The vaccination programme gathers pace – but will it be enough?

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The vaccination programme gathers pace – but will it be enough?

When I published a comment on this site on 23rd March, which was the first post in what was to become The Journal of the Plague Year 2020-2?, I didn’t for one second think that the pandemic would be allowed to take hold in the way it has. Three months, perhaps in a totally disastrous scenario six, but ten and with no real end in sight? No way. Surely modern medicine, science and technology would mean that 21st century societies would come up with something more imaginative and effective than the same tactics used in the 14th (The Black Death) or the 17th (The Great Plague of London) centuries. But I had forgotten that capitalism, even in the 21st century, is no less primitive than the feudalists or transitional capitalists of those past events.

The reason for starting the series was twofold. As an aide mémoire to myself to record what was happening, as it was happening, and also to assist in the refutation of the re-writing of history that I was sure would come however long the pandemic might dominate life. The first reason would also help in reminding the population of Britain (who, in general, have the memory that would embarrass a May fly) of what was said and done on their behalf by the Government of the Buffoon.

That reason has yet to be tested as we are still far from the end when people begin to forget the start.

However, the re-writing has already started.

Towards the end of an interview on BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme on 12th January, Jeremy Hunt, at one time Health Secretary (before he stood against the Buffoon for leader of the Party – and hence Prime Minister – and therefore fell out of favour) stated the following;

‘It was in the immediate post-war years that we took that very inspiring decision, in 1948, despite the country being bankrupt, to set up the NHS – with cross party support. And, I hope, when we put this pandemic behind us, we can use it as another 1948 moment to address some of the long term issues in the NHS, like training enough doctors and nurses, which we never seemed to do enough of. This is a moment to really sort out some of these long term issues.’

Now most of that I would agree with – although Hunt’s statement does contain an untruth as the Tories fought tooth and nail against the principle of a National Health Service in Britain and effectively made it much weaker than even the Social Democratic Labour Party wished. But Hunt is not only claiming ownership of the concept of the NHS from the post-war years but also attempts to give the impression that he is one who has been in support of the NHS during his own time in politics.

But before this cretin is allowed to get away with unsubstantiated statements it might be worthwhile looking at his record.

He was Health Secretary from 2012-2018. That’s the longest time the post has been held by one individual in British history. During that time rather than build the NHS into an organisation that was capable of dealing with the increased demand, mainly from an ageing population and advances in medicine which could keep people alive for longer than was the case in the 1940s, he put the NHS through one of its most bitter conflicts since establishment by forcing new, unjust and odious contracts upon junior doctors – leading to one of the very few strikes in the history of the NHS.

The shortages and problems in the NHS were obvious to even the least interested member of the public with reports of lack of beds, patients waiting in corridors and general staff shortages being continually in the news, especially during the winter months. The situation in the care sector was becoming a national disgrace and embarrassment and was a major contributory factor in the high number of deaths in care homes in the early part of last year.

However, whilst Health Secretary Hunt did nothing to alleviate these problems. His tactics achieved (what he wanted) the very reverse, supporting the private health sector which Tory governments have been championing against the NHS since they got back into power in 1951.

So his words above are just for the ignorant masses and an attempt by the Tories to obscure their actions and intentions of the past 70 years.

And Hunt’s character is ‘questionable’, to say the least. He was;

  • found to be in breach of the rules during the 2009 Parliamentary Expenses scandal
  • failed to declare property interests in 2018

both of which were explained away by him having ‘forgot’

  • and he wasn’t averse to using nepotism when it suited him (2010).

If the population of Britain wants to be able to cope with any future pandemic (that is, assuming any of us survive this one) then these are the things (as well as many others) they will have to remember or else they will be spending more of their time in the future attending funerals than birthday parties.

One year since first reports ….

…. what have we learnt and still to learn?

The Buffoon’s achievements of 2020

UK coronavirus deaths pass 100,000 after 1,564 reported in one day.

Lock down Number 3

Can lock down stop the new coronavirus variant?

Are covid patients getting younger?

Vaccinations

The prospect of a vaccine was held out like a carrot to get people to comply with the various restrictions – so much so as it was presented as a ‘magic bullet’ that would solve all our problems. However, when it (they) arrived things weren’t that simple. Below just a few of the issues surrounding vaccines, who should get them when and how effective vaccines will be to allow society to return to a ‘new normal’.

Can we really jab our way out of lock down?

Going from two to one caused (and is still causing) some concern. In Scotland there was concern over change to covid plan.

Few vaccines prevent infection – here’s why that’s not a problem.

The Government has continually resisted concentrating efforts to defeat the virus at a local level, especially when it came to testing. They still don’t seemed to have learnt the lessons of the past and have established seven mass vaccination hubs for England

Delaying the second covid vaccine dose – a medical expert answers key questions.

On 7th January there was a discussion about the pros and cons of the policy of one jab for the many rather than two for half as many on Radio 4’s Inside Science. One important point here was – towards the end – the idea that data has to be collected NOW, from the start of the programme, if not nothing will be learnt for the future.

More companies (this time some of the smaller ones, wanting to get their snout in the trough – or a real desire to help speed up the vaccination programme? Pharmacies’ offer to give covid jabs snubbed by ministers.

We can speed up covid vaccine push, say small chemists.

To be real this vaccination programme has to be completed as soon as possible. This is an ongoing debate and will be with us for the best part of this year – at least. UK vaccine minister vows ‘massive uplift’ in number of jabs this week.

Some think it can happen very quickly. NHS could vaccinate UK against covid in five days, says Oxford professor.

How will vaccines affect the length of England’s lock down?

Covid19 immunity: how long does it last?

With the arrival of ‘variants’ – why resistance is common in antibiotics, but rare in vaccines.

Covid: vaccinating our way out of a crisis.

In any such massive vaccination programme there will be teething problems but these could have been reduced to a minimum if work on the logistics of the matter had been carried out months ago, working through all the possible scenarios to test how the unexpected could have been resolved. But as with all aspects of this pandemic there has been no strategic thinking and it looks very likely the vaccination programme will also be a victim of this fundamental failing.

General Practitioners (GPs) leading the way in covid vaccine roll out are forced to slow down.

Can the UK vaccinate 15 million people by mid-February?

Vaccines alone aren’t enough to eradicate a virus – lessons from history.

