I have been in contact with and studying Marxism for several years, but due to my own ideological issues, I have always regarded Marxism as a boastful capital for chatting and bragging, and I refused to engage in ideological struggle, which led to a state of idleness and lack of learning. Seeing this article resonated deeply with me. Now that I have entered the factory as a worker, facing various discrimination and barbaric treatment of workers in the social system of reform, I increasingly realize the importance of mastering Marxism. To learn Marxism well, one must be diligent and earnest in studying and apply it in practice.
We have a leading comrade in our commune who, overcoming the difficulties of low cultural level, has persisted in serious reading and study for over a year. He has read books by Marx and Lenin such as “The Communist Manifesto,” “State and Revolution,” “The Civil War in France,” and the “Selected Works of Mao Zedong” volumes one to three. His understanding of class struggle and line struggle has improved, and he has effectively guided his work.
Why can someone with a lower cultural level achieve good results? The comrade’s answer is: “To do revolution, you must read seriously. Reading without action leads to confusion about the line; working while reading clarifies the line. I have less literacy, lower level, and slower understanding; while others read for an hour, I read for two hours; while others read once, I read twice; while others consult one person, I consult several. Learning the ‘Clumsy Bird Flies First.’”
This saying is very good! Actually, this bird is not stupid. According to dialectical materialism, the stupid and the clever are opposites but unified. Stupidity contains cleverness, and cleverness is hidden in stupidity. Under certain conditions, they can transform into each other. “A fool may have a stroke of insight” means this. Recognizing oneself as a clumsy bird that must fly first is actually the beginning of wisdom.
The spirit of the clumsy bird is honesty. In the face of science, this honest attitude is necessary because, “There is no smooth road in front of science; only those who climb the rugged paths without fear of hardship have hope of reaching the shining summit.” When studying Marxism-Leninism, do not take shortcuts, do not seek “quick ways,” do not fear hard work, and understand the meaning word by word, grasp the spirit piece by piece, and comprehend the essence book by book. As the saying goes, “Water droplets wear through stone,” and “A saw can cut wood.” Persistent study will surely lead to progress.
Where there is a clumsy bird that flies first, there are clever birds that fly later. Some comrades around us are confident in their intelligence when reading and studying, afraid of effort, seeking convenience, swallowing without digesting, missing the key points; or they think they have plenty of time, believing that the future is long, but as a result, time slips away, and their gains are minimal; or they rely on inspiration without diligent research, only skimming superficially, always seeming to understand but never truly grasping. If this learning style continues, in the face of sharp and complex line struggles, they will be confused about what is true or false, good or bad, and will be easily deceived. “Cleverness can mislead the clever,” and this phrase is worth our caution.
Let us all promote the learning spirit of “The Clumsy Bird Flies First,” and persist for several years, and there will be benefits.
(Excerpt from “Red Flag” magazine, 1972, Issue 9)
