This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.

From owner-marxism Tue Sep 26 06:04:21 1995

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 02:04:21 -0400 (EDT)

From: Maoist Internationalist Movement <mim3@nyxfer.blythe.org>

Subject: Against the "democratic" "left"

 

Against the "democratic" " left"

 

We believe that the historical experiments of China and the Soviet

Union are now litmus tests for socialists. However, there is also the U.$.

experience of the Civil War and Reconstruction to point to on questions of

dictatorship and democracy for those of us more familiar with that history already.

 

Dictatorship, not "democratic" lies

 

We are now taught about the greatness of Abraham Lincoln and his

contributions to democracy. What we sometimes forget is that the North

took over the South using war and dictatorship. The slave-owning

planters could not be left to themselves or they would have restored the

previous system. Hence, the "Radical Republicans" pushed the presidents to take

a relatively strong stand including depriving some traitors and white

reactionaries their political rights. (Hey, look it up in any

encyclopedia, probably under Reconstruction or Civil War.) Even despite all this

war and dictatorship, it wasn't enough because the KKK arose

and took away Black gains.

 

Looking back:

1. Are we pacifists or did we support the use of force against the

South?

2. If we aren't pacifists then isn't organized force better than

unorganized force? Force toward a set of goals?

3. And if we admit we want organized force in place, then why not admit

it's a dictatorship?

 

Before the Civil War and after, the idea of equal political rights for

Blacks was deemed an extreme idea indeed and northern states like New York

showed few supporters for the idea in ballot questions. Getting used to

the idea of a Black political role presupposed a violent upheaval, after

which people no longer visualize Blacks just as slaves. At the time though,

pacifists would have told us to oppose the Civil War. Likewise, there

were democrats with a small "d" who believed in the majority rule process as

it functioned – without Blacks or "rights" for anybody but white men.

 

Likewise today, the Committees of Correspondence (CoC), Solidarity and

DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) criticize us Marxists for

dictatorship and extreme ideas. They note the collapse of the Soviet

Union and conclude that further adaptation to bourgeois democracy is

necessary to become popular. They either don't care about the majority of the

world's population and true majority rule or they don't realize u.s.

imperialism's role. They use the word "democratic" as if there were some democracy in

existence to respect, thereby buying into the status quo. Those with a

more critical bent are attempting to change the meaning of "democracy" with

about as much chance as the libertarians have of changing the meaning

of "capitalist."

 

The "democratic left" knows it doesn't like CIA and Pentagon "policy,"

but it is not able to draw conclusions or it concludes it favors labor

aristocracy interests in alliance with imperialism--majority rule for

labor aristocrats. Since 1950, the United States government has used

force against several Third World governments elected by ordinary

bourgeois democratic elections including in Guatemala, the Dominican

Republic, Chile, Nicaragua and Angola. U.S. imperialism also overthrew

elected governments in Iran and the Congo. There is some democracy for

white people, but when it comes to the world's majority there is no

democracy, only outside interference. Uncle Sam is happy when you elect

his candidate, but if you don't, he kills your candidate as in the case

of Salvador Allende. No matter how polite or mushy your candidate is, if

Uncle Sam doesn't like your candidate, he stands next to you in the

polling booth and twists your arm till you say uncle.

 

So there is no democracy today, only a whitewash of imperialism. That's

why we at MIM today say that dictatorship of the proletariat over the

bourgeoisie and dictatorship of the oppressed nations over imperialism

is going to be 1000 times more democratic than what we call "democracy"

now. And communism will be 1,000,000 times more "democratic" to the

point where we will no longer use "democracy" as a reference point for

anything but confusion and chauvinism.

 

Pat for MIM

 

 

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