Wei Qiang and He Qiuyue: Lenin’s Fourfold Critique of Bourgeois Ideological and Political Education in "The Tasks of the Youth Leagues"
In today’s world, the competition and contestation between the two ideologies of socialism and capitalism are becoming increasingly fierce. In both socialist and capitalist countries, ideological and political education, as a universal activity of ideological inculcation, plays an extremely important role in this ideological struggle. Centering on Lenin’s The Tasks of the Youth Leagues—a classic document of Marxist ideological and political education—a deep investigation of Lenin’s fourfold critique of bourgeois ideological and political education helps us clarify the essence of bourgeois ideological and political education from both historical and realistic perspectives. This, in turn, assists socialist ideology in gaining a significant advantage in the increasingly intense competition.
I. Critiquing the "Class Spirit" Permeating Bourgeois Ideological and Political Education
Class society is a historical phenomenon of human society. As human society moved from primitive communal ownership into a state of private ownership, classes and the struggle between them began to emerge. The emergence of class society means that the whole of society contains groups with fundamentally different interests; classes are social groups occupying different positions within a given socio-economic structure. Simultaneously, the "class spirit" emerged alongside class society, existing in specific forms.
(1) The existence of "class spirit" as a spiritual product of class society As early as 1919, in A Great Beginning, Lenin profoundly pointed out—from the perspective of the relationship between different groups and the means of production within a specific system of social production—that because different social groups have different relations to the means of production, these groups, existing in the form of classes, occupy "different places in a historically determined system of social production," such that "one of them can appropriate the labor of another." [1] Because these groups have different relations to the means of production and occupy different positions in the socio-economic structure, after humanity entered class society, the slave-owning class of slave society carried out inhuman exploitation and oppression of the slave class by virtue of their ownership of the means of production; the landlord class of feudal society carried out cruel exploitation and extortion of the peasant class by virtue of their ownership of land and other means of production; and the bourgeoisie of capitalist society carries out the exploitation and siphoning of the proletariat by virtue of their ownership of machinery and other means of production. Only with the birth of socialist society did human society begin to enter a social formation that eliminates the system of exploitation. Ultimately, class society is "the division of mankind into classes, into exploiters and exploited." The emergence of capitalism caused rapid upheavals across the whole of human society, and the mental outlook of the people changed greatly as a result. Nevertheless, capitalist society continues to divide the whole of society into an exploiting class and an exploited class; it has not, and fundamentally cannot, change the system of exploitation, and it continuously exerts an ideological influence permeated by the "class spirit" upon the whole of society.
(2) The inculcation of "class spirit" as a bourgeois spiritual system Bourgeois ideological and political education maintains and represents the collective will and unified interests of the bourgeoisie. It manifests the bourgeoisie’s attempt to achieve dominance over the whole of society at the ideological level, in order to continuously mitigate and conceal the class contradictions between the exploiting and exploited classes. As Lenin said: "In a society torn by class antagonisms there can never be a non-class or an above-class ideology." [2] As a concentrated reflection of bourgeois ideology, the "class spirit" reflects the spiritual will of the bourgeoisie. Bourgeois ideological and political education permeated by the "class spirit" is, in essence, the concretization of capitalist ideology in the field of ideological and political education.
First, the critique shows that bourgeois ideological and political education permeated by the "class spirit" serves the ruling interests of the bourgeoisie. The so-called "class spirit" is essentially an ideology that maintains the ruling interests of the bourgeoisie as an exploiting class. Thus, Lenin sharply noted in The Tasks of the Youth Leagues: "Naturally, the old school, being thoroughly imbued with the class spirit... was not so much for educating the young generation of workers and peasants as for training them in the interests of the bourgeoisie." [3] Educating according to the "interests of the bourgeoisie" and providing "training in the interests of the bourgeoisie" for the younger generation of workers and peasants reflects Lenin’s profound critique of the essence of bourgeois ideological and political education: its core is the maintenance of the interests of the exploiting class.
