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V. Afanasyev
Science as a Direct Productive ForceThe Modern Scientific and Technical Revolution and Its Significance
Capital, Marx wrote, “exploits science and appropriates it in the process of production”. Under capitalism the scientist is usually a slave to the moneybag and has no freedom for creative work. In order to engage in creative research he has to sacrifice his convictions, conscience and common sense. Like Goethe’s Faust he sells his soul to the devil, and with it his talent, convictions and conscience.
The capitalists and their theoreticians offer many recipes for ending the contradictions inherent in scientific and technical progress. Some of them go so far as to demand the banning of science and technology, calling upon mankind to return to the primitive herd. One of them declared that unemployment could be ended by banning the wheel, arguing that if people carried everything on their backs there would be work for all. But the wheel cannot be banned any more than the wheel of history can be stopped.
The more far-sighted minds in the capitalist world are beginning to understand this and are coming round to the view that the solution lies in a fundamental reform of the capitalist system itself. S. Lilley, the English scientist, wrote: “There is no ultimate escape from the fact that capitalism, well though it worked in its time, is not a suitable economic structure for making beneficial use of the advanced techniques of today.. .. Turn and twist as we may, there is no ultimate way forward except that of changing the whole economic system into a socialist one.”
In socialist society, the purpose and prospects of production and of the scientific and technical revolution are completely different. Social production is organised by plan to ensure the welfare and all-round development of all members of society, and therefore only socialism and communism give scope to the new scientific and technical revolution and use scientific achievements and production not to the detriment of man, as under imperialism, but for his benefit.
Naturally, this does not mean that under socialism automation does not engender serious social problems. One of these is the problem of creating the facilities for retraining and correctly utilising manpower made redundant by technical progress.
In the process of communist construction science draws ever closer to production which, in its turn, makes ever broader use of scientific achievements. Science is increasingly growing into a direct productive force, while production is gradually becoming the technological embodiment of science.
To a large extent, the rate of the Soviet Union’s progress depends on scientific achievements because they help society not only to resolve present-day problems but also to peep into the future. They enable man to harness natural wealth and know and apply the laws of nature and the laws of social development. Marx’s prophetic words that with the development of large-scale industry the creation of real material and spiritual wealth will depend “upon the general level of science and technology or on the employment of this science in industry" are coming true.
Today we are witnessing a new scientific and technical revolution sparked off by stirring achievements in automation, radio electronics, telemechanics, the harnessing of atomic power, space exploration, cybernetics, chemistry and biology.
This revolution is being accomplished in both the socialist and the capitalist systems. Inasmuch as the laws of social development and the objective of social production differ fundamentally in these systems, the motives behind scientific and technical progress as well as the social and economic consequences and prospects of this progress are likewise different.
The threat of being crushed and ruined in the life–and death competition with his rivals forces the capitalist to improve production on the basis of the latest scientific and technical advances. Thus, scientific and technical progress is objectively vital in capitalist society as well. In the more developed countries the capitalists skilfully use modern science and technology to increase production capacities, raise labour productivity, improve the quality of output, and so forth.
At the same time, there are deep-rooted contradictions in scientific and technical progress under capitalism. By virtue of this progress production shows a trend towards unlimited expansion. On the other hand, the population’s purchasing power is limited and competition creates difficulties in the sale of products abroad. The narrowness of the market restricts production, while automation and other scientific and technical achievements, especially those that cut the demand for manpower, increase unemployment and thereby still further reduce the people’s purchasing power. In capitalist society the development of the scientific and technical revolution is thus seriously hindered by chaotic market conditions, anarchy of production, and competition, which give rise to commercial secrets in science and technology, thereby impeding scientific and technical co–operation. The reason behind all this is that production, science and technology are furthered with an eye to profit. Hence the deterioration of the position of large groups of working people, unemployment, the ousting of man from the sphere of labour and the attendant curb on opportunities for the development of man’s capabilities.
The Future of Science Is the Future of Production
The turning of science into a direct productive force does not mean that it is becoming some third, relatively independent element of the productive forces side by side with the means of production and with people, who produce material values. Science acquires the role of a productive force through implements of production, in which it finds its material embodiment, and through people who master science and utilise its achievements in production.
The fact that science is increasingly becoming a direct productive force is due primarily to the development of modern production, which is inconceivable without science. Today entire branches of production and technology ( chemistry of polymers, nuclear power engineering, electronics, and so forth) are technological applications of science. Moreover, this trend issues from the development of science itself. Only some fifty years ago, scientists worked alone in the quiet of laboratories and used apparatuses made by themselves from glass, tin and wood. The situation is altogether different today.
For modern science it is imperative to have close links with production which supplies it with equipment, ensures it with the engineers, technicians and workers for the building and operation of equipment and provides it with broad facilities for experimentation. The secrets of the atomic nucleus, for instance, cannot be studied without super-powerful accelerators and other modern instruments and apparatuses produced by industry. All these means are the products of co-operation between science and production.
When \ve speak of science turning into a direct productive force we mean mainly mechanics, physics, chemistry, biology and other natural and technical sciences. The achievements of these sciences are being embodied in implements of production and in the production experience of people. At the same time, communist construction presupposes the steady improvement of the running of social processes, particularly the whole of material production. To this end it is necessary to promote scientific administration, which is studied by social sciences. Economic science, which improves methods of planning and management, is becoming increasingly important in the organisation and direction of production. A new science, economic cybernetics, which, strictly speaking, is not a purely natural science, is emerging virtually before our eyes. This science utilises mathematical methods and modern computers to indicate how best to utilise material, manpower and financial resources and distribute industries and material and technical supplies. It estimates expenditures and forecasts the results of investments in the economy. Thus, social sciences, too, play an important role in resolving production problems.
New industries are springing up and “old”, traditional branches of production are being completely recast under the revolutionising influence of science. Take the iron and steel industry. Formerly the word metallurgy was associated only with the process of extracting metals from ores. Today it is a science in its own right and the modern iron and steel industry cannot do without it. Iron, steel, pig iron and non-ferrous metals continue to comprise the bulk of the metals used in industry, but other metals—uranium, thorium, beryllium and cesium—are beginning to play an important role. Although their total volume used in industry is only a drop in the ocean they are vital to nuclear power engineering, radio electronics and rocketry. Incidentally, these metals are effective only when they are super-pure, i.e., almost completely devoid of admixtures.
When we speak of the link between science and production, we must not regard this link as being completely utilitarian and demand instant production returns from scientists. Science must see not only the present but also the future, create a reserve for that future by working on theoretical problems that open new roads in science and technology. It does not matter if some of this work does not yield tangible results as quickly as we would have liked. Tangible results will be forthcoming where really new and important paths of science are concerned. It will be remembered that that is what happened in the case of atomic power, \vhich man learned to apply in practice half a century after it was discovered. It took long decades for Konstantin Tsiolkovsky’s breath-taking ideas about space travel, which he worked on in the small and sleepy town of Kaluga, to be embodied in artificial Earth satellites and spaceships.
All the Potentialities of Science for Production
The future of science may confidently be said to be the future of production.
Large scientific centres are appearing all over the Soviet Union. The need to study Siberia’s natural wealth and develop her productive forces has called to life the Siberian Division of the Academy of Sciences. This Division consists of a large number of research institutes. Academies of Sciences have been set up in all the Union republics.