Against Vulgarising the Slogan of Self-Criticism

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The slogan of self-criticism must not be regarded as something temporary and transient. Self-criticism is a specific method, a Bolshevik method, of training the forces of the Party and of the working class generally in the spirit of revolutionary development. Marx himself spoke of self-criticism as a method of strengthening the proletarian revolution. 1 As to self-criticism in our Party, its beginnings date back to the first appearance of Bolshevism in our country, to its very inception as a specific revolutionary trend in the working-class movement.

Against Vulgarising the Slogan of Self-Criticism

“Dark Indonesia” and Astroturfed Subversion + More

21-04-2025: Since February, Indonesia has been beset by protests largely led by students, so-called civil society organisations, some labour unions and K-pop fans. Protests emerged in many cities throughout the Indonesian archipelago including Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Solo, Semarang, Bali, Samarinda, Banjarmasin and South Sumatra. The protestors were reportedly delivering a “red report card” on the first 100 days of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration. They also condemned Prabowo’s “Ndasmu!” remark towards critics of the Free Nutritious Meal program.[1] “Ndasmu” is an impolite Javanese word meaning “your head”, which perhaps implies that the protestors’ actions were the result of something that existed in their heads only. The slogan “Dark Indonesia” under which the protests took place, is a stab at Prabowo’s election slogan of “Golden Indonesia” (Indonesia Emas), which aims to advance the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) to a sovereign, prosperous nation by 2045, the centennial of its independence won in 1945.[2]

“Dark Indonesia” and Astroturfed Subversion

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Lenin: Bourgeois And Proletarian Democracy

Bourgeois And Proletarian Democracy

Bourgeois democracy, although a great historical advance in comparison with medievalism, always remains, and under capitalism is bound to remain, restricted, truncated, false and hypocritical, a paradise for the rich and a snare and deception for the exploited, for the poor. It is this truth, which forms a most essential part of Marx’s teaching, that Kautsky the “Marxist” has failed to understand. On this—the fundamental issue—Kautsky offers “delights” for the bourgeoisie instead of a scientific criticism of those conditions which make every bourgeois democracy a democracy for the rich.

Related:

Lenin Collected Works: Volume 28 (PDF)

Che Guevara: Socialism and man in Cuba

Dear compañero,

Though belatedly, I am completing these notes in the course of my trip through Africa, hoping in this way to keep my promise. I would like to do so by dealing with the theme set forth in the title above. I think it may be of interest to Uruguayan readers.

A common argument from the mouths of capitalist spokespeople, in the ideological struggle against socialism, is that socialism, or the period of building socialism into which we have entered, is characterized by the abolition of the individual for the sake of the state. I will not try to refute this argument solely on theoretical grounds but rather to establish the facts as they exist in Cuba and then add comments of a general nature. Let me begin by broadly sketching the history of our revolutionary struggle before and after the taking of power.

Che Guevara: Socialism and man in Cuba

ON THE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC DICTATORSHIP

ON THE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC DICTATORSHIP

In 1924 a famous manifesto was adopted at the Kuomintang’s First National Congress, which Sun Yat-sen himself led and in which Communists participated. The manifesto stated

The so-called democratic system in modern states is usually monopolized by the bourgeoisie and has become simply an instrument for oppressing the common people. On the other hand, the Kuomintang’s Principle of Democracy means a democratic system shared by all the common people and not privately owned by the few.

[1999] Philippines: The Great Left Divide

A SPECTER is haunting the revolutionary movement in the Philippines — the specter of seemingly interminable splits.

In the seven years since Armando Liwanag issued his “Reaffirm our Basic Principles and Rectify Errors” document, the Left — or more appropriately, the Left of the national democratic (ND) tradition — has gone through an unprecedented period of metastasis. The once monolithic movement that at its peak in the mid-1980s commanded 35,000 Party members, 60 guerrilla fronts, two battalions and 37 company formations, and foisted ideological and organizational hegemony in the progressive politics during the Marcos dictatorship is now history. Out of it have emerged fragments of disparate groups — eight at least — that continue to wage “revolution” in similarly disparate forms.


The Great Left Divide

Related:

Philippine Socialism Archive

Banned or Suppressed Publications in the Philippines