The timeliness, necessity and realism of socialism on the way to the communist society

with the millennia that have already elapsed, during which there have been a succession of five social systems.

In human society, as in nature, there are objective laws which operate, not of course in a blind and mechanical way, but through the revolutionary struggle of the working people, with the vanguard, leading role of the working class and its party. Through this process, people acquire the ability to function as truly free persons.

43. The views propagated by some scientists and political forces that there will be another system, somewhere between capitalism and socialism, which will make people happy, are Utopian and advocate capitalism. However, no matter how many people tried to describe this "new" system, they could only describe a variation of the capitalist system, with private ownership of the means of production and man as prey to the laws of a class society. As it has been proved that there is no "third road to socialism", the same will be proved for all those who place hope in "another" system, which will supposedly be neither capitalism nor socialism nor a communist society. Such a system does not nor will it ever exist.

44. Marxist-Leninist theory, as a theory of socialist revolution, continues to be timely and vital. The working class and exploited and oppressed social strata can find answers, ideas and thoughts in this theory which will help them to acquire a clear awareness of the nature of the capitalist society and the immutable law of its replacement by the communist society. Its vitality and strength are such that its opponents cannot ignore it. During the recent period, scientists and thinkers who passionately defended idealism and the bourgeois ideology have been obliged to have recourse to the ideas and proposals of Marx in order to explain certain blatant phenomena in the capitalist society. The trend towards returning to the study of Marx' and Engels' works has not been dictated in all cases by disinterested motives. Bourgeois thinkers, servants of the capitalist system, in view of the fear that the theory of scientific socialism will regain new glamour and influence, have resorted to a familiar art: contrasting Marxism and Leninism, with the clear intention of removing their most dynamic and fundamental content, i.e. the necessity and timeliness of the socialist revolution and its general principles. What they are afraid of, and want by all means to prevent, is for the idea of joining the party of the working class, the communist party, to gain ground because this idea is inextricably linked with the timeliness and prospects of radical social change.

Studying the experience of socialism which was built in the 20th century offers a great deal of data about its development, enrichment and the study of developments around the world. The achievements, but also the mistakes of ail kinds and origin, offer great lessons to be learned, which communists did not have when the building of the new society first started.

They offer stimuli for studying and deepening the creative development of the theory in the evolving reality with its contradictions. They permit lessons to be drawn so that mistakes are avoided, thinking is sharpened and experience is offered for research in the field of science and technology.

The scientific theory of socialism with the development of all its components is a power which provides the popular forces with the ability to master the complex new problems through knowledge. The technological and cultural revolution must constitute an organic and propellent part of socialist construction.

The society of capitalism, even according to the most optimistic, subjective assessments by its warmest supporters, is going through a profound crisis with no way out. The very foundations of capitalism are undermined. The working class with its social allies will prove once more to be the grave-diggers of capitalism, as stressed by Marx, overthrowing it and establishing socialism. A temporary defeat not only does not preclude, but even prepares for victory, as long as its conclusions are correctly utilised.

There is a considerable difference between communists and those who do not know or do not consciously agree with the theory of scientific socialism, with the dialectical movement of history and humanity as a whole.

45. KKE is deeply convinced that the reversal of socialism does not refute, but on the contrary offers many new proofs for the objective necessity of the socialist prospect not only in our country, but on a planet-wide scale. The great contradictions which humanity is now going through reflect the confrontation between the forces of imperialism and the forces which are fighting for socialism, and express the need for a socialist revolution.

The fundamental contradiction between capital and labour, imperialist dependence and oppression, the neo-colonial patterns which have been imposed on international relations objectively constitute today the necessity and realism of the overthrow of capitalism, the revolutionary change in the building of the socialist and communist society.

The rapid rise of science and technology, the enormous development of the productive forces cannot be accommodated in the oppressively narrow exploitative capitalist relations. Internationalisation of the activity of capital, the transition from national state monopoly regulations to transnational ones, shows the lack of correspondence between productive relations and productive forces. In the global historic evolution, the productive forces have gone beyond the bounds of capitalism, and the necessity of socialism has matured objectively.

In imperialism, all its internal and external contradictions are manifested today within the framework of the world economy. Even more manifest is the uneven development of world capitalism, and its reactionary nature becomes even more pronounced.

The reversal of the socialist system has removed the smoke screen of the so-called communist danger, by which capitalism justified armaments, interventions and the waging of local wars, including the threat of a global thermonuclear war. It caused a crisis in the communist movement, a general regression of the labour and peace movement, it opened the road for new local wars and interventions which aimed to redistribute markets, states, and entire regions of the earth.

