TheGodlessUtopian
2nd September 2012, 18:00
This study guide is made to be a companion to Che Guevaras Socialism and man in Cuba. (http://www.marxists.org/archive/guevara/1965/03/man-socialism.htm)The questions and answers contained within are of my own creation.If when reading you notice any mistakes or have suggestions for improvement please comment below.
~ ~ ~
Q1: Che begins his letter by outlining his refutation of the reactionary idea that under socialism the individual will be standardized. Though later on we will see that his concept of individuality is different from the bourgeois norm, in this beginning section what does Che say were the beginnings of Cuban socialism?
A1: Che begins the letter by directing answering his bourgeois opponents in broad terms. He speaks
the exact date of the beginning of the revolutionary struggle was July 26, 1953. A group led by Fidel Castro attacked the Moncada barracks in Oriente ProvinceThe attack was a failure and the survivors ended up in prison, beginning the revolutionary struggle again after they were freed by an amnesty. In this processthe individual was a fundamental factor. We put our trust in him individual, specific, with a first and last name and the triumph or failure of the mission entrusted to him depended on that individual's capacity for action.
As we can see by this passage it was only through individualism that Cuban socialism had life. Indeed through any revolutionary collective movement it is always the individual who propounds the struggle for liberation from wage slavery. In this sense we see that the beginning of Cuban socialism began with the individual.
Q2: What does Che mean when he talks of the first heroic stage?
A2: This is the moment in Cuban society when combatants competed for the heaviest responsibilities, for the greatest dangers, with no other satisfaction than fulfilling a duty. This is when the combatants did so out of their own desire to push the revolution forward; their reasons not only that of desiring to see society transformed but also due to desire for high rank thus validating further what Che will expound upon later in regards to individualism.
Q3: To Che genuine social movements are not entirely capitalist in nature as they require direct participation form the masses. This is to say that a leader of sorts is needed before the masses can be galvanized into action. What kind of leader can this be and what are the possible effects when this leader entity makes mistakes?
A3: In Ches worldview a leader can either be a person (a president, prime minister, etc) or it can be a collective entity (a mass-vanguard party). In either case the leader is responsible for a great deal of societys transformation. The leader can push, agitate and advocate for the masses to move in one direction or another. However, because the leader has so much influence when mistakes are inevitably made the masses are the ones who bear the brunt. Often times, to cite Cuba as an example, When one of these mistakes occurs, one notes a decline in collective enthusiasm due to the effect of a quantitative diminution in each of the elements that make up the mass. Work is paralyzed until it is reduced to an insignificant level. Hastily correcting such errors is always the utmost importance to any revolutionary stratagem.
Q4: What does Che say about the individual in regards to capitalism?
A4: Unsurprisingly Che takes a very dim view and because alienation is so severe the worker cannot comprehend the exploitive nature of the wage system, in part, due to bourgeois propagandists who have spun fantastically deceptive yearns about hard work and self-made men. Che says that succeeding in this environment is a contest among wolves. One can win only at the cost of the failure of others. Obviously the individual under capitalism is not fully aware of the wider mechanism at work.
Q5: Constantly in his writings Che talks of building the new man and women. Though it is a shame he never progressed beyond atypical bourgeois gender norms Che is adamant that under capitalist relations individuals are incomplete. How are individuals incomplete, unfinished products?
A5: Because the vestiges of the past and the present are always competing with each other for dominance an individuals mind is consistently subjected to direct (schools, universities) and indirect (workplace attitude, political affiliation, etc) education. With the past being capitalism and the present future being the construction of socialism this means that inside everyones minds still reside the chains of capitalist oppression as the focus is still on commodity relations (whether it is destroying the relations or preserving them the focus remains the same).
Due to this instability people are underdeveloped and do not see the need for social labor (labor directed towards societal improvement) as a necessity which means they also do not see that many of their burdens can be resolved with the baby-step of wealth appropriation. It is in this chaotic sense that people are incomplete.
Since they lack a socialist economic base, and since capital flees when in danger, it is impossible for the working class to build socialism on any other means other than a transitional stage.
