Democracy, Socialism & Leadership

Is Capitalist Democracy even possible?

We live in a Capitalist Economic System, and have done so for such a long time that most people consider that it must be the best. It didn't seem to have been imposed by War, but ultimately by the clear successes of Capitalist Enterprises in competition with alternative forms of economic organisations: they evidently must have been victorious in the Market Place!

But, nevertheless, it was never ever a free choice of individuals - a genuinely democratic decision - as to what sort of Economic workplaces there would be. Such decisions were still only taken by people with sufficient Money and Power, who were in a position to make and implement such decisions for everyone else.

Even after the English Revolution in the 17th centiry, with the King executed, and Parliament victorious, the vast majority of ordinary people who had ensured that victory still had NO say whatsoever in what was to replace the Old Regime. Ordinary citizens had NO vote to elect Members of that Parliament, who exclusively represented those who already had wealth, but now also had the Power, which used to reside solely with the Monarch.

But now, Oliver Cromwell, a landowner in Parliament, and then a military leader of the New Model Army in the field, after victory became the Lord Protector of the New Regime, and had established that position by both Status, but also by Force! Many of the reins of power which had been in the hands of the King, were now in Cromwell's hands, and he was perfectly clear what he had to do with them.

And the Diggers and the Levellers who had fought alongside him against the King, were now his enemies, and absolutely nothing that they had fought for, was granted to them. For, once in power all the taxes, tariffs and other income of the State were now directed via Cromwell's priorities!

Diggers and Levellers

Parliament had been increasingly dominated by wealthy farmers, landowners and traders, and had never represented the bulk of Working people, so from their Victory in leading an "Alliance of All The People", they naturally set about what was in their own interests alone, and for many that enabled the beginnings of Capitalist production and organisation.

So, what was evidently continuing fight for Democracy all about? Was it ever, in the minds of its leaders, about "Power to the People"?

The answer must be clearly "NO!"

It must always look as though that was its objective, but in truth was only ever to be a facade, behind which the Wealth and Power of those now in charge was to be maintained and greatly enhanced.

And looking at the current Chaos in British Politics, is that not still the case?

And, once such a success had been achieved in Britain, it was evidently possible elsewhere too. So, the British colonists in North American were next, and then it was France, but the difference was now up-front and from the outset a clear promise of "Democracy For ALL!" was necessary to bring together the necessary Alliance to carry the Revolution to Victory.

But, of course, involving the enfranchisement of only those with the wealth to implement the now well-established objective of Capitalism!

Democracy

or

Liberté Egalité et Fraternité

were the necessary slogans, so may have been the marshalling demands for the People, but they were never the real intentions of the Revolutionary Leaders!

Indeed, some lessons were learned, so by the time of the 20th century Revolutions, indeed Vanguard Parties equipped with committed Marxist leaders were now not only inevitably involved, but were the only guarantors of the demands of the workers and peasants, and ultimately the only possible leaders. The Slogan of the Russian Bolshevik Party was

Bread, Peace and Land!

somewhat different, I think you will agree.

But notice that whatever was achieved, whether sufficient or not, now just had to be via a Revolution, and with a very different set of Alliances upon each side! It had to be led by a Vanguard Revolutionary Party, informed by a Marxist critique of Capitalism! And, no alliances with Liberals could any longer be trusted.

And even if such a Revolution were successfful, it would elicit invasions from Capitalist Nations on all sides, and if those failed, which they certainly did in the case of Russia, then such a Rogue State would be effectively isolated from trading worldwide. And, even long-duration pressures and defensive expenditures would be inflicted upon such a State as in the Cold War, could be, and indeed were implemented!

In the end only World Revolution could ever guarantee the success anywhere!

Now, the self-proclaimed Socialist Parties in the various combatants in the First World War, ALL supported their own individual countries. Whereas in Russia the Bolsheviks agittated vigorously againat the War, even within the Army and Navy of the Russian State . Only the Bolsheviks in Russia, on successfully taking the power, pulled out of that War between Capitalist Nations.

And, after the war, they re-named their Party The Communist Party, and set about the worldwide construction of an International Organisation of genuine Socialist Parties to replace the prior International that had been the objective of Marx himself, but which had been vigorously attacked from within by Anarchists and the Social Democrats, who had turned it into a toothless Talking Shop alone!

The Question was not only an appropriately theoretically-equipped Revolutionary Party, but also one having a resolute Anti-Capitalist Leadership!

And, even within Russia the Revolution was not yet assured.

For it had replaced the Capitalists with a State Appointed Bureaucracy, without extending Democracy into all the Workplaces nationwide: and the Bureaucracy, instead, established itself as a privileged Elite, rather than a real Socialist Leadership!

Two vital components must be ensured at the hearts of Revolutionary Parties worldwide.

