Refuting the Marxist theory of class and class struggle

Implementing the strategy of “peaceful evolution”, reactionary, hostile and opportunistic political forces have put forward various theories and viewpoints attacking Marxism-Leninism, including class theory and class struggle. Therefore, resolutely fighting against erroneous and hostile viewpoints, protecting and upholding the scientific, revolutionary nature of class theory and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism in the current situation is of urgent significance.

A "spearhead" against Marxism-Leninism

Immediately after its birth, Marxism-Leninism, including the theory of class and class struggle, was distorted and fiercely opposed by hostile and reactionary forces. Currently, taking advantage of the fluctuations and complexities of the world situation and implementing the strategy of “peaceful evolution”, hostile and reactionary forces are trying to oppose the theory of class and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism even more fiercely.

In that “choir”, some bourgeois scholars, because they do not understand correctly or deliberately do not understand the nature of the class theory and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism, they believe that: Since the birth of the class theory and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism, it has been wrong and is now increasingly outdated and inappropriate; affirming that class struggle is one of the direct driving forces of historical development, absolutizing the role of class struggle and revolutionary violence is “divisive, extreme”, inciting war, encouraging violence in society (!).

Workers producing electronic components. (Illustration photo: VNA)

Taking advantage of the crisis and collapse of the socialist model in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in the late 80s and early 90s of the 20th century, hostile, reactionary and opportunistic revisionist forces had the opportunity to praise: This is a historical inevitability because it originates from the backwardness and obsolescence of Marxism-Leninism itself, including the theory of class and class struggle (!). Taking advantage of the stormy development of the modern scientific and technological revolution and the adaptation of capitalism, they proclaimed that: Today capitalism has changed in quality, has become "people's capitalism", the capitalist state has become a "common welfare state", no longer based on the exploitation of wage labor; workers in capitalist countries are no longer exploited and the status of workers has fundamentally changed, in many factories and companies, workers have shares and stocks, they are no longer the proletariat. Therefore, the contradiction between the working class and the bourgeoisie is no longer as antagonistic as before (!).

In Vietnam, they believe that: In Vietnamese society, the class structure has its own characteristics, so it is different from other countries and ethnic groups, so applying the Marxist-Leninist viewpoint of class and class struggle to Vietnam is not appropriate; the Vietnamese working class has fulfilled its historical mission in the period of national liberation revolution; today, in the conditions of peace, integration, the period of scientific and technological revolutions, of knowledge economy, of "intellectual civilization", so only scientists and intellectuals can master society, the vanguard force, have the role of leading the Vietnamese revolution to develop the country into a civilized and modern one (!).

Correct understanding of Marxism-Leninism's class theory and class struggle

In fact, the theory of class and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism is just a continuation of the theory of class and class struggle in the history of philosophical thought of mankind. In ancient times, in the political and social theories of thinkers such as: Heraclitus, Democritos, Socrates, Plato all acknowledged that in society there are divisions of classes, opposing and constantly fighting each other. Typically, in Plato's concept of an ideal state, there are classes of people such as: wise men, philosophers in the highest position; warriors in the lower position, and secondly, farmers and craftsmen whose duty is to work and produce... After Plato, Aristotle, in his work "Politics and the Government of Athens", also acknowledged that in society there are rulers and ruled.

When capitalism was formed, the struggle between social classes became fierce, that is, the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the feudal landlord and aristocratic class, so the concept of class and class struggle became clearer. The discovery of the class problem and class struggle in this period belonged to the scholars: G. Phrangxoa Ghido (1778 - 1874), Oguytxtanh Chiery (1785 - 1856) and Phrangxoa Minhe (1796 - 1884). They believed that changes in property ownership relations, mainly land ownership relations, led to changes in class relations and changes in the political regime.

