The bourgeoisie is firmly opposed to Marxist theory, and constantly innovates by using more patched-up and worn-out bourgeois theories to oppose Marxism. The petty bourgeoisie, in practice, opposes Marxist theory, but they may verbally support Marxism; however, in terms of theory, they are completely inept. The proletariat is a class that consistently supports and practices Marxist theory, and they will continuously defend and develop Marxism, constantly improving their theoretical level.
The stance and attitude towards Marxism are very easy to explain. The class interests of the bourgeoisie are fundamentally opposed to Marxism, so they inevitably develop theories that oppose Marxism. The petty bourgeoisie only uses Marxism to defend small private ownership, so they only verbally acknowledge the correctness of Marxism. The proletariat aims to eliminate all oppression and exploitation and to liberate all humanity, so they must thoroughly support Marxism.
The question is why the three different classes have differences in their theoretical levels and why their attitudes towards improving their theoretical level vary.
First, the bourgeoisie, as the personification of capital, is the main exploiting class in the most developed commodity-producing capitalist society. The most developed commodity production, capitalist production, exists for the pursuit of exchange value. Past exploitative classes aimed for use value in production; therefore, their greed was always limited to physiological needs. However, capitalist society is different because it pursues exchange value rather than use value, so the bourgeoisie’s desire for surplus value is unlimited. No bourgeoisie claims they only want to obtain limited profits. Therefore, the bourgeoisie’s inherent pursuit of unlimited surplus value and external competitive pressures compel them to find ways to constantly increase labor productivity, raise the surplus value rate, and intensify exploitation. As a result, the bourgeoisie appears to be an ambitious class. This progressive mentality of the bourgeoisie is reflected in theory, which is to continuously develop reactionary bourgeois theories and revolutionary theories of the proletariat—namely, Marxism—opposing each other.
The proletariat is a class oppressed and exploited to the point of having nothing. They have no private property. Because they have no private property and are constantly oppressed under capitalist production relations, the proletariat is not afraid of struggle and must continually fight. The proletariat, by its very class nature, is a constantly revolutionary class. The proletarian revolution can only end when all oppression and exploitation are eliminated and the old society is overthrown. Only by liberating all humanity can the proletariat finally liberate itself. This revolutionary essence of the proletariat is reflected in theory, which is to pursue the most thorough and scientific doctrines, namely Marxism. Therefore, only the proletariat can uphold thorough revolution and scientific rigor. The nature of the proletariat is embodied in the thorough scientific and revolutionary nature of Marxism.
The petty bourgeoisie, on the other hand, is a very conservative class. They only hope for the reversal of the wheels of history, wishing for the world to revert to the era of small-scale production. Their demand is to retain their small private property and maintain a warm, comfortable life that satisfies their personal interests. When Marxist doctrines became popular, everyone pretended to be Marxists, and the petty bourgeoisie was no exception. They use Marxism merely for immediate success and fleeting fame. Under the continuous development of capitalist society, the petty bourgeoisie is inevitably facing the danger of bankruptcy. Moreover, the petty bourgeoisie is a conservative and backward class that only wants to maintain small private property and personal comfort. Therefore, their attitude towards Marxism is highly egoistic and vulgar. The panic caused by the bankruptcy of the petty bourgeoisie under capitalism threatens them, but they only seek to alleviate this panic rather than solve the fundamental problems of capitalism. Theoretically, they are bankrupt or on the brink of bankruptcy. Their reason for accepting Marxism is to use it to ease their fear of bankruptcy. Their fake Marxism is an excuse to continue decaying within capitalist society without taking any real revolutionary actions. Merely declaring themselves Marxists verbally allows them to rationalize their reactionary defense of small private property. Under this slogan, they fantasize about benefiting from future revolutions, thus alleviating their fears of bankruptcy. Because the petty bourgeoisie uses Marxism only to improve their own small lives or to deceive others, they are inherently incapable of truly understanding, learning, and developing Marxism in practice. Theoretically, the petty bourgeoisie is inevitably inept. Similarly, they tend to blend bourgeois theories with Marxist theories because they pursue personal interests derived from private property while preventing the loss of those interests. All this determines that petty bourgeoisie theories are inevitably counter-revolutionary theories disguised as revolutionary theories.
If the petty bourgeoisie continues to pursue a stable life by maintaining small private property, they will forever remain ineffectual or even turn reactionary. Therefore, Marx said that the petty bourgeoisie “are not revolutionary but conservative, and even reactionary, because they seek to reverse the wheels of history. If they are revolutionary, it is because they are about to join the ranks of the proletariat. In doing so, they are not defending their current interests but their future interests, abandoning their position and standing on the side of the proletariat.” Only by thoroughly abandoning the comfort of maintaining small private property, completely opposing private ownership, and turning to the proletarian stance can they possibly change their attitude towards Marxist theory. The petty bourgeoisie is not doomed to be a counter-revolutionary class because it can split in two directions. If the petty bourgeoisie can achieve some theoretical success, it is because they choose to lean towards the proletariat when facing the crisis of bankruptcy. If the petty bourgeoisie truly understands Marxism and develops it in practice, they must inevitably proletarianize.