Q6: During times of crisis it is easy to use moral incentives to motivate the masses yet in order to retain their effectiveness in non-crisis moments Che says that Society as a whole must be converted into a gigantic school. To do this material incentive in the form of a new social character is important. Yet in order to accomplish this goal what is needed most?
A6: Simply said: direct education is what is needed most. To Che, who believes that in order to give the masses new ideological light, no subterfuge is needed because the process is carried out through the various state agencies. Once carries out their education takes hold and The masses continue to make it their own and to influence those who have not yet educated themselves. The success of this strategy rests in its similarities to how capitalism entrenched itself during its own revolutionary period.
Q7: Often times revolutionary communists have a tendency to walk separate from the masses at an uneven pace, how does this manifest itself during socialist construction?
A7: Because communists are the most advanced segments of the working class sometimes we proceed with educational and agitation work at paces which are not synchronized with the underdeveloped workers. When these workers are still only beginning their educational we sometimes expect them to learn too much too fast while other times we do the opposite and are too slow with more advanced workers. In both instances it is only through continued work to realign our efforts that progress is achieved.
Q8: During socialist construction though the masses of workers continuously gain consciousness it is at uneven paces. How does this unevenness reveal itself?
A8: The unevenness in class consciousness reveals itself by the very tool of the revolution themselves, by the division of the proletariat into a vanguard group as well as a mass group. The former is more ideological advanced and from this advancement comes the capacity for sacrifice while the later understands the new socialist values being formed but does not see the whole picture still of the ultimate goal. Che calls this the dictatorship of the proletariat operating not only on the defeated class but also on individuals of the victorious class. A fusion of Leninism with what were Cubas conditions.
Q9: What does comrade Guevara mean when he says that the revolution needs to be institutionalized?
A9: When comrade Che says this he simply means that the gains of the revolution, as well as its future course, need to be fused into society and seen by the masses as their own achievement. The working class needs to understand their actions and place as head of society and know that it is their own efforts which brought about the revolution; so this is to say the revolution must be understood by the masses.
Q10: Che says that The individual under socialism, despite apparent standardization, is more complete. What does he mean by this statement?
A10: Che says this in the context of the collective masses of individuals working together towards a common goal. When working together the proletariat, though lacking the institutional mechanisms (I.E class consciousness, worker soviets in some cases), is able to express themselves within the greater social organism in ways far more profound than before. It is here that the worker is more complete, more vocal in their class position.
Q11: Che says that In order to develop a new culture, work must acquire a new status. What is this new status and what is its defining traits?
A11: The new status in which Che speaks of is a concept he calls social duty. He links this concept with the development of the new man and woman and with the progression of technology. Social duty configures into his theories by elaborating on work in a post-capitalist, transition society. According to Che Human beings-as-commodities cease to exist, and a system is installed that establishes a quota for the fulfillment of one's social duty.
He goes on to say, The means of production belong to society, and the machine is merely the trench where duty is performed Individuals start to see themselves reflected in their work and to understand their full stature as human beings through the object created, through the work accomplished. This is to say the era when the workers are free from capitalist oppression. He continues, Work no longer entails surrendering a part of one's being in the form of labor power sold, which no longer belongs to the individual, but becomes an expression of oneself, a contribution to the common life in which one is reflected, the fulfillment of one's social duty.
In a follow up paragraph Che elaborates on what this means by explaining there are, Of course still coercive aspects to work, even when it is voluntary. This is to say that environment and moral compulsion still play a role in conditioning a workers reflex and character. So even with new labor outlooks installed society is still far away from the ultimate goal of communism.
Q12: Che says that the transitions period political economy has not yet been developed and is still in diapers. Considering that V.I Lenin had, over a century before, outlined a transitional socialist state what does comrade Guevara mean by this statement?
A12: To Che, who felt that Cuba was undergoing a unique developmental phase, the sensation that Cubas transition was separate from the one as outlined by Karl Marx was prominent. Che believed that Cuba was not undergoing a period of pure transition but instead was undergoing a new, unforeseen phase. To him this phase was taking place in the midst of violent class struggle which obscured its examination. This was because to Che, who fervently insisted that socialism could only be reached by an increase in production coupled with an increase in consciousness, there had to be a period of transition between capitalism and socialism. Whether or not this new phase is a legitimate phase or simply a rebranding of old concepts has yet to be seen.
