people of the entire socialist camp.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Peaceful Coexistence as a Form of the Class StruggleContemporary opportunists distort the essence of the principle of peaceful coexistence. They consider that peaceful coexistence reconciles the contradictions between the socialist and capitalist systems and spells an end to the struggle between the socialist and bourgeois ideologies.
In reality, however, peaceful coexistence does not at all signify reconciliation of the contradictions between socialism and capitalism and discontinuation of struggle between them. Peaceful coexistence and international detente concern relations between states. ``Detente,'' states the Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 25th Congress of the CPSU, ``does not in the slightest abolish, nor can it abolish or alter, the laws of the class struggle.''^^*^^ Moreover, peaceful coexistence is a special form of the class struggle between the two opposing world systems. It is a continuation of the struggle between the two opposing social systems, socialism and capitalism, on the international scene. It is an _-_-_
^^*^^ Documents and Resolutions. XXVth Congress of the CPSU, p. 39.
322 economic, political and ideological struggle, but in no way a military one. It is waged by peaceful means, without weapons or wars, and without one state interfering in the domestic affairs of another.Peaceful coexistence is the basis for the economic competition between socialism and capitalism on an international scale. It is a struggle between socialism and capitalism for the trends, rates and scale of economic and cultural growth. In the course of this struggle people find out from their own experience which system can satisfy their needs more fully.
The course and the results of the competition, of the struggle of the two opposing systems determine contemporary world development. It should be stressed that the principle of peaceful coexistence does not signify renunciation of political struggle, of the revolutionary class struggle of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie, renunciation of the working people's struggle for liberation from capitalist exploitation, and of the fight of the oppressed peoples for national independence, against colonialism and neocolonialism.
Peaceful coexistence of the two opposing systems also implies an irreconcilable ideological struggle, a battle between the socialist and bourgeois ideologies. Socialist ideology which expresses the interests of the working class, of all working people and proves the historical necessity of the proletariat's struggle against the bourgeoisie, for socialism and communism, is the antithesis of bourgeois ideology. It is pitted against bourgeois ideology which expresses the interests of the imperialist reactionary forces, attempts to justify the existence of imperialism and is used as a weapon in the fight against peace, democracy and socialism. All means of ideological influence are exploited for these purposes. The chief of them is anti-communism, which mainly consists of slander on socialism and a falsified interpretation of the policies and aims of the communist parties and of Marxism-Leninism. A consistent and implacable struggle against bourgeois ideology is an indispensable condition for the victory of socialism in the peaceful competition with capitalism.
Thus, the existence and development of the socialist system, which opposes more and more successfully the 323 capitalist system, creates increasingly favourable international conditions for the growth of the world revolutionary process.
The internal conditions too are now more favourable for the transition of more countries to socialism; this is due to the deepening of the general crisis of capitalism and the aggravation of all its intrinsic contradictions.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Deepening of the General Crisis ofWhile the new world of socialism, full of strength, vigour and health, is growing and advancing, the capitalist system is in the throes of a deep-going process of decline and disintegration.
It is undergoing a general crisis.
This crisis was inaugurated by the Great October Socialist Revolution which resulted in the emergence of the USSR, the world's first socialist state. The undivided rule of capitalism in the world came to an end.
The victory of socialist revolutions in a number of European and Asian countries as a result of which socialism turned into a world system, was another powerful blow sustained by imperialism.
The principal characteristic of the present stage in the general crisis of capitalism is that the correlation of forces in the world has radically shifted in favour of the world socialist system. More and more countries are falling away from capitalism and the forces fighting for socialism and social progress are rapidly growing throughout the world. The positions of imperialism in the peaceful economic competition with socialism are being inexorably weakened. The unprecedented advance of the national liberation movement has led to the break-down of imperialism's colonial system.
But contemporary capitalism is trying to adapt itself to the new situation in the world. In the conditions of the confrontation with socialism, the ruling circles of the capitalist countries are afraid more than ever before of the class struggle developing into a massive revolutionary movement. Hence, the bourgeoisie is striving to use more camouflaged forms of exploitation of the working people, and is ready now and again to carry out partial reforms in order to 324 keep the masses under its ideological and political control as far as possible. ``The monopolies have been making extensive use of scientific and technical achievements to fortify their positions, to enhance the efficiency and accelerate the pace of production, and to intensify the exploitation and oppression of the working people.
``However, adaptation to the new conditions does not mean that capitalism has been stabilised as a system. The general crisis of capitalism has continued to deepen.''^^*^^ The events of the past few years prove this convincingly.
The Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 25th Congress of the CPSU notes that the crisis of capitalism has become all-embracing. A profound crisis has gripped capitalist economy and politics, ideology and morals. In recent years an economic crisis erupted in the capitalist world whose intensity and scope can be compared only with the crisis of the early thirties. It spread simultaneously to all the main centres of capitalist economy over the world and has afflicted the highly developed state-monopoly economy which emerged in the post-war period. The sharp cutback in production and the growing unemployment in most of the capitalist countries intertwined with the monetary, energy and raw materials crises. Impelled by the continuously growing military expenditures, inflation has made the crisis processes especially acute. Inter-imperialist rivalry and discord within the Common Market and NATO have grown sharper. The increased power of the international mono: polies has made the competitive struggle still more ruthless. Capitalism's instability is becoming increasingly apparent. The reformist myth that present-day capitalism is able to get rid of crises has collapsed.
A distinctive feature of the contemporary stage of the general crisis of capitalism is the deepening of the crisis of imperialism's foreign policy which is expressed in the loss by imperialism of its decisive role in international affairs.
The politico-ideological crisis of imperialism has also become more acute. It afflicts institutions of power and _-_-_
^^*^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 20.
325 bourgeois political parties and undermines elementary ethical standards. Corruption is increasingly manifest, even in the top echelons of the state machinery. The decline of intellectual culture continues and the crime rate is rising.Bourgeois ideology, too, is in the throes of an intense crisis. Pessimism and fear of the future, mysticism and mistrust in science and man's creative powers and abilities, negation of progress, anti-communist slander and protection of the system of hired slavery and oppression which is hated by the people---such are the main features of this ideology. For a long time now bourgeois ideology has been unable to conceive ideas that would carry away the broad masses; it is an ideology of a class which is on its way out of the arena of history. Therefore its utter bankruptcy is inevitable.
In our time the conflict between the productive forces and production relations in capitalist society has attained the extremes of intensity. Mankind has entered a period of a great scientific and technical revolution. But capitalist relations of production are too narrow for this revolution. Besides inhibiting the development of the productive forces and the application of the achievements of the human intellect in the interests of social progress, capitalism frequently turns them against man himself by converting them into monstrous weapons of devastating war. This profound conflict of the capitalist mode of production confronts mankind with the task of breaking the narrow limits of capitalist relations, unfettering the mighty production forces which man has created and employing them in the interests of the whole of society. The only way to do all this lies through the socialist revolution.
``Imperialism'' notes the Final Document of the Moscow International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, ``can neither regain its lost historical initiative nor reverse world development. The main direction of mankind's development is determined by the world socialist system, the international working class, all revolutionary forces.~"^^*^^
_-_-_^^*^^ International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties Moscow, 1969, p. 13.
326 __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Struggle for Democracy---an Integral PartThe expansion and development of the socialist world will continue through more and more countries falling away from the capitalist system.
In the course of the revolution socialist changes are intertwined with democratic, anti-imperialist changes. Lenin, developing and explaining his theory of the bourgeois-democratic Devolution growing over into the socialist revolution, maintained that in the epoch of imperialism there could be no ``pure'' revolutions unconnected with a democratic, anti-imperialist movement of the most diverse social groups. In these conditions the proletariat, the most consistent champion of the popular anti-imperialist aspirations, must head the democratic movement, unite the different classes taking part in it and lead them to the overthrow of the bourgeoisie and the victory of socialism.
It is possible that the revolution in a number of countries may pass through two relatively independent stages: general democratic and socialist. This is how the revolution developed in the Soviet Union and some other socialist countries. In the Sovigt Union the February bourgeoisdemocratic revolution preceded the Great October Socialist Revolution. In a number of other socialist countries the revolution passed through an anti-imperialist, democratic phase before entering the socialist phase. The development of the revolution in some other countries where capitalism still holds sway may also proceed in this way.
Powerful democratic movements developed after the Second World War: the national liberation movement and the struggle for the preservation of national sovereignty, the movement for peace and national security and the struggle for democracy in a number of capitalist countries. Contemporary democratic movements are marked by their exceptionally vast scale and organisation. They are spearheaded against imperialism, against the reactionary home and foreign policies of the monopolies.
Of course, the struggle against the monopolies, for peace and democratic reforms is not socialist in character, it does not aim to abolish private property and the exploitation of man by man. But it undermines the rule of the monopolies 327 and facilitates the attainment of national independence and democracy, and thus creates the necessary conditions for undertaking the tasks ot the socialist revolution. ``General democratic struggles against the monopolies,'' says the CPSU Programme, ``do not delay the socialist revolution but bring it nearer. The struggle for democracy is a component of the struggle for socialism.~"^^*^^
The alliance of the working class with all the other working people, and above all with its main ally, the peasants, is being forged in the struggle against the capitalist monopolies, for democracy and peace. Uniting around the working class and its Marxist party, the working people---the peasants, white collar workers and a large number of intellectuals---are schooled in the struggle against reaction. In the course of it they become increasingly convinced that under capitalism they cannot get rid of monopoly oppression and gradually come to the conclusion that the abolition of capitalism is the only way out for them. This is how rightwing socialist, reformist illusions are dispelled and how the political army of the socialist revolution is built up.
It is clear from all this that today the mainstays of capitalism are destroyed not only in the course of the direct social revolution of the proletariat. Socialist revolutions, national liberation, anti-imperialist revolutions, national democratic revolutions, broad peasant movements, the people's struggle against fascist and other tyrannical regimes, and the general democratic movement against national oppression---all merge into a single world revolutionary process which undermines and destroys capitalism.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Forms of TransitionThe question of the concrete forms of- transition to socialism by various countries acquires great importance in our age, the age of the mankind s advance towards socialism. What are these forms? What do they depend upon?
Marxism proceeds from the premise that the forms of transition from capitalism to socialism depend above all on the correlation of the class forces in a country. If the forces of the working class and its allies have a decisive _-_-_
^^*^^ Road to Communism, p. 484.
328 superiority over the forces of the bourgeoisie and if the latter realises the futility of resistance, then it may yield power peacefully. History, however, shows that the bourgeoisie is incapable of soberly appraising the correlation of forces; it does not voluntarily surrender its authority .and privileges, and resorts to all possible means, including force of arms, to uphold them. This means that the working class must be always prepared to repulse an armed attack by the bourgeoisie and take up weapons to defend its rights.This, of course, does not mean that a peaceful transition of political power into the hands of the working class is altogether impossible. Such a possibility has always existed, but it was very limited in the epoch of the undivided rule of the bourgeoisie.
After the February Revolution in 1917 Lenin and the Bolsheviks raised the question of a peaceful development of the revolution. This did not happen then, but not through the fault of the proletariat.
Now the situation is different. The new correlation of forces between capitalism and socialism which arose in the world after the last war greatly extended the possibilities of a peaceful transition to socialism. In the capitalist countries themselves these possibilities are rapidly expanding owing to the growth of the forces of democracy and socialism, and the greater influence of the working class and its Marxist parties among the people. In these conditions the working class of some countries, relying on the broad movement of the people against imperialism, has greater opportunities than ever to take power into its hands without bloodshed.
The parliamentary road can be one of the ways for the peaceful development of the socialist revolution. If the working class in a number of capitalist countries enjoys the support of the majority of the people and resolutely fights the opportunists, it will be able to win a stable majority in parliament, turn parliament into an instrument serving the working people and, after breaking down the resistance of the reactionary forces, it will be able to create the necessary conditions for a peaceful socialist revolution. The parliamentary way is in this case by no means a reformist way. It is the road of irreconcilable class struggle, radical revolutionary changes leading to the building of a new, socialist society.
329The peaceful road to socialism, however, should not be absolutised. It ought to be borne in mind that the bourgeoisie is still in power in a large part of the world, that it has weapons which it uses and will continue to use against the working class, against the working people.
Striking proof of this is the tragedy of Chile where the military-fascist dictatorship drowned the people's revolution in the blood of the working people and progressives. Yet, as the Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 25th Congress of the CPSU states, ``the Chilean tragedy has by no means invalidated the communist thesis about the possibility of different ways of revolution, including the peaceful way, if the necessary conditions for it exist. But it has been a forceful reminder that a revolution must know how to defend itself. It is a lesson in vigilance against present-day fascism and the intrigues of foreign reaction, and a call for greater international solidarity vith all those who take the road of freedom and progress.''^^*^^
The working class should always be ready to use both non-peaceful and peaceful forms of struggle. The mastery of all forms, the skilful implementation of those which cor respond more to the concrete situation, and the ability swiftly and unexpectedly to replace one form with another, are all essential for the victory of socialist revolution in all countries.
_-_-_^^*^^ Documents and Resolutions. XXVth Congress of the CPSU, pp. 35--36.
[330] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER XVI __ALPHA_LVL1__ National Liberation Revolutions __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]Socialism signifies complete abolition of exploitation of man by man and liquidation of all, including national and colonial oppression. The struggle against the domination of world capital, for the new, socialist system presupposes destruction of colonialism, a struggle for the independence, revival and burgeoning of nations formerly oppressed by imperialism. In this chapter we shall deal with national liberation revolutions, their character, basic objectives, and their significance. First, let us examine the question of the stages of the national liberation movement today.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. Struggle Against Colonialism and Neocolonialism __ALPHA_LVL3__ Disintegration of Imperialism's Colonial SystemImperialists of a small group of advanced countries not only exploit their own people, but also enslave millions of peoples in other countries. In their time, with the help of bloody armed violence and also deceit, blackmail, and bribery, they laid their hands on the whole of Africa, Latin America and a considerable part of Asia, creating a system of colonialism which until recently oppressed more than half of humanity.
The colonial system of imperialism constitutes one of the grimmest chapters in human history. The death of countless numbers of people, inhuman exploitation, poverty and hunger, disease and benightedness---such was the lot 331 which the imperialists had assigned to the colonial peoples. Suffice it to say that the colonialists were responsible for the enslavement or death of more than 100 million Africans.
The imperialists and their ideologists always talked a great deal about their humaneness and their civilising mission, and that they allegedly bring civilisation, modern technology, culture, a new and better way of life, etc., to the backward peoples. But the oppressed peoples are not taken in by this verbiage. They know that the colonies are a profitable capital investment sphere for the imperialists, a source of cheap raw materials and labour power, commodity markets and extensive military bridgeheads. Exploitation of the enslaved peoples for the sole purpose of gaining maximum profits---such is the essence of colonialism.
Naturally, the peoples could not reconcile themselves to colonial rule: they waged and are continuing to wage a gallant struggle against the imperialist predators, for freedom and national independence.
