Affirming the path to socialism in Vietnam

Since its inception, the Communist Party of Vietnam has determined that: National independence and socialism are the goals and ideals of the Party and the Vietnamese people; advancing to socialism is an objective requirement, the inevitable path of the Vietnamese revolution. To carry out their sabotage plots, hostile elements have constantly criticized, attacked, and distorted this choice with the aim of diverting the path to socialism in Vietnam. This reality requires the entire Party and people to constantly heighten their vigilance, stay alert, identify and resolutely fight against erroneous and hostile viewpoints.

Local government representatives visit and encourage poor people in Mu Cang Chai district ( Yen Bai )

In order to sabotage Vietnam's path to socialism, hostile forces and political opportunists constantly proclaim: "Vietnam's choice of the path to socialism is a mistake of history" because "socialism is not a superior regime", "socialism is an illusion, it is good in theory but not in reality", socialism has "come to an end", has "regressed for a long time" and "Vietnam's determination to move towards socialism is following in the footsteps of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe"... These are not new arguments that hostile forces have frequently used since the collapse of real socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and continue to use them today; inciting and putting political pressure to call on our Party to abandon the path to socialism.

Practice proves that socialism is not an illusion, good in theory, but it is a social regime with a superior nature, born according to the inevitable law of historical movement, in accordance with the development trend of human history. The superior and good nature of socialism was realized with the birth of real socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (in 1917). For the first time in history (since the society had classes), the working people were truly masters, had the right to vote, had basic human rights such as freedom, equality... in all areas of social life. The great achievements that real socialism in the Soviet Union and some socialist countries achieved in the period of 1917-1991 are undeniable, in terms of economy , politics, culture, society, science, technology, national defense, and foreign affairs. In just a short time, the achievements made the Soviet Union a powerful country, creating a counterweight and correlation of forces with capitalism. This proves that socialism is not a dream or a theoretical society but has been realized and proven in practice.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the past was only the collapse of a specific socialist model due to many different reasons, not due to the nature of the socialist regime, not due to errors in the Marxist-Leninist theory of socialism. This is not the "end" of socialism but only a "temporary setback", a valuable lesson in the correct perception and application of the Marxist-Leninist theory of socialism, as well as in building a specific socialist model, suitable to the characteristics of each country and nation.

Today, although real socialism no longer exists as a system in the world, its vitality and contemporary value continue to be affirmed in the cause of innovation, reform, and restructuring in current socialist countries such as Vietnam, China, Laos, Cuba... Currently, with about 1.5 billion people in the world following the path of socialism, although there are still many difficulties and challenges, the development, achievements and position of socialist countries have proven that socialism is the most superior social regime in human history. At the same time, the correctness and science in the theory of Marxism-Leninism on socialism, along with the achievements of real socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, as well as the existence and development of current socialist countries are also the causes and driving forces that have promoted capitalism to have changes and adjustments in ownership relations, social security, social welfare... in recent years.

Intentionally denying that reality, the anti-government elements constantly aim to sow doubt, hesitation, and confusion among cadres, party members, and Vietnamese people about socialism and the path to socialism with many new, sophisticated, cunning, and very difficult to identify distortions. Such as spreading that currently "capitalist countries in the world have made adjustments and changes in nature", "in fact, Vietnam's determination to develop a socialist-oriented market economy is just following the path of capitalism",... therefore "there is no need to talk about socialism and the path to socialism anymore", currently capitalism has developed in all aspects and has made adjustments in a progressive direction, so why does Vietnam have to follow a social regime that has regressed?...

Many people, due to lack of information and not fully understanding the nature of the problem, have supported and agreed with this viewpoint. However, it is necessary to see that the adjustment and change of capitalism in some aspects of ownership relations, in social security... is essentially just a form of "soothing" the contradictions between the working class and the laboring people, "covering up" the exploitative nature inside in a sophisticated way. Therefore, it is not a change in nature and cannot fundamentally resolve the injustices and internal contradictions within today's capitalist society. Although it is undeniable that capitalism has brought great achievements, it can be seen that the class that benefits the most is still the bourgeoisie (especially the plutocrats and the super-rich), not the general working people. The rich only account for 1% but are holding 99% of the wealth of society and the gap between rich and poor is increasing. Even within capitalist society, for many years, there have been simmering struggles and protests by workers against the greed of the rich and social injustice, against racial and ethnic discrimination; unemployment, poverty, inequality, terrorism, violence, etc. are still common phenomena in many developed capitalist countries.

In Vietnam, the socialist-oriented market economy is not a capitalist-style free market economy, but an economic model in the transition period to socialism, a type of economic organization that both follows the laws of the market economy and is based on and guided and governed by the principles and nature of socialism. Socialist countries choosing to inherit the achievements of humanity does not mean abandoning the path of socialism, or adjusting and adapting capitalism is not a change in nature. Therefore, determining the political regime and which path to follow is still necessary today. According to the objective law of movement of human social history, socialism is still a social regime with a superior nature that needs to be strived for, and is inevitable.

In recent times, anti-government elements have continuously taken advantage of some limitations and mistakes in the mechanism and policies and the weakness in capacity and ethics of some leaders and managers to accuse them of being "due to the nature of the regime", that after decades of war, Vietnam is still full of deadlocks in economic development and that people's lives are still poor and miserable... This is an extremely one-sided, unsympathetic view, denying the achievements and good values of the socialist society that Vietnam is building, in order to eliminate the path to socialism in our country. This issue requires an objective and correct view. Any social regime will have limitations and shortcomings, and that is not a "characteristic" of socialism as the reactionary forces distort. The important thing here is to correctly recognize the truly superior and humane nature of the social regime and the good goals and values that society strives for - something that only exists in socialism.

The achievements and position that Vietnam has achieved today are undeniable. After more than 38 years of renovation and 49 years of national reunification, Vietnam has a new "position and strength", the country "has never had such a foundation, potential, position and international prestige as today", this has been clearly demonstrated in reality. Vietnam has emerged from the economic crisis, the economy has grown quite well and become a middle-income developing country; early achieved the United Nations' millennium goals on hunger eradication and poverty reduction, and is a bright spot in poverty reduction in the world. The living standards, health and life expectancy of Vietnamese people have been constantly improved, reflected in the Human Development Index (HDI) continuously increasing in the United Nations rankings. At the same time, a series of Vietnam's national indicators have been improved and risen on international rankings, such as the Top 30 most powerful countries in the world in 2022; ranked 48/132 countries in the Global Innovation Index (GII); along with many other indexes that are constantly increasing such as the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), the Safest Countries Index, the Happy Country Index, etc. These are clear evidences that have been recognized by the international community, showing that the arguments of the anti-government elements denying the achievements on the path of transition to socialism in Vietnam are completely baseless.

It can be said that no matter what method of sabotage is used, old or new arguments, the ultimate goal that hostile forces want to achieve is to want Vietnam to change its political regime and abandon the choice of the path to socialism. The methods that these subjects use are increasingly sophisticated and difficult to identify. Currently, they do not directly sabotage, but often interweave and integrate old and new arguments, correct information and toxic bad news, distort and integrate political issues with the cultural and social situation in daily life to make it difficult for people to distinguish, identify and be on guard and vigilant. Therefore, people need to be extremely alert, have correct political awareness, and a firm ideological stance against the plots and sabotage tricks of hostile forces, and absolutely trust in the leadership of the Party and the State.

DR. NGO THI NU

According to nhandan.vn

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