Differences between Maoism and Marxism-Leninism - Essay Example

Maoism and Marxism-Leninism China was one of the countries in which operated under imperialism. Capitalism was the main development strategy. Many people felt that capitalism led to exploitation of the poor by colonial states. This led to emergence of political parties, for example, the Vanguard Party and development strategies, for example, Maoism Marxism, Leninism and later Marxism-Leninism. They were meant to initiate developments in a way that would directly benefit the people and end exploitation of the poor and end capitalism. Differences between Maoism and Marxism-Leninism Marxism-Leninism was developed by Mao Zedong. It resulted from the merging of Leninism and Marxism. A believe that natural decay of capitalism could not lead to spontaneous emergence of socialism or revolutionary proletarian is the main ideology of the Marxism-Leninism. Marxism-Leninism concerns itself with the working class. It is led by a revolutionary Vanguard Party. The party was meant to give professional help to the working class so that they could overthrow capitalism violently. As the first stage towards communism, dictatorship of the proletariat was to be put in place (Lee, 1978). According to Marxism-Leninism the exportation of capital to colonies had caused many workers not to opt for revolution. Therefore, imperialism could be fought better by developing the world. Under Marxism-Leninism a vast industrialization and collectivization Programme is used to build communism. It adds theories to what was considered as ‘age of capitalist imperialism’ by Vladimir Lenin and other communists. It also expands on Marxists’ thoughts (MacFarquhar and Schoenhals, 2006). Maoism on the other hand is a variant of the practice and theory of Marxism. Maoism was formed to allow for the application of the Marxism development policies in the rural areas not the urban proletariat. It was to apply to the Chinese peasantry. According to Marxism alienation was the main trait of people in class society therefore communism was meant to make people full freedom and undertake development willingly and in a more friendly way. It was also formed by Mao-Zedong, a Chinese leader (Thurston, 1988). Effect of Maoism and Marxism-Leninism on China’s development policies in the 1950s Until the 1950s, China as a Soviet- Guided nation used centralization as a strategy for economic development. This was the soviet’s model. According to Clark (2008), the soviet’s model entailed heavy industrialization. Secondary priority was delegated to consumer goods. During the 1950s, Maoism and Marxism-Leninism led to the end of capitalism in China and adoption of communism. This was a high level socialism. On the contrast, Maoism and Marxism-Leninism development strategies laid emphasis on consumer goods while not putting aside industrial production (Lu, 2004). Following Soviet precedents, the control of the state sector was decentralized by the Chinese government. The control of the state sector was to be done by the provincial governments. This was however overtaken by Mao’s contrasting form of decentralization called ‘Maoism’ in which development plans were to be directly entrusted to the villages. Maoism led to the Great Leap Forward that occurred in 1950s in China. It gained support because it addressed the peasant’s lack of sophistication. Maoism supported this as a positive value. The peasants were did not concur with the technological, intellectual elites (Gao, 2008). The Great Leap Forward led to a campaign against modern revolution. This campaign was meant to encourage self-initiated developments that were meant to transform the lives of the rural communities. The Great Leap Forward was ruthless and had little regard for interruptions from local or regional interpretation. Under the ‘Great Leap Forward’, industrialization was to be based on labor-intensive methods, for example, manpower instead of heavy machinery. It led to great agrarian revolution in China. Solomon (1971, reveals that ideological purity and not expertise were emphasized on by agricultural and political decisions. In 1958, the people living in rural areas /peasants were organized into communes. Communities were disrupted as people had to be resettled. Backyard steel furnaces were advocated for instead of steel industries. In areas were skills and resources existed, village iron and steel-making were made compulsory. Full communes were announced in some extreme cases. Here, the peasants shared courtyards, had field kitchens. The commune was made one big farm though it differed with the original concept to some extend. Other communes were prosperous others were not. Bitterness was experienced where the prosperous villages were forced to invest to help the poor ones under the commune. This encouraged Cadres, which is a Chinese local party, to implement the Stalinist Command Economy Right in the villages (Chang and Halliday 2005). The Great Leap Forward was driven by enthusiasm but it later turned to hubris. Neighboring leaders started to compete with one another initially. Initially, the initiative was meant to be democratic but with time, coercion was used. As a result of this many tasks were undertaken stretching the normal 30% surplus of the rural labour force to its breaking point (Frederick, 2000). According to Dittmer and Chen (1981), the Great Leap Forward was affected so fast leading to many errors. The situation was worsened by a series of natural disasters that occurred. This caused the Soviet technical personnel to withdraw. It severely disrupted agriculture in China leading to widespread famine between 1958 and 1962. It led to the death of 35-50 million people between 1959 and 1961. Marxism- Leninism demanded that regional inequalities that resulted from colonialism should be reduced. Through the efforts of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) the backward inland areas were developed. The inland areas were developed without neglecting the coastal areas. This led to development of regions that lagged behind economically. As the Chairman of the Peoples Republic of China, Mo Zedong ensured appropriate allocation of resources to these areas. Appropriate resource allocation of resources was one of the main concerns of the First Five-Year –Plan (FYP) of 1952-1957. This led to a decline in inequalities in regional industrial output. Maoism and Marxist –Leninism posed many advantages to the people of China especially in succeeding to end capitalism. As time progressed, these development strategies led to ‘cellular economy’ hence regional inequality continued again. This is because it made it difficult to transfer resources from the prospering and more economically endowed regions to those that were lacking behind. This calls for better development policies so as to reduce to the most minimal level possible. Policies to deal with unequal geographical distribution of resources should be formulated and implemented. References Chang J and Halliday. J (2005). Mao: The Unknown Story. London. Jonathan Cape. Clark P (2008). The Chinese Cultural Revolution: A History. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. Dittmer L and Chen. R (1981) Ethics and rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Studies in Chinese Terminology. Frederick T (2000). The Chinese State during the Maoist Era in David Shambaugh, (ed), The Modern Chinese State. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Gao, M (2008). The Battle for Chinas Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution. London: Pluto Press. Lee H (1978). The Politics of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Berkeley: University of California Press. Lu X. (2004) Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: The Impact on Chinese Thought, Culture, and Communication. UNC Press. MacFarquhar R and Schoenhals M (2006). Maos Last Revolution. Harvard University Press. Solomon R (1971). Maos Revolution and the Chinese Political Culture. Berkeley and Los Angeles. University of California Press. Thurston A (1988). Enemies of the People: The Ordeal of Intellectuals in Chinas Great Cultural Revolution. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Read More