Ho Chi Minh Thought

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Ho Chi Minh Thought is an Authoritarian Left ideology which applies the characteristics of Marxism–Leninism to (North) Vietnam, developed by Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh. Culturally it's moderate and has a major focus on national and class liberation in Vietnam. It inhabits the bottom left of the authoritarian left quadrant.

History

Ho Chi Minh Thought was influenced by Vietnamese culture, the French Revolution, and Marxism–Leninism. Similar to Maoism, at the core of Ho Chi Minh Thought is the belief that the peasantry is the revolutionary vanguard in pre-industrial societies, rather than the proletariat.

Ho Chi Minh Thought is rooted in:

Marxism-Leninism
Traditional Vietnamese ideology and culture
Eastern cultural thought: Confucianism, Buddhism
Western ideologies, specifically French and American political philosophy
Ho Chi Minh's personal morality
"Three Principles of the People" - Democracy, Welfare, and Nationalism

Influence of Confucianism

Ho Chi Minh, the son of a Confucian scholar, studied Confucianism throughout his life and was a strong critic of Confucian ethics and ideals. Despite this public criticism, scholars have argued that Confucianism remains part of both the personal ideology of Ho Chi Minh, and Ho Chi Minh Thought, arguing that Confucian morality and the principle of self-cultivation are a central part of the party's platform and the ideology of Ho Chi Minh Thought. He was however a devout buddhist. The Communist Party rejects this, arguing that this proposition is a distortion of the historical record of both Ho Chi Minh and the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Summarizing 30 years of studying Confucianism, Ho Chi Minh concluded:

Học thuyết của Khổng Tử có ưu điểm của nó là sự tu dưỡng đạo đức cá nhân. Tôn giáo Giêsu có ưu điểm của nó là lòng nhân ái cao cả. Chủ nghĩa Mác có ưu điểm của nó là phương pháp làm việc biện chứng. Chủ nghĩa Tôn Dật Tiên có ưu điểm của nó, chính sách của nó phù hợp với điều kiện nước ta. Khổng Tử, Giêsu, Mác, Tôn Dật Tiên chẳng có những ưu điểm chung đó sao? Họ đều muốn mưu hạnh phúc cho mọi người, mưu phúc lợi cho xã hội. Nếu hôm nay họ còn sống trên cõi đời này, nếu họ hợp lại một chỗ, tôi tin rằng họ nhất định chung sống với nhau rất hoàn mỹ như những người bạn thân thiết. Tôi cố gắng làm người học trò nhỏ của các vị ấy.

The good side of Confucianism is the lesson of personal ethics. The good side of Catholicism is benevolence. The good side of Marxism is the dialectical method. The good side of Sun Yat-sen is that his thinking is adapted to the concrete conditions in Vietnam. Confucius, Jesus and Marx sought the happiness and well-being of society. If they were still alive today they would certainly be talking together. And I believe they would live in perfect harmony as good friends. I am trying to learn from them as an applied student.

Ho Chi Minh Thought emphasizes a gradual transition to socialism. Similar to Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, Ho Chi Minh Thought places emphasis on the role of the development of the productive forces towards the development of socialism. According to Ho Chi Minh, when entering the period of transition to socialism, the Vietnamese economy was described as a largely outdated agricultural economy that had not yet undergone capitalist development. In particular, Ho Chi Minh paid special attention to the fundamental contradiction of the transition period, which is the conflict between the country's high development needs and the socio-economic situation of the working class. Ho Chi Minh Thought also stresses learning from the experiences of other socialist countries in building socialism and make use of all the help of international aid and cooperation.

While Hồ Chí Minh supported the position that Vietnam had entered the stage of transition to socialism in 1954, he held the belief that Vietnam was still "a democratic regime in which people are the masters" and not socialist. To reach the socialist stage of development, the development of the state sector was of utmost importance—the lack of which according to Hồ Chí Minh would lead to failure. The platform of the 11th National Congress held in January 2011 stated: "This is a profound and thorough revolutionary process and a complicated struggle between the old and the new for qualitative changes in all aspects of social life. It is essential to undergo a long period of transition with several steps of development and several mixed social and economic structures".

According to the party's General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, during the transition to socialism, socialist factors of development compete with non-socialist factors, which include capitalist factors. Nguyễn said: "Along with positive aspects, there will always be negative aspects and challenges that need to be considered wisely and dealt with timely and effectively. It is a difficult struggle that requires spirit, fresh vision, and creativity. The path to socialism is a process of constantly consolidating and strengthening socialist factors to make them more dominant and irreversible. Success will depend on correct policies, political spirit, leadership capacity, and the fighting strength of the Party".

How to Draw

The flag of Ho Chi Minh thought is basically the Vietnamese flag.

Draw a ball,
Colour the ball red,
In the centre, draw a yellow star,
Add the eyes and you're done!

Color Name		HEX	RGB
	Red	#DA251D	218, 37, 29
	Yellow	#FFFF00	255, 255, 0

Relationships

Friends

Marxism–Leninism - My influence.
Tridemism - This guy is my idol. Love him.
Castroism - My fellow Communist Friend, and closest ally, dedicated to crushing imperialism, bringing progress and liberation for the masses.
Khrushchevism - He seems like a nice guy ngl. But don't underestimate my powers =((
Agrarian Socialism- Welcome to the rice fields!
National Communism - I'm him but adapted for Vietnam.

Frenemies

Stalinism - Fellow comrade, but a way too authoritarian.
Maoism - True Chinese comrade he inspired me, but later betrayed me.
Agrarian Anarchism - I love seeing fellow agrarians, but please get organized comrades.
Agrarianism - Another fellow agrarian but he is skeptic about the economics of socialism.
National Syndicalism - Comrade who wants to return to simpler times, but why isn't he communist!

Enemies

Authoritarian Conservatism - Stinky Westernized bourgeois South Vietnamese.
Pol Potism - CAN YOU PLEASE NOT GENOCIDE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE FFS!
Neoconservatism - Hey thanks for the help defeating Imperial Japa- WAIT PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!! ~~BTFO by talking trees.~~
Monarchism - Haha Monarchy go bye bye!
Imperialism - Well, France, if only if you could take your own advice in exclaiming vive la révolution!
Capitalism - Fucking imperialist scum!