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Jose Maria Canlas Sison, also known as Joma, was a Filipino writer, poet, and activist who founded and led the Communist Party of the Philippines and added elements of Maoism to its philosophy—which would be known as National Democracy.

Issue #136 we draw from Sison's Basic Principles of Marxism-Leninism: A Primer  where he explains how a society is ready for revolution when outdated economic structures can no longer support advancing productive forces, sparking intense class struggle that culminates in the oppressed seizing state power to establish a new social order.

A society is ripe for a radical transformation when the forces of production have grown to the point that they can no longer be contained by the relations of production obtaining. In a manner of speaking, the integuments of society are burst asunder. The socioeconomic crisis leads to a political crisis in which the ruling class is unable to rule in the old way, the people are desirous of revolutionary change and there is a revolutionary party strong enough to lead the revolution.

Under these conditions, the struggle between the ruling class and the ruled class intensifies. The ruling class tries to preserve the outmoded relations of production and mollify or suppress the ruled class. The latter is determined to overthrow the ruling class and seeks to change the old relations of production. The class struggle rises from the mode of production to the superstructure and the whole of society. The ruling class tries to make use of the superstructure, especially the State, in order to preserve the outmoded relations of production. Likewise, the ruled class tries to make use of anything it can in the superstructure and hasten to create the political and cultural means in its favor. Thus, the superstructure becomes a field of class struggle.

In the course of class struggle, reforms or revolution may occur. Under certain circumstances, the relations of production may still be adjusted and concessions granted to the ruled class. Or the ruling class may simply refuse to make reforms, even when still possible, and thus provoke a revolutionary upheaval that takes the form of armed revolution by the ruled class. Conditions may also reach such a point that mere reforms would no longer suffice to preserve the relations of production.

The ultimate weapon of any ruling class in order to retain its class rule is the State as an instrument of coercion. It is openly used to repress the ruled class when all assuasive means such as the parliament and other civil institutions fail to appease the ruled class.

In the face of flagrant armed repression by the State, the ruled class is induced to resist and organize its own revolutionary party and armed force. If the ruled class does not fight, it continues to be dominated by an outmoded relations of production and by the state power of the exploiting class. But the tendency of the ruled class to struggle for its own rights and interests will still be there. If the ruled class chooses to fight and organizes an armed force, it is determined to change the relations of production and establish a completely new society.

In the face of flagrant armed repression by the State, the ruled class is induced to resist and organize its own revolutionary party and armed force. If the ruled class does not fight, it continues to be dominated by an outmoded relations of production and by the state power of the exploiting class. But the tendency of the ruled class to struggle for its own rights and interests will still be there. If the ruled class chooses to fight and organizes an armed force, it is determined to change the relations of production and establish a completely new society.

Reformism rejects the theory and practice of social revolution, especially that which entails the armed overthrow of the reactionary State. It is a system of thought that insists on pursuing an indefinite series of reforms to improve the incumbent exploitative and oppressive class society.

History has shown that, independent of the wishes of the reformists, the political crisis in a capitalist society can lead to the inciting moment that triggers the acceleration and climax of the revolutionary process of seizing political power. It has also shown that in an underdeveloped and semi-feudal society, with a large peasant population, the chronic socioeconomic and political crisis provides the basis for a protracted people’s war of encircling the cities from the countryside.

In Marxism, the armed seizure of political power by an oppressed and exploited class is the central task of revolution and is the necessary prelude to all-round social revolution. Without political power in its hands, the proletariat cannot make the social revolution. This social revolution involves essentially the total transformation of the relations of production. It also involves a prolonged process of totally transforming the superstructure, making it correspond to and thereby enhance the relations of production.

The historic revolutionary mission of the proletariat is not limited to an armed seizure of power. It extends over a long period of struggle from the change of political power to the period of socialist revolution and construction until the dawn of communism. It is bourgeois or feudal confusion of mind or misinterpretation of Marxism to narrow down social revolution to a mere spasm of violence.

The Marxist understanding of revolutionary violence as the people’s sovereign right against oppression is no different from that of the liberal-democrat. Such right is always implicitly or explicitly upheld in liberal-democratic constitutions. The only difference lies in the goals: the Marxist wants socialism and the liberal democrat wants capitalism.

Excerpted with permission from Basic Principles of Marxism-Leninism: A Primer by Jose Maria Sison, published by the Foreign Languages Press.

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