Refute Right-Deviationist Views That Depart From the General Line

#PUBLICATION NOTE

This edition of Refute Right-Deviationist Views That Depart From the General Line has been prepared and revised for digital publication by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism under the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Switzerland on the basis of the following edition: Refute Right Deviationist Views That Depart From the General Line, in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Vol. 5, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1977.

#INTRODUCTION NOTE

This is an excerpt from a speech delivered by Comrade Mao Zedong at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the 15th of June, 1953. It was first published in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 5, in 1977.

In the speech, Comrade Mao Zedong refutes the Right-opportunist views, such as «firmly establish the new-democratic social order», put forward by Liu Shaoqi and others.

#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!

#REFUTE RIGHT-DEVIATIONIST VIEWS THAT DEPART FROM THE GENERAL LINE

#EXCERPT FROM A SPEECH DELIVERED AT A MEETING OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA

#Mao Zedong

#15th of June, 1953

#★

The general line or the general task of the Party for the transitional period¹ is fundamentally to accomplish the industrialization of the country and the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicrafts, and capitalist industry and commerce in 10 to 15 years, or a little longer. This general line is a beacon illuminating our work in all fields. Do not depart from this general line, otherwise «Left-wing» or Right-wing mistakes will occur.

Some people think the period of transition is too long and give way to impatience. This will lead to «Left»-deviationist mistakes. Others have remained where they were after the victory of the democratic revolution. They fail to realize there is a change in the character of the revolution and they go on pushing their «New Democracy» instead of socialist transformation. This will lead to Right-deviationist mistakes. Take our agriculture for instance, the socialist road is the only road for it. The Party's central task in the rural areas is to develop the mutual-aid and cooperative movement and constantly raise productivity in agriculture.

The Right-wing deviation manifests itself in three remarks:

«Firmly establish the new-democratic social order.» That's a harmful formulation. In the transitional period, changes are taking place all the time and socialist factors are emerging every day. How can this «new-democratic social order» be «firmly established»? It would be very difficult indeed to «establish» it «firmly»! For instance, private industry and commerce are being transformed, and if an order is «established» in the second half of the year, it will no longer hold «firm» next year. And changes are taking place in mutual aid and cooperation in agriculture from year to year, too. The period of transition is full of contradictions and struggles. Our present revolutionary struggle is even more profound than the revolutionary armed struggle of the past. It is a revolution that will bury the capitalist system and all other systems of exploitation once and for all. The idea, «Firmly establish the new-democratic social order», goes against the realities of our struggle and hinders the progress of the socialist cause.

«Move from New Democracy toward socialism.» That's a vague formulation. Moving toward the goal and nothing more, moving toward it year in and year out, and still moving toward it after a lapse of 15 years? Merely moving toward it means that the goal has not been reached. The formulation sounds plausible, but does not bear scrutiny.

«Sustain private property.» Since the middle peasants are afraid of «becoming too conspicuous» and having their property «communized», some people have raised this slogan to put them at ease. But that is not right.

We have proposed a step-by-step transition to socialism. This is a better formulation. When we say «step-by-step», we mean that the steps are to be spread out over 15 years and over the 12 months in each year. Going too fast means erring to the «Left»; standing still means erring too much to the Right. We must oppose «Left-wing» and Right-wing deviations and make a step-by-step transition until the whole process is completed.