Luo Wendong: Adhering to and Developing the Theory of Contradictions in Socialist Society
The law of contradiction in things, that is, the law of the unity of opposites, is the essence and core of dialectical materialism. Correcting identifying and handling the various contradictions and basic contradictions of socialist society is not only a core component of the theory of scientific socialism, but also a vital prerequisite for carrying out socialist construction. The Chinese Communists, with Mao Zedong as their chief representative, integrated the Marxist theoretical perspective on the contradictions of human society with the concrete practice of China’s socialist revolution and construction. In doing so, they founded the doctrine of contradictions in socialist society, enriching and developing Marxism-Leninism. Under new historical conditions, upholding and developing Mao Zedong’s doctrine on the contradictions of socialist society—and correctly identifying and handling the two different types of contradictions and the basic contradictions of socialist society—is a topical issue of the era. It bears upon the overall situation of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, and affects whether the great Chinese Dream of national prosperity, national rejuvenation, and the people’s happiness can be realized.
I. The Significant Meaning and Historical Process of Exploring the Contradictions of Socialist Society
In the history of human thought, two opposing worldviews or cosmologies have always existed: the metaphysical or vulgar evolutionist worldview, and the dialectical materialist worldview. The former views the world from an isolated, static, and one-sided perspective, simplistically seeking the causes of development outside of things. It recognizes only the increase or decrease in quantity and changes in location, failing to explain the qualitative diversity and qualitative changes of things. The latter views the world from a connected, developing, and comprehensive perspective, advocating for the study of development from within a thing and its relationship with other things. It holds that the internal contradictoriness within a thing is the fundamental cause of its development, while the interconnection and interaction between one thing and another are secondary causes. This explains why there are qualitative differences and the transformation between quality and quantity. Marx, Engels, and Lenin discovered the dialectical materialist worldview, teaching people to be adept at analyzing the contradictory movements of things to find methods for resolving them. Understanding this specific law of contradiction is a sharp ideological weapon for guiding the Party and the masses in understanding and transforming the world. To not understand it is equivalent to abandoning dialectical materialism, making one prone to the erroneous tendencies of idealism and metaphysics.
The founders of Marxism not only elucidated that the contradictions between the productive forces and the relations of production, and between the economic base and the superstructure, are the fundamental driving forces of human society; they also conducted in-depth research into the basic contradiction between socialized production and private ownership of the means of production in capitalist society and its laws of motion. This revealed the historical inevitability of socialism replacing capitalism, achieving the development of socialism from utopia to science. Marx and Engels wrote in the Manifesto of the Communist Party: "Modern bourgeois society, with its relations of production, of exchange and of property, a society that has conjured up such gigantic means of production and of exchange, is like the sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has called up by his spells." Periodic "commercial crises"—the "epidemic of over-production"—are precisely the major manifestation of the productive forces of capitalist society revolting against the relations of production. Engels, in Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, further summarized the contradiction between capitalist productive forces and relations of production as the "contradiction between socialized production and capitalistic appropriation." He pointed out that this contradiction manifests as the antagonism between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, and the antagonism between the organization of production in the individual factory and the anarchy of production in society as a whole. He further emphasized that this contradiction "is the basic contradiction which contains as a germ all the conflicts of today"; in economic crises, the contradiction between socialized production and capitalist private appropriation explodes violently. This demonstrates that the bourgeoisie is no longer capable of managing the socialized productive forces, necessitating the factual recognition of the social nature of productive forces and the direct appropriation of the means of production by society.
Contradictions in a socialist society are the driving force for socialist development, determining the essential attributes and direction of socialism. Regarding the contradictions of the new socialist society, Marx and Engels provided certain principled analyses and foresight, but due to historical limitations, they did not provide concrete solutions. They believed that once society took possession of the means of production, commodity production would be eliminated, and with it, the mastery of the product over the producer; the anarchy within social production would be replaced by conscious, planned organization. Man would, for the first time, become the conscious and real master of nature and the master of his own social organization; this is the leap of humanity from the "realm of necessity" to the "realm of freedom." As for what new contradictions would arise in socialist society, or what new changes would occur in its productive forces and relations of production, or its economic base and superstructure, the founders of Marxism did not provide a concrete analysis. However, they emphasized that socialist society is not something immutable, but should be viewed, like any other social system, as a society in constant change and reform. Its decisive difference from the capitalist system lies in the organization of production on the basis of public ownership of all means of production (initially by the state).