The Great October Socialist Revolution opened new prospects for the national liberation movement, and gave it a tremendous revolutionary potential; it awakened the oppressed peoples, inspired them to rise and fight, and drew them into the mainstream of the world revolutionary movement. The Soviet Union, the world's first socialist country, became and continues to be a vital source of political and moral support for the oppressed peoples.
The victory of socialism in the USSR and the resulting liberation of more than 100 nations and nationalities from social and colonial oppression, the rout of German fascism and Japanese militarism and the new balance of forces in the world after the Second World War, the rise of the world system of socialism, the growth of the revolutionary movement of the working class and the mounting influence of the communist parties created particularly favourable conditions for the development of the national liberation struggle of the peoples. Imperialism brings the peoples the yoke of colonialism, whereas the emergence of socialism opened up the era of liberation for all oppressed peoples. The succession of socialist and national liberation revolutions has destroyed 332 the old colonial system of imperialism.
However, only the system of open, direct political domination by imperialist states over the bulk of the world population has been undermined.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Danger of NeocolonialismThough most colonies and dependencies have won political independence, the liberated peoples cannot feel safe. The imperialists are trying to revive the colonial order and not only to preserve but to intensify the exploitation of the young sovereign states. Tens of millions of people (in the South of Africa) are harnessed to the yoke of colonial oppression. Imperialism continues to be the chief enemy of the national liberation movement; that is why the freedomloving peoples of the world are determined to fight against imperialism, for real freedom and independence. The struggle against the new forms of colonial oppression, against neocolonialism, is one of the most important tasks of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Neocolonialism is a system of economic, political and also military and ideological measures which the imperialists use to preserve their domination, exercise political control over the developing countries and exploit their economy. Neocolonialism is economic, military, political and ideological expansion of the imperialists in countries whose people have already freed themselves from colonial domination or are fighting for liberation.
For example, the imperialist powers which have retained control over the economy of one country or another strive to intensify its economic exploitation. In spite of the fact that the majority of Asian, African and Latin American countries have won political independence, many of them are still economically dependent on the imperialist powers. A considerable part of the industrial and other enterprises in these countries and the bulk of their natural resources are in the hands of foreign monopolies with the result that they continue to net immense profits from the exploitation of the economically dependent countries. At present the imperialists pump, out of them approximately $6,000 million annually in profits alone. One can easily imagine the 333 changes that would have taken place in the national economy and the wellbeing of the population of these countries if these funds were at their own disposal.
Neocolonialism also finds its expression in the economic ``assistance'' of the imperialists to the developing countries. This ``assistance'' is by no means unselfish as the neocolonialist ideologists and politicians assert. It has a definite purpose---to impose on the recipient countries economic agreements that would enable foreign monopolies to preserve and strengthen their economic positions and thus subject the economic and political development of these countries to their selfish interests. As a rule, this ``assistance'' is provided on conditions which impair the national dignity of the recipients; it gives them no chance to choose their own path of development and is a means of pressuring their domestic and foreign policy. Posing as champions of the economic florescence of the liberated countries the imperialists force them to take to the capitalist road of development and thus keep them in imperialist bondage.
In the struggle against the liberated peoples the imperialists even resort to the export of counter-revolution and direct armed intervention into the domestic affairs of the newly-free states. Foreign counter-revolutionary forces have attempted and are continuing their efforts to throttle the Ethiopian revolution and dismember the country, and pose a threat to the peoples of Angola, Mozambique, South Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan and other countries.
An important place in the arsenal of measures employed by neocolonialists is occupied by ideological aggression against the forces of progress, socialism and peace. The efforts of the imperialists to continue and intensify the exploitation of the developing countries are supported by the reactionary bourgeois ideology and above all nationalism, a tested weapon of reaction.
As Lenin wrote: ``The bourgeois nationalism of any oppressed nation has a general democratic content that is directed against oppression, and it is this content that we unconditionally support.''^^*^^ Such, for example, is the nationalism of some Asian and African countries today; its _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``The Right of Nations to Self-Determination" Collected Works, Vol. 20, p. 412.
334 progressive tendency is manifested in the struggle against imperialism and colonialism, feudal reaction and backwardness, which awakens the awareness of the people, and in the first place, of millions of peasants.At the same time nationalism is permanently in danger of shedding its democratic content and turning into a reactionary bourgeois nationalism, into Great Power chauvinism and racialism. That explains why the Communists, while supporting nationalism's liberatory trends, are also consistent champions of proletarian internationalism which affirms international solidarity and the friendship of working people of all races and nationalities. Disclosing the decisive role of the class struggle in any social movement, including the national, and urging unity of the working people of all countries, Marxists-Leninists combat the ideology of bourgeois nationalism and cultivate proletarian internationalism in the consciousness of the people.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. The Character and the Motive Forces ofA national liberation revolution is the highest stage of the national liberation struggle.
The central issue of any revolution, including the national liberation revolution, is that of state power. The transition of state power from foreign monopolies or their placemen to the patriotic, national forces of the formerly oppressed people is the hallmark of the national liberation revolution.
Like any other revolution, a national liberation revolution breaks out and develops on a definite social and economic foundation. It solves specific tasks and has its own motive forces, i.e., classes and social sections which are active in it
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Character of the NationalThe economy and political affairs of the colonies and dependencies were dominated by foreign capital which put down any manifestation of political and economic independence, slowed down the development of the economy 335 and deformed it, and turned these countries into its agrarian and raw materials appendage.
The colonies and dependencies were turned into the nearest strategic reserve of imperialism. Quite often they were used as a bastion against the growing forces of world socialism, and a military bridgehead for imperialist aggression. They were an inexhaustible source of cheap raw materials and free labour power, and an extensive and extremely profitable consumer market.
Imperialism not only directly oppresses the people of the colonies and dependencies, and suppresses all their manifestations of political and economic independence; it is also the principal bulwark of internal reactionary forces and above all of the rich landowners and tribal chiefs, the main bearers of feudal and pre-feudal relations.
That is why imperialism and foreign monopolies are the greatest enemies of the oppressed peoples; that is why the national liberation revolutions have a clear-cut anti-- imperialist character.
The principal aim of these revolutions is to abolish the political and economic domination of foreign imperialism, win political and economic independence and, consequently, set up a sovereign national state.
Yet it is impossible to shake off the oppression of the monopolies without first wiping out the survivals of feudalism and tribal, pre-feudal relations whose bearers were imperialism's principal social mainstay in the colonies and dependencies. That is why national liberation revolutions also have an anti-feudal character. Liquidation of the survivals of pre-bourgeois relations inhibiting economic and political progress is yet another important task of the national liberation revolutions.
The solution of such vast and complicated problems is inconceivable without the participation of the people who are the real makers of history. That is why the uprooting of the survivals of colonial domination in domestic policy and democratisation of social life constitute the third important task of the national liberation revolution which thus acquires a democratic character.
It follows that the national liberation revolution has an anti-imperialist, anti-feudal and democratic character. As Lenin wrote, it solves ``democratic tasks, the tasks of 336 overthrowing foreign oppression".^^*^^
The national liberation revolution owes its general democratic, anti-imperialist and anti-feudal character not only to tasks which it sets itself, but also to those social forces which are called upon to solve these tasks, i.e., to the motive forces of the revolution. Let us see what these forces are.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Motive Forces of the NationalBefore we examine the motive forces of the national liberation revolution we should recall that colonial and dependent countries had different levels of economic and political development. Some of them were agrarian-- industrial, others were backward agrarian countries without any industry worth mentioning, while the majority were extremely backward agrariaft countries where the survivals of feudal and at times even pre-feudal (patriarchal) relations were still strong.
The social composition of the population of the developing countries is most diverse. All of them have a working class, peasantry, national bourgeoisie and urban petty bourgeoisie, national intelligentsia (civilian and military, and students), feudal lords and a pro-imperialist (compradore) bourgeoisie. With the exception of the pro-imperialist bourgeoisie and the feudal elite all these classes and social forces are oppressed by foreign monopolies and therefore participate in one form or another in the national liberation revolution. Needless to say each class and social group has its own understanding of the tasks of the revolution, and in addition to the national objectives pursues its own social aims.
One of the main motive forces of the revolution is the steadily growing working class. It should be borne in mind, however, that its size, unity and level of consciousness vary from country to country. Hence its role and significance in the national liberation revolutions also differ. There are countries where the proletariat has not only developed into a class and achieved organisational and ideological unity, _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``A Caricature of Marxism-and Imperialist Economism'', Collected Works, Vol. 23, p. 59.
__PRINTERS_P_337_COMMENT__ 12---389 337 but, guided by Marxist parties, plays the leading role in national liberation revolutions and has ensured their development into socialist revolutions (socialist countries in Asia). In other countries the proletariat is an important motive force of the revolution rallying all the progressive sections of the nation, the peasantry in the first place. There are countries where the proletariat has emerged as a class but so far does not play the leading role in society and has not rallied the nation's progressive forces round itself. Finally, there is another group of countries, mainly African, where the proletariat is only solidifying and organising into a class. Being small in size and weak both organisationally and ideologically, it is as yet unable to decisively influence the course and results of the national liberation struggle.But in all countries without exception the proletariat, owing to its objective position in society, is the most revolutionary social force which more than any other is concerned with bringing the national liberation revolution to a victorious conclusion. The reason is clear: deliverance from oppression by foreign monopolies and the democratisation of all social and state activity create favourable conditions for the proletariat to attain its historic objective---socialism.
In the course of the national liberation struggle the working class swells its ranks, becomes organised and acquires political experience. Its class awareness enhances and its alliance with the non-proletarian sections develops and strengthens. It forms and consolidates its trade union, youth and other organisations. The national liberation revolutions are a splendid school which prepares the proletariat for its coming social battles for socialism.
The peasantry is numerically the biggest and in some countries the main motive force of national liberation revolutions.
In the colonies and dependencies the peasants were in a terrible, truly desperate plight. Since they had no land they had to lease it from the fabulously wealthy feudal lords and to pay them from 40 to 80 per cent of the harvest.
Moreover, the peasants were harnessed to the yoke of foreign monopolists who owned great tracts of land and, together with the local feudal lords, plundered and ruined die peasants amassing enormous profits from their exploitation. Peasants who fell into poverty and ruin were deprived 338 of their tiny plots and steadily swelled the already huge army of rural paupers.
The agrarian question is the most crucial social problem in the colonies and dependencies. Their peasants are vitally concerned with abolishing the ownership of the monopolies, local feudal lords and the tribal nobility in land, and with being able to till that land and benefit from the results of their own labour. Naturally, the peasantry is an antiimperialist and anti-feudal force which is interested in eliminating the political and economic domination of foreign capital and the rule of the feudal-landowner class and the tribal nobility, and in the introduction of radical agrarian reforms.
The status of the bourgeoisie in these countries is very contradictory.
It is common knowledge that foreign monopolies and the local feudal lords inhibited the development of the national economy in them. That is why the part of the bourgeoisie which is interested in promoting economic development and is active in the national liberation revolution, particularly in the struggle for political independence, has been named the national bourgeoisie, as distinct from the pro-imperialist, anti-national or compradore bourgeoisie which has close ties with foreign monopolies and betrays national interests.
By participating in the national liberation revolution for the sake of its class interests and above all to develop the national capitalist economy and to secure its political domination of society, the national bourgeoisie at the same time expresses certain general national interests inasmuch as it can attain its own class objectives only after liberation from the rule of foreign imperialism and local feudalism. The anti-imperialist, anti-feudal aspirations of the national bourgeoisie result in the coincidence of some of its interests with those of the whole nation and the bulk of the people.
Here it is necessary to take into account the contradictory, dual nature of the national bourgeoisie. Insofar as it is interested in fighting foreign imperialism and internal proimperialist forces, the feudal and tribal nobility in the first place, the national bourgeoisie goes along with the people, the working masses, relies on them and uses their revolutionary energy to achieve its own aims. At the same time, __PRINTERS_P_339_COMMENT__ 12* 339 however, it fears the revolutionary working class and the peasantry regarding them as a threat to its exploitatory ambitions and, consequently, endeavours to confine the revolution to its own narrow interests, hold up its development and guide it along the capitalist road.
Self-employed craftsmen, artisans, petty, chiefly retail, tradesmen, and other so-called intermediate (petty-- bourgeois) strata are very numerous and influential in the colonies and dependencies.
In view of the lag in economic development these strata occupy a fairly prominent place in the economy by producing a considerable quantity of consumer goods at their small enterprises, and controlling most of the service industry, retail trade and so forth; and their role in political affairs is equally great. Hence, to a certain extent the future of the national liberation revolution depends on the stand adopted by the intermediate strata, i. e., whether they side with progressive or reactionary forces.
An important, and sometimes the leading role in the national liberation revolution is played by the national democratic intelligentsia---men of arts and science, a part of the officialdom, progressive army officers, students, office workers and others. It plays a particularly great role in countries where the working class has not yet consolidated into an independent force and where the national bourgeoisie is either weak or pursues a pro-imperialist policy, as is the case in a number of African countries. Under these conditions representatives of the intelligentsia not infrequently become leaders 6f the revolution and the state, ogressive officers stand at the head of the revolution in Ethiopia, and accomplished revolutions in Egypt, Mali, Guinea and some other countries.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. Winning of Economic Independence---anThe attainment of political independence is not the sole task of national liberation revolutions. It is important to consolidate the gains achieved, and put an end to dependence on foreign monopolies but in order to do this it is necessary to win economic independence. The ideologists of 340 imperialism, Lenin wrote, usually ``are talking of national liberation ... leaving out economic liberation. Yet in reality it is the latter that is the chief thing.''^^*^^
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Setting Up the National EconomyThe imperialists did their utmost to perpetuate their rule in the colonies and dependencies and chain them to their own economic and political system. They nipped in the bud any attempt of the oppressed peoples to develop their national economy, industry in particular.
Imperialism retarded the development of Asian, African and Latin American countries for many decades. With very few exceptions their economies are still at a very low level of development. These countries which account for more than two thirds of the population of the non-socialist world, produce less than 20 per cent of the total output of manufactured goods in the capitalist world, approximately three per cent of machines and equipment and five per cent of metal. Moreover, a considerable part of the industrial enterprises in the developing countries are owned by foreign capitalists.
In order to win economic independence the developing countries have to fight against imperialism's neocolonialist oppression, and to limit and overcome the imposed international division of labour and inequitable economic relations founded on economic plunder of these countries, in the first place by multinationals.
The mounting struggle of the developing countries for new forms of world economic relations, for a new world economic order, and for the radical reorganisation of economic relations between them and the imperialist states on a new, equitable and democratic basis, without neocolonialist exploitation, diktat and discrimination, is in fact a struggle for economic emancipation, for the fulfilment of the vital tasks of their economic progress.
The struggle for a new international economic order is supported by the world progressive public, the USSR and other socialist countries in the first place.
