What Is State Capitalism?

State capitalism is a concept put forward by Lenin to describe the characteristics of the development of capitalism. It shows that the role of the state in the development of capitalism has been continuously enhanced. It mainly includes two meanings:

State capitalism

State capitalism is a concept put forward by Lenin to describe the characteristics of the development of capitalism. It shows that the role of the state in the development of capitalism has been continuously enhanced. It mainly includes two meanings:

The first refers to the control of the state power over enterprises. "National capitalism is the capitalism in the capitalist system where the state power directly controls these or those capitalist enterprises."

The second refers to the state's supervision and regulation of the development of capitalist economy. "Monopoly capitalism is changing to state monopoly capitalism. Due to the situation, many countries have implemented social regulation of production and distribution."

Chinese name

State capitalism

Foreign name

state capitalism

Definition

Capital and

National capitalism is a concept proposed by Lenin to describe the characteristics of the development of capitalism. It shows that the role of the state in the development of capitalism has been continuously enhanced. It mainly includes two meanings: one is the control of the state power over enterprises, "the state Capitalism is capitalism under the capitalist system where the state power directly controls these or those capitalist enterprises. " The second refers to the state's supervision and regulation of the development of capitalist economy. "Monopoly capitalism is changing to state monopoly capitalism. Due to the situation, many countries have implemented social regulation of production and distribution." According to the "state capitalism" theorists, state capitalism and free capitalism are two forms of capitalism that are diametrically opposed. However, looking at historical facts, we can see that the emergence and development of capitalism has always been inseparable from the role of the state. ^[1]

Relationship with Monopoly Capitalism

"country

Germany and Japan

In the nineteenth century, great men such as Liszt, Hegel, and Bismarck appeared, and even greater great Marx appeared. Now re-reading Marx's work, a new discovery is so great that Marx did not seem to pay much attention to the fate of his motherland (Germany) at that time, but instead immersed himself in the international struggle of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, The coming great class struggle provided theoretical ammunition. To this end, Marx, as the greatest enemy of capitalism, has analyzed in depth the operating mechanism of the capitalist society, the profound contradictions of the capitalist society, and the cycle of the decline and decline of the capitalist society. The correctness of Marx's theory, and the evolution of global society over a hundred years behind him, have given the most sufficient proof. Until this moment, his theory also revealed the basic roots of the contradictions in today's society. In order to solve problems, people had to pick up his books and read them again and again.

The Communist Manifesto is a representative work of Marx. In this short article, in addition to pointing out the irreconcilable contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, he also expounded the power of capitalism in a larger space. He also criticized various forms of "socialism" with a larger space, and pointed out that the common feature of these "socialism" is "feudal coat of arms." Here Marx believes that capitalism is superior to feudalism, and what is most alert is that the ruling class in the feudal era will be restored in the name of socialism. The main body of the ruling class in feudal society is the official and aristocratic classes. After the Paris Commune, Marx put forward many ideas of state management when he proposed the idea of breaking the old state machine and establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat. And the state power must be operated by officials. For the officials who have mastered the new state machinery, Marx only proposed immature ideas such as paying equal wages to workers, implementing a universal suffrage system for the working class, and allowing them to be replaced at any time. To further analyze Marx's concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat, there is a basic point that is to rely on the state power of the dictatorship of the proletariat to restrict capital, and even to directly manage capital. The state is managed by the officials, and the reliance on the power of the state will inevitably form a dependence on the officials. The ultimate question becomes who controls and manages the officials. Marx was alert to this issue, but did not answer it seriously. The main reason here was that apart from a Paris Commune, which existed only for a few days, there was no regime that had achieved the dictatorship of the proletariat. As a result, in the theoretical foundation of Marx, a wicked door was left for the revival of the bureaucratic class.

