In the face of the temporary decay of global socialism at the end of the 20^th century, hostile and reactionary forces vigorously advocated that "Marxism has come to an end"(!). However, the vibrant reality of the world and present-day Vietnam evidence that Marxism remains full of vitality.

Distorting and refuting the scientific and revolutionary values of Marxism is a regular trick employed by hostile and revolutionary forces. Since Marxism came into being on the global political stage with the Communist Manifesto (1848), forces of global capitalism have revealed its fear and hatred towards the inception of the communist movement which was progressively expanding under the influence of Marxism, and regarded as “A spectre haunting Europe”. The “Spectre” compelled the forces of Capitalism to “enter into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre”, as highlighted by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels when mentioning the context in which the Communist Manifesto came into existence.

The reason Marxism is subject to numerous attacks from hostile and reactionary forces is that Marx's theories directly collide over the inviolable 'sacred belief' of capitalist ideology - private ownership. As Professor Terry Eagleton (Professor of Lancaster University in the UK) has affirmed that “Marxism, for years, has remained the most theoretically richest and politically remorseless critique of capitalism”. With the collapse of socialism in the USSR and Eastern Europe at the end of the 20th century and the manifestations of adaptation of modern capitalism, the criticism from hostile and reactionary forces became even more fierce. They gleefully proclaimed the “death of Marxism” and asserted that “Marxism now come to an end and there is no need to mention it” (!).

Following hostile and reactionary forces in foreign countries, those in Vietnam also take full advantage of social networks to disseminate articles that distort and deny Marxism with all sorts of fallacious reasoning. They “admonish” our Party to abandon Marxism and not to take Marxism as the ideological foundation since they assert that “Marxism has come to an end and is of no value for practical guidance” (!), etc. Their consistent aim is to create a void in the ideological consciousness of cadres and party members as well as within the society, thereby intensifying “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” within the Party and society to undermine our Party and steer our country towards the path of capitalism. Due to the impact of these distorted and false allegations, a minority of cadres, party members and people have wavered and lost confidence in Marxism and Leninism. Thus, defending Marxism and exposing the fallacy of distorted allegations and the denial of Marxism are essential to safeguard our Party’s ideological foundation.

First and foremost, it is essential to affirm that to this very day, Marxism remains the most scientific and revolutionary theory in interpreting fundamental issues of all times. Even Zbigniew Brzezińsk, the author of “The Grand Failure:  The Birth and Death of Communism in the Twentieth Century, who harbours an intense hatred for Marxism, has to acknowledge its value. He wrote: “The concept of historical dialectics seems to be the most valuable method for addressing practical contradictions”. Indeed, with two remarkable contributions, namely historical materialism and the theory of surplus value, K. Marx achieved thorough revolutions in philosophy and political economy. By employing dialectical materialism, for the first time in human history, Marxism delineated the fundamental laws governing the movement and development of human society. These laws include the law of correspondence between the relations of production and the development level of productive forces; the socio-economy determines the superstructure of society; social existence determines social consciousness, and the substitution of economic-social forms as a historical-natural process. For the first time in human history, K. Marx discovered the distinct laws of motion of the capitalist mode of production and the bourgeois society generated by that mode - the law of surplus value. Simultaneously, on the foundation of objective and scientific analysis of economic conditions of the capitalist mode of production, as well as the socio-political conditions within bourgeois society, K. Marx first identified and elucidated the historic mission of the working class - the representative of advanced productive forces, possessing adequate competencies and qualities to liberate themselves and ultimately emancipate all humankind.

Despite multiple changes across the globe, the laws that Marx discovered and generalised still preserve their value in practical guidance. In response to the argument claiming that " Capitalism has altered almost unrecognisably since the days of Marx, and that this is why his ideas are no longer fashionable”, Terry Eagleton stated that “Marx himself was always aware of the ceaselessly dynamic nature of the system he criticised” and that “what seemingly undermines Marxism reinforces confidence in the assertions of Marx. It is pushed to the extreme because the social order Marx confronted, instead of becoming more clement and harmonious, has become more ruthless and extreme than ever before. And this very fact makes Marx's criticism of the entire capitalist system more accurate”. The global financial crises in 2007 and 2008, stemming from capitalist countries as well as the "Occupy Wall Street" movement with the slogan "We are the 99 per cent" spreading in many developed capitalist nations in 2009 and 2011, demonstrated the validity of K. Marx's insights into the fundamental contradictions of capitalism and Terry Eagleton’s statement is totally accurate. During this period, many individuals within the capitalist world returned to Marxist theory and numerous research centres on K. Marx were found in capitalist countries. “Capital” became a best-selling book in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, and so on. Eric John Hobsbawm – a British historian once pointed out that “The capitalists themselves, not anyone else, have rediscovered Marx" and "Their returning to reading Marx means that the world needs to study his theory of capitalism and its position in the development of human society”. Several scholars anticipated that the 21^st century would remain the century of Marxism and appealed to humankind to "Return to Marx" and that humanity would have "no future without Marx’s legacy. Those statements are vivid evidence for the refutation of “the death of Marxism” and prove that Marxism remains the solution for the real world.