Only by delivering their economy from the yoke of _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``The Social Significance of the Serbo-Bulgarian Victories'', Collected Works, Vol. 18, p. 308.
341 foreign monopolies will the peoples of the developing countries be able to assume full control over their vast natural resources and to work for themselves and for the nation, and not for the benefit of foreign imperialists. Only one way leads to the achievement of this goal---the promotion and development of their own national economy.One of the most radical means of shaking off economic dependence and building up a national economy is nationalisation, i. e., the conversion of industrial enterprises, transport, communications facilities, banks, commercial institutions and public utilities, schools and other educational establishments into national (state) property. Nationalisation gives rise to the state sector in the economy.
India, Iraq, Algeria, Burma, Syria, Mali, Guinea, Ethiopia and other developing countries have nationalised a large number of enterprises, chiefly those which belonged to foreign monopolies and the local pro-imperialist bourgeoisie. Nationalisation and the establishment of the state sector in the economy have made it possible for the liberated states independently to solve certain problems of economic life, influence it and take steps towards the organisation of economic planning. This was a serious blow at colonial exploitation and in many respects deprived foreign capital from exerting a decisive influence on economic development.
When, and this happens quite often, conditions prevent a developing state from promptly nationalising either all or a part of the property of foreign monopolies, the state, in addition to its nationalisation measures, controls the activity of the foreign monopolies for a certain period and curtails their opportunities, for exploiting the population and the country's national resources. Frequently mixed enterprises owned by the state and private capital, including foreign capital, are set up.
Economic independence can be attained only through the creation of a highly-developed national economy, through industrialisation.
Industrialisation ensures the reorganisation of all branches of the economy in the developing countries, including their agriculture, on a modern technical basis, and also makes for high labour productivity. It is a basis on which the country enhances its defensive capability, promotes 342 scientific, technical and cultural progress, and improves the wellbeing of the people.
Many newly-free countries are taking the first steps towards industrialisation. With the help of domestic resources and the assistance of other, particularly socialist countries, they are building up their own power base and modern industries, giving priority to those branches which are especially important for the country's efforts to attain economic independence.
The programme for the attainment of economic independence of the newly-free countries attaches great importance to resolving the agrarian question in favour of the people.
Hence the essence of the agrarian question in the developing countries is to put an end to feudal and pre-feudal relations in agriculture, abolish pre-feudal, feudal and foreign ownership of land, and help the peasants to cultivate this land.
Experience shows that there are different ways of solving the agrarian question. Some newly-free countries are carrying out deep-going agrarian reforms aimed at sharply reducing ownership in land and handing over land confiscated from wealthy landowners and foreign imperialists to the peasants. The most radical form of agrarian transformations is the cooperation of agriculture which has just started in some of the liberated countries.
The solution of key socio-economic tasks of the national liberation revolution involves a sharp struggle between social forces. The attainment of political independence, which is the content of the first stage of the revolution, was secured by all the patriotic forces of a nation in the struggle against foreign imperialism, while economic independence is won not only in the struggle against imperialism, but also in the contention between various classes and social groups in the given country. In effect it is a struggle for the ways and methods of economic emancipation and the further development of society.
What are these ways? What are the prospects which they open for the newly-free peoples?
343 __ALPHA_LVL2__ 4. The Path of Socialist Orientation __ALPHA_LVL3__ [introduction.]The choice of ways of development is a matter of great urgency for the liberated people which involves a clash between social forces inasmuch as different classes and parties offer their own solutions. Reactionary circles, above all the wealthy bourgeoisie and the landowners, strive to steer the development of a nation along the capitalist road, and to retain their privileges, private property and continue exploitation by relying on economic, financial and military assistance of imperialism.
Society's progressive forces, the working class and the labouring peasantry in the first place, strive to protect the people against the intrigues of imperialism and take the country along the road of real independence, welfare and progress.
Taking their own experience into account, the peoples of the newly-free countries are becoming more and more convinced that only the path of non-capitalist development, the path of socialist orientation leads to national revival and social progress.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Historical ExperienceIt was Lenin who substantiated the possibility of the formerly backward countries moving directly into socialism, either bypassing the capitalist stage altogether, or skipping only the stage of industrialised capitalism. He linked this possibility with the rise and development of socialism in other, more advanced countries, whose proletariat is called upon to provide every assistance to people lagging behind in economic and political development. ``With the aid of the proletariat of the advanced countries, backward countries can go over to the Soviet system and, through certain stages of development, to communism, without having to pass through the capitalist stage.''^^*^^
This premise is an application of Marxist theory of the socialist revolution to the specific conditions of countries that have not yet attained the capitalist stage of _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``The Second Congress of the Communist International'', Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 244.
344 development and is an expression of all that is specific in the conditions and forms of the transition of these countries to socialism.Reality has confirmed Lenin's propositions that backward countries could develop along the non-capitalist road. Of the 65 million non-Russians inhabiting Russia in 1917, 25 million lived in the colonial outskirts of Central Asia and were at one or other pre-capitalist stage of development, retaining not only feudal or semi-patriarchal modes of production, but also tribal system. Thanks to the help of the fraternal nations, the Russians in the first place, these outlying areas in a mere half a century turned into flowering socialist republics with highly developed industry, agriculture and culture. Metallurgical, car manufacturing, electrical engineering and other new, modern industries have been built up there. Agriculture also changed and is now collective and highly mechanised. Cultural backwardness was overcome, and these republics now have their own highlytrained national specialists. As regards cultural development, the Soviet Republics not only outpaced the Eastern capitalist countries, but some of the industrialised capitalist countries in the West as well.
The once semi-colonial Mongolia has also traversed the path from feudal backwardness to socialism. It has set itself the aim of turning into an advanced industrial-agrarian state in the nearest future with the assistance of the USSR and other socialist countries.
The experience of the Central Asian Soviet Republics and Mongolia vividly demonstrates what a once backward nation delivered from colonial oppression and exploitation could attain with the help of fraternal peoples. Today it shows the newly-free Asian, African and Latin American peoples how to avoid the terrible phase of capitalist development. It teaches them that the road to real independence and progress is non-capitalist development.
What is then non-capitalist development---the path of socialist orientation?
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Substance of Socialist OrientationSocialist orientation is the movement towards socialism of countries which have not reached the capitalist stage of development, a path leading to socialism, bypassing 345 capitalism altogether or the stage of developed capitalism, in conditions of the dictatorship of the proletariat or victory of socialism in other countries.
We know that the transition to socialism takes place as a result of the socialist revolution which requires certain material and class prerequisites (a high enough level of economic development, the existence of mature, politically active working class guided by the Marxist party, etc.). These preconditions usually mature during the capitalist stage of development, and that is why there can be a direct transition to the socialist revolution in advanced capitalist countries.
Things are different in pre-capitalist countries such as the majority of the young sovereign states are. The prerequisites for solving the tasks of a socialist revolution have not yet ripened in them. Therefore, in order to begin moving towar-ds socialism they need a certain period of time to create the necessary material and class conditions. This period in the course of which they launch decisive socialist transformations is an intrinsic feature of socialist orientation.
The socio-economic processes occurring in that initial period (economic development and the corresponding regrouping of the class forces in favour of the labouring masses, the working class in the first place) are in some respects similar to the processes characteristic of capitalist development. But in a socialist-oriented state they take place at a much faster pace and the masses, which is most important, undergo far less hardships than in the course of capitalist development. At the same time socialist transformations (curtailment of private capital and exploitation, the establishment of people's control over some of the means of production, economic planning, etc.) take place at this initial stage of non-capitalist development alongside changes of a bourgeois-democratic nature, even though their significance is not decisive and they do not determine the socio-economic image of society as a whole. But whatever their depth or form, socialist transformations are an essential feature of socialist orientation. If there are no changes of this kind it means that society is developing along the capitalist road.
The unitial stage is followed by a stage of cardinal 346 socialist changes in all fields of social activity, a stage of direct transition to socialism.
Socialist changes become of decisive importance, noncapitalist development becomes fixed and society firmly follows the socialist path. The national liberation revolution develops into a socialist revolution.
How soon this new stage sets in depends on the activity of the masses in the revolution, the depth of the democratic transformations in public and state affairs, the growth of the role of the working class and the consolidation of its alliance with the peasantry and on how quickly the leadership of the revolution begins to express the aspirations of the working people.
It is important to note that the path of socialist orientation has become a reality only in the present epoch of mankind's transition from capitalism to socialism and the existence of the world socialist system whose unselfish and all-round assistance bulwarks the countries following the non-capitalist road. ``The backward countries can emerge from their present stage of development when the victorious proletariat of the Soviet Republics extends a helping hand to these masses and is in a position to give them support.''^^*^^
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Liberated Peoples Choose SocialismThe experience of broad sections of the people, of the labouring masses in the newly-free countries irresistibly convinces them that the capitalist road is a road of suffering and that socialism alone can bring them freedom and happiness, put an end to the age-old backwardness of their countries, rapidly promote their economy and culture, satisfy their material and culture requirements and forever rid them of exploitation, poverty and hunger and the threat of another world war.
As the revolution gains in depth the bourgeoisie which champions capitalist development proves to be less and less capable of leading the struggle against imperialism and for social progress; moreover, in some countries it has failed to ensure political independence. As regards socio-economic transformations, here, too, it proved to be fatally insolvent. _-_-_
^^*^^ V I. Lenin, ``The Second Congress of the Communist International'', Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 244.
347 Being an exploiting class it is scared of forfeiting its property and privileges, and is afraid of the revolutionary people. It opposes nationalisation, makes no decisive moves to solve the agrarian question, break up the colonial structure in the economy and public life, and to introduce extensive democratisation. As a result, bourgeois policy is viewed with disappointment and distrust by the people and spurs them to more decisive actions not only against foreign imperialism, but also against the local bourgeoisie.New life in countries that had liberated themselves from colonial oppression is born in fierce battles against the insidious imperialist opponent, against the forces of internal reaction which with the help of imperialism strive to steer the young states along the capitalist road. But the peoples more and more resolutely link the prospect of full victory of the national liberation revolution, liquidation of age-old backwardness and improvement of life with non-capitalist development.
Expressing the will of the people, their intense desire to build socialism and a new and happy life, the leaders of Ethiopia, Algeria, Syria, Guinea, Congo (Brazzaville), Angola, Mozambique, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries have made it known that their peoples wish to follow the path of socialist orientation. In Africa and Asia alone socialist-oriented countries, the vanguard of the national liberation movement, have an aggregate population of 150 million. In Africa these countries represent 25 per cent of the population and 30 per cent of the territory of the continent.
These countries are carrying out anti-capitalist, socialist reforms. By means of nationalisation they build up the state sector and introduce planning principles into economic development. Foreign capital is ousted from the economy; exploitation is restricted; the economic positions of the local bourgeoisie are undermined; the exploiting classes are deprived of the possibility of influencing politics; a national economy is built on the basis of industrialisation; agrarian changes are introduced, particularly agricultural cooperation; an independent, anti-imperialist foreign policy is pursued; friendly relations and cooperation with socialist countries are established, etc.
Much is being done to raise the living standards and 348 culture, promote enlightenment, education, health and the training of technical and scientific personnel.
In the course of the establishment of the national economy, industry in the first place, material prerequisites of socialism---a modern material and technical base---are formed. But the creation of material prerequisites also signifies the maturing of social prerequisites of socialism: the development of industry is accompanied by the rise and growth of the working class which comes to play an increasing role in society and forms and strengthens its alliance with the non-proletarian strata, especially the peasantry.
The fact that the working class plays an ever greater role does not mean that always and everywhere, at all stages of the movement along the non-capitalist road it is society's guiding force. Insofar as in a considerable majority of the developing countries the working class is numerically small and organisationally and ideologically weak and is only beginning to enter the arena of political activity, the leadership of the non-capitalist development, especially at its initial stage, may be exercised by revolutionary democratic forces and not by the working class.
The choice of the path of development of the newlyindependent countries is accompanied by an acute ideological struggle. Among other things this struggle finds its expression in the fact that different classes have their own concept of socialism and the ways and means of building it. At times these views are very far removed from scientific socialism and are often used to mask the bourgeoisie's efforts to steer the development of one country or another along the capitalist road.
Nevertheless, this does not mean that Marxists, Communists, completely rule out non-Marxist concepts of socialism. These concepts may contain the progressive desire to put an end to capitalism and exploitation and to build a society based on collective ownership. This progressive content, this anti-imperialist and anti-colonial trend of different socialist theories is unconditionally supported by the Communists. At the same time Communists do not merge with diverse social forces working for socialism, and endeavour to bring the theory and practice of truly scientific socialism into any socialist movement.
It is important that the socialist views of the leaders of 349 some developing countries changed markedly in the course of the national liberation revolution. At first these views were, as a rule, a fantastic mixture of elements of scientific socialism with Utopian socialism and religious views, whereas now the leaders of a number of these countries are gradually shifting to positions of scientific, Marxist-Leninist socialism.
The evolution to Marxism-Leninism, scientific socialism, is a natural process dictated by the entire course of the national liberation revolution and the objective needs of the developing countries. A truly people's revolution aimed at achieving a country's independence and flourishing, at freedom and the well-being of the people can win only on the basis of Marxism-Leninism, scientific socialism. ``Our revolution has made Marxism-Leninism its banner,'' said Fidel Castro, the national hero of Cuba and head of the Cuban Government. ``No one forced us and no one guided us from another continent. Life itself showed us the way and we followed it without hesitation. Every real revolution must inevitably lead to Marxism-Leninism, the only genuine revolutionary truth which repudiates colonial slavery, imperialist domination and exploitation of man by man.''
Of course, the progressive part of the revolutionary democracy which is in power does not immediately master Marxism-Leninism. At first it assimilates the individual aspects of Marxism and this is itself a difficult process which is not without deviations and vacillations. But all these vacillations and difficulties can be surmounted only when the revolutionary process whose objective logic has raised a certain part of the revolutionary democracy to power deepens and broadens, and when this objective development of the revolution is correctly reflected in its consciousness.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 5. India. Thirty Years Along the Road ofOn January 26, 1980 India marked the 30th anniversary of its Constitution in keeping with which it was proclaimed a republic.
For many years the Indian people fought heroically against British colonialism. Headed by Mahatma Gandhi 350 this struggle for national independence culminated in a victory in August 1947.
In 1950 another major step was taken to strengthen national independence and the Indian state. Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru India reorganised its state system, abolished feudal fragmentation and introduced the first stages of the agrarian reform. Nehru worked to promote the country's industrialisation and planned economic development. The state sector that was set up on his initiative now occupies the dominating position in a whole range of economic branches. It accounts for nearly 40 per cent of India's gross industrial output. The state controls the entire railway and air transport, 85 per cent of all bank assets, 80 per cent of the import and 25 per cent of the export.