• First, the commitment to the continuing development of the Philosophy of Marxism, termed by Marx himself as Dialectical Materialism (contrary to what many think, this did not happen in the USSR. 

Especially, in its crucial extension to The Sciences, which was never undertaken in the past!

• And Second, in its commitment to Workers' Control in their workplaces, to combat the emerging of a privileged Bureaucracy!

Finally, what is currently called Democracy, in literally all countries in the World, must be totally dismantled, as it is currently the stongest bastion to the Rule of Capitalism: as significant modifications have turned it into its very opposite!

Money now dominates everything!

The ones spending the most money selling themselves and manipulating communications get elected! Also, the electors have no means of questioning or even mandating their chosen representatives.

And instant re-call and replacement is totally impossible. Even the initial selection of Candidates for Office is now rarely left to the members of the Party Branch they are to represent if elected! And innumerable other changes, which have been instituted to concentrate power in a centralised elite within the Party.

Democracy itself must be renovated to deliver what it was intended to achieve in its conception!



Postscript:

But, there are still problems, that are not easy to address!

In the early 20th century, several leading Bolsheviks were impressed by the Empirio Criticism of physicists Henri Poincare and Ernst Mach, which was a Positivist alternative to strict Materialism, and it caused Lenin to immediately suspend other theoretical work to urgently write the book Materialism and Empirio Criticism, which emphatically condemned such a philosophical retreat.

And, it achieved two things: it pulled back those leading Marxists in the Bolshevik Party - realising their mistake! And also it confirmed the intellectual Leadership of V. I. Lenin in the Party.

Later, in July 1917, in the interlude between the two revolutions of that year, the Kronstadters arrived at Bolshevik Headquarters, armed to the teeth, demanding that a leading Boshevik to both lead and speak for them in making the demands upon the Kerensky Government to resign.

Literally everyone at Bolshevik headquarters were against it, knowing that it was too soon, and it would undoubtedly fail.

But Lenin disagreed!

These are our people, and when the time comes we will be able to count upon them - but if we tell them now to go home, we will rightly lose their trust.

Though warning it is probably too soon, they would nonetheless, be led to the Winter Palace by Trotsky, to show whose side we are on.

And that is what happened! It did fail, and Trotsky was jailed, and Lenin had to hide in Finland,

BUT, in October when the time was right! The Bolsheviks said "NOW!", and the Kronstadters stormed the Winter Palance, and the Second, this time Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, was carried through to success.

Again the tactical Leadership of Lenin was vital...

Switch to the present day in the UK!

Jeremy Corbyn gets elected to the Leadership of the Labour Party by an extended membership of the Party, and goes for Policies much further to the left than Party was used to.

But most of the Labour MPs in Parliament were NOT chosen by their Party Branch members! During the Leadership of Tony Blair, he had changed the rules, so that the central leadership provided all Party Branches with a list of suitable candidates as MPs - none of whom were remotely Left. He even renamed the Party New Labour!

And, their Blairite MPs were against Corbyn from the start - they did everything they could to remove him, and played a major role in Labour's recent historic defeat. They undermined the shift to the Left at every turn.

The necessary structures of a Real Democracy must support effective leadership, while opposing bureaucratic elites attempting to win power by NON DEMOCRATIC means!

Not easy. But vital. 

Brexit: Manufacturing Consent?

While there are certainly some convincing left-wing arguments for leaving the European Union, none of these featured in most Leavers' reasoning in 2016, in the original push for a referendum or in the current Tory party's attempts to manufacture consent for a no-deal Brexit.

As the UK sits at the precipice of another general election, we must try and understand why and how the Conservative Party, and large parts of the economic elite, are doing this. The media (most major newspapers and television news including the BBC) are certainly pushing for this outcome and are engaged in a substantial propaganda war against Jeremy Corbyn and Labour.

It's worth re-visiting this great documentary, Manufacturing Consent (1992), featuring the ideas and work of Noam Chomsky. In this film Chomsky asserts that the media always works this way, in the interests of vested interests and big money. Brexit and this current election are no different.

Wealth!

1. Is wealth the legitimate reward for hard work?
2. Is it the necessary spur to absolutely essential innovation?
3. Do the owners of inherited Stately Homes and Landed Estates deserve their Life of Luxury?
4. Is all wealth actually created by the Captains of Industry?
5. And is all War absolutely necessary to defeat those who wish the privileges of others for themselves?

NOT A CHANCE!

The Poor can do none of these things, except, of course, they create absolutely all new value by their labour!

How else is wealth really produced?

Yet, we are supposed to live in a Democracy!

Why don't the majority just vote in a Socialist Government to redistribute wealth more fairly?

The answer is, once more, they don't have the wealth to do it!

