Source: Science and Life, 1962, issue 4. Translated by Herrkomm.
The living is characterized by assimilation and dissimilation, in other words, the living is inherent in the need to eat; nonliving things do not have this property. This is where all the differences between living and non-living come from.
Although all biological processes pass only through corresponding physical and chemical movements and transformations, nevertheless, all these movements, each occurring separately according to the laws of physics and chemistry, are subject to the characteristics and essence of living things.
Chemistry, physics and other sciences about inanimate things, for example, geology, were and are necessary prerequisites for the study of life. Therefore, biology is extremely interested in the ever-increasing development of scientific knowledge about inanimate nature. For the development of biological science, the progress of biophysics and biochemistry is especially important.
But this does not mean at all that biology is the chemistry and physics of living things. Unfortunately, often chemists and physicists, instead of studying more and more the chemistry and physics of living bodies, try to replace biological laws, for example, the laws of heredity, with physical and chemical laws and thereby reduce biology to chemistry and physics. In fact, the study of the chemistry and physics of living things, as already mentioned, is, although the most important, still only a prerequisite for the development of biological sciences for the discovery of objective biological laws.
Biological science is a system of biological laws according to which the organic world lives and develops. Knowledge and skillful use of these laws makes it possible to develop various methods of controlling living bodies in the most diverse areas of practical human activity.
On August 31st 2023 the Finnish government released a rather confusing document advocating the banning of communist symbols. The completely outlandish document is called a “Government statement to Parliament on promoting equality, gender equality and non-discrimination in Finnish society”. What does a document with such a title have to do with communism?
The situation is perfectly clear to class conscious marxists, but takes some explaining. Analyzing this situation will perfectly demonstrate how the ruling capitalist class and their government act dishonestly to fool the people and to selfishly serve their own interests.
In the media the document has been colloquailly called “the government’s statement on racism”. This is because on the surface, racism is its main topic. Since its formation in June 2023 the government (consisting of the right-wing Coalition Party (Kok.), the nationalist Finns Party (PS), and the Christian Democrats (KD) has faced serious criticism for the racist views of many leading ministers. The government has launched huge cuts to social-welfare and the livelihood of poor and working people.
The government’s minister of economic affairs Vilhelm Junnila (member of the nationalist party) was forced to resign after only 11 days due to intense criticism for his racist statements, apparetly nazi dog-whistling, advocating the giving of government funds to a heritage society of Finnish SS volunteers etc. Nationalist party ministers Mari Rantanen (minister of interior), Leena Meri (minister of justice), Ville Tavio (minister of foreign trade) and Riikka Purra (minister of finance, vice prime-minister, head of the nationalist party) also faced severe criticism and a clear attempt by the liberal opposition to have them ousted. The ministers have repeatedly supported the “white genocide” or “great replacement” theory on social media and in the parliament. https://www.hs.fi/politiikka/art-2000009695963.html
Vice-prime minister and minister of finance Purra was also forced to apologize for old statements on the internet where she apparently advocated racist violence. Those comments were made on the website of the previous leader of the nationalist party, Jussi Halla-aho (currently Speaker of the Parliament of Finland) https://www.hs.fi/politiikka/art-2000009712740.html
Due to this criticism the government felt necessary to issue a statement denying their racism. This is in fact the stated goal of the government document. Of course, the releasing of such a document does absolutely nothing to demonstrate that the government ministers are not racists. They have a long history of racist views, and more importantly, of advocating racist policies. The first purpose of the document is to lie to the Finnish people. The second purpose is to launch – or rather continue – the anti-communist propaganda campaign waged by the Finnish capitalist state.
The government document reads:
“Acts motivated by hate against Jews, Muslims, Christians and other religious groups will be prevented. Holocaust denial will be criminalised. International Holocaust Remembrance Day will be observed in accordance with international practices. The possibility of criminalising the use of at least Nazi and communist symbols to promote ideology will be investigated.” https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/handle/10024/165112
The mentioning of communist symbols is completely anachronistic and out of place. What does communism have to do with racism? Absolutely nothing! The document disgracefully attempts to equate communism with fascism. This is actually an old fascist tactic. The fascists first try to equate communism and anti-fascism with fascism, and then try to argue that communism is worse and “fascism protects us from communism” and is therefore good.