Nehru laid the foundations of the policy of non-- alignment. He was a staunch opponent of colonialism and racism and actively worked for world peace and security, for relaxation of international tensions, and for closer friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union, These principles became the groundwork of India's peace-loving foreign policy. And today they are consistently implemented by India's outstanding political leader Mrs. Indira Gandhi.
Since independence the 650 million strong people of India have made great strides. A country which thirty years ago imported practically all industrial goods now builds modern ships and aircraft, sophisticated machinetools and equipment, develops its electronic and chemical industries and has made very considerable progress in science, culture, education and health service. Indian scientists have developed and put into orbit two earth satellites with the help of Soviet booster rockets and are conducting research in the peaceful use of atomic energy. In terms of industrial output India is now among the world's 10 leading industrial countries.
There has been marked progress in agriculture. It is very important Tor a country which was frequently plagued by famine in the colonial period to increase the production of food.
Now India annually grows 120 million tons of grain, that is, more than double the amount harvested thirty 351 years ago. This is a result of the great attention paid to agriculture, the large capital investments, and the dedicated labour of the Indian peasants. In the past five years allocations for agriculture increased more than six-fold as compared with the first five-year plan period, and totalled more than 40 billion rupees. In keeping with special plans the government introduced agricultural techniques, built industries manufacturing farm machinery and carried out electrification and irrigation projects. More than 350,000 tractors, or several times as many as a decade ago, now service India's farms, and over 220,000 villages have been electrified.
The Indian people have made serious progress in the development of health service. In thirty years the number of doctors in the country increased by more than 2.5 times, and that of junior medical personnel by more than five times. Special attention is being paid to health service in the rural areas. In 1950 there was not a single medical station in the countryside, whereas now their number is close to 45 thousand. For many years already there have been no disastrous epidemics of cholera and malaria which used to take a toll of thousands of lives. Since 1975 not a single incidence of small-pox has been registered in the country.
A great deal of attention is also attached to education. Today compulsory primary education has been introduced practically throughout India. Children are guaranteed free primary, and in some provinces, also free secondary education. Universities and senior colleges have approximately 9 times the number of students they had in 1950.
A major role in strengthening India's economic independence is played by Soviet-Indian economic, scientific and technical cooperation. In February 1980 it was 25 years since the conclusion of the Soviet-Indian agreement on the construction of a metallurgical plant at Bhilai, which was the first step in establishing mutually beneficial economic links. Since then more than 70 industrial projects have been either completed or are in the process of construction or design. They include smeltries, machine-building plants, oil refineries, power stations and other large enterprises which make up the foundation of the Indian industry.
352The gains of the Indian people are obvious. But there are still many urgent socio-economic problems confronting the country. These problems and .also those associated with stability and law and order occupied a prominent place during the recent election campaign.
The parliamentary elections which took place at the beginning of 1980 and brought the Indian National Congress headed by Indira Gandhi to power showed that it enjoys the broad support of the voters who believe that it will be able to help the country to overcome economic difficulties, raise the standard of living and safeguard the legitimate rights of the religious minorities and the former members of the lower castes.
Left-wing forces have also strengthened their positions in parliament. For the first time in the past 15 years both parties of the Indian Communists acted in a united front. In many respects this was due to their identical attitude on many questions of domestic policy as well as to the fact that they are beginning to draw closer to each other in terms of their appraisal of a whole range of international events. Both parties criticised the Sino-American alliance, condemned Peking's aggression in Vietnam and supported the just struggle of the peoples of Angola, Kampuchea and Afghanistan against imperialist provocations. The Communist Party of India regards the growing unity of the left-wing forces as an important condition for the further successful struggle for the interests of the working people, for India's advance along the road of peace, democracy and social progress.
India's foreign policy principles which were formulated by Jawaharlal Nehru, namely, the policy of non-alignment, consistent struggle against all forms of racism and colonialism, efforts to strengthen international security and peace are supported by broad sections of the Indian people. The entire nation approves the course of further strengthening friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union which in time of need has unfailingly rendered the Indian people economic, political and other support.
The Soviet Union is India's true friend, said Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It helped India in its economic development and supported its stand on many important international problems. It has always helped the 353 Afro-Asian countries in their struggle for freedom.
The close, friendly relations between the Soviet Union and India have been reliably bulwarked by the SovietIndian Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation.
Soviet-Indian friendship and cooperation are developing and strengthening to the benefit of the peoples of both countries and play an important role in consolidating the forces of peace, democracy and national independence in Asia and throughout the world.
``Close political and economic cooperation with the Republic of India is our constant policy,'' Leonid Brezhnev told the 25th Congress of the CPSU. ``Soviet people appreciate and, more, are in solidarity with India's peaceloving foreign policy and the courageous efforts of her progressive forces to solve the country's difficult socioeconomic problems.''^^*^^
_-_-_^^*^^ Documents and Resolutions. XXVth Congress of the CPSU, Moscow, 1976, pp. 18--19.
[354] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER XVII __ALPHA_LVL1__ Social Consciousness and Its RoleThe material, economic relations of people constitute the basis of social development. But to understand this development, knowledge of the economic factors alone is far from sufficient. Besides productive activity, people and society have an intellectual life. People are guided by definite philosophical, political, moral and aesthetic ideas, they have corresponding scientific theories, and so on. All these ideas and views are of a social character as regards their origin and importance, and belong to the sphere of social consciousness.
Social consciousness is of great significance in historical development. To gain a more complete idea of society we have to ascertain what social consciousness is, how it originated and what role it plays in society's life.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. Social Consciousness---a ReflectionSocial consciousness is the aggregate of pe.ople's ideas, theories and views, social feelings, habits and morals reflecting objective reality---the human society and nature. The social being of people is the main object which social consciousness reflects. Since social being is multifarious and complex, social consciousness, too, is multifarious and complex. In the first place we should distinguish social and individual consciousness, social psychology and ideology. In its turn social consciousness has diverse forms---political and 355 legal ideas, morality, art, philosophy and religion. Science, which is also a form of social consciousness, is at the same time turning more and more into a direct productive force of society. Forms of social consciousness arise and develop in their own way, and reflect various aspects of social being. The tasks they fulfil are also different. Idealism is unable to correctly explain the role of ideas, of social consciousness in the life of society. Idealists hold that ideas determine the entire course of social development, but this in no way corresponds to reality.
Only historical materialism, by properly solving the basic question of philosophy as applied to society, has shown that the social consciousness of people is a product of their social being, that it is secondary, derived from material, production relations. It is in social being, the material productive activity of people, that we should look for the source of their ideas, theories and views.
The history of society shows that as people's social being, their material production relations, change so does their consciousness; old ideas disappear and new ones arise, conforming to the new conditions, the new social requirements. With the victory of socialism, for example, people's social being changed radically: socialist property replaced capitalist private property. People's ideas and views changed accordingly. For example, instead of the principle of individualism which is the keystone of capitalist morality, the principle of collectivism, the foundation of communist morality, took root.
Similarly, if we analyse any other form of social consciousness we shall find that its ultimate source is the material life of society.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Relative Independence of the DevelopmentRelative independence of the development pf social consciousness consists in that it may lag behind the development of social being or run ahead of it; it is also manifested in the continuity of its development; it is not passive in relation to being, but actively influences it.
Social consciousness lags behind social being because people's being changes first and only then does their consciousness change. This delay is also conditioned by the great 356 viability of old ideas and views. This viability is not accidental: the ruling classes employ every means at their disposal to thoroughly spread their ideology among all members of society. All mass media (press, cinema, radio, TV, etc.) are utilised, for example, by the contemporary imperialist bourgeoisie to poison the minds of the working people and disarm them ideologically. That is why, after the victory of the new system, survivals of the old ideology persist for a long time in the minds of some people.
The consciousness of people, however, can not only lag behind the development of social being, but under certain conditions can outstrip this development. By analysing the laws of society, revealing general tendencies of historical development, outstanding scholars can foresee the future, i.e., create theories which run far ahead of their time and indicate the road of development for many decades ahead. Thus, by studying capitalist reality and the contradictions of its development, Marx reached the conclusion that capitalism was bound to perish and give way to a new, communist society. The Marxist theory of scientific communism is a splendid example of forecasting social events.
Continuity in the development of ideology is an important manifestation of the relative independence of social consciousness. Creating its own ideology, the new class does not renounce past achievements of human thought but assimilates them, places them at its service.
Continuity in the development of ideas is of great importance in social life. If people were unable to use the achievements of the culture of the past, they would literally have to begin everything from scratch: to discover laws which had been discovered long ago, to explore ways of devising the machines they need, ways that had been found long ago, and so on. Thanks to continuity.in the development of ideas, this does not happen. Having at their disposal the fruits of the titanic work accomplished by preceding generations, people are able to continue the work of their predecessors, to develop and improve their achievements and raise them to a new, higher level.
Different classes apprpach the old ideological heritage in a different way. Reactionary classes take from the past reactionary ideas and adapt them to the new historical conditions, to their own interests. The ideologists of imperialism, 357 for example, use medieval scholasticism and mysticism, various idealist and religious systems in order to enslave the working people spiritually.
Advanced, revolutionary classes take from the ideological heritage all that has not lost its positive significance and can promote mankind's progress. The most consistent and devoted custodian of the cultural heritage of the past is the proletariat, whose ideology has assimilated and critically reappraised all the finest achievements of human thought in the course of the long centuries of its development.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Active Role of Consciousness inHistorical materialism, proclaiming the primacy of social being in relation to social consciousness, the ideas and views, social feelings and moods of people, at the same time also admits the active role of ideas in the development of society. In any sphere of society's life people always act consciously and purposively and therefore their ideas, views and theories infuse all aspects of social life and greatly influence them. The activity of social consciousness is displayed in that they serve people as a guide to action, unite them and concentrate their efforts on the accomplishment of certain tasks.
People's consciousness, their ideas can play a dual role by either promo ting the development of society or retarding it. The role ideas play depends on the class that advocates them, whether it is progressive or reactionary, or how correctly they reflect the requirements of society's material life and on the extent to which the ideas Conform to the interests of the people.
Only ideas which express the interests of the advanced classes of society, of the people, which correspond to the requirements of developing material production and help to abolish the old and establish the new social system, can play a progressive role in society's development.
However new and progressive ideas might be, they are unable, by themselves, to abolish the old social system and create a new one. In order to become a material force, they must grip the minds of the people. Only the people which have assimilated progressive ideas create the social force capable of solving urgent social problems.
358Of all the ideas known to the world the most progressive and viable is the Marxist idea of scientific communism, of a new social system, that without exploitation and slavery, the most just social system on the Earth. It is omnipotent because it is founded on the objective laws governing social development and meets the vital requirements of society's material life and the interests of the millions and millions of working people. That is why the idea of scientific communism has turned into a material force which is transforming the world.
This idea inspired the Russian working class which, in alliance with the poor peasants and under the leadership of the Communist Party, carried out the October Socialist Revolution. It served the Soviet people in their heroic struggle for socialism and is now illuminating their path to the communist morrow. This idea is winning the minds of more and more ordinary people the world over. It is helping the working people in the capitalist countries to fight the reactionary imperialist forces and, where capitalism has been abolished, to build socialism.
As regards backward ideas which distort reality and serve the interests of the reactionary classes, they retard social development. Such, for example, are the ideas of the contemporary bourgeoisie with which it seeks to save the obsolete capitalist system from its inevitable doom.
Dwelling on the active role of consciousness, we should have in mind not only ideas, or ideology, but also social psychology, particularly the psychology of the classes, or large social groups. Social psychology is mass, collective consciousness, so that in many respects the success or failure of one or another historical action depends on the psychological attitude of the people.
Lenin attached very great importance to the psychological factor in history. He studied social feelings and moods of the masses and took them into account in the revolutionary struggle and socialist construction. Following Lenin's behests, the CPSU is concerned with creating a favourable psychological climate in the society as a whole and in all its components which will facilitate the attainment of the tasks facing society.
It follows from all this that people's social consciousness, their ideas are very important in the life of mankind. 359 In practical activity, therefore, it is important to act not only on the principle of the determining role of social being but also to take into account the active role of ideas in society's development.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. Individual and Social Consciousness.Being the consciousness of a concrete person, individual consciousness is the mobile totality of his thoughts, views, interests and emotional and other psychic qualities. It is a reflection of the .complex interaction of the social environment of the given society and the given individual's concrete, specific environment or micro-environment, a reflection of the universal and individual in the being of people. Moreover, individual consciousness includes self-- consciousness, i.e., man's awareness of himself, of his relation to the world, society, class and the collective.
The correlation of the social and individual consciousness is a concrete manifestation of the general and the individual in the spiritual life of society. Just as all what is general exists in the individual, social consciousness is manifested only through the individual. This is natural, for only the individual, a concrete personality has the ability to feel and think. In its turn, individual consciousness exists only in connection with social consciousness. Each person lives and works in a society, belongs to a definite class, nation and social collective, therefore his own consciousness is not something that is closed or isolated but also embodies social (class, national) consciousness. This is all the more so because upon entering life he encounters not only readymade social being, but also social consciousness which he necessarily assimilates to one extent or another and in one form or another.
Social and individual consciousness are one. They have a common wellspring---the being of people, a common basispractice, and a common means of expression---language. At the same time there are important distinctions in this unity. As compared with individual consciousness social consciousness reflects reality more deeply, more completely. It 360 segregates itself from many concrete, specific features in the consciousness of individuals and absorbs, assimilates only what is common in the consciousness of all individuals. As regards individual consciousness, in addition to the features inherent in the consciousness of one or another social community, it also contains unique features inherent only in a concrete individual and which are engendered by the specifics of concrete being. Since one of the main aims of communist education is to instil communist ideas in the consciousness of each person it has to take into consideration the specific features of individual consciousness and the individual's mentality.
In the course of communist construction social and individual consciousness change and are enriched by scientific achievements and practical experience. More and more people assimilate communist ideas. The elevation of the individual consciousness to the level of social consciousness does not, however, depersonalise the former. Communist equality towards which Soviet society is moving is not equality of depersonalised people with stereotyped thinking, but equality of living, active and creatively thinking individuals.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Social PsychologySocial psychology is the aggregate of views, habits, feelings, moral features, emotions, illusions and delusions which arise in different classes, nations, social groups and professions under the impact of their immediate living and working conditions. For example, the immediate living and working conditions of the working class imbue it with such sociopsychological traits as hostility towards exploitation, awareness of the need to fight against the bourgeoisie, a sense of solidarity, organisation and collectivism. The thirst for profits, individualism and cruelty are the basic features of bourgeois psychology.
Social psychology reflects the position of a class or social collective and their direct objectives and interests. At this stage consciousness is still incapable of broad scientific generalisations and often, remains on the surface of phenomena. Marx aptly characterised the state of the consciousness of the working class at the level of social psychology as the state of a ``class in itself''. It had not yet become aware 361 of its place in society and of its historical mission of the grave-digger of capitalism and the builder of a new, socialist system. It is permeated solely with awareness of its hatred of the bourgeoisie and of the need to fight for its immediate economic interests. Only later, under the influence of socialist ideas and as a result of its participation in the revolutionary struggle, does the working class turn from a ``class in itself" into a ``class for itself" and becomes capable of scientifically understanding reality and mastering the scientific, Marxist ideology.
