They believe that the Communist Party of Vietnam leading the Vietnamese people to socialism is no different from "pushing the nation into a "blind paradise" or "the shore of illusion" (?!). This distorted argument has been completely denied by the reality of the renovation process and the initial achievements of the cause of building Vietnam on the path of socialism.
1. In his speech commemorating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam (1930-2020), General Secretary andPresident Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized: “The rich and vivid reality of the Vietnamese revolution over the past 90 years has proven that the correct and wise leadership of the Party is the leading factor determining all victories of the Vietnamese revolution”. The documents of the 13th National Congress of the Party once again affirmed: “The leadership of the Party is the leading factor determining all victories of the Vietnamese revolution” (1) .
Reality shows that since its establishment, with the correct guidelines and mettle of a true revolutionary party, the Communist Party of Vietnam has led our people to successfully carry out the national liberation revolution and carry out the work of building and defending the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, achieving increasingly great results of historical significance.
However, until now, there are still people who were born and enjoyed the fruits of that revolutionary cause who have denied and distorted the Party's leadership and denied the revolutionary achievements of our people. They believe that if they had not followed the socialist path, the Vietnamese people would not have been slow to develop and would not have had corruption; that if they had followed the capitalist path, the country would have developed rapidly, society would have been progressive and fair...(?!).
In fact, the above arguments are either wrong, hostile, reactionary views; or they are incapable of perceiving the inevitable development trend of human history.
2. It can be affirmed that since the history of mankind, classes, oppression, exploitation, and injustice appeared, the situation of war, violent robbery, and slavery also appeared. Over thousands of years of history, that situation has become increasingly fierce. From there, the aspirations and desires for liberation of the oppressed and exploited classes also appeared.
Many generations of outstanding thinkers and revolutionaries have devoted and sacrificed their whole lives to the good, humane ideals and the progress of humanity. From the primitive ideas of Aghit and Cleomenes in the 3rd century BC to increasingly complete and progressive models and systems of viewpoints such as T.Moro, G.Babup, Saintximon, Ph.Phurie, R.Owen, N.Dobzoliubop. Socialist ideology was generalized into a system of scientific theories in Marxism. By V.Lenin, that theory was the premise for the birth of real socialism.
Socialism is understood in three capacities: as a doctrine, a revolutionary movement and a social regime. That doctrine, movement and regime aim at the complete liberation of human beings, ending violence, tyranny and war; to develop human beings comprehensively, so that the freedom of each person is the premise for the freedom of all people.
Based on the awareness that class oppression is the fundamental and profound cause of national oppression, all regimes of oppression and exploitation of people throughout history have led to a situation where one nation oppresses and exploits another. This situation arises because the economically ruling class in a nation always wants to consolidate its economic position through exploitation, while at the same time expanding its influence through oppression and enslavement of other nations. The domination of colonial countries by imperialist countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was essentially the expansion, oppression and exploitation of the bourgeoisie when it had become a historically obsolete class.
On the other hand, in each given nation, the progressive, revolutionary or conservative, reactionary nature of the class holding the dominant position in the mode of production will determine the character of the nation. The revolutionary, progressive class will promote the development of the nation in a progressive, revolutionary direction. The outdated, conservative, backward, reactionary class will hinder the development of that nation. For example, the domination, oppression, and exploitation of the bourgeoisie show the capitalist character of that nation. In that society, there can be no real freedom for all. When the working class becomes the leading class, eliminating all oppression, exploitation, and injustice, the bourgeois nation transforms into a nation with a socialist character. That nation realizes the “right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to the pursuit of happiness” (2) for all people. President Ho Chi Minh affirmed: "Only socialism and communism can liberate oppressed peoples and workers around the world from slavery" (3) and "The national liberation revolution must develop into a socialist revolution to achieve complete victory" (4) .
