Marhaenist Nationalist Journey To Revolutionary Socialism

We are publishing a series of articles on the experiences of our comrades who have come from various backgrounds to the idea of ​​revolutionary socialism. This article examines the experiences of our young comrades on campus who were previously a Marhaenis Nationalist then became a Socialist. Four years ago I was a fourth semester student. While in college I was actively involved in campus organizations. There are many organizations on campus, but at that time I decided to get involved in the Marhaenis organization GMNI, a Nationalist organization based on Bung Karno's ideas.

The reason I chose Marhaenis is that this idea defends the interests of the Marhaen, namely poor farmers who have plots of land to work on. At that time I was not interested in the idea of ​​class struggle or socialism, because I thought that the idea of ​​Marhaenism was sufficient to provide an answer to free this oppression.

Over time, I began to explore Marhaen's ideas. The more I dive into this thought, the more I ask how to actually liberate the Marhaen. There are many layers of the oppressed class in this society, not only farmers but also the urban poor and the working class. Why is Marhaenism based on the peasant class and not other classes? All these questions have been floating around in my head for a long time.

Usually my seniors explain that the Marhaenis will be the leaders for the Marhaen. But the reality is the opposite. Many of these seniors later became members of parliament and worked for parties that had no program to liberate the Marhaen. I am confused by this fact.

From this trip I got to know several people who offered newspapers on campus and spoke at great length about the class struggle and socialism. But because I still firmly adhere to the idea of ​​Marhaenism, I don't pay any attention to these people. Every newspaper they offer I always refuse in various ways.

I asked myself how could you change society with your newspapers. Socialism for me is utopian. It seemed to me that the Soviet Union was destroyed and proved the failure of the socialist idea.

These newspaper 'sellers' were so strong and patient. They never stop contacting me to join their weekly discussion. So many times they invited and finally I came to appreciate them. But again I don't understand the ideas they bring and talk about. I am a Nationalist! A Marhaen! That's my heart and mind.

After that I stopped from movement activities for almost 2 years. I cut ties with these newspaper 'sellers'. I returned to my area and decided to help the common people through direct activities. I advocate for government closing schools in my area. This is what I think is a concrete step to change the situation.

However, advocacy like this is more like a patchwork step. There are too many problems in society to be resolved through advocacy. This move will not change society.

From the beginning we have no shortage of people who can advocate but the world goes on as usual. I understand the limitations of these 'direct actions'.

Like a miracle, through this advocacy activity I met someone who spoke about class struggle and socialism. The talk of this person is like the 'newspaper sellers' that I previously met on campus. This person was not a member of the 'newspaper sellers', but he was familiar with the idea of ​​'newspaper sellers'. One thing I remember from this person, “you are on the right path”, “you are lucky to have met them”.

From this event I began to understand class struggle and socialism. I began to study the basic ideas of scientific Socialism, from the philosophy of dialectical materialism to the history of class struggle. This is really me starting from zero and Socialism has opened my horizons of thinking.

Socialism has saved me from the abyss of 'nationalism'. Socialism does not only talk about one nation, but more than that it builds internationalism. I began to know about what is meant by class struggle; began to distinguish between the enemy and the working people. Socialism is not only studied in one country but in almost all countries there are people who study this. As long as there is capitalism, there will always be layers of people who study the ideas of Socialism because the theory of socialism is a direct or indirect result of the desire of the working class to change the oppressed world.

From this incident I decided to join this revolutionary organization. There is no other goal in my life other than ending all forms of human oppression of other humans and striving for a socialist revolution.