Second, the critique shows that this education defends the bourgeois ruling order. The establishment of a bourgeois ruling order does not mean that order is eternal; "the fall of the bourgeoisie and the victory of the proletariat" are a historical necessity. Having established a political, economic, and social ruling order, the bourgeoisie must also use the "class spirit"—which maintains the interests of the exploiting class—to influence the spiritual world of the whole of society, thereby arguing for the eternity of bourgeois rule and the legitimacy of the capitalist system.
Third, the critique shows that this education is a tool for training useful servants for the bourgeoisie. In The Tasks of the Youth Leagues, Lenin criticized this skillfully and directly: "The whole object of training and educating these young people was to produce for the bourgeoisie useful servants who were able to create profits for it without disturbing its peace and leisure." [4] Being able to "create profits for the bourgeoisie" without "disturbing its peace and leisure" reflects how the bourgeoisie, through ideological and political education permeated by the "class spirit," leads the whole of society—including the broad masses of youth—to identify with and maintain the bourgeois ruling order and submit to bourgeois rule. Therefore, "training useful servants for the bourgeoisie" means that this education causes social members, especially the youth, to form a consciousness of "spiritual submission."
II. Critiquing the "Hypocrisy" of Bourgeois Ideological and Political Education
In The Tasks of the Youth Leagues, Lenin profoundly pointed out: "Those books, in which everything was described in the best possible light, were in most cases composed of the most disgusting lies, which painted a false picture of capitalist society for us." The bourgeoisie often utilizes every available resource—including schools, books, newspapers, and other media—to vociferously promote the superiority of the capitalist system and whitewash the class contradictions of capitalist society. The "hypocrisy" of bourgeois ideological and political education is mainly manifested in the split between the promoted beautiful illusions and the painful reality, and the coexistence of real exploitation and extortion with hypocritical deception and foolery.
(1) The split between promoted beautiful illusions and the actual painful reality As early as The German Ideology, Marx and Engels provided a profound discourse on the "ideas" used by the ruling class in class society to conduct ideological and political education. Marx and Engels pointed out: "During the time that the aristocracy was dominant, the concepts of honour, loyalty, etc. were dominant, during the dominance of the bourgeoisie the concepts freedom, equality, etc. ... The ruling class itself circulates these illusions about itself." [5] The beautiful illusions of "freedom and equality" promoted during the period of bourgeois rule stand in stark contrast to the painful reality of capitalist society; this is the core of Lenin’s critique of the "hypocrisy" of bourgeois ideological and political education. The bourgeoisie spares no effort in inculcating the masses with capitalist ideological and political concepts, promoting the idea that capitalist society will usher in universal "freedom, equality, and democracy." Such fabricated "illusions" cannot be truly realized in a capitalist society based on private ownership of the means of production. The reason concepts like "freedom, equality, and democracy" are called "illusions" is that as long as a society has not abolished private ownership of the means of production, there will inevitably exist exploitation of the exploited class by the exploiting class.
Under the system of wage labor based on private ownership and an exploitative essence, the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat remains essentially one of exploiter and exploited. First, regarding the "freedom" lauded by capitalist society, Lenin pointed out: "Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in the ancient Greek republics: freedom for the slave-owners. Owing to the conditions of capitalist exploitation, the modern wage slaves are so beset by poverty and want that they 'cannot be bothered with democracy,' 'cannot be bothered with politics.'" [6] This is the split between the beautiful illusion of "freedom" and the painful reality of the exploited class’s universal lack of freedom. Second, regarding the "equality" promoted by capitalist society, Lenin noted: "There can be no real, practical equality until all possibility of exploitation of one class by another has been totally destroyed." [7] As long as the system of exploitation is not eliminated, there will be exploiters and exploited existing in the form of classes; therefore, true equality between them is impossible, and this inequality based on the exploitative system will also exhibit patterns of intergenerational persistence. This is the split between the illusion of "equality" and the painful reality that "the exploiter cannot be equal to the exploited." [8] Third, regarding "democracy," although Lenin acknowledged that bourgeois democracy was a historical step forward compared to medieval systems, it remains a democracy "for the insignificant minority, democracy for the rich," and thus "cannot but be a restricted, enjoyed only by some, hypocritical and mendacious democracy." [9] Lenin highlighted the hypocritical core of capitalist "democracy," arguing that the system "is always, in effect, a democracy for the minority, only for the possessing classes, only for the rich." [10] It is evident that the "freedom, equality, and democracy" promoted during bourgeois rule have never been, and can never be, universally realized; they are merely beautiful lies fabricated by the exploiting class to maintain their ruling order. In short, Lenin’s sharp critique reveals the sharp contrast between the illusions and the painful reality, profoundly illustrating the "hypocrisy" of bourgeois education.