Second, the collapse of socialism in the USSR and Eastern European countries in the late 20th century does not imply the "death" of Marxism. It was merely the downfall of a particular model of socialism, which stems from dogmatism, revisionism, and mistakes in political guidelines, ideology, and the organisation of the ruling party as well as the betrayal of several top leaders in the USSR during that period towards the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism. Nearly 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in his book - The Mystery of the Death of the USSR (History of Conspiracies and Betrayals 1945-1991), A. P. Shevyakin published the confession of M.S. Gorbachev at a US university in Turkey in 1999: “The aim of the whole my life was the destruction of Communism ... When I myself accustomed with the West, I understood that I cannot give up this aim”. This demonstrates that the temporary decay of global socialism does not stem from Marxism itself and does not signify the "death" of Marxism. On the other hand, this event also proves that any party that deviates from the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism is no longer a genuine Marxist-Leninist party, and their endeavour to build socialism will fail.

Third, the Vietnamese revolution has proved that Marxism-Leninism is a light illuminating the path to independence, freedom, and socialism for our people; it serves as the ideological foundation and compass for the actions of our Party. As can be seen from the country’s revolutionary history from the late 19^th century to the early 20^th century, until Nguyen Ai Quoc approached Marxism-Leninism and popularised it in Vietnam, with the combination of workers' movements and the patriotic movements to establish the Communist Party of Vietnam (the CPV), did the period of crisis and stagnation in the path of national salvation finally end so that Vietnam's revolution could savour multiple victories. Under the leadership of the CPV and President Ho Chi Minh, our country achieved great historical accomplishments in the August Revolution, the victories over two resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism to regain independence and freedom for the nation. Today, we are on the path of building socialism with innovative thinking. The 7^th National Party Congress reaffirmed: "The Party takes Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's thoughts as the ideological foundation and the lodestar for its actions", thereby emphasising the experience drawn from the Vietnamese revolution from 1930: "The Party must firmly grasp, apply creatively and contribute to the development of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's thoughts". In the 13^th National Party Congress, one of the five lessons drawn by our Party from the implementation of the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congress and also being the leading viewpoint in implementing the reform in the upcoming period is "To firmly grasp, creatively apply, and develop Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's thoughts". Thanks to the firm grasp and creative application of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's thoughts in the Vietnamese revolutionary, the building of socialism has achieved significant and historically significant achievements; "Our country has never had such a position, potential, influence, and prestige as it does today". Once a semi-feudal colony with no presence on the world map, our country has become an independent and free nation with diplomatic relations with most UN member countries; established strategic and comprehensive partnerships with nearly 30 countries, including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Vietnam maintains economic, trade, and investment relations with 230 countries and territories and is a member of many major international economic institutions. Vietnam has also served as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council twice and has been elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Council twice and has held many important positions in other international organisations. Vietnam has entered the group of middle-income developing nations from an underdeveloped nation with increasing economic scale and potential. In comparison with its economic scale in 1989 with just 6.3 billion USD, Vietnam in 2022 ranked 37^th among the world's largest economies, among the top 14 countries in Asia with 409 billion USD, and fifth in ASEAN. The people’s material and spiritual lives have significantly been improved. The average income per capita in the early years of the reform was only about $250 per year, but by 2022, it reached $4,110, which ranks fifth in ASEAN. The poverty rate has sharply declined from 58% in 1993 to 5.8% in 2016 based on the national poverty line set by the government, and below 3% in 2020 based on multidimensional poverty. The UN has placed Vietnam as one of the leading countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Throughout the process of leading the revolution, our Party not only adheres to Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s thoughts as the ideological foundation and lodestar for actions, but also contributes to diversifying Marxism-Leninism. The focus is on issues regarding the revolutionary path of national liberation in colonial countries, the relationship between national independence and socialism, socialism and the path to socialism in countries with sluggish economic development, and so on.

The achievements in the cause of national construction and defence in socialist countries in general and Vietnam in particular as well as the endeavour to struggle for protecting and developing Marxism-Leninism of the current communist parties and global working class are vivid evidence to refute the fallacy of the claim that “Marxism has come to an end” as well as affirm the eternal vitality of Marxism in the present era.

NGUYEN NGOC HOI