Q13: Individualism is a major theme in Ches work and though he spends most of his time talking about labor and work he sometimes delves off into the artistic and non-productive aspects of recreation in their regards to the bourgeois apparatus at large. Here the Law of Value plays what role?
A13: In this segment Che says, For a long time individuals have been trying to free themselves from alienation through culture and art. To them it is an escape from the ordeal of working long hours at a machine. This escape revives them some and allows them to refresh their mind for the next days work load. However this is only so as far as the artist is conformed to bourgeois mandates
The law of value is no longer simply a reflection of the relations of production; the monopoly capitalists even while employing purely empirical methods surround that law with a complicated scaffolding that turns it into a docile servant. The superstructure imposes a kind of art in which the artist must be educated.
This means, essentially, that only artists who show allegiance to bourgeois rule may show their work in bourgeois society. The remaining artists gradually are crushed by the machine and fade into obscurity; back into the labor machine, back into wage slavery.
Though the bourgeoisie try and placate the artist by forming various forms of artistic experimentation these forms of art are in reality simply class conflict aimed at the cultural arena. Such concepts fail to address the question of alienation and devolve into vulgarity and anguish when confronted by the artist. Along this route, with the conflict in full swing, the idea of using art as a weapon of protest is combated and eventually killed.
Here we see the need for revolutionary art that stands on an opposite pole away from bourgeois life.
Q14: One of the problems in making the new man and women is that socialist society is young; why is this problematic?
A14: Because society at large influences methods, disorientation is widespread and socialist realism does not yet have the power to help mold the new man and women (unlike in bourgeois society where it is so widespread that the bourgeois concepts of human identity are firmly entrenched). Because of this There are no artists of great authority who also have great revolutionary authority. Spreading the revolution through art and culture must be temporary put on hold until such a time where the Party members can bring socialist realism to the masses.
Q15: Due to the complicated nature of spreading revolutionary ideas simplification is desired, to what end is this designed?
A15: To Che simplification is needed to the extent where everyone-functionaries and revolutionaries-can understand the proposed concepts. This is because the simplified ideas of socialist realism must reconcile the past with the present in a way that permits both free inquiry and the uprooting of the weeds that multiply so easily in the fertilized soil of state subsidies. While functioning through the development of an ideological-cultural mechanism which enables the latter. Only through this manner could the Proudhonian mistakes of condemnation be avoided.
Q16: What would have been a valuable contribution to Marxism-Leninism had it succeeded?
A16: Che is, of course, referring to his project of creating the new man and women [A] new human being who would represent neither the ideas of the 19th century nor those of our own decadent and morbid century. A person suited to communism and hostile towards capitalism.
Q17: When discussing building the revolution Che says that the fault of many of our artists and intellectuals lies in their original sin: they are not true revolutionaries. He scorns such people in part because they were raised in bourgeois society. However the oncoming generation of young people, who came of age during the revolution, is a different matter. What does Che say in regards to this generation of revolutionary youth?
A17: In this segment Che is direct in saying that our task is to prevent the current generation, torn asunder by its conflicts, from becoming perverted and from perverting new generations. This means avoiding the creation of what he calls docile servants or scholarship students who live at the expense of the state. Young people are especially important to Che because they are the the malleable clay from which the new person can be built with none of the old defects. Such a material is vital in order to build his conception of the new man and women.
Q18: Education is paramount in Ches eyes, why so?
A18: The reason that Che places education on such a high level is because it is only through education that the masses will reach communism. Che talks extensively of how it is his aspiration to have the Cuban vanguard organization become a mass-organization. Yet he is explicit in saying that this is not possible until the masses are educated on the level that the cadre units are. It is only when this happens that the masses will be prepared for the implementation and maintenance of communism.
Q19: What is the task of the revolutionary vanguard?
