And also, while we're at it, death to capitalism's moribund form, fascism!
Capitalism, as we now know it, anyway, has proven to be inherently anti-democratic, elitist, and prone to degeneration into outright fascist tendencies.
Whatever benefits accrue for the general population seem grossly offset by the very substantial and consistent propensity for egregious criminal, murderous, rapacious policies and practices that are distinctly against the public interest, soley for the outrageously unjust profit of a tiny minority.
Is this really the best we can do?
Are the only alternatives some kind of horrible "Commmunissst!" travesty, or else reversion to some kind of throwback feudal paradigm?
Are we doomed to make the best of a bad situation, or even to accept an inescapable prospect of some future sci-fi Big Brother paradigm of absolute subjugation to complete depravity?
Communism is a deep subject, which cannot be discussed seriously from a capitalist perspective, which seeks to frame the entire concept in a litany of stark examples of abject failure and corruption of avowed principles by regimes that were subjected to relentless, ruthless attack, encirclement, infiltration, embargo, boycott and propaganda, by international monopoly capitalism.
Lets just say that the "communist" countries defiantly declared democratic ownership of their own natural resources and means of production, rather than handing them over, for a few well-placed bribes, to the "ownership" of foreign imperialism...and the vicious response to that by international monopoly capital was only to be expected.
The conditions those "communist" countries faced, from the start, and in trying to consolidate and maintain their revolutions, were not exactly optimal for socio-economic development...and capitalism made every conceivable effort to make sure that remained the case, and to perpetuate and intensify such contradictions.
I propose that the real framing, the real topic is not "communism", but democracy. That's what communism really means, and is really all about, anyway: Democracy. NOT all that other jive, contrived bullshit.
And this is not about Russia, or China, who were barely emerging from feudalism, 50 years ago, based on theories developed in the 1800's.
This is about the USA, here and now, going into the 21st Century.
Nobody with a brain wants to be "like" Russia or China, then or now.
The US has it's own particular history, conditions, and aspirations, which, while similar, overall, to people anywhere in the world, in terms of being human beings, nevertheless have imbued us with our own particular culture, world-view, and parochial quirks, even.
No way is the US going to go "commmmunissst!". Right?
The burning question is whether we are going to go democratic, for real, instead of pussyfooting around the issues and implications of whether or not, or how much, we are going to go fascist.
I think if we took a vote, say, a national referendum, on whether we want to remain a capitalist country, most people would say "yes...but we want it to be democratic".
That may be oxymoronic, from a hard-left "communist" perspective, heh...but I think that's what the people of this great nation want, and that makes it incumbent upon us revolutionaries to try to accommodate that, if we are not just a bunch of elitist swine, seeking to impose our own brand of dictatorship on everyone.
Like, nobody is really against people being able to do business and make a living, in a principled manner.
(hell, even the "communist" countries have had to acknowledge that, in order to allow some economic development)
The problem is when some people, and such people always seem to emerge, seek unjust profits, by engaging in unprincipled practices, against the public interest.
So...that's where "government" comes in, to figure out, decide, and enforce certain reasonable, rational, necessary regulations, and where appropriate, to encourage certain practices and trends deemed beneficial, and to sanction, prohibit, or even punish practices and trends deemed to be against the public interest.
After all, "politics" is merely about coordinating the production and distribution of goods and services, right?
Now, we can either have a "government" that is an external, controlling force, imposed upon us by some elite group of self-appointed, self-perpetuating power freaks, of whatever stripe, to serve their own arbitrary capricious whims, or we can have a "self-government" by the whole nation, The People, where the decisions, pro and con, on any given topic or issue, are made democratically.
Since there are logistical problems with every single issue being determined by every single person, most of whom do not have the necessary information, time or even interest to deal with every single detail, some kind of representative structure seems necessary, subject to a reasonable process of elections, and, where appropriate, recall of those representatives.
In debating the issues and policies of the day, and what we should do about them, I think we need to keep coming back to that fundamental revolutionary concept that this country was, however imperfectly, founded upon.
Shall we be democratic, or shall we be...something else?
If we are to be genuinely democratic, which I think few people would say that we really are, right now, then certain steps need to be taken.
Education, media, campaign financing, and many other aspects of the electoral process need to be substantially reformed, if "The People" are going to have any prospect of seriously, rationally considering the issues, and reaching a material decision on what we want our representatives to do, and how, on our behalf.
I think most of us here would agree that we aren't really there yet, in terms of being able to expect or exercise an optimal democratic process.
But that gives us something to shoot for, and I think the election of Obama and a Progressive Caucus majority on his coat tails, indicates that we now have a progressive majority in this country who want real democracy, and are willing to act on that, to make it happen.
Pubic opinion has reached a critical mass, and the right is no longer politically correct.
We are now at a tipping point, teetering on a precarious balance of power, where the popular democratic mandate and it's representatives, are just slightly, barely out-weighed by remnant elements of the old, undemocratic, monopoly capitalist, fascistic, Republican/Blue Dog paradigm in Congress.
Does this mean it's all over? Is this the best we can do? Are we doomed to this situation, or worse?
That depends a lot on how progressive elements in our society choose to address the issues and contradictions we face, especially that root issue, of democracy.
If we rally the electorate, for an unprecedented, historic interim election turnout in 2010, and subsequently, to purge the right from the levers of power to the greatest extent possible, then democracy can conceivably prevail, and we can move forward.
If we do not, the scale will tip the other way, and democracy will continue to be bogged down, like it is now, or worse, like it was under an all-out Republican regime.
The obstacles to success are daunting, considering that most media are owned by the enemy, and a substantial number of people have been swayed to the right by a 40 year 24/7 commercial mass media propaganda blitz.
But I would point out that in spite of that harsh cold reality, somehow, nevertheless, Obama and a Progressive majority, within a Democratic Majority, were elected, based on an explicit call for hope, for a change...that's no small accomplishment, considering the circumstances.
It proves that the enemy's grip has slipped. There's no better indication of that than the hysterical ranting and raving on the right, in every media venue. They are totally freaking out, for good reason. This is a good thing.
I'm very optimistic, even if things do still seem pretty much totally fucked up, presently, heh.
I think we can do this, for real, if we really try.
Seize the Time!
Seize the Power!
All Out for 2010 and 2012!
All Power to the People!
Death to Capitalism, as we now know it, and to it's moribund form Fascism!
Democracy is the most fundamental revolutionary concept.
"Democracy???!!! Oh Noz!!! That's Commmunizzm!!! Aiiiiii!!!"