The regression of the revolutionary movement and the crisis in the communist movement led to the retreat of the subjective factor which would have used and set in motion the process of replacing capitalism in many countries where the situation today is objectively mature.

The main problem is action to create the subjective conditions for the socialist revolution. The daily struggle to solve the immediate and pressing problems that affect our people can and must become an organic part of such a prospect, and especially since capitalism today is running into unimaginable difficulties and some prohibitive barriers for concessions to the popular movement, to the popular strata.

46. The historic experience of the socialist system in Europe obliges us to pay special attention and to study those aspects of socialist construction which affected the process of the restoration of capitalism. We should study them more deeply in the light of events and developments, the contemporary conditions and terms of the confrontation between capitalism and socialism.

One of the most valuable lessons has been that the socialist revolution -like its creative work, the building of the primary phase of the communist society, i.e. the socialist society- cannot be realised "without the independent historic creativity of the majority of the population and above all by the majority of the working people."(24) This is determined by the level of political maturity of the working class and the working people under contemporary conditions, on their understanding and awareness of their interests and on the extent of their emancipation from historic fatalism.

The policy of alliances of the party and the working class is an issue of strategic importance, because it plays a decisive role in shaping the social and political prerequisites for the passage to socialism and for solving the fundamental problem which is winning political power by the working class and its allies, without which it will not be possible for radical social and economic transformations to start being realised.

The responsibilities of the communist party do not cease with the favourable outcome of the struggle for socialism. On the contrary, they increase constantly in the course of building the new society.

One of the party's main problems is constantly to maintain and reinforce its bonds with the working class, and with the people more generally; to rely on the experience and initiatives of the people; to cultivate through its own example a socialist, communist consciousness, and the obligation and responsibility to defend socialism from all forms of mistakes, deviations, distortions, and reversals in face of the difficulties and complexity of the new tasks.

The administration of the new society and its development will continually upgrade the role of the communist party, which certainly should not be perceived as a replacement,for or identical with that of the socialist state. We must learn from the mistakes which have been made and deepen our understanding of the correct relationship between the party and state and economic agencies, and social organisations so that the creative activity of the masses in administering production, and state and social affairs can develop, become stronger and improve during the course of the socialist construction. Replacing state and social organisations in the name of the particular role played by the communist party in the socialist political system leads to tying up the inherent potentialities of socialism, to alienation and apathy, to the danger of serious mistakes which weaken socialism and limit its defence against all forms of subversion.

47. The new role of the communist party, as a ruling party under conditions of socialist construction, derives from the fact that for the first time in history, there is the possibility of objective laws and scientific forecasting being used in a conscious, planned way.

The communist party has the primary responsibility to play the leading part in ensuring that the new power responds to expectations and to its responsibilities; for it to correspond to the scientific term used by the Classics "dictatorship of the proletariat" without which the passage from capitalism to socialism is impossible.

This new power is found in the opposite of the bourgeois political system, which irrespective of its form and methods of government, is the dictatorship of capitalist ownership which today has the form of transnational corporate giants, served by governments and parties who support and manage the capitalist system. This is a social minority which usurps the means of production and becomes rich on the surplus value of human labour.

The new political power, the dictatorship of the proletariat, must vindicate in practice its mission as the power of the working class which, together with its allies, is called upon to carry out the enormous tasks of building socialism by applying broad democracy for the working people, who for the first time will have the power to overcome the resistance of the exploiting classes and the imperialists. It will vindicate the term "proletarian power" creating the conditions for the working class to win the leading role in the society, in alliance with other social strata oppressed by capitalism, such as the peasantry, people with small and medium-sized enterprises, and the radical intelligentsia. The objective basis for the leading role of the working class will be its position in the production process of capitalism and its ability to realise the essence of the workers' power which is its alliance with all working people and other anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist forces.

Any changes in the organisation of the productive process, the rapid development of productive forces through the utilisation of scientific and technological advances does not in essence change the leading role of the working class.

The form of the new power is chiefly determined by its class essence, but it will be influenced by the action of other factors, such as the disposition of the class forces, the level of economic and political development, the balance of forces on the regional and international level, the level of political awareness of the people, and their national traits.

The democratic relations with other parties and socio-political organisations which want socialist construction, the care for the correct functioning of direct and representative democracy, and control over the activity of the party by the working class and the people more generally, are matters of fundamental significance. They constitute the basis for the dialectical relation between the political vanguard and the people.

