Beautiful excerpt from Liu Shaoqi - How to be a good Communist

What is our most fundamental duty as Party members? It is to achieve communism. As far as the Communist Parties of different countries are concerned, in each country it is for the Communist Party and the people there to transform it by their own efforts, and in that way the whole world will be transformed step by step into a communist world. Will the communist world be good? We all know it will be. In that world there will be no exploiters of oppressors, no landlords and capitalists, no imperialists and fascists, nor will there be any oppressed and exploited people, or any of the darkness, ignorance and backwardness resulting from the system of exploitation. In such a society the production of both material and moral values will develop and flourish mightily and will meet the varied needs of all its members. By then all humanity will consist of unselfish, intelligent, highly cultured and skilled communist workers; mutual assistance and affection will prevail among men and there will be no such irrationalities as mutual suspicion and deception, mutual injury, mutual slaughter and war. It will of course be the best, the most beautiful and the most advanced society in human history. Who can deny that such a society is good? But can this good communist society be built? We say that it can and will be. Marxist-Leninist theory has explained this scientifically and beyond all doubt. A factual testimony has been provided by the victory of the Great October revolution and the successes in socialist construction in the Soviet Union. Our duty is constantly to advance the cause socialism and communism in accordance with the laws of development of human society, so as to make socialist and communist society a reality as soon as possible. This is our ideal.

However, the cause of socialism and communism still faces powerful enemies who must be thoroughly and finally defeated in every field; only then will the socialist and communist society be brought into being. Victory for the communist cause can only be won through long and arduous struggle. Without it there can be no victory. This struggle, of course, is not an "accidental" social phenomenon or an invention of certain Communists as some people assert. It is inevitable in the development of class society; it is unavoidable class struggle. The birth of the Communist Party and the fact that Communists participate, organize and guide this struggle are also inevitable phenomena conforming with the laws of social development. The imperialists, fascists and landlords - in short, all exploiters and oppressors - are oppressing and exploiting the overwhelming majority of the people of the world to such an extent that the people are hardly able to survive and have to unite and fight against this exploitation and oppression, because they cannot exist, much less make progress in any other way. This struggle, therefore, is natural and unavoidable.

On the one hand, we must understand that communism is the greatest cause in human history, which will eliminate exploitation and classes once and for all, emancipate mankind and bring humanity into a world of happiness, radiating with beauty, such as it has never known before. But on the other hand, we must also understand that the cause of communism is the most arduous undertaking in all history; that only through protracted, bitter and torturous struggle will we be able to defeat all the exploiting classes; and that for a long time after our victory we shall patiently have to carry out social and economic, ideological and cultural transformation, for only thus will all the influences, conventions and habits of the exploiting classes be eliminated from among the people, and only thus will a new social and economic system, a new communist culture and code of social morality be built up.

The Communist Party will defiantly win final victory by relying on the proletariat and the masses of the exploited and oppressed people an by using Marxism-Leninism to guide the revolutionary struggle of the masses and propel society towards the great goal of communism. The reason is that the historical laws of social development make the progress of human society towards communism inevitable; that latent in the proletariat and the other exploited and oppressed masses of the world lie extremely powerful revolutionary energies which, once mobilized, united and organized, can triumph over all the reactionary forces of the exploiting classes and imperialism; and that the Communist Party and the proletariat are the new and rising forces and whatever is new and rising is invincible. This has been fully demonstrated by the history of the world communist movement and the Chinese Communist Party. The present situation is as follows. Socialism has already won a great victory in the Soviet Union, or on one sixth of the earth's surface; militant Communist Parties armed with the theory of Marxism-Leninism have been organized in many countries; the world communist movement is rapidly growing and developing; and the forces of the proletariat and the other exploited and oppressed masses of the world are being rapidly mobilized and united in the course of incessant struggles. The communist movement is already organized as a mighty and invincible world force. Beyond all doubt the communist cause will continue to develop and advance, and will win final and complete victory. However, we should also realize that the international reaction and the exploiting classes are yet stronger than we are, that they are temporarily superior in many fields and that only by protracted, torturous and bitter struggles can we defeat them.

In a society in which private ownership of the means of production has existed for thousands of years, the exploiting classes through their rule have built up great power in all fields and have grabbed everything under the sun. Their long rule has given rise to backwardness, ignorance, selfishness, mutual suspicion and deception, mutual injury and slaughter in human society, which have persisted down the ages. It has exerted a most pernicious influence on the exploited masses and on other members of society. This is the inevitable result of the efforts of the exploiting classes to preserve their class interests and rule. For they cannot maintain their ruling position unless they keep the exploited masses and the colonial peoples backward, unorganized and divided. Hence, in order to achieve victory we must not only conduct a stern struggle against the exploiting classes but also carry on a struggle against their long-standing influence among the masses and the backward ideas and other backward phenomena found among the masses, for only thus can we enhance their political consciousness and unite them to defeat the exploiting classes. Here is the difficulty in the course of achieving communism. Comrades! If the masses were all politically conscious, united, free from the influence of the exploiting classes and free from backwardness, as some people imagine them to be, what would be so difficult about the revolution?

Not only does this influence of the exploiting classes exist before the victory of the revolution, but it survives for a very long time after when the exploiting classes have been ejected from their ruling position. Think how torturous is the process and how arduous are the work and struggle that are needed to vanquish the exploiting classes and their influence among the people once and for all, to emancipate and change all mankind, to transform myriads of small commodity producers, finally to abolish all classes and gradually to transform mankind that has lived in class society for thousands of years and been influenced by all kinds of old customs and conventions until it becomes communist mankind, intelligent and unselfish, and with a high level of culture and skill!