GUEVARA'S IDEOLOGY
8.3 MARXIST-HUMANISM
Whereas various Marxist scholars and indeed Guevara himself have pointed out his deficient theoretical understanding of Marxism overall, he at times, and especially in his later writings, he reveals a deeper understanding of, and more coherent commitment to, aspects of Marxist-humanist thinking, something that arguably forms the basis from which he launches his perceived goals and visions for a future socialist society. This, conceivably, is the most articulate category of Marxist thought Guevara adopted that furthermore, frames his subsequent denunciation of bureaucracy and totalitarianism (see below). The sections following in large measure endeavour to illustrate this supposition.
8.3.1 The Moral and Human Factor
Hart Davalos, revolutionary Cuba's first minister of education who also held the portfolio of culture until the late 1990s, concludes from his studies of Guevara that he (Guevara) initially became inspired by 'the spiritual heritage of Our America " brought to the forefront by Marti through his commitment to moral and human values. This in tum led to Guevara adopting ideas of Marx and Engels to motivate and guide the revolutionary action of the masses and society as a whole (Hart Davalos 2000). Hence, flowing from his condemnation of the Stalinist bureaucratic course (discussed below), Guevara developed theories of a new society structured not only on Marti's visions, but also on aspects of the Marxist tradition. This is shov.-n especially in his passion to construct a 'new personality' infused with human principles and operating in a socialist society.
His standpoints in this regard reflect some of the significant issues he sought to deal with after the triumph of the Cuban revolution in 1959. Hart Davalos (2000) furthermore argues that since the moral factor had been lacking in Cuban politics - a factor which often ends up leading to revolution -it was Guevara's conviction that without it there could be no revolution. Hart Davalos maintains
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that Guevara recognised 'the enonnous role of culture and moral values in the history of civilization, and extracted from it the essential practical values for social transfonnation'.
8.3.2 Guevara's attitude towards Marxism
Guevara considers that the merit of Marx lies in the fact that he 'interprets history, understands its dynamic, and foresees the future'. But in addition to foreseeing it, he shows that it is not enough to interpret the world, it must be transformed.2 Through Marx's teachings humanity ceases to be 'the slave and instrument of his environment and becomes an architect of his own destiny'.
Guevara sees Marx, furthennore, as someone who became 'the target' of those who wish to preserve the status quo (as was the case with 'Democritus, whose work was burned by Plato himself and his disciples' 'the ideologues of the Athenian slave-owning aristocracy') (EG 196012003f, 123).
8.3.3 Role of Marxists
In 1963, drawing on ideas from Kuusinen's ll/[anual of Marxism-Leninism (Deutschmann 2003, 169), Guevara advocates that, as revolutionary leaders, they should (1) operate within the framework of Marxist-Leninism (2) become united around common ideas (3) join together to give life to Marxist ideas, and (4) carry out the historic mission of the working class (169). Of importance to him is that the revolutionary party (1) cannot exist isolated from the masses and, therefore, (2) must be in permanent contact with the people, (3) must practice criticism and self-criticism, and (4) be very severe with respect to its own errors (EG 1963/20030, 169, emphasis added).
8.3.4 On Alienation and Humanism
Since the early 1960s and in subsequent years, confronting the problems brought about by erstwhile exploitative and oppressive labour practices, Guevara writes that work should always be part of 'the good life', 'something exciting' and associated with 'life's happiest moments, not its burdens' (EG 1962/2003j, 150). He counsels that each person should feel content at work (EG 1962/2003j, 151) since work should cease to be 'an obsession', as it is in the capitalist world: work should become a 'pleasant social duty, done joyfully to the rhythm of revolutionary songs, amid the most fraternal camaraderie and
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human relationships that are mutually invigorating and uplifting', he writes.
(EG 1962/20031, 161).
In one of his most important writings, 'Socialism and man in Cuba', Guevara emphasises that the ultimate and most important revolutionary aspiration is to 'see human beings liberated from their alienation' CEG 1965/2003 u, 219).
Guevara foresees the need for the working class to move beyond that 'old- fashioned mentality' of the capitalist world, where work was not only 'a duty and a necessity', but 'a sad duty and necessity' CEG 1962120031, 164). He argues that in capitalist society individuals are controlled by a 'pitiless law', 'blind' and 'invisible to ordinary people', 'usually beyond their comprehension' (EG 1965/2003u, 215). The 'alienated human specimen', he says, is tied to society by an 'invisible umbilical cord: the law of value' (ibid.), which acts upon all aspects of one's life, 'shaping its course and destiny' (ibid.).