48. Because of the unequal development of the conditions for the victory of socialism in one country or in a broader region, it is crucially important to exercise vigilance and to defend the new system from multiform overt or covert attacks by imperialism on all fronts (economic, political, ideological, military). In the current conditions, the position of the Classics must be studied more seriously, i.e. that the ultimate victory of the socialist revolution and the socialist system is certain in the dialectical relation with its progress toward global predominance.

The course of building socialism has shown that as long as imperialism maintains power in global affairs, it has the strength, organisation and coordinated means of domination to stand in the way of the socialist construction. International relations and foreign policy are not tightly separated from the domestic situation, from developments within the socialist societies. External factors, if they are not confronted correctly, can evolve further into internal problems and internal factors which strike at the dynamism of the socialist construction.

49. Of particular significance is the study of the problems of the transitional period between capitalism and socialism. The capitalist legacy in all spheres and sectors of life will be particularly painful and heavy. Among the most basic problems will be socialist ownership of the means of production, the socialist economy and forms of social life, if we take into account the difference between socialism and communism.(25)

The experience of the socialist construction and international developments show that it is particularly important to study the problems of state planning and economic levers in administering the economy.

50. The experience of the socialist construction shows that the party, the popular vanguard and the organs of administration and management must not be possessed of a spirit of smugness and complacency. Satisfaction of a need or a cluster of needs generates new needs and demands, and human needs must never be regarded as having reached their final point. There will be contradictions between individual, local, group and general social needs. The irreplaceable supreme value of the general socialist interest does not nullify the objective contradiction between the personal and the social. The trend to individualise needs will exist and will influence the orientations of the popular masses and the extent of their participation in building and defending the socialist system.

This contradiction will be reproduced throughout the entire phase of socialism, which is a transitional and therefore imperfect society. From this point of view, it is particularly important, as the experience of socialism has shown, that production relations and their dialectical relation with the productive forces be changed to benefit the people.

51. It has been confirmed that the socialist construction shows specificities from one country to another. Underestimating and neglecting them can create serious problems in the alliance of the working class with other social strata, in the evolution of the class struggle and of contradictions. The position of each country in the imperialist system plays a role, as does the course of incorporating its economy, the level of development of the productive forces, its economic situation, its surroundings, the level of internationalisation of the class struggle etc. From this point of view, our party must make constant and systematic efforts to acquire deeper knowledge of the situation in Greece in conjunction with the evolution of international relations and the situation in Europe and internationally.

The particularities which concern our country or countries with similar socio-political problems and a similar level of development do not refute the single essence of socialism. Revisionist views about the "multiplicity of socialism" in the name of the existing issue of specificity, have not been confirmed. On the contrary, they have proved to be a pretext for denying and underestimating the general laws and principles of the theory of scientific socialism.

52. The theoretical issues related to the socialist and communist society and in particular the struggle for the victory of socialism cannot be solved substantially and effectively without the corresponding cooperation among communist parties. Undoubtedly every communist party has the primary and irreplaceable role in the cause of socialism in its own country. Nevertheless the international character of the struggle against capitalism, with the prospect of socialism, proletarian internationalism, necessitates coordination, common action among the communist parties and the establishment of a powerful international communist movement. Without a strong, united international communist movement, the united front of the peoples who are suffering under the bonds of capitalism and the new aggressiveness it acquired after the dramatic developments of 1989-91 will not be able to go forward.

Millions of communists all over the world hope, demand and believe in the possibility and necessity of united action by the communist parties, anti-imperialist forces and movements. The imperialist forces and the political parties which express their interests, despite their internal quarrels and the rivalries over the division of the "pie", have a unified strategy against the working class and its movement, against the peoples and the countries they exploit and oppress. The coordination of the liberal and social democratic parties, as well as the collaboration with former communist party cadres has passed into a higher stage, toward the creation of united parties in Europe and corresponding ones internationally.

KKE considers that one of the most basic factors in strengthening the fight for socialism is unity of action by the communist parties and common action with other left, anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist forces. On the basis of the conclusions drawn from the adverse effects of the break in unity of the international communist movement in the fight to defend socialism, it will continue its efforts in this important field.

KKE will cultivate the exceptional virtues of unselfishness, sacrifice and dedication to, the ideals of socialism, for which thousands, millions of fighters in Greece and all over the world have given what they valued most, including their very lives.    

 The CC of KKE