(2) The coexistence of real exploitation and extortion with hypocritical deception and foolery Private ownership of the means of production is the root cause of the exploitation and extortion of the majority (the exploited) by the minority (the exploiters). As long as a society retains private ownership, the ruling class’s exploitation of the non-possessing ruled class will inevitably exist; this is also the root of the poverty of the broad masses. Private ownership is "the source of the poverty of the masses, the source of the predatory wars between nations, which only enrich the capitalists." Correspondingly, as long as private ownership exists, it inevitably leads to the paradox of the accumulation of wealth and the accumulation of misery. In To the Rural Poor, Lenin noted: "Society becomes more and more wealthy, but while millions of people create all this wealth with their own labor, they remain in poverty and misery." [11] Meanwhile, "everything produced falls into the hands of the rich, and constitutes their profit, their 'income'." Even with continuous social progress and technological innovation, as long as the system of exploitation persists, the exploitation of the majority by the minority will not and cannot be radically changed. For this reason, while landowners and capitalists amass billions from machinery and technical improvements, the broad masses of workers receive only "miserable crumbs."
Real exploitation and extortion thus form a vivid contrast with hypocritical deception and foolery. In capitalist society, the dominant bourgeoisie uses a system of concepts reflecting the ideology of the exploiting class...
"Soothing the conscience" essentially means using the system of conceptual ideas within bourgeois ideology to deceive and fool the broad masses of the working people. "To the bourgeoisie, the world it rules is naturally the best of all worlds. Bourgeois socialism fashions this soothing idea into a half-developed or complete system." The process by which capitalist society instills these "soothing ideas fashioned into a half-developed or complete system" into the working people is, in essence, a process of spiritual domestication. This is achieved by the dominant exploiting class through their control over the instruments of public opinion and the use of educational tools. Lenin pointed out: "Capitalism makes the newspaper a capitalist enterprise... an instrument for deceiving and fooling the laboring masses." Bourgeois ideological and political education not only deceives the working people but also fools them into serving the exploiting class, "training scientific talent into people who write and speak to cater to the tastes of the capitalists." It "strives to train clever and obedient lackeys for the bourgeoisie through schools, and even strives to utilize universal education across the country to train such servants for the bourgeoisie, teaching them to execute the will of capital and obey its bidding." The dominant bourgeoisie, by virtue of its dual dominance over the material means of production and the mental means of production, both exploits and oppresses the working people in their position as the exploited class, while simultaneously sparing no effort to carry out ideological indoctrination using the exploiting class's conceptual system. This is precisely Lenin’s profound critique of the "hypocrisy" of bourgeois ideological and political education.
III. Critique of the Extreme Egoism of Bourgeois Ideological and Political Education
In The Tasks of the Youth Leagues, Lenin pointed out: "If I farm my own land, the affairs of others are no concern of mine; if others are hungry, all the better, I can sell my grain for a higher price... If I flatter and fawn upon those in power, I can not only keep my little job but may even rise to the status of a bourgeois." The education provided by the exploiters in capitalist society continuously promotes and reinforces values of extreme egoism, leading individuals "cultivated" by capitalist society to regard extreme egoism as a spiritual guiding principle and to use these values as the standard for "proper" behavior.