There is a Finnish court ruling from 2021 which allows the use of swastika flags by nazi demonstrations. It is unlikely the current pro-fascist government would actually outlaw the swastika, although fascists have so many different symbols and routinely rebrand themselves, that it wouldn’t really matter. The swastika is only the most blatant fascist symbol.
Despite the fact that Finland signed the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947 which required that all fascist-type organizations be banned, the Finnish state nowadays not only allows nazi and fascist symbols, but also allowed the registration of a neo-nazi “Blue Black” party in 2022*. The name is a reference to the old Finnish nazi party IKL and the notorious fascist Lapua movement. The Nationalist Party itself has many ties to small fringe fascist groups. Due to these developments, it is unlikely the government of the big bourgeoisie and nationalists would take any serious action against racism. It is completely unrealistic.
*Due to public outcry, there has been proposals to “un-register” the party, but not to outlaw it, as the Paris Peace Treaty would actually require. A registered party can run in elections, a non-registered party cannot. Its members would have to run as independents.
The three government parties all share a nationalist, conservative and religious outlook, although the Coalition party is the most moderate. In religious issues both the nationalists and Christian democrats have advocated far-right positions, while on nationality and ethnic issues the nationalists are clearly the most extreme. All three parties serve the big capitalists, but the Coalition party is the most closely linked with the richest and most powerful capitalists. It is a stereotypical party of millionaires and of the wealthy.
The biggest seeming ideological disagreement within the government is on immigration issues. The Coalition party is strongly pro-EU, international free trade and labor based immigration. The nationalists have always opposed immigration in rhetoric, but in reality they have accepted the use of immigrant labor and never seriously opposed it, and instead use racist demagogy and try to turn Finnish workers and broad masses against immigrants. Therefore the seeming ideological disagreement is not real. The Coalition party supports immigration in order to exploit immigrant labor. The nationalists also tolerate it, but attack the immigrants, thus leaving them even more vulnerable to exploitation by the capitalists.
All the government parties strongly favor militarism and NATO. Despite the nationalist party’s supposed anti-EU attitude, they have fully accepted the EU’s position on communism.
The official position of the EU and of the European Left, is to equate communism and fascism. The EU celebrates “the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism”. It would not be a surprise if this remembrance day were to be brought to Finland soon.
There we see the dishonesty of the nationalists. They pretend to oppose the EU, but are actually in a united front with the EU against communism. This united front has been joined by the social-fascists of the European Left. They are social-fascists, because they pretend to be leftists, but ally with fascists against communism and the working class.
The social-democratic Left Alliance Party is another prime example of such social-fascism. They participated in the previous Marin government’s anti-communist and anti-worker policies. One of their parliament members, Anna Kontula, who even calls herself “the only communist in the parliament” reacted to the government proposal to ban communist symbols by saying that ‘no symbols should be banned, not even nazi symbols’. Typical social-fascism. Defending fascism by disgracefully linking it with communism and pretending to defend communism!
She continued by saying ‘communism is not the same as fascism, only stalinism is the same as fascism’. This left-noske cleverly and disgustingly pretends to defend communism, but actually attacks it. She attacks all real communists as ‘stalinists’, calling for them to be equated with fascism, and in reality supporting the government’s proposal to outlaw them.
Revealing their true class nature, the EU, the pro-EU capitalist parties, the nationalists, and the social-traitors both in Finland and internationally are all in a united front against communism.
So what was the government’s purpose in releasing their document? It was to lie and pretend to oppose fascism. They also wanted to intensify their anti-communist campaign. Communism has nothing in common with racism, but the government suggests that anti-communist persecution should somehow help in combating racism.
