Benjamin Britton > Recent Status Updates

What that means is the spectrum has shifted so far to the right that what the population wants, and what was once mainstream, now looks radical and extremist. Well, it’s up to us to shift it back. Today’s Democrats are pretty much what used to be called moderate Republicans, you know, Nelson Rockefeller Republicans.

So, there’s no reason why production in the United States can’t be for the benefit of people, of the workforce in the United States, the consumers in the United States, and the future of the world. It can be done.

If today he integrates himself with the masses of workers and peasants, then today he is a revolutionary; if tomorrow he ceases to do so or turns round to oppress the common people, then he becomes a non-revolutionary or a counter-revolutionary.

It is wrong lightly to label people “opportunists” or lightly to begin “waging struggles” against them.

We Communists are like seeds and the people are like the soil.

If there were no contradictions in the Party and no ideological struggles to resolve them, the Party’s life would come to an end.

People who are liberals look upon the principles of Marxism as abstract dogma.

What are these people after? They are after fame and position and want to be in the limelight. Whenever they are put in charge of a branch of work, they assert their “independence”.

What we need is an enthusiastic but calm state of mind and intense but orderly work.

It is part of the art of leadership to take the whole situation into account and plan accordingly in the light of the historical conditions and existing circumstances of each locality, decide correctly on the centre of gravity and the sequence of the work for each period, steadfastly carry through the decision, and make sure that definite results are achieved.

The problem today, however, is that Rightist conservative thinking is still causing mischief in many spheres and preventing the work in these spheres from keeping pace with the development of the objective situation. The present problem is that many people consider it impossible to accomplish things which could be accomplished.

Often, correct knowledge can be arrived at only after many repetitions of the process leading from matter to consciousness and then back to matter, that is, leading from practice to knowledge and then back to practice. Such is the Marxist theory of knowledge, the dialectical materialist theory of knowledge.

What is work? Work is struggle. There are difficulties and problems in those places for us to overcome and solve. We go there to work and struggle to overcome these difficulties. A good comrade is one who is more eager to go where the difficulties are greater.

Anyone who sees only the bright side but not the difficulties cannot fight effectively for the accomplishment of the Party’s tasks.

To die for the people is heavier than Mount Tai, but to work for the fascists and die for the exploiters and oppressors is lighter than a feather.

Weapons are an important factor in war, but not the decisive factor; it is people, not things, that are decisive.

In this way they will counterpose organized earnest organized class struggle to the fake revolutionary and demagogic slogans of fascism.

We should help the masses to realize that we represent their interests, that our lives are intimately bound up with theirs.

Pay attention to uniting and working with comrades who differ with you.

“Notice to Reassure the Public.” Notice of meetings should be given beforehand; this is like issuing a “Notice to Reassure the Public”, so that everybody will know what is going to be discussed and what problems are to be solved and can make timely preparations.

Over a long period we have developed this concept for the struggle against the enemy: strategically we should despise all our enemies, but tactically we should take them all seriously. This also means that we must despise the enemy with respect to the whole, but that we must take him seriously with respect to each and every concrete question.

The commanders and fighters of the entire Chinese People’s Liberation Army absolutely must not relax in the least their will to fight; any thinking that relaxes the will to fight and belittles the enemy is wrong.

As for the imperialist countries, we should unite with their peoples and strive to co-exist peacefully with those countries, do business with them and prevent any possible war, but under no circumstances should we harbour any unrealistic notions about them.

Contradiction and struggle are universal and absolute, but the methods of resolving contradictions, that is, the forms of struggle, differ according to the differences in the nature of the contradictions.

To criticize the people’s shortcomings is necessary, . . . but in doing so we must truly take the stand of the people and speak out of whole-hearted eagerness to protect and educate them. To treat comrades like enemies is to go over to the stand of the enemy.

We are confronted by two types of social contradictions —those between ourselves and the enemy and those among the people themselves. The two are totally different in their nature.

The people’s democratic dictatorship needs the leadership of the working class. For it is only the working class that is most far-sighted, most selfless and most thoroughly revolutionary.

Our present task is to strengthen the people’s state apparatus —mainly the people’s army, the people’s police and the people’s courts —in order to consolidate national defence and protect the people’s interests.

“Don’t you want to abolish state power?” Yes, we do, but not right now; we cannot do it yet. Why? Because imperialism still exists, because domestic reaction still exists, because classes still exist in our country.”

In present circumstances, revisionism is more pernicious than dogmatism. One of our current important tasks on the ideological front is to unfold criticism of revisionism.