(1) Extreme egoism originates from the deep-rooted education of the exploiters. The extreme egoism of bourgeois ideological and political education proceeds from the interests of the exploiting class. Its purpose is to maintain the fundamental interests of the exploiting class and is "for the few, or for the benefit of the few." This is essentially different from proletarian ideological and political education, which is "for the vast majority, for the benefit of the vast majority." In critiquing how "the living bourgeoisie is willing to commit any barbaric, brutal, and criminal act," Lenin noted that "the European bourgeoisie supports reactionary forces in Asia for the selfish purposes of financial brokers and capitalist swindlers." The extreme egoism of bourgeois ideological and political education is reflected both in the dominant exploiting class's pursuit of its own private interests and in its shaping of the spiritual world of those living in capitalist society. People living in capitalist society, having received "meticulous cultivation" in the extreme egoist ideas of the exploiters since birth, naturally have these extreme egoist values embedded in their spiritual world.
In essence, the education of the exploiters in capitalist society consists of ideological indoctrination activities carried out by the dominant exploiting class by virtue of the material and spiritual forces it commands. This exploiter's education, based on the logic of capital, saturates all aspects of life in capitalist society. In The Tasks of the Youth Leagues, Lenin described a society based on the private ownership of the means of production in this way: as long as one is raised in this society, "one might say from his mother’s milk he absorbs this psychology, habit, and viewpoint—either he is a slave-owner or a slave, or a small proprietor, a small clerk, a small official, an intellectual, in short, a person who cares only for himself and has no regard for others." Precisely because they have lived within the ideological and political education of the exploiters for a long time—even "from their mother's milk"—the ideological and political concepts of pursuing private gain while disregarding the collective have been widely and deeply disseminated. Consequently, the values of extreme egoism promoted by capitalist society "meticulously cultivate" those living within it, gradually settling into the psychology, habits, and viewpoints that are taken for granted and difficult to change.
(2) Launching a profound critique of the education of capitalist exploiters. Lenin profoundly exposed the extreme egoism of bourgeois ideological and political education, while simultaneously launching a sharp critique of this exploiter's education. Lenin summarized these extreme egoist values as "every man for himself and God for us all." He stated, "Only under the capitalist system do people think: 'I trade, I get rich, every man for himself and God for us all.' This is capitalist ideology; this is the cause of war, and the reason why workers and peasants are reduced to abject poverty while a handful of people become billionaires." Lenin believed: "Communists cannot have this psychology and sentiment." This is because capitalist morality proceeds from the interests of "a handful of people" as the exploiting class, whereas communist morality is "derived from the interests of the proletarian class struggle." Fundamentally, as an education of the exploiters intended to consolidate the private ownership of the means of production, bourgeois ideological and political education promotes extreme egoist values to the public to maintain the interests of the dominant exploiters, follow the logic of capital, and realize the will of capital.
As an education opposed to the exploiters, the purpose of communist education is "to train true communists, so that they have the ability to defeat lies and prejudices... and build a country without capitalists, without exploiters, and without landlords." This requires helping and educating the laboring masses to overcome the maladies left behind by bourgeois ideological and political education; "it is necessary to make it impossible for certain individuals to get rich by means that harm others for their own gain." The opposition between the extreme individualism promoted by the bourgeoisie and the collectivism advocated by the proletariat is, fundamentally, an opposition between the natures of the ownership of the means of production—that is, the opposition between public ownership and private ownership. Therefore, to root out the extreme egoism of bourgeois ideological and political education and "expose all the deceitful talk about morality," one must begin with the abolition of the private ownership of the capitalist means of production. In capitalist society, the bourgeoisie as the ruling class controls not only the material means of production but also the mental means of production; thus, only by abolishing private ownership and transforming it into socialist public ownership can the education of the exploiters be thoroughly destroyed.
