Wei Wei: On the threshold of the new century

　　魏巍：在新世纪的门槛上

　　魏巍 · 2009-10-01 · 来源：

　　Wei Wei: On the threshold of the new century

　　Wei Wei · October 1st, 2009 ; Source: Land of Wu You（or Land of the Sun）

　　现在，我们正踏在新世纪的门槛上。伴着我们这一代走了大半生的20世纪，即将与我们告别。新世纪已赫然来到面前。对于即将逝去的世纪，人们已在纷纷议论。且不说，“告别革命”的先生们早就抱怨历史没有按照他们的意志行进，即使那些在共产主义旗帜下举过手，宣过誓，跟着革命队伍走过来的人，也不乏低头悔罪之徒，甚至有指责20世纪为“共产主义碰壁的世纪”，马克思、列宁、毛泽东为“乌托邦”者。这就不能不引起我们的思考了。作为这个世纪战斗过的人，至少作为这个世纪的见证者，我们必须说出自己的看法。

　　We are now stepping on the threshold of the new century and are about to say goodbye to the 20th century on which the generation of us spent two third of our life. The new century is coming to our face. There is an unusual amount of talk about the passing century. Let alone the gentlemen who "bid farewell to the revolution" have already complained about the history that has not being developed according to their will, even those who have raised their hands under the banner of communism, sworn their oaths and followed the revolutionary ranks have become the peers who betrayed their faith and even accused the 20th century of being ‘the century of communism hitting dead ends’ as well as accused Marx, Lenin and Mao Zedong as "utopians". All of these above can’t not cause us to think carefully. As people who have fought in this century or at least as witnesses of this century, we must speak our minds.

　　一、一个伟大而辉煌的世纪

　　1. A great and glorious century

　　我想说，20世纪是世界无产阶级和广大人民艰苦战斗的世纪，也是人类历史上一个伟大而辉煌的世纪。这一评价，不仅出自我们这一代人的感情，也是实实在在的事实。

　　I would like to say that the 20th century was a century of arduous struggle by the World proletariat and the great majority of the people, and also a great and glorious century in the history of humanity. This evaluation is not only based on the feelings of our generation, but also a definitive fact.

　　(一)伟大的十月革命。列宁领导的俄国十月革命，具有无可否认的历史意义和世界意义。这个革命之所以伟大，在于它为全人类开辟了通向未来的光明道路，并且展示了人类根绝私有制，消灭一切剥削、压迫，实现理想世界的可能。十月革命不是以往革命的重复，它的炮声迎来的是人类的黎明。

　　(1) The Great October Revolution. The October Revolution in Russia, led by Lenin, is of undeniable historical and world significance. The reason why this revolution is so great is based on the fact that it opens the bright way to the future for all humanity and demonstrated the possibility to create the ideal world that eradicates private ownership as well as eliminates all exploitation and oppression. The October Revolution was not a repetition of past revolutions, its heavy gunfire but brought with the dawn of humanity.

　　(二)世界反法西斯战争的伟大胜利。以苏联人民为主力军的世界人民赢得的胜利，扫除了帝国主义中最丑恶的法西斯瘟疫，避免人类重新陷入中世纪的灾难。随着德、意、日法西斯的覆灭，东欧及朝鲜等一系列国家的解放，大大壮大了世界革命的力量。

　　(2) The great victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. The War depending on the Soviet Union people as the main force, is the victory of the people all around the world. It swept away the ugliest fascist plague in imperialism to prevented humanity from falling back into the calamity of the Middle Ages. With the ruin of the German, Italian, and Japanese fascists and with the liberation of a series of countries such as Eastern Europe and North Korea, the power of the world revolution was greatly strengthened.

　　(三)中国革命的伟大胜利。中国革命是人类历史上艰苦卓绝的最伟大、最壮观的革命之一，其经历时间之漫长，动员之广大与革命之深入，尤其中国工农红军史无前例的二万五千里长征，不愧为人类牺牲精神的典范。由于中国革命的胜利一举突破了帝国主义的东方战线，大大改变了社会主义阵营与帝国主义阵营力量的对比，使世界局势发生了巨大变化。

　　(3) The great victory of China’s revolution. The China’s revolution is one of the greatest and most spectacular revolutions in the history of humanity. Characterized by the very lengthy fighting, the very extensive mobilization and the very depth of revolution, especially including the unprecedented 25,000-mile long march of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, the revolution should absolutely be regarded as the model of the human sacrifice spirit. The victory of the Chinese revolution broke through the Eastern Front of imperialism in one fell swoop, thus greatly changing the balance of forces between the socialist state and the imperialist party and bringing about tremendous changes in the world situation.

　　(四)亚、非、拉殖民地半殖民地的革命。这一革命在世界社会主义阵营的支援下，形成了世界革命的相对优势。菲德尔·卡斯特罗领导的古巴革命，是本世纪社会主义运动的后起之秀，直到今日仍是傲然屹立的社会主义阵地。

　　(4) Revolutions in the colonies and semi-colonies of Asia, Africa and Latin America. These revolutions, with the support of the world socialist state, formed the relative superiority of the world revolution. The Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro was the upstart of the socialist movement in this century, and it is still standing proudly on socialist fields today.

　　这就是本世纪人类一幅辉煌壮丽的画图。应该说，马克思列宁主义和毛泽东思想是贯穿这幅画图的灵魂。它的实践是全世界英勇的无产阶级和广大的人民群众。他们付出的牺牲是巨大的，他们的献身精神是可歌可泣的，在他们身上，人类的美好品质得到最充分的体现。尽管他们走过的道路血流成河，但革命的巨流终于将资本主义的半边天冲垮了。世界上三分之一的人口，从资本主义的污泥浊水中冲出来，向着美好的目标迈出了一大步。这是本世纪战斗过的人永远引以为自豪的。

　　This is a glorious and magnificent picture of humanity this century. It should be said that Marxism-Leninism and Maoism are the soul discernible throughout this picture. Its practitioners are those heroic proletariat and the great majority of the people all over the world. The sacrifices they have made are great and their dedication should be spoken in loudly laudatory term.  Many good qualities of humanity are fully exemplified. Although the way they have gone are full of so much blood, the billow of revolution has finally broken through “half the sky” of capitalism, because one-third of the world's population has been brought out of the dirty water of capitalism and has taken a huge step forward toward a beautiful goal. This is what to be forever proud of for those who have fought in this century.

　　二、社会主义的优越性无可置疑

　　2. The superiority of socialism is absolutely undeniable

　　自从崭新的社会主义制度在地球上出现，便与衰亡着的资本主义制度展开了无情的竞争与竞赛。如果说人们的社会实践是检验真理的标准，历史已经宣告社会主义制度具有无可置疑的优越性。

　　Ever since a brand-new socialist regime emerged on the earth, it has competed and contested relentlessly with the dying capitalist system. If people's social practice is the criterion for testing truth, history has declared the unquestioned superiority of the socialist regime.

　　前苏联和中国的例子是最明显的。

　　革命前的俄国，按领土来说在世界各国中占第一位，按人口来说占第三位(仅次于中国和印度)，按工业品总额来说，占世界第五位，占欧洲第四位。它拥有的现代生产工具，等于英国的1/4，德国的1/5，美国的1/10。在国内重工业的部门中，外国资本家主宰着一切。而在十月革命后，从1930年到1937年期间，苏联工业产值每年的增长速度平均约为20%，同一时期，资本主义国家每年的增长速度，平均只有0.5%。苏联工业的增长速度，比各主要资本主义国家工业在其兴旺的时代的增长速度，高过许多倍。例如美国工业产值每年的增长平均如下：19世纪最后30年为5%，1901-1929年期间为4%。美国学者莫里斯·迈斯纳在回顾这段历史时曾说：在那些比较晚出现在工业舞台上的国家中，德国、日本和苏联这s三个国家是成功地实现了工业化的最突出的历史范例。在1880-1914年期间，德国的经济每10年的增长速度为33%(人均17%)；日本在1874—1929年期间每10年的增长速度为43%(人均28%)。苏联在1928—1958年期间每10年的增长速度为54%(人均44%)；而在毛泽东时代的中国，从1952—1972年，每10年的增长率高达64.50%　(人均34%)；中国的经济发展并不像许多西方记者错误地告诉读者的，是以“蜗牛速度向前发展”。又据世界银行统计，1950-1970年，除日本外，一般工业国家增长5倍，中国则增长了15倍。中国40年走完英国100年的路程。

　　The examples of the former Soviet Union and China are the most obvious.