Inheriting the ideas of class and class struggle in human history, responding to the requirements of revolutionary practice, C. Marx and F. Engels put forward a scientific and revolutionary theory of class and class struggle. Then, V. Lenin inherited, supplemented, and comprehensively developed C. Marx's theory of class and class struggle to respond to the objective requirements of history. Thus, the theory of class and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism is not the speculation and subjectivity of Marxist classics, but only the continuation of the ideas of class and class struggle in the history of philosophical thought of humanity.

The Marxist-Leninist theory of class and class struggle fully demonstrates its scientific and revolutionary nature, not only in the inheritance of the quintessence of philosophical thinkers in history when discussing class and class struggle, but also in the approach and the complete content of the theory of class and class struggle. In the approach, the classics have pointed out the correct scientific methodology, as a basis for examining class and class struggle, which is to associate class and class struggle with a certain mode of production in history. That is completely different from the idealistic and metaphysical approach to class and class struggle of philosophical thinkers in history.

Since its inception, the theory of class and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism has always been the scientific basis for analyzing the movement and development of human social history in a class society. It is the scientific basis for communist parties to outline their correct strategic lines and tactics, meeting the development requirements of each country and nation in each specific historical period. The practice of the international communist and workers' movement shows that any communist party that is loyal, steadfast and correctly and creatively applies Marxism-Leninism in general and the theory of class and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism in particular will have a successful and developed revolution. On the other hand, practice also shows that in the process of leading the revolution, any communist party that incorrectly perceives and applies the theory of class and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism will cause damage to the revolutionary cause, even causing the collapse of the social regime.

Loyalty to and creative application of Marxist views on class theory and class struggle

The struggle to protect and maintain the scientific, revolutionary, class theory and class struggle nature of Marxism-Leninism is currently one of the vital issues for protecting the ideological foundation of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

The most important issue is that we need to do a good job of propagating and educating the Party's cadres and members to correctly perceive the position, role and importance of the core values of Marxism-Leninism's class theory and class struggle. Create consensus and unity within the entire Party and society on issues of principle, which are: Being steadfast, loyal and creatively applying the Marxist-Leninist theory of class and class struggle.

It is necessary to understand that loyalty does not mean stubbornly holding on to the words of K. Marx, F. Engels and V. Lenin on class and class struggle, but must firmly grasp its scientific and revolutionary nature, and must apply and develop it creatively in accordance with the circumstances of each country and nation. In protecting and developing, communists must strive to overcome with political courage, with creative theoretical thinking capacity, by strengthening practical summaries, theoretical research, overcoming dogmatism, conservatism as well as opportunism, revisionism and metaphysical and extremist thinking methods. Thereby, it is clearly affirmed which theses on class and class struggle have lasting value; which theses were previously correct but due to historical conditions have changed, they are no longer appropriate and need to be supplemented and developed to suit the new situation; which theses we have misunderstood because we have not studied them thoroughly, we now need to study them to understand them correctly; At the same time, he developed new arguments about class and class struggle that previous classics had not mentioned.

The struggle to protect the Party's ideological foundation in general, the class theory and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism in particular, is the responsibility of every cadre, party member and the entire political system, in which cadres and soldiers of the armed forces are an important force. Therefore, every cadre and soldier of the armed forces needs to have a correct understanding of their duties and responsibilities; uphold the sense of responsibility, actively study and research the class theory and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism. In particular, academies, schools and research institutes in the Army need to continue to improve the quality of teaching, research, and summarize the practical class theory and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism in conjunction with the theory of military, national defense and people's security; compile documents to guide the struggle against hostile, reactionary and opportunistic political views, contributing to the formulation of the Party's policy of protecting the Fatherland in the new situation.

The class theory and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism are one of the important theoretical contents and pillars of the Party. Therefore, hostile, reactionary and opportunistic political forces do not abandon all means of attacking, sabotaging, distorting and denying the class theory and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism. Therefore, resolutely fighting, protecting and upholding the class theory and class struggle of Marxism-Leninism is a matter of vital significance to the Party and the survival of the socialist regime in Vietnam today.

According to the Communist Party of Vietnam

Source