In the era of Marx, the free capitalist system was in a rising period. In this rising period, in addition to the contradictions of capitalists and workers, the contradictions of capitalism also reflected the contradictions of the feudal forces represented by the capitalists and the old royal nobility. In this contradiction, Marx believes that capitalists are progressive forces, while the traditional state power represented by the aristocracy is reactionary. At this time Marx was on the side of the capitalists. In this way, the dual powers of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat united into a united front, giving the traditional state power fatal long-term pressure, and ultimately laid the very solid foundation of the free capitalist system in the entire West. In countries that practice a free capitalist system, the government must not interfere with the freedom of capitalists under any pretext. Free capitalism has grown and developed rapidly. In order to accelerate the development of the later Germany and Japan, the use of national capitalism was accused of violations and was suppressed by the free capitalist world system. This is evidenced by Hayek's The Road to Slavery. In the book, Hayek points out that as long as the country is shaken a little, the country will be strong, independent from the capitalists, and the capitalists will be enslaved by the state.

Lenin had a clearer definition of state capitalism, and pointed out that after the founding of the Soviet Union, it was first necessary to use state capitalism, the tool closest to socialism. Lenin highly admired Germany's state capitalism and said: State capitalism is the only step towards socialism. The state capitalism led by the proletariat is completely the opposite of the state capitalism led by the German bourgeois officials, and this efficient capitalist approach is turned to serve the poor. In contrast, Lenin was most wary of tens of millions of small producers, believing that they were producing (free) capitalism every moment. Lenin's view is to prevent and limit spontaneous, large-scale enemies from appearing in the capitalist country. This enemy is the force of free capitalism. It is now understood that the reason why Lenin pursued state capitalism was limited by Marx's principle of "productivity determines production relations." Among the self-interested people, the economy is bound to engage in commodities, exchange of commodities, there is a market, there is an independent accounting of market units, there is profit, so there is exploitation, there is capital. In these respects, state capitalism is not much different from the essence of liberal capitalism. Change only changes in the country's core capital to be controlled by state officials (cadres), while officials under the dictatorship of the proletariat are under the supervision of the proletariat and must serve the poor.

Stalin and Mao's Socialist Practice

Lenin died in 1924. After Lenin's death, Stalin and Tolowski, Bukharin, Zinoviev, and other veteran revolutionaries in the party have discussed whether they can adhere to the dictatorship of the proletariat within a country for a long time, and whether socialism can be established within a country. The big issue of life and death in the Soviet Union caused heated debate. Stalin insisted that socialism can be built in one country, while others and others held different views. The result of the debate is well known. Stalin achieved a complete victory. Tolosky was expelled from the country and exiled. Bukharin and Zinoviev were expelled from the party and shot. After Lenin's death, the Soviet Union announced the successful conclusion of the new economic policy, began to include all industries in the state-owned track, and in the rural areas it fully promoted collective farms and state-run farm systems. From 1928, the Soviet Union began to implement the first five-year national economic development plan. This is a great pioneering work. For the first time in human history, a highly disciplined and efficient bureaucratic group has used the power of the country to successfully coordinate the construction of a large country's industrial economy and even the entire national economy. The fundamental difference between this impetus for economic construction and liberal capitalism is that it is an economic development driven by indirect control of the economy that does not completely rely on money. This development only relies on a high degree of discipline similar to the military to carry out economic development. The overall system of output, quality, and proportion is controlled. The ultimate goal is to form a strong industrial manufacturing capacity for the country as a whole. The process does not exclude "lubrication" of money, but it is limited to a certain range and is also included in the overall control plan. Therefore, the development cycle of this model always guarantees the absolute control of the official group, does not leave any opportunity for merchants to rely on finance to gain control, and is not affected by the entire external free capitalist system.