　　Before the October Revolution, Russia placed first globally in terms of territory, the third in terms of population (after China and India), the fifth in the world in terms of total value of industry products which made up the fourth in Europe. Moreover, it had modern production tools equal to that of 1/4 of the United Kingdom, 1/5 of Germany, and 1/10 of the United States. In the domestic heavy industries, foreign capitalists dominated everything. However, after the October Revolution, from 1930 to 1937, the average economic growth of industrial production figures in the Soviet Union was about 20%, while the average annual growth rate in the capitalist countries for that same time period was only 0.5%. The growth rate of Soviet industry was many times higher than that of the industries in the major capitalist countries in their golden age. For example, the average annual growth in industrial output of the United States was as follows: 5 per cent in the last 30 years of the nineteenth century and 4 per cent from 1901 to 1929. Maurice Meisner, the United States researcher, after surveying the history, said: in those countries that appeared relatively late on the industrial stage, Germany, Japan and the Soviet Union were the most outstanding historical examples of successful industrialization. Between 1880 and 1914, Germany's economic growth reached by 33 percent per decade (17% per capita); that of Japan was 43% (28% per capita) between 1874 and 1929. However, the economic growth of the Soviet Union was 54% from 1928 to 1958 (44% per capita); In China of Mao Zedong Era, from 1952 to 1972, the growth rate was up to 64.50% (34% per capita) every 10 years; China's economic development is not, as many Western journalists falsely tell readers, to develop at a ‘snail's pace.’ Furthermore, according to the World Bank, from 1950 to 1970, the industrial countries in general, except for Japan, had grown by 5 times, while China had grown by 15 times. In other words, China had made a 100-year journey of the United Kingdom in 40 years.

　　以上这些本来都是已被历史证实的确凿无疑的事实，然而在毛泽东逝世之后这些年硬是被一些人把水搅浑了。

　　The description above should have been supposed to be the unquestioned facts that have been confirmed by history, but in the years after Mao Zedong's death, some people force to have had the waters muddied.

　　何况经济的发展速度，作为社会主义制度的优越性，不过是其表现之一，它尤其表现在社会的巨大进步和人在精神上的解放。由于新的社会主义制度确立，剥削制度的消灭，人由被迫出卖劳动力的雇佣奴隶，成为自己国家真正的主人。这才是千金难买，人间最可贵的。至于他所享受到的工作权、教育权、休息权以及相应的福利设施，我国人民已有亲身体验，此处就毋庸详述了。

　　Also, the speed of economic development is merely one manifestation of the superiority of the socialist system, and the superiority is especially manifested in the tremendous progress of society and the liberation of the human mind. Due to the establishment of the new socialist system and the eradication of the system of exploitation, people became the real masters of their countries instead of wage slaves who were forced to sell their labor forces. This is the most precious and expensive thing in the world. As for a person’s rights to work, education, rest and the corresponding well-being facilities that he enjoys, our people have already experienced them themselves, so there is no need to elaborate here.

　　我所以称赞社会主义制度比资本主义制度无比优越，是说它从根本上改变了私人占有的生产关系，消灭了剥削，并非说一切都会立刻尽善尽美。一切制度在其发展过程中都是由不完善逐步完善的。共产主义是一个人类崭新的社会制度，是千百万群众的事业，是依据无产阶级和人民大众的意志，按照客观规律，不断地创造着和完善着。在其发展过程中出现一些缺点和错误、挫折和曲折，几乎是不可避免的。这才是从整个历史过程看问题，这才是从历史唯物主义的观点看问题。有人咬住一点缺点错误不放，喋喋不休，动辄以贬损诬蔑革命为能事，仿佛革命导师反不如他高明，这种人其实不过是“斥鷃每闻欺大鸟，昆鸡长笑老鹰非”罢了。

　　I praise the superiority of socialism over capitalism because it fundamentally changes the relations of production in private possession and abolishes exploitation, but not to say that everything will be perfect at once. In the process of development, all systems are gradually improved, from imperfection to perfection. Communism is a brand-new social system of humanity and the career of millions of people, which is constantly created and perfected in accordance with the will of the proletariat and the mass of people and in accordance with objective laws. It is almost inevitable that there will be some shortcomings, mistakes, setbacks and twists and turns in the course of its development. This is the way to look at a problem from the perspective of the entire historical process, and this is the way to look at a problem from the viewpoint of historical materialism. Someone dwells on the slightest mistakes and jumps down other people’s throat, and try his best to frequently disparages and vilify the revolution, as if the revolutionary teacher is not as wise as him, factually, the person like this is only the one to teach a fish to swim.

　　美国学者莫利斯·迈斯纳还在他的《毛泽东的中国和后毛泽东的中国》一书中，特意引了伟大的英国历史学家E.H.卡尔在结束他宏伟的多卷本苏联历史著作时发出的警告：“危险并不在于我们去掩盖革命历史中的巨大污点，去掩盖带给人类痛苦的代价，去掩盖在革命的名义下犯下的罪行。危险在于我们企图完全忘却并在沉默中无视革命所取得的巨大成就。”迈期纳接着说：“卡尔的话不仅适用于苏联，也适用于中国。不幸的是革命本身很难有助于使自己获得公允的评价……正是毛泽东时代的污点，尤其是大跃进和文化大革命，深深地留在当代的政治意识和历史意识之中，人们不能够也不应该忘记这些事件的巨大失误及其造成的巨大的人员损失，但是，未来的历史学家在看到这些污点和罪行的同时，肯定会把人民共和国历史上的毛泽东时代(无论他们对此作何评价)作为世界历史上伟大的时期之一，作为一个取得了社会成就和人类成就的时期。”

　　看，西方的学者尚有如此清醒的看法，我们就更应该客观和公允了。

　　In ‘The Mao’s China and after’ written by Maurice Meisner, as an United States researcher, he specifically quoted the E.H. Carr's warning, as a great British historian, given at the end of his grand multi-volume work on Soviet history: ‘The dangers are not to cover up those great smudges in the revolutionary history, to cover up the cost that cause human great pain, and to cover up the crimes committed in the name of the revolution. The danger lies in our attempt to completely forget and ignore the great accomplishments the revolution achieved in something of a silent attitude. Meisner continued, ‘Carr's warning can be applied not only to the Soviet Union, but also to China. Unfortunately, the revolution itself can hardly help itself get a fair evaluation...... It is precisely the stains of the Mao era, especially the Great Leap Forward and the Great Cultural Revolution, that remain deeply in the contemporary political and historical consciousness, and people cannot and should not forget the great mistakes these events made and the heavy human losses they caused, but future historians, while seeing these stains and crimes, will definitely regard the Mao Zedong era(no matter how they evaluate it) in the history of the People's Republic of China as one of the great periods in the history of the world, and as a period of social and humanity’s achievements.’

　　Look at that. If western scholars can have such a reasonable view, then shouldn’t we have more objective and fairer attitude?

　　三、世纪末的悲剧

　　III. The tragedy of the end of the century

　　发生于80年代末和90年代初的东欧变质和苏联解体是本世纪的最大悲剧。其性质是资本主义在已经建立起社会主义制度的国家内重新复辟，这是毫无疑问的。尤其苏联是世界上第一个社会主义国家，且已经建国70余年，一夜之间土崩瓦解，不能不格外震撼人心。这场大悲剧使一切共产党人和进步人士痛心疾首，使帝国主义阵营和其他反动派兴高采烈，也使许多中间人士更加动摇，本世纪曾经一度风起云涌的革命高潮，顷刻陷入共运的低谷。有一本名叫《围城》的小说，有一句台词是“城里的人都想冲到城外，而城外的人却想冲进城内”。本世纪末也竟出现了这样一幅迷离错综的图画：处于资本主义困境中的劳动者总想冲出“城”外，寻找新的世界；而社会主义国家的一些人却想冲进“城”里，把资本主义视为梦中的天堂。结果“城”里的人还没有冲出来，而“城”外的人已经深深陷入护城河中去了。

　　The regime changes in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union, which took place in the late 80s and early 90s, were the greatest tragedies of this century. There is no doubt that the essence of the tragedies is that capitalism is restored in countries where socialist regime has been established. In particular, the Soviet Union as the world's first socialist country which has been founded for more than 70 years collapsed overnight, which cannot but be extraordinarily shocking. This great tragedy has made all communists and progressives searing, the imperialist group and other reactionaries elated and many centrists even more shakable. In the end, the once magnificent climax of revolution in this century fell suddenly into the slump of communist movement. In a novel called ‘Fortress Besieged’, there is a line that says, "People in the fortress want to rush outside but people outside want to rush inside it." At the end of this century, there also emerged such maze intricacy picture: the labors being in the distress of capitalism were always trying to break out of the ‘fortress’ to find a new world，whereas some people in socialist countries want to rush into the ‘fortress’ with a conception of capitalism as a their ideas of paradise. As a result, the people in the ‘fortress’ have yet failed to rushed out, while the people outside it have fallen deep into the moat.

