Why is Marxism the theory of the people?

Author: HE Jinglei (Associate Professor, School of Marxism, Tianjin University)

At the meeting to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out that why the Communist Party of China can and why socialism with Chinese characteristics is good, in the final analysis, is because of Marxism! The reason why Marxism works is inseparable from the people's nature of Marxism itself. It is precisely because the development of Marxism is deeply rooted in the people, for the people, and relies on the people, and is the people's theory, and has won the recognition, support and support of the people, that China has been transformed, the world has changed, human history has been rewritten, and the theoretical character of "doing" has been vividly interpreted.

First, the theoretical position is rooted in the people

Theoretical positions are the basic foothold of theoretical creation, which directly determine a series of fundamental issues such as "whose will it reflects" and "whose interests it represents". As Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out, Marxism for the first time stood on the stand of the people to explore the road of human freedom and liberation, and used scientific theories to finally establish an ideal society without oppression, without exploitation, equality for all, and freedom for all. Different from the ideological theories of capitalist society in various forms that reflect and serve the interests of the bourgeoisie, Marxism has placed its own position and theoretical foothold on the broad masses of working people from the very beginning, and will eliminate the exploitation and oppression of human society, eliminate social injustice and irrationality, realize the comprehensive liberation of mankind, and establish an ideal society without oppression, without exploitation, equality for all, and freedom for all. Therefore, the position is rooted in the people is a distinctive feature of its theory.

First of all, the profound people's feelings of Marx and Engels, the founders of Marxism, laid the emotional cornerstone for the formation of Marxism. From the perspective of human history, before the emergence of Marxism, the dominant ideological theories in society were often theories of the ruling class, serving the rulers who accounted for a small number of the social population, while the broad working masses were often the objects of the ideological theories of the ruling class. Unlike the theoreticians who served a small number of rulers in the past, Marx and Engels not only deeply understood the sufferings of the masses of the people and harbored a heavy sense of the people, but also were good at constructing scientific theories from the perspective of the self-interests of the exploited and oppressed masses of the people, and enshrined "people's liberation" as the purpose and mission of their own theories. Whether it is Marx's initiative at the end of secondary school for young people to choose a profession "for the happiness of mankind", the wish of the doctoral dissertation to bring happiness to mankind and sacrifice himself "Prometheus on earth", or the debate on freedom of the press in the Rhine Parliament, the debate of the Rhine Parliament on the law of wood theft, and the sympathy for the situation of wine-making farmers in the Moselle region, Marx's sympathy for the miserable living conditions of working people shows Marx's sympathy for the miserable living conditions of working people Whether it is Engels's depiction of the miserable life of the workers in the Upei Valley or his in-depth analysis of the conditions of the Working Class in England in the mid-19th century, he expressed his pity for the difficult living conditions of the working people. Changing the old situation of the working people being oppressed and exploited, and realizing the liberation of the working people themselves has not only become their common aspirations and pursuits, but also the emotional cornerstone of their adherence to theory to serve the masses of the people.

Second, from the perspective of theoretical cornerstone, the materialist view of history is an important "cornerstone" for the formation of Marxism. Through its scientific summary of the driving force of human social development, it not only discovers the objective trend of the development of human society from low to high, but also pierces all kinds of heroic historical views and the "fallacy" of exploring the driving force of human social development from abstract principles and rational spirit on the basis of criticism, and firmly bases the driving force of human social development on the basis of concrete reality. It not only puts forward the view that the masses of the people are the main body of practice, the creators of historical and social wealth, and play a decisive role in social change, but also believes that only by adhering to the people's stand, abiding by the people's interests and demands, and being rooted in the people's own liberation cause can the people's enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity in creating history be stimulated, and the development and progress of human society be promoted, thus "standing on the people's stand for the first time to explore the road of human freedom and liberation.".

Third, in terms of theoretical goals, Marxism proposes to take communism as the ultimate goal of the development of human society, but the realization of communism, in addition to the continuous development of the contradictory movement of productive forces and production relations, is also inseparable from "man's own liberation", and even to a certain extent, the degree of man's own liberation is also an important yardstick for measuring the degree of social development. For Marxism emphasizes that the realization of communism means the formation of a "free association of men." And communism can be realized only when "the free development of everyone is the condition for the free development of all.". In Marxist theory, whether it is Marxism's exposure and criticism of the old capitalist society full of exploitation, oppression, inequality and unfreedom, or the vision of the characteristics and picture of the future communist society, as well as the strategic and tactical ideas put forward for the realization of communism, they are all based on the understanding of "the free development of man" and are based on the principle of "concrete people", that is, the self-liberation of the masses of the people. It can be said that the realization of communism is the self-liberation of the masses of the people, which also epitomizes the popular nature of the Marxist theoretical position.