Vaccination programmes worldwide

The Israeli vaccination programme is being lauded as the example to follow – but most reports on the Israeli ‘success’ omit to say that the country is an illegal occupying power in most of what it considers to be its territory. And as an occupying force the Israeli Armed Forces have been following the same tactics used by all invaders from the wars in the last century or so – that is, persecuting the local population, denying them freedoms their own citizens consider as normal, breaking international conventions when it suits and, in the period of the present pandemic, considering those living in the occupied territories to be not worthy of decent medical treatment. The Zionist occupiers have been systematically ignoring the needs of the Palestinian people since the pandemic broke at the beginning of last year and now Palestinians will have to wait at the back of the queue when it comes to vaccination, with few of them being even considered before March – that is, until the master race have all been adequately protected.

‘Immunity passports’

Although the concept was rubbished months ago it was obvious that such a scheme needs to be implemented to ensure a freer flow of people in future months. Whether proof of vaccination was only introduced on an ad hoc, private basis or became an international requirement to give people a vaccination and not provide them with evidence of some sort of immunity would be reckless if not downright stupid.

But in Britain, in place of making a decision, vaccine passports are to be trialled by thousands.

Adopt EU-wide vaccine certificate, suggests Greek Prime Minister – which would leave the UK out in the cold.

Could a wristband or certificate allow you out of lock down after a negative coronavirus test?

Testing – and all that goes with it

This has been dropping down the agenda for the last few weeks, however that only suits the Government as the failings in the system persist. However, it should be an integral part of any strategy (what strategy?) to get the country – and indeed the rest of the world – out of the mire of the pandemic.

Why we need to test covid-19 tests.

Rapid tests for asymptomatic people to be rolled out – but at the same time in Liverpool, the location of the ‘asymptomatic testing pilot’ the tests are being restricted to only ‘essential workers’.

A view on future testing from Devi Sridhar, an advisor to the Scottish Parliament on the pandemic, on Radio 4’s, World at One, 11th January.

‘Test before travel’ plan in disarray as start date is postponed.

Regulator refuses to approve mass daily covid testing at English schools. Is it going to be possible to get on top of the whole issue of testing before the arival of the next pandemic? Not in the UK, it seems.

Poverty in Britain

Pandemic Pressures – why families on low income are spending more during covid-19.

The IFS Deaton Review – of Inequalities, a New Year’s Message.

There’s no shortage of data about the severe levels of poverty in Britain and one of the ‘advantages’ of the pandemic is that this is being discussed and publicised in a way it wasn’t this time last year. However, knowing the situation is one thing, doing something about it is another. Is the British working class up to the task?

The Rowntree Trust publishes an annual report with details of the extent of poverty and the Findings and Full Report for 2020-21 has just been produced.

Liverpool ‘pilot’ – update

It’s difficult to work out what’s happening with the Liverpool testing ‘pilot’. It was lauded in November, then questions were asked about the validity of the Lateral Flow Device (LFD) test was brought into question and at that time the opening of the test centres became erratic (and certainly not friendly for an asymptomatic, all city testing programme) and now limited to only so-called ‘essential’ workers. Even this list keeps on getting added to or subtracted from.

On 15th January this was the list of those able to get a test;

Who can get tested?

The centres on the map below are open for front line workers with no Covid-19 symptoms to get tested. These are workers who cannot work from home and also have physical contact with other people as part of their job. They include:

    • NHS and care workers
    • school staff
    • supermarket employees
    • delivery drivers
    • factory workers
    • transport workers

Students who are returning to university and unpaid carers with no Covid-19 symptoms can also get tested. Covid-19 symptoms are a high temperature, a new continuous cough, and loss or change to your sense of smell or taste.

If you are not a front line worker there should be no reason for you to need a symptom-free test during lock down, however, you will not be turned away. (my emphasis – and this rider has only appeared recently, probably when the Council realised that after having encouraged people to have a regular test last year they would sound ridiculous if people are rufused acces to the test centres.)

This seems strange when the rest of the country is supposed to be introducing asymptomatic testing on a mass scale.

Face masks/coverings

Although not based on any scientific evidence (if so, it hasn’t been made public) Borough Market (London) becomes first outdoor space in UK to legally enforce face masks.

Paul Hunter, an epidemiologist and advisor to the World Health Organisation, on the wearing of masks outside, on Radio 4’s World at One on 12th January

Government U-turns

I’m sure someone is keeping an account of the number of U-turns made by the Buffoon and his Government. I, however, have lost count. Here’s just another.

Government U-turns on school guidance for children of ‘key workers’. It also begs the question ‘when is a key worker not a key worker’?

The Homeless

Despite Government ‘promises’ hundreds of homeless people pushed back on to streets of London during first lock down ‘due to lack of support’.

How prepared was/is the NHS?

‘We are not coping’: Paramedics warn of deaths as hundreds of emergencies wait hours for help

How the covid surge has left the NHS on the brink.

It was referred to in the last blog, with an interview with the author of the report into the 2009 swine flu epidemic. It might be useful to present the whole document, ‘The 2009 Influenza Pandemic’, published in July 2010.

Not the same for everyone

Why Instagram is still full of celebrities ‘on holiday’.

Nothing to do specifically with the pandemic but worth reminding readers of the situation that has existed for decades – and will into the future if people are prepared to accept the status quo. FTSE 100 (Financial Times Stock Exchange top 100 companies) chief executives ‘earn average salary within 3 days’

Surprise, surprise, super-rich skip coronavirus vaccine queue by jetting abroad to get jabs.

The UK’s wealth distribution – and characteristics of high wealth households.

Free school meals

The fact that these are means tested (dependent upon income) benefits in the UK is a disgrace in itself but even after handing out seemingly countless billions of pounds to private industry the Government cuts corners when it comes to providing a small amount of food to some of the poorest families in the country.

Concerns after parcels outcry – after pictures of the supposed £30 packages were shared on social media. The fact that the private company involved, Chartwell’s, had to have this matter brought to their attention before doing anything about this speaks volumes. Also the fact that this company has been creaming off public finance since the forced privatisation of school meal provision from the 1980s onwards should be up for reconsideration. These private companies just take the making of profit from poverty as a given norm.

The disgrace of this situation was highlighted in a couple of interviews on Radio 4’s World at One on 12th January.

The reluctance of the Government to provide the assistance in the form of cash is yet another example of the way successive governments have tried to stigmatise the poorest in society. They can’t be trusted to have money, the argument goes, as they will obviously spend it on cigarettes, booze or gamble it away in the betting shops.

The nutrients children should be getting.