IV. Critique of Bourgeois Ideological and Political Education for "Fettering the Minds of Workers and Peasants"
The bourgeoisie "uses the name of God" and so-called "divine arrangements"—even "claiming to 'receive God’s grace' and bestowing 'their own grace'" upon the suffering and impoverished masses of workers and peasants—to spiritually domesticate them for the sake of bourgeois interests and to justify the exploitative life of the ruling class. In The Tasks of the Youth Leagues, Lenin profoundly noted: "We deny all morality that is drawn from extra-human and extra-class concepts... This is to fool the workers and peasants and to fetter their minds in the interests of the landlords and capitalists." The true liberation of the masses of workers and peasants lies not in "happiness in the afterlife," but in uniting under the guidance of scientific socialism to overthrow the rule of capital and strive for a better life in this world.
(1) Justifying the exploitative life by using the name of God. First, from an essential perspective, the exploiting class "speaking in the name of God" is fundamentally about maintaining and realizing its own interests. Lenin noted in The Tasks of the Youth Leagues: "Clergy, landlords, and the bourgeoisie all spoke in the name of God to seek the interests of those exploiters themselves." They use the power of religion to preach concepts of obedience and patience to the people, indoctrinating them into willingly identifying with the class rule of the exploiters, even regarding "toiling in the sweat of one's brow" under an exploitative system as a "test from God." This fundamentally serves the interests of the exploiting class. Second, from the perspective of content, the "conception of God" woven by religion to instruct followers justifies the exploitative life of the ruling class. By vividly depicting the beauty of the kingdom of heaven, it continuously awakens people's longing for religion. Through religious instruction, the "entire exploitative life" of the ruling class can be cheaply justified, while the exploited class is led to constantly yearn for the "beauty of the heavenly kingdom." To achieve its political goals, strengthen its political rule, and maintain its political interests, the bourgeoisie often resorts to the "conception of God" to "instill religion into the people or use new methods to consolidate religion among them." In short, based on its own political and social needs, the exploiting class often manufactures, revives, and consolidates religion to realize its function of providing spiritual justification for the exploiters. Third, from a formal perspective, the "conception of God" is packaged in a beautiful ideological cloak and often possesses an elaborate system, which makes it highly effective at spiritually numbing people. Lenin believed that "religious ideas, the idea of God, and all sycophancy toward God" were "the most abominable 'contagion,'" even emphasizing that "it is much easier for the masses to see through millions of physical contagions, sins, villainies, and atrocities than to see through the subtle, spiritual conception of God dressed up in the most beautiful 'ideological' costumes." Precisely because the "conception of God" is often adorned in such beautiful attire, its essence—serving the exploiting class—can only be recognized once its beautiful "ideological" cloak is stripped away. Thus, as a spiritual contagion, the "conception of God" is more hidden, more harmful, and equally difficult to cure compared to physical contagions.
(2) The exploited class suffers spiritual oppression. As the exploiting class, the bourgeoisie subjects the exploited class not only to economic oppression but also to political and spiritual oppression. Lenin pointed out: "The economic oppression of the workers inevitably causes and produces all kinds of political oppression and social humiliation of the masses, making them crude and ignorant in their spiritual life." Furthermore, as long as the "power of capital" exists, the economic and political oppression suffered by the exploited will not cease. In a spontaneous state, the exploited often fail to recognize the root causes of their exploitation and oppression, making it difficult for them to gather the strength to launch a conscious struggle against the exploiters; hence, their pursuit of a better life can often only be placed in the kingdom of heaven. Lenin noted, "The exploited class, having no power to struggle against the exploiters, inevitably gives rise to a longing for a happy life after death." It can be seen that no matter the degree of exploitation, oppression, injustice, or suffering the exploited endure in real life, religion always teaches them to identify with "existing society" rather than to overthrow it.
At the same time, religion becomes "one of the types of spiritual oppression which everywhere weigh down heavily upon the masses of the people, overburdened by their perpetual work for others, by want and isolation." Lenin viewed religion as "opium for the people" [12] and spiritual "moonshine," meaning that religion numbs and fetters the "minds of workers and peasants," carrying out spiritual domestication. It "teaches them to be submissive and patient while here on earth, and to take comfort in the hope of a heavenly reward." The use of religion by bourgeois ideological and political education to spiritually oppress the exploited class is manifested in: numbing the exploited through religious instruction so that the exploited and oppressed people "know their place" in real life, are willing to become "slaves of capital," submit to and endure the "bitterness and humiliation of this world," and remain immersed in the longing for "a happy life after death."
