Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 20:32:31 +0100 (MET)
Subject: M-G: UNITE! Info #26en: 1/2 China, early '76, on nukes etc


UNITE! Info #26en: 1/2 China, early '76, on nukes etc
[Posted: 18.01.97]

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INTRO NOTE (longish because of some important connextions):

In this Info is reproduced an article published in the Peking Review
No. 4/1976, 23.01.1976 (pp. 49-51): "Human Cognizance and Utilization
of Energy Sources Is Never-Ending - Refutation of 'exhaustion of
energy sources'", by Chin Hua.

This article shows some of the basic standpoints of Marxists on
the question of energy in general and also of nuclear energy in
particular. In China at that time, the genuinely Marxist, extremely
successful ideological and political line of Mao Zedong, who then
since four decades back was Chairman of the Communist Party
of China and who had made and still was making that important
further development of Marxism-Leninism which is known as Mao Zedong
Thought, was being followed.

Today, the arch-reactionary bourgeois propaganda syndrome
which this article attacks, the propaganda directed against modern
energy sources in general and against nuclear energy in particular,
and saying i.a. that "the energy sources are being exhausted", has
gone much further still than 21 years ago. This campaign is only one
part of a most rabid and massive attack against the workers and
the oppressed peoples, above all, on the part of the main bourgeois
forces in the world today, a "green" warfare consisting of a whole
series of anti-industry, anti-technology, anti-science and anti-
growth campaigns in the ideological, political and economic fields.

For the Marxists, it's extremely important to combat these
campaigns. They're supported too, or at least covered up, precisely
by a large number of organizations which are pretending to be
"Marxist" - in some cases, even directly maintaining that they're
"adherents of Mao Zedong Thought", i.e., that they're opposing
modern revisionism (phoney "Marxism") - but which in reality are
nothing but muppets of ultra-reaction, arch-enemies of the peoples.
(In some cases, "anti-nuke" "revolutionaries" perhaps *may* be
excused by their ignorance - of much use to the workers they're not.)

One reason why I'm bringing this article is that it hits at those
phoney forces, by showing what was the standpoint of some *genuine*
adherents of Mao Zedong, over 20 years ago. The article does have
certain weaknesses too, above all in that it offers no real
explanation of why those bourgeois forces had now started
engaging in that propaganda against industry, technology, science
and growth. The main reason for this apparently was not in fact
discovered by the Chinese communists. And later in the same year,
revisionists started that overthrow of socialism in China which took
place between November 1976 and approximately the end of 1978.

In Europe, more than 140 years ago, Marx himself had already
seen that element in bourgeois society which is the main factor
behind the "green" warfare of today. He, said in a speech in London
in 1856, i.a.: "Steam, electricity and the self-acting mule were
revolutionists [NB!] of a rather more dangerous character than the
very citizens Barbes, Raspail and Blanqui." (See "UNITE! Info #5en",
of 27.07.96, or the Marx-Engels archive at <http://www.marx.org>.)

And it was in Europe, too, that the real motives behind the anti-
nuclear-energy campaign and the other anti-industrial campaigns in
modern time were publicly disclosed for the first time, by two
articles published as leaflets by the then still revolutionary party
KPD/ML(NEUE EINHEIT) in (West) Germany in the spring of 1977. (I've
reproduced them in German as "Info #7de", on 07.04.96. Translation
so far exists only into Swedish.) My "Info #4en", of 21.03.96, contains
an analysis in English of those bourgeois attacks, largely based on
that of the former KPD/ML(NEUE EINHEIT). I'll return to the subject.

During the time when China was turning revisionist, there still were
some articles in the Peking Review attacking the anti-nuclear-energy
campaign. One, in issue 22/1977, quoted from a speech by Yu Chiu-li
on 04.05.1977 at the National Conference on Learning From Taching in
Industry among other things this:

"Chairman Mao said as early as in 1955: *'We have entered a period, a
new period in our history, in which what we have set ourselves to do,
think about and dig into is socialist industrialization, socialist
transformation and the modernization of our national defence, and we
are beginning to do the same thing with nuclear energy.'*"

Another article, in PR No. 15/1978, "Utilization of Nuclear Energy
and the Struggle Against Hegemony", in itself correctly pointed out:

"With rapid progress in the peaceful utilization of nuclear energy, a
struggle is intensifying between the Soviet Union and the United
States on one side, and the second and third world countries on the
other. The former are seeking to maintain their monopoly in this field
while the latter are fighting to foil the superpowers' attempts."

This did point out *one* of the motives behind a large part of the
anti-nuclear-energy campaign, but (whether consciously or not)
was silent on the *main* motive behind it, the one that caused this
campaign to be so massively engaged in within the USA itself, for
instance. (See the Marx speech mentioned, and/or "Info #4en".)

