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vx Ghina enriches socialist theory

Strikes under

socialism

By ALAN
WINNINGTON

most socialists believe thatl

the strike weapons ig only
for use against capitalists.
Under socialism, why should
workers strike against their
own state, their own factory
control?

It’s logical if you believe
that ‘socialism automatically
settles all the conflicts.

But in fact such a view is
dogmatic and unrealistic. It
entirely overlooks the fact that
in any society progress\is made
by discovering and resolving
conflicts.

Under socialism the people
produce, but they don’t direct-
ly govern. They are liable to
see matters from a short-term,
Sectional, personal viewpoint.

Their representatives, or
leaders, however well they da
their job, must be prone to
look at things from the stand-
point of the whole rather than
the part, long-range rather
than immediate interests. They
are thus likely to become
bureaucratic and out of touch
with the people.

Although the main thing is
to settle things in a democratic
Manner and overcome  bu-
reaucracy. - China’s Chairman
Mao Tse-tung takes the view
that the right of the people to
strike, demonstrate and take
political action is an absolute

‘Tight.

Such things should not be
quelled and the leaders penal-
ised. On the contrary, they
Ought to be regarded as a
salutary lesson and_ strike
leaders regarded as people
who can lead.

Similarly in the field of
ideas. China has come straight
from feudalism and_ semi-
colonial capitalism. More than
500 million Chinese are petty
farmers, little manufacturers,
traders, capitalists. In spite of
the terrific changes in their
ideas in the past few years,
théy are saturated in the ideas
of their own classes.

It would be fantastic to
imagine that the expression of
Such ideas can be stopped by
edict, nor would that be f
advantage to anyone.

If Communist theory is to
advance it can only do so in
the process of contention with
other ideas. To suppress those
other ideas would lead to the
Stagnation of Communist
theory. and.the sharpening of
conflicts. ;

This is the thinking behind
the revival of the ancient
Chinese ideal: “Let 100 flowers
blossom together‘ and 100
Schools of thought contend”

SSS NUS
MAO TSE-TUNG
(et the arts, sciences and
philosophies develop in free
contention).

There is hot debate in every
field: What is beauty? Is there
such a thing as socialist real-
ism in art? Is it really neces-
sary to reform the Chinese
language?

What is good and what is
bad about idealist philosophy?
How should Morgan and Mich-
urin be evaluated in genetics?

Is Marx’s theory of value in
need of modification? Has
Communist theory remained
stagnant since Engels died?

University courses on Mor-
ganism have already begun
and courses in various theories
of capitalist economics are to
start. Leading foreign philoso-
phers of non-Marxist schools
are to be invited to China.

It must be said that there
are some Communists who do
not welcome these things.

Fears are being expressed
that unlimited freedom of ex-
pression and popular action
could give the recently defeat-
ed enemy opportunities caus-
ing upheavals and chaos.

In thé analogy of the ‘100
flowers,” they want to prevent
the weeds from growing. One
local Communist party issued
a directive: “Quote struggle
for gragrant flowers and sup-
press the weeds.” This direc-
tive was classified by a lead-
ing Communist as itself a
“poisonous weed.”

Communist papers have been
severely criticised for drag-
ging their heels over this cam-
paign and even for making al-
terations in the texts and titles
of writings of,which the edit-
ors disapprove.

The Communist party says:
“Among the flowers there will
be weeds. Why worry? This is
common in farming. You never
have flowers or grain without
weeds.

“But you must learn to dis-
tinguish. Let them grow to-
gether and the people will be
able to tell which is which.

You can’t prohibit weeds.

Flowers flourish ‘in competi-
tion with weeds and we must
develop our theories in free
competition.”

*

The Chinese Communist
leaders are determined to put
an end to settling questions
by slogans, by the blind trans-
posing of foreign experiences,
the dogmatic statement of
principles, and by non-demo-
cratic methods.

But,there is still a good deal
of resistance to break.

And they state firmly that
these policies are put forward
to suit the situation in China.
They do-not regard’ them. as
able to be applied universal-
lye Thirty years of struggle in
China has created a quite dif-
ferent situation from that ex-
isting in other countries.

Nevertheless, though the
Chinese Communist leaders
don’t say so, it is very clear
that much of these methods
can be applied elsewhere.

At the present stage, every-
one is being encouraged to
state differences, conflicts and
problems. From all this ma-
terial, the main problems will
emerge, and the business of
solving them in a democratic
way will be that next step.

While this goes on, the Com-
munist party, helped by the
other parties, will be finding
out its own main faults and
putting them right, getting rid
of “lordly airs,’ and restoring
the links with the people that
have become somewhat
stretched of late.

Already about 180,000 prov-
incia] government officials
have gone back to work in
their own localities. High party
officials are leading the way to
work alongside the workers
and find on-the-spot solutions
to problems while doing real
manual work.