Lenin led the Russian Bolshevik Party to victory in the October Revolution [1], establishing the world's first socialist state. Based on the practical experience of establishing and consolidating Soviet power, he analyzed and resolved the economic and social contradictions facing Soviet Russia at the time. In his Remarks and Comments on N. Bukharin’s "Economics of the Transition Period", he wrote: "Antagonism and contradiction are by no means the same thing. Under socialism, antagonism will disappear, but contradiction will remain." He also profoundly expounded on the characteristic of having two economic structures during the transition from capitalism to communism; analyzed the existence and characteristics of class struggle under the dictatorship of the proletariat; and proposed the contradictions within the working class in socialist society and the methods for handling them, among other things. Because Lenin passed away prematurely and did not experience a long period of socialist construction in practice, he did not comprehensively understand or resolve the issue of contradictions in socialist society.
From the late 1930s to the early 1950s, Stalin and Soviet theoretical circles for a time denied that contradictions still existed in socialist society, emphasizing that the political and moral unity among workers, peasants, and intellectuals was the main driving force for the development of socialist society. Stalin believed that under the socialist system, public ownership of the means of production was the foundation of the relations of production; the relations of production were "completely suited" to the state of the productive forces, because the social nature of the production process was consolidated by the public ownership of the means of production. In his view, the national economy of the Soviet Union was an example where the relations of production were completely suited to the nature of the productive forces, and thus there were no economic crises or destruction of productive forces in the Soviet Union. In 1940, Soviet theoretical circles held a discussion on whether contradictions existed between the productive forces and relations of production in socialist society. Except for a few individuals who argued that "the contradiction between productive forces and relations of production was, is, and will remain the basic contradiction driving the development of socialist society," the vast majority believed that "under socialist conditions, contradiction has lost its universality." It was only in 1952, in Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S.S.R., that Stalin admitted the phrase "completely suited" regarding the relations of production and the nature of the productive forces under the socialist system should not be understood in an absolute sense. It should be understood as: "Under the socialist system, there will also be backward, inert forces that do not understand the necessity for change in the relations of production," but these forces are not difficult to overcome and would not reach the point of a conflict between the relations of production and the productive forces, as society has the potential to adapt lagging relations of production to the nature of the productive forces in a timely manner. Stalin first denied, and then only hesitantly admitted, that contradictions still existed between the productive forces and relations of production in a socialist society; he had not yet realized that the contradictions between the productive forces and relations of production, and between the economic base and the superstructure, are the fundamental driving forces for the forward development of socialist society.
II. Mao Zedong’s Innovative Exploration and Theoretical Achievements Regarding the Contradictions of Socialist Society
During the period of the democratic revolution [2], our Party formulated and implemented the New Democratic Revolution program of anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism based on the main contradictions facing China at the time—the contradiction between imperialism and the Chinese nation, and the contradiction between feudalism and the masses. Relying closely on the people, we completed the New Democratic Revolution and achieved national independence and people's liberation. After the founding of the New China, the Party identified the contradiction between large-scale industrial construction and the reality of being a backward agricultural country, and the contradiction between the state-owned economy and the private capitalist economy. We determined the General Line and the general tasks for the transition period [3]: to gradually realize the socialist industrialization of the country and the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts, and capitalist industry and commerce. Relying closely on the people, we completed the socialist revolution and established the basic socialist system. In 1956, the Eighth National Congress of the Party proposed: "The major contradiction in our country is already the contradiction between the people's demand for the establishment of an advanced industrial country and the reality of a backward agricultural country, and the contradiction between the people's need for rapid economic and cultural development and the current situation where economy and culture cannot meet the people's needs." The Congress stated: "The current main task of the Party and the people of the whole country is to concentrate forces to resolve this contradiction." In 1957, Mao Zedong delivered his speech On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People at the Supreme State Conference, creatively putting forward the theoretical view of two different types of social contradictions (contradictions between ourselves and the enemy and contradictions among the people) and the basic contradictions of socialist society. This was a tremendous contribution to upholding and developing Marxism-Leninism and provided a scientific guide for the cause of China's socialist construction.
