The class struggle and ideology

By Gus Hall

Gus Hall is national chair of the Communist Party USA. Following is Part One of the opening address to the CPUSA's Ideological Conference held simultaneously in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles Oct. 23-24. Part Two will appear next week.

A videotape of the conference opening is available through "Changing America" for $15 and the full text is available from the CPUSA, 235 W. 23 St., NY NY 10011.

W e are meeting at a very special moment. It is our party's 80th anniversary and the 75th birthday of our newspaper, the People's Weekly World. It is the 82nd anniversary of the first socialist revolution, the coming of a new millenium and the dawn of a new era, "Bill-of-Rights Socialism USA."

It has been 10 eventful years since our first ideological conference in July 1989. We have gone through many changes, yet we have staunchly remained the Marxist-Leninist, revolutionary, Communist Party that was born 80 years ago out of the heroic class struggles of our people.

Our party prevailed against all attempts to divide, distort and divert us from our Marxist-Leninist, socialist path. Today we are much bigger, more united, more ideologically steeled than ever before.

The pressure of the struggle to save the Party forced us to think ideologically, creatively, to reaffirm the basics of Marxism-Leninism and socialism in the context of today's world. We prevailed and flourished. It has been a 10-year period of tremendous growth for the Party and the Young Communist League. Today, a growing, healthy Young Communist League is molding the youth of tomorrow who will inherit the revolutionary tasks of the future.

We should see this meeting as a new stage in a continuing process of expanding and deepening our science, of enhancing the Party's ideological arsenal in the struggle against capitalism. This is not a conference on tactics, but we cannot develop correct tactics if they are not firmly rooted in our ideology.

My main purpose is to provide the overall framework, the most important scientific laws and principles in nature and society on which our ideology is based. It is only with a working knowledge of the science of Marxism-Leninism that we can understand the past and present and predict the future.

What is ideology? In a nutshell, it is the way we view the world and everything in it, our world view.

There are two main world views - capitalist and working class. This is based on the law that in a class-divided capitalist society, the interests of the capitalist class and working class will remain irreconcilable, antagonistic, in opposition until the end of capitalism.

There is a clear line of division and opposition between the ideology of the working class, Marxism-Leninism, and the ideology of the capitalist class, bourgeois ideology.

The two class-based ideologies emerge from and are molded by the objective class reality. They do not blend, harmonize or converge. There is no third ideology.

Ideology is one of the three main forms of the class struggle. The other two are politics and economics. In a class society, the class struggle sets the rules of the game. We can choose to be on one or the other side of the battlefield. There is no room for sitting on the fence.

The ideology of the capitalist class lacks humanism. It is based on a total disregard for human welfare.

The very existence of the capitalist class is based on profits at the expense of human welfare.

On the other hand, working-class ideology is rooted in humanism, a genuine concern for human welfare - above all.

Capitalist ideology

What is the content of capitalist ideology? It is the world view of the ruling, capitalist class. Its sole purpose is to advocate, defend and cover up for the capitalist system of exploitation. It is rooted in the idea that there is no class struggle, no exploitation, no racism and national oppression and that capitalism is forever.

Corporate America spends many millions every year to spread its ideology, in the mass media, in movies, in books and magazines, in the schools, in the workplace - everywhere.

The new cable TV show, "Changing America," is a historic breakthrough for the working-class view on life in the USA. It shows that it is possible to reach millions with our ideology. It shows that the American people are more than ready to get the view from the other side of the class struggle.

However, as a class, workers have no control over the institutions that shape people's thinking. Workers are compelled to seek strength in their great numbers, organized into unions. Their only weapon in struggle is unity - multiracial, multinational, male-female, working-class unity. Building the "oneness" of our class is the key to victory.

Racism, police brutality, violence and repression are inherent in capitalist ideology. Ultra-right and fascist ideas are rooted in this enemy ideology. Capitalist ideology supports imperialism, privatization and globalization. Anti-communism is also a dominant feature of capitalist ideology.

The attack on Marxism-Leninism is many-sided and constant. There are the relentless, frontal ruling-class attacks. There are ideological attacks from the middle class, from the phony left and from social democrats who play around with radical ideas but deny socialism is inevitable. They are not revolutionaries, but reformists and opportunists. There are also attacks by some religious groups, especially fanatic right-wing, fundamentalist ones, and by vigilante and militia groups.

Working-class ideology

Working-class ideology is a system of thought that gives us a unique way of looking at everything in life. The role of the working class and the class struggle is the foundation of our ideology.

Ideology serves as a framework, an overall backdrop. In a sense, it becomes conditioned reflex that is often expressed unconsciously.

A mastery of our Marxist working-class ideology gives us a unique way of looking at all phenomena in life. It molds our attitudes about everything. It even becomes part of our personal character. It determines our morality, our ethics and our culture.

Culture is a reflection of ideology. Ideology is reflected in culture.

Culture is a country's literature, music, song and dance, art, humor, poetry, drama, film, mass media, sports, and so on.

In a class society there are two distinct cultures: Working-class culture and the dominant, ruling-class culture. Bourgeois ideology monopolizes most cultural outlets. It works to stifle working-class song, dance, literature, poetry and so on. The culture of the United States is a blending of many cultures.

Ruling-class culture, in all its forms, works to advocate, to perpetuate the bourgeois way of life.

However, working-class culture, its rich history, creativity and diversity is breaking through. Examples include Michael Moore's "TV Nation" and, of course, "Changing America."