A19: As opaque as an answer it might seem the task of the revolutionary vanguard is sacrifice. Sacrifice in the sense that leading the masses towards full freedom demands dedication, loyalty, and the capacity to sacrifice time, energy, and even blood to the struggle in exchange for leading the others. Individuals are the ones who lead this mass and so it is individuals who are the ones who will sacrifice the most.
Q20: What is the true revolutionary guided by and how does this factor in to his/her work in the field?
A20: One of Ches famous lines is At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality. He expounds upon this abstract concept by saying Perhaps it is one of the great dramas of the leader that he or she must combine a passionate spirit with a cold intelligence and make painful decisions without flinching. It is this zeal, Che says, that is the ideological motor force of the revolution. Yet comrade Guevara makes it clear that this zeal alone is not enough to guarantee a successful revolution for
If one's revolutionary zeal is blunted when the most urgent tasks have been accomplished on a local scale and one forgets about proletarian internationalism, the revolution one leads will cease to be a driving force and sink into a comfortable drowsiness that imperialism, our irreconcilable enemy, will utilize to gain ground.
So we see that even when Che appears to be operating on romanticized ideas of emotion there is a connection with the struggle as well as the belief that proletarian internationalism is an obligatory perquisite to education.
Q21: Finishing his letter Che briefly delves into the dangers of the present situation. Here he talks of dogmatism but also of another danger, what is this other danger?
A21: This other danger Che cryptically calls weakness, a force that infects and corrupts people by instilling in them the belief that in return for dedicating their life to the struggle they have the right to be unmoved by the plight of the masses. To illustrate Che makes an analogy between that of a certain child, who lacks shoes, and that of the revolutionists who possess such items. Comrade Che finishes by saying, The revolution is made through human beings, but individuals must forge their revolutionary spirit day by day. To Che this means that the revolutionary must struggle, hand-in-hand, with the masses so as to equalize the two families so that both have the necessities of life.
Q22: When all the conditions have been fulfilled among the masses the great throng organizes itself, how so, what enables it to organize them?
A22: Simply said its organization results from its consciousness of the necessity of this organization. It is no longer a dispersed force, divisible into thousands of fragments. In this final leg of the journey we now can see that the rigorous education, activity and sacrifice made by the masses and by the cadres and Party members has indeed led to a tangible result. The efforts made by all enable the working class to take their future into their own hands.
~ ~ ~
Q1: Che begins his letter by outlining his refutation of the reactionary idea that under socialism the individual will be standardized. Though later on we will see that his concept of individuality is different from the bourgeois norm, in this beginning section what does Che say were the beginnings of Cuban socialism?
A1: Che begins the letter by directing answering his bourgeois opponents in broad terms. He speaks
the exact date of the beginning of the revolutionary struggle was July 26, 1953. A group led by Fidel Castro attacked the Moncada barracks in Oriente ProvinceThe attack was a failure and the survivors ended up in prison, beginning the revolutionary struggle again after they were freed by an amnesty. In this processthe individual was a fundamental factor. We put our trust in him individual, specific, with a first and last name and the triumph or failure of the mission entrusted to him depended on that individual's capacity for action.
As we can see by this passage it was only through individualism that Cuban socialism had life. Indeed through any revolutionary collective movement it is always the individual who propounds the struggle for liberation from wage slavery. In this sense we see that the beginning of Cuban socialism began with the individual.
Q2: What does Che mean when he talks of the first heroic stage?
A2: This is the moment in Cuban society when combatants competed for the heaviest responsibilities, for the greatest dangers, with no other satisfaction than fulfilling a duty. This is when the combatants did so out of their own desire to push the revolution forward; their reasons not only that of desiring to see society transformed but also due to desire for high rank thus validating further what Che will expound upon later in regards to individualism.
Q3: To Che genuine social movements are not entirely capitalist in nature as they require direct participation form the masses. This is to say that a leader of sorts is needed before the masses can be galvanized into action. What kind of leader can this be and what are the possible effects when this leader entity makes mistakes?