Socialists don't have the mass media in their pockets - no daily newspapers to state their case. They don't have round-the-clock radio and television programmes on their side, nor the mainstream film industry, nor any glossy magazines.

They don't even have the resources to build their organisations, and fund their organisers, their researchers, their publicists, or their journalists and writers.

They can't pay for roadside adverts, or those every few minutes on TV!

They can't buy the votes of elected representatives, by Knighthoods, or the like, or even just a regular ticket to The Good Life.

But the Rich do have enough to do all of these things... as much as they like! Could that be how they always stay in the driving seat?

Now, the Labour Party has a committed socialist as its leader. If we had a General Election now, he would win!

What will the rich do?

What did they do in 1945?

You know, don't you?

So, how could they be stopped THIS TIME?

Who delivers the News?

Graphic from Another Angry Voice

Without the facts, how can the People understand whats going on?

Can we really have a Democracy, without also having the necessary information to make informed decisions at the ballot box?

Who actually owns the Press and other Media? Who now organises the Social Media Platforms, and prioriotises their content?

It is always the Tories of this world, and their penumbra of "privileged-service providers"!

And it is clear what cause they serve - PROFIT!

Did the Working Class cause the Slump of 2008?

NO, it was them - the Profiteers and Bankers, extending the profit-making reach ever deeper into the poor, and then blaming them for their inability to be sucked any drier, and even shutting down the social services that are there to aid them: the completely disingenuous project known as Austerity.

And where in the Media is this truth exposed?

Absolutely nowhere.

Can the informing of the People be left in the hands of those whose sole purpose is to exploit those they are supposed to be informing?

NO! 

Of course it can't.

We have a National Health Service - so why not a National News Service? It could be independent of government - as an extension of a Real Library Service perhaps, financed through taxation, and NOT advertising. Local Papers would be produced by Local Libray News Servvices, which would also include a major presence on the Internet. And National Newspapers would come out of regional hubs in major centres throughout the country.

And why stop there? The publishing of books currently only survives if it makes a profit for the owners. A Public Publishing Service under the democratic control of its employees, would be very different, and it would also transform publishing on the Web. Indeed, the publishing of Music and Recordings, and the organisation of Concerts and Gigs, without the money making parasites, would benefit everybody involved. And, clearly, such would also be the home for Film Making - for writers, performers and artists would all be involved.

But, it would certainly NOT be as a top-down hierarchy, a bureaucracy as was established in "Soviet" Russia! It would be built out of grassroots Worker Co-operatives - today's real "Soviets", so that Democracy would dominate at every level.

Clearly, this would never be allowed under a Capitalist System, but would be ideal in a truly Socialist State. For, the fight for Socialism is never merely the switching of the Ruling Party of Government: it has to be far more fundamental than that!

Here is the key question:

If Corbyn's Labour Party win a General Election, what will the rich do to undermine it? 

And will we let them do it?

Too late to Remain? Why Corbyn is pushing for Lexit...

Richard Wolff on why Remain or People's Vote would be political suicide for Corbyn

Socialist Society: How do we get it...?

In 1945, with a landslide victory in the General Election, a Labour Government was elected with a Socialist Agenda. The Electricity, Gas, Coal, Steel and Railways Industries were all nationalised - taken into Public Ownership, to be run as part of a Planned Economy for the benefit of the People. And, the National Health Service was set up, as a service for all, free at the point of use. Education was reorganised to provide different kinds of instruction, with places allocated solely upon the basis of ability alone.

BUT, the Wealth still remained substantially in the hands of the Owning Class! They were even given substantial Compensation Payments for their now Nationalised Industries, which actually made them even richer in terms of actual spendable money.

And, they still owned the whole printed Media Industry - the Newspapers and Magazines, and the Book Publishing Organisations. 

In addition, all their Private Schools and Charitable Foundations and "Research Organisations" continued to provide privileged education to their children, and energetically peddle their views totally unrestricted. Generous donations to like-thinking organisations, and even individuals with political ambitions, actually increased.

So, ranged against the Labour Government, attempting to build Socialism out of the Ruins and Debts of the Second World War, were the still very well-heeled rich, totally determined that Labour should fail, and they would regain their property, their wealth and their power.

And they succeeded in just 5 years! 

The Tories were back in power after only a single Labour Administration, despite the fact that Clement Attlee's Labour government had been elected with the largest swing ever achieved in the country.

In other papers in this series, the myths of supposed Democracy have been spelled out, to make very clear that a great deal more than just "The Vote" is required to establish a truly Democratic State. Money will always undermine true democracy.

Now, Corbyn's Labour Party is ready-once-more with a somewhat similar agenda to 1945! But, after years of Blairite degeneration, he has a Party apparatus saddled with anti-socialist neoliberals and pro-capitalist elites. Yet, by a successful recruiting drive, he and his colleagues have established a pro-socialist majority within the rank-and-file.