　　一个建立起社会主义数十年的国家，竟然会遭逢资本主义复辟的命运，这是出人意外的，甚至是一般人想也没有想到的。能够清醒地看到这种危险的，只有极少数人，他们的代表人物就是毛泽东。他远在1956年就预见到了这种危险的萌芽，并起而抗争，这就是为期十年的中苏论战，也就是那场著名的反对现代修正主义的斗争。今天回头看来，这场斗争的意义是何等重大何等深远啊！也许只有列宁当年反对第二国际老修正主义者的斗争才能与之相比。可惜这场斗争未能取得当时苏共队伍内部更广泛的响应，以致苏共的修正主义势力坐大，积重难返，形成了今天的悲剧。这不能不引为共运历史上的沉痛教训。

　　It is surprising and even unconceivable for an average person that a country that has been building socialism for decades unexpectedly suffered the fate of capitalist restoration. However, only very few people can clearly recognize this sort of danger, the representative of whom is Mao Zedong. As early as 1956, he foresaw the bud of the danger and rose up to fight，which was called as the ten-year Sino-Soviet debate that is a famous fight against modern revisionism. Looking back today, we can see how significant and profound the meaning of this fight is! Perhaps, only Lenin's fight against the old revisionists of the Second International can be compared with it. Unfortunately, the Lenin’s fight failed to achieve response so more extensively within the CPSU at that time that the revisionist power of the CPSU grew stronger and become hard to be get rid of, finally which resulting in today's tragedy. This cannot but be regarded as a hard lesson from the history of the communist movement.

　　至于说到前苏联、东欧等国资本主义复辟的原因，曾流行过一种极其浅薄的平庸之见，即认为苏联之所以垮台，是由于经济没有搞上去才造成的。以苏联的国力与经济力而论，苏联是当时世界上唯一能与美国并肩的国家，怎么能说成是经济没有搞上去呢？从人均收人来说，苏联当时的人均收入是一年5000美元，中国的人均收入一年不过300美元，以300美元来嘲笑人均收入5000美元的国家经济没有搞上去，岂不是太可笑也太缺乏常识了吗？

　　As for the reason why capitalism restored in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe countries, a popular but extremely shallow and banal view is that the reason for the collapse of the Soviet Union was because the economy did not improve. In terms of the national power and economy, the Soviet Union was then the only country in the world along with United States. In terms of per capita income, the Soviet Union was $5,000 a year at that time, compared to China's per capita income of only $300 a year. Thus, based on the figure of $300 income, it is how ridiculous and lack of common sense to laugh at that the Soviet Union’s economy with $5,000 a year did not improve.

　　前苏联等国资本主义复辟的教训，是一个重大严肃的课题，是值得我们几代共产党人认真研究、深长思之的。

　　The lesson from capitalist restoration of the former Soviet Union countries is a significant and serious project, which deserves to be seriously studied and pondered by the generations of our communists.

　　近年来已有不少文章进行了探讨，复辟的原因已经越来越清楚了。一般认为，剧变发生的外因和内因都是不可忽视的。外因主要是帝国主义的和平演变战略加强了。自从美帝国主义的武装侵略在东方遭受挫折之后，便开始采取对社会主义国家的和平演变战略。尼克松的《1999：不战而胜》就是最明显的例子。但是仅有外因，没有内因是不能成功的。外因是通过内因起作用的。前苏联和平演变的内因，主要是党内的修正主义集团篡夺了党的最高领导权，并与内部一切反社会主义的势力结合起来，以政策开路，有计划地一步一步地改变社会主义国家的性质。应当说，在苏联这一过程是从斯大林逝世、赫鲁晓夫上台开始的。尽管赫鲁晓夫表面上还打着共产主义的旗号，但实际执行的却是一条修正主义的路线以及一系列修正主义的政策。毛泽东说，量变就包含着部分质变。于是由量变而质变，终于在三十年后由赫鲁晓夫的徒子徒孙戈尔巴乔夫等人来完成了这场剧变，使希特勒的数百万大军没有攻破的共产主义壁垒在一夜之间崩塌了。“卫星上天，红旗落地”成了被不幸言中的现实。现在的苏联人民已陷入深深的苦难之中，生产下降了一半，比当初打了四年的苏德战争，其损失和破坏还要巨大。苏联、东欧等国提供的教训是何等惨痛啊！

　　In recent years, the reasons for the restoration have become clearer in the discussion in many articles. It is generally believed that external and internal causes of the drastic change cannot be ignored both. The external causes are mainly the strengthening of the imperialist strategy of the peaceful evolution (the material trappings). Ever since the armed aggression of American imperialism suffered setbacks in the East, it began to adopt a strategy of peaceful evolution towards the socialist countries. Nixon's book- ‘1999: Victory Without War’ is the clearest example. But it cannot succeed only due to external causes without internal causes, because external causes are at work through internal ones. The internal cause of the peaceful evolution occurred in the former Soviet Union was mainly that the revisionist clique in the party usurped the supreme leadership of the party and combined with all the anti-socialist forces within the party to methodically change the Union’s socialist character step by step. It shall be said that in the USSR, this process began with the death of Stalin and the coming to power of Khrushchev. Although Khrushchev still bore the banner of communism on the surface, he actually carried out a revisionist route and a series of revisionist policies. Mao Zedong said that quantitative change includes partial qualitative change. Thirty years later, the change occurred finally because the change accumulated enough from the quantitative to the qualitative, in other words, Gorbachev, as Khrushchev's protégé, along with his fellows, completed this massive change, who collapsed overnight the barrier of communism that was not breached by Hitler's millions of armies. The famous prophecy that ‘satellites enter into orbit, but the red flag falls to the ground’ has become an unfortunate reality. The Soviet people are now reduced into deep misery, because their national production has fallen by half and they have to face the reality that the loss and damage brought by the political collapse is even greater than that caused by the four-year Soviet-German war. What a painful lesson provided by the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe countries!

　　令人愤慨的是，一些人为了把水搅浑，反而把前苏联的垮台说成是“苏联模式”、“斯大林模式”的失败，这不是故意颠倒黑白、张冠李戴吗？这种手法岂不是太可耻了吗？

　　综观20世纪末的悲剧，足见现代修正主义影响之深，泛滥之广，欺骗性之大，为害之烈，使历史至少倒退了数十年，使亿万革命群众和无产阶级英雄儿女的鲜血付诸东流了！这个教训实在太深刻、太惨痛了！因此，在反对帝国主义的同时，彻底进行反对现代修正主义的斗争不能不是世界共运具有关键性的重大任务。列宁说：“反对帝国主义的斗争，如果不同反对机会主义的斗争密切联系起来，就是空话和谎言。”(《列宁选集》第2卷，第686页)可见反对帝国主义的斗争同反对机会主义的斗争是不可分割的。

　　What is outrageous is that in order to play spoiler, some people instead describe the collapse of the former Soviet Union as the failure of the "Soviet model" and the "Stalin model". Aren’t they lying and misattribution deliberately? Isn't that the way is so shameful?

　　Throughout the tragedy in the late 20th century, it does show that the influence of modern revisionism is so profound, its rampant is so extensive, its deception is so great and its harm is so heavy that socialism history is set back decades and the spilled blood of billions of revolutionary masses and proletarian heroes go in vain! This lesson is too profound and too painful! Therefore, while opposing imperialism, it cannot but be a critical and great task for the world communist movement that the overwhelming and thorough struggle against modern revisionism shall have been. Lenin said: ‘The struggle against imperialism is merely empty words and lies, if not closely connecting with the struggle against opportunism.’ (Lenin's Selected Works, vol. 2, p. 686). It is obvious that the struggle against imperialism is inseparable from the struggle against opportunism.

