Dear Editor,
In a letter captioned “Marxism/Leninism should go from the PPP constitution” (08.08.08) Baldeo Persaud stated “The congress of the ruling PPP should have moved to delete from the party constitution the ideology of Marxism/Leninism. Marxism/ Leninism has failed in all the countries in which it was practised for over fifty years. There is no more need for experiment”.
I wonder if Baldeo realizes that the acceptance of socialism/communism came after the development of Marxist ideas. Does he realize that materialist dialectics, Marxist dialectics etc. was the result of years of progression in the philosophical debates. Does he have any idea of the development of the materialist philosophy historically. Does he understand that dialectics is a methodology, a method of thinking that allows one to examine phenomena in a more advanced manner.
May I ask the writer how and by what process did he gain the ideology that he has, the method of thinking that he has and the philosophical basis of his own thought processes.
Does he think that the materialist approach to the understanding of the world is a higher and more scientific way? Does he have any understanding whatever of these concepts beyond the layman understanding of the socialist world, of communism and socialism.
Mr Baldeo this is not about right or wrong, correct and incorrect but whether any attempt was made by the writer and others who feel like the writer does, to really understand the issue he has brought to the press.
In the past I have defended this ideology, this methodology with very little support from others.
Recently there was a debate about Jagan’s legacy or the lack of it and Mr. Hydar Ally and Mr. Sattaur joined in that debate. I hope that they and the education Secretary, Mr. Hydar Ally, especially would join me in the defence of what is written in the party’s constitution and what constitutes a fundamental aspect of Jagan’s legacy.
My over twenty five years membership of the PPP and the education that Jagan gave to me as a consequence, my involvement in the trenches in the struggle against the Burnham dictatorship has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of these issues.
Dr. Walter Rodney a self acclaimed Marxist and who did an essay on the Marxist periodisation of Guyana’s history among other great literary pieces, also contributed to my understanding of Marxism, the role of the working class and the role of classes in general to the movement and transformation of history and economic systems.
I do not think that we should take the understanding of history of these two patriotic intellectuals too lightly. The least we could do is to read more, enter with an open mind into the debate and ask questions for more information and to clarify rather than to bore holes in an idea that does not correspond to the one that you have.
My email address is rajendra_bisessar @yahoo.com
Yours faithfully,
Rajendra Bisessar
BSc Sociology, BSc Law