So, without the victory of that majority, inside the Party, that Socialist Agenda will be betrayed from within!

Clearly, both the lessons of 1945, and the transformation of the Party simply MUST be achieved, or the next Labour Government and the People that elected them will again be defeated.

Are you clear what must be done?

For example:

• What are the important lessons of 1945?

• Do we give the rich any compensation?

• Can we leave the Media in the hands of the Ruling Class?

• And, if not, who should take on that vital responsibility?

• Can we leave the Banks in private hands?

Now, these questions should clarify why these papers have been about:

Achieving Real Socialism!

For, without true Socialist Democracy at every level, the 1945 mistakes such as both Socialism-from-above, as well as leaving the Enemy Class adequately equipped to reverse any gains made, will undoubtedly re-occur.

Can you see what will be necessary?

And, will the Capitalist Class ever allow it?

I am sure you can guess the answers to these questions! Remember what happened with the Slump of 1929-1939? Will those solutions be tried again?

Wealth and Power - and why it must be dismantled!

The wealthy are running 'democracy' like never before

Is Real Democracy now totally impossible?

Substantial, irrefutable evidence, finally makes it clear, that absolutely NO Democratic mechanisms still exist which can effectively counter the Wealth and Power of the Ruling Capitalist Class! Primarily, this is due to the decisions of the People having to be made without being supplied the necessary wherewithal to make them.

Indeed, as the Media are firmly in the powerful hands of the Enemy Class (or certainly those who can see no alternatives to the status quo), neither the Truth, nor any detailed alternatives are ever being made available to the majority of people.

In fact, the people are assailed on all sides with what only can be called severely biased accounts, along with blatant lies and even deliberately orchestrated incidents, intended to mislead.

And, as always with the Right, the identification of scapegoats abound!

Every distinct minority group, within Society, as long as they are suitably powerless, are targeted as the causers of the current situation. In particular, those migrants escaping from the wars - actually perpetrated by the very same wealthy amd powerful leaders of the Capitalist Powers - are daily identified as the real enemy, and the real solution being said to be their expulsion from the country.

Refugee camp in Calais

Why is all this true NOW?

It is because the long trek by those in power to discredit Socialist oppositions to Capitalism, was assisted greatly by the major recession of 2008, for it allowed a major re-casting of Employment among the Working Class, from Factories and Offices, with Trade Unions and political organisation, and into what we call the "Gig Economy", with more and more self-employed workers eeking-out a far inferior living, and, literally NO working class organisations able to reach them, inform them and organise them.

The pattern is most clearly evident in the USA.

Real wages for the Workers have stopped rising. Jobs have been exported to other countries where wages are much smaller, while immigrants were encouraged for the poorer-paid jobs - while also delivering ideal scapegoats to blame for the increasingly desperate situations facing the resident working class. This is to blame for the increased racial tensions we see, all over the western world. And these tensions are exploited by the wealthy and powerful for their own political gains.

The old Social Democratic parties, having lost their support among the People, by vying with the parties of the Right, upon literally the very same ticket, now have absolutely nothing to offer. The odd exceptions appear to be leftwards-moving Parties, like the British Labour Party, who could indeed win the next General Election. 

Jeremy Corbyn's Labour is one of the few to counter the right-ward trend

But if they do win, will the now prodigious Wealth and Power of the Capitalist Class ever allow then to succeed?

I'm afraid a left-leaning Labour Government alone won't be enough!

The Wealth and Power of the Ruling Capitalist Class has to be terminated.

So, for a Labour Government - YES! But, as a step to a Socialist State run in the real interests of The People.

Corbyn on media smears

People are angry with Theresa May #grenfellfire

2 days to go...

As Jeremy Corbyn said at a huge rally in Leeds a couple of weeks ago, "there is nothing inevitable about this election!"

It's time to kick out the Tories.

Support Corbyn! Defeat the Traitors!

A vital vote is coming in the Labour Party.

Literally all of what remains of Blair's New Labour are trying to remove Jeremy Corbyn as Leader in spite of his massive majority when elected.

And all this just when the extreme right-wingers are taking over the Tory Party, and will be running the country for the next five years, having lied to take us out of:

- the EU safeguards for Workers
- The Human Rights Charter

The New Tories will certainly intensify their attacks upon us.

You can:

JOIN the Party

(ower fees for Youth and OAPs)

16,000 have joined in the last 3 days

Sign up as a SUPPORTER

as soon as the Election is declared then you can sign up to vote

AFFILIATE as a Trade Unionist

Kick out the Pro-Capitalist Right. Return the Labour party to its true constituency:

The Working Class!