Thus, ideology is a rounded-out single harmonious whole, a system of thought that permeates all aspects of life.

Marxism-Leninism is a science for social change. In its essence, it represents the unity of revolutionary theory and revolutionary practice

However, Marxist-Leninist ideology is not the same in each country.

The general law that under capitalism there are the exploited and exploiters locked in class struggle is the same for all capitalist countries. However, the status of the class struggle, the objective conditions, are different for each country.

Ideology has a national character because it reflects the specific racial and national composition. It reflects the unique status of the class struggle in each country.

Our U.S. working class is a single class - multiracial, multinational - but all are exploited as a class, which is what unites the class.

Thus, there must be a national element in the application of ideology. We have to develop our applications based on our own objective situation, our history and experiences.

For example, when we apply our science to the study of the steel industry of any capitalist country the general laws apply. But the history, conditions and problems, are not the same in the U.S. and Japan. We apply the same general laws to both, but the application of those laws are not the same.

Marx and Engels developed their theories and ideological concepts based on the struggles of the German and British working class. Lenin developed his based on the struggles of the Russian workers. We develop ours based on the class struggle of the U.S. working class.

Like everything else in life, ideology is not a static, lifeless system of thought. It develops, grows and changes. It is about laws, principles and theories that are constantly expanding with experience and struggle.

Today we live in a vastly different world than the one in which Marx, Engels and Lenin developed the basic principles, laws and concepts on which our science rests.

While the basic laws and scientific principles do not change, their application must be expanded and enriched to keep up with the ever-changing times.

No universal models

Likewise, socialism is not the same in every country. There are no exact models of socialism in the world.

Every country arrives at socialism out of their own history, experiences, culture and traditions.

Our country was born out of rebellion and revolution. The American people would not accept the U.S. Constitution without a Bill of Rights because they didn't trust those in power. Today, it remains a living document that has changed and grown over a long period of time. The human and civil rights we cherish today are a reflection of the class struggle down through the years.

In a sense, Bill-of-Rights socialism is a continuation of the revolutionary struggles of the American people.

The American people see the Bill of Rights as the foundation of democracy. They fight for their basic rights, to preserve and expand democracy, based on the Bill of Rights.

Socialism is the rejection of capitalism. It is a transformation of power from the ruling class to the working class. It is a transfer of the country's main industries, resources, etc., from private ownership to pubic ownership.

The first stage of socialism here will also be different. The economic and political power of the people will most likely be expressed in an elected anti-monopoly coalition government. It will be based on new laws that will restrain and restrict the capitalist class. In this initial stage, we will still have leftovers of capitalism.

Socialism USA will extend democracy and basic human rights to their fullest, taking as its starting point the democratic traditions and institutions of the American people. When we reach the stage of greatly expanded democracy and an anti-monopoly government, it will be our first step on the path to full socialism. Socialism is a developing, growing system.

Materialist view of world

Before we get into the basic laws of nature and society, we must first understand how Marxists approach the world, based on the materialist conception of history and historical materialism.

Marx revealed the orderly working principles of change. He revealed the inner laws of motion of society and history, that these objective laws operate in social life as they operate in nature.

Marx discovered, based on a study of history, that objective reality, the material world, is independent of man's idea of it and that ideas are a reflection of this material reality. Marx gave us the materialist conception of history, which simply means that the material world was a reality long before the human brain appeared on the scene to reflect that world.

Marx was the first to prove scientifically that history is not the product of the ideas of people, of the whims of individuals. He viewed ideas and thoughts as reflections of the real world, and not the other way around.

Marx said, "The idea is nothing else than the material world reflected by the human mind and translated into forms of thought." This is called the materialist conception of history.

Ideology does not have a material structure. It is not matter. It is the reflection of matter, of the real world, in the human mind. Information about the material world is transmitted to the human brain. The brain transforms this information into human thought.

An idea, by itself, is of a momentary quality. Different ideas come and go. They have no moorings. They are not connected to other ideas. However, when ideas are connected as a result of human thought, they become a system of thought, an ideology into which all thoughts then fit. In a sense, ideology is a product of the human brain, because only the human brain can think. How we see and reflect the real world depends on our class position in society.

Historical materialism

Based on the materialist conception of the world, Marx also gave us a new conception of history, historical materialism, which is simply the understanding that all societies move from one stage to another; that out of one system another, more advanced society develops.

For example, out of slavery feudalism developed; out of feudalism capitalism developed and out of capitalism, socialism will develop.

This inevitable forward advance of society, of civilization, is inevitable.

The motion of society from one socio-economic system to another is a law-governed process.

Marx also revealed that the motion of society takes place through the process of class struggle and that it is through the class struggle between the two opposing classes that society develops and changes. This is a law- governed process. How it changes and how fast depends on the working class, led by its political party - the Communist Party.

However, the inevitable, law-governed movement of society from one form to another does not mean that society will necessarily move in a straight line in a progressive direction. Inevitability does not mean there will be no detours, wrong turns, setbacks or even steps backward.

The fact is it was the penetration of capitalist ideology and U.S. finance capital, the privatization of socialist public property and the derailing of socialist ideology that was, and still is, the root cause of the disastrous setback in the Soviet Union.

In the Soviet Union, the main laws of the socialist system were broken. Socialist ideology, based on Marxist-Leninist education, was neglected and then abandoned.

However, inevitability does mean that eventually, in the long run, all societies move in a forward, progressive direction. That is a law of social development. It means that Russia will inevitably, through class struggle, return to the path of socialism.

Continued next week