Retreat from Marxism

Retreat from Marxism

1985 3 March 14 Retreat from Marxism (267) Stalin’s image is being systematically improved and resurrected in the Soviet Union today. In a new Soviet feature film about the Bolshevik revolution, Stalin is shown pacing up and down, pressing for decisive military action along with Lenin. This is falsification of history. Actually Trotsky, not Stalin, had collaborated closely with, Lenin in advocating that course.

Why has the Kremlin decided to resurrect Stalin in this manner? At least one important reason is the fact that the Kremlin needs to establish some ideological legitimacy for itself in an era when fewer and fewer and fewer people take “official Marxism” seriously.

The Chinese leaders in the post-Mao era are facing a similar problem. China has dealt a fatal blow to the once unquestioned communist party doctrine, declaring officially that it cannot rely on Marxism to build a modern nation.

An unprecedented front-page editorial in the official communist party organ, People’s Daily, said the works of Karl Marx (1818-1883), founding father of Marxist philosophy, are obsolete

“Marx died 101 years ago. His works were written more than 100 years ago. There have been tremendous changes since his ideas were formed,” said the commentary.

“Some of Marx’s ideas are no longer suited to today’s situation, because Marx never experienced these times, nor did Engels or Lenin.”

“And they never came across the problems we face today, so we cannot use Marxist and Leninist works to solve our present-day problems,” the commentary said.

The editorial, entitled, “Theory Must be Combined with Practice.” said strict adherence to Marxist tenets is “naive and stupid” and detrimental to the nation’s ambitious drive for modernisation.