A3: In Ches worldview a leader can either be a person (a president, prime minister, etc) or it can be a collective entity (a mass-vanguard party). In either case the leader is responsible for a great deal of societys transformation. The leader can push, agitate and advocate for the masses to move in one direction or another. However, because the leader has so much influence when mistakes are inevitably made the masses are the ones who bear the brunt. Often times, to cite Cuba as an example, When one of these mistakes occurs, one notes a decline in collective enthusiasm due to the effect of a quantitative diminution in each of the elements that make up the mass. Work is paralyzed until it is reduced to an insignificant level. Hastily correcting such errors is always the utmost importance to any revolutionary stratagem.
Q4: What does Che say about the individual in regards to capitalism?
A4: Unsurprisingly Che takes a very dim view and because alienation is so severe the worker cannot comprehend the exploitive nature of the wage system, in part, due to bourgeois propagandists who have spun fantastically deceptive yearns about hard work and self-made men. Che says that succeeding in this environment is a contest among wolves. One can win only at the cost of the failure of others. Obviously the individual under capitalism is not fully aware of the wider mechanism at work.
Q5: Constantly in his writings Che talks of building the new man and women. Though it is a shame he never progressed beyond atypical bourgeois gender norms Che is adamant that under capitalist relations individuals are incomplete. How are individuals incomplete, unfinished products?
A5: Because the vestiges of the past and the present are always competing with each other for dominance an individuals mind is consistently subjected to direct (schools, universities) and indirect (workplace attitude, political affiliation, etc) education. With the past being capitalism and the present future being the construction of socialism this means that inside everyones minds still reside the chains of capitalist oppression as the focus is still on commodity relations (whether it is destroying the relations or preserving them the focus remains the same).
Due to this instability people are underdeveloped and do not see the need for social labor (labor directed towards societal improvement) as a necessity which means they also do not see that many of their burdens can be resolved with the baby-step of wealth appropriation. It is in this chaotic sense that people are incomplete.
Since they lack a socialist economic base, and since capital flees when in danger, it is impossible for the working class to build socialism on any other means other than a transitional stage.
Q6: During times of crisis it is easy to use moral incentives to motivate the masses yet in order to retain their effectiveness in non-crisis moments Che says that Society as a whole must be converted into a gigantic school. To do this material incentive in the form of a new social character is important. Yet in order to accomplish this goal what is needed most?
A6: Simply said: direct education is what is needed most. To Che, who believes that in order to give the masses new ideological light, no subterfuge is needed because the process is carried out through the various state agencies. Once carries out their education takes hold and The masses continue to make it their own and to influence those who have not yet educated themselves. The success of this strategy rests in its similarities to how capitalism entrenched itself during its own revolutionary period.
Q7: Often times revolutionary communists have a tendency to walk separate from the masses at an uneven pace, how does this manifest itself during socialist construction?
A7: Because communists are the most advanced segments of the working class sometimes we proceed with educational and agitation work at paces which are not synchronized with the underdeveloped workers. When these workers are still only beginning their educational we sometimes expect them to learn too much too fast while other times we do the opposite and are too slow with more advanced workers. In both instances it is only through continued work to realign our efforts that progress is achieved.
Q8: During socialist construction though the masses of workers continuously gain consciousness it is at uneven paces. How does this unevenness reveal itself?
A8: The unevenness in class consciousness reveals itself by the very tool of the revolution themselves, by the division of the proletariat into a vanguard group as well as a mass group. The former is more ideological advanced and from this advancement comes the capacity for sacrifice while the later understands the new socialist values being formed but does not see the whole picture still of the ultimate goal. Che calls this the dictatorship of the proletariat operating not only on the defeated class but also on individuals of the victorious class. A fusion of Leninism with what were Cubas conditions.
Q9: What does comrade Guevara mean when he says that the revolution needs to be institutionalized?
A9: When comrade Che says this he simply means that the gains of the revolution, as well as its future course, need to be fused into society and seen by the masses as their own achievement. The working class needs to understand their actions and place as head of society and know that it is their own efforts which brought about the revolution; so this is to say the revolution must be understood by the masses.
Q10: Che says that The individual under socialism, despite apparent standardization, is more complete. What does he mean by this statement?
