3. Strengthening the Communist Parties in the worsening global crisis
In the last three decades, the imperialist powers headed by the US have blamed the working class and government social spending for the phenomenon of stagflation in the 1970s and have relentlessly pursued a ruthless class war to press down wage levels and attack the rights of the working class in order to enable the monopoly bourgeoisie to accumulate more capital and enjoy the widest opportunities for profit-making under the policy of neoliberal globalization.
And in the last more than two decades, the imperialist powers have also gloated over the revisionist betrayal of socialism, the fall of revisionist regimes and the full restoration of capitalism in revisionist-ruled countries and described these as proof that the history of mankind does not go farther than capitalism and liberal democracy. With the obvious intention of perpetuating capitalism and further burying socialism, the monopoly bourgeoisie has intensified ideological, political, economic and military offensives against the working class and all anti-imperialist forces.
But the evils of capitalism and imperialism are once more totally exposed upon the bankruptcy of the imperialist policy of neoliberal globalization. This is inflicting horrendous conditions of exploitation and oppression on the broad masses of the people and is inciting them to engage in various forms of resistance. The conditions are favorable for waging revolutionary struggles and demand that the Communist Parties take the lead in the struggles of the people and to strengthen themselves for the purpose.
Ideological strengthening of Communist Parties
Communist Parties must strengthen themselves ideologically. They must uphold Marxism-Leninism as the universal theory of the proletariat and apply it on the history and current circumstances of the people's struggle for national and social liberation against imperialism and all reaction. Ideological building is the first requisite in building the revolutionary party of the proletariat. Without theory, there can be no revolutionary party and no revolutionary movement.
We now hear from an increasing number of seriously minded people, who are not even communists, that there is need to read and study Marx in the face of the grave crisis and depression of the world capitalist system. They are disgusted with the bourgeois subjectivism and the dogma of personal greed that have been pushed by the monopoly bourgeoisie in its anti-communist and anti-socialist ideological offensive and that have resulted in grave harm to the broad masses of the people under the policy of neoliberal globalization.
To make a living and useful study of Marxism-Leninism, we must focus on the current dire circumstances as a result of the laws of motion and internal contradictions of the capitalist system. We must apply the theory not only to critique and interpret the decadent system but more importantly to adopt an outlook, methodology and plan for overthrowing it and replacing it with a new system through the revolutionary process.
We must reaffirm the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism and the historical victories in their application. But we must avoid dogmatism by going into the concrete analysis of concrete conditions in accordance with materialist dialectics. We must also shun empiricism, which deprives us of revolutionary direction in the welter of facts and impressions. We must continue to be most vigilant and active against reformism and revisionism, which have been the most lethal to communist parties that have been in power or not yet in power.
Communist Parties must strengthen their ranks ideologically through definite courses of study and through the revolutionary application of the principles and lessons learned. A general level of understanding materialist dialectics and class struggle must be ensured among the rank and file. They must be able to carry out a resolute and vigorous ideological offensive against the ideological trends generated by imperialism and all reaction.
The propagation of Marxist-Leninist ideas among the Party rank and file and among the mass activists should be faster than ever before, with the use of various electronic media.
The monopoly bourgeoisie still owns and control the major mass media. But the reality reflected in the electronic media used by the proletarian revolutionaries can in the long run speak louder than the false ideas and claims of the imperialists and reactionaries.
The Communist Parties must grasp the new factors in the new situation. At the first instance, the monopoly bourgeois own and control the high technology for production, distribution and communications. But this accelerates the profit making, the concentration of capital, the crisis of overproduction, the abuse of finance capital, the global depression and the people's resistance. In fact, high technology is suitable to socialism and not to capitalism in terms of knowing and satisfying human needs and demands.
Political strengthening of Communist Parties
The Communist Parties must strengthen themselves politically by drawing correctly the general line of the people´s revolutionary struggle on the basis of concrete conditions and steadfastly pursuing this line until complete victory is obtained with the seizure of political power and establishment of the new revolutionary state system. In semicolonial and semifeudal conditions, the Communist Parties must pursue the line of bourgeois democratic revolution of the new type. In industrial capitalist conditions, they must pursue the line of socialist revolution, taking into account the necessity of democratic struggle against the threat or reality of fascism.
The revolutionary struggle of the people must be led by the working class through the Communist Party as its advanced detachment. The working class must be the leading class because it is the most productive and most progressive force. It is the agency for supplanting the bourgeois ownership and management of the means of production and for bringing about socialism. It has the vantage point of recognizing the need for the liberation of all working people and for leading the process of overthrowing the reactionary state and establishing the revolutionary state.
In political struggle, the Communist Parties must avoid the pitfalls of Right and “Left” opportunism. Right opportunism usually takes the form of reformism and revisionism, keeping the struggle for reforms always within the confines of the reactionary state and going so far as to revise and depart from the fundamental principle of overthrowing the reactionary state. “Left¨ opportunism means calling for violent actions that are not yet justified by the ongoing conditions and putting the revolutionary forces and people in a losing position. Adventurism is ¨Left” in form but Rightist in content because it spells defeat for the revolution.
What principal form of struggle to pursue, whether violent or nonviolent, depends on the concrete conditions. In certain semi-colonial and semi-feudal countries, where the peasants are the most numerous class, it is possible to wage a protracted people's war in order to accumulate armed strength for the ultimate overthrow of the reactionary state. But in industrial capitalist countries, it is impossible to wage such a protracted people's war in which a people's army and its areas of operation grow in stages in the countryside. Under conditions when it is not yet possible to transform an imperialist war into a civil war, it is possible to learn the teachings of the great communist leaders on state and revolution, to build self-defense units against the fascist disrupters of strikes and protest mass actions, and to arouse, organize and mobilize the people to engage in giant marches and rallies.