Lenin made a profound scientific analysis of the psychology of the bourgeoisie, the proletariat, the bourgeois intelligentsia and the petty bourgeoisie.
Without analysing social psychology it is impossible to understand the history of science and ideology. It is not enough to know the economy of a country in order to understand the history of scientific thought or the history of art in it. One has to be able to turn to social psychology whose careful investigation and understanding are essential for a materialistic interpretation of the history of ideology.
Together with empirical, daily knowledge of the worldnature, society, man---social psychology comprises the first, the lowest level of the reflection of reality called ordinary consciousness. This consciousness is amorphous and is not differentiated into definite forms. Political, moral, religious views and knowledge are intertwined in it. In this sense ordinary consciousness is very close to individual consciousness. Nevertheless, it is a mass, collective consciousness. It originates spontaneously in large masses of people under the direct influence of the conditions of their life. Ordinary consciousness is the material out of which scientific, systematized consciousness, the second, higher level of reflection of reality is shaped. Ideology and social and natural sciences are scientific consciousness.
A synthesis of ordinary and theoretical consciousness is public opinion, i.e., the opinion of people on specific facts of reality---social being, politics and morality, science and religion, literature and art. In these opinions an ordinary, empirical approach to events in social life intertwines with a theoretical, scientific approach. A section of the next chapter treats science, its essence and the role it plays in society. But now we shall examine ideology.
362 __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Class Nature of IdeologyIn a class society social consciousness acquires a class nature. The totality of political, legal, moral, artistic and other views and ideas of a certain class comprise its ideology.
Why does ideology have a class nature? Why does each class create its own distinctive ideology? The reason is that in an antagonistic society the position of classes is by no means identical and that they have different social objectives and tasks. It is by means of a specific system of views that one class or another expresses and substantiates its place in society, protects its interests, strives to achieve its objectives and accomplish its tasks. Bourgeois ideology, for example, protects the interests of the bourgeoisie and endeavours to prove that the principles of private capitalist property and exploitation are eternal. The proletariat, on the other hand, is called upon to destroy capitalism and build socialism and communism---a society without classes and exploitation. In order to do this it needs a qualitatively new, socialist ideology.
This means that a society divided into antagonistic classes cannot have just one ideology. It unavoidably has the ideology of the exploiting class and the ideology of the exploited class, and the dominating ideology is that of the economically and politically dominating class. A bitter ideological struggle which is a form of class struggle is an inherent feature of a class-divided society.
Since ideology always has a class nature, one may ask if it is indeed a true ideology and does not misinterpret reality in order to further class interests. Revisionists maintain that ideology and truth are incompatible, that ideology sacrifices the truth to the interests of one class or another. Marxism, on the other hand, insists that ideology should be approached from concrete historical positions and that it is necessary to ascertain whether it expresses the interests of a progressive or a reactionary class. So long as one class or another plays a progressive role in the sociohistorical process and the interests of this class coincide with the development of objective reality, its ideology is a true reflection of reality. But once a class exhausts its progressive role and its interests clash with the actual course of 363 development, its ideology ceases to be a true ideology and misrepresents reality in order to promote its class interests.
Let us take bourgeois ideology, for example. When the bourgeoisie fought against feudalism, its ideology reflected the world more or less truthfully. But as soon as the bourgeoisie came to power and exhausted its progressive potential turning into a brake arresting social development, bourgeois ideology lost its ability truthfully to reflect reality. ``In place of disinterested inquirers, there were hired prizefighters; in place of genuine scientific research, the bad conscience and the evil intent of apologetic.''^^*^^
Marxist-Leninist ideology, the ideology of the working class and all labouring people, is the only scientific, true ideology. The class interests of the working class and the objective course of history always coincide, so that at all stages of its development Marxist-Leninist ideology preserves its truthfulness.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. Marxist-Leninist Ideology __ALPHA_LVL3__ Distinctive Features and Significance ofMarxist-Leninist ideology radically differs from all the preceding ideologies both in terms of class content, and the aims and tasks which it pursues. The first of these distinctions is that, unlike all the preceding ideologies, it serves the working class and not the exploiting classes, and teaches all working people, the multi-million masses to struggle, work and live for the sake of universal happiness. Secondly, it theoretically substantiates the need to destroy all exploitation and build a classless society---communism. Thirdly, it is profoundly scientific, truthfully reflects objective reality and expresses the \utal requirements of society's material life. It is incompatible with a religious or an idealistic world outlook which pervert the true state of affairs. Its theoretical foundation is dialectical and historical materialism. The scientific nature of Marxist-Leninist ideology organically combines with its partisanship and utter dedication to the working class and all working people.
_-_-_^^*^^ Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. I, p. 25.
364Marxist-Leninist ideology is the most humane in the world. The affirmation of truly humane relations between people and nations, deliverance of mankind from the threat of devastating wars, the establishment of a lasting peace on Earth and a free and happy life for all---such are its lofty ideals.
It advances scientific arguments in support of the need to destroy capitalism and replace the old production relations of domination and subordination with new social relations of concord and mutual assistance. Having arisen in the course of the proletariat's class struggle against the bourgeoisie, it is the former's guide to action in this struggle, it shows the ways and means of building socialism and communism, and is a mighty organising and transforming force.
Marxist-Leninist ideology is able to play its transforming role because it expresses the innermost aspirations and thoughts of the people and, as a result, is widespread among the working class and all working people. Having permeated the consciousness of the many millions of people it has turned, into a mighty material force. Its spread in the masses, however, was not spontaneous but was the result of the gigantic ideological work of the Communist Party, which combines the ideas of socialism and communism with the revolutionary movement of the masses. The Party upholds the purity of Marxist-Leninist theory in the irreconcilable struggle against bourgeois ideology and revisionism, dogmatism and vulgarisation. It continuously develops this theory on the basis of scientific achievements and sociohistorical practice. Thanks to the efforts of the Communist Party Marxist-Leninist ideology has become the dominant ideology in the USSR. Embedded as it is in the consciousness of Soviet people it provides them with inestimable assistance in communist construction.
The greater the progress in communist construction the greater is the transforming role of Marxist-Leninist ideology. Each step towards communism is a new stage in the elevation of the consciousness of the masses and in the growth of their creative initiative.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Ideological Education in the Period ofThe CPSU has always allotted a major place in its activity to ideological work. This work has become especially 365 important now, in the period of communist construction. The realisation of the programme of communist construction, the creation of the material and technical base of communism, the further consolidation and strengthening of the Soviet Union's economic might, and attainment of an abundance of material and spiritual wealth directly depend on the further development of the people's consciousness. That is why it is vitally important for each Soviet citizen to master the fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism, profoundly assimilate the communist world outlook and fully comprehend the policy of the Party.
The Soviet socialist state draws its strength from the consciousness of the masses. And today, when communist construction is underway in the USSR, when methods of persuasion and education are playing an increasing role in the life of Soviet society, it is most important to raise the consciousness of the people to a still higher level. The greater the consciousness of the people, the deeper their awareness of the tasks facing them and the higher their activity in the life of socialist society, the faster is their progress towards communism.
Greater consciousness of the people strengthens the ideological and political unity of the workers, collective farmers and the intelligentsia and promotes their gradual fusion into a monolithic collective of the working people of communist society.
In order to carry out the grandiose programme of communist construction it is necessary decisively to improve educational work and enhance communist consciousness and activity of Soviet people.
The CPSU Programme holds that the paramount tasks in the ideological field in the present period are ``to educate all working people in a spirit of ideological integrity and devotion to communism, and cultivate in them a communist attitude to labour and the social economy; to eliminate completely the survivals of bourgeois views and morals; to ensure the all-round, harmonious development of the individual; to create a truly rich spiritual culture''.^^*^^
Ideological education also necessitates the popularisation of the great advantages of socialism and communism _-_-_
^^*^^ Road to Communism, p. 563
366 over the capitalist system. Today when the problems of the ideological confrontation of the two social systems, the problems of ideological struggle are moving more and more into the forefront, the truth about socialism is a mighty weapon in this struggle.Increasing significance is being attached to the struggle against bourgeois ideology, reformism and revisionism. The development of economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation between countries with different social systems stimulated by detente has changed and complicated certain conditions of the struggle against bourgeois ideology. In the first place this is due to the broadening of cultural and scientific exchange. The opponents of communism endeavour to take advantage of this circumstance to intensify hostile propaganda. Naturally, the USSR cannot tolerate such a development. Advocating the promotion of scientific and cultural exchange the USSR at the same time expects that due respect is shown to Soviet laws and customs, and condemns any attempt to interfere in its internal affairs. It maintains that exchange of information should foster mutual understanding between peoples, and widen the exchange of experience and cultural values.
Ideological education is a mighty factor in the struggle for communism, a most important means of communist education of the working people. But it can fulfil its lofty mission only if it maintains the closest bonds with life, with the practice of communist construction. Only if educational work is closely connected with life, production and the practical experience of the people, can it produce positive results and play its part in moulding a new man, an active builder of communist society. ``Nothing adds so much to the stature of the individual as a constructive attitude to life and a conscious approach to one's duty to society, when matching words and deeds becomes a rule of daily behaviour,~"^^*^^ says the Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 25th CPSU Congress.
In order to educate highly-principled, politically conscious builders of communist society, it is not enough to bring communist ideas home to the people. What is most _-_-_
^^*^^ Documents and Resolutions. XXVth Congress of the CPSU, p. 94.
367 important is that the masses should be able to translate them into reality, to assimilate them in the form of concrete tasks of communist construction. It is important that each worker, collective farmer, intellectual, each Soviet person should learn to work in a communist manner, raise his labour productivity, display concern for the preservation of public property, uphold and spread advanced experience and introduce new technology. It is only in work for the benefit of society that one can become a true communist; therefore the fostering of a communist attitude to labour and the desire of each Soviet citizen to make a personal contribution to the great cause of communist construction is a key objective of ideological work.Concrete deeds are the criterion of the political education. Communist integrity is an alloy of knowledge, convictions and practical deeds. Today's scope of socialist emulation is the result of the fusion of ideological, political and labour education.
The purpose oT the Party's ideological work is to create such a moral atmosphere in Soviet society that would contribute to the affirmation of respect and care for man, honesty, exactingness towards oneself and other people, and trust combined with strict responsibility and the spirit of comradeship in all walks of social life. The Party wants all Soviet people to live better and work without a hitch.
Today the CPSU and the Soviet Government attach special importance to the communist education of the younger generation. One of the key tasks is to bring it up in the spirit of the revolutionary, labour and combat traditions of the Soviet people. It was noted at the 25th CPSU Congress that the way to make education more profound was to adopt a complex approach to the whole matter of education, i.e., to ensure a well-integrated ideological, political, labour and moral education which would take the specific features of various groups of people into account.
Soviet working people are genuinely interested in Marxist-Leninist theory and are anxious to master it. And ideological education is designed to help them in this.
[368] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER XVIII __ALPHA_LVL1__ Forms of Social Consciousness.We have ascertained the essence and importance of social consciousness as a whole. We shall now examine its forms and begin with political and legal ideas whose role in social life is particularly significant.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. Political and Legal Ideas __ALPHA_LVL3__ Politics and EconomicsPolitics, political relations are above all relations between classes, the struggle of classes for power, for domination in society. Relations between states and nations also come within the sphere of politics. Politics arose together with the emergence of classes, the class struggle and the state. Politics is expressed and makes up the main trend in the activities of a state.
Politics as the relationship between classes is brought into being by the economic structure of society, its basis. Disclosing the origin of politics and its inseverable connection with the economic structure of society, Lenin called politics the concentrated expression of economics, its epitome and consummation. It is in politics that the economic interests of classes find their fullest and all-round expression.
But politics, while being engendered by economics, itself makes a great impact on the economy, on the entire course of social development. The development of the economy prepares the ground for transforming the social system. This transformation as such, however, is a result of the conscious activity of the people which is directed by __PRINTERS_P_369_COMMENT__ 13---389 369 politics. Taking into account the very great role of politics in the life and development of society, Lenin held that politics cannot but have primacy over economics. Of course, this does not refute the indisputable fact that politics is always bom of economy and that the economy plays a decisive role in social development. Hence, the solution of economic, production tasks should be approached from the political, class viewpoint. ``Without a correct political approach to the matter,'' Lenin wrote, ``the given class will be unable to stay on top, and, consequently, will be incapable of solving its production problem either.''^^*^^
It is the political, class approach that distinguishes the activity of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the fraternal Communist and Workers' parties. In solving any economic and organisational problems, the Communist Party always proceeds from the interests of the working class; of all working people. The fundamental interests of the working class, of all the Soviet people dictated, for example, such cardinal transformations as the reorganisation of the Soviet economy along socialist lines, the industrialisation of the country and collectivisation of agriculture.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Political Ideas and Their SignificancePeople's political ideas and views are closely connected with politics. While politics expresses the relations of classes, nations and states, political ideas reflect and substantiate these relations. Political ideas include the views of a class on the class struggle and the revolution, the social and state system, on relations between states and questions of war and peace. These views are applied in the direct struggle of classes, the activities of states, parties and other political institutions and organisations.
Political ideas find their expression in constitutions of states, programmes and declarations of parties and various political organisations, in special theoretical studies and other documents.
The nature of political ideas in antagonistic class societies depends on the interests of the class they express. _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Once Again on the Trade Unions, the Current Situation and the Mistakes of Trotsky and Bukharin'', Collected Works, Vol. 32, p. 84.
370 An exploiting class tries with the help of political ideas to justify its dominant position, to reinforce its economic basis, and this determines the nature of its ideas. An exploited class in its political ideas proves the need for abolishing the exploiting system and creating a new society, a society without exploitation. The political ideology of the exploited .is the ideology of revolutionary struggle, of abolishing the old and creating the new.Two opposing political ideologies---that of the working class and the bourgeoisie---are now at grips in the world. The political ideology of the working class is the ideology of proletarian internationalism, friendship of the working people of all countries, unity and cooperation of all the progressive forces in the common struggle for peace, democracy, national liberation and socialism. It is expressed most fully and from every angle in the Marxist-Leninist theory, in the Communist parties' programmes and the socialist countries' Constitutions. This ideology proves the need for the class struggle of the working class and all the working people against the bourgeoisie, the necessity of the victory of socialism and communism. It serves the working class and its party as a guide in the political struggle, the highest form of the proletariat's class struggle.
The policy and the political ideas of the working class are truly scientific. They are founded on knowledge of the laws of social development and fully correspond to the interests of the people. The experience of history and the great successes of the world communist and working-class movement demonstrate the strength and vitality of these ideas.
