26th
Anniversary of CPC(M-L)'s Historic
Initiative A Nation-Building Project
Like No Other
On January 1,
1995, on behalf of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist),
party leader Hardial Bains launched CPC(M-L)'s Historic
Initiative.
This initiative brings together all the different
threads of the movement, which are developing across the country within
the present national and international conditions, to divert them
towards opening the path for the progress of society. It is a
nation-building project like no other as required by the times to
develop the human factor/social consciousness. This
article explains the key references contained in this
important
nation-building
project, based on conversations with Hardial Bains at the time the Historic
Initiative was launched. By human
factor is meant the recognition that all people have rights
by virtue of being human and on account of their concrete objective
reality. Recognizing this as an approach to carrying out any initiative
is the basis for social progress. By social
consciousness is meant the recognition that society must
harmonize and reconcile the interests of its individual members with
their collectives and the individual and collective interests with the
general interests of society itself. By human
factor/social consciousness is meant that human sensuous and
material action which is directed towards fully controlling the
direction of society and its relationship with nature so as to humanize
the natural and social environment to benefit society and all its
members. Present Canadian society is constituted so
as to put individual freedom in first place by recognizing the sanctity
of private property as the basis on which the relations between people
are established. Such a society has sidelined the human
factor/social consciousness, the human sensuous and material action
which can harmonize the interests of the individuals with those of
their collectives and the interests of the individuals and their
collectives with the general interests of society. In sum, what has
been marginalized is that which is directed towards the full control of
society and its relationship with nature in favour of the people. The
aim is to preserve the status quo and ensure that the door
for the progress of the society is kept shut. The
individual interest of private property has been concentrated into a
force of such gigantic proportions at this time that it has imposed a
state of retrogression on the whole of society in the country and
internationally. It claims that spontaneity and anarchism are normal
traits of people and society as long as they serve its own interests.
Organizing itself to the hilt in the form of coalitions and cartels
which seek to control all decision-making powers, the narrow private
interests claim that there is such a thing as an inherent human nature
in its own image which is egotistical and self-serving. On this basis
it claims that society must be organized accordingly and that nothing
can be done to change the situation. Such a self-serving notion ensures
that only that which facilitates its own existence and expansion and
competition with others of its kind is planned.  By historic
is meant that consideration which is based on a broad view of the
entire development from time immemorial to the present, in general, and
from the time of the Middle Ages in Europe to the present, in
particular. It is the approach which takes into account all the forces
engendered in the present day development and the gravitation inherent
in them. It places fidelity to the ensemble of social relations and
what they reveal in first place, which is not just the abyss and all
the powers of destruction but the face of the New and humanity's
striving for empowerment.
By initiative
is meant putting the human factor/social consciousness at the centre
stage of all developments within the framework of concrete plans of
action designed to achieve the successes required at any time.
By Historic Initiative is meant that
action by the working class which will place the human factor/social
consciousness at the centre stage of all development with a
far-reaching impact on the direction of society, capable of determining
its entire future form and content. By pursuing
this Historic Initiative and working out concrete
plans of action, CPC(M-L) is responding to historic necessity. It is a
plan by CPC(M-L) to ensure that human sensuous and material action is
put at centre stage, controlling the direction of the society and its
relationship with nature so as to benefit society and all its members.
In other words, CPC(M-L) is calling on the working class to transcend
the narrow aims imposed on society by a corrupt ruling elite and open
the door to the progress of society. By opening
the door to the progress of society is meant the creation of
all the factors which will lead to social emancipation by ending the
exploitation of persons by persons. This requires an immediate
conscious move on the part of the working class to set the direction of
the economy, establish a modern constitutional foundation and carry out
democratic renewal which will open the door to the progress of society.
By progress in this case is meant the
creation of a society which cares and provides for all people and their
collectives by virtue of their being human, a society in which the
claims of all people are recognized according to their concrete
objective reality. A conscious, rational and humane society is a
requirement of history at this stage in the development of human
civilization. Bringing it into being is the main content and thrust of
the Historic Initiative until such a time as its
aim is accomplished. By Plan of Action
is specifically meant the period of insistence in which the working
class must put the human factor/social consciousness at the centre
stage of the developments. No other aim must have priority for the
working class during this period. A plan of action is adopted to
consolidate the working class consciousness that it must fulfil its
historic role as the emancipator of humankind. It must do so not just
for its own sake but for the sake of the liberation of entire humanity,
which is the condition for its own emancipation and vice versa.
This Historic Initiative is the
continuation of the initiative of the people of the Renaissance and of
the Age of Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, at which point human
beings and their sensuous material life were put at the centre of human
enterprise in all fields, culminating with the birth of the modern
European nation-state and the ascent of the bourgeoisie on one hand and
its nemesis, the working class, on the other. This gave rise to the
system of governance based on definitions and institutions which
defended private ownership of the means of production and civil
liberties on this basis. With the release of the Manifesto of
the Communist Party, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels further
revolutionized the thinking on this question and put the working class
at the centre stage of history.
The
liberal democratic institutions no longer perform the function they
were established to accomplish. The Authority no longer contains the
police powers. It is no longer guided by a duty to uphold the public
good, and its institutions no longer serve to sort out
differences in the ranks of the owners of private property and control
rebellion and insurrection. Today these forms have passed away and the
private interests of the oligarchs accept no limitations. This main
content of the Historic Initiative is thus to
establish an Authority in accord with the Conditions which enables the
people to exercise control over their lives.  The Historic
Initiative was launched by CPC(M-L) within the very definite
framework of nation-building. By nation-building is
meant fulfilling the need to lay down a modern constitution, change the
direction of the economy, carry out democratic renewal of the political
process and organize the entire affairs of society in a manner which
reconciles individual interests with the interests of their collectives
and harmonizes the individual and collective interests with the general
interests of society. Internationally, it means establishing peace and
harmony between nations by guaranteeing their sovereignty and
developing trade and other relations on the basis of mutual benefit.
Just as the period of the Renaissance and the Age of
Enlightenment affirmed the man of property and the twentieth century
socialist revolution and socialist construction affirmed the working
class and other working people, the present period must affirm the
rights of all people by virtue of their being human and their
collectives by virtue of their objective reality. The affirmation of
all individuals and all their collectives requires that all
exploitation of persons by persons be ended. By affirmation
is meant the act of recognizing that all individuals and their
collectives are free to exercise their rights by virtue of their being
human and on account of their objective reality. Affirmation is that
state of being of all individuals and collectives that accepts no
limitation to its own development. It is an act of bringing forth that
which is most human in the present society and building a modern
society as a guarantee to its unfettered development. The
20th century went down in the chronicles of human development as a
century in which the working class was placed at the centre stage of
development. The concrete expression of that success is the outlook of
the working class, the theory of Contemporary Marxist-Leninist Thought,
and all the attributes of a truly humane society without any
exploitation of persons by persons. What is needed now is to go from
success to victory, an irreversible development in which there is no
turning back.
By success is meant the
recognition of the victory of socialist revolution and socialist
construction, the concrete objective reality of a new system which has
not disappeared. It is to fully appreciate -- the period of
retrogression and reaction which has set in notwithstanding -- that
there has been an advance and a success and that this concrete
objective reality is demanding that the human factor/social
consciousness transform this success into victory.  By victory
is meant the stage at which people will have taken up the centre stage
of all developments by virtue of their being human and on account of
their concrete reality. This is the condition for a truly
modern democratic personality to emerge and forge modern forms of
governance which block retrogression by virtue of vesting
decision-making power and accountability in the people. To accomplish
this there is a need to develop the human factor/social consciousness,
the human sensuous and material action which ensures that people are
placed at the centre stage of history by virtue of their being human
and on account of their objective reality.
Analyzing
the developments during the last thirty and more years on the basis of
facts, CPC(M-L) has concluded that this is a particular period,
characterized by the old forms having passed away and the new forms
having not yet been brought into being. There is not a single country
on earth where people are not demanding an end to neo-liberalism and
its attendant schemes to pay the rich, corruption, anarchy and
violence. People have claims on society based on the recognition that
they are born to society and society is duty-bound to look after them.
By society is meant the modern conditions
at its base in which the entire process of production is social while
the ownership of the means of production is private, blocking the vast
majority of the people -- who have no other way to make their living
except by depending on society -- from having a say in the direction of
the economy and matters of concern. The working people are striving to
eliminate the block to the progress of society. CPC(M-L)'s Historic
Initiative is dedicated to the elaboration of what is
required to eliminate this block.
This article was published in
Volume
51 Number 1 - January 3, 2021
Article Link:
A
Nation-Building Project Like No Other
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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