Pie in the sky – by and by

IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies, a left-leaning, so-called Think Tank) calls for a fairer UK after covid brings greater inequality. As if that’s going to happen – if we don’t force it.

Changes in the law

Once they have these laws remember they never want to give them up!

Police chief calls for power of entry into homes of suspected lock down breakers.

And a slight sideways move, but relevant nonetheless. Is your boss spying on you?

Help for renters?

Renters are being failed by governments on both sides of the Atlantic – it can’t be up to celebrities to help.

Clarity – or confusion

Stormont meeting to clarify exam situation.

Calls for clarity for university students in Wales on return.

Before anything happens there’s always far too much speculation – which only causes confusion. As with international travel.

Arrivals in UK could soon need negative test.

Travellers must show negative covid test to enter UK.

All a field day for private suppliers of what will be very expensive tests.

How many ‘variants’?

And how dangerous are they. Yet another tactic to increase the general fear level within the population.

South African variant may evade vaccines and testing, warn scientists.

Now there’s a ‘Spanish’ variant – a return to 1918 – and, in the last few days, the Brazilian version.

‘Collateral damage’

London hospital halts urgent cancer surgery due to ovid cases.

Britain heading for ‘perfect storm’ over fitness in winter lock down.

Life-saving transplants delayed as coronavirus patients fill beds.

Almost 200,000 patients now waiting at least a year for routine NHS operations – and four and a half million on waiting lists.

More on covid pandemic 2020-2?

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Ukraine – what you’re not told

A new year – but nothing has changed

More on covid pandemic 2020-2?

View of the world

Ukraine – what you’re not told

A new year – but nothing has changed

2021 was barely a day old before we were forced to realise that the new year would be no better than the old. Yet another U-turn by the Buffoon’s Government – this time on schools re-opening after the holiday – more confusion and the almost certainty of lock down number 3.

If people were expecting a new start then they were disappointed. The same inept, confused and bewildered politicians are still in ‘control’.

For some 2020 has been a disastrous year (loss of jobs, loss of income, loss of life) and we have been told innumerable times that we were living through ‘unprecedented’ times. That’s not really true, there are epidemics raging throughout the world all the time – it’s just that the latest one has had a severe impact upon the more wealthy countries in the world (and they can’t cope with it).

In many ways Britain (as have so many countries in Europe) has gotten off relatively lightly. Yes, the heaviest burden has fallen on those in the country who are less able to bear the strain (the sick, the elderly, the poor) but they’re the ones who, historically, have always suffered most when the norms of society break down (be it economic crashes or war).

For those the temptation is to forget what has happened in the last nine, going on ten, months. To think of the future – which may not be so bad – rather than remember the past – which we know was.

However that would be a mistake. The pandemic has not caused many of the problems that exist in British society but it has definitely highlighted many of the disparities, inequities and downright criminal situation in which far too many of the population live. But that is capitalism.

In good times the problems can get easily swept under the carpet and forgotten by the majority who are managing, more or less well, but at least able to exist in a reasonable manner. Throwing a few pence in a charity tin, buying a copy of the Big Issue or putting a few groceries in the collecting bins for food banks after a supermarket shop enables people to think they are doing some good and helping those more in need, ‘less fortunate’.

The pandemic, or more importantly, the manner in which it has been mismanaged has shown that there are huge numbers of working people who are on a knife edge when it comes to a crisis. The increased use of food banks is a clear example of that.

So people shouldn’t forget 2020. Quite the opposite. If they wish to have long term security they should remember the lessons of how they have been treated by a system that exists for no other reason than to make profit from the labour of others.

Capitalism’s representatives throughout the world have proven themselves incapable of dealing with extreme circumstances. They have wandered from one inept and poorly thought through action to another and we are no closer to living virus free now than we were just short of a year ago.

Their ineptness in the past has reduced the number of ways forward. They have created such a chaotic situation that it is luck which is going to get us back to some semblance of normality, not any strategic thinking.

At the moment, on the eve of the announcement of a further lock down in England, we should remember who brought us to this state of affairs. If we forget (just to make ourselves feel better) then we will be facing the same situation in the not too distant future.

Like the many natural occurrences that will be catastrophic to humanity (for example, the earthquake that will be caused by the San Andreas Fault in California) it’s not a matter of if, it’s when.

How prepared was Britain for the pandemic?

An update following a report produced years ago (2009) by its author on BBC Radio 4’s the World at One on the 29th December.

What is the risk of infection?

An analysis of this issue was discussed on Radio 4’s World at One on 29th December.

Vaccines and vaccination programme

As virtually all the governments of the world were totally inept and unable to come up with a strategy to defeat the covid virus they all put their faith in a vaccine that would take the responsibility away form themselves. That being the case, and placing all their eggs in one basket, why wasn’t there a ‘task force’ given the job of working out all the potential problems and pit-falls that would accompany a nationwide vaccination programme?

There were months when all these details could have been worked out; who would get the vaccine first and in what order would the rest of the population follow; how would the vaccines be distributed; who would be needed to administer the injections and the establishment of a resister of those who could assist in this process, i.e. retired NHS staff; what sort of campaign would be launched to ensure the greatest possible take up; what sort of documentation could be provided to help people return to a ‘normal’ life when aspects of society start to demand proof of vaccination before people could take part in certain activities (this is being denied now but it will almost certainly creep into all societies worldwide as the year goes on); establishing the policy of vaccinating the greatest number or ensuring those in the highest risk bracket get the highest level of protection first; and understanding and managing the general logistical problems associated with vaccinating a population of 60 million plus people in the shortest time possible.

So there is little reason to be confident that the magic solution to the pandemic will be introduced smoothly.

A couple of other points on the vaccination programme.

When the Buffoon makes wild promises we should remember what happened about those in the past. Have people already forgotten the ‘world beating’ testing system that would be testing tens of thousands way back in May. Those really insignificant figures weren’t met – apart from magically on the date ‘promised’. So his claim of 2 million vaccinations per week have to be taken with a huge grain of salt.

Also, the idea of postponing the second vaccination for those who had already been given the very first vaccines in the country might well have a lot of validity. (Is not a vaccine that ‘needs’ two shots just another scam by the pharmaceutical companies to increase their profits anyway?) However this news is being delivered to people who had already been made frightened of their own shadow by the fear campaign of the Government over the last ten months to obtain compliance of their knee jerk policies. It just demonstrates, yet again, no strategic thinking and a contempt for people in general.

