China Communist Party News Network, Beijing, March 16 (Cao Miao) Recently, the eleventh lecture in the series of "Reviewing Marxist Classics" of the reading activity "Strengthening Quality and Setting an Example" of the central and state organs was launched, inviting Zhang Yan, a professor of the School of Marxism of the Central Party School (National School of Administration), With the theme of "deepening the understanding of the laws of profound and complex changes in capitalism and international political and economic relations", guide the reading of "Imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism".
Zhang Yan said that "Imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism" summarized the essential characteristics of monopoly capitalism, analyzed the emergence, essence, basic characteristics and development trend of imperialism, revealed the internal contradictions and evolution rules of capitalism at the stage of imperialism, and put forward the famous conclusion that the era of imperialism is the era of proletarian social revolution, It is a milestone in the development history of Marxism to explain the theoretical and historical logic of the proletariat's socialist revolution and overthrow of imperialist rule.
Zhang Yan believes that "Imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism" not only provides theoretical guidance for the Russian October Revolution, but also has great enlightenment significance for us to understand the new features and changes of contemporary capitalism, see the international situation, find our own position, and identify the future direction.
On the one hand, capitalism has undergone significant changes in contemporary times, but this does not mean that the basic ideas in "Imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism" have become outdated. Lenin, while affirming that monopoly capitalism is bound to lead to a decadent trend, believes that this decadent trend does not exclude "the rapid development of capitalism". The formation and development of monopoly capital, on the one hand, causes the stagnation and decay of production, on the other hand, it also means the great development of production and capital socialization, so it has a great role in promoting scientific and technological progress. The contemporary capitalist world has undergone great changes in economy, politics, social life and international relations. To a certain extent, capitalist countries have implemented the state-owned economy, social welfare, shareholding system, workers' participation in management, etc., which has enabled some contemporary capitalist countries to maintain a relatively stable development for a long period of time and show some vitality. However, the new changes in capitalist countries have not shaken the nature of capitalist financial monopoly and decadent parasitism, nor changed the fundamental opposition between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.
On the other hand, since the second half of the 20th century, peace and development have become the theme of the world, but this does not mean that mankind has entered a peaceful age of harmonious coexistence and achieved free and comprehensive development. In essence, imperialism is linked with power politics, colonialism and hegemonism. Today's monopoly of monopoly capital is not only economic monopoly, but also political monopoly, ideological monopoly and discourse monopoly. These monopolies are more civilized and hidden, but they are still exclusive in nature. Under these monopolies, the vast majority of developing countries are still in an unequal international order.