There will be, as always,
mistakes. There will be too
much of this or that. Maybe
some people will start strikes
merely because they are mis-
led by Kuomintang old-hands,
or simply for the experience of
it. That is not likely. It is well
known here that workers don’t
strike) for trivial reasons.

What will come out of it is
a lot of experience and still
closer relations between the
people and their representa-
tives.

Contention and democracy,
supervision of the leaders by
the led, criticism to create still
deeper unity — these are the
means to be used in China to
overcome inexperience and~
solve the problems of building
socialism and sharing the na-
tional product.

@ This is the second of two
articles by Alan Winning-
ton,

Can the CCF
and LPP cooperate?

By LESLIE MORRIS

Ts Cooperative Common-

wealth Federation and La-
bor-Progresive party can learn
a lesson from the trade unions,

The Communists in Canada
formed themselves into a party
in 1922. Ten years later, other
socialist - minded Canadians
formed the CCF.

History shows the necessity
of labor unity to get at the
national job of defending Can-
adian sovereignty and inde-
pendence against the United
States monopolies that are
grabbing our natural gas and
the trans-Canada pipeline ,and
the riches of our land.

The mew national policy
needed to ensure peace, dem-
ocracy and prosperity for Can-
ada’s people cannot be won
without the utmost unity of
the workers and farmers.

E. P. Taylor and his million-
aire friends wil never volun-
tarily agree to wage increases
to better farm prices, to na-
tional health insurance. That
is the lesson of every strike
struggle fought by the work-
ers. Labor unity is the way to
success of the people’s daily
efforts to win needed social

reforms.

To achieve a new social or-
der where goods are produced
for use instead of private prof-
it for the E. P. Taylors, a new
political state has to be es-
tablished.

This state, a socialist state—
to be successful, must have in
its leading centre the political
rule of the working class, be-
cause it is those who work for
wages who are most interest-
ed in doing away with a sys-
tem which draws profit from
the labor of the workers and
pitches them into unemploy-
ment in periods when goods
cannot be sold at a profit.

The Communists believe
that in the daily struggles for
reforms the workers will learn
the need for a new socialist
state, which it is possible to
win through parliament.

The CCF leadership believes
that the present capitalist
system can be reformed. It
does not believe that a radical
change must take place in the
very basis of the economy, and
in the class nature of the state.

These two points of view are
to be found in the labor move-
ments of all countries, at one
period or another.

History shows that where-
ever the capitalists’ rule has
been broken and the property
of the nation transferred to
the ownership and control of
working people, it is because
the working class unity view-
point has triumphed. -Where
the CCF type of socialism has
been tried the ownership of
the country’s wealth not only
has been left in the hands of
the capitalists and the big
banks, but as in Britain’s case
the Labor party has twice held
the government, and twice lost
it to the Tories.

The question arises: _ can
there be unity between these
points of view?

In the opinion of the Labor-
ProBressive party, these poli-
tical viewpoints. will be ar-
gued out and judged by the
working people themselves, in
a democratic way, through de-

bate and -~ discussion and
struggle. It is the working
people themselves. who will

make the decision as to which
party they will give their sup-
port; it will not be decided
only by committees of the
CCF or the LPP

Should the labor movement,
and the new movements to-
wards labor political action—
the election of labor MPs,
members of provincial legis-
latures and so on — be held
back and divided on how to
achieve socialism?

Only the Liberals and Tor-
ies reap the benefit of such a
split.

That is precisely why -the
labor movement must cooper-
ate and heal the divisions.

If-it is not done. then nei-
ther the CCF nor the LPP, nor
any labor political group will
make real headway. Socialists

and Communists all over the.

world are beginning to realize
that, and are coming closer to-
gether.

Everyone will agree that at
this time the majority of the
working people of Canada are
not in favor of establishing so-
cialism. What they are inter-
ested in is a number of very
pressing matters which affect
every Canadian family.

Since 1947 the labor move-
ment of this country has been
a victim of cold war propagan-
da. Billions of dollars were
poured into armaments and
into war in Korea. An atmos-
phere of hate, charged with
mortal danger to all of us, has
been created by the press and
radio, At times it seemed as
if H-bomb war could not be
prevented despite the fears
and protests of the people.

When an armistice in Korea
and Indonesia came about the
tide began to turn. Soon after
came the Big Four Conference
World tensions began to relax
and- despite Hungary and
Egypt, steadily the principles
of the peaceful coexistence of
states with different social
systems, non-interference in
the internal affairs of other
countries and mutual respéct
for national sovereignty, gain
ground.

The movement for peace and
for suspending H-tests is so
strong that it is realistic to
suppose that if the various sec-
tions of the labor movements
of the western countries could
establish businesslike  con-
tacts between themselves and
start talking to each other in
a friendly way without using
harsh terms and_ avoiding
name calling, peace could be
made secure for all time.

@ This is the second in a

series of three articles by-

Leslie Morris.

JUNE 7, 1957 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE ll

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