The 'capitalist propagandist' who holds aloft the success of someone like 'Rockefeller', disregards the 'amount of poverty and suffering' required for such a person to emerge and 'the amount of depravity entailed in the accumulation of a fortune of such magnitude', he says (EG 1965/2003u, 215).
Guevara sees capitalism as using both force and education in forming people's consciousness in class society.
In his citing from the Havana Declaration - made public to the Cuban nation in April 1962 Guevara undertakes to spell out quite pertinently the significance to him of the humanist dimension of Marxist thinking:
Who says that Marxism is the renunciation of human feelings, comradeliness, love for a compafiero respect for a compafiero, consideration for a compafiero? Who says that Marxism means not having a soul, not having feelings? Indeed it was precisely love of man that gave birth to Marxism. It was love of man, of humanity, the desire to combat the distress of the proletariat, the desire to fight poverty, injustice, suffering and all the exploitation of the proletariat, that gave rise to Marxism from Karl Marx's mind precisely when it had become possible for Marxism to emerge. It arose precisely when a real possibility emerged - and more than a real possibility, the historical necessity - of the social revolution, of which Karl Marx was the interpreter. But what made him become that interpreter if not the
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abundance of human feelings of men like him, like Engels, like Lenin?
(EG 1963/20030, 175-76).
Guevara goes on to conclude that a Marxist must be 'the best, the fullest, the most complete of human beings - but above all, a human being' (EG 1963120030, 176).
Drawing on Marx directly, Guevara expresses the view that individuals have been trying for a long time to free themselves from alienation through culture and art. While human beings 'die daily' during the eight or more hours in which they operate as commodities, individuals 'come to life' in their 'spiritual creations' beyond the work place. In class society the 'solitary being seeks harmony with the world', an environment however, that oppresses the individual. This individual strives to interact with the aesthetic as a unique being trying to reach perfection and happiness. For Guevara this is nothing more than 'an attempt to escape' (EG 1965/2003u, 221-22), since there are more significant factors at play:
It is not a matter of how many kilograms of meat one has to eat, or of how many times a year someone can go to the beach, or how many pretty things from abroad you might be able to buy with present day wages. It is a matter of making the individual feel more complete, with much more inner wealth and much more responsibility (EG 1965/2003u, 225).
Guevara reasons that, as revolutionaries, they must seek something new and peculiar that would not impede the bond between the revolutionary government and the people. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, he shows a deep concern for freeing people from social estrangement and partition.
we must seek something new that will allow a perfect identification between the government and the community as a whole, adapted to the conditions of the building of socialism peculiar to our country .... The major thing holding us back has been the fear that any formal mechanism might separate us from the masses and the individual, making us lose sight of the ultimate and most important revolutionary aspiration: to see man freed from alienation (cited in Zeitlin 1970, Ii, emphasis added).
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8.3.5 Roots of Guevara's Marxist-humanist stance
Whereas the above citations are illustrative of Guevara's advocacy of Marxist- humanist values, it is 'On the budgetary finance system' (EG 1964/2003q) that portrays more precisely the roots of his thinking.
Starting off, Guevara refers first to Marx's economic manuscripts, which for him date back to the time of the 'young Marx', when 'the weight of the philosophical ideas that contributed to Marx's education is very noticeable' when Marx's thoughts on economics were 'more imprecise', he writes (EG 1965/2003q, 185). Marx, then in the prime of his life, had already embraced the 'cause of the poor' and explained it philosophically. Thinking 'more like a philosopher', he referred more specifically to the 'human individual and to the problems of his liberation as a social being'. Guevara views Marx's later treatise, Capital, as a work that illustrates Marx as the 'scientific economist who meticulously analyses the transitory nature of social epochs and their identification with particular relations of production'. But Guevara reasons that the 'weight of Marx's human intelligence' is such that the 'humanistic character' of his concerns is frequently forgotten (EG 1965/2003q, 185, emphasis added). The mechanisms of the relations of production and their result, the class struggle, obscure the objective fact that it is 'human beings who are actors in history', he reaffirms. Accordingly, for Guevara conditions in Cuba determine that' our interest is man'. In the same article Guevara proceeds to cite from Marx's manuscripts, selecting to highlight arguably Marx's most manifest vision for an ideal human existence in a future socialist society.3 Hence Guevara points out the following theoretical concepts as formulated by Marx:
• The direct role of private property in instituting and maintaining human self- estrangement and alienation.
• Socialism as a means for the real appropriation of the human essence.
• The importance of citizens to be able to live as real social and human beings.
• Humanity's embrace of the entire wealth of previous development.
• The resolution of the conflict between humans and nature, and amongst human beings themselves.
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• The resolution of the strife between 'existence and essence', 'freedom and necessity', and between the individual and the human species as a whole (EG 1964/2003q, 185).