Isn't one of the methods of Maoism, criticism/self-criticism ? This would seem to encourage critical thinking rather than the opposite, as the anti-Maoists imply. And overall, Maoism is a profound criticism of all existing society, much more substantive criticism in thinking and action, than that of the bourgeois liberal intellectuals in general and in particular those here "criticizing" Maoism's alleged lack of critical thinking. Bourgeois liberal intellectuals are involved in apolegetics not criticism of capitalism. For example, calling capitalism "the affluent society" is an apolegetic, not critical, theme. Long live the People's Republic of China ! Charles Brown >>> "Craven, Jim" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 06/09/99 12:16PM >>> Right on. If we can have a parody/caricature of Mao Zedong's thought via a parody of the infamous introduction to the "Red Book" by Lin Biao, as opposed to quoting and debating Mao directly, then let's have the substance of Mao Zedong's concepts from the pen of Mao himself rather than something ABOUT Mao. I cannot count the number of courses I took in school--mostly at the University of Minnesota--where one of the illustrious "scholars" would talk about/critique Marx without even one reference to original Marx or even one assignment to read Marx instead of ABOUT Marx from some hack publishing in Praeger Press or some other CIA front publisher. That is what led me to an intensive study of Marx: Why do they keep referring to/trashing Marx yet no actual examples of Marx's writings and revolutionary work to work from? I wondered why not quote and deal with the original work? When I was in the US Army, I once stood an IG inspection. Normally, there is a space for everything in the wall locker or foot locker with a small place in the wall locker for books (they didn't want us reading many books). I had a separate bookcase and in that bookcase I had Barry goldwater's "Conscience of a Conservative", the Bible, the Koran, some poetry and the Communist Manifesto and volume I of Das Kapital. The IG looked at my books and turned bright red and got pissed. He said to me "What does uniform mean?" I said "Like everyone else, in accordance with regulations." He said: "Do you see anyone else here with his own bookcase, especially with books like THESE?" (pointing to Marx). I aske for permission to speak freely whic he granted. I said to him (I was very young then): "Sir, when I cam into the military I took an oath to defend, even with my life, The Constitution of the United States. Are you saying that I am supposed to defend the Constitution even with my life but I am not entitled to the rights in it including the right to read and think what I want?" He flew into a rage and said: "Get rid of these fucking books and bookcase right now, you hear me, right now." Well, I learned that some works they did not want me reading in the original; they only wanted me to read ABOUT Marx and other demons and then only at a superficial level guided by designated igeological hacks and grand priests of US imperial ideology. I learned quickly that imperialism is not about logic and consistency but rather about naked power as an instrument to determine, as Humpty Dumpty said in "Alice Though The Looking Glass", "what words mean", How to make a word mean so many things and "Which is to be master, that's all." Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom, Let All Ideas Contend. Jim Craven -----Original Message----- From: Henry C.K. Liu [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 1999 7:36 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; marxism; leninist-international Subject: [PEN-L:7845] Mao on Intellectuals Mao Zedong THE CHINESE REVOLUTION AND THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY[*] December I939 3. The Different Sections of the Petty Bourgeoisie Other than the Peasantry The petty bourgeoisie, other than the peasantry, consists of the vast numbers of intellectuals, small tradesmen, handicraftsmen and professional people. Their status somewhat resembles that of the middle peasants, they all suffer under the oppression of imperialism, feudalism and the big bourgeoisie, and they are being driven ever nearer to bankruptcy or destitution. Hence these sections of the petty bourgeoisie constitute one of the motive forces of the revolution and are a reliable ally of the proletariat. Only under the leadership of the proletariat can they achieve their liberation. Let us now analyse the different sections of the petty bourgeoisie other than the peasantry. First, the intellectuals and student youth. They do not constitute a separate class or stratum. In present-day China most of them may page 322 be placed in the petty-bourgeois category, judging by their family origin, their living conditions and their political outlook. Their numbers have grown considerably during the past few decades. Apart from that section of the intellectuals which has associated itself with the imperialists and the big bourgeoisie and works for them against the people, most intellectuals and students are oppressed by imperialism, feudalism and the big bourgeoisie, and live in fear of unemployment or of having to discontinue their studies. Therefore, they tend to be quite revolutionary. They are more or less equipped with bourgeois scientific knowledge, have a keen political sense and often play a vanguard role or serve as a link with the masses in the present stage of the revolutio. The movement of the Chinese students abroad before the revolution of 1911, the May 4th Movement of 1919, the May 30th Movement of 1925 and the December 9th Movement of 1935 are striking proofs of this. In particular, the large numbers of more or less impoverished intellectuals can join hands with the workers and peasants in supporting or participating in the revolution. In China, it was among the intellectuals and young students that Marxist-Leninist ideology was first widely disseminated and accepted. The revolutionary forces cannot be successfully organized and revolutionary work cannot be successfully conducted without the participation of revolutionary intellectuals. But the intellectuals often tend to be subjective and individualistic, impractical in their thinking and irresolute in action until they have thrown themselves heart and soul into mass revolutionary struggles, or made up their minds to serve the interests of the masses and become one with them. Hence although the mass of revolutionary intellectuals in China can play a vanguard role or serve as a link with the masses, not all of them will remain revolutionaries to the end. Some will drop out of the revolutionary ranks at critical moments and become passive, while a few may even become enemies of the revolution. The intellectuals can overcome their shortcomings only in mass struggles over a long period.