Mistakes sometimes lead to positive outcomes. Oxford vaccine mix up came from scientists misreading the strength of Italian manufacturers’ supply.

If a cure isn’t enough try prevention. Antibody therapy could confer instant immunity to Covid-19 on at-risk groups.

Or use what’s already been around for a long time. Dexamethasone demonstrates power of large-scale, randomised trials in finding effective medicines

But it’s not all good news. Many medics ‘frustrated’ about low priority given to front line staff at high risk of infection.

Will it happen here? Spain to keep register of those who refuse Covid vaccine.

Israel vaccinates half a million in nine days – but how many were Palestinian?

The question most people are asking – when will you be eligible for the covid vaccine?

There was no doubt that it would have been approved, but it was left to virtually the end of 2020 before the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine approved for use in UK.

Race to roll out Oxford covid vaccine to stave off third lock down – although it’s now looking like the English variant is winning that particular race.

Tesco offers to help with roll-out of Oxford vaccine.

Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine roll out plan changed following approval. But that’s all right, the approval was only a formality. So the vaccine is approved with the proviso that the second injection is within three weeks. Then the Government decides (‘following the scientific advice’) that it’s Ok to delay the second jab until 12 weeks after the first. So is it approved or not?

12-week vaccine gap defended by UK medical chiefs.

Doctors call for rapid roll out of vaccines – which makes sense but has the infrastructure been put in place?

Medics complain of ‘bureaucracy’ in bid to join covid vaccine effort.

Chris Whitty moves to head off General Practitioners’ (GP’s) rebellion over Pfizer covid vaccine doses

Retired medics trying to help covid vaccination drive say offers being ignored.

The Liverpool ‘pilot’

‘We are now in the Systematic Meaningful Asymptomatic Repeated Testing or ‘Smart’ phase of our testing pilot. This is phase 2 and picks up from the successful mass testing pilot in November 2020 that helped Liverpool City Region secure Tier 2 status.’ (Liverpool City Council website, accessed 31st December 2020)

From about the middle of December the various sites were NOT open weekends and Bank Holidays. We are supposed to be in a war yet the centres take a day off – does the virus? Most centres were busy in the days leading up to the 25th and 31st December – due to people wanting to see if they were infected before meeting up with family, This provides no useful information about the efficacy of testing asymptomatic people. Other than that the centres are all very quiet and their continued value is questionable.

From 31st December, Liverpool is in the higher Tier 3 – so what’s the reason for the testing? It’s considered to be flawed due to false negatives, it’s not really getting the numbers that it should, and it hasn’t kept Liverpool out of the higher Tier. Just seems, now, to be throwing good money after bad.

Not sure where the so-called ‘pilot’ fits into a locked down future as Liverpool’s acting mayor calls for yet another one.

Nightingale Hospitals and systemic failings in the NHS

At some time in the future there should be a review of the whole concept of these ‘Nightingale Hospitals’. Were they just another knee jerk response to show that the Government was doing something – whilst at the same time throwing millions of pounds of public money into the bank accounts of their friends? Could/can they ever have been used to the full? Wasn’t it realised that there might be a problem of staffing given the shortages of experienced staff existing in the National Health Service (NHS) long before anyone thought of a pandemic? As it stands at the moment they seem to be just a herd of white elephants.

In the meantime, London’s NHS Nightingale ‘on standby’ – but not the other seven in England?

Being prepared in London – but not being used. Critically ill patients ‘evacuated’ hundreds of miles as fears grow London could run out of beds – being taken as far as Plymouth and Leeds.

Nightingale hospitals stand empty despite surging covid cases as medics warn of staff shortages.

Key London hospital preparing for covid-only care as cases surge.

London’s Nightingale hospital expected to take patients as NHS struggles with number of severely ill people.

NHS staff fear speaking out over crisis in English hospitals.

A nurse speaks about failings in the NHS and why the Nightingale Hospitals will never realise their ‘potential’ on the BBC Radio 4’s World at One on 29th December.

Lorry drivers at ports

The lack of forethought meant thousands of lorry drivers, most of them from other European countries, were stuck in limbo with poor living conditions due to the closure of the links between Britain and France just before the December holiday. No wonder they were angry.

As a consequence of this lack of understanding the Army was brought in to take over covid testing for hauliers trapped near Dover – being joined by 30 or so French firefighters!

The value of statistics

The country (world?) has been awash with statistics since the beginning of the pandemic but of what use are they – if they don’t paint the full picture? The more infectious ‘variant’ hits London and the South East, the inept Government of the Buffoon wants to keep Cockneys at home so raise the fear level as rational argument may not work – people don’t trust them because they have told so many lies and have carried out so many U-turns in the last nine months or so people don’t know if they are coming or going. Then they panic. Call 999 – perhaps when there was no need – so the numbers shoot up. Such figures have to be unpicked before they are used to justify further draconian restrictions at the beginning of 2021.

London Ambulance Service receives as many 999 calls as first wave – just before the December holiday.

One law for the rich – another for the rest of us. Or on the road to forget?

In May last year the writer Neil Gaiman broke lock down regulations on travel by journeying all the way from New Zealand to the Isle of Skye in Scotland. He boasted about this on social media and he was ‘spoken to’ by the police – as far as I know that’s about as far as it went.

Now we are constantly being told of fines being given to ordinary people who ‘break the rules’, such as those who have been partying over the last few months – and even the case recently of a group being fined for playing dominoes in a restaurant basement.

But for the rich and influential there seems to be no sanction whatsoever – even when it comes down to free publicity provided by the BBC. Gaiman was given a huge chunk of the BBC Radio 4 arts programme, Front Row, on 24th December – no mention there of his ‘rule breaking’.

Now I don’t consider all these rules to be useful in countering the pandemic but what we should expect is that the rules apply to all – but in capitalist societies it’s money that makes all the difference.

To lock down or not to lock down

Risk averse scientists still only have a lock down to offer – this time blaming the ‘mutated variant’.

Collateral damage

It goes on and on.

Covid poses ‘greatest threat to mental health since second world war’.

Parents warned of ‘sharp rise’ in eating disorders.

Hospital admissions for children with eating disorders rise by a fifth in England.

How covid lock downs are wiping out the gains made by ‘disadvantaged’ children.

UK high street lost 177,000 jobs in 2020.

Youth organisations in England face wholesale closure.

The use of fear or ….

Decisions about which patients receive life-saving treatment could be imminent, doctors warn.

Covid rule-breakers ‘have blood on their hands’.