They say ‘in fairness, if we ban nazi symbols, we must also ban communist symbols’. And the social-fascists join in this dishonest game and answer ‘therefore fascist symbols should be protected’. The government and the police say ‘communism is just as bad as fascism’, while hiding their fascist sympathy. The social-fascists work seemlessly with the government and the police and reply, ‘yes, real communists, the “stalinists” truly are terrible’.
Is the government proposal going to be implemented? The government document was accepted by the parliament. However, the document only says it will investigate the possibility of banning the symbols. Possibly it will not be implemented. However, communist symbols have already been outlawed in the Baltic states, Poland, Ukraine and Hungary. Therefore it should not be seen as unrealistic.
Whether the symbols are banned or not, this is another dangerous step towards an even more reactionary and anti-worker policy by the Finnish state. I say state and not government, because this policy has been continued by all the governments, both right-wing and “leftist”. The toppling of Lenin statues and Finland’s NATO membership happened already under the social-democratic government of Rinne and Marin.
This proposal by the government pretends to be anti-fascist, while its advocates have clear fascist sympathies. It is actually a step towards fascism. Fascism means the open dictatorship of the most reactionary imperialist capitalist class, it means the abolition of bourgeois democracy and its replacement with open violence and terror. It means that workers and progressive forces no longer have even the nominal rights offered by bourgeois democracy. In fascism, worker, democratic, progressive and communist organizations are banned. The banning of communist symbols is the first step towards outlawing communism, and thus a step towards fascism.
It is characteristic that it is being done under the guise of opposing fascism. The government is being criticized for its fascist sympathies, and it responds with covert fascist policies, which even succeed in fooling some people.
It is characteristic that some bourgeois liberals and revisionists have already taken actions to distance themselves from real communists by trying to suppress the use of communist symbols at their political events and demonstrations, despite the fact that the government hasn’t even outlawed them yet.
Whether or not the government is able to outlaw communist symbols, it will not stamp out communism or the workers movement in Finland. The attempt to change the topic of criticism from fascism to communism, and to ban communist symbols, only demonstrates that the capitalist system is in a deep crisis. The capitalist system needs to intensify its attack against the livelihood of the working masses, and to intensify the attack against the most determined fighters against capitalism and imperialism, the communists.
At least Marxist-Leninist and Maoist communists have repeatedly appeared with hammer and sickle flags and banners against the criminalization of communist symbols recently. “Ei Lapuanlakeja” means “No laws of Lapua”. Laws of Lapua are the fascist laws from 1930, which criminalized practically all leftist organizations and marked a turn to fascism in Finland.
Source: Suomi-Unkari [Magazine of the Finland-Hungary friendship society], 1952, no. 12
Translated by ML-Theory.
*Puszta is a dry region in the Hungarian great plain ~ML-Theory
Hungary is being afforested both by planting and sowing. This picture shows afforestation being done by sowing spruce seeds in Ujszeged. The director of the sapling farm in Ujzseged István Sipos has adapted the sowing machine to this purpose. The machine does the work of 70 persons.
A thousand years ago when Hungarians migrated to Europe, Hungary had much more forest than now. As nomadism – hunting, fishing and cattle raising – gave way to agriculture, forested lands were gradually turned to farmland. The continuous grazing on the Hungarian great plain, caused the top soil to erode and to be replaced by flying sand. The land became ever more dry and barren and thus vast soda and chalk plains were formed.
Before the war erosion and deforestation gained ever larger proportions. The landlords did not care about soil improvement, irrigation or afforestation. The limited forests that existed were chopped and plundered mercilessly. Ever larger areas were left barren and only bushes and shrubs grew in place of the forests. During both the world wars practically every forest began to be felled.
After the second world war the forest economy of the country was in a serious depression. 1.1 million hectares of forest composed 12.3% of the country’s land area.
After the country’s liberation, the task of the new democratic government was to cure the land from its age old illness, the protracted drought, which has often caused tremendous destruction especially on the great plain. To accomplish this and to secure the forest resources of the country a broad plan of forest planting and maintenance must be implemented.