In any given period, a Communist Party can only have a certain number of members, always limited in relation to the total number of the exploited and oppressed people. It cannot make revolution or any kind of political progress without leading a mass movement. It must build the mass organizations of various classes and sectors: workers (trade unions), peasants, fishermen, urban poor, women, youth, professionals, cultural activists, and so on. It must also build mass organizations focused on important issues of popular or multi-sectoral interest.
The Communist Parties must have a united front policy, engage in united front work and build various types of united front or alliances, formally and informally, in order to amplify, extend and maximize the strength and influence of communists and the masses that they have organized. The Communist Parties must constantly seek to reach the masses that are unorganized or that belong to other parties, mass organizations and institutions. They can do so through multi-sectoral, sectoral and issue-based alliances. Success in united front can verify whether the general line of the Party is valid and acceptable to the people.
The Communist Parties must avail of both the traditional and new methods for arousing, organizing and mobilizing the people. The traditional forms of communications, such as speaking without any amplifier, handwriting and printing on hard copy, are indispensable and basic. But the new forms of communications made available by high technology should be used in order to accelerate, intensify and expand the agitation and education, mass organizing and mobilization of the people.
We are confronted by the forces of imperialism which exploit and oppress the working class and the people on a global and use all sorts of instruments, including the multinational firms and banks, agencies of political and cultural subversion and military forces. It is absolutely necessary to uphold the principle of proletarian internationalism among communist and workers' parties and to build solidarity movements of the proletariat and people of the world for national liberation, democracy and socialism against imperialism and all reaction.
Organizational strengthening of Communist Parties
Communist Parties must strengthen themselves organizationally by following the principle of democratic centralism. This means centralism based on democracy and democracy under centralized leadership. Leading organs of the Party at all levels are elected and responsible to the Party organization or conference that elected them. After free and thorough discussion of issues, decisions are taken and implemented, giving due respect to the following: the individual is subordinate to the organization, the minority is subordinate to the majority, the lower level is subordinate to the higher level and the entire membership is subordinate to the Central Committee and the National Congress.
The Party should combat the opposite extremes of bureaucratism or top-down commandism, and ultra-democracy or anarchism. Leading organs should always pay close attention to the reports and views of lower Party organizations and the masses of Party members, and constantly study concrete experiences and give prompt guidance and assistance in the solution of problems. Lower Party organizations should give regular and timely reports about their work to the organization above them and request instructions concerning problems that require the decision of a higher Party organization. All Party organizations must follow the principle of collective leadership and all important decisions must be decided collectively.
At the beginning, a Communist Party may be built by recruiting a few Party members from Marxist study circles and from the ranks of trade unions and other forms of mass organizations. But no matter how still small in size, the Party strives to build a nationwide structure and take deeper roots among the toiling masses. The opportunities for building a Party that is nationwide and deeply-rooted among the masses become wider when the crisis of the ruling system worsens, and the Party leads a growing mass movement. From this, the Party can recruit a far greater number of Party members than before.
Under the present conditions of global capitalist crisis and depression, it should be easier than ever before in building communist parties where there are none, rebuilding those previously destroyed by the enemy or degenerated by revisionism, or strengthening those that have persevered under the guidance of Marxism-Leninism. The Communist Parties must lead the mass movement to protest and make demands against the worsening conditions of oppression and exploitation. From this growing mass movement, the Party can and must recruit an increasing number of Party members.
In living up to its character as the revolutionary party of the proletariat, the Party in an industrial capitalist country or in an underdeveloped country must have as top priority the recruitment of members from the ranks of the workers. The period of candidature for workers may be as short as six months in order to ensure the predominance of workers in the Party and one year for those for those coming from the petty bourgeoisie. In the underdeveloped countries, where the bourgeois democratic revolution is going on, the poor peasants and farm workers may have a six-month period of candidature like the workers.
It is best for Communist Parties to have in their ranks cadres and ordinary members. Cadres are those capable of leading a committee or any other collective unit of work. They are trained and developed within the Party in the course of struggle. They may also be previously leaders in the mass organizations from which they are recruited. Limiting the Party membership to cadres slows the growth of the Party. The Party must have a fast growing number of ordinary members in order to carry out tasks that require mass strength and in order to have within the Party a wide base for developing cadres.
Communist Parties must build and strengthen themselves self-reliantly. To do so, they must learn from their own study of Marxism-Leninism and their experiences, and set the tasks for advancing and winning greater victories. They must also learn from the teachings and successful experiences of communist leaders and parties on an international scale. In this regard, they can benefit from exchanges of ideas and experiences with other parties through publications, bilateral meetings, multilateral meetings and practical cooperation.
At the moment, several international conferences of communist and workers´ parties wish to establish and develop a new Communist International. The Communist Parties can contribute their ideas and proposals and learn a lot that is helpful from the debates and documentary output of conferences that uphold Marxism-Leninism and oppose revisionism. But it is still too difficult or even impossible to single out which of these conferences is already on the way to being the new Communist International or the new center of the world proletarian revolution.
The advance of a communist party in any country does not depend on the claims of any international conference as the new center of the world revolution. It depends on the line that the party correctly adopts and implements. It is better to hope that the Communist Parties victorious in revolution will initiate the new Communist International than to expect that soon any of the current international conferences would lead directly to the new Communist International or enable specific parties to win revolution in their respective countries.