　　四、现代修正主义的若干特征

　　4. Some characteristics of modern revisionism

　　根据对苏联、东欧等国复辟资本主义的观察，现代修正主义具有如下的特征：

　　According to the observation about the restoration of capitalism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe countries, the characteristics of modern revisionism or revisionists are as follows:

　　(一)打的是社会主义的旗子，走的是资本主义的路子。他们一般都依然打着马克思主义或种种社会主义的旗号，但却以实用主义的手法阉割其革命的灵魂。他们口头上挂着人民群众，实质上却代表着新旧资产阶级的利益，是以复辟资本主义制度为目的的。他们共同的手法是欺骗。因为他们深深懂得，在社会主义国家内以反社会主义的面貌出现，是不得人心的，是无法得逞的。因此，他们往往以改革社会主义社会的弊端为名，干的却是改变社会主义制度之实。他们有时甚至只做不说，或者做成再说。他们是从来不说出自己真实的动机和目的的，仅仅以实用主义的口号和眼前的利益吸引群众，实际上却天天都在改变着社会主义的生产关系，破坏着社会主义的经济基础，一步一步地把人民引向资本主义的深渊。当人民觉察时大势已去，为时已晚。戈尔巴乔夫其人直到前苏联社会主义大厦倾覆时才最后说出：他“一生的主要事业已经完成了”。原来他的本意就是要改变苏联的社会主义制度。他在回忆录中坦率承认，他是从大学时代开始对共产主义怀疑的，并认为：“只有从这个制度的顶端，才能有效地改革这个制度。”他一生的事业确实完成了。

　　(1) Wrapping the flag of socialism but taking the way of capitalism. They generally still wrap themselves in the flag of various Marxism or socialism, but they emasculate their revolutionary soul with utilitarianism. They pay lip service to concern about the interest of the people, but they essentially speak for the interests of the old and new bourgeoisie in order to restore the capitalist system. Deception is their common modus operandi, because they absolutely know that it is desperately unpopular and doomed failing that anti-socialist appears flagrantly in a socialist country. Therefore, in the name of reforming the shortcomings of socialist society, what they do is actually to overthrow the socialist regime. Sometimes they do it but saying nothing, or they say it when it's done. They never say their true motives and purposes and attract the people only in ways of utilitarianism slogans and short-term profits, but in fact they are changing daily the socialist relations of production, destroying the economic foundation of socialism and leading the people step by step into the abyss of capitalism. When the people realized the abyss, it was too late because the writing is now on the wall. Until the collapse of the edifice of socialism in the former Soviet Union, Gorbachev himself didn’t finally say that his ‘main business of life has been accomplished.’ It turned out that his true intention was to change the socialist regime of the Soviet Union. In his memoirs, he frankly admitted that he had been skeptical of communism since his college days and believed that ‘only from the top of the regime can we effectively reform the regime.’ His life's business was indeed accomplished.

　　(二)在国际问题上，对帝国主义妥协退让，实行无原则的和平共处，是现代修正语言者的共同特征。因此他们必然放弃无产阶级国际主义的旗帜和反帝的旗帜。赫晓鲁夫的“和平共处”与戈尔巴乔夫鼓吹的“全人类的利益超过一切阶级、集团的利益”就是他们的口号。列宁说，帝国主义是无产阶级革命的前夜，现在是帝国主义与无产阶级革命的时代，其实并没有过时，但却被他们丢到九霄云外去了。

　　(2) In international issues, compromise to and unprincipledly peaceful coexistence with imperialism are common features of modern revisionists. Therefore, they are bound to abandon the flags of proletarian internationalism and anti-imperialism. Khrushchev's ‘peaceful coexistence’ and Gorbachev's advocacy that ‘the interests of all humanity is above that of all social classes and groups" are their slogans. The word by Lenin is that imperialism is the night before the proletarian revolution, so both imperialism and the proletarian revolution exist now in this era, which isn’t outdated but forgot completely by them.

　　(三)在社会主义国家内部，现代修正主义的显著特征是推行全民国家全民党的主张，或借口所有制改造的初步完成，不再提或漠视无产阶级与资产阶级之间的阶级斗争，包括在意识形态领域中相当激烈的阶级斗争。他们这样做，实质上不过是放任资产阶级思想对无产阶级的进攻。苏联、东欧等国几乎没有一国不是造成极端的思想混乱而垮台的。前美国驻苏大使马特洛克在其《苏联政变亲历记》中曾说：“只要苏联领导人真的愿意抛弃这个观念(指阶级斗争的学说)，那么他们是否继续声称他们的指导思想为马克思主义也就无关紧要了。这已是一个在别样的社会里实行的别样的‘马克思主义’，这个别样的社会则是我们大家都可以接受的。”这句话确实说到了要害处。放弃阶级斗争，是社会主义国家垮台的致命因素。

　　(3) Inside the socialist countries, the distinctive feature of modern revisionism is that it puts forward the proposal of the universal nation and party, or with the excuse to preliminarily accomplish ownership reforms, does not mention or deliberately ignore the class struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie including the severe class struggle in the ideological field. In doing so, revisionists are in essence exactly allowing the bourgeois ideology to attack the proletariat. Nearly no one country in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe countries didn’t collapse due to this extreme ideological confusion. Matlock, a former United States ambassador to the Soviet Union, said in his book ‘Autopsy on an Empire: The American Ambassador's Account of the Collapse of the Soviet Union’ that ‘as long as the Soviet leaders are really willing to abandon this idea [referring to the doctrine of class struggle], it does not matter whether they continue to declare that their fundamental guiding ideology is Marxism. It is already a different kind of 'Marxism' practiced in a different kind of society, and it is the different kind of society acceptable to all of us’. These words really get a point. Giving up the class struggle is the fatal element resulting in the collapse of the communist countries.

　　(四)在建党思想上，他们同样是以全民党和阶级斗争熄灭论为指导的。对外既讳言与资产阶级的阶级斗争，对内也不强调改造党员的非无产阶级思想，更缺乏进行系统的马克思列宁主义教育，作为无产阶级先锋队的党员，就这样逐渐消融在一般的群众之中。再加上党的民主集中制遭到破坏和缺乏诚恳的批评与自我批评，使党既缺乏严整的纪律，更缺乏生动活泼的民主生活，党也就逐渐丧失了先进性、战斗性与无产阶级的本质。甚至日渐腐化堕落，脱离了人民，党也就变成了各阶级和平杂居的俱乐部和争名逐利的团体了。

　　(4) In terms of theoretical idea of founding party, they agitate the theory of entire people party and the extinction theory of class struggle too. Externally, they avoid mentioning the class struggle against the bourgeoisie, whereas internally they do not place an emphasis on changing the Party members’ non-proletarian ideology, and they are even lack of systematic education in Marxism-Leninism, in this way of which the Party members as the vanguard of the proletariat are gradually dissolving into ordinary people. In addition, the Party's democratic centralism has been undermined and its lack of sincere criticism and self-criticism has made the Party lack of both strict discipline and lively democratic life. As result, the Party has gradually lost its advancement, militancy and proletarian nature. Even worse, with corruption slowly increasing day after day and with splitting and breaking themselves from the people, the Party finally becomes an all classes’ club of all fraternal packed together and a group vying for fame and fortune.

　　(五)在建设路线上，他们共有的特征是对市场经济万能论和私有制驱动力的迷信。为了扫除改变社会主义制度的强大阻力，他们声嘶力竭地把计划经济贬斥为“斯大林的模式”，把它说得一无是处，而实际上却难以解释苏联为何在短短的时期内发展为如此强大的国家。其目的无非是以资产阶级的新自由主义来代替马克思主义的政治经济学，以资本主义私有制来代替已经实现的公有制而已。

　　(5) In terms of the construction route, their shared characteristic is the superstition concerning the panacea of market economy and the drivie of private ownership. In order to remove the deep resistance to change the socialist regime, they screamed at the top of their voices to reduce the planned economy to ‘Stalin's model’ and described it as useless, while in fact they fail to explain why the Soviet Union had developed into such a powerful state just in a short time. Their purpose is nothing more than the replacement of Marxist political economy with bourgeois neoliberalism, and the replacement of realized common ownership with capitalist private ownership.