First, within the development of Marxism, Mao Zedong for the first time proposed the doctrine of the two types of contradictions in socialist society, defining the correct handling of contradictions among the people as the theme of our country's political life. He believed that after the establishment of the socialist system, our country was united as never before, "but this does not mean that there are no longer any contradictions in our society. To imagine that there are no contradictions is a naive idea which does not conform to objective reality. We are confronted by two types of social contradictions—those between ourselves and the enemy and those among the people. These two types of contradictions are totally different in nature." Contradictions between ourselves and the enemy are antagonistic and must be resolved through the methods of dictatorship. Contradictions among the people, among the working people, are non-antagonistic; between the exploited and the exploiting classes, they have a non-antagonistic side in addition to an antagonistic side. Contradictions among the people should be resolved primarily through democratic methods, the method of "unity—criticism—unity," and the method of self-education. After the basically successful conclusion of the large-scale, turbulent mass class struggles of the revolutionary period, Mao Zedong proposed the boundary between the two types of contradictions (enemy versus the people) and the issue of correctly handling contradictions among the people. This was a very important strategic thought and an unprecedentedly great creation, aimed at mobilizing all positive factors—internal and external to the Party, domestic and international—to unite the people of all ethnic groups in the country for socialist construction. This continues to play a broad and profound guiding role in resolving various complex social contradictions in the New Era of reform, opening up, and modernization.
Secondly, Mao Zedong comprehensively elaborated on the general attributes and significant role of the basic contradictions in socialist society. He observed these contradictions from the height of the law of the unity of opposites as the fundamental cosmic law universally present in nature, human society, and thought. Addressing the phenomenon where many people at the time dared not openly admit that contradictions still existed in socialist society—resulting in a hesitant and passive stance when facing social conflicts—Mao required that people, especially cadres, be guided to recognize these contradictions and adopt correct methods for handling them. He explicitly pointed out: "In socialist society, the basic contradictions remain those between the relations of production and the productive forces, and between the superstructure and the economic base." These contradictions are the vital factors "pushing our society forward." Even in socialist society, once old contradictions are resolved, new ones will arise. "Contradictions appear continuously and are resolved continuously; this is the dialectical law of the development of things." A historic contribution of Mao's theory of the basic contradictions of socialist society lay in dispersing the metaphysical fog of denying contradiction, carrying Marxist materialist dialectics through to the end, and extending it to the whole of human society, including socialist society.
Thirdly, Mao analyzed the new characteristics of contradictions in socialist society. In his view, while socialist relations of production had been established and were suited to the development of the productive forces, they were still very imperfect, and this imperfection contradicted the development of the productive forces. Furthermore, there were situations where the superstructure and the economic base were both suited to and in contradiction with one another. For example, the state system and laws of the people's democratic dictatorship and the socialist ideology guided by Marxism-Leninism played a positive role in promoting the victory of China's socialist transformation and the establishment of socialist labor organizations; thus, they were suited to the socialist economic base. However, the existence of bourgeois ideology, the presence of bureaucratic styles [4] in state organs, and defects in certain links of the state system were in contradiction with the socialist economic base. This describes the general state of contradictions in socialist society. Nevertheless, "the contradictions in socialist society are fundamentally different from those in the old society, such as capitalist society." Contradictions in capitalist society manifest as acute antagonisms and conflicts, expressed through fierce class struggle; such contradictions cannot be resolved by the capitalist system itself but only through socialist revolution. Because contradictions in socialist society "are not antagonistic contradictions, they can be continuously resolved through the socialist system itself." This clarified the new characteristics that distinguish the basic contradictions of socialist society from those of other societies.
