Following is the ninth part of an eleven-part series of study columns on the theory of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought.
The study series was originally developed for study groups conducted by the League of Revolutionary Struggle (M-L) and is the product of a number of years of practice in leading study groups in Marxism-Leninism among workers and students.
Among the topics covered in the series are classes and class struggle; the crisis of capitalism and the inevitability of socialism; imperialism; the national question; the state and revolution: the communist party; and Marxist philosophy.
History of the Communist Party Soviet Union (Bolshevik), Chapter II, Section 4 and Conclusion.
Mao Zedong, “The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War,” in Selected Readings, pp. 149-154; “Let the Whole Party Unite and Fight to Accomplish its Tasks,” in Selected Readings, pp. 313-319. Lenin, “Marxism and Revisionism,” in On Marx and Marxism.
Mao Zedong, “Be Activists in Promoting Revolution,” in Selected Works, Vol. V, pp.494-497.
(Supplementary Readings: History of the CPSU(B), Chapter III; Lenin, Left-wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder, Sections 1-4; Stalin, Foundations of Leninism, “The Party”; and League of Revolutionary Snuggle, FORWARD No. 1, “Interview on Party Building.”)
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The bourgeoisie creates the basic material conditions for its own downfall. The bourgeoisie, in its drive for profits, continuously concentrates the means of production and aggravates the contradiction between the social character of production and the private ownership of production. The exploitation of the working class and the oppression of the masses intensifies.
This is what is meant when one says that the proletarian revolution is inevitable. Bui the working class, in order to fulfill its historic mission of leading the battle to overthrow monopoly capital, must become conscious of itself as a class and of the nature of society. The working class must be armed with revolutionary class consciousness, organization and leadership. This requires that its advanced elements, the most conscious and dedicated fighters for the class, form themselves into a communist party, the vanguard political party of the proletariat.
The bourgeoisie has its own political parties, such as the Democrats and Republicans, and the proletariat develops the communist party to fight for its own interests. But the communist party cannot be like the bourgeois political parties. The communist party must be a fighting organization, a party that is capable of leading the masses of oppressed through the twists and turns of the revolutionary struggle. It is the task of the party to lead the daily struggles of the masses, organize them, heighten their political consciousness and lead them lo the armed seizure of state power when the objective conditions develop into a revolutionary situation. The communist party after the revolution and the establishment of socialism continues to strive to lead the masses forward toward communism.
In the U.S. today, there is no genuine communist party to lead the struggle. The Communist Party USA was once revolutionary, but abandoned revolutionary principles in the 1950’s. It has become a mouthpiece of the Soviet social-imperialists. The CPUSA is infected with revisionism, the emasculation of revolutionary Marxism. This is reflected in its advocacy that socialism in the U.S. can come peacefully by relying on the ballot box.
Today, it should be the central task of revolutionary individuals, communists and Marxist-Leninist organizations to try to build a true communist party of the proletariat. Building this party, though, is a difficult process and is not simply completed by calling together a group of people. Party building requires developing a correct line for the revolution in the U.S., integrating with the struggles of the masses, building organization and, while fighting the bourgeoisie, waging struggle against revisionists and opportunists who seek to destroy or subvert the proletariat’s struggle for socialism.
1. Why must the proletariat have its own political party to achieve its emancipation? In what ways is the communist party unlike bourgeois political parties such as the Democrats and Republicans?
2. Mao once stated, “No political party can possibly lead a great revolutionary movement to victory unless it possesses revolutionary theory and a knowledge of history and has a profound grasp of the practical movement.” Discuss Mao’s lesson in light of your study of the history of the CPSU(B) and your own experiences.
3. What must be the communist party’s relationship with the masses? How can the party at the same time be an advanced detachment of the working class, a leader of the masses and have iron-like ties with the masses?
4. What is democratic centralism? Why must the proletarian party be based on this principle?
5. What danger does revisionism pose to the communist party? What are some examples of right and left revisionism in the U.S. today?