I read "On Practice" by Mao for the first time earlier today and I'm chewing on it right now

I think this might be the simplest writing about dialectical-materialism that is? at least that I know of, I have tried to approach Marxist dialectics in the past and...wasn't successful

well I'm not sure but I don't think this is the entirety of the concept of Marxist dialectics but focused on theory/knowledge vs practice

the plan is to read "On Contradiction" next, that one is longer and is more about dialectics

(Marxist) philosophy has been on my mind after some recent discussions with friends and listening to a lecture series about Lenin before that

I've also read a little of Marx, I read Fanon's Wretched of the Earth earlier this year and Mao's been on the shortlist of Marxists I want to read

I'm deep in the essay at the moment, this is a quote from the section about principal contradictions.

"When a revolutionary civil war develops to the point of threatening the very existence of imperialism and its running dogs, the domestic reactionaries, imperialism often adopts other methods in order to maintain its rule; it either tries to split the revolutionary front from within or sends armed forces to help the domestic reactionaries directly. At such a time, foreign imperialism and domestic reaction stand quite openly at one pole while the masses of the people stand at the other pole, thus forming the principal contradiction which determines or influences the development of the other contradictions. The assistance given by various capitalist countries to the Russian reactionaries after the October Revolution is an example of armed intervention. Chiang Kai-shek's betrayal in 1927 is an example of splitting the revolutionary front."

the text is here if anyone else wants to read it - https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_17.htm

I'll say this, Mao as a philosophy essay writer is quite good, he writes concisely and doesn't mince words. I appreciate that.

He also uses examples to further illustrate what he means which is also super helpful for me so I can actually apply the concepts he is talking about to an actual situation.

There is a certain philosophical abstraction to these essays but at the same time its all connected to historical and material reality. When Mao talks about the contradictions between the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang, that is very much Real for him.

Like its more abstract for me than it is for him, considering when he wrote this and what was happening at the time.

"When we engage in study, the same holds good for the contradiction in the passage from ignorance to knowledge. At the very beginning of our study of Marxism, our ignorance of or scanty acquaintance with Marxism stands in contradiction to knowledge of Marxism. But by assiduous study, ignorance can be transformed into knowledge, scanty knowledge into substantial knowledge, and blindness in the application of Marxism into mastery of its application."

Yes Mao, that is exactly why I am reading Marxist literature. So I can achieve this "mastery of its application"

okay I have finished reading On Contradiction. Now comes the part where I chew on this for a bit 🤔

I feel like I need some caffeine to digest this with right now but that would be a bad idea at this hour so just gonna slowly rotate this essay in my head instead

comrades, today I have called you here to contemplate the contradictions between the top and the bottom

for the top doesn't exist without the bottom and the bottom does not exist without the top and as such they are identical on the basis that each is the condition for the other's existence

we must also consider the elusive versatile switch who has indeed has achieved enlightenment and contemplated the contradictions and come to the conclusion that there is no antagonism here

therefore we can see how we can apply dialectical materialism to the concepts of top, bottom and switch

this is what happens when I read Marxist literature and also have horny brain at the same time