Furthermore, the birth of the socialist regime will create an economic foundation for the people to have enough to eat and wear. According to Ho Chi Minh: "People only know the value of freedom and independence when they have enough to eat and wear" (5) . The political regime of socialism will ensure that real power belongs to the people. The social regime in socialism will ensure freedom, democracy, equality and progress. When the people enjoy the real benefits brought by the revolution, the people of socialist countries will strive to protect the achievements of the revolution and the regime, thereby contributing to the consolidation of lasting national independence.
In fact, since 1945, not only has Vietnam gained independence from colonialism, but many countries from Asia, Africa to Latin America have also gained independence. However, while following the capitalist path, many countries are still immersed in violence, war, ethnic conflicts, and poverty. These countries are dominated, manipulated, and truly have no independence or freedom.
3. Up to now, Vietnam is not a developed country, but if we count from 1945, the independence of the Vietnamese people has only been 78 years and if we count from 1975, the Vietnamese people have only ended the war for 48 years. With that much time for building and constructing the country, it is still too short compared to the capitalist regime that has been established for more than 500 years.
However, the fundamental thing is that today, the capitalist regime is not a regime in which people are truly liberated and developed; a regime in which "a very small part, even only 1% of the population, but holds the majority of wealth, means of production, controls up to 3/4 of financial resources, knowledge and the main means of mass communication and therefore dominates the whole society", therefore "The proclamation of equality of rights but not accompanied by equality of conditions to exercise those rights has led to democracy remaining only in form, empty but not in substance" (6) .
Meanwhile, with the achievements of the country's renovation, the Vietnamese people and nation are increasingly enjoying a prosperous, free and happy life. "Thanks to the implementation of the renovation policy, the economy has begun to develop and has grown continuously at a relatively high rate in recent years with an average growth rate of about 7% per year. The GDP scale has been constantly expanding, reaching 342.7 billion USD in 2020, becoming the fourth largest economy in ASEAN. Per capita income has increased about 17 times, to 3,512 USD; Vietnam has left the group of low-income countries since 2008. From a country with chronic food shortages, Vietnam has not only ensured food security but also become a leading exporter of rice and many other agricultural products in the world" (7) .
Revolution is a difficult, long-term, and arduous undertaking, because revolution is to replace the old social regime with a new one. History shows that slavery only disintegrated 400 years after the emergence of the feudal regime within it. It took the bourgeoisie nearly 300 years to overthrow the feudal regime to establish its ruling position, starting with the Dutch bourgeois revolution (16th century), until King Louis XVI was executed in France in the 18th century, then feudalism in Europe generally ended its domination. Even the remnants of the feudal regime still exist today in many countries. However, as our Party affirmed: "According to the evolutionary law of history, mankind will certainly advance to socialism" (8) . In that sense, "Communism is the inevitable form and the resolute principle of the coming future" (9) .
Therefore, national independence and socialism are the fundamental and long-term goals of the Vietnamese revolution, ensuring our nation's path to a prosperous and happy future.
Associate Professor, Dr. DANG QUANG DINH, Director of the Institute of Philosophy, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics
(1) Communist Party of Vietnam: Documents of the 13th National Congress of Delegates, National Political Publishing House Truth, H.2021, vol. 1, p. 26
(2)(5) Ho Chi Minh: Complete Works, National Political Publishing House Truth, Hanoi, 2011, vol.4, p.1, p.175
(3) Ho Chi Minh: Complete Works, National Political Publishing House Truth, Hanoi, 2011, vol. 12, p. 563
(4) Ho Chi Minh: Complete Works, National Political Publishing House Truth, Hanoi, 2011, vol. 15, p. 392
(6)(7) Nguyen Phu Trong: Some theoretical and practical issues on socialism and the path to socialism in Vietnam, National Political Publishing House Truth, Hanoi 2022, pp.20-21, p.31
(8) Communist Party of Vietnam: Documents of the 11th National Congress of Delegates, National Political Publishing House Truth, Hanoi 2011, p. 69
(9) C.Marx and F.Engels: Complete Works, National Political Publishing House Truth, Hanoi, 2000, vol.42, p.183
Source
Comment (0)