p Lenin gave a brilliant sociological analysis of the educational role of example in building the new society. He began his analysis with the history of socialist thought and the views held by the Utopian socialists: “In capitalist society there have been repeated examples of the organisation of labour communes by people who hoped peacefully and painlessly to convince mankind of the advantages of socialism and to ensure its adoption. Such a standpoint and such methods of activity evoke wholly legitimate ridicule from revolutionary Marxists because, under the conditions of capitalist slavery, to achieve any radical changes by means of isolated examples would in fact be a completely vain dream, which in practice has led either to moribund enterprises or to the conversion of these enterprises into associations of petty capitalists.

p “This habitual attitude of ridicule and scorn towards the importance of example in the national economy is sometimes evident even now among people who have not thoroughly considered the radical changes that began from the time of the conquest of political power by the proletariat."   [274•19 

p Robert Owen, and the followers of Saint-Simon and Charles Fourier wanted to create the cells of a new society within the framework of the capitalist system, inside the bourgeois countries, to act as an example for the rest of the world. That was utopianism. Marxism resolutely combated such views. Following the fundamental changes that took place, Lenin urged a fresh consideration of the power of example.

p Starting from the new social conditions, Lenin stressed the vast importance of example in organising production on socialist principles inside the country. He said that the task was to spread the experience of the best organisation among the masses so as to help raise the level of the economy throughout the country.

p This showed an important regularity in the internal development of Soviet society, an important aspect of the mechanism of the socialist system’s progressive development.

p In the spring of 1918, the Soviet Republic’s first spring, Lenin dictated some of his considerations about the characteristic features of the new system and its immediate tasks: “The force of example, which could not be displayed in capitalist society, will be of enormous importance in a society that has abolished private ownership of land and factories, not only because, perhaps, good examples will be followed here, but also because a better example of the organisation of production will be accompanied inevitably by a lightening of labour and an increase in the amount of consumption for those who have carried out this better organisation."  [275•20  Outside the Kremlin walls lay a Moscow that was yet to divest itself of its old features, and beyond its suburbs stretched fields still most tilled by means of the wooden plough, with villages made up of huts in which the wood splinter still provided the only light. But looking ahead, Lenin was aware that a marvellous social energy had been awakened and that its most efficient development required the power of example. Advanced example was being creatively mastered by new contingents of builders, with fresh examples engendered in the course of this assimilation.

p In Soviet society, Lenin said, the force of example is able to influence the people for the first time.  [275•21  The massive impact of the power of example is the mainspring of the mechanism which impells Soviet society towards communism. The Party, the Soviet people’s vanguard, sets an example for the mass of Soviet people in various spheres of their activity. Today, the whole work of the Party is pivoted on the spread not only of the most advanced views of life, but also of the most advanced experience in labour and production. Thanks to the Party’s efforts, various individual initiatives among the Soviet working people become massive, generating fresh initiatives which for their part become massive, and in the course of emulation produce new creative attempts, resulting in a further enrichment of the process of labour, of production and of the whole of social life. Such is the cycle of progress which carries Soviet society ever farther along the path towards communism. The creative assimilation of advanced experience by the whole mass of the people is a process that could not have developed without the Party’s vast organisational and educational effort.

p It pays to give profound thought to the main thesis in Lenin’s remarkable work entitled “A Great Beginning”. It shows the important mechanism of progress in socialist society, where example is in effect 276 initiative, the start of a massive movement. With example, or initiative, are closely connected the emergence, assimilation and development of the new elements in social life. These new elements in human activity provide the example in bringing out and mastering new potentialities in social development. Example and initiative show that new objective potentialities have matured in society. Realisation of new potentialities by ever greater numbers of citizens leads to a new stage of development. Society’s development in this or that sphere has reached a stage at which the whole point is to have the progressive tendencies intensified, broadly extended and fully established. In the period of communist construction, with initiatives among the masses on the increase, the power of example becomes a key social factor.

p Sociologists of the pre-Marxian period used to say that if the individual were left to himself his development would differ little, if at all, from that of an animal. Social influence on the individual is frequently expressed in the form of example, which teaches one how to act and to behave in various circumstances. This influence in socialist society does not oppress the individual but in the long run helps to bring out his capabilities and potentialities. The power of influence exerted by the collective induces man to accept rules which become habitual and commonplace. Concrete examples enable the individual to learn that “some things are not done”, and it depends on the correct organisation of the life of the collective that the example of the most honest, highly moral and ideologically steeled men should predominate and command the greatest prestige. Man’s life experience includes the examples which he has mastered and which have exerted a deep influence on him. Awareness of one’s individuality is totally impossible without the influence of the collective and without contacts and close interaction with other individuals.

p One should not think that the power of example implies no more than mere imitation. That is a gross error which bourgeois sociologists have made since the days of G. Tarde, a reactionary theorist of the 19th century. Actually, the power of example awakens an individual’s inner mental potentialities, and an example can be surpassed or can engender actions applying the example in another sphere. This constitutes the beginning of a new concatenation, setting a new example, which is to be assimilated in its turn. Thus, thanks to the valuable example fresh masses of men are involved in the movement, which grows in breadth and is simultaneously enriched in content. That is why example develops into initiative. New habits and methods of work are broadly accepted all over the country, and the best ways of mastering and making efficient use of advanced technology and hardware are adopted by the masses. Innovation and new ideas are an expression of this power of example. The example set by the foremost workers rules out the possibility of its mechanical repetition, for it shows the need to learn and constantly to 277 acquire knowledge, if the labour process is to develop. The example set by the leading workers shows the way along which one should advance; it shortens the distance but does not obviate it altogether.

The power of example is considerable not only for the organisation of labour, the development of its methods and the raising of the technical and cultural level of the working people, but also for shaping the character and the mental makeup of men. The power of example is paramount in fostering emotions, feelings, and the ability to set in motion one’s will under definite circumstances to achieve a given goal. It is important for socialist society not only to develop men’s minds, but also correctly to develop their emotions. There again, nothing can be done without the educational power of example.