… the use of patronage to get the desired result

Lots and lots of NHS staff in the New Year’s anachronistic Honours List

How many ‘tiers’ to go?

‘Tier 5’: England faces possible new Covid restrictions.

More on covid pandemic 2020-2?

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Ukraine – what you’re not told

Enver Hoxha – The need for a Cultural Revolution in Albania

Enver Hoxha

Enver Hoxha

More on Albania …..

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Enver Hoxha – The need for a Cultural Revolution in Albania

Introduction

The section below entitled ‘The further deepening of the ideological and cultural revolution’ comes from the Report of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania presented by Enver Hoxha at the Fifth Congress of the Party, held at the beginning of November 1966.

It’s presented here to remind people that the concept of an ‘ideological and cultural revolution’ had existed since (and even before) the October Revolution in Russia in 1917. The works of both VI Lenin and JV Stalin make reference to the need to change the way people think and act as an integral component in the construction of Socialism. The development of the economy to suit the needs of the vast majority of the population, the taking of the means of production by the people from private owners with the collectivisation (and nationalisation when collectives were further developed to the situation of State owned farms) of agriculture and the building of a modern industry would not automatically lead to Socialism. What needed to change were people’s ideas.

This was the role of the development of the Socialist Realist movement in the arts and was demonstrated in an Albanian context with the construction of the lapidars (which commemorated the past victories and sacrifices of the working people of the country against foreign invaders for national liberation as well as the achievements in the construction of Socialism).

Although the thinking in the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania was the same as that in the People’s Republic of China the way the cultural revolution manifested itself in the late 1960s was not the same – due to the different experiences in both countries.

Many people will be aware of The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (under the leadership of Chairman Mao) and the mass demonstrations and movements that took place in China from 1966 but that doesn’t mean to say the struggle didn’t exist in Albania. The same enemies, both internal and external, had to be confronted in both countries. Those countries, and parties worldwide, that aligned themselves with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union – after the success of Revisionism following the death of Comrade Stalin in 1953 – had failed to initiate this ‘cultural revolution’ and therefore started to follow the capitalist road. They had failed to learn from what Lenin and Stalin had taught.

All Marxist-Leninists who are seeking to established a Socialist state (under the dictatorship of the proletariat) need to study the writings of all the great Marxist theoreticians to ensure that any gains they might make in the future don’t get squandered amongst the euphoria that accompanies the success of the revolution. Capitalism never will rest to regain what it might have lost.

You might also be intested in The Socialist Cultural Revolution and the People’s National Culture.

Report to the Fifth Congress – 1st November 1966

THE FURTHER DEEPENING OF THE IDEOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL REVOLUTION

The further revolutionisation of life in our country is inconceivable without the further development and deepening of the ideological and cultural revolution. It is accomplished precisely on the basis of this revolution, the fundamental aim of which is to instil and ensure the complete triumph of the proletarian socialist ideology in the consciousness of all the working people, while thoroughly eradicating the bourgeois ideology, to ensure the all-round revolutionary, communist education and tempering of the new man – the decisive factor in solving all the big, complicated problems of the construction of socialism and the defence of the Homeland.

Throughout its whole existence, our Party has devoted special care and attention to the all-round revolutionary education of the communists and all the working people. Especially since the 4th Congress [Report delivered on 13th February 1961, Enver Hoxha, Selected Works, Volume 3, pp192-283] and on the basis of its directives, our Party has done more persistent work in this direction.

1 – THE STRUGGLE FOR THE TRIUMPH OF THE SOCIALIST IDEOLOGY IS A STRUGGLE FOR THE TRIUMPH OF SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM

In our country the proletarian socialist ideology is the ideology in power which sets the general tone for all the life and activity of our working people. Despite the successes achieved, however, we are conscious that the struggle in this field is protracted and difficult. V.I. Lenin said;

‘Our task is to overcome all the resistance of the capitalists, not only their military and political resistance but also their ideological resistance, which is the strongest and most deeply entrenched.’ VI Lenin, Collected Works, Volume 29.

The old idealist ideology of the exploiting society still has deep roots and exerts a powerful and continuous influence. When we speak of this influence, it is not just a matter of ‘a few remnants and alien manifestations that appear here and there’, as it is often wrongly described in our propaganda, but the influence of a whole alien ideology which is expressed in all sorts of alien concepts, customs and attitudes, which are retained for a long time as a heritage from the past, have social support in the former exploiting classes and their remnants, in the tendencies to petty-bourgeois spontaneity, and are nurtured in various forms by the capitalist and revisionist world which surrounds us.

As long as the complete victory of the socialist revolution in the field of ideology and culture has not been ensured, the achievements of the socialist revolution in the political and economic fields cannot be secure and guaranteed, either. Therefore, in the final analysis, the struggle on the ideological front for the complete defeat of bourgeois and revisionist ideology has to do with the question: will socialism and communism be built and the restoration of capitalism be avoided, or will the door be opened to the spread of bourgeois and revisionist ideology and the return to capitalism be permitted.

The ideological and cultural revolution is a part of the general class struggle to carry the socialist revolution through to the end in all fields. Contrary to the views of the modem revisionists, who have declared the class struggle in socialism outdated and a thing of the past, our Party holds that class struggle remains one of the main motive forces of society, even after the exploiting classes have been eliminated. This struggle includes all fields of life. It has its ebbs and flows and zigzags, sometimes it surges up, sometimes it falls back, sometimes becomes fierce, at other times more ‘mild’, but it never ceases and dies right away.

As the experience of our country shows, this struggle is an objective and inevitable phenomenon in socialism. It is waged against the remnants of the exploiting classes, overthrown and expropriated, but who continue to resist and exert pressure by every means, first and foremost, through their reactionary ideology, as well as against new bourgeois elements, degenerate revisionist and anti-Party elements, who inevitably emerge within our society. It is also waged against bourgeois and revisionist ideology which is retained and expressed in various forms and degrees of intensity, as well as against the external pressure of imperialism. Thus the internal and external fronts of class struggle are interconnected, now merging into one single front, now operating separately, but always linked by the same objective: to overthrow the dictatorship of the proletariat and restore capitalism.

Acceptance or non-acceptance of the class struggle in socialism is a question of principle, it is a line of demarcation between Marxist-Leninists and revisionists, between revolutionaries and betrayers of the revolution. Any deviation from the class struggle has fatal consequences for the future of socialism. Therefore, along with the struggle to increase production, to develop education and culture, along with the struggle against foreign enemies – the imperialists and revisionists, we must not neglect, must never overlook the class struggle within the country, for otherwise history will punish us severely.