A10: Che says this in the context of the collective masses of individuals working together towards a common goal. When working together the proletariat, though lacking the institutional mechanisms (I.E class consciousness, worker soviets in some cases), is able to express themselves within the greater social organism in ways far more profound than before. It is here that the worker is more complete, more vocal in their class position.
Q11: Che says that In order to develop a new culture, work must acquire a new status. What is this new status and what is its defining traits?
A11: The new status in which Che speaks of is a concept he calls social duty. He links this concept with the development of the new man and woman and with the progression of technology. Social duty configures into his theories by elaborating on work in a post-capitalist, transition society. According to Che Human beings-as-commodities cease to exist, and a system is installed that establishes a quota for the fulfillment of one's social duty.
He goes on to say, The means of production belong to society, and the machine is merely the trench where duty is performed Individuals start to see themselves reflected in their work and to understand their full stature as human beings through the object created, through the work accomplished. This is to say the era when the workers are free from capitalist oppression. He continues, Work no longer entails surrendering a part of one's being in the form of labor power sold, which no longer belongs to the individual, but becomes an expression of oneself, a contribution to the common life in which one is reflected, the fulfillment of one's social duty.
In a follow up paragraph Che elaborates on what this means by explaining there are, Of course still coercive aspects to work, even when it is voluntary. This is to say that environment and moral compulsion still play a role in conditioning a workers reflex and character. So even with new labor outlooks installed society is still far away from the ultimate goal of communism.
Q12: Che says that the transitions period political economy has not yet been developed and is still in diapers. Considering that V.I Lenin had, over a century before, outlined a transitional socialist state what does comrade Guevara mean by this statement?
A12: To Che, who felt that Cuba was undergoing a unique developmental phase, the sensation that Cubas transition was separate from the one as outlined by Karl Marx was prominent. Che believed that Cuba was not undergoing a period of pure transition but instead was undergoing a new, unforeseen phase. To him this phase was taking place in the midst of violent class struggle which obscured its examination. This was because to Che, who fervently insisted that socialism could only be reached by an increase in production coupled with an increase in consciousness, there had to be a period of transition between capitalism and socialism. Whether or not this new phase is a legitimate phase or simply a rebranding of old concepts has yet to be seen.
Q13: Individualism is a major theme in Ches work and though he spends most of his time talking about labor and work he sometimes delves off into the artistic and non-productive aspects of recreation in their regards to the bourgeois apparatus at large. Here the Law of Value plays what role?
A13: In this segment Che says, For a long time individuals have been trying to free themselves from alienation through culture and art. To them it is an escape from the ordeal of working long hours at a machine. This escape revives them some and allows them to refresh their mind for the next days work load. However this is only so as far as the artist is conformed to bourgeois mandates
The law of value is no longer simply a reflection of the relations of production; the monopoly capitalists even while employing purely empirical methods surround that law with a complicated scaffolding that turns it into a docile servant. The superstructure imposes a kind of art in which the artist must be educated.
This means, essentially, that only artists who show allegiance to bourgeois rule may show their work in bourgeois society. The remaining artists gradually are crushed by the machine and fade into obscurity; back into the labor machine, back into wage slavery.
Though the bourgeoisie try and placate the artist by forming various forms of artistic experimentation these forms of art are in reality simply class conflict aimed at the cultural arena. Such concepts fail to address the question of alienation and devolve into vulgarity and anguish when confronted by the artist. Along this route, with the conflict in full swing, the idea of using art as a weapon of protest is combated and eventually killed.
Here we see the need for revolutionary art that stands on an opposite pole away from bourgeois life.
Q14: One of the problems in making the new man and women is that socialist society is young; why is this problematic?
A14: Because society at large influences methods, disorientation is widespread and socialist realism does not yet have the power to help mold the new man and women (unlike in bourgeois society where it is so widespread that the bourgeois concepts of human identity are firmly entrenched). Because of this There are no artists of great authority who also have great revolutionary authority. Spreading the revolution through art and culture must be temporary put on hold until such a time where the Party members can bring socialist realism to the masses.
Q15: Due to the complicated nature of spreading revolutionary ideas simplification is desired, to what end is this designed?
