Now, I’m a democratic Marxist, meaning that I believe in a Marxist economy within a democratic political system. Now in all Tankie states, the elections are never unopposed. I think there should be a multi-party system using Single Transferable Vote to ensure that the people’s voice can be heard. Also, on AnComs: I have many AnCom-like views, but I believe that multi-party democratic socialist states are just as legitimate as collectives of anarchist communes.

(Hopefully I won’t get many downvotes from this)

  • @XiangMai
    link
    163 years ago

    petit-booj nonsense and there’s no such thing as a “democratic Marxist” if you have a Marxist conception of the State and in who’s class interest the State is wielded in.

    If you call yourself a “Democratic Marxist” then all you’re telling me is that you have rejected the Marxist conception of the State and the Marxist conception of class society

    The people’s state has been flung in our teeth ad nauseam by the anarchists, although Marx’s anti-Proudhon piece and after it the Communist Manifesto declare outright that, with the introduction of the socialist order of society, the state will dissolve of itself and disappear. Now, since the state is merely a transitional institution of which use is made in the struggle, in the revolution, to keep down one’s enemies by force, it is utter nonsense to speak of a free people’s state; so long as the proletariat still makes use of the state, it makes use of it, not for the purpose of freedom, but of keeping down its enemies and, as soon as there can be any question of freedom, the state as such ceases to exist.

    Engels to August Bebel In Zwickau, London, March 18-28, 1875;

    As Muad-Dibber has said, bourgeois ‘democracy’ has proven to be the best shell for capitalist rule and to secure capitalist class power and domination of the State over the proletariat

    The function of modern day ‘elections’ is to finance both sides of the aisle of ruling parties in the specific interests of different sections of the bourgeoisie (Trump represented the local American bourgeoisie for instance whilst Clinton/Biden represented a cosmopolitan bourgeoisie)

    Coupled with privately held media you certainly have the technical freedom to run in an election against bourgeois candidates but you will never break that wall into the popular consciousness and the most you’ll ever get in 0.5-1% of the vote

    This is not “democracy” but a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie

    I’d advise you to read this study (from Princeton and Harvard) that classifies US democracy as an oligarchy where even when popular policies are proposed they do not get passed

    https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B