　　(六)在依靠谁的问题上，他们天天都说依靠人民，依靠工人阶级，实际上却天天都在改变其主人翁的地位，收回其已经到手的福利，并且使其沦为资本的雇佣奴隶。而其真正依靠的却是党内外的资产阶级，把无产阶级专政演变为资产阶级专政。

　　(6) In terms of whom they can rely upon, they say every day that they depend on people and working class, but in fact they daily want to abolish people’s master status and claw-back the people’s already received entitlements in order to make the working class reduce to capitalist wage slaves. In other words, whom they really relied on is the bourgeoisie both inside and outside the party in order to turn the dictatorship of the proletariat into that of the bourgeoisie.

　　(七)现代修正主义的社会基础与阶级基础，是社会主义国家中新生的资产阶级分子和党内的特权阶层。由于在社会主义阶段忽视阶级斗争和对资产阶级法权不加限制，党内便会出现特权阶层。这个阶层是倾向资本主义的，因为资本主义会带给他们更大的利益。他们与国外帝国主义的影响相呼应，企图改变社会主义制度，几乎是不可避免的。一个马列主义的党，必须坚决展开对修正主义的斗争。

　　(7) The social and class basis of modern revisionism is nascent bourgeois in the socialist countries and the privileged members within the party. Because the class struggle is ignored and the distribution system of the bourgeoisie isn’t restricted at the stage of socialism, the privileged will emerge inside the party. This class is inclined to capitalism because capitalism will bring them greater benefits. It is almost inevitable that they respond to the influence fostered by foreign imperialism in order to attempt to change the socialist regime. A Marxist-Leninist party must struggle against the revisionism uncompromisingly.

　　五、“补课论”必须深入批判

　　Fifth, the ‘Extra-Lesson Theory (i.e. primary stage of socialism)’ must be deeply criticized

　　一个时期以来，一种流行甚广的修正主义理论就是“补课论”。也就是说，社会主义国家应当进行资本主义补课。其论据是，现在的社会主义国家，例如俄、中等国都是原来经济、文化落后，资本主义尚未充分发展的国家。这些国家的社会主义革命都是不应当发生而发生的，都是不满月的“早产儿”和“畸形儿”(这话从他们的老祖宗考茨基一直讲到现在)。因此，重新补上这一课作为一个必要的阶段是不可少的。这就是被人称之为的“早产论”和“补课论”。

　　For a period of time, a popular revisionist theory was the ‘the Extra-Lesson Theory’. In other words, socialist countries should have an extra lesson in capitalism. Their theoretical ground is that the previous and existed socialist countries such as Russia, China and others, are those countries that were economically and culturally poor with the feature that their capitalism has not yet fully developed. The socialist revolutions in these countries should not have taken place but did, so they were all ‘premature babies’ and ‘deformed babies’ (the word has been said ever since their ancestor Kautsky started). Therefore, they think that it is indispensable to catch up this lesson as a necessary stage. This is what is known as the ‘premature birth theory ’and the ‘extra-lesson theory’.

　　的确，像前苏联和中国等许多社会主义国家的情况都是这样。但是我们何不进一步想一想，难道历史上发生的这一切都是偶然的吗？马克思什么时候说过社会主义革命只可能发生在资本主义最发达、最成熟的国家呢？资本主义链条在它最薄弱、矛盾集中点的地方，或各种革命条件已完全具备的地方断裂，为什么就不可以呢？这难道不是最可怜的教条主义和机械论吗？幸亏列宁和毛泽东都不是这样的人。在这一点上，他们才是真正的革命者，富有创造性的伟大的马克思主义者。列宁早就从理论上粉碎了这种论调。他在《论我国革命》中说：“‘俄国生产力还没有发展到可以实现社会主义的水平。’第二国际的一切英雄们，当然也包括苏汉诺夫在内，把这句话视若至宝。”但是列宁接着问道，既然如此，“我们为什么不能首先用革命手段取得达到这个一定水平的前提，然后在工农政权和苏维埃制度的基础上赶上别国人民呢？”(《列宁选集》第4卷，第777页)毛泽东与列宁的见解相同。他不仅从理论上并且在实践上适时地进行了从新民主主义革命到社会主义革命的转变。中俄两国都以其辉煌的速度，建成了完整的工业体系。这不都是万众瞩目的事实吗？

　　Indeed, this is the case in many socialist countries such as the former Soviet Union and China. But why don't we think about it a little further, is it possible that everything that happened in history is accidental? When did Marx say that a socialist revolution could only take place in the most developed and mature capitalist countries? Why can't the capitalist chain break where it is at its weakest, where the clashes are concentrated, or where the conditions for revolution are fully met? Isn't this the most pathetic doctrinaire and mechanism? Fortunately, neither Lenin nor Mao Zedong were such people. In this respect, they are the real revolutionaries and the great Marxists who are creative. Lenin had theoretically shattered this kind of argument long ago. In ‘The theory of Revolution’, he said ‘there is a statement that the productivity in Russia have not yet developed so enough that socialism can be realized. All the heroes of the Second International, of course including Sukhanov, took this statement as holy writ’. But Lenin then asked ‘Why can't we achieve the preconditions for reaching the certain productivity first by revolutionary means, and then catch up with the people of other countries on the basis of the workers' and peasants' regime and the sovietism?’ (Title: Lenin Selected Works, vol. 4, p. 777). Mao Zedong and Lenin shared the same views. He carried out, on both theoretical and practice grounds, the timely transition from the new-democratic revolution to the socialist revolution. Both China and Russia have built complete industrial systems at their brilliant speed. Isn't it all highly visible fact?

　　马克思曾经预言，资本主义必将被社会主义所代替。但是他并未说过社会主义革命必然在资本主义最成熟、最发达的国家首先发生，更没有说过，在经济比较落后、资本主义不甚发达的国家不能发生和不应发生。现在的情况是社会主义革命恰恰发生在东方资本主义发展仅有一定程度的国家里。是否能武断地说，这是违反了社会主义革命的规律呢？看来不能这样说。根据本世纪已经出现的情况，也许资本主义的链条首先从薄弱的环节裂断，反而合乎正常的规律。有出息的马克思主义者，真正的无产阶级革命家，完全没有必要依据资本主义是否高度发展而束缚自己的手脚。因为革命的爆发，其因素是多方面的，生产力的发展水平不过是其中的一个因素，但决不是惟一的因素。从俄国革命和中国革命的发生看，当时都是矛盾的集中点，主客观条件都已完全具备，包含着深刻的历史必然性。我们高兴也罢，不高兴也罢，它都是要发生的。那种把生产力发展水平视作惟一标志的人，不承认其他因素的人，只能证明不过是庸俗的生产力论者和机械论者罢了。

　　Marx once predicted that capitalism would surely be replaced by socialism. However, he did not say that the socialist revolution would surely take place first in the most mature and developed capitalist countries, and even never mentioned that socialist revolution could not and should not happen in poor and under-developed capitalist countries. The fact now is that the socialist revolution took place precisely in the countries where the development of Eastern capitalism reached not to an adequate degree. Can it be arbitrarily said that this breaks the laws of the socialist revolution? It seems that not. In the light of what has already arisen in this century, it seems more reasonable that the capitalist chain snaps first from the weak link. Capable Marxists and real proletarian revolutionaries don’t have to tie their hands according to the standard of whether the development of capitalism must reach a high level, because the factors for the outbreak of revolution are various, and the level of development of productive forces is only one of them, but by no means not the only one. From the occurrence of the revolution standpoint, both Russia and China were the place where social conflicts have intensively at that time, and their subjective and objective revolutionary conditions were fully satisfied, so the outbreak of the socialist revolution has profound historical inevitability. No matter how happy or not, it's going to happen. Those who regard the level of development of the productive forces as the only sign and refuse to recognize other factors can only be proven to be just vulgar productivity theorists and mechanists.

