"If It Catches Mice, It Is a Good Cat": Analysis

Marxism is defined by material practice, not by theoretical self‑identification. Theory without praxis makes one a scholar, not a Marxist‑Leninist.

Credit: Xie Huanchi for Xinhua

Marxism is not a religion, nor are Marxist works instruction manuals to be followed blindly. Marxism is a method of analysis. Chairman Deng Xiaoping once said, “Regardless of whether a cat is black or white, if it catches mice, it is a good cat.”¹

“Equally poor” socialism

The masses being “equally poor” is not socialism. During the Cultural Revolution, the Communist Party of China (CPC) fell into this trap, greatly hindering China’s development and modernization.² This erroneous line was corrected by Chairman Deng.

However, the idea of socialists being “equally poor” has since been taken as ammunition for Western anti-Communist propaganda. In some cases, material conditions are forcefully altered by capitalist states in order to lead to market reforms under pressure, supposedly “proving” that capitalism is the only way forward.

This is seen today most notably in Cuba and previously in Venezuela, where the so-called “collective West” has enforced brutal economic sanctions in order to destroy socialist governance and paint a picture of “the failures of socialism” to the world.

“Everyone is imperialist”

Some “leftists” erroneously claim that “all states are imperialist” or that “there is no such thing as an anti-imperialist state.” This line is common among Western Marxists, “Left” Communists, Trotskyists, anarchists, and anarcho-Communists.

This incorrectly forces the term “imperialist” onto every possible state, ignoring the strict definition Comrade Lenin provided in his Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. They use the idea of so-called “multiple imperialisms,” a framework created through a gross distortion of dialectical material analysis.

They often claim that even if a state is “not fully imperialist now,” they have the potential to become imperialist in the future; this critique, essentially, amounts to nothing—with this line, one could then argue that Palestine and other states currently fighting settler-colonialism are themselves “also imperialist.”

This particular tendency is most commonly seen in discourse surrounding Russia and Ukraine. These so-called “leftists” always choose a simplistic, liberal path, which is to “condemn both sides” without critical analysis.

While all serious leftists acknowledge that NATO is a fascist, imperialist warmonger—one that first rose during the Cold War to “counter” the USSR—these “leftists” accuse Russia of being similarly “imperialist,” describing the SMO in Ukraine as a so-called “inter-imperialist war.”

This understanding of socialism seems to be largely confined to Western discourse, especially in countries that have never practiced socialism or even experienced a socialist revolution.

Socialist states have “abandoned socialism”

A variation of the previous line is that states like China, Vietnam, the former USSR, and now Cuba have supposedly “abandoned socialism” and are utilizing “state capitalism.” This view is prevalent among Western Marxists and “Left” Communists.

Even a surface-level investigation of the governance methods of these states proves that they are in fact Marxist-Leninist.

In the case of China, which I am most familiar with, a clear example of its support for the masses is its Two No-Worries and Three Guarantees (两不愁三保障), which stipulates that for a rural household to be officially declared free of extreme poverty, it must have assured food and clothing and guarantees of free education, basic medical care, and housing security.³

There are many videos of Chairman (also President and General Secretary) Xi Jinping’s personal inspections of rural households. In many such cases, he personally checks whether households have enough rice and meat, inquires about their sources of income, follows up on specific medical issues he previously noted, and confirms whether the family can afford the remaining medical expenses after receiving government subsidies.

This is clear evidence of direct accountability, demonstrating that the government is actively verifying poverty-alleviation results and plainly showing the Party’s concern with individual households, not just statistics.

More broadly, the State Council, namely the Central People’s Government, is the highest executive organ of State power and administration.

It is responsible for carrying out the principles and policies of the CPC and the regulations and laws adopted by the National People’s Congress (NPC). As well, it deals with China’s internal politics, diplomacy, national defense, finance, economy, culture, and education.

A scholar, or a Marxist?

It is well past time for Communists around the world to correctly adhere to Marxism-Leninism and learn from past material successes and failures rather than engage in “book worship.”

Communism involves both theory and praxis; without engaging in and studying correct praxis, solely having knowledge of theory makes one a scholar, not a Marxist-Leninist.

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1. Original: 不管黑猫白猫，能捉到老鼠就是好猫。

2. For more information on the Cultural Revolution, I highly recommend Comrade Amy Yang’s article “What would you think of the Cultural Revolution if you were an ordinary Chinese like me and my families?”

3. In a 2019 speech, Chairman Xi also identified some issues with the Three Guarantees, namely differences in material conditions across regions. He emphasized that implementation should be based on actual conditions in each region rather than applied as if one size fits all.