Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1997 00:13:26 -0500 (EST)
From: Siddharth Chatterjee <siddhart-AT-mailbox.syr.edu>
Subject: Re: M-I: Regarding Heartfelt Greetings from Friends and Enemies




On Sun, 5 Jan 1997, hariette spierings wrote:

<snip>
> 
> The facts are that the objective conditions were not the only factors
> determining the rise and fall of the "Soviet Commune", but also - and at
> times decisively - the subjective factors, the adherence or not adherence to
> Marxist policies, the role and class stand of the Party, the qualities of
> the leaders and teachers of the working class, and, most importantly, the
> revolutionary temper of the masses themselves, a factor umbillically linked
> to the primacy of correct ideological guidance at decisive moments in the
> revolutionary process of the proletarian class.
> 

Very insightful comments, Adolfo, and welcome back, albeit for a short
while.

"According to materialist dialectics, changes in nature are due chiefly
to the development of the internal contradictions in nature. Changes in
society are due chiefly to the development of the internal contradictions
in society, that is, the contradiction between the productive forces and
the relations of production, the contradiction between classes and the
contradiction between the old and the new; it is the development of these
contradictions that pushes society forward and gives the impetus for the
supersession of the old society by the new. Does materialist dialectics
exclude external causes? Not at all. It holds that external causes are
the condition of change and internal causes are the basis of change, and
that external causes become operative through internal causes. In a
suitable temperature an egg changes into a chicken, but no temperature
can change a stone into a chicken, because each has a different basis.
There is constant interaction between the peoples of different countries.
In the era of capitalism, and especially in the era of imperialism and
proletarian revolution, the interaction and mutual impact of different
countries in the political, economic and cultural spheres are extremely
great. 

The October Socialist Revolution ushered in a new epoch in world history
as well as in Russian history. It exerted influence on internal changes
in the other countries in the world and, similarly and in a particularly
profound way, on internal changes in China. These changes, however, were
effected through the inner laws of development of these countries, China
included. In battle, one army is victorious and the other is defeated;
both the victory and the defeat are determined by internal causes. The
one is victorious either because it is strong or because of its
competent generalship, the other is vanquished either because it is
weak or because of its incompetent generalship; it is through internal
causes that external causes become operative. In China in 1927, the
defeat of the proletariat by the big bourgeoise came about through the
opportunism then to be found within the Chinese proletariat itself (inside
the Chinese Communist Party). When we liquidated this opportunism, the
Chinese revolution resumed its advance. Later, the Chinese revolution
again suffered severe setbacks at the hands of the enemy, because
adventurism had risen within our party. When we liquidated this
adventurism, our cause advanced again. Thus it can be seen that to lead
the revolution to victory, a political party must depend on the
correctness of its own political line and the solidity of its own
organization."

                                    From "On Contradiction"
					  Mao Tse-Tung
				(who understood materialist dialectics
				 besides Marx, Engles and Lenin)		




     --- from list marxism-international-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---