Pitted against the political ideas of the working class are the political ideas of the imperialist bourgeoisie, whose aim is to sanctify and perpetuate capitalist wage slavery and prop up the decayed economic basis of capitalism. These ideas seek to justify the policy of suppression of the working class and the democratic forces within the country, the policy of national oppression and aggression.
The political ideas of the contemporary reactionary bourgeoisie have no scientific basis. They run counter to the objective laws of social development and the interests of the people, and are therefore doomed to failure. Just as the nazi Idea of world domination failed, so the ideology and 371 policy of colonialism and neocolonialism is collapsing before us, and so will all the other reactionary ideas of the contemporary imperialist bourgeoisie.
Of all the forms of social consciousness, politics and political ideas stand closest to the economic basis. Through the activities of the state, of parties and other political organisations politics and political ideas influence the basis and the entire course of social development. Moreover, they especially affect the development of all other forms of social consciousness---law, morality, art, religion, philosophy and science. They permeate all these forms of social consciousness, give them a class bias and turn them into the tool of a certain class.
Politics and political ideas play an especially important role in a socialist society. Thanks to the domination of public ownership and the planned economy under socialism the Soviet state and the Communist Party are able consciously to guide the entire course of social development. The policy of the CPSU is the vital foundation of the socialist system. It formulates domestic and foreign policy, sets the people definite tasks and mobilises the working people for their fulfilment in strict conformity with the objective laws of social development. The ultimate aim of the CPSU policy is communism and it directs the work of the state machinery, Party and public organisations and diverse methods of ideological influence towards the attainment of this goal.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Law and Legal IdeasBesides political, legal relations, regulated by law, exist in society. Law is the totality of obligatory standards and rules of behaviour of people in society. These rules are expressed in corresponding laws which are safeguarded by the state and all its numerous instruments of compulsion and education.
Law, like politics, arose with classes and the state. It is the will of the ruling class expressed in legal forms and it defends the political and economic interests of the ruling class.
The history of antagonistic class society has known slave, feudal and capitalist law, each of which served the exploiters in their struggle against the exploited. Only socialist law expresses the interests of the working people 372 and is the true law of the people.
People's legal relations should be differentiated from their legal ideas and views which describe the attitude of people to the law of the given^^1^^ society and also their concepts of what is lawful and unlawful, obligatory or nonobligatory as applied to people, states and nations.
Legal ideas and views bear a class character and express the interests of a definite class. In an antagonistic class society the legal ideas of the exploiting class prevail. In order to impose its will on the other classes the ruling class uses not only the state machine, but also legal ideas. By means of these ideas it tries to justify the law it has established, conceal its class character and present it as the law of the whole people, as the supreme expression of justice and good.
Let us take capitalist society as an example. It has a system of law founded on the legal ideas of the bourgeoisie. The purpose of these ideas is to prove that society can have no fairer law than bourgeois law, that it is an embodiment of democracy, that the bourgeois court is impartial, etc. In reality bourgeois law protects capitalist property and serves to justify exploitation and the suppression of all progressive forces.
With the appearance of the socialist state socialist law is born, the first law in the history of society which rules out class inequality of people.
Socialist law and the legal ideas underlying it radically differ from the law and legal ideas of antagonistic class societies. They express the interests of the entire people, protect and help to consolidate the economic basis of socialism, socialist property, and teach Soviet people to observe the law and conscientiously do their duty. The socialist system is incompatible with lawlessness and contempt for the interests of the individual, and therefore the Soviet state and the Communist Party constantly reinforce socialist law and order and brook no attempts to violate it.
Since the laws of socialist society fully correspond to the working people's interests the absolute majority of Soviet citizens comply with them consciously and voluntarily, and the Soviet state applies measures of compulsion only against those who maliciously violate public order, embezzle social property or commit other crimes.
373As society advances to communism the role of the state as a force compelling the citizens to observe the law will diminish and its functions of preserving socialist law and order will be gradually transferred to public organisations. Their task will be not so much to find and punish the violators as to prevent violations and teach Soviet citizens to respect the law and consciously uphold it.
In future, as a result of the improvement in the people's material and cultural standards, the rise in their social consciousness and organisation, all the conditions will be created for eliminating violations of the law and fully replacing criminal punishment by public reprimand and corrective education. With the complete victory of communism there will be no need for law. Law will naturally merge with the duties and rules of the communist way of life.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. Morality __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Essence of Morality andMorality or ethics is the aggregate of standards or rules of behaviour in society, reflecting people's ideas of justice and injustice, good and evil, honour and dishonour, etc. In contrast to legal standards, moral standards and rules are not recorded in laws, but are maintained by force of public opinion, customs, habits and education, by force of man's conviction. They determine man's attitude to society, to the family and other persons and other nations.
Morality arose with the birth of human society. Society has always made definite demands on its members expressed in moral standards. These standards are not eternal. They change with society's development under the influence of changes in production and above all in relations of production. In primitive society moral standards were equal for all members. With the appearance of classes they began to reflect the interests of one class or another. Morality acquired a class character. In a society divided into antagonistic classes there exist the morality of the exploiters and the morality of the exploited, the morality of the ruling class prevailing: under slavery, the morality of the slaveowners dominated; in feudal society, the morality of the 374 feudal lords, and in bourgeois society, the morality of the capitalists. They are opposed by the moral standards and principles of the slaves, peasants and proletarians.
As an element of the superstructure, morality influences all aspects of life in society. Through the attitude of the people to work and property, it influences the economy. Communist morality, for example, by declaring socialist property sacred and inviolable, stands guard over the economic foundation of socialism. Morality also has a direct bearing on politics; any political action of a state receives moral appraisal, approval or disapproval from the members of society. It is natural that the people's moral approval of a political action is an important factor making for its success. The success of the Soviet Union's peace policy is largely due to the moral support of the peoples of all countries, all progressive mankind.
At present, two moralities are pitted against each other in society: communist and bourgeois. What is their essence? What social problems do they solve? Bourgeois morality, which protects the interests of the imperialist bourgeoisie, plays a reactionary role in society's development. Its main social aim is to preserve the keystone of capitalism, private property and exploitation.
Bourgeois morality is conditioned by the dominance of private capitalist property which disunites people, turns them into enemies, rivals in the struggle for profit, the holy of holies of capitalism. In the quest for profit the capitalist tramples upon all standards of human morality; he is absolutely indifferent to the fate of the people around him, to the fate of his country and society as a whole. He places his selfish interests above everything else in the world. Extreme selfishness is the basic principle of bourgeois morality. ``Man to man is a wolf'', ``Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost"---these are the ethical rules proclaimed by the morality of bourgeois society. There could be no other rules in a society where private property holds sway, where money is the supreme moral measure, where everything--- love and honour, the dignity and conscience of man---is bought and sold.
The spirit of individualism, self-interest, the thirst for profit, hostility and competition make up the essence of the ethics of capitalist society. The exploitation of man by man, 375 on which bourgeois society rests, is the grossest violation of ethics.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Moral Code of the Builder ofThe world's most progressive, humane and noble morality is communist morality. It expresses the interests of the absolute majority of members of society, the interests and ideals of all working people, and not merely the interests of a handful of exploiters.
Communist morality embraces ordinary standards of human behaviour which the people formulated in the course of their struggle against exploitation and vice. It is common knowledge that the distinctive features of people of labour have always been straightforwardness, honesty, willpower and courage; they fulfil their obligations to one another, to /the family and old people. In the struggle against. exploitation and in joint labour they developed such moral qualities as mutual assistance, fraternal solidarity and intolerance of slackers and parasites. These qualities are the foundation of those simple moral standards which were handed down over the centuries by one generation to the other. An especially important role in the moral development of society, in the formulating of the standards and requirements of the communist morality is played by the morality of the working class, the most progressive class of our age, the creator of the new, communist society.
Communist morality originated under capitalism where it expressed the protest of the proletariat against exploitation and inequality, its desire to introduce rules of human behaviour based on friendship, comradely cooperation and mutual assistance of people free from capitalist slavery. But in capitalist society the morality of the working class, of the working people, does not hold sway. It begins to prevail with the abolition of capitalism and the establishment of a socialist society. The domination of the principles of communist morality in the USSR is a result of the victory of socialism, of the enormous organisational and educational work of the Communist Party and the Soviet state.
Communist morality, Lenin pointed out, is subordinated to the interests of the proletariat's class struggle, whose content and aim is to build and consolidate communism. It 376 is this idea of Lenin's that underlies the moral code of the builder of communism, formulated in the Programme of the CPSU. From the point of view of communist morality, that which promotes the movement of society towards communism is moral. Devotion to the cause of communism, love of the socialist motherland which blazes for mankind the trail into the communist morrow, love of all the socialist countries, is the first, cardinal demand in the moral code of Soviet citizens.
Labour is the source of society's wealth and the personal wellbeing of each member of socialist society; labour is the duty and matter of honour for each Soviet citizen. That is why conscientious labour for the good of society, concern on the part of everyone for the preservation and growth of public wealth are prime demands of communist, morality. The overwhelming majority of Soviet citizens live up to these demands; for them the rule of socialism---he who, does not work, neither shall he eat---became law long ago.i Work for the benefit of their homeland is a source of genuine joy and happiness for the Soviet people.
The lofty principles of communist morality stem from the very nature of the socialist system, from its economic basis, public ownership of the means of production. It unites people, enables them to live and work according to the principles of fraternal friendship, mutual respect ana cooperation. Hence such an important principle of communist morality as collectivism and comradely mutual assistance expressed in the slogan: one for all and all for one.
The principle of collectivism means that the main thing in man's behaviour is to serve society, the collective, to subordinate his personal interests to public interests. Socialism affirms a morality which is basically unlike the morality of capitalism, a morality of cooperation and collectivism, friendship and mutual assistance. The most important demand of this morality is to promote the wellbeing of the people and the all-round ^development of the individual in conditions of collectivism. It is important to nfete that in socialist society concern for the social interests does not run counter to the interests of the individual. Everything good done by a Soviet citizen is done both for himself and for all the people. Being conscientious in his job he thereby shows 377 his concern for his comrades who also work for the good of all. This strikingly reflects the combination of the social and personal interests in socialist society. The aim of socialist production is to satisfy man's requirements. The desire to be useful to society, to one's people primarily motivates the actions of the Soviet citizen.
The principle of collectivism underlies the approach to duty, conscience and honour. It is man's duty and honour to be intolerant of actions harmful to the public interest, to be useful to society, to contribute to its advance. If a man does everything in his power for society, for the good of the people, his conscience is clear and he has a high sense of civic duty.
The development of proletarian internationalism, of socialist patriotism and humanism is an indispensable condition for implanting the principles of communist morality in the minds of the Soviet people. Socialist humanism is of a higher, qualitatively new type. It consists of genuinely humane relations and mutual respect: man is to man a friend, comrade and brother. Socialist humanism combines respect, love for man and concern for his material and spiritual welfare with vigilance and an uncompromising attitude to the enemies of communism, peace and the freedom of the nations.
Soviet patriotism, too, is qualitatively new. It combines love for, and devotion to, one's country, to the entire socialist community with proletarian internationalism, fraternal solidarity with the working people of all countries, and with all the nations and respect for the people of all other states, big or small. Soviet patriotism is incompatible with nationalism, the ideology of national isolation and hostility between the peoples, national inequality and disunity of the working people. The moral code of communist society proclaims the friendship and brotherhood among all the peoples of the Soviet Union and condemns national and racial hatred.
Communist morality demands that people observe the rules of the socialist way of life, calls for a courteous attitude towards older people and women, mutual respect in the family and concern for the upbringing of children. Love, equality and mutual assistance between husband and wife, friendship and mutual trust of parents and children comprise the ethical foundation of the family in socialist society.
378The principles of communist morality also require definite traits in man's character: honesty and truthfulness, moral purity, simplicity and modesty in social and private life, an uncompromising attitude to injustice, parasitism, dishonesty, money-grubbing and careerism.
__NUMERIC_LVL3__ Elimination of the Survivals ofThe success of socialist construction and the Party's tremendous educational work have made the principles of communist morality part and parcel of the Soviet people's life and work. But survivals of the past still persist in the minds of some people. There are still human drones who have no desire to work and prefer to lead a parasitic life, money-grubbers, selfish individuals and bureaucrats who place their private interests above everything else. There are also embezzlers of socialist property and violators of labour discipline and public order.
Why do survivals of the past persist in the consciousness and behaviour of members of socialist society?
In the first place, socialism does not grow up on its own basis, but emerges from capitalism which carries its traditions and customs over into the new society. People's social consciousness does not change at once following changes in social being, but only after a certain time, as a result of which it may lag behind social being. It is, therefore, clear why the old traditions and habits weigh upon the people of the new society for quite a long time. Furthermore, the existence of backward views is in no small way due to the influence of the ideology of the bourgeoisie which does everything possible to affect the minds of Soviet people, to revive bourgeois customs and prejudices in order to retard society's advance to communism.
Yet it would be a serious error to think that capitalist influence alone is responsible for anti-social behaviour and views under socialism. Certain causes for their existence are to be found in the socialist society itself, including the presence of some elements of economic and social inequality, absence of equal conditions for the life and development of all members of society, violations of socialist laws, in particular, the law of distribution according to work done, weakening of control over the measure of work and 379 consumption, and shortcomings in ideological work and in the education of the rising generation in the family and at school. So far not all violations of Soviet laws and principles of Communist morality are censured by the broad public.
Survivals of the past are extremely tenacious. They do npt wither away of themselves and persist for a long time in the life and consciousness of millions of people even after the economic conditions which engendered them have vanished. Taking all this into consideration the Communist Party views the struggle against the survivals of the past, against manifestations of bourgeois ideology and morality, and against the survivals of proprietary mentality as a component of communist education. ``The higher the level of our society in its development,'' says the Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 25th Congress of the CPSU, ``the more intolerable are the still occurring departures from the socialist rules of morality. Acquisitiveness, proprietary tendencies, hooliganism, red tape and indifference to one's fellow humans run against the very grain of our system. In combating such phenomena, there is a need to make full use of the opinion of the working collective, criticism in the press, methods of persuasion and the force of the law---all the instruments at our disposal.''^^*^^
And here an important role is played by the Soviet public, by Party, Komsomol, trade-union organisations, in fact by every Soviet citizen. Public opinion, criticism and self-criticism, friendly censure of anti-social behaviour are gradually turning into the main means of uprooting bourgeois views, morals and customs. The power of example in public affairs, in private life, and in the performance of one's duty acquires tremendous educational importance.
A decisive role in eliminating the survivals of the past and educating the new man is played by constructive labour, active participation of all members of society in building communism. All work for the good of society, both manual and mental, is respected in the Soviet Union. Social labour is the duty of each Soviet citizen. Man's consciousness is gradually transformed and his lofty spiritual traitscollectivism, industriousness, concern for the preservation _-_-_
^^*^^ Documents and Resolutions. XXVth Congress of the CPSU, p. 94.
