WORKERS DEMOCRACY AND DICTATORSHIP
WORKER'S DICTATORSHIP AND WORKER'S DEMOCRACY
The socialist revolution carries the workers to power under the leadership of the working class. The exploiting classes- capitalists and landowners are cut off from politics, although this does not mean the end of the class struggle. The worker's rule has as its goal the transition from capitalism to socialism. Factory and industrial workers, and all who are exploited bring down the yoke of capitalism toward the construction of a classless society. This exploiting class, who was once supreme, and has now fallen out of power, marshals a desperate resistance and as long they continue to have money (much of it hidden) the possibility of restoration of capitalism does not disappear (USSR).
UPPER CLASS RESISTANCE. All revolutions have as their task the defeat of the ruling class. The French Revolution of 1789 did not hesitate to overthrow with force the corrupt and decadent monarchy, inspiring many countries to follow suit. Precisely because the ruling class has gained enormous power and wealth, they are loathe to give up any part of their influence and must be dealt with if the Revolution is to put an end to exploitation of man by man. The privileges enjoyed by the ruling class-their wealth and culture, have made them think that they are born to give orders and everyone else is born to follow them. They are horrified at the thought of their inferior followers giving them orders, or at any attempt to modify their property or parasitic existence. They will forever hold the idea of a comeback, and make concrete attempts at comebacks as long as they see the slightest chance to recover their lost paradise. Perhaps their most horrific nightmare is that they might actually have to go to work. While workers are proud of their achievements as laborers, the ruling class consider work to be humiliating.
All is not lost, says the ruling class, as long as we still wield some power. We have friends internationally. Some of the armed forces may still support us. Subversion and propaganda are still powerful weapons at our disposal. As long as we can control some property over the means of production we have a chance. We may have lost political power, but we can still exercise plenty of economic influence over the small producers and private individuals who feel they can still get rich if things were to be put back the way they were. The ruling class has experience, in production, and government, in their contacts with engineers and technicians, in the officers of the armed forces. They scramble for control of media in order to denigrate the socialist movement and beef up their own through propaganda. There are many declasé and delinquent elements, left over from the ruined small business class, which are ready to be recruited by the counterrevolutionaries when things are ripe for a coup. (Añez in Bolivia, Guaidó in Venezuela, etc). In some cases the reactionaries bring on a civil war that must be defeated by the workers, distracting them from the task at hand. A "dictatorship" is necessary to strike down the resistance of the exploiters, and to put a brake on thieves, attackers, and delinquents that are the product of the old society and rise like cream to the top during this period. The struggle goes on, but after the worker's take over it gains new characteristics. For the first time the workers dispose of political power, which they can use to control the former rulers who have not disappeared but rather increase their resistance.
THE RULE OF THE WORKING CLASS. The worker's rule is not the negation of democracy, it is not totalitarianism. Violence comes from the former ruling class, the capitalists. The workers' task is not vengeance, but to rebuild a destroyed society, and the interference with this task is what causes the need to control the counterrevolutionaries by force. This is by no means contradictory with humanism. If the defeated class is willing to cooperate, there is no need for defense. If they come back with a fury, they must be defeated by any means necessary. The former ruling class tries to pretend that any action to prevent sabotage, coup d'etats, lying propaganda is synonymous with worker's terror, repression and a limitation on democracy. This serves to cover over the reality that the defensive measures are only as violent as the defeated capitalist class wants to make them. Proof is that the worker's movement has complete use at its disposal of non-violent means of adaptation, to wit., nationalization of industry, reeducation of recalcitrant elements, and reincorporation into the work force, always honoring legal precepts established by the revolution itself, for example, the abolition of the death penalty. In any case, the majority of the members of the defeated capitalist class are not staunch defenders of capitalism, They are perfectly content to go along with free medical care, free education, full employment and all the rest. The die-hards are few and tend to disappear as a force as time goes on. The working class comprise over 90% of the population and the socialist system is vastly supported by the majority, who is the governing power. Their strength is not in the bayonet, nor in the police, nor in money. Their strength is in the trust the masses have in their ability to govern themselves in the freest, broadest and strongest wielding of the reins of power in history.