The duty of the Party is not to shut its eyes to this necessity, not to benumb the revolutionary vigilance of the communists and masses, but to wage this class struggle vigorously and unwaveringly until final victory. The progress of our society and the revolutionary education of the working people are inconceivable and cannot be achieved outside the class struggle.

In practice we often come across a narrow concept on the class struggle and class enemy, which regards only the kulaks and other elements of the former exploiting classes, or the imperialists and Titoite and Khrushchevite revisionists abroad as class enemies, and only the struggle against their anti-socialist activities as class struggle. The struggle against these enemies remains, as always, a primary task for our Party, our state and our working people. But we should take a broader view of the class struggle. It is a many-sided struggle which is, first and foremost, an ideological struggle today, a struggle for the minds and hearts of people, a struggle against bourgeois and revisionist degeneration, against all alien remnants and phenomena which still exist and manifest themselves in various degrees among all our people – it is a struggle for the triumph of our communist ideology and morality.

The struggle against theft and misuse of socialist property, against parasitic and speculative tendencies to take as much as possible from society and to contribute to it as little as possible, against putting personal ease, the personal interest and glory above the general interest, against bureaucratic manifestations and distortions, religious ideology, prejudices, superstitions and backward customs, against underestimation of women and failure to respect their equal rights in society, against fashion and the bourgeois way of life, against idealism and metaphysics, against various ‘isms’ of the decadent bourgeois and revisionist art and culture, against the political and ideological influence of external enemies, etc., etc., all these things are parts of the class struggle.

Thus, the class struggle is not only directed against external and internal enemies, but is also waged within the ranks of the working people, against any alien manifestation observed in the consciousness, the thinking, the behaviour and the attitude of each individual. No one should think that he is proof against any evil and has nothing to fight against within himself. A stern struggle between socialist ideology and bourgeois ideology takes place in the consciousness of each person. Everybody ought to look at himself as though in a mirror and clean his consciousness every day, just as he washes his face every day, by taking a communist attitude towards himself.

Class struggle is reflected within the Party, too, because, on the one hand, people from different social strata come into the Party, bringing with them all kinds of alien remnants and manifestations, and on the other hand, the party members, like all the working people, encounter the pressure of the class enemy, especially of the enemy ideology, from inside and outside the country. Consequently, in the party ranks as well as in the ranks of the working people there may and do emerge people who degenerate and go over to alien anti-Party and anti-socialist positions. Moreover, in all their activities our enemies give particular importance to the degeneration of party members in order to bring about the degeneration of the Party as a whole, because only thus can the way be opened to the restoration of capitalism. It should be clear that without contradictions of various kinds and without a struggle to overcome them, the life and development of the Party would not be possible. This struggle should not he covered up under the pretext of preserving unity, but should be waged and carried through to the end, thus strengthening the true unity of the Party, its revolutionary spirit, its militancy and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

It is a primary task of all the ideological work of the Party to form a correct concept about class struggle in our country in all the communists and working people, to educate them in the spirit of irreconcilable class struggle, to instil in them the method of class analysis which is the only method by which to know and correctly solve all the problems, to teach them not only to accept the need for class struggle in words, but to wage it in all fields of life every day. This is not something new. Our Party has always stressed the need to wage the class struggle and carry out class education and has done a great deal of work in this direction.

We must fight indifference and formalism in our political work for the education of the Party and the masses and always link it properly with the active class struggle. We must resolutely combat alien concepts and manifestations opposed to the line of the Party and the interests of people and socialism, combat the tendency to avoid calling things by their true names, but to soften them and smooth them over, concealing their class essence and their social danger.

These shortcomings in the work of party organizations account for the fact that some cadres and party members do not always give priority to the common interests represented by the party policy, but often look at things from the angle of personal, local or departmental interest, look at various problems with the eye of a technocrat and bureaucrat, with the eye of a narrow-minded specialist and neglect the political and ideological aspects. They do not understand that there is politics everywhere, in every work and sector, because there are no cadres or economic, administrative, cultural or military work divorced from politics or outside the policy of the dictatorship of the proletariat. All things are interconnected and interdependent and in this unity politics occupies the main place, and likewise all our cadres, in every sector where they work, should be, first and foremost, political people, should put the policy of the Party first and always guide themselves by it.

Our Party has always been characterized by its stern irreconcilability with the enemies of the people, socialism and Marxism-Leninism and its love for and boundless loyalty to the working people and their revolutionary cause, its wisdom and patience with all those who commit mistakes but can be corrected. Narrow, sectarian attitudes have always been alien to it. Therefore, the party organizations must resolutely combat any manifestation of sectarianism in their work because this damages the links of the Party with the masses, confuses the dividing line between us and our enemies and leads to the use of wrong methods in resolving contradictions among the people, which affect the working people themselves.

The ideological work of the Party must make the nature of the contradictions in socialist society thoroughly clear, as well as the ways to resolve them correctly … Any mixing up of the two kinds of contradictions leads to opportunist and sectarian errors.

It must always be borne in mind that the carriers and spreaders of the bourgeois ideology are not only elements from former exploiting classes but also our own people who are working for the cause of socialism. In these cases, while fighting mercilessly against the disease, the alien ideology, we must strive with all our might to cure the patient, the carrier of that ideology. Only in the case when the carrier and spreader of the alien ideology is or becomes our conscious enemy, only then is the contradiction handled and resolved as an antagonistic contradiction and the method of persuasion replaced by that of compulsion. The Party must do a great prophylactic, educational and political work, patiently and systematically, to prevent anyone from falling into grave blunders, going from blunders to culpable faults and then to anti-state and anti-socialist crimes subject to severe punishment by the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Another very important direction of the ideological work of the Party is the inculcation of the new socialist attitude towards work, so that our people will work as revolutionaries and fight resolutely to put the revolutionary ideals into practice. Only in work and through work is the new man educated and tempered, because work is the greatest school of communist education.

In the atmosphere of great creative work full of selfless revolutionary enthusiasm, which is transforming nature and the consciousness of man, it becomes even more evident how alien and intolerable are the attitudes of those people who dodge work, who are afraid of difficulties and sacrifices, who do not want to disturb their personal ease and comfort, who try to occupy or hang on to some ‘soft spot’, who do their work carelessly and try to grab the maximum from society, who proceed in everything from their own personal interest and material benefit and, with a thousand pretexts and excuses, shirk the duty of working where the people and the country need them. All these are bourgeois attitudes.

The party organizations must carry on a resolute fight against such alien manifestations, incompatible with our communist morality. They must regard the struggle against such manifestations as an aspect of the class struggle, as a struggle against the seed of the bourgeois and revisionist degeneration of people. They must implant the revolutionary socialist concept and attitude towards work among all the working people of town and country, so that everybody regards work as a matter of honour and pride, as a lofty patriotic duty, without which life could not exist. Our people and, first and foremost, the cadres and party members must work with high consciousness and discipline, with military drive and tempo, boldly overcome every obstacle and difficulty, march steadily forward, place the interests of the people, the country and socialism above everything, spare nothing to promote these interests, and be ready even to lay down their lives for these interests. A modest son of our people, son of a family formerly oppressed and exploited by beys and landlords was Hekuran Zenuni, a soldier from the village of Tozhar in the Berat district. He made light of difficulties and sacrifices and went ahead to perform the duty with which he had been charged and, without hesitation, laid down his life in the flower of his youth, just as the 28,000 martyrs did to accomplish their tasks during the National Liberation War. Such are the new men which our Party has educated and tempered.

When we speak about the socialist attitude towards work, the correct understanding of physical work, work in production has first-rate importance. This is a great question of principle to which the organizations of the Party must give special attention in their educational work. The aristocratic concepts about work in production are completely alien to socialism and fraught with dangerous consequences. Any underestimation or deriding of physical work should be condemned as underestimation and deriding of the workers and peasants and the broad masses of the people – a thing that leads to isolation from the people and their work and life, and this isolation is the source of many evils. This should be taken into account especially by those engaged in mental work, the cadres, officials, the technical and artistic intelligentsia, the pupils and students. The overwhelming majority of them have been educated since the liberation of the country and have emerged from the ranks of the working masses, are closely linked with the people and the Party and have displayed and are demonstrating a high level of patriotic and socialist consciousness. Nevertheless, these features should not lead us to underestimate the danger of their becoming infected by bourgeois ideology and, especially, by revisionist views. This is not an imaginary danger, it has a real basis. It is connected with the very nature and conditions of the work and life of people engaged in mental work, and especially the creative, artistic and scientific intelligentsia, who are still very out of touch with physical work and, in many instances, with the working masses and their lives. Among the intelligentsia more favourable ground can be and is found for the spread of individualism and careerism, conceit and haughtiness, unjustified pretensions and an easy life, intellectualism and disdain for the masses.

Our people’s intelligentsia must link itself as closely as possible with the people, must work and live with the workers and peasants and blend themselves inseparably with them. They must reject the bourgeois idea inherited from the past which still has deep roots, that the intellectual knows everything and he alone is able to lead, to guide, to teach and instruct others – an idea which in fact expresses the negation of the role of the masses. It must be clear that the decisive role in all fields of life, including spiritual life, does not belong to particular individuals, no matter how outstanding they are, but to the broad masses of the people. Knowledge does not fall from heaven. All knowledge derives from life and practice and is a product of the struggle of the masses to transform nature and society. Therefore, the men of science, art and culture must listen with attention and deep respect to the opinions of the masses, sum up their experience, always be modest and humble pupils of the great and unmistakable teacher, the people, and make the judgement of the people the fundamental criterion in all their creative work. Some cadres in our scientific institutions are conceited and think that what they say is the last word of science, that any opinion opposed to theirs is worthless; incorrect, and must be rejected, No! Such concepts among the ranks of our scientists must be stigmatized. There is no advance in science or anywhere else without struggle, without clashes of opinions, without class struggle, without debate guided by the Marxist-Leninist principles, by the proletarian ideology, to discover the truth. The idea of the development and progress of science, and not personal glory, must guide each of our scientists in his own work.

The people of the intelligentsia must link their mental work as closely as possible with the physical work of workers and peasants and take part continually, in the proportions laid down, in work directly in production. This duty which has been put into practice widely for all the cadres, intelligentsia, pupils and students, has great theoretical and practical importance. It will help them to become better acquainted with life, to rid themselves of many alien remnants and manifestations and to temper themselves as genuine revolutionaries. This is an important step towards reducing the distinctions between mental and physical work, which, together with the reduction of distinctions between town and country and between the working class and the peasantry, constitutes a major problem which is closely linked with the prospects of our development towards communism. If we do not take measures now to narrow these differences and, willingly or not, allow them to deepen, then our country will not develop towards our final objective and these differences will also become the cause of many evils, of unfair relations between people of mental and physical work, between town and country and between the working class and the peasantry.

Our Party has big tasks to perform also in connection with the inculcation of correct concepts about life so that the moral figure of the communists and all the working people will be the same, not only at work and in society, but also in personal and family life. The cadres, the communists and every worker should live like revolutionaries, lead a modest life of real struggle, they should be the first in sacrifices and the last in pretensions. As the Open Letter reads:

‘… not empty idleness and concern only for oneself, but the ideal of socialism, the struggle to build our socialist Homeland and make it flower with our own hands, the joy of creative work for the good of the people and in their service and the continuous raising of the standard of living of the working masses must be the main objective of their life and struggle, their main preoccupation.’ Principal Documents of the Party of Labour of Albania, Volume 5, p. 38 (Albanian Edition).

The bourgeois and revisionist concept of life, putting money, pleasure, luxury, comfort, personal ease and well being above everything, is alien to our people. The consequences of such a concept have become catastrophic in the countries ruled by the revisionists. Political degeneration, moral corruption, running after money and material gain, selfishness and frenzied individualism, the bourgeois way of life and fashion, and hooliganism are what characterize the life of these countries today, a life which is almost indistinguishable from that of western capitalist countries.

Such alien views on life may and, in fact, do take root in some of our people who are exposed to the strong influence of bourgeois ideology and morality. The party organizations must always be vigilant and carry out a great educational work and struggle to create in the Party, in the collective, in the family and everywhere such an atmosphere as to stifle decadent concepts about the way and purpose of life, sternly condemning all liberal attitudes and laxity in this direction. Through its work the Party must inculcate, especially in the younger generation, our new revolutionary concept of life that is inspired by the lofty ideals of socialism and communism.

All the ideological work of the Party its propaganda and agitation, must be directed first and foremost at ideological and political education, the formation and tempering of people as genuine revolutionaries and communists so that they understand and put into practice the great slogan of the Party: ‘Think, work and live like revolutionaries’ – which constitutes the essence of communist education, the fundamental content of the educational work of the Party.