　　列宁曾经明确指出，要使社会主义革命在一个国家内取得胜利，只要具有像革命前的俄国那样的中等资本主义发展水平就可以；同时工人阶级依靠自己的政权，可以同全体劳动人民一起，在过渡时期中克服本国经济和文化的落后状态。毛泽东接着指出，“列宁指出的那句话很对。一直到现在，社会主义革命成功的国家，资本主义发展水平比较高的，只有东德和捷克；其他的国家，资本主义发展水平都比较低。西方资本主义发展水平很高的国家，革命都没有革起来。列宁曾经说过，革命首先从帝国主义世界的薄弱环节突破。十月革命时的俄国是这样的薄弱环节，十月革命后的中国也是这样的薄弱环节。”(《毛泽东读社会主义政治经济学批注和谈话》，第88页)

　　Lenin once said precisely that the victory of the socialist revolution could be achieved in a country, as long as the country same as pre-revolutionary Russia can reach the medium level of capitalist development; Meanwhile, the proletariat relying on its own regime, together with all the working people, can overcome the economic and cultural backwardness of the country in the transitional period. Mao Zedong then noted, ‘The words that Lenin said were right. Until now, only East Germany and the Czech Republic have a relatively high level of capitalist development in the countries where the socialist revolution has been successful. In other countries, the level of capitalist development is relatively low. However, in the West countries where the level of capitalist development is very high, their revolutions have not generated. Lenin once said that revolution first breaks from the weak links of the imperialist world. Russia before the October Revolution was such the weak link, and China after the October Revolution was also such the weak link. ‘(Mao Zedong’s Commentaries and Talks as Reading ‘A Socio-Political and Economic theory Textbook’, p. 88)

　　从列宁和毛泽东的思想，我们可以深刻领会到生产力与生产关系之间的辩证关系。一方面我们要承认生产力的决定作用。同时也要承认生产关系以及作用。毛泽东认为：“一切革命的历史都证明，并不是先有充分发展的新生产力，然后才改造落后的生产关系，而是要首先造成舆论，进行革命，夺取政权，才有可能消灭旧的生产关系。消灭了旧的生产关系，确立了新的生产关系，这样就为新的生产力发展开辟了道路。”(《毛泽东读社会主义政治经济学批注和谈话》，第170页)一句话，毛泽东认为，不是先有充分发展的新生产力，然后再改造落后的生产关系，而是先造成新的生产关系，才能使新的生产力充分发展。

　　From the ideas of Lenin and Mao Zedong, we can profoundly understand the dialectical relationship between forces of production and relations of production. On the one hand, we need to recognize the decisive roles of productive forces, on the other hand, we need also to recognize the relations of production and their roles. Mao Zedong believed: ‘All revolutionary history has proved that new forces of production cannot be fully developed before reforming backward relations of production. In contrary, the fist task is to create a public opinion getting to revolution to seize political power, through which it is possible to eliminate the old relations of production. If the old relations of production have been eliminated and new ones have been established, the way will be blazed for the development of new productive forces. (Mao Zedong’s Commentaries and Talks as Reading ‘A Socio-Political and Economic theory Textbook’, p. 170) In other words, Mao Zedong believed that there is no need to have new productive forces fully developed first before backward relations of production are reformed, in contrary, the fact is to construct new relations of production primarily and then new productive forces can be fully developed secondarily.

　　从资本主义生产力与生产关系的发展史看，就是如此。

　　This is the case with a look back to the history of the development of the capitalist productive forces and relations of production.

　　以英国为例。英国的资产阶级革命是从17世纪开始的。革命前自然具备了必要的社会经济前提。事实上英国的农奴制度在14世纪末已经解体，资本主义经济在封建社会内部逐渐成长，工场手工业也相当繁荣，商业势力已扩展到海外。但在资产阶级革命前，资本主义经济还不占主导地位。1660年10月，英国的资产阶级和新贵族在国会的选举中取得胜利，与专制王权的斗争进一步激化了，此后经过数十年曲折复杂的复辟和反复辟的斗争，于1689年方才取得了革命的胜利。但是这一革命仅仅为英国资本主义的进一步发展扫清了道路，一百年后，英国发生的工业革命，才使英国成为大机器工业的发源地。众所周知的瓦特的蒸汽机就是这时(1784年)发明的。这正说明，毛泽东的论断，即先改变旧的生产关系，才能出现新的生产力的大发展是正确的。

　　Take the United Kingdom as an example. The bourgeois revolution in United Kingdom began in the 17th century. The necessary socio-economic prerequisites were naturally in place before the revolution. In fact, its serfdom had been dissolved by the end of the 14th century in the United Kingdom where the capitalist economy had gradually grown within feudal society, its manufacture was quite prosperous, and its commercial power had expanded overseas. But before the bourgeois revolution, the British capitalist economy was not yet dominant. In October 1660, British bourgeoisie and a new aristocracy won the Parliamentary election, so their struggle against the autocratic monarchy intensified, and finally the victory of the revolution was achieved in 1689 after their tortuous and complicated restoration and anti-restoration struggles for decades long. But the revolution only cleared the way for the further development of British capitalism, a hundred years later, it was Britain’s Industrial Revolution as the key factor to made the country become the birthplace of capitalist large-scale mechanized industry. That was when (1784) the well-known Watt's steam engine was invented. This just goes to prove the Mao Zedong's correct deduction that the old relations of production must be changed firstly before new productive forces can be largely developed.

　　以无产阶级领导的社会主义革命为例，也是如此。本文已就俄、中两国的实例作出充分的说明，不需再重复了。如果依照某些政治庸人的见解，以生产力的发展作为革命因素的唯一标准，列宁是绝不应当发动十月革命的，他必须等到落后的俄国生产力达到美国的水平(也许需要几百年)方才举事，那是不会有20世纪的这段历史的。如果中国也按照这些庸人的看法，则应当在大陆上革命取得胜利以后，至少插上一百年以上的资本主义发展阶段，让资产阶级充分发展起来，等到几百年后再发动人民起来以第二次流血的方式来推翻它。请问世界上有这样的蠢人吗？

　　The same example is true of the socialist revolution led by the proletariat. There is no need to explain repeatedly because of the adequate examples of Russia’s and China’s revolutions mentioned above in this article. Supposed that the views by some political philistines are correct, that is, that the development of the productive forces was considered as the sole criteria of factors driving revolution, Lenin should never have started the October Revolution, because upon the sole criteria, he had to wait until the backward Russian productive forces reached the level of the United States (perhaps need to take hundreds of years), if which there would have been no history of the 20th century. If China also follows the views of these philistines, it should add at least over a hundred years into the stage of capitalist development after the victory of the revolution on the mainland so that it can allow the bourgeoisie to be fully developed and then wait until a few hundred years later to initiate again the enslaved people to overthrow the capitalist system by a second bloody struggle. Is there such a stupid person in the world?

　　“补课论”在我国的广泛流传，决不是偶然的。它其实不过是“爱资病”患者拒绝社会主义、复辟资本主义的借口罢了。这种“理论”危害甚烈，流传甚广，是必须深入批判的。

　　It is by no means accidental that the ‘the Extra-Lesson Theory’ has been widely circulated in our country. In fact, it is nothing more than an excuse for the truly sick fanatics of ‘loving capitalism’ to reject socialism and restore capitalism. This kind of ‘theory’ is so seriously harmful and so widely circulated that it must be deeply criticized.

　　六、新世纪的展望

　　6. Prospects for the new century

　　总之，20世纪是一个伟大而辉煌的世纪，一系列社会主义国家的出现和民族解放运动的兴起，毕竟是人类取得的巨大进步。尽管世纪末的悲剧使它遭受到极大的挫折和反复，但只要温习一下历史的进程，就是不难理解的。历史上各种不同性质的革命，如果它是真正的革命，很难是一帆风顺、没有反复的。资产阶级革命就是如此。例如英、法等国的资产阶级革命就都经过复辟与反复辟的反复斗争。何况无产阶级的社会主义革命，其性质是根除私有制的革命，它的深刻性和复杂性远远超过任何革命。怎么能够设想不经反复交战一举成功呢？客观地看，资本主义与社会主义谁胜谁负的斗争，不论在一个国家内或者在世界范围内，都将是一场长期的、持续的、不可调和的斗争。虽然斗争的双方力量的消长会有不同的变化，只要矛盾没有解决，这个斗争就会继续下去。所以世纪末出现的社会主义低落的悲剧，决不是共产主义的终结。它只不过是一个回合的结束和另一个回合的开始。人们将认真研究世界共运的历史经验，吸取教训，面向未来，重整队伍，再振旗鼓，在全世界无产阶级联合起来的口号下，在马克思主义的旗帜下，迎风搏浪，再一次迎接新的胜利！

　　In short, the 20th century was a great and glorious century when the emergence of a series of socialist countries and the rise of national liberation movements, were after all humanity’s great progress. Although the tragedy at the end of the century has made revolutions suffer great setbacks and back-and-forth, it is not difficult to understand such cases on condition that the course of history is reviewed. In terms of revolutions with various features in humanity’s history, if it were a real revolution, it would have been hardly a smooth ride and not lack of back-and-forth. Such is the case with the bourgeois revolution. For example, the bourgeois revolutions in Britain, France, and other countries have gone through back-and-forth struggles between restoration and anti-restoration. Besides, the socialist revolution of the proletariat, which is in nature a revolution to eradicate private ownership, is far more profound and complex than any other revolutions. How can it be conceived that success will be achieved in one go without back-and-forth battles? From an objective point of view, the struggle between capitalism and socialism will be a long-term, continuous, and incompatible struggle, both within a country and in the world. Although the seesaw of strength that the both sides of the struggle have will change according to different circumstances, as long as the contradictions are not resolved, the struggle will continue. Therefore, the tragedy that socialism has been declining at the end of the century was definitely not the end of communism. It is nothing but the end of one round and the beginning of another. People will conscientiously study the historical experience in the world communist movement to learn lessons and to face the future, replenish ranks and revive strength, so that they can forge ahead and once again greet a new victory under the slogan of ‘Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt euch’ (working men of the whole world unite) and under the banner of Marxism!