TASK OF THE WORKING CLASS. Once the counterrevolutionaries are taken care of, the task of the workers is to transform the economy by organization and by discipline, by the free use of the worker's vanguard, the most conscious and best organized sector, to end class divisions and exploitation of the population. The struggle here is between Marxists and reformists. Are we to have a dictatorship over the workers and democracy for the capitalist, or a dictatorship over the capitalist and democracy for the workers? Reformists support democracy, which sounds good, until they are shown to mean democracy to exploit, democracy for free enterprise, democracy to get rich at the expense of others. The proof of the emptiness of their program can be shown in countries where social democratic parties rule-(Sweden, et al) not one has embraced socialism, and they remain capitalist parties with benefits that can be taken away as soon as another crisis shows itself. The Paris Commune fell apart precisely because it was not able to counter the ability of the bourgeoisie to gather its forces and drown the Commune in blood.
WORKER'S DEMOCRACY. Worker's democracy is democracy of a new type. While previously those in command exercised democracy from a small number of elected officials, now democracy reaches every corner of the society, and the political economy is run by all for all. Now the rule is aimed at the small number of capitalist hold outs, while the vast majority enjoy fraternity and communal decision making that applies to the whole country, that is, to themselves. They are two sides of the same coin.
Bourgeois apologists maintain that in order to have real democracy one has to have opposing sides, discussion in the parliament or congress, etc. but even with rivals factions you have unity insofar as pleasing the small number of billionaires who run everything. There is no people's power, nothing to serve the people. A party of a new type means something different. Gone are unemployment and homelessness, gone is illiteracy, gone is being unable to afford a doctor. A new democracy results in bounty for all the people. Living standards rise, as does culture. Peace is defended, war is outlawed. Friendship with all the people of the world replaces hostility and suspicion. The new leadership would be unable to rule if they did not enjoy the trust and support of the vast majority of the population, its greatest strength. This democracy, however, cannot be extended beyond worker's power to include the reactionary forces of the defeated ruling class, nor to those who work to restore capitalism.
ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE WORKING CLASS AND ALL OTHER WORKERS. This alliance includes all who are willing to work democratically in support of socialism. Socialism cannot be built by the working class only. It is not simply a matter of nationalizing property. The media, theaters, film , schools have to be socialized also, involving small shop owners, farm laborers, intellectuals, etc. Again, this can only be accomplished with the cooperation of the widest strata of the people, psychologically primed for the destruction of the old order, of capitalism, of exploitation. In the opposite of coercion, the working class can now bring about changes by example, by conviction, by stimulation and organization.
WORKER GUARANTEES. Worker's democracy is not held to making changes in race relations, nationalities, gender issues, religion or cultural levels. The State provides all workers with resources such as buildings and locals, where they can meet and use the equipment, developing their own media, radio, film and electronic equipment. Elections are held, not so that everyone can go home after voting, but for the people to participate daily in tasks that come up, by means of state organizations, social, sectional, commissions, and advisory boards, that spring from the organs of power. Worker's democracy is not only political, but it extends into the areas of economy and culture. Workers dispose democratically of their workplace, the factory, former corporate entities, newspapers, magazines, internet, film and radio, etc. The socialization of the means of production move into the hands of the people, where these institutions are no longer run by private property holders, but directly by the people.
DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY. Although centralization is necessary torun the country, centralized bureaucracy is abolished. Some may object to centralization (government is the problem), and anarchists may contradict the fulfillment of the actual needs of the population. Centralism is still necessary, but as long as it is democratic. This means from the ground up- subordinated to the lower organizations, where all are elected or dismissed by the people, where those elected have to be accountable to the masses, where these same masses are incorporated into the tasks set by the directives. Bosses and soldiers spring from the same origin, workers, farm workers, intellectuals. The army is made up of working class members. The police come from and live in the neighborhood. Judges are elected, and they can be discharged. (This guarantees their independence) Sentences also change character- many are probationary, or engage in public censure, or, instead of prison, the defendant is given work and rehabilitation without losing his/her freedom, etc. The militias also work along these same democratic lines. All are connected to the neighborhood, the factories, the unions, and farm workers' cooperatives, and are under their control. The Party also grows exponentially, and is welcome as long as it remains under the control of the working class. The Party is the only organism that can succeed in the transformation of the new society, because it has a plan of action based on a scientific understanding of the laws of development, which promote the trust that the working class has on its leadership. If there is a worker's dictatorship there cannot be a Party dictatorship, since this would violate the principle of democratic centralism. The role of the Party is that of the ideological leadership in the construction of socialism. More than that, its leadership is in the political arena, as well as in the economic and cultural, administrative, army, foreign policy spheres, a role that takes in the trust support and confidence of the masses through comradeship and the fulfillment of political, economic and cultural needs.
INTERNAL STRUGGLES. This adulation of the Party can lead to its opposite-the Party becoming spoiled, with a feeling of infallibility, all of which can separate them from the people. This is why it is so important to always engage in criticism and self criticism aimed at internal democracy and the rotating of posts so that no one person can control what everyone else is doing. There are always opportunists who seek power for themselves, and measures must be taken to prevent and minimize this by means of temporary assignments, testing the waters, and other means designed to prevent hostile elements from subverting the membership. Party unity is primordial, and anything that weakens it must be defeated. Not only is the Party attacked by the reactionary elements, but it can be weakened by those vacillating elements inside the organization who are not firm enough in their convictions to carry an action through and win.
If measures are not taken what follows is a split within the Party- a group of feminists, for example, who object to men making decisions, and others who likewise put their personal agendas above the common good. (In any case the Party has already made way for the advancement of women, and those objections are bogus, designed to split and weaken). Anarchists, right wing opportunists and others, will proclaim the freedom to form factions while breaking Party unity, and the consequences if not arrested, can be disastrous.
UNIONS. Under socialism, unions are the seedbed from which new progressive elements spring. They become a school for training administrators and leadership. They make economic assessments, make plans that affect the workplace, and provide training for those who are going to take positions of responsibility. A meeting of many unions results in production units, technical conferences, scientific societies, new inventions, etc. However, unions are not the State, and they must not be allowed to take over the means of production, because they are merely one aspect of the political economy. At general meetings, they represent a powerful but subordinated section of the population, sharing power with all the other groups and mass organizations, such as cooperatives, artisans, writers, artists, youth groups, etc.
BUREAUCRACY. Bureaucracy is endemic to the capitalist system. It separates the leadership from the base, so that everything is done impersonally, skewed toward the benefit of the ruling class while pretending to be objective and fair. Under socialism the opposite happens-- the State is the result of people's power, and is at the service and control of the people themselves. Nevertheless, bureaucratic thinking remains as a habit, as formalism and indifference, a lack of connection with the problems of the people, and useless paperwork. The only way to avoid a resurgence of bureaucratism is by making sure the masses are in firm control of the government by means of intense internal democracy, gearing the masses toward running things by the people and for the people.