380 and growth of public wealth, humanism and comradely mutual assistance---are moulded in the course of the planned collective labour and the daily participation of all members of society in running state and public affairs. Man's abilities and talents develop in the process of work, he advances culturally and technically, becomes imbued with the spirit of pioneering, creativity and love for the new, and learns to place the interests of society above everything else. That is why the fostering of a communist attitude to work, based on the finest examples of labour and economic management, is one of the most important means of bringing up people in the spirit of the lofty principles of communist morality.Persistent study, constant advance in general education and culture help eliminate survivals of the past in people's minds. The more cultured and educated a person is, the more efficiently he works, and the more actively he participates in public affairs.
In the contemporary period the fostering of communist morality directly depends on the solution of practical problems of communist construction. The new man is moulded precisely in the course of active participation in communist construction, in the process of the development of communist principles in economic and political activity and under the impact of the entire system of educational work of the Party, the state and public bodies. In the course of the establishment of communist forms of social system, communist ideology becomes more and more firmly rooted in life, work and in human relations, and people learn to make the best of the benefits of communism.
Each step towards communism extends the sphere of operation of morality and enhances the role of the principles of communist morality in the life and development of Soviet society. The sphere of administrative regulation of relations between people shrinks correspondingly. Proceeding from this, the Communist Party and the Soviet Government give every support and encouragement to all forms of the people's activities which promote the birth and development of the basic rules of the communist way of life.
381 __ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. Religion __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Essence of ReligionReligion is a distorted reflection of reality. ``All religion ... is nothing but the fantastic reflection in men's minds of those external forces which control their daily life, a reflection in which the terrestrial forces assume the form of supernatural forces,''^^*^^ Engels wrote.
The opponents of Marxism attempt to prove that religion is external, that nature endowed man with religious feelings. In reality, however, religion arose only at a definite stage in society's development. The origin of religion can be traced, to ignorance of the true causes of natural and social phenomena, to the awe-inspiring power of nature's spontaneous forces and social oppression.
The basic feature of religion is belief in the supernatural. Being dependent on nature's forces, men ascribed supernatural properties to them, made them into gods and spirits, devils and angels, etc. They naively believed that if these imaginary beings were not appeased, they could inflict harm and suffering on them, while if they were placated and worshipped they would help the people. This is how religious worship arose, a combination of prayers, sacrifices and other rites. Religious worship brought into being priests, sorcerers, pastors and other religious servants and also various religious organisations and institutions.
The appearance of classes and exploitation subjected man to the pressure of spontaneous social forces in face of which he was as helpless as the savage was in face of elementary natural forces. The helplessness of the exploited in the struggle against the exploiters, Lenin wrote, gave rise to a belief in a better life in the next world as inevitably as the impotence of the savage in fighting nature engendered belief in gods, devils, miracles, etc. The working people sought in religion salvation from the terrible sufferings and privations inflicted on them by exploiting society.
The social role of religion can be either progressive or reactionary. Because it is used for political ends by different _-_-_
^^*^^ Frederick Engels, Anti-Duhring, p. 382.
382 social classes and groups.The exploiting classes use, and have always used, religion as an instrument of spiritual oppression, subordinating the working people to their interests, and buttressing their own dominant place in society.
``Religion is the opium of the people-this dictum by Marx is the corner-stone of the whole Marxist outlook on religion,''^^*^^ Lenin wrote. It preaches subordination to the exploiters, submission to fate, non-resistance to evil and violence and thereby paralyses the people's revolutionary energy, dooms them to passivity, to patient waiting for everything to be done by god's will. By its false promises of the kingdom of heaven, of a happy life in the next world, religion diverts the working people from the most burning issues of reality, from the revolutionary struggle against exploitation and for a just, genuinely humane social system. Today religion is a weapon used by reactionary imperialist forces. At the same time, however, clerics are compelled to reckon with the new historical conditions, with the desire of the people for peace and their craving for a better life. And so, in order not to repulse the believers and to swell their numbers, clerics in some measure take the interests of the people into consideration, especially their striving for peace and material security. But this does not as a rule alter the social functions of religion which under capitalism continues to be an instrument of the exploiters in their struggle against the working class, against the forces of socialism and progress. It occurs in history that one and the same religion plays different roles in society, depending on what class practises it. For the mass of the people, for example, Islam is an ideological weapon against reactionaries, while reactionaries and imperialist forces often use it against the progressive forces. It is, therefore, wrong to refer a movement to the reactionary camp just because its slogans are religious. In our time, priests and large masses of believers often come out for social progress, and against reaction. There is a variety of reasons (low level of political awareness, strong religious traditions in the country, religious education, and the like) why progressive action is clothed in religious garb, as is _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``The Attitude of the Workers' Party to Religion'', Collected Works, Vol. 15, pp. 402--03.
383 indeed typical for developing countries.Marxism-Leninism argues that joint struggle against reaction and for a revolutionary renewal of the world by all the working people---believers and atheists alike---is necessary and possible. Communist parties in developing countries organise co-operation with the mass of believers in the fight against imperialism, and for peace, democracy and socialism. For Communists, wrote Lenin, ``creation of a paradise on earth is more important ... than unity of proletarian opinion on the paradise in heaven''.^^*^^
Religion is deeply hostile to science, to a scientific world outlook. For many centuries the Church ruthlessly suppressed science and persecuted scientists. It prohibited the spreading of progressive ideas, destroyed books propagating these ideas, and confined their authors to dungeons or burned them at the stake. Many progressive people perished in the flames of the Inquisition, including such notable scientists as Giordano Bruno and Lucilio Vanini.
Despite all its exertions the Church was unable to stem scientific progress dictated by the requirements of material production. In our days, being unable to refute the greatest scientific achievements, the clerics try to reconcile science with religion, to prove that scientific achievements do not run counter to faith, but are in line with it.
Such attempts are absolutely futile. Science and religion are incompatible. Science gives man true knowledge of the world and the laws of its development. It helps him to master natural and social forces and to organise production. Religion, on the other hand, distorts the essence of the world, gives the wrong interpretation of it, stultifies the mind and will of man and deprives him of confidence in the triumph of science and progress.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Religious Survivals Under Socialism and WaysIn the Soviet Union the Church is separated from the state and the school from the Church. This means that the Church has no right to interfere in state affairs and influence the content and organisation of education. On the _-_-_
^^*^^ V.I. Lenin, ``Socialism and Religion'', Collected Works, Vol. 10, p. 87.
384 other hand, the state does not interfere in the performance of religious rites.The Communist Party, however, has never regarded religion as the private affair of'its members. We demand, Lenin wrote, that religion be a private affair with regard to the state, but we can in no way consider religion a private affair with regard to our own party. The Communist Party constantly urges its members to combat every kind of spiritual oppression, including religion. Moreover, it ties up the struggle against religion with the general tasks of the proletariat's struggle for socialism and communism. It considers that the main requisite for the withering away of religion is to eliminate its class roots, namely, capitalist society with its exploitation and oppression of the people.
The victory of socialism and abolition of the exploiting classes in the USSR tore out the social roots of religion. The spontaneous character of capitalism's development which instilled fear and uncertainty of the future in the hearts of the working people gave way to the planned administration of society on the basis of cognised laws. The cultural level of the Soviet people, their political consciousness and activity rose. As a result, the overwhelming majority of the Soviet people parted ways with religion and now firmly adhere to a scientific world outlook.
Nevertheless, under socialism, too, there are. people who are imbued with religious views. Belief in God, in life in the next world distracts people from solving the grandiose tasks of communist reorganisation of society and prevents the believers from actively participating in public affairs. Religious rites, superstitions, quackery, etc., seriously impair the health of the believers. Very often the observance of religious holidays in villages prevents the timely performance of field work and thus causes harm to the economy. Religious morality which preaches non-resistance to evil blunts the class awareness of the believers and their vigilance. That is why the CPSU attaches great attention to scientifically conducted atheistic education as part of communist education.
The aim of science-based atheistic propaganda is to spread scientific, materialist knowledge in the masses and emancipate believers from the influence of religious prejudices. At the same time the struggle against religious 385 prejudices is regarded as a consistent struggle of the scientific, materialist world outlook against the anti-scientific religious world outlook. This process is conducted from positions of dialectical materialism, on the basis of the achievements in natural science and socio-historical practice.
Religious survivals will gradually wither away with the aid of properly organised atheistic upbringing in the family and in the school, systematic scientific, atheistic propaganda and a constant rise in the material and cultural level of the people, their consciousness and activity in building communism.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 4. Art __ALPHA_LVL3__ The Main Features of Art and Its Role inArt is a form of reflection of reality in artistic images in the mind of man. Reflecting the surrounding world, art helps people to understand it and serves as a powerful instrument of political, moral and artistic education.
The diversity of phenomena and events and also the different methods of reflecting them in works of art have given rise to diverse kinds of art: poetry and fiction, theatre, music, the cinema, architecture, painting, sculpture.
The cardinal feature of art is that, in contrast to science, it reflects reality not in concepts, but in a concrete form perceivable by the senses, in the form of typical artistic images. The artist creates an artistic image, reveals common, essential features of reality and conveys these features through individual, often inimitable characters, through concrete phenomena of nature and social life. The more vivid, the more tangible the individual traits of the artistic character, the greater its attraction and influence.
Art appeared at the dawn of human society, it arose in the process of labour, in the course of man's practical activity. Initially art was directly intertwined with labour. To this day it has preserved this connection, though in a more mediated way. Truthful art has always been a real aid to people in their life and work. It has helped them fight the forces of nature, brought them joy and inspired them to feats of labour and exploits in battle.
Aesthetic tastes and requirements, appreciation of 386 beauty in life and in art developed in the process of labour. One of the primary distinctions and tasks of art is to seek out the beautiful in life, to generalise it, typify it, mirror it in artistic images and bring it to man, satisfying his aesthetic requirements and developing his aesthetic emotions.
In a class society art bears a class character, it is partisan. There is no ``pure'' art, no ``art for art's sake'', nor can there be any. The accessibility, the great power of conviction and emotional impact of art make it an important weapon of the class struggle. That is why classes exploit art as a vehicle of their political, moral and other ideas.
Art is part of the superstructure and it serves the basis on which it develops. Contemporary bourgeois art, for example, serves the reactionary imperialist forces. It seeks to divert the working people from struggle against the exploiters, fosters in people immoral traits, contempt for other peoples and countries and for the forces of peace and progress. Bourgeois art is employed to glorify the capitalist order of things and slander communism and the communist movement. Defending the interests of obsolescent classes, this art departs from the truth of life and becomes formalistic and devoid of content. Among contemporary artists in capitalist countries there are also realists who reflect life truthfully and profoundly, but they are often hounded by the ruling imperialist circles.'
Each class creates an art that corresponds to its class interests and aesthetic requirements. But among works of art there are many which have survived their class and age. These are works which vividly and truthfully reflect lasting, general traits inherent in people of the most diverse eras, and also works which make it possible to understand the essence of an era or a class. Among them are the finest sculptures of ancient Greek masters, paintings of the Renaissance, the works of 19th century Russian composers-, and many other works of art which long ago became the possession of all mankind. From this follows another distinction of art, continuity of its development. The art of each new era preserves all that was progressive and good in the art of the preceding eras.
387 __ALPHA_LVL3__ Socialist Art and Its Role in CommunistA qualitatively new, socialist art has arisen on the basis of the revolutionary struggle of the working class and its advance to communism. Socialist art assimilates the best from progressive art of the past and constitutes a higher stage in the development of art corresponding to the new historical conditions.
Socialist realism is a creative method of this art. The main content of our age, the movement of society to communism must be reflected truthfully, in a historically concrete and highly artistic way. The art of socialist realism does not stand still but is constantly developed and enriched.
The basic principles of the art of socialist realism are truthfulness and profundity in the reflection of reality, close bonds with the people, partisanship and bold pioneering in the artistic portrayal of life, combined with the use and development of all the progressive traditions of world culture. Socialist realism is conspicuous for its profound socialist content and diversity of vivid national forms. The method of socialist realism affords writers, painters and other artists vast scope to display their creative initiative and high mastery, and to develop numerous creative forms, styles and genres.
Truly realistic art has always been linked with the people, rooted in them, but the organic ties of socialist art with the people, with their life and work are unprecedented. Pointing out the popular character of socialist art, Lenin once said: ``Art belongs to the people. Its roots should be deeply implanted in the very thick of the labouring masses. It should be understood and loved by these masses. It must unite and elevate their feelings, thoughts and will. It must stir to activity and develop the art instincts within them.''^^*^^
The popular character of socialist art is organically combined with its partisanship. Soviet art openly and directly serves the working class and all the working people. It has linked its destiny with the Communist Party, with the _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, On Literature and Art, Moscow, 1975, p. 230.
388 Marxist-Leninist world outlook.Revisionists attack the Marxist-Leninist principle of partisanship in art, they oppose {he guidance of art by the Communist Party, claiming that this suppresses the creative freedom of the artist, his artistic individuality, and so on and so forth. In reality, however, the principle of partisanship ensures the lofty ideas, content and high artistry of socialist art, and orients it at the solution of the most pressing social problems. It is an indispensable requisite for genuine freedom of artistic endeavour.
The Communist Party expends great effort on developing socialist art, it promotes the creation of truthful works of lofty ideas, content and high artistry. It constantly promotes among the artists the spirit of devotion to the people, to the cause of communism and an irreconcilable attitude to shortcomings, lack of political awareness and lack of ideas and content in art. The CPSU has set itself the task of steadfastly promoting the burgeoning of literature and art, the aesthetic education of the people and the cultivation of high artistic tastes and traits.
The mission of Soviet art in the period of full-scale communist construction is to foster in people lofty political, moral and aesthetic traits; to help eradicate survivals of the past from their minds; to deeply and truthfully portray the heroic labour and struggle of the people; to reveal the rich spiritual world of our contemporary, his thoughts, feelings and aspirations; to flay implacably everything that hinders the onward movement of Soviet society; to inspire the Soviet people to fresh exploits in the construction of communism. Art plays 'a particularly great role in the aesthetic education of the people and is an important component of communist education. Art must, develop appreciation of beauty, aesthetic emotions in all Soviet people, and awaken and develop their artistic abilities and tastes.
``The high road of literature and art lies through the strengthening of their bond with the life of the people, thiough faithful and highly artistic depiction of the richness and versatility of socialist reality, inspired and vivid portrayal of all that is new and genuinely communist, and exposure of all that hinders the progress of society,''^^*^^ states _-_-_
^^*^^ Road to Communism, p. 578.
389 the CPSU Programme. The lofty social mission of literature and art is to inspire the people to ever new successes in communist construction.The development and enrichment of the art are based on a combination of mass amateur art endeavour and professional art.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 5. Science __ALPHA_LVL3__ Science as a Form of Social ConsciousnessAs a form of social consciousness, science is a system of man's knowledge of nature, society and thought. It reflects the world in concepts, categories and laws, whose truth is verified by practical experience.