The second year of the Soviet Union s first five-year plan met the biggest global economic crisis from the capitalist world. Because the Soviet Union s own system was completely different from the system of division of labor into the free capitalist world, and because the Soviet Union was excluded as the enemy of the free capitalist system, the collapse of the capitalist credit system did not have any impact on it. In this way, the Soviet Union became a flood Noah's Ark. Taking advantage of this crisis, the Soviet Union imported a large number of technologies, engineers from the United States and Germany, and even moved entire factories. The first five-year plan achieved a brilliant victory, and the Soviet Union continued its second five-year plan. By 1938, the Soviet Union had become a powerful industrial nation. The basic guiding principles of each five-year plan are the basic principles that must be followed in the development of capitalist productivity as analyzed by Marx. Such as the theory of reproduction, the principle of production means of production prior to the means of living, the principle of heavy industry production before light industry, the principle of different products need to achieve a comprehensive balance, and so on. In such production, the mistake of free capitalist blind competition cannot occur, and only the planners' inadequate consideration can occur. For this reason, in an economically depressed free capitalist world, some people see the light in it. As an extreme anti-Communist, Mr. Keynes, a British gentleman, ingeniously modified the theory of the Soviet Union's overall control of the economy, so that this theory can be accepted by capitalists in liberal capitalist countries. The solution is that the state controls the scale and speed of currency issuance, as well as some investment projects or directions. As a result, officials in freely capitalist countries, which have been constrained, have opened a side door that can intervene in the economy. According to this, US President Roosevelt implemented the New Deal, and the state implemented large-scale public works to accommodate the unemployed labor force. British Prime Minister Chamberlain began to build housing for workers on a large scale to improve the treatment of workers. Germany is even more familiar. Hitler regained Bismarck's policy, united with big capitalists, monopolized the country's industrial construction, and improved the social status and treatment of workers and peasants. So that Germany miraculously escaped the economic crisis in a short time. Germany built the world's first highway, and Germany established a Volkswagen company in order to allow each worker to own his own car. A large number of workers' nursing homes were set up to allow ordinary workers to take a large number of paid vacations.

The country's rapid renaissance evoked revenge and expansion ambitions by the German leadership and the Germans, and Hitler was able to provoke the Second World War. When he attacked the countries of the European liberal capitalist system, including France, his power swept across thousands of tables. Only he turned his head to the east. When he attacked the Soviet Union, he bit an iron walnut that could not move. Fascist Germany, which guided the country's construction with a disguised old-style classical national capitalism, encountered a newer state capitalist country this time. In Hitler's own words when preparing the "Barbarossa Project", this time Germany is attacking a country with more spiritual backbone and stronger faith than Germany. The war ended with the complete defeat of Germany. This time, Germany lost more than World War I. War is the greatest test of a country's political and economic system. The cruel test that the Soviet Union withstood. The victory of the war irrefutable proof of the country's political system and spiritual power, as well as the solid material productivity transformed by this system and spiritual power. After the war, the Soviet Union's economy developed rapidly. By virtue of this system, the Soviet Union became a superpower and jointly controlled the world with the United States. A global confrontation has formed between the so-called socialist and capitalist camps.

There are three major sources of Marxism: classical philosophy represented by Hegel and Feuerbach, classical political economy represented by Adam Smith and Ricardo, and utopian socialism represented by Saint Simon, Fourier, and Irving. . Among utopian socialists, the British big capitalist Irving is a concrete practitioner. As a capitalist, he has created a set of methods to improve the living standards of workers and promote the education of workers and their children in his company. Distribution of profits. Irving's approach was later universally implemented and promoted in the Soviet Union through the power of the country. The distribution system of the Soviet Union and the welfare system for the whole people made the income of different classes in the society more equal, so that the products produced could always be consumed by people. The phenomenon of social overproduction was eliminated, and a sign opposite to the liberal capitalist system appeared. This was the shortage. Based on this, the Hungarian economist Korne even wrote the book "Short Economics" corresponding to the microeconomics of liberal capitalism. It also points out that the biggest constraint that restricts production enterprises under this system is resources, while the biggest constraint that restricts enterprises under free capitalism is demand. The economic direction of the Soviet Union under Stalin's leadership was determined: on the basis of the industry's full realization of state ownership, the collective ownership of agriculture was gradually transformed into state ownership, and industrial products were gradually eliminated as the exchange of commodities and agricultural products, and eventually eliminated. Commodities are subject to a comprehensive product management and allocation system. In this way, the economic foundation of free capitalism will be destroyed, and the remnants of the class will be eliminated at the same time, thus becoming a state without a class for the whole people. Under these conditions, the Communist Party has also transitioned from a class party to a party for the whole people. Due to such a policy, the main contradiction in Soviet society was interpreted as "the contradiction between the ever-increasing material and cultural needs of the people and the backward productivity". Due to the confrontation between the two camps, there is a visible competition among countries with different systems in the fields of science and technology and military aerospace. In these respects, the Soviet Union conducted national mobilization in the model of planned economy and achieved great success. This has also stimulated liberal capitalist countries to invest heavily in the name of the government and participate in fierce competition among countries.