Fourthly, Mao proposed principles and methods for resolving the contradictions of socialist society. Given that China's socialist system had just been established and was not yet fully consolidated, Mao emphasized the need for timely reform and perfection of the system. As early as November 1956, at the Second Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee, he argued that even if global imperialism were overthrown and classes eliminated, contradictions would still exist between the relations of production and the productive forces, and between the superstructure and the economic base. If the relations of production were misaligned, they must be overturned; if the superstructure (including ideology and public opinion) protected relations of production that the people disliked, the people would seek to "reform" it. In his February 1957 speech, "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People," although he did not provide a comprehensive discourse on how to resolve all contradictions in socialist society, he advocated that resolution "must be carried out according to specific circumstances." He focused his research and exploration on the primary manifestation of these contradictions—the problem of contradictions among the people—in order to unite the people of all ethnic groups across the country. At the National Conference on Propaganda Work in March 1957, he further pointed out that in the past, in old China, speaking of reform was a crime punishable by execution or imprisonment. "But now, our country needs many people who sincerely serve the people and the socialist cause, and who are determined to reform. We Communists should all be such people." China also requires a group of noble-minded non-Party personages [5] who can fight fearlessly alongside us for the reform and construction of our society in the direction of socialism and communism. He also emphasized: "China's reform and construction" rely on the leadership of our Communist Party. If we rectify our style of work [6], we will take greater initiative in our tasks, our abilities will grow, and our work will be better executed. Here, he actually proposed the important tasks of socialist reform and construction from the height of the developmental needs of the socialist cause. In this sense, the doctrine of socialist societal contradictions founded by Mao Zedong laid a scientific theoretical foundation for socialist construction in the 1950s and 60s, as well as for the Reform and Opening-up and modernization drive after the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee.
III. Deepening the Understanding of the Basic Contradictions of Socialist Society
Since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, our Party has inherited and developed the correct line of the Eighth National Congress and Mao Zedong’s doctrine on the basic contradictions of socialist society and the two types of contradictions of different natures. It corrected "leftist" errors such as the "Great Leap Forward" and the "Cultural Revolution," identified the contradiction between the people's ever-growing material and cultural needs and backward social production as the principal contradiction [7] at the present stage, and shifted the focus of the Party and state's work to economic construction. On the premise of adhering to the Four Cardinal Principles, the Party has led planned and step-by-step reforms of the relations of production and superstructure that were unsuited to the development of the productive forces. By relying closely on the people to carry out the great new revolution of Reform and Opening-up, the Party created and developed socialism with Chinese characteristics. At the start of Reform and Opening-up, Comrade Deng Xiaoping emphasized in his speech "Uphold the Four Cardinal Principles" that regarding the basic contradictions of socialist society, it is better to follow the formulation in Mao Zedong's "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People." He noted, "Of course, pointing out these basic contradictions does not fully solve the problem; deep and concrete research is still required." In the new stage of the new century, China has entered a period of "storming the fortifications" [8] in reform, a critical period for development, and a period where contradictions beome prominent. There is an urgent need to further study and explore the basic contradictions of socialist society in light of the new circumstances of Reform and Opening-up and socialist modernization.
First, deepening the understanding of the basic contradictions of socialist society should reflect the essential attributes of the socialist mode of production and reveal its scientific connotation and essential characteristics that differ from the basic contradictions of capitalist society. Theoretically speaking, Mao Zedong's important thesis that the basic contradictions of socialist society "remain those between the relations of production and the productive forces, and between the superstructure and the economic base" elaborated on the universal attributes of these contradictions across all fields, consistent with those of other societies. This can be described as an "extensional" definition. The historical and logical evolution of scientific socialism requires us to further reveal the key areas where these contradictions exist and the specific nature that distinguishes them from other societies, so as to achieve an "intensional" answer. In The German Ideology, the founders of Marxism profoundly pointed out: "the relation of the productive forces to the form of intercourse is the relation of the form of intercourse to the occupation or activity of the individuals"; "this whole evolution of history... constitutes a series of interconnected forms of intercourse, the coherence of which consists in this: in the place of an earlier form of intercourse, which has become a fetter, a new one is put, corresponding to the more developed productive forces and, hence, to the advanced mode of the self-activity [9] of individuals." After the victory of the socialist revolution, public ownership of the means of production was established. The capitalist mode of production, characterized primarily by hired associated labor, was gradually replaced by the socialist mode of production, characterized primarily by autonomous associated labor. The basic capitalist contradiction—between socialized production and private appropriation—was gradually eliminated. It was replaced by the basic socialist contradiction—between the autonomy of production and the social appropriation of the means of production. How to understand and resolve this contradiction is a historic task facing Communist Parties and working people worldwide.