Contemporary science as a whole is a totality of different sciences studying concrete spheres of the material reality. In this diversity of sciences it is necessary to single out social sciences, such as history, political economy, philosophy, aesthetics, etc.---and natural sciences---mechanics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, etc. A distinctive feature of the development of contemporary science is the growing differentiation, i.e., the division or fragmentation of the traditional sciences into ever new branches and trends. Take biology, for example. Once the single science studying living organisms it has given rise to genetics, ecology, the evolutionary theory, microbiology, physiology and others.
Differentiation of sciences is indissolubly linked with the integration of sciences, i.e., the emergence of new disciplines synthesising the achievements of two or more existing sciences. Such are physical chemistry, chemical biology, biomechanics, cybernetics, bionics and others. Today the most important discoveries are more often made at the junction, the ``border'' of sciences. Such, for example, was the deciphering of the genetic code and the establishment that the structure and properties of the organism depend on the composition and pattern of the biochemical components of the germ cell. This discovery was made at the junction of biology, chemistry and physics.
Historically, science arose out of practice and is developing on its basis. Of course, science has its own sources, its inner 390 logic of development, but its principal motive force are social requirements, the requirements of material production in the first place. In primitive society man, while gaining the means of subsistence, encountered the forces of nature which gave him his very first, superficial knowledge. This knowledge was empirical and was not yet science. As a special form of social consciousness science arose later, in the slave-owning society, when mental labour became separated from manual labour and a special group of people---scholars, who engaged only in study, appeared.
An important feature of science is the continuity of scientific knowledge. Each new generation of people, each newly-formed society does not discard past scientific achievements, but assimilates and develops them in conformity with the new requirements of practice and with science itself. Thus, scientific knowledge belongs to humanity as a whole and scientific research is social labour.
To a large extent scientific development depends on the economic relations which are dominant in a society and on the nature of its socio-political system. They determine the aims, direction and the pace of the development of science and the application of its achievements in society. Capitalist relations of production were a mighty factor of scientific development in the period of the establishment of capitalism when the rapidly growing capitalist production needed more and more scientific knowledge.'But with the advent of imperialism these relations became an obstacle to scientific progress.
Social sciences which express the interests of a certain class are in particularly great dependence on society. For instance, bourgeois sociology defends the capitalist system, embellishes its crumbling facade and attacks socialism and social progress. It does its utmost to uphold and disseminate an idealistic and religious world outlook and imposes idealistic and metaphysical methodology on natural scientists. Of course, many scientists in bourgeois society condemn imperialism and adhere to positions of materialism, peace and social progress, but policy in science is still made by the ruling class---the reactionary monopoly bourgeoisie.
391 __ALPHA_LVL3__ Scientific and Technical RevolutionWe are witnessing the development of the scientific and technical revolution caused by the enormous progress in automation, radioelectronics and telemechanics, by the use of atomic energy, exploration of outer space, and breakthroughs in cybernetics, chemistry, physics, biology and other sciences.
The scientific and technical revolution embraces not only science and technology, but also production. Profound qualitative changes take place in the equipment and technology of production and its energy base. The character of labour also changes, becoming more and more intellectual. The progress of science and technology, cybernetics in the first place, makes it possible to mechanise and automate physical as well as certain types of mental labour. Cultural and professional standards and the qualification of the workers are growing.
The significance of the scientific and technical revolution is so immense that not a single more or less important event in modern history can be understood without a searching analysis of that revolution and mainly of its social consequences.
In our day scientific and technical progress has become one of the main arenas of the struggle and competition of the two opposing social systems---socialism and capitalism. ``Those who have the greatest technical equipment, organisation and discipline, and the best machines, will gain the upper hand,''^^*^^ said Lenin. He did not consider it possible to build socialism without mastering science and technology.
Fulfilling Lenin's behests the CPSU promotes the development of science and technology, it sees to it that science is introduced into diverse fields of social life and that fuller use is made of the opportunities opened by scientific and technical progress to accelerate economic growth and meet the requirements of all members of society.
The main impellent of scientific and technical progress under capitalism are profit and bitter rivalry. It is the quest _-_-_
^^*^^ V. I. Lenin, ``Extraordinary Fourth All-Russia Congress of Soviets. March 14--16, 19i8'', Collected Works, Vol. 27, p. 195.
392 for profits, the desire to vanquish their rivals on the market that compels capitalists to promote science and on its basis improve technology and engineering. Capitalists in the USA, Britain, FRG, Japan and other highly industrialised countries astutely use scientific and technological achievements to increase production, raise labour productivity, improve the quality of production and so forth. In this respect it would be a grave mistake to underestimate scientific and technological progress in these countries and even more so to ignore their experience in implementing it in production, inasmuch as this experience can and ought to be applied under socialism, but, needless to say, with due consideration for the qualitative specifics of the socialist economy.At the same time there are glaring contradictions in scientific and technical progress in capitalist society, where science and technology are instruments of exploitation. It is not accidental, therefore, that imperialism often dooms science and engineering to a one-sided development, for the monopolists are concerned mainly with developing those branches of science which spell greater profits. One of their priorities is to expand branches of the war industry, for arms production is the most lucrative business.' Militarisation is a characteristic and very dangerous aspect of science and technology in contemporary capitalist society.
Thanks to progress in science and engineering capitalist production expands, while the purchasing power of the population is limited, and sales on foreign markets are impeded by rivalry. New machines and mechanisms drive masses of working people out of the sphere of production, and unemployment increases. As a result, the purchasing power falls and scientific and technical progress is slowed down. Anarchy and rivalry give rise to commercial secrets in science and this, too, stands in the way of scientific and technical cooperation and leads to parallelism in research. The monopolies shelve thousands of important inventions and discoveries until their ``commercial value" rises.
The scientific and technical revolution under socialism has totally different objectives,'prospects and consequences. It affirms the planned organisation of production in order to ensure the wellbeing and all-round development of all members of society. That is why socialism and communism give ample room for the advance of the scientific and 393 technical revolution and use the achievements of science and technology in the interests of the people and not to their detriment. ``We Communists proceed from the belief that the scientific and technical revolution acquires a true orientation consistent with the interests of man and society only under socialism,'' states the Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 25th CPSU Congress. ``In turn, the end objectives of the social revolution, the building of a communist society, can only be attained on the basis of accelerated scientific and technical progress.''^^*^^
In socialist society science is an important means of developing production and raising the material and cultural standards of the working people. The natural sciences play a decisive role in technical progress and in the development of production skills of the working people, and enhance their cultural and technical level. The social sciences are also very important. By equipping people with knowledge of the laws of the functioning and development of society, they constitute the scientific foundation for directing economic and social processes and play a great part in the communist education of the people and in fostering dialectical-- materialistic outlook. Under socialism science is a mighty weapon of peace, creativity and unprecedented social progress.
Another distinguishing feature of Soviet science is its profound ikinship with the people. This kinship manifests itself not only in the fact that science serves the people, but also in that the people have gained wide access to science. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet scientists come from the very midst of the people to whom they dedicate all their strength and knowledge. Together with the scientists millions of innovators of production, inventors and rationalisers ensure the progress of Soviet science.
The socialist system enables society to conduct research according to a general state plan and to coordinate the work of numerous scientific institutions so that scientists can concentrate on the most important problems. The dialecticalmaterialistic outlook prevailing in socialist society rids science of the morbid influence of idealism and religion and equips scientists with the only truly scientific methodology _-_-_
^^*^^ Documents and Resolutions. XXVth Congress of the CPSU, pp. 56--57.
394 of studying natural and social processes.As communist construction continues, science draws ever closer to production, which in its turn more and more extensively draws upon scientific achievements. Science is increasingly turning into a genuine productive force.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ The Transformation of ScienceThe transformation of science into a direct productive force does not mean that it is becoming a new and independent element of the productive forces alongside the means of production and peopk who are employed in production. Science performs the role of a productive force only through technology and people.
How does the role played by science as a productive force manifest itself?
Firstly, scientific achievements are embodied in advanced equipment and technology. Today whole industries (nuclear energy, polymer chemistry, microbiology, electronics, etc.) are products of science and cannot exist without it. Production is increasingly turning into the technological application of science, a materialised force of knowledge, a gigantic laboratory where the latest scientific achievements are brought to completion, verified and applied.
Secondly, scientific achievements become embodied in the producer, in his knowledge, skill and professional experience. Modern comprehensive mechanisation, let alone automation, fill labour with an intellectual content and demand that a worker has high cultural, technical and professional standards. By equipping him with modern knowledge, science enhances his skill, raises labour productivity and turns him into an active rationaliser and inventor.
Thirdly, research work is making ever deeper inroads into the sphere of material production and is turning into productive work. Research is conducted on an increasing scale at numerous research and design institutes, laboratories and departments at factories, and at collective and state farms. In a word, science is turning into one of the basic elements of modern production.
When we say that science is turning into a direct production force, this applies in the first place to mechanics, physics, chemistry, biology and other natural and technical 395 sciences. At the same time social sciences, particularly economic sciences, are coming to play an increasing role in production. With the aid of mathematical methods and electronic computers, these sciences help to improve production management and pave the way for the most effective utilisation of material, labour and financial resources which is particularly important in view of the vast scale of contemporary production. And that is not to mention the great role played by social sciences in moulding the inner make-up of the workers and their outlook.
Science's organic links with production should not be assessed only from the point of view of its direct use and scientists should not be required promptly to apply their discoveries in production. The purpose of science is not only to find solutions to urgent problems, but to build up a ``reserve'' for the future, solve vital theoretical problems which pave the way for social progress and discover new roads in science and technology.
Science as an important sphere of social life is developing at a rapid pace. The number of researchers and research institutions is increasing: the number of researchers rose from 11,600 in 1913 to 1,306, 800 in 1978. Expenditures on science grow faster than the national income and industrial production.
Science in the USSR has made great progress thanks to concern displayed by the people, the Party and the Soviet Government. The achievements in the exploration of outer space offer striking proof of this.
But Soviet science has by no means exhausted its possibilities. That is why the Party and Government work tirelessly to improve the system of planning, direction and stimulation of scientific research and to augment the economic and social effectivity of science. Special attention is focussed on strengthening and extending the bonds between science and production, .establishing research and production associations and complex scientific institutions whose task is to conduct the full volume of research, design and production work, including the batch output of new products and the establishment of research institutes at large industrial and other enterprises. The strengthening of the .planning principle is a prime prerequisite for heightening the effectivity of scientific research and the speediest practical 396 application of its results.
The revolution in the development of the productive forces, which was started off by science, states the Report of the CPSU Central Committee to' the 24th Congress of the CPSU, will become increasingly significant and profound. A task of historic importance, ``organically to fuse the achievements of the scientific and technical revolution with the advantages of the socialist economic system, to unfold more broadly our own, intrinsically socialist, forms of fusing science with production...''^^*^^, has been posed before and is being tackled by the Soviet people.
Inspired by the common ideas, the unflagging solicitude of the Party and the state and the support and attention of the people, Soviet scientists and specialists are determined to accomplish the tasks that face them.
_-_-_^^*^^ 24th Congress of the CPSU, p. 69.
[397] __ALPHA_LVL1__ ConclusionBy mid-19th century capitalism had replaced feudalism in many countries. Together with it the proletariat, the most progressive and consistently revolutionary class whose mission was to put an end to exploitation of man by man and establish a new, communist society, emerged on the historical scene. The proletariat's liberation movement confronted science with the exceptionally important tasks of formulating a scientific theory that would help it accomplish its historic mission and become its ideological weapon in the fight against capitalism, for socialism and communism. Science fulfilled this insistent demand of history: the brilliant leaders of the working class and of all working people Marx and Engels evolved Marxism whose component and theoretical foundation is Marxist philosophy---- dialectical and historical materialism.
Marxist-Leninist philosophy is the sole scientific theory and method of cognising and explaining reality. It proves beyond all doubt that by its very nature the world is material, that everything in it changes, develops and inexorably moves forward, from the lower to the higher, from the old to the new. Presenting as it does a true picture of the world and disclosing the more general laws of development of nature and society, Marxist philosophy is a mighty instrument of revolutionary action. It reflects history's objective dialectics and is the theoretical foundation of the strategy and tactics of the Marxist parties. The main demands of dialectical materialism which guide Marxist parties in their titanic work of the revolutionary reorganisation of the world are to conduct a trenchant analysis of the contradictions of social development, to be able to disclose and cope 398 with these contradictions in good time and in the interests of historical progress, to approach the solution of crucial social problems from concrete historical positions and to be able to discern in life all that is new, to rely upon it and to secure its triumph. Marxist philosophy is the keenest theoretical weapon of the working class in its struggle against bourgeois ideology, revisionism and dogmatism, nationalism and sectarianism.
Marxist-Leninist philosophy is a living, creative teaching. It does not stand still, but constantly moves forward keeping abreast of the changing life and enriching itself with scientific achievements and socio-historical practice. Lenin upheld and developed Marxist philosophy in conditions of an unexampled social change, humanity's transition from capitalism'to socialism, in conditions of the latest revolution in natural science. Today the victorious banner of creative Marxism is held aloft by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Marxist parties in other countries.
Marx's teaching is all-powerful because of its truth, Lenin wrote. The great truth of Marxism has been confirmed by life, by the greatest revolution ever to take place in the world and the socialist reorganisation of society. The rise and development of the world socialist system, the complete and final victory of socialism in the USSR, mankind's inexorable advance towards the bright communist morrow, convincingly attest to the triumph of the mighty ideas of Marxism-Leninism. The new historical epoch witnessed the full triumph of the proletariat's revolutionary world outlook. Marxism-Leninism dominates the thoughts of progressive humanity.
Socialism's gains are enormous and undeniable. But it should not be forgotten that capitalism still exists in many countries. And by no means the last role in keeping it alive is played by the reactionary ideology of the contemporary bourgeoisie which does all it can to whitewash capitalism and defer the death sentence which history has pronounced upon it. The current bitter struggle between communist and bourgeois ideologies will be won by communist ideology. Behind it is the truth of life, and truth is invincible. This great truth are the ideals of communism which are winning the minds and hearts of all honest people in the world. As regards bourgeois ideology, it has not passed the test of 399 Emacs-File-stamp: "/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1980/MP399/20070504/400.tx" __EMAIL__ webmaster@leninist.biz __OCR__ ABBYY 6 Professional (2007.05.05) __WHERE_PAGE_NUMBERS__ bottom __FOOTNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [*]+ __ENDNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [0-9]+ history. Its downfall is just as inevitable as the demise of the social system which it represents.
Mankind has discerned the real image of capitalism and does not want and will not tolerate its further existence. Moribund capitalism will be replaced by the new and most just society---communism. Such is the objective law of social development, such is the objective dialectics of history.
[400] __ALPHA_LVL0__ The End. [END] ~ [401]