Illuminating Revolution 4.0 with Marx's thoughts

On May 4, to celebrate the 200th birthday of Karl Marx, the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, the Central Propaganda Department, and the Central Theoretical Council organized the international scientific conference "The ideological heritage of Karl Marx and its contemporary significance". The conference was attended by many domestic and international scientists.

At the conference, scientists assessed that currently, the scientific and technological revolution and globalization are taking place strongly, humanity is entering the 4.0 revolution, capitalism has been and is adjusting itself, many new problems have arisen. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to supplement and develop Marx's thoughts in today's era.

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of C. Marx - a genius thinker, a great revolutionary, an outstanding leader of the working class, working people and oppressed peoples around the world, we respectfully introduce an article by comrade Vo Van Thuong, Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Head of the Central Propaganda Department.

Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, Director of Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics Nguyen Xuan Thang.

At the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, said that new issues arising in practice such as the 4.0 industrial revolution need to be illuminated by Marx's thoughts.

Some people argue that in the knowledge economy and industry 4.0, the current historical mission no longer belongs to the working class but to some other classes, even to robots...

However, according to Mr. Thang, thanks to Marx's theory, we clearly see that, although modern production is automated, in terms of economic content, the modern working class is still the main producer of material wealth for society.

In terms of ideology and politics, only the working class can unite other working classes led by the Communist Party to build a socialist state of law, by the people, for the people. Therefore, only the working class can solve political and social problems in the process of building a new society.

From a cultural and ideological perspective, only the working class is the force that can establish new value systems such as labor, justice, democracy, equality, freedom... to replace the old bourgeois value system.

The current development of productive forces based on scientific and technological advances is bringing humanity to very new development models such as industry 4.0 and super-smart society 5.0, which is consistent with Marx's theory of replacement and development of socio-economic forms.

Along with that, the goals that these models set out such as: bringing people a comfortable life, regardless of age, health, gender, geography, language, not leaving anyone behind, liberating and developing people... are also the fundamental arguments that Marx predicted in the Communist Manifesto 170 years ago, in line with the noble humanistic nature of socialism.

“The contemporary significance of Marxism with its predictions and everlasting values ​​is a convincing scientific argument that always urges us to build aspirations and visions for development towards a modern, humane, inclusive and sustainable society, for people, with people at the center, by people and liberating people as the core and most universal value of humanity,” Mr. Thang acknowledged.

Referring to Marx's thoughts on democracy, Professor Ta Ngoc Tan, Vice Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, said that Marx was the one who set a particularly important milestone marking a new revolutionary stage in the perception of this issue. When examining Marx's thoughts on democracy, it can be seen that the core issue is freedom and the role of people's power.

According to Professor Ta Ngoc Tan, through the historical revolutionary process, the awareness of the Communist Party and the State of Vietnam about the content, role and significance of democracy, about the principles and specific manifestations of the democratic regime has become increasingly deeper, more humane and progressive.

“Although today's life has changed greatly compared to the time Marx lived, Marx's ideas about a true, progressive democracy still hold true.

Socialist democracy in Vietnam today not only vividly demonstrates Marx's ideas about a new democracy, in which the people are the masters of society and all power in society belongs to the people, but is also creatively developed, made richer and more comprehensive in the specific conditions of our country," Professor Tan acknowledged.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Trong Phuc, former Director of the Institute of Party History, said that Marxist doctrine has three major parts: Marxist philosophy with dialectical materialism, Marxist economics, the core of which is the theory of surplus value, and the doctrine of socialism.