2 – WE MUST RADICALLY IMPROVE THE METHOD AND STYLE OF THE EDUCATIONAL WORK

Our great objectives in the realm of the cultural and ideological revolution for the education of communists and all the working people in a high revolutionary spirit can not be achieved without further improving the entire content of our educational work and especially the method and style of this work.

It must be said that up to now this work has suffered and is still suffering from dogmatism and stereotypeism, from being out of touch with life, from verbosity, unexplained formulas and a heavy, boring style. Our workers of Marxist social sciences and propaganda have been trying to present our experience in the known terms of theory, reducing it, in the best instances, to examples for illustration, and not enough work has been done to make theoretical generalizations from the Albanian practice, to raise the wealth of factual material that the life of our country during all these years has provided, to the level of science. Therefore, the Party must make every effort to combat this serious shortcoming, and to enliven creative thinking in the field of Marxist social sciences, in our propaganda, and in all our ideological and cultural work.

In addition there are some other weaknesses that have been noticed in the organization and conduct of political and cultural educational activities. In many cases the forms of educational work are standardized and rigid, without spirit or life, little effort is made to adapt them to new conditions and circumstances and frequently nothing is altered until instructions come from above. The fact is that the revolutionary spirit of the Party and masses has far outstripped the propaganda and agitation of the Party. Communists and non-party workers, co-operativists, youth and women are making thousands of innovations and rationalizations which revolutionize their minds and production. However, the same cannot be said about the party workers engaged in propaganda and agitation, or about the workers of the ideological and cultural front, who should advance not alongside, but in the vanguard of all the other working people, to light the way for them, to organize and mobilize them for great deeds. What is the reason for this? Is it that the comrades of the ideological front are incapable, have no ideas and opinions? No. They are some of the best comrades, with a high ideological and political level and tireless workers. The trouble is that they find it difficult to break away from the old stereotyped forms of work and are not closely linked with the work and struggle of the masses.

In the field of ideology and propaganda the Party must struggle also against another serious shortcoming which is seen especially in the daily life of party organizations, as well as of state and economic organs. Here I am referring to the manifestations of empiricism and narrow practicism, the separation of practice from theory, becoming totally immersed in the swirl of daily life, facts and events, the failure to draw general conclusions from the experience of the masses, and the underestimation of theory, which leads to the loss of perspective and deviation from principles. It is regrettable, but a fact, that there are communists in the ranks of the Party who toil day and night but never open a book, that some leading cadres who have neglected their studies, have lagged behind and cannot respond to the great tasks with which life faces them. Some believe that since they have graduated from the University or the Party School they know everything and have nothing more to learn. Others are content with little and think that the study of theory is not necessary for the work they do. All these views must be condemned and sternly combated. The cadres, the communists and all the working people must learn all the time, must learn from life and from school, from practice and theory, from work and from books. This is a never-ending, unlimited job.

The Party has taken and will take measures to improve the work in this field of such importance, combating both dogmatism and empiricism, both lifeless theorizing and narrow practicism. However, these measures will never be sufficient and complete unless the organizations and committees of the Party and the workers on the ideological front use their brains, think and create with initiative, unless they elaborate and enrich the directives of the Party and apply them in a revolutionary way in conformity with the tasks and circumstances. The work of the Party and its ideological work, in particular, is a living and profoundly creative work, which does not tolerate ready-made schemes and stereotypes. The enlivenment of this work is one of the most important tasks of the Party today.

The revolutionizing of all the ideological work, of its content and style, linking it closely with life, must assist, first of all, the more profound and conscious assimilation of Marxism-Leninism by the communists and all the working people of our country. Such an assimilation of Marxist-Leninist ideas and their transformation into a weapon for our working people in their daily struggle is the fundamental distinguishing feature that marks the process of the further deepening of our ideological and cultural revolution. The Marxist-Leninist ideas are the red flag of our Party, its invincible and triumphant banner. They are the foundation of the general line of our Party, they are our guide to action, they light the way for our ideological and cultural revolution, of which they are the basis. Therefore, they must become, and are becoming more and more each day, the property and weapon of the working people.

In this connection we must strengthen and radically improve the study of Marxist-Leninist theory in the Party School, in all categories of our schools and especially in the University and other higher institutes, with the aim that the younger generation and our cadres are formed and tempered as genuine revolutionaries, with broad political and theoretical horizons, closely linked with life and practice. Our schools must give the youth and the cadres profound Marxist-Leninist theoretical knowledge, and give it to them not in a dogmatic way, but creatively, not as an ornament, but as a compass to guide them correctly in life and as a weapon for the revolutionary transformation of the world. The works of the classics of Marxism-Leninism and especially the documents, materials and experience of our Party, which are Marxism-Leninism in action in today’s national and international conditions, must be the basis for the study of our triumphant doctrine. At the same time, we must intensify and improve the propagation of Marxist-Leninist ideas through the press and publications, by printing and publishing more articles, books and pamphlets, works of the classics of Marxism-Leninism, not only complete works but also selections on specific themes, dealing with particular problems on which the cadres and workers need direct help.

Our struggle for the assimilation of Marxist-Leninist ideas, for the deepening of the ideological and cultural revolution, cannot be waged successfully unless the whole Party, the communists and all working masses are drawn into it, unless the line of the masses, the line of thorough socialist democratization, is implemented boldly and in a revolutionary way here, as everywhere else. To put such a line into practice, a stern struggle must be waged against the reactionary bourgeois intellectualist concept that theory, philosophy, science and art are too difficult to be grasped by the masses, that they can be understood only by the cadres and intelligentsia, because the masses have not reached the level necessary to understand them! This means to make theory and science a bugbear for the masses. This means to make Marxism-Leninism a bugbear for the masses, too, because Marxism-Leninism is a theory and science. We must declare relentless war on this concept. Marxism-Leninism is not a monopoly of a privileged few who ‘have the brains to understand it’. It is the scientific ideology of the working class and the working masses, and only when its ideas are grasped by the broad working masses does it cease to be something abstract and is turned into a great material force for the revolutionary transformation of the world. The historic task of our Party is to continually deepen the ideological and cultural revolution and carry it through to the end by relying on the masses of workers, peasants, soldiers, cadres and the intelligentsia and drawing them actively into creative revolutionary activity.

Enver Hoxha, Selected Works, Volume 4, pp 163-180

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