FORMS OF CONTROL. The degree and kinds of control exercised by the people depends on what kind of society is being transformed. ie., a feudal- peasant society or a bourgeois capitalist democracy. If a country is backward and dictatorial to begin with control may need to be extreme to counter it. On the other hand, a democratic society that abides by the voting process can turn int a socialist one with relatively little strife, if the masses are sufficiently educated and willing to lay it down for socialism. At some point the capitalist ruling class has to see it is useless to object openly to the transition, and will find other, more subtle ways of sabotaging it. In the Soviet Union during the first 10 years, there were elected 12 and a half million deputies as executive committee and congress members. The Soviets fought against feudalism, monarchical leanings, and rich peasants, guaranteeing the self determination of nations, and equal rights for all people.At the same time they had no intention of expelling or prohibiting competitive organizations. The Soviets were coalition government, but those who refused to join the Soviets became the enemy. Even in the lap of the Soviets counterrevolutionary elements could be found, and the task was to expel them judiciously. Thus the Soviets were the only means by which the civil war could be resisted, the interventionists could be destroyed, economic chaos could be straightened out, and socialism in one country could be built starting with the lowest rungs of the people and raising their level of political function, economy and culture. An alternate to Soviet Power is popular democracy. This is brought about as a result of the anti fascist struggle. This is a new kind of people's power made up of democrats who fulfill the role of the working class. These democrats are progressively disillusioned by the capitalist system and yearn for something better. These groups did not start out as the rule of the workers, but rather as a force against fascism within the country. They were allied with other classes. It was a transitional power which depended on the correlation of forces between the democratic bloc and the right wing bourgeois. Any attempt by the right to seize power will be countered by the democratic forces, (Venezuela) which will paralyze attempts at a coup and whose people's democracy will take the reins of power to establish a worker's rule.
DIFFERENT SOCIALISMS. In some countries popular democracy includes several parties, which together run the country as long as they adhere to socialist principles in terms of a popular front. In some countries parliamentary procedures remained in place, as long as they took down the far right institutions (police, army, etc_ and replaced them with new and democratic institutions. It is not an easy task for socialists to transform large numbers of the population that had heretofore been at the service of the right wing capitalists. One way is the formation of capitalist and State enterprises, with the latter having controlling interest. This is justified as long as the tendency is to inexorably move toward the transformation from privatization to nationalization. At the same time the capitalist class must be reeducated from an emphasis on individualism to a reliance on mass populations, as the only form of genuine democracy., while at the same time absorbing the technical now how brought about through normal evolutive experience. This is not to say the transition is always easy or peaceful - there will be attempts at bringing back the old system for a long time after the seizure of power.This is why the Party is essential- to fight all attempts at revisionism, while allowing other organizations to exist in tandem. History is repeated in its essentials, but not in its details. As time goes on, and more countries become socialist, the probability of violence is reduced. It is possible that the working class can achieve congressional control through peaceful means, as long as it expresses the popular will.
The socialist revolution carries the workers to power under the leadership of the working class. The exploiting classes- capitalists and landowners are cut off from politics, although this does not mean the end of the class struggle. The worker's rule has as its goal the transition from capitalism to socialism. Factory and industrial workers, and all who are exploited bring down the yoke of capitalism toward the construction of a classless society. This exploiting class, who was once supreme, and has now fallen out of power, marshals a desperate resistance and as long they continue to have money (much of it hidden) the possibility of restoration of capitalism does not disappear (USSR).
UPPER CLASS RESISTANCE. All revolutions have as their task the defeat of the ruling class. The French Revolution of 1789 did not hesitate to overthrow with force the corrupt and decadent monarchy, inspiring many countries to follow suit. Precisely because the ruling class has gained enormous power and wealth, they are loathe to give up any part of their influence and must be dealt with if the Revolution is to put an end to exploitation of man by man. The privileges enjoyed by the ruling class-their wealth and culture, have made them think that they are born to give orders and everyone else is born to follow them. They are horrified at the thought of their inferior followers giving them orders, or at any attempt to modify their property or parasitic existence. They will forever hold the idea of a comeback, and make concrete attempts at comebacks as long as they see the slightest chance to recover their lost paradise. Perhaps their most horrific nightmare is that they might actually have to go to work. While workers are proud of their achievements as laborers, the ruling class consider work to be humiliating.