A15: To Che simplification is needed to the extent where everyone-functionaries and revolutionaries-can understand the proposed concepts. This is because the simplified ideas of socialist realism must reconcile the past with the present in a way that permits both free inquiry and the uprooting of the weeds that multiply so easily in the fertilized soil of state subsidies. While functioning through the development of an ideological-cultural mechanism which enables the latter. Only through this manner could the Proudhonian mistakes of condemnation be avoided.
Q16: What would have been a valuable contribution to Marxism-Leninism had it succeeded?
A16: Che is, of course, referring to his project of creating the new man and women [A] new human being who would represent neither the ideas of the 19th century nor those of our own decadent and morbid century. A person suited to communism and hostile towards capitalism.
Q17: When discussing building the revolution Che says that the fault of many of our artists and intellectuals lies in their original sin: they are not true revolutionaries. He scorns such people in part because they were raised in bourgeois society. However the oncoming generation of young people, who came of age during the revolution, is a different matter. What does Che say in regards to this generation of revolutionary youth?
A17: In this segment Che is direct in saying that our task is to prevent the current generation, torn asunder by its conflicts, from becoming perverted and from perverting new generations. This means avoiding the creation of what he calls docile servants or scholarship students who live at the expense of the state. Young people are especially important to Che because they are the the malleable clay from which the new person can be built with none of the old defects. Such a material is vital in order to build his conception of the new man and women.
Q18: Education is paramount in Ches eyes, why so?
A18: The reason that Che places education on such a high level is because it is only through education that the masses will reach communism. Che talks extensively of how it is his aspiration to have the Cuban vanguard organization become a mass-organization. Yet he is explicit in saying that this is not possible until the masses are educated on the level that the cadre units are. It is only when this happens that the masses will be prepared for the implementation and maintenance of communism.
Q19: What is the task of the revolutionary vanguard?
A19: As opaque as an answer it might seem the task of the revolutionary vanguard is sacrifice. Sacrifice in the sense that leading the masses towards full freedom demands dedication, loyalty, and the capacity to sacrifice time, energy, and even blood to the struggle in exchange for leading the others. Individuals are the ones who lead this mass and so it is individuals who are the ones who will sacrifice the most.
Q20: What is the true revolutionary guided by and how does this factor in to his/her work in the field?
A20: One of Ches famous lines is At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality. He expounds upon this abstract concept by saying Perhaps it is one of the great dramas of the leader that he or she must combine a passionate spirit with a cold intelligence and make painful decisions without flinching. It is this zeal, Che says, that is the ideological motor force of the revolution. Yet comrade Guevara makes it clear that this zeal alone is not enough to guarantee a successful revolution for
If one's revolutionary zeal is blunted when the most urgent tasks have been accomplished on a local scale and one forgets about proletarian internationalism, the revolution one leads will cease to be a driving force and sink into a comfortable drowsiness that imperialism, our irreconcilable enemy, will utilize to gain ground.
So we see that even when Che appears to be operating on romanticized ideas of emotion there is a connection with the struggle as well as the belief that proletarian internationalism is an obligatory perquisite to education.
Q21: Finishing his letter Che briefly delves into the dangers of the present situation. Here he talks of dogmatism but also of another danger, what is this other danger?
A21: This other danger Che cryptically calls weakness, a force that infects and corrupts people by instilling in them the belief that in return for dedicating their life to the struggle they have the right to be unmoved by the plight of the masses. To illustrate Che makes an analogy between that of a certain child, who lacks shoes, and that of the revolutionists who possess such items. Comrade Che finishes by saying, The revolution is made through human beings, but individuals must forge their revolutionary spirit day by day. To Che this means that the revolutionary must struggle, hand-in-hand, with the masses so as to equalize the two families so that both have the necessities of life.
Q22: When all the conditions have been fulfilled among the masses the great throng organizes itself, how so, what enables it to organize them?
A22: Simply said its organization results from its consciousness of the necessity of this organization. It is no longer a dispersed force, divisible into thousands of fragments. In this final leg of the journey we now can see that the rigorous education, activity and sacrifice made by the masses and by the cadres and Party members has indeed led to a tangible result. The efforts made by all enable the working class to take their future into their own hands.