Greetings,
The main content in the struggle against irrationalism, the
cutting edge, is not just the fight against all the ideological and
political trends that do not base themselves on the laws of social
development. It mainly confronts those who conciliate with the
defenders of the capitalist status quo. They conciliate with those
who want to reform the capitalist system in a bid to preserve the
status quo. In precise terms, it is the struggle against those who
conciliate with the liberal/social-democratic political line that
is determined to create illusions about the possibilities to reform
the capitalist system, that this reform or restructuring will lift
it out of its continuing crisis.
In philosophical and theoretical terms, those who advocate
that the capitalist system can rid itself of its problems through
reform, do not see in the capitalist crisis the condition for the
creation of the new modern society. According to them, there is no
further stage in the development of the society. They advocate that
the capitalist system is the "best" and "final" stage of society,
and that the capitalist system is the "best" system which ever came
into being in spite of its weaknesses and shortcomings. They also
create the illusion that capitalism will evolve into a system
without crisis sometime in the far distant future.
Irrationalism is the only "system of thought," if it can be
called a system, by which the bourgeoisie justifies everything. The
most damaging product of this irrationalism is the theory of "human
nature." It presupposes that all human beings are bestowed,
preordained or preconditioned with certain qualities that are
immutable. The bourgeoisie glibly states that it is "only human" to
possess these enduring qualities. Of course, these qualities are
none other than the habits of the bourgeoisie. They do not see,
they do not want to see, a human being who has communist qualities.
In fact, it can be proven with the precision of science that
there is no such thing as human nature. It can be shown that human
consciousness and human qualities are dependent on the mode of
production, on the mode of living. As the mode of production
changes so does human consciousness and qualities. There is nothing
immutable nor eternal in terms of human qualities, except that
human beings make their own history according to the laws governing
society and nature. The only constant is change and nothing else.
To suggest that there is such a thing as "human nature" is to
completely succumb to irrationalism. The bourgeoisie argues
irrationally and is contradictory when it claims that the
capitalist system can be reformed, yet contends that because of
"human nature" there is not even the possibility of change. Which
assertion of the bourgeoisie is correct? Which formulation do they
present as valid? The bourgeoisie has sunk so low in terms of
theory and its opposition to enlightenment that it can even claim
both sides of its own contradictory assertions.
Irrationalism lacks objectivity of consideration. Those who
follow it even deny the existence of the objective world. Take, for
instance, deconstructionism, which is all the rage in the U.S.,
particularly with regard to race. According to this "philosophy,"
only those persons who are members of a definite society, group of
people, or gender can grasp the reality of their condition. Only
females can understand what their problems are. The same is the
case for workers or national minorities. Such a ridiculous way of
looking at reality incites people to marginalise themselves but
does not add one iota to human knowledge about the system on which
the society is based. How far would science have advanced if
scientists had to be whatever they were analyzing in order to
understand the thing in itself and in its relations?
A reactionary organization called "International Democratic
Association" to which belong Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher,
Helmuth Kohl and other prominent bourgeois has a presupposition
that there is no alternative to the existing conditions. In other
words, it recognizes the existing conditions yet determines
beforehand that there is no way out of those conditions except by
consolidating them through reform or restructuring. Such reform
leads to the further deepening and broadening of the crisis created
by the basic condition. The advocates of reform or "shock therapy"
refuse to concede that these reforms are making things worse. They
actually accuse others of obstructing the reforms, of being
conservative, while they are daring and radical, and see glory in
an earlier free market period of capitalism or even further back to
the divine right of kings and medievalism. Radicalism, in this
instance, refers to how far society can be pushed backward.
Irrationalism is subjectivism taken to the extreme in
isolation from the objective world. At the same time, its program
and conclusions are actually applied in the modern capitalist
countries and elsewhere. The net result is that different schools
of thought, which are irrational, are being promoted at the expense
of the schools which are rational, especially when it comes to
ideologically guiding the economic and political spheres. This is
exacerbating all the fundamental problems of the capitalist system,
and creating conditions of extreme hardship and misery throughout
the world. The assertion that the capitalist crisis can be overcome
and capitalism can be reformed is the most irrational idea. It is
an assertion that has its basis in the self-interest of the
bourgeoisie and its desire to preserve the status quo. Once this
assertion is accepted, literally any proposal goes. There is no
rationality.
The cutting edge of the fight against irrationalism must zero
in on those who conciliate with the forces who create illusions
about the possibilities of reforming the capitalist system. The
struggle must be waged in an all-sided manner: in the theoretical,
economic, political, cultural and social spheres. It must be waged
in accordance with the interests of the working class and on the
sound scientific basis that there is an alternative to capitalism,
and it is socialism and communism.
TML DAILY, 1996
Shawgi Tell
Graduate School of Education
University at Buffalo
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
