Afrikan Revolutionary Soldier
Man and Society Ideological Study #1
Studies in Nkruhamist-Tureist Thought
All-African People's Revolutionary Party's
Pan-African Forum
MAN AND SOCIETY
----------------------------
By President Ahmed Seku Ture
This tract is a reprint from the book
entitled, REVOLUTION, CULTURE AND PAN-
AFRICANISM. Though the generic term for
individual is "man" in this paper, "woman"
should also be assumed.
The relationships between the individual
and the society are at times envisaged in the
form of an opposition. A number of general
principles which stemmed from the sociological
outlook of the 19th century sometimes stress
the predominance of the individual over the
society, and some other, the reverse. Let us
examine some of those principles:
Some of them assert:
"Everything belongs to society, for
everything comes from it. Society is the
basic social reality - without society, the
individual has no value." Here, it is not a
matter of merely asserting the superiority of
the social over the individual, but rather, a
matter of defending the anti-individualistic
thesis.
Others support the opposite, "Once the
individual is removed, the social is
meaningless."
We must settle the dispute. First, by
showing that it is a false issue. Then by
pointing out the complementarity and the
mutual implication of society and man [woman].
"Society and the individual" should not be
looked upon as entities that are abstract,
exclusive and separate. Neither the
individual, nor the society could stand one
without the other.
They are indissolubly linked up. One and
the other have external, physical and material
aspects. Both are subject to habits, customs,
rites and practices.
Man can achieve a full growth only as a
member of the society, whatever be the quality
of his faculties.
"INDIVIDUALITY AND SOCIABILITY ARE TWO ASPECTS
OF HUMAN NATURE"
The individual and society according to
the philosophy of the P.D.G. constitute the
same entity. The harmony between the
individual and the society constitutes the
doctrine of the P.D.G.
Man loses his quality as soon as he loses
contact with his fellow men. It is within
that social group that his existence assumes a
true sense, for then, his happiness is
determined by that of the whole Peoples.
Individuality and sociability are two
aspects of human nature.
MAN
---
Man is not only a social being, he is a
biological being, an individual as well. He
possesses faculties (conscience, will) which
constitute factors of social integration. But
man could not be limited to his physical
existence. No man is capable of satisfying
all his fellowmen.
His Role in the Society
-----------------------
Every man, through conscious labor, can
change the course of history in one way or
another. But man could not assume it an
effective manner unless he is fully aware of
the fact that he ceases to be a man as soon as
he desserts his fellow-men, "for he is
destroying his conscience and his existence".
The roles assumed by a single individual
are many. If isolated, he cannot assume them
efficiently. He cannot altogether be a
weaver, a baker, a farmer, etc... The
condition of discharging these roles is that
man must become aware of his being inseparable
from the society in which he lives.
If man's role is circumscribed in
collective action, his capacity to act is
equally limited in comparison to that of the
society.
The individual alone cannot transform
humanity. Beyond man, it is society which is
the basis of all changes. The individual is
limited by his activities whereas those of the
society cover an unlimited field.
Man as an individual cannot meet all his
needs for his capacities (physical and
intellectual) are limited in time and space.
When alone he cannot satisfy his needs as
regards food, shelter, clothing,
education,...etc...
Man cannot be understood once and for all,
just as society cannot be established once and
for all. Both are in constant transformation.
The life of the individual is limited, it
covers a period of one to a hundred years,
whereas the like of the society is eternal.
However, man contains the universal within
himself.
He has inherited from the past
generations, and coming generations will
inherit from him. In fact, the individual
possesses great faculties: Conscience,
reason, will, by virtue of his pertinence to
human nature. Again, it is society which
favors his awareness of these attributes. In
book 13, of the P.D.G., we state:
"Every normal evolution is necessarily
inscribed in the global outlook of the
universal evolution through space and time, so
that society is reflected in the individual,
and the individual is reflected within the
society, his conscious identification with
every man and every woman of the group in
which he is living.
Man, the basic element of society, is also
its basic unit. He is the element of
conception and execution of the social
edifice."
SOCIETY
-------
Society helps man to develop the human
quality, the quality of the thinking subject.
Without society nothing differentiates man
from the beast. Society humanizes man.
