Marxism and Problems of Linguistics - From Marx to Mao

mistaken; they cannot but know that both of these conclusionsare correct, though not absolutely, each being correct for itsown time: Marx’s and Engels’ conclusion — for the periodof pre-monopoly capitalism; and Lenin’s conclusion — for theperiod of monopoly capitalism.2. Engels in his Anti-Dühring said that after the victoryof the socialist revolution, the state is bound to wither away.On these grounds, after the victory of the socialist revolutionin our country, textualists and Talmudists in our Party begandemanding that the Party should take steps to ensure thespeedy withering away of our state, to disband state organs,to give up a standing army.However, the study of the world situation of our time ledSoviet Marxists to the conclusion that in the conditions ofcapitalist encirclement, when the socialist revolution has beenvictorious only in one country, and capitalism reigns in allother countries, the land of the victorious revolution shouldnot weaken, but in every way strengthen its state, state organs,intelligence organs and army, if that land does not want tobe crushed by the capitalist encirclement. Russian Marxistscame to the conclusion that Engels’ formula has in view thevictory of socialism in all, or in most, countries, that it cannotbe applied in the case where socialism is victorious in onecountry taken separately and capitalism reigns in all the othercountries.Evidently, we have here two different formulas regardingthe destiny of the socialist state, each formula excluding theother.The textualists and Talmudists may say that this circumstancecreates an intolerable situation, that one of theseformulas must be discarded as being absolutely erroneous,and the other — as the absolutely correct one — must be ap-48