Walking on the Far Left

Set about with Mao Zedong’s promise to the public of achieving “all this and heaven too” in what would supposedly appear as a brief yet transformative period in which a renaissance in cultural and social thought could be accomplished, one may consider the cultural revolution as a process somewhat akin to the proposal of a permanent revolution. However, this would appear to be a rather superficial perspective on the matter that clearly lacks nuance. This would be due to the ironically more socially conservative elements of the approaches advocated by Mao’s government which had proven to put emphasis on traditional Chinese values and models for society which revolved around the preservation of the existing power structures that acted as the basis of the existing issues regarding class struggle, lack of individual and collective liberty, and wealth and power being concentrated amongst the elites. This also appears to go hand in hand with the strong sense of resistance by the proletariat d...

  The Storming of the Bastille- French Revolution painting by Jean-Baptiste Lallemand (1789). Something that never ceases to amaze me is how a supposedly people centric and class conscious set of communitarian and socialist economic principles can somehow ironically be responsible for the development of some of the most inegalitarian societies that have existed globally. This can be reflected through observing the case of France at the time of the French Revolution during the mid to late 18th century (and even still, to some degree, in more recent times). This was, arguably, the point in time by which the greatest reconstruction and reformation of the social and political dimension of Europe took place, its ever present and significant imprint continuing to be felt throughout the centuries that followed.    While Mao presented the need for the “true” people, as in the workers and peasants, to rebuild society, this was achieved through undemocratic and authoritarian means ...

  Kautsky (top left), Bernstein (top right) and Lenin (bottom). The ultra-imperialist and culturally idealist views on social development and the transition of society to revolutionary socialism, which have been adopted by Kautsky, Bernstein, and Lenin, appear to have stemmed from the doctrines of idealism and dialectical materialism, specifically those of Hegelian, Kantian, and Baconian origins. This reflects the emphasis of Eurocentric principles and the ideas of economic sovereignty and the preservation of superpower influence, thus appearing to them as being of significant influence in assisting revolution. However, it can be argued that this merely allows already influential and capitalistic leaders of imperial superpowers to further increase their influence and achieve more success in preserving the existing capitalist society, rather than bringing about any significant socialist reform with the interests of the general people in mind. The idea of materialism being consi...

With many interpretations of feminism and sexual expression being based around Marx and Engels' ideas, and with these ideas being very much in line the radical feminist ideas of women being heavily sexually oppressed with all relations between women and men featuring an exploitation and imbalance in power by the men over them as the lesser sex (or akin to the proletariat while the men function as the bourgeoisie as described by Marx and Engels) with this largely being attributed to their role and position in society, the liberation of women and social progress in understanding their rights can be seen to largely be supported by a more liberal and progressive socialist society. As a result, the development of the theory of Marxist Feminism and the women's revolution against their treatment when working in domestic labour, as can be observed throughout the last century, can lead to the politicisation of feminism and this being associated with socialist movements. In his 1848 Comm...

Mao's understanding of communist principles and the development of his own communist ideology appeared to have grown without him having read any of Marx and Engels' work but by observing the governance and principles of Soviet communist leaders. This form of communism clearly developed through the interpretation of Leninist principles and his setting about of the authoritarian control and dictatorship of the proletariat as with the formation of the Bolsheviks (those dictating the proletariat) to exploit the Mensheviks (the working classes who were repressed by Lenin's dictatorship and supported democratic and liberal way acknowledging the needs of all groups including the proletariat, the bourgeois so as to bring out a socialist revolution) in the Russian Revolution. Mao's values appear to be clearly resemble those of the Bolshevik with his revolution as put by Roger Griffin having been set out with the goal of "overcoming the decadence of the existing liberal demo...

“Eating from a big [common] pot breeds laziness” These were the words of Deng Xiaoping when declaring the need to dismantle the communes and intend to redistribute land and capital amongst the peasants and increase their power within society. While these principles (ignoring the anti-state and pro-capitalist ideas clearly present in the quote above) might appear to evoke an anti-feudal sentiment and aims to dismantle the bourgeoisie with the proletariat needs central to the running of society, it appears that this was the main means of paving the way for a capitalist society to remain in China and further promote the feudal system which ironically, would be run be the proletarians and serfs originally exploited by this and intending to dismantle it. While arguing that it was liberating the working classes, it was further keeping those below them within the constraints of the society repressing them. This presents the crossing of paths of capitalism and communism and the events in the ...