To achieve this, the forest and economic experts of Hungary have created a plan for 20 years. According to this plan the forest areas of the Hungarian plain must be increased from 5% to 17.2%. Transdanubian forested areas must be increased from 16.6% to 20% and the forests of the northern parts of the country from 23.4% to 29.1%. This means that by the end of the plan the forest area of Hungary has been increased by 1.865.000 hectares, which is 20.3% of the country’s total area.
All kinds of saplings are being cultivated at the state sapling farm in Ujszeged, which are then planted in the forest zones. This picture shows the sapling farm being hilled and cleared from weeds with a special machine developed by István Sipos.
Hungarian experts have carefully defined where and how this afforestation plan will be carried out, so it would be most purposive and would take as little good farmland as possible. They have created a forest planting plan for new population districts and production plants, and forest belts will be planted around them. For improving traffic safety a forest planting plan for roads, railways, airports, channels etc. has been created. Plans have also been made for a system of agricultural shelter forest belts and for the transformation of Hungary’s nature.
The current 20 year plan requires the planting of 740.000 hectares of new forest. Of this number more than 200.000 hectares will be planted on land which is not suitable for agriculture, almost 100.000 hectares on bad quality grazing land and 25.000 hectares on dry soil. Agricultural shelter forest belts will be planted more than 340.000 hectares, and 12.500 hectares have been reserved for the afforestation plans of villages, towns and industrial plants.
A part of these plantings will be accomplished already in the course of the five year plan. The law on the five year plan establishes the planting of more than 325.000 hectares of forest.
The system of shelter forest belts to be planted in areas prone to flooding is divided into four main different groups: the zones around the main three river of the country and the lake areas. The planned shelter belts will be more or less connected, 40-100 meters thick forest zones which will connect to old forests to form new ones. Forest zones of 20-40 meters in width will be planted around small rivers.
The purpose of Hungary’s forestry is not only to secure lumber for the needs of industry, construction plans, agriculture and the population, but also to use planted forests to protect agriculture from blind natural forces and increase its productivity.
The national afforestation plan will increase Hungary’s forests by 340.000 hectares of agricultural shelter belts. This will secure the national economy with approximately 1.5 million cubic meters of lumber annually and more over, in precisely those parts of the country where lumber is most scarce.
We also have to note the value of the other products of the forest zones – fruit, mushrooms, industrial raw materials (e.g. resin and rubber) and medicinal plants. The planting of mulberry trees will increase silk production while cultivation of acacia and other valuable tree varieties will be greatly beneficial to apiculture.
Agricultural shelter belts will indirectly raise agricultural productivity. The increase in yields in fields protected by shelter belts compared to those in open fields is 25-100% for grain, 50-150% for feed and 250-350% for pumpkins and melons in the same conditions.
Forest strips will also be planted to protect grazing lands in accordance with the agricultural shelter belts.
For planting agricultural and grazing land shelter belts those species of trees and bushes are always selected, which are the most suited for the type of soil. To deep soil they plant fast growing poplars which are well suited for industrial purposes. In barren sandy soil they plant spruce and in better sandy soil oak and acacia, around ditches and waters willow and alder, in dry areas plane trees and lindens, in soda containing soil oak and wild pear trees. In populated areas acacias and mulberry trees will be planted. Of course fruit trees will also be planted everywhere where possible.
Creating the shelter belts will be done either by planting or by sowing. Forest planting machines pulled by 25 horsepower tractors have been successfully used in Hungary. During an eight hour work day a person can plant approximately 300 saplings by hand, but a planting machine operated by three people can plant 9.600 in the same time. The use of planting machines has reduced costs by 65%.
In the Autumn of 1951 Hungary’s forestry stations, agricultural production cooperatives and state farms planted 220 million young trees and transformed 23.000 hectares of land into growing forests.
Significant results have been achieved in planting shelter forest belts. In Hungary in the Spring of 1952 there was already a total of 1313 kilometers of agricultural shelter belts. This Autumn 66 million spruces, old trees and poplars have been planted along with 2 million young trees.
ML-Theory 