Socialism of the Future / Future of Socialism

Vijay Singh said that he considered learning from the historical experience of socialism unavoidable to move towards socialism. The varieties of socialism, which emerged in the 19th century and were to some extent complimentary, but were also in some senses contradictory. It cannot be said that one hasn’t learnt from the experience of the social democratic regimes in Scandinavia or Britain or the various social governments which existed in the past and which exist today, after those decades of experience of struggle in Russia, China, Cuba, Vietnam. To construct socialism in a backward, former colony like India, one has to draw from the examples of the experiences of past revolutionaries or great thinkers produced by those revolutions. The experiences of the past teach a lot about today. Some sections of the socialist movement praised the virtues of the American economy and globalization But, Sh. Singh said, that the real face of imperialism has come to the fore today. The real imperialism that existed before the first World War, the experiences that the Chinese had to fight, the experiences that the Vietnamese had to fight, the real experiences of imperialism that Lenin and Stalin had to fight-that real picture of imperialism has come back today. The reformist wings or the socialist wings could not unravel this picture about the true character of globalization. It was a communist government; it was the Vietnamese people, the Chinese people and the Russian people who showed the kind of repression that one faced if one tried to create a socialist society under the conditions of imperialism. Singh opined that imperialism has become fully reticent after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The America, of today, is very ugly. He said that those who live in colonial countries, can now understand how imperialism is trying to devour the world, chasing raw materials, it is the classical imperialism, which Lenin spoke about. It is not the classical imperialism that European socio-democracy taught us about. Instead of drawing merely on personal experiences it is important to remember the historical face of imperialism and sections of the movement that helped US imperialism. For those living in countries that were former colonies even to get basic necessities it is inevitable that imperialism be confronted. Imperialism seeks to control every market in the world. American troops are stationed in Columbia guarding the oil pipelines, French and American troops planning to move into West Africa where new oil and gas resources are to be found all give us a picture of the exploitative and oppressive nature of capitalism. Similar are the stories of Venezuela and Afghanistan. The communist movement fore saw these things; Lenin gave a true picture of what constitutes imperialism. And Lenin also gives a true picture of what colonial people have to do to fight imperialism. The rule of finance capital over the entire world proxies for the absence of political and geographical domination that classical imperialism constituted.

He went on to say that the colonial people were told by noted theorists like M.N. Roy that decolonization would lead to industrialization. One theorist had mentioned in the 1920s that Indian industry would catch up with the British industry in a few years. But the colonial world remains a colonial world and whatever little national changes took place in the 1950s began to get undone in the late 1960s and gave way to liberalization from 1990s onward.

American imperialism is, what globalization is. In the 1920s when a number of socialists believed that imperialism will bring freedom, there was a discussion in the communist movement concluded that imperialism cannot bring freedom. Only the struggle of the colonial working class, the colonial peasantry and the colonial people can defeat imperialism and that can only be under conditions of a revolutionary socialist leadership. In those times it was called the democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and the people.

Singh vociferously argued that it was the only path in the 1920s, 30s, the 40s and the 50s and the Chinese revolution showed that it is the only path to take. The fact is that those countries that were led by communist and labour parties, which created genuine socialist societies that, dissolved themselves were the only societies, which gave the basic essentials to the majority of their population. It is the only political doctrine, which has led to the emancipation.

Negating these facts will lead to the creation of illusions that will mean that imperialism cannot be fought and that the struggle for socialism cannot be won. He added that also to be remembered is the fact that the socialist experiences of countries like China and the Soviet Union, need to be considered very carefully. In all of these revolutions there were ascendant and descendant phases of the revolution and it is important to make a distinction between the two.

That which is going on in China today in the name of socialism and that which went on in the Soviet Union in the name of socialism cannot be exalted. It would be necessary to remember their invasions on Czechoslovakia, Kampuchea and Vietnam. This descendant phase of the revolution cannot be followed. He said that in the years of ascendancy, in the pure Marxist form which was rejected by so many of the speakers, the ascendant phases of all of those revolutions was accompanied by the rise of productivity, labour productivity and the manufacture of materials as well.

Singh said that though he agreed with Marx when he said that socialism which is not founded on material wealth is not possible, Marx did not say that there has to be a great increase in prosperity. He said that the society has to be created to cater to the ever-increasing needs and requirements of human beings, which does not mean only increase in material prosperity. There are cultural and psychological requirements of human beings, which shall hopefully always increase. But the new socialists and the new socio-democrats in the communist parties of countries like the Soviet Union in the 1950s converted former political, economic terms and the means of production into Socialism where the means of production are commodities and labour power is a commodity is not possible. Socialism self destroyed itself.

The path of the future has to be related to the past, to be explained with the experiences of the past. Furthermore, the path of colonial countries confronted with globalization can only be the path followed by Russia, China and Vietnam.

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