All is not lost, says the ruling class, as long as we still wield some power. We have friends internationally. Some of the armed forces may still support us. Subversion and propaganda are still powerful weapons at our disposal. As long as we can control some property over the means of production we have a chance. We may have lost political power, but we can still exercise plenty of economic influence over the small producers and private individuals who feel they can still get rich if things were to be put back the way they were. The ruling class has experience, in production, and government, in their contacts with engineers and technicians, in the officers of the armed forces. They scramble for control of media in order to denigrate the socialist movement and beef up their own through propaganda. There are many declasé and delinquent elements, left over from the ruined small business class, which are ready to be recruited by the counterrevolutionaries when things are ripe for a coup. (Añez in Bolivia, Guaidó in Venezuela, etc). In some cases the reactionaries bring on a civil war that must be defeated by the workers, distracting them from the task at hand. A "dictatorship" is necessary to strike down the resistance of the exploiters, and to put a brake on thieves, attackers, and delinquents that are the product of the old society and rise like cream to the top during this period. The struggle goes on, but after the worker's take over it gains new characteristics. For the first time the workers dispose of political power, which they can use to control the former rulers who have not disappeared but rather increase their resistance.
THE RULE OF THE WORKING CLASS. The worker's rule is not the negation of democracy, it is not totalitarianism. Violence comes from the former ruling class, the capitalists. The workers' task is not vengeance, but to rebuild a destroyed society, and the interference with this task is what causes the need to control the counterrevolutionaries by force. This is by no means contradictory with humanism. If the defeated class is willing to cooperate, there is no need for defense. If they come back with a fury, they must be defeated by any means necessary. The former ruling class tries to pretend that any action to prevent sabotage, coup d'etats, lying propaganda is synonymous with worker's terror, repression and a limitation on democracy. This serves to cover over the reality that the defensive measures are only as violent as the defeated capitalist class wants to make them. Proof is that the worker's movement has complete use at its disposal of non-violent means of adaptation, to wit., nationalization of industry, reeducation of recalcitrant elements, and reincorporation into the work force, always honoring legal precepts established by the revolution itself, for example, the abolition of the death penalty. In any case, the majority of the members of the defeated capitalist class are not staunch defenders of capitalism, They are perfectly content to go along with free medical care, free education, full employment and all the rest. The die-hards are few and tend to disappear as a force as time goes on. The working class comprise over 90% of the population and the socialist system is vastly supported by the majority, who is the governing power. Their strength is not in the bayonet, nor in the police, nor in money. Their strength is in the trust the masses have in their ability to govern themselves in the freest, broadest and strongest wielding of the reins of power in history.
TASK OF THE WORKING CLASS. Once the counterrevolutionaries are taken care of, the task of the workers is to transform the economy by organization and by discipline, by the free use of the worker's vanguard, the most conscious and best organized sector, to end class divisions and exploitation of the population. The struggle here is between Marxists and reformists. Are we to have a dictatorship over the workers and democracy for the capitalist, or a dictatorship over the capitalist and democracy for the workers? Reformists support democracy, which sounds good, until they are shown to mean democracy to exploit, democracy for free enterprise, democracy to get rich at the expense of others. The proof of the emptiness of their program can be shown in countries where social democratic parties rule-(Sweden, et al) not one has embraced socialism, and they remain capitalist parties with benefits that can be taken away as soon as another crisis shows itself. The Paris Commune fell apart precisely because it was not able to counter the ability of the bourgeoisie to gather its forces and drown the Commune in blood.
WORKER'S DEMOCRACY. Worker's democracy is democracy of a new type. While previously those in command exercised democracy from a small number of elected officials, now democracy reaches every corner of the society, and the political economy is run by all for all. Now the rule is aimed at the small number of capitalist hold outs, while the vast majority enjoy fraternity and communal decision making that applies to the whole country, that is, to themselves. They are two sides of the same coin.
Bourgeois apologists maintain that in order to have real democracy one has to have opposing sides, discussion in the parliament or congress, etc. but even with rivals factions you have unity insofar as pleasing the small number of billionaires who run everything. There is no people's power, nothing to serve the people. A party of a new type means something different. Gone are unemployment and homelessness, gone is illiteracy, gone is being unable to afford a doctor. A new democracy results in bounty for all the people. Living standards rise, as does culture. Peace is defended, war is outlawed. Friendship with all the people of the world replaces hostility and suspicion. The new leadership would be unable to rule if they did not enjoy the trust and support of the vast majority of the population, its greatest strength. This democracy, however, cannot be extended beyond worker's power to include the reactionary forces of the defeated ruling class, nor to those who work to restore capitalism.
ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE WORKING CLASS AND ALL OTHER WORKERS. This alliance includes all who are willing to work democratically in support of socialism. Socialism cannot be built by the working class only. It is not simply a matter of nationalizing property. The media, theaters, film , schools have to be socialized also, involving small shop owners, farm laborers, intellectuals, etc. Again, this can only be accomplished with the cooperation of the widest strata of the people, psychologically primed for the destruction of the old order, of capitalism, of exploitation. In the opposite of coercion, the working class can now bring about changes by example, by conviction, by stimulation and organization.
WORKER GUARANTEES. Worker's democracy is not held to making changes in race relations, nationalities, gender issues, religion or cultural levels. The State provides all workers with resources such as buildings and locals, where they can meet and use the equipment, developing their own media, radio, film and electronic equipment. Elections are held, not so that everyone can go home after voting, but for the people to participate daily in tasks that come up, by means of state organizations, social, sectional, commissions, and advisory boards, that spring from the organs of power. Worker's democracy is not only political, but it extends into the areas of economy and culture. Workers dispose democratically of their workplace, the factory, former corporate entities, newspapers, magazines, internet, film and radio, etc. The socialization of the means of production move into the hands of the people, where these institutions are no longer run by private property holders, but directly by the people.
DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY. Although centralization is necessary torun the country, centralized bureaucracy is abolished. Some may object to centralization (government is the problem), and anarchists may contradict the fulfillment of the actual needs of the population. Centralism is still necessary, but as long as it is democratic. This means from the ground up- subordinated to the lower organizations, where all are elected or dismissed by the people, where those elected have to be accountable to the masses, where these same masses are incorporated into the tasks set by the directives. Bosses and soldiers spring from the same origin, workers, farm workers, intellectuals. The army is made up of working class members. The police come from and live in the neighborhood. Judges are elected, and they can be discharged. (This guarantees their independence) Sentences also change character- many are probationary, or engage in public censure, or, instead of prison, the defendant is given work and rehabilitation without losing his/her freedom, etc. The militias also work along these same democratic lines. All are connected to the neighborhood, the factories, the unions, and farm workers' cooperatives, and are under their control. The Party also grows exponentially, and is welcome as long as it remains under the control of the working class. The Party is the only organism that can succeed in the transformation of the new society, because it has a plan of action based on a scientific understanding of the laws of development, which promote the trust that the working class has on its leadership. If there is a worker's dictatorship there cannot be a Party dictatorship, since this would violate the principle of democratic centralism. The role of the Party is that of the ideological leadership in the construction of socialism. More than that, its leadership is in the political arena, as well as in the economic and cultural, administrative, army, foreign policy spheres, a role that takes in the trust support and confidence of the masses through comradeship and the fulfillment of political, economic and cultural needs.
INTERNAL STRUGGLES. This adulation of the Party can lead to its opposite-the Party becoming spoiled, with a feeling of infallibility, all of which can separate them from the people. This is why it is so important to always engage in criticism and self criticism aimed at internal democracy and the rotating of posts so that no one person can control what everyone else is doing. There are always opportunists who seek power for themselves, and measures must be taken to prevent and minimize this by means of temporary assignments, testing the waters, and other means designed to prevent hostile elements from subverting the membership. Party unity is primordial, and anything that weakens it must be defeated. Not only is the Party attacked by the reactionary elements, but it can be weakened by those vacillating elements inside the organization who are not firm enough in their convictions to carry an action through and win.
If measures are not taken what follows is a split within the Party- a group of feminists, for example, who object to men making decisions, and others who likewise put their personal agendas above the common good. (In any case the Party has already made way for the advancement of women, and those objections are bogus, designed to split and weaken). Anarchists, right wing opportunists and others, will proclaim the freedom to form factions while breaking Party unity, and the consequences if not arrested, can be disastrous.
UNIONS. Under socialism, unions are the seedbed from which new progressive elements spring. They become a school for training administrators and leadership. They make economic assessments, make plans that affect the workplace, and provide training for those who are going to take positions of responsibility. A meeting of many unions results in production units, technical conferences, scientific societies, new inventions, etc. However, unions are not the State, and they must not be allowed to take over the means of production, because they are merely one aspect of the political economy. At general meetings, they represent a powerful but subordinated section of the population, sharing power with all the other groups and mass organizations, such as cooperatives, artisans, writers, artists, youth groups, etc.
BUREAUCRACY. Bureaucracy is endemic to the capitalist system. It separates the leadership from the base, so that everything is done impersonally, skewed toward the benefit of the ruling class while pretending to be objective and fair. Under socialism the opposite happens-- the State is the result of people's power, and is at the service and control of the people themselves. Nevertheless, bureaucratic thinking remains as a habit, as formalism and indifference, a lack of connection with the problems of the people, and useless paperwork. The only way to avoid a resurgence of bureaucratism is by making sure the masses are in firm control of the government by means of intense internal democracy, gearing the masses toward running things by the people and for the people.
FORMS OF CONTROL. The degree and kinds of control exercised by the people depends on what kind of society is being transformed. ie., a feudal- peasant society or a bourgeois capitalist democracy. If a country is backward and dictatorial to begin with control may need to be extreme to counter it. On the other hand, a democratic society that abides by the voting process can turn int a socialist one with relatively little strife, if the masses are sufficiently educated and willing to lay it down for socialism. At some point the capitalist ruling class has to see it is useless to object openly to the transition, and will find other, more subtle ways of sabotaging it. In the Soviet Union during the first 10 years, there were elected 12 and a half million deputies as executive committee and congress members. The Soviets fought against feudalism, monarchical leanings, and rich peasants, guaranteeing the self determination of nations, and equal rights for all people.At the same time they had no intention of expelling or prohibiting competitive organizations. The Soviets were coalition government, but those who refused to join the Soviets became the enemy. Even in the lap of the Soviets counterrevolutionary elements could be found, and the task was to expel them judiciously. Thus the Soviets were the only means by which the civil war could be resisted, the interventionists could be destroyed, economic chaos could be straightened out, and socialism in one country could be built starting with the lowest rungs of the people and raising their level of political function, economy and culture. An alternate to Soviet Power is popular democracy. This is brought about as a result of the anti fascist struggle. This is a new kind of people's power made up of democrats who fulfill the role of the working class. These democrats are progressively disillusioned by the capitalist system and yearn for something better. These groups did not start out as the rule of the workers, but rather as a force against fascism within the country. They were allied with other classes. It was a transitional power which depended on the correlation of forces between the democratic bloc and the right wing bourgeois. Any attempt by the right to seize power will be countered by the democratic forces, (Venezuela) which will paralyze attempts at a coup and whose people's democracy will take the reins of power to establish a worker's rule.
DIFFERENT SOCIALISMS. In some countries popular democracy includes several parties, which together run the country as long as they adhere to socialist principles in terms of a popular front. In some countries parliamentary procedures remained in place, as long as they took down the far right institutions (police, army, etc_ and replaced them with new and democratic institutions. It is not an easy task for socialists to transform large numbers of the population that had heretofore been at the service of the right wing capitalists. One way is the formation of capitalist and State enterprises, with the latter having controlling interest. This is justified as long as the tendency is to inexorably move toward the transformation from privatization to nationalization. At the same time the capitalist class must be reeducated from an emphasis on individualism to a reliance on mass populations, as the only form of genuine democracy., while at the same time absorbing the technical now how brought about through normal evolutive experience. This is not to say the transition is always easy or peaceful - there will be attempts at bringing back the old system for a long time after the seizure of power.This is why the Party is essential- to fight all attempts at revisionism, while allowing other organizations to exist in tandem. History is repeated in its essentials, but not in its details. As time goes on, and more countries become socialist, the probability of violence is reduced. It is possible that the working class can achieve congressional control through peaceful means, as long as it expresses the popular will.
posted by ANTONIO at 11:29 AM
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