Second, deepening the understanding of the basic contradictions of socialist society should reflect the essential requirements of socialist society and reveal the historical trend of socialist development. Marx and Engels showed that in place of the old bourgeois society with its classes and class antagonisms, there shall be an association of free individuals, where laborers, as free individuals, voluntarily unite to conduct autonomous social production. Correspondingly, the purpose of production is no longer to create surplus value for capitalists but to better satisfy the life needs of all laborers themselves. The relations among people in production are no longer the hired labor relations of capitalists exploiting workers, but relations of associated labor characterized by equal cooperation, solidarity, and mutual assistance. It is precisely because the socialist mode of production overcomes the evils of the old capitalist society—where laborers were separated from the means of production and the bourgeoisie exploited and oppressed the working class—that it can fundamentally realize the freedom, liberation, and equal rights of the working class and all humanity. However, under the condition of social appropriation of the means of production, individual laborers cannot possess the means of production in an isolated and scattered manner, as did the individual workers negated by capitalist private ownership. Instead, they can only possess them collectively as members of society or an association, on the basis of socialized production. The founders of Marxism believed that "the real development of individual's capacity to act autonomously" is the "appropriation of the totality of the instruments of production and, hence, the development of a totality of capacities in the individuals themselves. All earlier revolutionary appropriations were restricted; individuals whose self-activity was restricted by a limited instrument of production and a limited intercourse... their instrument of production became their property, but they themselves remained subordinate to the division of labor and their own instrument of production." Whereas under "appropriation by the proletarians, a mass of instruments of production must be made subject to each individual, and property to all. Modern universal intercourse can be controlled by individuals, therefore, only when controlled by all." Thus, within the socialist mode of production and between the productive forces and relations of production, a contradiction arises between the autonomy of production and the social appropriation of the means of production. This new contradiction manifests not only as a contradiction between the autonomy of individual laborers and production organizations and the orderly nature of overall social production, but also as a contradiction between the ever-growing life needs of all members of society and the relatively insufficient supply of production. Only by correctly understanding and resolving these basic contradictions can we fundamentally eliminate the antagonisms and conflicts between individuals and between individuals and society, providing the "absolutely necessary" prerequisites for the free and comprehensive development of every individual.
Third, deepening our understanding of the basic contradictions of socialist society requires summarizing the historical experience of socialist construction and revealing the fundamental direction and principles of socialist development. As a brand-new social system in human history, socialism has sought survival and development in the process of responding to various difficulties. Since the October Revolution, the socialist system bravely met the challenges of the electrical technical revolution, withstood the ordeal of fascist wars of aggression, and achieved the victory of socialism's transition from a single country to multiple countries. After the war, following the rapid recovery of national economies, the technical level of production and the quality of laborers improved significantly, the demands of the masses for democracy and freedom grew increasingly stronger, and the social division of labor, cooperation, and socio-economic structures became increasingly complex. Consequently, the basic contradiction inherent in socialist society between the autonomy of production and the social ownership of the means of production became increasingly exposed, which inevitably demanded a comprehensive reform of the highly centralized socialist system.
Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of China's reform, opening up, and modernization, pointed out that the old system "hindered the development of the productive forces, led to ideological ossification, and prevented the initiative of the people and the grassroots from being brought into play" [10]. The fundamental purpose of our country's reform is that "the Party, the administrative organs, and the entire state system must enhance their vitality" and "fully mobilize the initiative of the people and the grassroots in all walks of life." The reason rural reform "was effective is because it gave the peasants more autonomy and mobilized their initiative." "We apply this experience to all industries and fields to mobilize the initiative of all sectors." At the same time, Deng Xiaoping emphasized that our reform is conducted under the premise of adhering to the basic socialist system; it is a reform of the specific socialist systems and mechanisms [11] to promote the self-perfection and development of socialism, rather than a mechanical copying of the Western capitalist model or taking the capitalist road. He repeatedly warned us: "One is the predominance of public ownership, and the other is common prosperity; these are the fundamental principles of socialism that we must uphold."
Only by correctly understanding and handling the basic contradiction between the autonomy of production and the social ownership of the means of production can we maintain the correct direction and principles of reform, opening up, and modernization, mobilize the initiative of the broad masses of the people, and give play to the superiority of the socialist system. This will create a harmonious situation characterized by both centralization and democracy, both discipline and freedom, and both a unified will and personal ease of mind and liveliness [12], thereby opening up even broader paths and prospects for the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
(This article is the author's keynote speech at the first "Scientific Socialism and Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" forum of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on November 1, 2013.)