Socialism of the Future / Future of Socialism

Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary of the CPI-ML Liberation, said at the very outset that he was a ‘biased person’ - biased in favour of socialism. And, as a communist he was fighting for socialism. Observing that it was important to make one's location very clear, where one stood, Comrade Bhattacharya pointed out that the whole concept of socialism has been very controversial and a debatable subject since its inception. He reminded that the first vision was not of socialism. It was of communism.

“There is no manifesto called a socialist manifesto. There is a manifesto called The Communist Manifesto, which was written more than 150 years ago. I think that a lot of what we are discussing about what socialism should ideally be like, should look like, should feel like and, it probably has no contradiction with the kind of vision the authors of the Communist Manifesto had about communism. But, as history unfolded itself and as real life started itself, it turned out that we need certain stages of transition to proceed towards communism. That phase of transition was given the name socialism,” he elaborated.

Referring to the book written by Engels about utopian and scientific socialism, he said he was opposed to utopian socialism and romantic socialism but still believed there was room for something called realistic socialism or scientific socialism. “I am also biased in favour of some kind of science of socialism. Even if you are all aware that that science cannot be a natural science and cannot conform to laboratory standards, but if they are able to understand social science then I think there is still, room for scientific socialism.”

He said after the Paris Commune it was realised that we needed something called a Socialist State. After the Soviet revolution the whole debate came up about whether socialism was possible in one country or not; the debate continued even further. Bhattacharya pointed out that socialism in one country was nobody's choice and as the authors of the Communist Manifesto probably had imagined it could have been better, more ideal if socialism could have got an environment, got a foundation where it could really do justice to itself. Unfortunately, the first break came in backward Russia and this was the fate of socialism that had to happen after 70 years of the experiment.

He said the whole debate whether socialism could be possible in one country, or not or only on a continental or global scale socialism was possible; was a subjective debate because objectively if you got a chance in some country you won’t give up by saying, well, we were not prepared for having any kind of socialist experiment in one country.

“Whenever history gives you a chance, life gives you a chance, I think as revolutionaries, we have to opt for it and make the most of it. So after the Soviet debacle and where we stand today, I think it has once again been established, probably more strongly than ever before, that socialism is necessary. I don’t say that socialism is inevitable or possible but socialism is necessary. Life beyond capitalism is necessary,” he declared. Comrade Bhattacharya also said that something was needed beyond capitalism and the most commonly agreed name for anything beyond capitalism was still socialism.

“And as a matter of reference, in history you go by references, you don’t go by just models. So we have another reference, which was the Soviet Union experiment for 70 years. We have some ongoing reference, with all my reservations and with all my concerns, in China some kind of experiment is still going on. There are many other countries where some experiments are going on. We have certain references. Probably ideal socialism or communism and that is something, which can only flourish on a global-scale and at that level you talk about a classless society where you don't need a state and state is just redundant, it withers away,” he remarked.The CPI-ML Liberation leader said globalisation has created conditions where more and more people all over the world was feeling a necessity for socialism. “The way we grasp this necessity, the way we articulate this necessity, the way we fight for this necessity and visualise it and differ,” he added.

He said the anti-globalisation struggle, which started in the wake of the Soviet collapse, against the IMF, World Bank, and later on against the WTO has now graduated into a more clear anti-imperialist and anti-war kind of struggle. He said it was very clear even in Lenin’s writings that socialism without democracy was something inconsiderable. “Socialism in my understanding should be synonymous with the deepest and broadest possible democracy, that goes without saying. But again, I have to be constrained by the fact that socialism is in a state of transition and that it is governed by given circumstances. Now, we have Soviet experience, the Chinese experiment. Now, the Chinese people are also aware of what they are doing in China, they are, I think, probably, still a bit ashamed to call it socialism so they are trying to qualify by calling it Elementary Socialism. They are thinking about a long transition period of 50 years, probably 100 years towards some semblance of what can be called Primitive or Primary Socialism.”

Bhattacharya told that the Soviets were talking about advanced socialism and about communism and then they collapsed. In China, they were talking about Elementary Socialism, where its socialism was in a very backward kind of situation. He warned that in real life the whole battle would neither progress in an ideal plane, nor in the realm of imagination but in the realm of real life and in the realm of the given situation. He said it was important to exchange ideas and views but that did not mean socialism would come to some kind of blind practice. “It has to be conscious practice and in the realm of consciousness there is always room for debate, always room for discussion and with greater enlightenment and understanding of socialism and with more vigorous, mass based popular struggle for socialism, I'm sure socialism is necessary, socialism is possible and within quotes probably - socialism is inevitable,” comrade Bhattacharya asserted.

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