Examining the Soviet society at this time using the basic principles of Marxism, we can find that there are still commodities in this society, there are commodity exchanges, there are urban-rural differences, there are enterprise units with independent accounting, and there are managers and managed persons. The differences, in some ways, are even huge. Such a basic state does not depart from the state capitalism envisaged by Lenin. There is also a class society. It is just a relatively complete capitalism in which the state monopolizes the economy and adopts socialist measures internally to improve and guarantee the treatment of workers. Therefore, for such a state system, as a party aiming at communism, it is far from reaching the ideal state, and it still needs to continue the revolution. It is necessary to exercise high control and use of the state machine that operates in this way, and to stay awake for this reason. Mind. It is regrettable that Stalin, in his later years, did not do so. He did not realistically define these sciences as state capitalism, and further recognized the class and class struggle in Soviet society, and mobilized the Soviet Union in such a new state. The Communist Party is actively engaged in the enthusiasm of the new class struggle. As a result, Communists fighting for communism around the world have been misled. Stalin did not recognize the essence of the Soviet economy as state capitalism, and an explanation was given that the period of Lenin's implementation of the new economic policy was the period of state capitalism. After this short period of time has passed, comprehensive construction of socialism has begun. After the victory of the anti-fascist war, the Soviet Union began to declare "enter a classless society and march towards a communist society." Basic theory holds that the entire socialist economic system is a system that is completely parallel to the capitalist economic system. Parallel will not intersect, the two wells do not violate the river. Such insights planted the seeds of the Soviet Union's defeat as a superpower.

Under the dazzling aura of the Soviet Union at that time, few Communists in various countries dared to question the Soviet model and raise objections. Only China's leader Mao Zedong, who has been tempered through hardships and revolutions, dare to look critically at everything that happened in the Soviet Union and analyze and criticize his society. Now we can see from Mao Zedong's talk on "Soviet Political Economy Textbook", Mao Zedong said: "Under the socialist system, although there is no revolution overthrown by one class, there are also revolutions, technological revolutions, and cultural revolutions. It is also a revolution. The transition from socialism to communism is a revolution, and the transition from one stage of communism to another is also a revolution. There must be many stages of communism, so there must be many revolutions. Among the various rights enjoyed by workers, the most important is the "workers' right to manage the country, manage the army, manage various enterprises, and manage culture and education. In fact, this is the largest workforce under the socialist system. Rights, the most fundamental right. Without such rights, workers' rights to work, rest, education, etc. are not guaranteed. " He also said: "If cadres don't put down the shelf and different workers join together, workers often don't see the factory as their own, but as cadres." In fact, this speech indirectly pointed out that the Soviet Union had not eliminated the class, and even the socialist system had no way to go. It also keenly felt that in the new society, the official confrontation with the masses was serious.

Mao Zedong's ideological system is consistent. Although it continues to develop, there is no break in the middle. Later, Mao Zedong's thought has developed to further put forward: socialism is a fairly long historical period, during which there are still classes, class struggles, and the danger of capitalist restoration. The vigorous Cultural Revolution was launched based on this idea. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong pointed out more clearly that the bourgeoisie was within the party, and the focus of the movement was to rectify those in power who took the capitalist road within the party. This time, the question of class struggle is broken. In the later period of the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong further stated in his talk about bourgeois legal rights that we implement the eight-level wage system, which is not much different from the old society. It is easy to engage in capitalism. During this period, Mao Zedong broke completely with the Soviet Union, engaged in ping-pong diplomacy, improved relations with the United States, enabled Deng Xiaoping, criticized Lin and Kong and Song Jiang, and said many things that people couldn't understand at the time. For example, Mao Zedong said to Jiang Qing: "The future is bright, and the road is tortuous." Mao Zedong said to Snow: I haven't changed anything, not even the small villages on the outskirts of Beijing. In a few decades, all of us will be ridiculous in the eyes of future generations. Mao Zedong said to Mao Yuanxin: When the party's policies take a major turn, you must keep up. and many more. Now comprehensive analysis, Mao Zedong has fully seen the nature of state capitalism in all socialist countries at that time. However, limited by Marx's objective law on social development, this law cannot be broken by constant revolutionary shocks alone. The national capitalist road established by Lenin is a very tortuous road. Mao Zedong had to practice it, but due to the time limit of his life, he could only pave the way, but no time for practice.