The Communist movement is based on the science of Marxism-Leninism, the revolutionary guide to action of the proletariat. This science must be studied and mastered by all the members of the Party and must be taken to the masses if we are to have proletarian revolution. We must put into life Lenin’s teaching that “Without a revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement”, and that “...the role of vanguard can be fulfilled only by a party that is guided by the most advanced theory.” Our Party must have, as Mao Tse Tung has said, “...revolutionary theory, a knowledge of history, and a profound grasp of the practical movement.”
We have seen the key role that theoretical study on the part of all, not just a few comrades, has played in the struggle to build the party. We understand the truth of the slogan that “education is our main task in the period of party building.” We understand also the role played in the degeneration of the CPUSA by that party’s policy of restricting education to a few selected “experts” and withholding it from the mass of the membership, particularly the proletarian elements.
Therefore, with the understanding that cadre training is the main task in the next period of party building, and that education is the essential and indispensible base of that training, the party resolves to develop an educational program that aims for the mastery of Marxism-Leninism by all the members. This program must include study of all the elements of Marxism-Leninism, including political economy, dialectical and historical materialism, the theory and practice of the communist movement, and their application to the basic political questions confronting the proletariat today. The Party resolves that the Outline for the Study of Marxism-Leninism be used as a starting point for the development of the educational program, with the understanding that the Outline is a beginning effort and not the final answer to the needs of party education. The Party further resolves that the educational program of the Party will be based on the seminar method of education, as the best method of enabling every comrade to master a conceptual understanding of Marxism-Leninism so as to independently find his or her own bearings.
Our authorities in the realm of theory are the classics of Marxist-Leninist science, which must be made available to every member of the Party. Our educational program must be made available to every member of the Party. Our educational program must be an essential part of the struggle to win the vanguard of the proletariat to communism. It must include the concrete study of the history of the working class movement in the USNA and of the concrete problems that confront our Party, bringing to bear on these the general theory of Marxism-Leninism. The program will use a variety of forms to achieve these goals.