I am defined by my social condition - I am
a man belonging to a family, a tradition, a
nation, a culture, a profession. Without the
social, the individual is without dimension,
because he is reduced to an organic
individuality.
Practical Role = Society must secure the
individual with:
- Material means of livelihood (shelter,,
clothing, food), corresponding to the needs of
man.
- Physical education (physical, trainingg,
sports)
- Intellectual and Ideological training<
- Moral training (safeguard of human rigghts of
the noteworthy examples of Revolutionary
ethics)
In one word, society must secure
individual equilibrium.
They are boundless - Society survives the
individual, it has an unlimited existence - As
a synthesis of the transformations (material,
intellectual and moral) of man, only society
is capable of giving form to the objectives
man has assigned to himself in time and space.
This is owing to such truth that the
P.D.G. has been committed to the service of
the People which is superior to each one of
us. The genuine capacities of the People are
the union of its physical and intellectual
powers committed to collective action. They
are not static, they develop and continually
improve. The People are the driving force of
History. They are the essential power of
creation of a Nation through their
intellectual faculties and their unlimited
capacities to create. By the People and
through them, we are integrated [in]to
humanity, the latter [in]to the universe.
We clearly see from the precedings that
the future of society has no boundaries.
Society cannot be reduced to the number of
persons or minds that may compose it, in the
same way that collective consciousness cannot
be the automatic addition of individual
consciousness. COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS is
the manner by which and through which the
existence of a social group is expressed or
manifested. It is a reality that expands the
dimension of man, develops his power and
multiplies his capacities. As a product and
instrument of history, this reality overrides,
in its permanent state, the contingencies and
bondservices of life necessarily limited in
time and space of an individual.
A concept of society based on automatic
addition of individual interests is doomed to
failure. This type of society is sometimes
witnessed in certain formal parliamentary
democracies along with their usual methods of
compromise which is typical of western
European liberalism of which these European
countries often boast.
Individual and society cannot be
substituted for one another, neither oppose to
each other, if [they do], the balance they
constitute will collapse. It is unwise to
envisage relationship between man and society
in the light of opposition. It is through the
effort of other men that man is worth what he
is, society compromises precisely other men
and ourselves.
People, as a social group, is superior to
each individual that composes it. No man can
substitute for another except society. It is
the social character of man that confers him
human quality. His action is inscribed in
that of society.
So the power of the People, we repeat,
must be considered with great respect. No one
can claim to be part of the Revolution and to
be its genuine expression when at the same
time he disregards the People.
THERE IS NOTHING MORE NOBLE THAN THE
PEOPLE, NOTHING MORE EDUCATED THAN THE PEOPLE,
MORE DIGNIFIED AND MORE INTELLIGENT THAN THE
PEOPLE. As long as this is not taken into
account, man still lacks a revolutionary mind.
Once this is assimilated, man's revolutionary
consciousness creates in him some doubts about
himself. It is consciousness that says to
him, "If you are sure of being the fruit of
the People, that all your realization belongs
to the People; the education you receive
belongs to the People; that the People made of
you what you are at present; that you wouldn't
have been what you are today if the People
hadn't wanted you to be so; and what have you
done for the People?". If the individual
would ask himself these questions he would
avoid deviations and [have] less
discouragement. One should never take a tree
for the forest. In case an individual is
insulted, he should be happy to realize that
he has more to do to change the attitude of
this other individual. He should never harbor
hatred against him or have the inclination of
arbitrary mind against him, or a
discriminatory practice towards him for any
reason at all.
Thus, one should understand the power of
the People as a cleansing force of every
individual of the society, a power that allows
every individual in a positive way, to add and
enrich the outstanding merits of the People.
That is why one should never minimize a
service. There is no unimportant or less
important service. Some individuals often
think that the office of the minister is more
important than that of the chief of staff
which in turn is more important than that of
the director. Other individuals think that
the office is important by its own right and
in relationship with the capacity of the
individual that exercises it. It is not by
itself superior to another office, because
each office is based on the same historical,
social and human utility.
State organization corresponds to the
necessity of rationalizing work in common,
bearing in mind the specific character of each
field scope. It is evident that a laborer
who, through consciousness, brings about
positive actions, is more useful than a Head
of State, a minister, a chief of Staff, or a
director who in his arm chair thinks of
himself as more useful or superior to the
People. This Head of State or minister who
thinks in such a manner has already violated
or disregarded the significance of the
confidence placed in him and at the same time
violated the rules of the elections which
brought him to his post, instituted by the
People. The laborer on the contrary, having
more social utility, being more positive in
actions, has more personality in his job than
the individual revealing to be incapable,
unworthy and unfaithful.