　　人们看到，世纪末出现共运低潮不久，由亚洲金融危机触发的世界资本主义的经济危机也随之出现了。这真是一个戏剧性的变化。这个变化明确无误地告诉全世界的资产阶级：你们不要高兴得太早了！你们未来的日子不一定是很好过的！这场危机目前正在发展之中。许多有见识的经济学家已经看到，这场危机不同一般，许多地方有类似从1929年至1933年那次世界资本主义经济危机的征兆。事实的发展如果真是这样的话，其深刻性在于它必然引起革命危机的出现，而使各种矛盾更加激化为燎原之火，使世界出现新的革命形势。一切有志于为改变人类命运奋斗的人们，将把共产主义的低谷再次引向新的世界革命的高潮，这不是不可能的。

　　It has been seen that soon after the worst of the communist movement at the end of the century, the economic crisis of world capitalism triggered by the Asian financial crisis also appeared along with it. It's really a dramatic change. This change unmistakably tells the bourgeoisie of the world: don't get too excited too early! Your days to come may not be very easy! The crisis is now developing. Many knowledgeable economists have realized that this crisis is not usual, and its many signs are similar to those of the world capitalism economic crisis from 1929 to 1933. If it is true of the factual progress, the profundity of it will indicate the fact that it will inevitably lead to the emergence of a revolutionary crisis, which will further intensify all kinds of contradictions into a prairie fire and bring about the emergence of a new revolutionary trend in the world. It is not impossible that all those who are aspiring to fight for changing the destiny of humanity will once again lead the rock bottom of communism to the culmination of a new world revolution.

　　21世纪已经来到眼前。如果我们想对新世纪的前景作出比较可靠的判断，我们就得向我们的导师——伟大的列宁请教。他的《帝国主义是资本主义的最高阶段》仍是我们分析现实的经典。近些年来，不少人为资本主义经济上取得的某些发展所迷惑，而认为列宁的论断过时了。他们说，资本主义明明白白还在发展嘛，怎么能说它腐朽、垂死了呢？其实列宁在本书中说得很清楚：“如果以为这一腐朽趋势排除了资本主义的迅速发展，那就错了。不，在帝国主义时代，某些工业部门，某些资产阶级阶层，某些国家，会不同程度地时而表现出这种趋势，时而又表现出那种趋势。整个说来，资本主义的发展比从前要快得多，但是这种发展不仅一般地更不平衡了，而且这种不平衡还特别表现在某些资本最雄厚的国家(英国)的腐朽上面。”(《列宁选集》第2卷，第685页)何况列宁讲的“垂死阶段”是指一个历史阶段，一种趋势，并非像一个人一样危在旦夕，立刻寿终正寝。如果我们认真研究一下帝国主义的现状，就会发现列宁概括的帝国主义的五个特征，一个也没有变，变的只是列宁指出的帝国主义的垄断性、寄生性和腐朽性等方面成倍地严重化了。以资本的集中和垄断来说，现在全世界100家最大的跨国公司竟集中控制了14000亿美元的年销售额。跨国公司占有了全世界贸易的三分之二。事实上它们已成为全球经济的主宰，这是何等惊人！以资本主义的寄生性和腐朽性来说，列宁曾经指出，帝国主义作为其重要经济基础的资本输出，使食利者阶层完完全全脱离了生产，在世界商业最发达的国家，食利者的收入竟比对外贸易大四倍。这是当年的情况。现在更严重了。据经济学家提供的资料，60年代以前，美国的外汇交易还是以商品进出口为主。至1976年即急剧下降到23%，1981年再下降到5%，1992年竟下降到2%以下。其余98%的金额都用做搞金融投机、赌博去了。整个美国经济，自本世纪70年代以来，一方面是各种金融工具及其衍生品的投机、赌博活动空前猖獗，赌博金额的空前增长；另一方面则是物质生产在国内生产总值中所占的比重急剧下降。现在所谓的“市场经济的全球化”，不过是在广大发展中国家为这种投机资本、食利资本提供超额盈利的场所罢了。

　　The 21st century has come to us. If we want to make a more reliable judgment about the prospects of the new century, we must ask our great mentor-Lenin for help. His book ‘Imperialism，the Highest Stage of Capitalism’ is still a classic in our analysis of reality. In recent years, many people have been deluded by certain achievements in the capitalist economy and thus have considered Lenin's judgement to be outdated. They say that capitalism is clearly still developing, so how can it be said that it is rotten and dying? In fact, Lenin makes it very clear in this book: ‘If it is thought that this rotten trend excludes the rapid development of capitalism, that is wrong. In the era of imperialism, as well as in certain branches of industry, in certain bourgeois strata and in certain countries, in different degrees, the trend can display to be this sort at times or display that one at times. In general, capitalism is developing much faster than before, but not only is the capitalist development generally more imbalanced, but also this imbalance is particularly manifested on the decay of some most wealthy capitalized countries like the United Kingdom. (Lenin's Selected Works, vol. 2, p. 685) Moreover, ‘dying stage’ that Lenin says refers to a historical stage, that is, a tendency but not being in grave danger like a person and immediate death. If we look seriously into the current situation of imperialism, we will find that the five characteristics of imperialism outlined by Lenin changed none at all, in contrary, the change is only that the monopoly, parasitism, and decadence aspects of imperialism pointed out by Lenin have become aggravated exponentially. In terms of capital concentration and monopoly, the world's 100 largest multinationals now control $1.4 trillion in annual sales. Multinational corporations account for two-thirds of the world's trade. How shocking is the fact that they have become the masters of the global economy! In terms of the parasitic and decadent nature of capitalism, Lenin once pointed out that the export of capital, as the important economic basis of imperialism, has completely separated the rentier class out from production and working, and in the most commercially developed countries of the world, the income of the rentier is four times more than that of foreign trade. This was the case back then, now it's more serious. According to the information provided by economists, before the 60s, America’s foreign exchange transactions were still dominated by commodity imports and exports. By 1976 it had fallen sharply to 23%, in 1981 to 5%, and in 1992 to less than 2%. The remaining 98% of the amount was used for financial speculation and gambling. The entire the United States’ economy, since the 70s’ of this century, on the one hand, speculation and gambling activities of various financial instruments and their derivatives have been unprecedentedly rampant, and the amount of gambling has increased unprecedentedly; On the other hand, the proportion of physical production in GDP has fallen sharply. The so-called "globalization of the market economy" is nothing more than a place where the vast number of developing countries provide excessive profits for such speculative capital and rentier capital.

