For each of the past revolutions, after the communist party seized power, it had two roles: 1) to remain in power and to administer the state apparatus, and 2) to act as the vanguard of the proletariat. These are two sides of a contradiction. The communist party has to stay in power in order to act as the vanguard of the proletariat, yet to act as the vanguard of the proletariat the communist party also has to continue relinquishing its power. For many reasons still yet to be further explored, in one country after another that succeeded the revolution, at some point staying in power became the only goal of the communist party. When the communist party no longer acts the agent for change, the link between the proletariat and the communist party was broken. When that happened, the communist party began to use the dictatorship of the proletariat to justify the dictatorship of the communist party. However, there involved a development process to reach this point. The concrete experience of China may shed some light on this discussion. Throughout this paper, we have tried to identify the reasons for revisionism in China. We believe that because of Mao Zedongs leadership in advancing the revolutionary theory and practice, China went a few steps further in her struggle against revisionism. From the very beginning, Mao had a view on post-revolutionary Chinese society and the role of the Chinese Communist Party in it which was very different from that of chief opponent, Liu Shaoqi. After the nationalization of the means of production, Liu viewed the principal contradiction as a struggle between the advanced social system (meaning the state ownership of the means of production) and the backward social productive forces.[22] Liu believed that after the legal transfer of the ownership of the means of production to the state, the change in the relations of production was complete and the main task for the CCP was to develop the productive forces. Mao, on the other hand, believed that even thouh the means of production were transferred to the state, the changes in the relations of production were far from being complete. Moreover, there were also problems in the superstructure. These two fundamentally different analyses of Chinese society were reflected in how Mao and Lui viewed the role of the Chinese Communist Party. From Lius perspective, the main task of the CCP was to develop the productive forces. He believed that the CCP should create a stable environment for economic growth, and it should rely on the expertise of Chinas small number of technocrats to do the task. In order to ensure the spirit of communism, however, members of the CCP needed to purify themselves by following some guidelines on the moral codes of behavior, as they were set up in Lius book How to Be a Good Communist. Mao on the other hand, regarded the enthusiasm of the masses as the main driving force behind real change in the relations of production and the superstructure. Further changes in the relations of production and the superstructure would release the potential forces of the masses. The enthusiasm of the masses rather than the technical knowledge of a small elite group was the key to advance the productive forces. History proves that Mao was right. Mao also saw that the credibility of the CCP depended on its close link to the masses, and that the members of CCP should not be an elite group and place themselves above the masses. Instead, they had to subject themselves to the criticism of the masses. ~ Deng-Yuan Hsu and Pao-Yu Ching; Rethinking Socialism: What is Socialist Transition? marx2mao/Other/WIST.html
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 15:09:34 +0000
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