The reason religion can justify the exploitative life and spiritually oppress the exploited class involves both cognitive and social roots, but the most profound social roots remain hidden within capitalist society. In capitalist society, the...
"Facing the unpredictable forces of capitalism, which every hour of every day bring a thousand times more disasters and cruel tortures to the common laboring people than any extraordinary event like war or earthquake—it is the feeling of absolute helplessness in the face of these forces that constitutes the deepest roots of religion today." These "unpredictable forces of capitalism" are vividly manifested in the fact that they "subject the proletarian and the small proprietor to the constant threat of... sudden ruin and destruction at every turn in their lives." It is evident that these "unpredictable forces of capitalism" ensure that the exploited masses constantly suffer terrible disasters and cruel pain in their real lives. The fear of these forces renders the exploited masses feeling weak and helpless, making them susceptible to "religious teaching." Consequently, religion naturally becomes a powerful tool for the spiritual oppression of the exploited masses.
(III) Obscuring the Root Causes of Popular Suffering with a Religious Fog
The spiritual consolation provided by "religious teaching" is "bliss in heaven" rather than "happiness on earth." As such, the real-life suffering of the exploited masses is never truly eliminated. Immersing oneself in religious fantasies often severely erodes the will of the people to change their real-life conditions. This necessitates the dispersal of the religious fog from a spiritual perspective. The exploited masses must strive for a better life on earth rather than "happy life after death"; they must not "place their hopes in heavenly gifts," but instead be adept at struggling against religion, waging "the most revolutionary war against God," and "eliminating the true source of religion's duping of humanity."
First, because the "unpredictable forces of capitalism" are the deepest root of religion, the fundamental way to oppose the exploiting class’s use of religion for the spiritual oppression of the exploited masses is to oppose all forms of the rule of capital. If the exploited classes do not deeply understand the social roots of religion, nor consciously oppose those roots by "opposing all forms of the rule of capital, then no amount of enlightenment literature can prevent these masses from believing in religion." Therefore, the exploited masses of workers and peasants can only thoroughly oppose the social roots of religious spiritual oppression by deeply realizing that the source of their suffering lies in the rule of capital, and that the fundamental solution is not to seek "bliss in heaven" but to completely overthrow all forms of the rule of capital.
Second, only when the exploited and oppressed masses unite in common struggle can they destroy bourgeois society; God will not create such unity to oppose the rule of capital. To destroy the old society built upon the exploiting class’s oppression and enslavement of the exploited class, the masses of workers and peasants must unite as one to strike down the oppressors. However, "God will not create such unity... only the proletariat can create such a unified force." Only when the proletariat—moving from "dormancy" to "awakening"—recognizes its own strength, unites the masses of workers and peasants in a conscious struggle against the exploiting class, and collectively opposes all forms of the rule of capital, can it concentrate its strength to completely eliminate the oppression of the exploiting class.
Third, scientific socialism guides the masses, especially the proletariat, to recognize their own historical mission and to oppose the rule of capital in an organized, planned, and conscious manner, ultimately and completely dispersing the religious fog. The modern proletariat is linked to advanced [13] productive forces; by undergoing the baptism of scientific socialism, they will recognize the deep roots of religion and thus thoroughly cast aside religious prejudice to "strive for a better life on earth for themselves," rather than a life in heaven. This requires that "socialism enlist science to disperse the fog of religion and unite the workers in a real struggle for a better life on earth, thereby freeing them from superstition regarding life after death." The essence of "socialism enlisting science to disperse the fog of religion" lies in revealing the task of scientific socialism—allowing the oppressed and enslaved proletariat to recognize the historical mission, historical conditions, and historical nature of the cause of liberating all humanity while liberating themselves. This enlightens the proletariat to "free themselves from superstition regarding life after death" and engage in a conscious struggle for a better life on earth, thereby creating the conditions for the free development of every individual [14].