Power derives from a state of mind making
every individual a part of a whole, the
servant of all. After the November 8th, 1964
decision, we wrote what follows, "We have
chosen the People" first, and ourselves next.
This is the dialectical of the Revolution.
A revolutionary that chooses himself does
so in the midst of the People. In choosing
the People, the individual chooses himself.
The reactionary does the contrary and so says
the November 8th Poem. "They have chosen
themselves without the others."
This is the policy of incarnating
historical values of the People at one hand
and the policy of rejecting the People's
values on the other, the demarcation line
between Revolution and counter-Revolution,
justification of class struggle. Power is not
neutral because opposing forces exist in
society. People cannot be neutral at the
presence of its enemies. The state cannot be
neutral in defending the People, its Party at
the presence of the People and the Party's
enemies. That is why the state of Guinea is
organized in such a dynamic manner as to
safeguard the People's power and eliminate all
realities oppose to the People's interests.
The State of Guinea is neither neutral,
nor a referee, nor impartial. It is the
continuation of the P.D.G. The State of
Guinea and its Party are two means of action
through which the People of Guinea deals with
its enemies, with nature and act on history.
The structure of the Central Revolutionary
Power changes according to the requirements of
each phase of the Revolution.
In Guinea, the government is authorized to
put a case before the Parliament only when the
Party at its different levels or at least at
the Political Bureau, the Central Committee,
the National Council of the Revolution have
discussed the problem.
Morality should be defined by the People,
regularity by the Parliament which constitutes
the technical sector of law elaboration.
Justice is not considered an isolated
entity of the Party and less more of the
People. Justice is like the state itself, a
component of representation. We should not
hide this.
Justice belongs to the People in order to
preserve its power, its independence, to
insure its development. All the citizens in
Guinea have People's power, but cannot go
against the People's will.
Once with the People, one has all the
power, without the People one has no power but
that of submission to the popular will.
The structure of a Revolutionary State is
necessarily at the image of revolutionary
necessities; this structure excludes
irresponsibilities, opportunism which consist
of making one to believe that one is
irresponsible.
The State assumes its responsibility in a
precise way. At the Central level, regional,
district and village level, the revolutionary
power structure in Guinea is linked with the
fundamental trunk which constitutes the
Democratic Party of Guinea.
REVOLUTION CALLS FOR THE PEOPLE TO BE
RESPONSIBLE. That is the reason the People
should be organized in every aspect of human
life which should come under its direct
concern and under its direct control.
Reprinted, pages 25-32 from the book:
Revolution, Culture and Pan-Africanism
December 1976 Conakry
Patrice Lumumba Printing Press
The A-APRP is one of the revolutionary
organizations in the world. It has its base
and headquarters in Africa, the just Homeland
of African People, who are scattered and
suffering all over the world. The A-APRP is
Pan-African in scope with chapters in Africa,
Europe, Canada, the US, the Caribbean, and
Central and South America.
The ideology of the A-APRP is Nkrumahism-
Tureism. Its objective is Pan-Africanism: the
total liberation and unification of Africa
under scientific socialism. "This objective
must be the primary objective of all African
revolutionaries throughout the world. It is
an objective which when achieved will bring
about the fulfillment of the aspirations of
Africans everywhere. It will at the same time
advance the triumph of the international
socialist revolution."
Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
How To Join
-----------
Membership in the All-African People's
Revolutionary Party is open to all Africans
who understand and accept the Party's ideology
(Nkrumahism-Tureism), its objective (Pan-
Africanism), its policies and rules. Members
must undergo a rigorous process of political
education requiring them to:
(1) attend and successfully complete the
A-APRP orientation process and
(2) join and help build an A-APRP
Work/Study Circle and implement the A-APRP's
Ideological Training Guideline. This program
is designed to construct the type of cadre
needed to carry on the struggle for Pan-
Africanism.
Come to African Liberation Day and remember to
wear all white in a show of unity. FORWARD
EVER!
2007-09-27 Thu 19:14ct
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