First Published: People’s Canada Daily News, Vol 7, No. 220, September 14, 1977
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Malcolm and Paul Saba
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Frederick Engels, in his letter to Bebel on October 28, 1882, pointed out:
The development of the proletariat proceeds everywhere amidst internal struggles... And when, like Marx and myself, one has fought harder all one’s life long against the alleged socialists than against anyone else (for we only regarded the bourgeoisie as a class and hardly ever involved ourselves in conflicts with individual bourgeois), one cannot greatly grieve that inevitable struggle has broken out.
This “inevitable struggle” to which Engels is referring has now broken out for the third time in this century. The first was the collapse of the Second International and Lenin’s firm opposition to the revisionism and opportunism and the capitulation of the leaders of the Second International. Lenin wrote about the collapse of the Second International and pointed out:
To the class-conscious workers, socialism is a serious conviction, not a convenient screen to conceal petty-bourgeois conciliatory and nationalist-oppositional strivings. By the collapse of the International they understand the disgraceful treachery to their convictions which was displayed by most of the official Social-Democratic parties, treachery to the most solemn declarations in their speeches... Only those can fail to see this treachery who do not wish to do so or do not find it to their advantage to see it.
Further he explained that individuals like Kautsky do not “oppose the principles of Marxism openly” but they “pretend to accept it and at the same time to emasculate it by sophistry, to transform Marxism into a holy ’icon’ that is harmless for the bourgeoisie.” Further, Lenin pointed out:
Kautsky has degraded Marxism to unparallelled prostitution and has turned into a real churchman. The latter tries to persuade the capitalists to adopt peaceful democracy – and calls this dialectics. . . All oppressing classes stand in need of two social functions to safeguard their rule: the function of the hangman and the function of the priest. The hangman is required to quell the protests and the indignation of the oppressed; the priest is required to console the oppressed, to depict to them the prospects of their sufferings and sacrifices being mitigated (this is particularly easy to do without guaranteeing that these prospects will be ’achieved’), while preserving class rule, and thereby to reconcile them to class rule, win them away from revolutionary action, undermine their revolutionary spirit and destroy their revolutionary determination. Kautsky has turned Marxism into a most hideous and stupid counter-revolutionary theory, into the lowest kind of clericalism.”
The second “inevitable struggle” broke out when the Khrushchovite revisionists seized control of the Party and state in the Soviet Union and embarked on the road of treachery and betrayal. They began capitalist restoration at home and capitulation to and collaboration with imperialism in international affairs. The Communist Party of China and the Party of Labour of Albania, along with other genuine Marxist-Leninist parties, vigorously opposed Khrushchovite revisionism and defended Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism.
The Chinese comrades pointed out:
In our view, when a revisionist clique emerges and a capitalist comeback occurs in a socialist country, all the Marxist-Leninists in the world are duty-bound to expose and struggle against these things: this is the only correct and principled stand. The only way to serve the fundamental interests of the great Soviet people and to give them genuine support is resolutely to expose the fact that the revisionist leadership of the CPSU is restoring capitalism in the USSR.
If we should cease exposing and combatting the domestic and external revisionist policies of the new leaders of the CPSU, if we should abandon our principled stand and take so-called ’united action’ with them, that would suit them very well. It would help them to hoodwink the Soviet people. It would hinder rather than support the Soviet people’s struggle to defend the fruits of their socialist revolution; it would hinder rather than support the Soviet people’s struggle against Khrushchov revisionism without Khrushchov.
The Chinese comrades further stated:
Comrade Mao Tsetung has often said to comrades from fraternal parties that if China’s leadership is usurped by revisionists in the future, the Marxist-Leninists of all countries should likewise resolutely exposeand fight them, and help the working class and the masses of China to combat such revisionism. Taking the same stand, we consider it our bounden duty firmly to expose the revisionist leadership of the CPSU, to draw clear lines between ourselves and them, and to persist in the struggle against Khrushchov revisionism.
Lenin once said: “It has always been the case in history that after the death of revolutionary leaders who were popular among the oppressed classes, their enemies have attempted to appropriate their names so as to deceive the oppressed classes.” Khrushchov, in order to deceive the oppressed classes, tried to appropriate the name of Lenin while launching brutal and slanderous attacks against Stalin and revising the theory of Marxism-Leninism. The Albanian comrades vigorously repulsed the attacks of Khrushchov on Stalin and defended him. The Albanian comrades point out:
In defending Stalin, our Party defended Leninism, defended the socialist victories the Soviet Union had achieved, defended the revolutionary line of the communist movement, in which the historic role and great contribution of Stalin remain immortal. ’The Party of Labour of Albania’, declared Comrade Enver Hoxha, ’thinks that it is not right, normal, or Marxist, for the great name and work of Stalin to be erased from this whole epoch as is being done. All of us should defend the splendid and immortal work of Stalin. He who does not defend it is an opportunist and a coward.’