And furthermore, such articles, on the part of the then Chinese
leadership, also contained a great deal of cover-up and vile
hypocrisy, for at that very time, those same persons were engaging
in massively *supporting* some ultra-reactionary phoney"Marxist"
forces in (West) Germany, who among other things precisely
*combated* nuclear energy, *against* the (then) correct Marxist-
Leninist forces there, who were upholding Mao Zedong's line
completely and thus also *supported* the use of nuclear energy.

On 10.10.1978, the latter /the NE/ published an important leaflet
i.a. smacking that obvious contradiction into the faces of the now
revisionist Chinese leadership. I rendered that one in Swedish too.
Here follows the 1976 PR article, from then still socialist China:


HUMAN COGNIZANCE AND UTILIZATION OF ENERGY SOURCES IS NEVER-ENDING

*- Refutation of "exhaustion of energy sources"*

by Chin Hua


The essence of energy is motion of matter. The world of matter is
never-ending, as are the motion of matter and energy in nature.
Therefore, human cognition and utilization of energy sources also
is never-ending. Chairman Mao has said: *"The history of mankind
is one of continuous development from the realm of necessity to
the realm of freedom. This process is never-ending."* The history
of development of the cognizance and utilization of energy sources
in nature is also a vivid description of a dialectical process of
development.

Of course, transformation of energy sources is carried out under
definite conditions; so is energy in nature transformed into
energy available to humanity. In class society such conditions are
determined by class struggle, the struggle for production and the
levels of scientific experiment. The practices of human beings
are developing continuously.

Therefore, energy sources have been constantly developing.
What was not considered energy sources previously have been
changed into important energy sources. The process of the
struggle in the cognizance and utilization of energy sources is
precisely one in which human beings incessantly study the
conditions of transformation so as to render more and more
energy available for the progress of society.


*Theoretically Wrong Views*

Views of "energy exhaustion" in human history have been varied.
Such views are wrong theoretically, either because they take a
metaphysical approach to the problem of energy and deny the
infinity of the material world and the indestructability of the
motion of matter, or because they take an isolated and absolute
approach to the definite conditions for the transformation of the
motion of the matter. Politically, such views meet the needs of
the declining reactionary classes and are used by them as tools
against progress.

In China, Ssuma Kuang (1019-1086 A.D.), a disciple of Confucius
and Mencius, preached that "material and wealth in nature are
finite" at a time when the landlord class was becoming
increasingly reactionary. In Europe, when the bourgeoisie was
becoming more and more reactionary, the "theory of the death of
heat" by Clausius appeared. He maintained that with the
continuous dissipation of heat, there would finally be a limited
state in which no heat energy could be found which can be
transformed into mechanical power, even though the world's
total amount of heat energy did not decrease at that time.

The universe would then remain in a somewhat inert and rigid
condition. His assumption tallied with the needs of the
reactionary classes so much so the Pope listed it as one of the
"scientific evidences" for proving the existence of God.

Basing himself on the dialectical-materialist principle that motion
is indestructible, Engels thoroughly criticized Clausius' theory,
pointing out that *"the indestructibility of motion cannot be
merely quantitative, it must also be concieved qualitatively."*
(Introduction to *Dialectics of Nature*.) The development of the
natural sciences has continued to confirm Engels' brilliant thesis.

At present, with the deepening of the imperialist system's crisis,
the reactionary view of "energy exhaustion" is once again being
blared to cover up that system's decline. One U.S. paper
exclaimed: "We can see the bottom of the barrel." The Soviet
revisionists talk nonsense such as: "Mankind has before it a
genuine catastrophe - energy hunger". These reactionary views
not only run counter to the materialist-dialectical theory of
knowledge, but also to the historical facts of energy development.


*History of Energy Development*

*Known energy deposits are increasing.* The view of "energy
exhaustion" does not correspond with the objective reality
existing in nature. Deposits of petroleum, natural gas and coal,
which are the primary energy sources today, have not all been
found due to the limitations of social systems, the level of
development of production and other reasons.

For instance, old China was deemed an "oil-poor" country, but
rich petroleum resources have been found in New China. The
history of the discovery of energy deposits like petroleum, coal
and natural gas in different countries of the world has proved
this fully. According to statistics published by the U.S. *World
Oil* and *Oil and Gas Journal*, exploitable oil resources in the
world (excluding China) were estimated at over 6,000 million
tons in 1939 and over 90,000 million tons in 1974. New oil
fields have been found continuously in the continental shelves.

The same is the case with discoveries of natural gas reserves.
Nearly 2,000,000 cubic metres were found in 1939 and
70,000,000 million cubic metres in 1974. All this demonstrates
that increasing amounts of global energy resources like
petroleum, natural gas and coal have been steadily discovered.
Moreover, there is a long way to go before humanity discovers
all the deposits and makes full use of them.

[Continued in part 2/2]








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