　　列宁曾经提出，我们的时代是帝国主义与无产阶级革命的时代。从半个多世纪以来的现实看，这个看法并未过时。自从第二次世界大战结束以来，帝国主义除了直接出兵侵略弱小国家，为了控制更多的殖民地，还不断利用民族宗教纷争挑起内战。无论东方或西方，大大小小的战争一直连绵不断。不久前还发生了以美国为首的北约对南联盟发动的侵略战争。据统计，第一次世界大战死了2000万人，第二次世界大战死了5000万人，而二次大战以来的数十年间这些大小战争的死亡的总人数却已达7000万人。所谓和平与发展只不过是好心人的主观愿望罢了，实际上是并不存在的。这个时代所存在的几个基本矛盾，例如帝国主义统治者与其本国无产阶级和广大人民之间的矛盾，帝国主义与第三世界国家之间矛盾，帝国主义之间的矛盾以及帝国主义与原社会主义国家之间的矛盾，不仅继续存在，而且将继续发展。如果我们承认这一基本事实，那么在21世纪里将仍然是这些基本矛盾错综复杂、相互交织的激烈斗争。

　　Lenin once declared that our era is the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution. Based on the reality of more than half a century, this view is not outdated. Since the end of the Second World War, in addition to directly sending troops to invade weak and small countries, imperialism has also constantly made use of ethnic and religious disputes to trigger civil wars in order to control more colonies. Both in the East and in the West, wars of all scales have been continuous. Not long ago, a war of aggression launched by US-led NATO forces on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia took place. According to statistics, 20 million people died in the First World War and 50 million in the Second World War, but the total number of deaths in these wars in the decades since World War II has reached 70 million. The so-called peace and development are nothing but the subjective wishes of do-gooders, and in fact they do not exist. A few foundational contradictions existed in this era, such as the contradictions between the imperialist rulers and their countries’ proletariat and their great body of the people, between imperialism and third world countries, among imperialistic countries as well as between imperialism and the former communist countries, not only continue to exist, but will continue to develop. If we recognize this basic fact, the 21st century will remain an intricate, interweaving and fierce struggle of these foundational contradictions.

　　应当指出，随着世界资本主义经济危机的进一步加深，上述各种矛盾必然激化。现在，在整个地球上穷和富的两极分化比任何时期都要突出。据统计，世界上358名亿万富翁所拥有的财产，相当于25亿人，即几乎世界上一半居民的所有财产。据联合国秘书长安南关于人类发展状况的报告，世界上1/5的穷人只消费着商品的1.3%，几乎只有30年前2.3%的一半。世界上最富有的三个人拥有的财产，竟超过48个最不发达的国家。另据统计，从70年代至今20多年的时间里，世界范围的贫富差距急剧扩大。即从1970年最富的20%比最穷的20%的平均收入差距高30倍，到1991年这一比率扩大为61倍。也就是说，资本主义500年的最后20多年贫富差距拉大的幅度，可以与前480年相比。现在，就是资本主义最发达的国家，劳动人民的生活水平也在下降。美国经济学家拉若其说过，今天美国的一个劳动人口，平均拥有的物质产品和劳动条件仅仅相当于25年前的一半。尽管今天人们有了更多的货币收入，但实际购买力却下降了一半。何况越来越严重的失业率，对人民群众仍是一个致命的威胁。据估计，随着科技的进一步发展，未来的世界启用有劳动能力居民的20%即足以维持世界经济的繁荣，而80%希望工作的人却没有工作岗位。如果资本主义制度不加以改变，人类将无法生存了。至于不发达的第三世界国家，随着帝国主义资本的全球化，受到的控制和剥削将越来越严重了。其沉重的负债率已使这些国家难以从穷困中翻过身来。目前在非洲的人口中，每10人就有4人挨饿或营养不良。在加纳死亡人数中的一半是5岁以下的幼儿。资本主义世界的经济危机一旦爆发，当代世界的几个基本矛盾都会随之激化，革命危机与战争危机都是不可避免的。

　　It shall be noted that with the further deepening of the economic crisis of world capitalism, the above-mentioned contradictions will inevitably intensify. The polarization of wealth is now more pronounced than ever on the planet. Statistically, the wealth owned by 358 billionaires in the world is equivalent to that of 2.5 billion people, that is, all of the assets owned by half of nearly the world's inhabitants. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said a report on human development that one-fifth of the world's poor consume only 1.3% of goods which is almost half of the 2.3% of what they did 30 years ago. The three richest people in the world own more money than the 48 least developed countries. Besides, according to statistics, during 20 years from the 70s to the present, the gap between the rich and the poor has widened dramatically worldwide. That is to say, the 20% of the richest is 30 times higher than that of the poorest in 1970 regarding the average income gap, but worse is that the gap figure reached to 61 times between the both in 1991. In other words, regarding the gap between the rich and the poor, the margin has widened in the last 20 years of the capitalism’s 500 years when can compete against that in the previous 480 years. Now, even in the most developed capitalist countries, the working people’s standard of living is declining. Rarodi, an American economist, has said that the material goods and labor conditions possessed averagely by an American workingman today amount merely to half that of 25 years ago. Although people today have more money-income, real spend power has fallen by half. Especially, the increasingly serious unemployment rate is still a deadly threat to the working people. It is estimated that with the further development of science and technology, the future world will be able to sustain the prosperity of the world economy using 20% of the working population, while 80% of those who wish to work will not have jobs. If the capitalist system is not changed, humanity will fail to survive. As for those underdeveloped third world countries, with the globalization of imperialist capital, they will be increasingly controlled and exploited. Their hefty debt piles have made it difficult for these countries to lift out of poverty. At present, 4 of the 10 people in Africa suffer from hunger or malnutrition. Half of the death toll in Ghana are kids under the age of five. Once the economic crisis of the capitalist world breaks out, the several foundational contradictions of the contemporary world will intensify, so the crisis of revolution and war are inevitable.

　　帝国主义为了摆脱困境，转嫁危机，必将进一步加强对世界市场的争夺。尤其居于唯一超级大国的美国，其称霸世界的野心已膨胀得难以收敛了。现在它已成为全世界人民最凶恶的敌人，同时也是当代四大矛盾的集中点。不仅第三世界，而且中国和原苏联地区都将是它下步打击和控制的目标。战争的危险显然不是减少而是大大增加了。善良的人们不加警惕是必然会吃大亏的。全世界人民必须团结起来，结成统一战线一齐对付它。

　　In order to escape itself from the predicament and pass on the crisis, imperialism is bound to further strengthen its contest for dominance in the world market. In particular, the United States, the world’s only super power, has expanded its ambition to dominate the world too much to restrain. Now it has become the most ferocious enemy of the people all around the world, and meanwhile it is also the center of the contemporary big four contradictions. Not only the Third World but also China and the former Soviet Union countries will be the targets of its next attack and control. The danger of war is clearly not decreasing, but greatly increasing. Good people who are not vigilant will inevitably suffer great losses. The people of the world must unite and be a united front to fight against it.

　　至于原社会主义现在演变为资本主义的国家，资产阶级暴发户与无产阶级的矛盾也必然会加剧起来。应深切理解，已经尝到社会主义甜头并已成为国家的主人，随着他们主人翁政治地位的丧失和生活的恶化，以及面临的生存的威胁，是不会长期沉默的。那些深受马列主义教育的有觉悟的共产主义者，也必然会重新凝聚自己的力量，再度坚强地团结起来，领导人民群众，向资产阶级的代理人进行坚决的斗争。应当指出，在这场斗争中，毛泽东的反修防修、反对资本主义复辟的革命理论，将是最有力最有效的武器。这些武器将把有觉悟的无产阶级武装起来，进行义无反顾的斗争。尽管这种斗争将会再遭到镇压，但有经验的革命人民，有可能在资本主义复辟的地方再度首先取得革命的胜利。这是可以期望的。新世纪将仍然是一个艰难斗争的世纪，也将是一个重新掀起世界革命高潮的世纪。让我们勇敢地迎接这个有希望的世纪吧！

　　As for the countries where former socialism has now evolved into capitalism, the contradictions between the bourgeois nouveau riche and the proletariat will inevitably intensify. It should be deeply understood that those who have tasted the sweetness of socialism and have become the masters of the country will not remain silent for long time, when they lose their political status as masters and their living conditions deteriorate, as well as they face the threats to survival. Those enlightened communists, who have been deeply educated in Marxism-Leninism, will necessarily re-unite their strength and unite strongly again to lead the masses of the people in a determined struggle against the proxies of the bourgeoisie. It shall be pointed out that in this struggle, Mao Zedong's revolutionary theory including opposing revisionism, preventing revisionism and opposing capitalist restoration will be the most powerful and effective weapon. These weapons will arm the enlightened proletariat to fight relentlessly. Although this struggle will be suppressed again, it is possible for the experienced revolutionary people to win firstly the victory of the revolution in the place where capitalism has been restored. This can be expected. The new century will remain a century of uphill struggles, and it will also be a century of reviving the upsurge of the world revolution. Let us bravely welcome this promising century!

　　1999年7月1日-5日，2000年1月2日校改

　　written in July from1st to 5th, 1999 and corrected by January 2ed, 2000

　　------translated by Yuan YUAN

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