For anyone, especially new comrades, wishing to understand the dynamic philosophy of Marxism-Leninism there is in my view no better insight than to study Dialectical and Historical Materialism by J V Stalin. A concise and clear work, written in 1938, that outlines the essential theory of Marxism-Leninism. Its founders were Karl Marx and Frederick Engels with further development by Vladimir Lenin as he applied the philosophy to build socialism in the Soviet Union. It is an important philosophy that guides communist parties in their vanguard role and in the building of socialism. Stalin had the ability to explain complex ideas without simplification or being patronising to his audience.
Dialectical materialism is a major component of Marxism-Leninism. It is called dialectical because it studies changes that are interconnected with other things that may also change. The theory is materialistic because it accepts that physical processes are governed by specific laws. Historical materialism is the extension of the principles of dialectical materialism to the study of social life. It is an application of the principles of dialectical materialism to the phenomena of the study of the life of society, to the study of society and of its history.
Human history reflects a complex struggle for survival. There is a fundamental difference in the way society and natural processes develop. There are no conscious forces in the purely physical world but social development is influenced by thought and the actions of people. People have the ability to shape their own destinies and forge progressive trends in a society . Historical materialism is a core component of the philosophy developed by Marx and Engels. It is only when grasped and understood by the masses can it become a motive force for the development of society. Scientific communism is also an important part of Marxist theory which studies the laws, forms and methods of the class struggle.
It is important to understand what is meant by productive forces and production relations and how they relate to each other under both capitalism and socialism. The productive forces are the means of production including the workers. Production relations are the relations existing between people in the process of production, exchange and distribution of wealth. Historical materialism shows that under capitalism contradictions will exist between productive forces and production relations and that they can only be resolved through class struggle. A struggle to break-up the old system of production relations and replace it with new ones to ensure a more fairer distribution of wealth within a more stable framework.
Marxist-Leninist philosophy challenges that of fatalism which is promoted by those who are afraid of change and want to keep things as they are. Fatalists believe that what will happen is fated and can make no difference to the outcome. Marxists maintain that we make our own history by our actions. We have heard people say 'what will be will be' but they are stuck in a rut and will be cut off from human progress.
The building of socialism is far more than raising production or economic indicators. It is concerned with the evolution of human thought along with social and cultural progress. The failure of comrades in the past to recognise this fact has led to serious setbacks. 'You can't change human nature' is a hackneyed old cliche trotted out by the bourgeoisie who don't want change and the unthinking who don't understand it. In reality things are changing all the time. Change however is not uniform. In some parts of the world women are still regarded as second-rate citizens to be abused and treated with cruelty. In the Soviet Union Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to enter space.
A politically planned economy with public ownership and control of major and strategic industry, utilities, transport and financial institutions is a core requirement of Marxism – Leninism. Public ownership ensures that the value created by workers is used to pay direct and social wages while creating funds for future investment. Money, the life=blood of capitalism and mechanism for exploitation, will cease to dominate and to control society. Wealthy capitalists would no longer be able to dictate political and economic policy. Power would be exercised by the Communist Party on behalf of the people which it serves. This is the system employed by the socialist countries today.
Proletarian internationalism is one of the basic principles of Marxism Leninism. It stems from an awareness that the class struggle has a vital international component and stresses the need for effective worldwide solidarity. Proletarian internationalism governs relations between all peoples of the international working class and between communist parties. Lenin wrote. 'There is one, and only one, kind of real internationalism and that is working wholeheartedly for the revolutionary movement and revolutionary struggle in one's own country and supporting in all ways possible every other country without exception'.
Utopian socialists had a dream of an ideal society. Engels was able to show how socialism could be achieved by turning that utopian vision into a science that led to an understanding of the laws of development of society, of the contradictions of capitalism and the role of the working class in class struggle. Communists should not just criticise the injustices of capitalist society but to examine and explain the nature of the capitalist mode of production and its laws of development. Such an approach exposes the raw nature of capitalism that is essentially based upon the theft of surplus value created by workers by an upper class of parasites.
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