This is the third time the “inevitable struggle” has broken out. The revisionists have taken control of the Party and state of China. They are trying to appropriate the name of Mao Tsetung in order to revise Marxism-Leninism. They also use every opportunity to malign the name of Comrade Stalin. It is absolutely intolerable that one of these “leaders” recently announced to the joy of the imperialist and social-imperialist press that “Stalin liked killing people”, the same revisionist and anti-communist trash the imperialists and social-imperialists and reactionaries of the whole world have been circulating against Comrade Stalin for a long time. While working out plans to bring about capitalist restoration in China, the revisionists and opportunists in China have concocted the anti-Leninist theory of “three worlds” which allegedly coincides with “new data” etc. The Chinese comrades pointed out in the sixties that: “The old-line revisionists of the Second International often used what they called new data on economic development’ to confuse the masses and cut the revolutionary soul out of Marxism, while fasely displaying the colours of ’Marxism’. History is repeating itself under different conditions and in different forms. The modern revisionists, while falsely displaying the colours of ’Leninism’ and talking glibly about being ’faithful to Lenin’, are actually repeating the same process of using certain new data’ on historical development to confuse people, undermine the revolutionary teachings of Leninism and assail the essential teachings on imperialism and his theory and tactics on proletarian revolution and proletarian dictatorship.”
History is repeating itself the third time under different circumstances and different forms. While opposing the basic Marxist-Leninist teachings of Chairman Mao Tsetung, the revisionists and opportunists of all hues, are appropriating the name of Chairman Mao Tsetung and are also using the same method of the “old line revisionists”. According to some, “faithful to Lenin’s teachings and in line with them, Chairman Mao studied an immense amount of factual material of the contemporary world. He deduced his great theory of three worlds.” According to another, “.. . Chairman Mao advanced the concept of the three worlds after studying a considerable amount of documents and data concerning various countries, political forces and classes, with the lively method of dialectical materialism”. While blaming Chairman Mao Tsetung for this anti-Leninist thesis of “three worlds”, the revisionists and opportunists of all hues are simply telling lies and repeating these endlessly in order to cause maximum ideological confusion.
Besides pushing the anti-Leninist theory of “three worlds”, the right opportunists in China have restored Teng Hsiao-ping and have internationally reversed the correct verdict of the International Communist Movement about the arch-renegade, imperialist agent and traitor Tito. This is what the Chinese comrades wrote about Teng Hsiao-ping when Chairman Mao was alive: “Teng Hsiao-ping, the arch unrepentent capitalist-roader in the Party, played the commander’s role in vehemently stirring up the right deviationist wind which culminated in the counter-revolutionary political incident at Tien An Men Square. Before the Great Cultural Revolution he was No. 2 chieftain of Liu Shao-chi’s bourgeois headquarters. The two bourgeois headquarters of Liu Shao-chi and Lin Piao were smashed during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and, when Teng Hsiao-ping was criticised by the masses, his words flowed in a spate of vows, such as ’I’ll mend my ways’ and ’I’ll never reverse the verdict’. But, once he resumed work and was in power, he threw off his disguise and, with hatred grown tenfold and frenzy increased a hundredfold, brought all his experience in counter-revolutionary political struggle into play, cooking up a programme, preparing public opinion and mounting an organized and planned attack on the Party, with the spearhead directed at our great leader Chairman Mao.”
The “inevitable struggle” has broken out. It is struggle against the old-line revisionism of the Second International and against modern revisionism with the Soviet revisionist renegade clique at the centre and with revisionists and right opportunists in China and revisionists and opportunists of all hues in various countries as their willing servants and hangmen. The particular brand of revisionism and opportunism as nurtured by the revisionist and right opportunist clique in China is most hideous as it proclaims from the roof-tops and pretends that it is against “Soviet social-imperialism” while it actively promotes revisionism everywhere. We must vigorously oppose the modern revisionist renegade cliques in Moscow and Belgrade as well as in Peking and their followers all over the globe.
Our struggle is against modern revisionism and opportunism of all hues. It must be fought courageously as part and parcel of the struggle against imperialism, social-imperialism and all reaction.
Recognizing this, the revolutionary mass rally organized by CPC(M-L) in commemoration of the First Anniversary of the Passing Away of Chairman Mao Tsetung resolutely declares that:
1. The right opportunists in China have taken over the Party and state leadership.
2. Their spearhead of attack is against the proletarian revolutionary line of Chairman Mao Tsetung.
3. Their aim is to restore capitalism in China and replace the dictatorship of the proletariat with the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.
4. Their restoration of Teng Hsiao-ping, their anti-communist attacks on Comrade Stalin and their reversal of the correct verdicts of the International Communist Movement on Tito are an affront and a provocation against the International Marxist-Leninist Communist Movement and revolutionary people of the world and are part of the international plot to paralyze and liquidate the International Marxist-Leninist Communist Movement.
5. The theory of “three worlds” is the theory of capitulation to imperialism, social-imperialism and all reaction and is an attack on the international proletariat, the socialist system and the proletarian revolution and is designed to cause maximum ideological confusion in the International Marxist-Leninist Communist Movement.
6. the Canadian opportunists are divided into a) outright supporters of the rightists in China and b)conciliators with the rightists in China. We have resolutely opposed both kinds of opportunists in the past and continue to draw clear lines of demarcation with them.
7. Our duty is to vigorously hold high the banner of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism and firmly oppose the revisionists and opportunists of all hues and carry on struggle against imperialism, social-imperialism and all reaction.
DOWN WITH THE RESTORATION OF TENG HSIAO-PING!
DOWN WITH REVISIONISM AND OPPORTUNISM OF ALL HUES!
DOWN WITH THE ANTI-LENINIST THEORY OF “THREE WORLDS”!
DOWN WITH THE “VISIT” OF ARCH-RENEGADE, AND IMPERIALIST AGENT TITO TO CHINA!
LONG LIVE MARXISM-LENINISM-MAO TSETUNG THOUGHT!
LONG LIVE MARXISM-LENINISM AND PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM!
WE WILL WIN!
MARXISM-LENINISM WILL BE VICTORIOUS ALL OVER THE GLOBE!