Dare to say "no" to capitalism – a visit to Professor Vilmelsh of the Belgian Marxist University

【Reporter Connection】

Guangming Daily reporter in Brussels Liu Jun

Professor Andrig Vermels of the Belgian Marxist University said in an interview with a reporter from guangming ribao a few days ago that the CPC has focused its work on developing the economy and regarded the improvement of the well-being of the broad masses of the people as the primary task of the ruling party.

The able-bodied and bright-eyed Andrég Vermels has been involved in the workers' movement, founded the Marxist University, and has repeatedly served as president of the Belgian "Solidarity Festival". On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Marx's birth in 2018, he opened up the "Road of Marx's Roots in Brussels" in Brussels.

Born in 1957, Vilmels is a native of Ghent, West Flanders, Belgium. After graduating from secondary school, he received training in disability rehabilitation and obtained a university degree. He has since helped young people with mental and physical disabilities who have been abandoned by their families and society, and has found a permanent job in a large Belgian supermarket. The helpful Vilmelsz was elected by the employees as the chief representative of the supermarket union and became a member of the Socialist Union, one of the two major trade union organizations in Belgium, mainly to protect the rights and interests of trade union members, negotiating with employers on the rights and interests of employees such as the closure of enterprises, the unemployment of employees, and the reduction of wages.

In 2010, the Belgian newspaper Solidarity and doctors "Unity people" organized the "Unity Festival", which has been held every autumn for three days since then, and Vermels has been elected president of the "Unity Festival". He introduced that the "Unity Festival" is actually a "great gathering of socialists" mainly in Belgium and radiating from neighboring countries, and the participants are mainly trade unionists, intellectuals, leftist groups, and diplomatic institutions of socialist countries in Belgium. Left parties, politicians, writers and journalists from many countries around the world came to participate. In recent years, Vietnam, Cuba, Laos, Venezuela and other countries have sent diplomats to Belgium every year to participate in festivals to publicize their achievements in various fields of culture and society, with the largest number of participants reaching more than 20,000 in the year.

Vermelsh stressed that the biggest inspiration he got from organizing the "Unity Festival" was that if he wanted to influence the masses, he had to go deep among the masses and dare to declare his own ideas. The goal of the "Unity Day" is clear: to proclaim the socialist proposition to the whole world. Vermelsh said that at present, Europe is facing a serious economic crisis, Marx's analysis and criticism of capitalist society are divided into three points, and Marxism is becoming familiar to more and more people. According to a Survey in Germany, Marx was at the top of the "List of Famous People in Germany in a Hundred Years".

In 2017, Vermels came to work at the Marx Institute of the Belgian Workers' Party, which had been established for 20 years. He expanded the functions of the Institute, founded the world's only Marxist university, and designed and planned the university training program and teaching content. The university holds classes during the european holidays every summer and teaches the basic theories of Marxism, including women's rights, labor rights, the role of the state, political economy, capitalist exploitation of surplus value, and the Communist Manifesto. The number of participants has grown from the earliest dozens to the current hundreds.

Vermelsh told reporters that the students read Marx's original texts in class, studied the original works, freely debated, and deeply understood the history of the European communist and socialist movement. In addition, the university actively integrates into the reality of the European workers' movement and organizes visits. For example, 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the German workers' movement and the 100th anniversary of the murders of Rosa Luxemburg and Liebknecht. The Marxist University organized a visit to Berlin by more than 40 members of the Belgian Workers' Party. Everyone felt that this "Marxist trip" was of great significance and deep feelings, and hoped to organize such "root-seeking trips" frequently. In addition, the increasing number of people enrolling in Marxist universities in recent years can also make people feel that the study of Marxism is quietly returning in Europe.

Speaking of "Marx's path to his roots in Brussels", Vermelsh excitedly said that 2018 is the 200th anniversary of Marx's birth and an important year to commemorate Marx, which can rekindle the enthusiasm of the people for Marx. Marx lived in Brussels from 1845 to 1848, and these three years were the key three years for the formation of the theoretical foundations of Marxist philosophy, political economy and scientific socialism. Marx examined and participated in the workers' movement in Brussels, wrote the German Ideology, together with Engels drafted the Communist Manifesto, and wrote The Poverty of Philosophy, the essence of which later evolved into Capital. Vermelsh believes that the three years in Brussels were very important for Marx, providing realistic material for Marx's in-depth analysis of the capitalist system. He and several comrades carefully studied the materials about Marx in Brussels, and searched many times in Brussels, stringing together the eight or nine addresses where Marx lived and worked in Brussels into a single line. On May 6, 2018, the "Marx's Way" was officially determined. The first "Marx's Tour" attracted more than 100 people to sign up, which became a highlight of Brussels' tourism industry that year.

Although Vermelsh has never been to China, he is very concerned about china's development and changes. He has read the history of the Communist Party of China and Chairman Mao's writings, and is full of respect for the chinese communist party from its founding, through the turbulent years, to the development of the ruling party with more than 95 million members. He told reporters that he often checked articles about China on the website of the China Friendship Association and participated in meetings on China organized by European countries. He believes that China's development and changes are a miracle, and under the leadership of the Communist Party, China has achieved development achievements that have attracted worldwide attention in only a few decades. China has achieved the great goal of all-round poverty alleviation, and the people's lives have been thoroughly improved. If the world has made achievements in poverty reduction and poverty alleviation, China has made an indispensable contribution.

As a European researcher of Marxism, Vermelsh was well aware of the ills of Western society. He said that different ideologies determine different social development directions, and only by maintaining a high degree of ideological consistency can the country's bad luck be avoided. Marx analyzed it very thoroughly in Capital that the only goal of capitalism is to obtain maximum benefits at all costs. The ideology of capitalism is blind individualism, which has become an obstacle and obstacle to social development. He believes that the people should be allowed to study Marxism in depth, understand its spiritual essence, and identify with Marxism ideologically. History and practice have proved that China's road is correct, and we must dare to criticize capitalism with boldness and courage and dare to say "no" to capitalism.

(Guangming Daily Brussels, August 12)

Guangming Daily (2021-08-13 12th edition)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily