Revolutionary Workers’ Education

Series
1. About Wages

We workers know that the average wage rate fluctuates. But these
fluctuations are within a certain limit. In this article we will understand
what are the fundamental reasons for the fluctuations in wages within
the capitalist system and how its ultimate limits are determined. But we
will start with some basic things.

Wage labour is the basic condition for the existence of capitalism.

Through this, capital creates and appropriates surplus value which is the
source of profit for the capitalist. The capitalist invests his capital in two
parts: first, in machines, raw materials, infrastructure etc., which we call
fixed capital; second, to hire workers, i.e. to buy the labour power of
workers, which we call variable capital.

Machines, raw materials, etc. do not produce goods on their own. Only
living labour, i.e. working workers, carry out the process of productive
consumption of these machines and raw materials etc., which results in
the production of goods. The investment made in machines, raw
materials etc. in the value of the commodity, i.e. the value of machines,
raw materials etc. is transferred as it is. It cannot create any new value in
itself. That is why the investment made on these is called fixed capital.

The worker creates value equal to the value of the goods required for the
reproduction of his labour power in a part of his day's work, around
which value the wages equal to the value are generally paid to him by the
capitalist. The wages can be above or below the value of labour power
according to the relations of demand and supply of labour power and the
class struggle carried out by the working class to increase its wages.
Depending on the above factors, the wage rate keeps fluctuating.

However, the worker creates surplus value for the capitalist class in the
other part of his working day i.e. the working hours of the day, which the
capitalist receives free of cost without any additional investment. Yet,
from the economic point of view of the capitalist class, the worker is not
cheated! The rule of capitalism is that there is an exchange of
equivalents, that is, as a general rule, only commodities of equal value
are exchanged. But if the capitalist gives back as wages what he takes
from the worker, then where does the profit of the capitalist class come
from? This is what capitalist political economists before Marx could not
understand. Marx understood this for the first time and explained that
the capitalist does not buy the labour of the worker but buys labour
power (that is, his capacity to work for a certain period of time), which in
capitalist society has itself been transformed into a commodity. Everyone
knows that, socially, a producer can produce in a day a surplus of goods
beyond what is necessary for the reproduction of his life. If this were not
so, classes and class divisions would never have arisen in society. The
capitalist political economists of the 18th and 19th centuries were also
aware of the fact that a producer produces more than what is necessary
for his livelihood. Therefore, when the capitalist buys from the worker
his labour power, the value of which is determined by the value of the
goods necessary for the reproduction of labour power, he gives him the
value of his labour power. In this sense, there has been an exchange of
equivalents and the exploitation of the worker cannot be explained as
any kind of “deception” or “theft”. But the labour power of a worker
produces more value in the process of being expended in a working day
than its own value. In other words, labour power produces more labour
in the process of being expended than the labour by which it is produced.

Therefore, the worker works for the reproduction of his labour power in
one part of his working day, which we call necessary labour time, while
in the other part he produces surplus value for the capitalist, which we
call surplus labour time. The worker gets wages for working during the
necessary working hours, while he gets nothing for working during the
extra working hours, and his surplus product is appropriated by the
capitalist, which, when sold, takes the form of surplus value and becomes
the capitalist's source of profit. This is the disgusting little secret of the
capitalist's source of profit.

In the capitalist system, wages take the form of the ‘price of a day’s
labour’ and hide capitalist exploitation because the necessary and
surplus labour time are not separated in time and space, but are
continuous parts of the same working day. Therefore, it appears that
the worker has been paid the ‘price of a day’s labour’. This form of
wages in the capitalist system hides the exploitation of the worker and
puts a veil on capitalist exploitation. In fact, the worker sells his
labour power and in return produces value equal to his labour power
in the necessary labour time and also produces surplus value for the
capitalist in the surplus labour time, which is the source of the
capitalist’s profit. That is, the worker’s working day has two parts, in
one of which value equal to the wages is produced, and in the other,
profit. The working class and the capitalist class are constantly
engaged in a struggle to increase their share in this newly created
value. The working class seeks to increase its wages while the
capitalist class seeks to increase its share of profits relative to wages
by various means. The capitalist class does this by lengthening the
working day (which has a physical limit), which we call absolute
surplus value, and by reducing the cost of reproduction of labour
power, so that total labour time remains the same but the share of
necessary labour time, i.e. the time in which the worker works ‘for
himself’, is reduced relatively and as a result the share of surplus
labour time increases, which in turn increases the rate of surplus
value. This second method is called relative surplus value. As
capitalism advances, the method of increasing surplus value by
relative surplus value becomes more prominent. Surplus value can be
increased in this way only when productivity increases, costs fall and
as a result the average price falls in the industries which produce the
goods necessary for the reproduction of the labour power of the
working class, i.e. the wage-product producing industries. When the
prices of wage-products fall, the value of the worker's labour power
also falls and the capitalist class can reduce his wages (even if this
reduction is not always reflected in the amount of rupees). Therefore,
the capitalist class always wants to reduce the value of labour power,
wants to control the prices of wage-products. It is a different matter
that due to its internal contradictions and the chaotic pace of the
capitalist economy, it is not necessary that it is always able to do so.

Generally, as a historical trend, capitalism reduces the value of every

commodity because it keeps developing productivity for the sake of
profit. The internal competition of the capitalist class and the
competition between the capitalist class and the working class ensures
this. Some people with childish thinking think that the capitalist class
increases profits by increasing prices! The truth is that the very
process by which the capitalist class tries to increase profits is the
same process that develops the productivity of labour and historically
reduces the unit price of all commodities and in the long run, prices
hover around this social price. But the rate of inflation is not
determined only by the declining price of all commodities, but by the
mutual relation between the price of all goods and services and the
average income level of the working class and the common working
people. It is on the basis of the relation between these two that the real
income of the worker and the common working people and the real
rate of inflation are determined. Due to the chaotic pace of the
capitalist economy, there are such periods in capitalism when the real
inflation increases tremendously. We are witnessing one such period
in front of us today.

We have discussed in comparative detail the general and specific,

long-term and immediate causes of inflation in the capitalist system in
the current editorial and we will write more on this separately in the
upcoming issues. But for now it will be enough to understand that the
revolutionary working class understands the phenomenon of inflation
with the analytical tools of its science i.e. Marxism and knows that in
the analysis of inflation we focus on the sphere of production for its
fundamental causes and not on circulation i.e. the circulation of
commodities (their buying and selling process). Changes in circulation
are determined by changes in the sphere of production. They in turn
affect the sphere of production but in the final analysis it is the sphere
of production that plays the determining role. Therefore, the cause of
inflation is not the monopoly rent collected by some monopoly
capitalists through monopoly prices because it does not affect the total
production of value in the entire economy and the amount of value
produced is realized on the scale of the entire economy through the
process of exchange i.e. buying and selling. Even in the immediate
sense, it is not just the monopoly capitalist class that is responsible for
inflation, but the entire capitalist class, including the profiteering
capitalist rich farmers-kulaks, hoarding traders-middlemen, small and
medium capitalists and large monopoly and non-monopoly capitalists,
is responsible. Whenever the supply chains of all goods and services
are broken and disrupted due to economic crisis and/or external
shocks like Covid or war, then this entire capitalist class together loots
the workers and the working population through hoarding,
speculation and selling at high prices. But we should look for the basic
reasons behind selling at high prices in the market, hoarding of goods
and speculation on their prices in the field of production. In the case
of unprecedented increase in inflation in today's times, the basic
reason is the shocks in the field of production, i.e. disruption of supply
chains, due to the chaotic character of the capitalist system and the
profiteering character of the capitalist class. This is not the trick of
some rogue monopolies, shopkeepers, traders etc. It is their class
tendency that on every such occasion they turn disaster into an
opportunity for themselves.

At the same time, the increase in the share of profit in the total newly
produced value is not in itself responsible for the decrease in the
average wages of workers and inflation. It is quite possible that in a
period of boom, the entire production increases, the amount and rate
of profit increases rapidly and the amount and rate of wages also
increase and despite this, the share of wages in the newly produced
value decreases relatively. The opposite of this is also possible. It is
also possible that production may be stagnant, the labour movement
may be strong and the workers may succeed in increasing the
quantity, rate and share of wages in the newly produced value through
their class struggle. The opposite is also possible. It is also possible
that production may be decreasing due to recession, but the capitalists
may succeed in increasing their rate of profit, quantity and share of
profit in the newly produced value. It is certain that if production
remains stable or decreases, then any increase in the share of profit in
the newly produced value will mean a fall in the rate, quantity and
share of wages in the newly produced value, and in case of increase in
market prices or their stability or a relatively slower rate of fall, this
will mean a fall in the average real income of the workers and
labourers and an increase in real inflation for them. Now we come to
the question of the fundamental reasons for the fluctuations in wages
because real inflation and real income cannot be assessed only on the
basis of market prices of goods and services but only on the basis of
their assessment with the average wage rate. Market prices revolve
around production prices in the long run and production prices are
ultimately determined by the social labour used in the production of
goods and services. (Read the editorial of the current issue to
understand the concept of production prices)
Wages are not always equal to labour power. An ‘iron law of wages’
was born in capitalist political economy which believed that wages are
always determined at the level at which the worker can just barely
reproduce his labour power. But Marx pointed out that the working
class does not remain indifferent or passive towards its exploitation
but struggles against it. Along with this, according to the phases of the
capitalist economy, i.e. boom, recession and stagnation, in other
words according to the movement of the average rate of profit, the
investment rates change, the employment rate changes and there is a
difference in the demand and supply of labour power. Along with this,
the wage rate fluctuates and it can go above or below the value of
labour power. These are the two main factors due to whose combined
effect the average wage rate keeps fluctuating. But wages cannot go up
or down any amount by these factors. In other words, the fluctuations
in the average wage rate due to these factors are within certain limits.
What are those limits? Let us understand.
We saw above that capitalism as a historical trend reduces the social
value of all commodities including labour power. We also saw that the
rate of real inflation is determined by the relationship between wages
and the market prices of commodities. And we also saw that due to the
chaotic pace of the capitalist economy and the profiteering of the
capitalist class, during times of economic crisis and external shocks
like an epidemic or war, inflation rises very rapidly and the real wage
rate of the working class also falls drastically. Finally, we also saw that
wages can go above or below the value of labour power depending on
the specific phase of capital accumulation (boom, recession,
stagnation) as well as due to the impact of the class struggle of the
working class. But as a historical trend, wages keep hovering around
the value of labour power. The capitalist class always tries to keep
wages at the lowest possible level in order to increase its rate of profit,
while the working class always fights to increase wages through its
organised economic struggles. It is a struggle between the working
class and the capitalist class to increase their share in the newly
produced value. In the immediate term, it is this struggle that
determines the relative relationship between wages and profit. But in
general, wages can never remain below the value of labour power in
the long term. If the working class as a class is unable to reproduce its
labour power, it will not be able to continue to produce value and
surplus value and profits will not be generated for the capitalist class.
This is why the capitalist state, representing the long-term common
class interests of the capitalist class, set the length of the working day
and a minimum wage in England and in many countries in the
nineteenth century because individual capitalists are by their very
nature incapable of thinking about the long-term common class
interests of the capitalist class. The cutthroat competition of the
market does not allow them to do so. This essential condition of the
physical reproduction of labour power is the physical limit below
which the average wage rate cannot remain for long.

But even the working class cannot raise wages infinitely through its
class struggle. If the average wage rate rises to such an extent that it
reduces the average rate of profit of the capitalist class to such an
extent that the process of capital accumulation itself comes to a
standstill, then the capitalist class will go on an ‘investment strike’,
that is, it will reduce its investment. When he reduces his investment,
the rate of employment falls, the reserve army of unemployed workers
increases relative to the active army of employed workers, the supply
of labour power increases compared to its demand and the average
wage rate goes back down, so that the process of capital accumulation
can be restored smoothly. That is, the process of capital accumulation
and its continuity determine the upper limit of the increase in the
average wage rate.

Therefore, the average wage rate moves within these two limits in the
capitalist system. The reason for this movement is the changing
equation of demand and supply of labour power due to the specific
phase of capitalist accumulation i.e. boom, recession or stagnation
and the ongoing class struggle between the working class and the
capitalist class to increase their share in the newly produced value.
But the fluctuations in the average wage rate due to both these factors
occur only within the above two limits. In sum, it is the entire dynamic
of capital accumulation that sets the limits to the fluctuations in wages
that can occur in a capitalist system. Hence the struggle for wages is
certainly essential for the working class but it is not in itself the final
frontier of the working class struggle. The political goal of the working
class is not to increase wages or to make wages equal for all but to
abolish the wage system itself.
It is essential for us to make the ongoing struggle for wage increase a
part of the struggle for this political goal, otherwise it will be an
economic struggle which will cut us off from our political goal, deprive
us of the ability to think politically and raise political questions, i.e.,
the question of state power. This is what the capitalist class wants. The
trade unions which depoliticize the working class by giving an
economic form to the struggle for the economic demands of the
working class are capitalist trade unions which want to keep the entire
activity of the working class confined within the capitalist boundaries.
In India, all parliamentary leftist electoral parties like CPI(M), CPI,
CPI(ML) Liberation etc. and the central trade unions of other
capitalist parties like CITU, AITUC, INTUC and AICCTU do the same
thing.

We workers should understand the entire system of wages. At the root

of this wage system is the deprivation of the direct producing class
from the means of production and means of consumption and the
monopoly of the capitalist class over these. It is because of this
alienation from the means of production that the working class is
forced to sell its labour power to the capitalists. As long as this
production relation exists, the wage system i.e. wage relations and
capital relations will continue to exist. The political goal of the
working class is to end this system and establish the rule of the
proletariat and a socialist system in which all factories, mines and
farms will be taken over from the capitalist class and converted into
public property and the working class, under the leadership of its
party, will produce and distribute all essential commodities in
appropriate quantities in a planned manner through its state power.
Such a society will not carry out social production by keeping the
profits of a handful of capitalists at the centre, but will produce and
distribute according to the needs of the society. Only then can we free
the workers and liberate the entire humanity from this old hen of
capitalism which can give the world nothing but rotten eggs like war,
poverty, unemployment, environmental destruction, hunger, illiteracy
and the darkness of bad culture. The place for this system is the
dustbin of history and the task of handing it over to this dustbin can
only be done by the broad working masses under the leadership of the
proletariat.

- Abhinav
Revolutionary Workers’ Education
Series
2. Some basic things that are important to understand – 1

This time, instead of directly starting the discussion of political economy,

we will start with some very basic concepts. It is possible that many
comrades may not be able to fully understand many points of this article
published in this issue, but may be able to understand them only
partially. But there is no harm in this. As we understand the economic
relations of capitalist society, the truth of exploitation of the working
class, the fundamental causes of capitalist crises and the basic and main
contradictions of capitalist society, the understanding of the basic
concepts explained in the present article will also develop further. This
article will serve as a reference source for you in the future as well. It will
also help you in the future to understand all things deeply and to develop
a scientific understanding about it. Therefore, if there is difficulty in
understanding some elements of the present article, then there is no
need to worry.

The things we are discussing in the present article and its next part to be
published in the next issue can be considered as a discussion on some
elements of historical materialism, i.e. scientific materialist understanding
of history. After understanding these, the entire economic analysis of
capitalist society will be much easier for you and you will be able to
understand its complex concepts more easily. Therefore, we are causing
you some inconvenience in the beginning, but we are sure that this
inconvenience will prove to be quite useful for you.
Production, productive forces, production relations and the economic
basis of society

The basis of any society is the physical production and reproduction of

human life. Only if man is alive, he can engage in activities like politics,
ideology, education, art, literature, culture, scientific experiments, sports
and entertainment. Man forms a certain relationship with nature for the
physical production and reproduction of his life and transforms it and
molds its resources according to his needs. We call this activity
production. Man transforms nature to produce goods and services useful
for the reproduction of man's physical life. This is man's struggle for
production, i.e. to transform nature according to his needs. Needless to
say, what is useful for man and what is not, is not something
pre-determined or inborn but something that changes historically with the
development of society. For example, a steam engine was not useful for
man of the Palaeolithic age, but it was and is useful for man of the 19th
century. Similarly, stone tools are not useful for man of today, because
his productivity has gone far ahead of stone tools. If a mobile phone or
computer is given to a primitive man, what use can it be for him? What I
mean to say is that which goods or services are useful for man, or in
other words, are use-values, is something that is historically and socially
determined. Obviously, food, clothing and shelter are not the only things
necessary for man to survive. As the productivity of man's labour
developed, the definition of his basic needs also kept changing. It was
written in the 'Bible' itself: "Man will not live on bread alone." As man
struggles to transform nature to meet his needs, his knowledge about
nature also develops. That is, his consciousness develops, his
equipment improves and his skills develop. Along with this, his ability to
transform nature according to his needs also develops. The measure of
the ability that man develops to bring about revolutionary transformations
in nature to produce useful goods for himself is called productive power.

But man never transforms nature alone for production. Production to

fulfill the needs of society is a social activity by its very nature. As long
as the development of productive forces was very low, no division of
labour could have been created in the society and neither could any
social differentiation, i.e., the difference between the rich and the poor,
the difference between the owner and the producer, etc. be created.
With the development of productive forces to a certain level, division of
labour starts taking place in the society. That is, different producers
produce different goods and then obtain the goods required for
themselves through exchange among themselves. It is quite possible
that millions of different producers in the society are producing different
goods. But if we look at it socially, this entire production is not the activity
of a single producer, but the activity of millions of producers, even if they
are running it individually. In today's era, production has directly
assumed a social character. Today, not even a single pin is being made
by a worker alone. Every commodity and service is being produced on a
large scale by thousands of workers, even if this production is
geographically divided into many different parts. Today there is no need
for any deep analysis to see this social character of production. But even
when it was not directly and clearly visible, production was indeed a
social activity.

Now since production is by its very nature a social activity, so while

producing, men form a certain relationship among themselves. At a time
when the development of productive forces was at a very low level,
society was in a primitive state, in which people could barely produce
enough to fulfill the minimum needs of all the people of the tribe by
hunting, collecting tubers and roots and doing some farming, till then
there were egalitarian relationships in the society, there was no high-low
or rich-poor. And there could not be. Because rich and exploitative
people can be born only when there is excess production in the society.
We will talk about this in detail later. Now it is necessary to understand
that according to the level of development of productive forces, certain
relations are formed between people in the society in the process of
production. We call these production relations.

Production relations in turn also affect the development of productive

forces. If production relations are in favour of productive forces, then
they speed up the development of productive forces. When the
development of productive forces progresses and production relations
become outdated, then these production relations start creating
obstacles in the progressive development of productive forces. Later we
will understand these things from historical details. Now it is enough to
understand that the measure of man's ability to revolutionary transform
nature for production is called productive power and the certain relations
that people establish among themselves in this process of production
are called production relations. The sum total of production relations
formed according to the level of development of productive forces is
what we call the economic base or foundation.

There is a continuous conflict i.e. contradiction between productive

forces and production relations and this is the basic factor or
fundamental contradiction that gives momentum to society. In other
words, this contradiction exists in the economic base of society from
beginning to end. Society develops in the process of contradiction
between them, its resolution and then the development of their
contradiction again at a new level. The economic base or foundation is
the area in which this contradiction continues and is responsible for the
movement in it. But the contradiction between the productive forces and
the relations of production cannot in itself change the economic base
qualitatively. This is possible only through political class struggle, which
continues in the area of the superstructure. What is superstructure?

Superstructure and Economic Base

The economic base of a society, that is, the entire structure of its
economic relations, is what constitutes an entire political and ideological
structure.

If we talk about the economic base of a slave society, then in that

society, on the basis of the economic relations of the slave system, an
entire structure or structure of a particular type of politics and ideology is
built, which ultimately serves that specific economic base. In the era of
the slave system, we cannot imagine today's politics based on capitalist
democracy and individualism, the thinking of earning maximum profit,
and the culture of capitalist greed. Capitalist democracy and capitalist
ideologies can ultimately serve only the capitalist economic base and
they can stand only on the foundation of the capitalist economic base.
Similarly, in the feudal era, the feudal landlords and monarchy plunder
the surplus labor of the direct producers through the system of serfdom
and feudal rent. Even in that era, we cannot imagine a thinking and
culture based on capitalist democracy and private profit. In a capitalist
society, the worker is formally “free” in a double sense. First, he
becomes completely “free” from the means of production, that is, he is
completely deprived of the means of production, due to which he is
forced to sell his ability to work, that is, his labour power, to the owner of
the means of production, that is, the capitalist. Second, he can choose
his master himself because he sells his labour power to the capitalist
only for a fixed period of time. He is not the property of his master like a
slave. In Roman society, slave masters used to call a slave a ‘speaking
tool’. In a capitalist society, the worker is not a slave in the absolute
sense, but a wage slave. That is, he is forced to sell his labour power
and serves the capitalist as a slave for wages. Once the worker sells his
labour power to the capitalist for a fixed period, he has no control over
the use of his labour power and the capitalist can use his labour power
as he wishes. In such a system, there is superficial equality of
transactions i.e. ‘equality of exchange’. The worker sells his labour
power to the capitalist for a fixed period and in return he gets wages to
buy the goods required to reproduce his labour power. On the surface,
no exploitation is visible. The exploitation of the worker can be seen only
by penetrating this superficial reality because during his one day of work,
the worker produces the reproducible value of his labour power in a part
of the working day and after that he produces profit for the capitalist for
free, in return for which he gets nothing. As soon as we understand that
labour power is a commodity which in the process of its expenditure
creates more value than its own value, we understand the secret of the
profits of the capitalist class and the truth of equality of exchange is also
revealed. All capitalist and non-capitalist (ordinary) commodity producers
also exchange their commodities in the market on the basis of the
principle of equality of exchange and consider each other's right to
private property as a natural right. This equal exchange in the market i.e.
in the sphere of circulation and the 'natural right' to private property is the
basis of capitalist democracy, while the complete subordination of the
workers to the capitalist after purchasing the labour power in the sphere
of production is the basis of capitalist dictatorship.

The bottom line is that the type of economic base of the society, i.e. the
type of production relations in it, on the basis of that a political and
ideological superstructure is formed in the society. Accordingly, the entire
structure of political power i.e. law, constitution, police, parliament,
assemblies etc. are established, similarly the education system, cultural
system and the framework of all ideologies are built. This superstructure
ultimately serves the economic base, but not every moment, but
ultimately it serves the economic base.

That is, there is a contradiction between the economic base and the
superstructure itself.

The struggle between the working class and the capitalist class begins
with the economic and material demands of the workers, but as this
struggle develops, the working class first understands that the owner is
responsible for its exploitation and not the machines, then understands
that its enemy is not one owner but the entire class of owners, i.e. the
capitalist class, then understands that the capitalist class continues its
exploitation, oppression and suppression through its scepter, i.e. the
state power. As this consciousness of the working class develops, it
becomes aware of its political interests and goals and understands that
the real question is of the state power and as long as the state power of
the capitalist class remains in place, no matter how many militant
economic struggles it fights, its exploitation will not end. With the
development of this political consciousness, the working class organizes
and organizes itself as a political class, i.e. the proletariat class, through
its own struggles. That is, as a class whose aim is to destroy the
capitalist state power and establish its own state power. The highest
form of this political consciousness is to understand the need for a party,
i.e. the party is the development of political consciousness. Only through
the formation of the vanguard party of the proletariat by the advanced
elements of the proletariat does the proletariat reach the highest stage of
organizing itself as a political class to destroy the state power of the
capitalist class and only through that it liberates the vast working
population, i.e. the poor and middle class farmers, the lower middle
class, small commodity producers etc. from the political and ideological
influence of the capitalist class and brings them under its ideological and
political leadership. Only when the proletariat reaches a position to
provide leadership to the entire working masses under the leadership of
its party, can it reach a position to overthrow the capitalist class and its
state power. If it is unable to do so, the capitalist class succeeds in
maintaining its ideological and political dominance among the masses
and thus in maintaining its state power. Only by establishing its state
power can the proletariat resolve the conflict between the productive
forces and production relations present in the economic base, i.e., it can
establish collective property by eliminating the private property relations
that have become a fetter on the development of society, can unblock
the progressive development of productive forces, can organize
production and distribution on the scale of the country in a planned
manner, not according to the private profits of a handful of looters and
the anarchic forces of the market, but according to social needs, can end
exploitation and can move forward towards the creation of a new social
order. In capitalist society, this political contradiction between the
proletariat and the capitalist class, i.e., political class struggle, is the
main contradiction, which is the immediate driving force of society and
takes the development of society from one stage to another. In fact, in
every society, political class struggle is the primary motivating factor that
gives impetus to society in the immediate future. That is why Marx called
class struggle the ‘immediate driving force’ of society and Mao called it
the ‘main contradiction’. Only its solution makes the solution of the
fundamental contradiction i.e. the contradiction inherent in the economic
base as well as all other contradictions possible. In the words of Lenin,
class struggle is the key link.

In short, the conflict of the economic base i.e. the conflict between
productive forces and production relations cannot be resolved on its
own, but the revolutionary transformation of the economic base can
begin only through political class struggle and the consequent
revolutionary transformation of the state power i.e. the political
superstructure.

This is an example of the conflict between the economic base and the
superstructure which continues in various forms even after the
revolution. Because despite the revolutionary transformation of the
political superstructure and the subsequent beginning of the
revolutionary transformation of the economic base, the old ideological
superstructure is not immediately destroyed, nor is the revolutionary
transformation of the economic base complete merely by the legal
abolition of private property.

On the one hand, commodity production continues in the economic base

of society, i.e., commodities are not only produced as useful goods for
society, but their exchange in the form of commodities continues in a
different form. On the other hand, the influence of inequality, exploitation,
oppression and suppression, individualism, greed, ideas, values and
habits based on personal profit, which have been prevalent since the
times of capitalist society and even earlier exploitative societies, still
persists. As a result, the contradictions between the economic base and
the superstructure remain present in new and complex forms.

The basic contradiction within the superstructure is between the political

superstructure and the ideological superstructure. The proletariat class
wages a struggle against the capitalist ideology in society through its
ideology. If the proletariat class conducts its ideological struggle in the
right manner and establishes its supremacy over the capitalist ideology,
then it also strengthens its political class struggle and takes it forward.
But if the working class itself comes under the influence of capitalist
ideologies such as economism, workerism, anarchism etc. and forgets
its historical goal and its vanguard role, then this works to push back its
political class struggle and condemns it to remain under the ideological
and political domination of the capitalist class. This contradiction
between political class struggle and ideological class struggle in the
superstructure continues and is the basic contradiction of the
superstructure, just as the contradiction between productive forces and
production relations is the basic contradiction of the economic base.

Ultimately, the contradiction that explains the dynamics of the history of

the entire human society is the contradiction between the economic base
and the superstructure, which encompasses within itself all aspects of
social life and the contradictions inherent in it.

These are some basic things and concepts, by understanding which we

can fulfil our future tasks well, that is, to understand the exploitation of
the working class in capitalist society, to understand the productive
forces and production relations in capitalist society, to understand their
conflict and to understand that like any other society in history, capitalist
society also has a beginning and an end, capitalism is not immortal. Its
internal conflict ultimately leads to a new advanced society.

In the next issue, in the second part of this article, we will understand
some basic things in the process of development of human knowledge
and after that we will move forward towards the revolutionary scientific
economic analysis of capitalist society

- Abhinav.
Revolutionary Workers’ Education
Series
3. Some basic things that are important to understand – 2

Last time we started by understanding some very basic concepts, such as

productive forces, relations of production, base or economic base,
superstructure, etc. We also understood what is the basic contradiction
inherent in the economic base, what is the basic contradiction inherent
in the superstructure and also how the contradiction between the
economic base and the superstructure explains the movement of the
entire human society. We also understood that the economic
contradiction inherent in the economic base is the basic contradiction of
society and the character of society is determined on the basis of the
nature of this contradiction and that when this basic contradiction
expresses itself in class form, it appears in the form of class struggle and
this is the immediate or unforeseen driving force that sets history or
society in motion. This time we will try to understand how man's
knowledge about nature and society develops.

Why is it important to understand this? It is important to understand

this because in order to change things, things have to be understood. If
we want to change the society which is based on exploitation and
oppression of the working class and the toiling population, then we have
to understand the existing society, we have to gain knowledge of its
history. This also applies to changing nature. Also, without trying to
change society and nature, without coming in direct contact with it, it
cannot be known. Therefore, whether it is a question of revolutionary
transformation of nature or revolutionary transformation of society, it is
very important to understand in depth the process of development of our
knowledge about it. This time we will discuss this topic.

The scientific approach of the working class towards knowledge:

Man's knowledge can be about nature, about society, or it can be

about ideas. Society is an extension of nature. Life developed in a
specific stage of development of nature. The emergence and
development of the human species took place in the process of
development of life. With the development of man, thought developed
to an advanced stage. In this sense, the aspect of nature is
fundamental in the development of nature, society and the world of
ideas in general. The entire material world or reality that exists before
us consists of these three parts: nature, society as its extension and
ideas as an extension of both. Our entire reality exists in these three
parts. Consequently, our knowledge also develops in relation to these
three aspects.

We said above that in order to change things, one has to understand

things. But how are things understood? Do learned people create
knowledge about nature and society as well as the world of ideas in
their study rooms? Does knowledge drop from the sky? That is, is
there a divine power above this material world that gives birth to
knowledge? Some people believed that knowledge is created by a
person with his mind. Such people believed that knowledge is created
in the human brain. There are others who believe that the world is
actually a manifestation of God or some divine idea and that
knowledge about everything is predetermined by some divine law and
that we just have to understand that religious or spiritual law and then
we can acquire knowledge about everything. Those who believe that
knowledge is a product of the human mind are called subjective
idealists. Those who see the source of knowledge in some divine or
spiritual power that existed before and beyond the physical world are
called objective idealists. Both of them believe in idealistic thinking:
that is, they do not consider physical reality to be fundamental and
primary, but consider thought to be primary. The first sees the source
of this idea in God or spirituality, while the second considers the
source of this idea to be the human mind or brain.

Impossible thinking cannot explain where and how knowledge arises.

The working class has a materialistic view. The materialistic view is
the correct and scientific view. What is the materialistic view about
knowledge?

The materialist view clearly states that thought does not exist
independent of or apart from matter. On the contrary, thought is a
property of an advanced stage of the evolution of matter, i.e., a
property of the brain. Before the brain arose, thought did not exist.
Physical reality exists independent of and outside consciousness, and
consciousness is a reflection or shadow (right or wrong, or partially
right or wrong) of this physical reality. For example, even if you have
never seen a lion, the existence of a lion is beyond question! A lion is
not created by your seeing it; rather, you see it because it exists and
thus your knowledge of it is created!

But the working class is not only materialist about knowledge, but also
dialectician. What does this mean?
This means that knowing and changing the world are interconnected.
Neither can the world be known without changing it, nor can it be
changed systematically without knowing it. Some people believe that
the world, that is, physical reality, has an existence independent of
thoughts, but it is not possible to know it because there is no way to
ensure whether our senses like eyes, nose, ears, tongue, skin etc. are
telling us the right thing about the world or not. Such people are called
agnostics (अज्ञेयवादी). They do not understand the unity of existence
and consciousness. ‘Agyeya’ means that which cannot be known. But
the philosophy of the working class opposes agnosticism and says that
the world can be known. The criterion for whether our knowledge
about the world is correct or not is also practice. An agnostic
philosopher asked: “My eyes are telling me that there is an apple in
front of me, but how can I be sure that it is an apple? How can I be
sure that my senses, that is, my eyes, are telling me the truth?” The
philosophy of the working class answered this: “Eat an apple and
change its shape, you will know whether it is an apple or not!” The
working class, unlike agnostics, believes that the world can be known.
But the working class also believes that the world is constantly in
motion and our senses have a limit to see it. Therefore, the working
class knows and believes that our knowledge is always incomplete,
relative, and constantly in motion. Therefore, there is no absolute
knowledge, except an endless series of relative knowledge. Agnostic
people break the relationship between the physical world and
knowledge about it, do not understand their unity.

At the same time, there are some people who consider the world to be
basically immutable. They believe that all changes in the world are
quantitative, that is, they occur in the form of increase or decrease in
things or only in the form of change in their position. Since there is no
qualitative change in matter, the world is not dynamic for them and
the knowledge about it is also not dynamic. Such people are called
metaphysical. That is, those people who do not believe in qualitative
change and movement and see some external power behind
quantitative change, not the internal contradiction present within
things.

But the truth is that everything in the world is created from its
internal contradiction and due to that internal contradiction it is
constantly in motion. And similarly, the knowledge about everything
is also constantly in motion, not static. You cannot find any ultimate
absolute truth about anything and if there is any ultimate absolute
truth then it is only this that everything is constantly in motion and
man's knowledge about it is also constantly in motion.

Now let us return to our basic question: how does human knowledge
develop? As we said earlier, if we want to change something, it is
necessary to know and understand it. For example, if we want to
change the existing capitalist society based on the exploitation of the
working class, we will have to understand it. But the work of
understanding cannot be done by sitting in study rooms, although the
importance of study is also very fundamental in the process of
knowing. Later we will see why and how?

To know things, it is necessary to come in contact with them. Of

course, today we can get all the information about all the things in the
world, about people, about places from books, television, radio,
newspapers (although all these forms of media under the control of
the capitalist class are today more tools for spreading ignorance than
knowledge!). For us, this is indirect knowledge. But the indirect
knowledge for us, that is, that which we have not got by coming in
contact with these things, people, places etc., is also direct knowledge
of something or the other. There cannot be any knowledge which is
not direct knowledge of something, whether it is about objects, about
persons or about places. In fact, any knowledge about any object or
process is basically direct knowledge, even if it is obtained indirectly
through various means. Therefore, the source of knowledge is social
behavior. When man comes into contact with nature for the
production and reproduction of his life, when he participates
consciously or unconsciously in the class struggle of society and when
he conducts scientific experiments to transform ideas, only then can
he produce and develop his knowledge about nature, society and the
world of ideas. Apart from this, there is no other way to know the
world.
When man transforms nature to meet the material needs and
prerequisites for the production and reproduction of his life (because
production is basically possible only by transforming nature), he
develops his knowledge about nature step by step. Knowledge about
agriculture begins with agriculture, not from books written about
agriculture! The knowledge of making all things has also arisen from
the process of production, that is, the process of interaction with
nature, whether they are made of metal, wood, whether they use
minerals and chemicals, or any other thing, because the raw material
required for the manufacture of every product is obtained from
nature. The products that are being made in today's era, which are in
the form of some useful service or effect and which cannot be touched,
their production is also not possible without interaction with nature,
even though it may not be visible directly. For example, a computer
software. But to make a computer software, computer hardware is also
required, for the manufacture of which many raw materials are
required, which are basically obtained from nature. As production
develops, man's knowledge about nature also develops. Therefore,
man's knowledge about the basic aspect of physical reality, that is,
nature, arises and develops through the basic form of social behavior,
that is, the struggle for production.

With the development of production, society also enters new stages.

When production was very less developed and primitive tribes could
produce only so much through hunting and gathering tubers and roots
and a little farming that all the members of the tribe could barely
afford to eat, then classes could not arise within the tribes. Some
people can capture a larger share of production only when there is so
much production that a social surplus remains, that is, the amount of
production that remains after the reproduction of the means of
production and labor power. In such a situation, a handful of people
establish their control and then ownership over this additional
production and with the help of this, they disconnect themselves from
productive labor. Those who have control over the social surplus also
gradually succeed in converting the means of production and land into
private property. Those who control and own a large part of the means
of production and have control over the social surplus form the ruling
class in society, while the rest of the population forms the ruled
population, which includes the direct producing class and such
intermediate classes, which are neither directly the ruling class nor are
directly involved in direct production, but are engaged in intellectual
and other types of professions or are employees of the ruling class.
Without surplus production along with the development of productive
forces, the division of society into classes is not possible. When classes
emerge in society, the ruling class needs an instrument to maintain its
dominance, which forcibly subjugates the ruled classes and also plays
a role in establishing ideological influence on them. With this, the
army, armed forces, police, bureaucracy, judiciary, etc. come into
existence. These institutions are collectively called the state power.
Therefore, as productive forces develop with the transformation of
nature by the productive classes and as production increases and the
stage of creation of social surplus is reached, the process of emergence
of classes begins, class societies come into existence, class struggle
begins and state power rises.

With participation in class struggle, the ruling class and the ruled class
develop their knowledge about society. Obviously, this knowledge has
a direct class character. The “knowledge” of the ruling class actually
serves to hide the truth, that is, it is ideological, because their interest
lies in protecting exploitation, oppression, injustice and inequality. On
the contrary, the knowledge of the working class about society
represents the truth because its interest lies in eliminating
exploitation, oppression, injustice and inequality and hence it is
scientific. Therefore, the proletariat class acquires true knowledge
about society only with the development of its knowledge through
class struggle. Only the proletariat could do this because it is deprived
of all means of production, is “free in a double sense” (i.e. free to sell
its labour power to any capitalist and free from the means of
production!), is engaged in advanced industrial production, is engaged
in large-scale social production and has the ability to transcend
narrow intellectual boundaries. It is the proletariat class whose
surplus labour is used by the capitalist class to make profit and this
profit is the basis of the capitalist class and capitalist society. But even
before the proletariat, the rebellion of the oppressed and exploited
classes against the exploiting and ruling classes and their class
struggle against them within the limits of their era and the nature of
their class have been the source of knowledge about society.

The proletariat class comes into existence with the first global and
most dynamic mode of production, i.e. capitalism and hence it is the
most revolutionary class in history because being deprived of all forms
of private property, it has a universality and it is only this class that
can lead the broad working masses in abolishing the system of private
property and establishing a more scientific system based on collective
property, i.e. socialism. But before that, the class struggle of slaves,
peasants, artisans and especially the revolutionary bourgeoisie in their
respective eras also developed knowledge within the limits of their
era. The proletariat class is the true heir of this entire knowledge and
it is only this class that can develop it further by negating its class
prejudices or narrow limits. Today, with the capitalist class becoming
the ruling and oppressive class, it has lost the revolutionary role that it
had till the time it was fighting feudalism as a ruled class. When it
itself became the ruling class, it itself became a repressive and
oppressive class and now it is no longer an agent of taking forward the
knowledge about society and about it, but has become a force that
maintains the status quo, i.e., takes history backwards, i.e., it has
become a reactionary force.

Today, the task of developing knowledge about society and about it

can only be done by the most revolutionary class in history, i.e., the
proletariat class, through its class struggle. However, it is clear that
the second most important source of knowledge is this second form of
social behavior, i.e., class struggle. Class struggle does not take place
only in economic forms, but also in political and ideological forms,
and in fact, political and ideological struggles are of special
importance for the revolutionary transformation of society, although
all these three forms of class struggle are inextricably linked. This
form of knowledge can develop only in conjunction with the struggle
for the transformation of society, and in turn, it is knowledge that can
guide the revolutionary transformation of society and in the process
develop itself to ever higher levels.

In addition, man also brings about a revolutionary transformation of

his world of ideas through his scientific experiments. These scientific
experiments do not take place only in the laboratories of science, but
also in the process of production and class struggle itself. Scientific
experiments are actually for the revolutionary transformation of ideas.
For example, in socialist Russia, when the workers' power was
established, the workers challenged the monopoly of the capitalist
experts on experiments and technical development of production and
took this task into their own hands. Thus the workers attacked the
capitalist division of labour in production and the division of mental
and physical labour. This was a scientific experiment in the ongoing
struggle for production which elevated the consciousness of the
workers. In China too, under the leadership of the Communist Party
of China and especially Mao, the working class and the poor peasants
carried out great scientific experiments in the production process and
set up experiments like Tachai and Taching in agricultural and
industrial production, which not only increased productivity rapidly
but also attacked the division of mental and physical labour by
attacking the monopoly of capitalist experts and intellectuals in
experiments and innovation. Similarly, in the ongoing class struggle in
society, the proletariat also carried out many experiments which
include the establishment of workers' committees, organising Soviets,
establishing communes, etc. These scientific experiments in the class
struggle brought about a revolutionary transformation of the ideas of
the proletariat.

In the process of scientific experiments in a socialist society, the

participation of the working class and the general working class keeps
increasing and scientific experiments also become an issue of the
masses because now the working class and the working people also
have the time to participate in scientific experiments. He is free from
capitalist exploitation, oppression and working hard for 10-12 hours
for the profits of the capitalists. He now has the time, desire and
creativity for these scientific experiments. Now he knows that as a
class he has a collective right over the entire wealth of the country and
he is not subject to the monopoly of the capitalists.

But in a capitalist society, the working class as a class and the entire
working class as a group cannot participate in scientific experiments
because in a capitalist society, the life of the common working
population is not such that it can participate in scientific experiments,
whether they are in the process of production, in class struggle, or in
scientific laboratories. In a capitalist society, scientific experiments
are either participated by capitalist and petty-bourgeois intellectuals
or the party of the working class. As far as capitalist intellectuals are
concerned, they serve the capitalist class and they also carry out
scientific experiments for the interests of the capitalist class and by
surviving on their crumbs. As far as petty-bourgeois and middle class
intellectuals are concerned, they are generally victims of
individualism. The strength of the working class is its collectivity. A
single worker has no power in a capitalist society and it is only
through his unity and organization that he can defeat the capitalist
class and its state power. But the life of an intellectual is such that he
feels that he does everything in his life on the basis of his personal
talent or his personal knowledge. Apparently, he achieves any
achievement or position in life on the basis of his personal ability. His
isolated life situation rarely gives him the ability to understand that
his ability, his knowledge and his talent are basically and primarily
created in the society and the labor of the working class is also at its
foundation. All the needs of his physical existence are also fulfilled by
the working class and the source of his knowledge is also social
behavior. Therefore, if such petty-bourgeoisie or middle-class
intellectuals accept Marxism even on paper, they have difficulty in
accepting the collectivity of the working class, accepting the discipline
of the organization and sacrificing their personal likes and dislikes in
view of the needs of the revolution.

Only such middle-class intellectuals can truly become revolutionary

intellectuals of the proletariat who have truly internalized Marxism
and the goals of the proletariat and have waged a ruthless and
uncompromising struggle against the capitalist ideologies of
individualism, egoism, etc. while keeping the interests of the
revolution and the organization at the helm.

- Abhinav