Second, the theoretical mission is for the people

"For whom" is the discursive embodiment of the theoretical mission, and also the direct expression of the theoretical nature and goals. Marxism was born in the middle of the 19th century, and although capitalism has achieved "more and greater than all the productive forces created in all previous generations", the contradictory movement between the generating forces of capitalism and the relations of production has not ended, but has emerged the phenomenon that capitalist relations of production have become more and more shackled to the development of social productive forces. During this period, although the liberal capitalist mode of production was becoming more and more mature, the production of absolute surplus value, characterized by increasing the intensity of labor and prolonging the working time, still occupied the dominant position of the capitalist mode of exploitation, not only did the workers lack welfare guarantees, the labor and living conditions were also very backward, and the exploitation of the workers by the capitalists was very harsh, thus forcing the workers to resist the oppression of capital, and the change of the miserable situation has become a strong desire of the broad masses of workers; at the same time, capitalist production is governed by the law of capital accumulation. The development of capitalism has brought about the intensification of workers' poverty and the increase of capitalist wealth at the same time, and with it comes the fact that the vast number of workers, although they have paid hard labor, they are becoming increasingly poor, the polarization of capitalist society is serious, and the phenomenon of social inequality is aggravated; coupled with the cyclical outbreak of capitalist economic crises brought about by the continuous sharp intensification of the basic contradictions of capitalism and the continuous emergence of the phenomenon of capitalist economic depression and ruin, while promoting a large amount of waste of industrial manufactured goods, it has also led to the closure of a large number of factories. Social phenomena such as bank bankruptcies and workers' unemployment have also exacerbated the difficulties of workers' lives. In this regard, how to get rid of the harsh oppression of capitalism and realize self-emancipation and just freedom has also become the strong desire of the broad working class at the bottom of society and the overwhelming majority of society. In this context, the formation of a theory that can effectively guide the workers' movement and realize the liberation of the workers for the fundamental interests of the broad masses of the working people has also become a strong voice of the oppressed working people. It can be said that Marxism was born on the basis of the ideal goal of its founders, Marx and Engels, to liberate the toiling masses and to seek to build an ideal society free of oppression, without exploitation, equality for all, and freedom for all. After the emergence of Marxism, it also placed its own theoretical foothold on the cornerstone of the fundamental interests of the proletariat and the working masses, and took the realization of communism and the liberation of all mankind as the major mission and goal of its own theory, as General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his speech at the conference commemorating the 200th anniversary of Marx's birth, Marxism is the theory of the people, and for the first time created the ideological system for the people to achieve their own liberation. To this end, although Marxism has a huge content system and is broad and profound, "in the final analysis, it is a sentence that seeks liberation for mankind." It can be said that "seeking liberation for mankind" is not only the historical mission of Marxism, but also the theoretical and practical value of Marxism.

Theoretically speaking, as a guide to action leading the liberation of mankind, Marxism can only obtain a steady stream of nourishment and motivation for its own development if it manifests its own scientific value and practical effectiveness in resolving practical problems, fully expresses the voice and desire of the people, profoundly reflects the interests and demands of the masses, truly lives for the people, and becomes a "theoretical weapon" for the people to understand and transform the world. In particular, the formation of nationalized Marxist theories such as Leninism and Sinicized Marxism is based on the reality of the Russian and Chinese countries, respectively, and has been gradually formed in order to solve the difficult problems of development, realize national independence, the liberation of the people, the prosperity and strength of the country, and the happiness of the people, and at the same time, they are constantly enriched and perfected according to the actual needs of the people and the development of the country;

In practice, as Marx pointed out, theory can only be turned into material force if it grasps the masses. As a scientific theory, Marxism can only exert its powerful power in transforming the world if it is mastered by the masses. For this reason, in order to realize the liberation of the proletariat and all mankind, Marxism began its history of development in connection with the international workers' movement after its birth. It is precisely because Marxism is relevant to the reality of workers' lives, reflects the interests and demands of workers, strongly criticizes the capitalist system of exploitation, and at the same time accurately exposes the capitalist mode of production and the internal mechanism of its contradictions, scientifically answers the root causes of economic crises, depicts the ultimate trend of human society, and is full of the power of truth. This has also greatly promoted its own spread and development among workers, made its theoretical position gradually stand out among the entire international workers' movement, realized the transformation from weak to strong to dominant, and not only played an important guiding role in safeguarding the overall interests of the international proletariat and raising the level of the workers' movement, but also promoted the leap of socialism from theory to reality and from one country to many countries, so that social development can advance towards the established goal of human liberation.

Third, theoretical development depends on the people

The Marxist materialist view of history points out that the masses of the people are the main body of practice and the creators of history. As a scientific guide for realizing the liberation of the proletariat and all mankind, Marxism is also a scientific world outlook and methodology for people to understand and transform the old capitalist world and build a new communist world. Judging from the history of human thought, the reason why Marxism can be gradually developed by the theoretical theories created by Marx and Engels into the theories of the workers' movement in Europe and even in the world has an important guiding significance for the revolutionary movement of the proletariat and the building of socialism in the whole world, and is obviously inseparable from the broad masses of the people's recognition of the values and lofty beliefs in Marxism. It is precisely because of the recognition and promotion of the broad masses of the people that Marxist theory has gradually become the mainstream trend of thought in the international workers' movement from one of the several trends of thought in the workers' movement in the middle of the 19th century, and then to the historical source of Marxism-Leninism in Russia and then to the theory of Sinicization of Marxism. In today's world, especially after every world economic crisis, the important work "Capital", which concentrates on reflecting the core concepts of Marxism, is a hot seller and a best-seller in capitalist countries, which fully reflects the strong expectations of the broad masses of the people for Marxism to solve practical problems. It is precisely under the impetus of the broad masses and the dissemination of theory that the truth, influence, and appeal of Marxism have been further manifested and become the most influential ideological system in the international workers' movement. In China, as demonstrated by the development and formation of Sinicized Marxism, the process of realizing the sinification of Marxism in combination with the reality of China's revolution, construction, and reform is the process in which Marxism, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, relies on the practical main role of the masses of the people to achieve concretization. Marxism can not only be tested in the practice of guiding the people to achieve self-liberation and win the further recognition of the masses, but also be able to absorb the advanced experience and wisdom of the masses in the practice of the masses, realize self-improvement and development, and make the theory more popular. Whether it is Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thinking of "three represents", the scientific concept of development, and the formation of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, they are all manifestations of the achievements of the broad masses of the people in enriching and developing Marxism based on The practice of China under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Obviously, the masses of the people are precisely the force on which they can enrich and develop Marxist theory.

Source: Guangming Network - Theory Channel