Friday, April 6, 1C34
Daily Nebraskan
PcgoS
It h often aliened that the present
dictatorial Soviet regime la proof that
socialism has failed or ii unworkable.
The argument made is that rather
than withering away - as Marx envi
sioned the Soviet state has grown
into an oppressive bureaucracy that
maintains its own privileges while op
pressing both Soviet workers and the
nations of Eastern Europe.
While the above is true, this still does
not invalidate Marx's basic analysis of
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history and the eventual emergence of
a democratic, humanist socialism.
In order to see why the latter is pos
sible, it is necessary to look at the
emergence of capitalism and parlia
mentary democracy.
Capitalism originated in the 14th
century in western Europe. The growth
of trade after the Crusades resulted in
the emergence of a merchant class
which was more committed to indi
vidual self-interest than to old feudal
values.
This new bourgeois class was espe
cially interested in expanding trade
which was, after all, its source of liveli
hood. However, trade could not be
expanded while the nations of Europe
were fragmented into different feudal
fiefs, each of which had its own laws,
taxes, coinage, etc.
The bourgeoisie thus allied itself to
"Letters
Policy
national monarchs who defeated the
various nobles and unified their coun
tries, establishing uniform laws, taxes,
coinage, etc.
Most of Europe was governed by this
form of absolute monarchy until the
19th century. Thus, for the first 500
years of its existence, capitalism pro
duced a political system that was in
essence a dictatorship.
However, the seeds of democracy
existed from the very beginning.
The absolute monarchs depended
on the rich bourgeoisie to fund their,
various projects. In return for allocat
ing this money, the bourgeoisie de
manded the right to form parliaments
and to have a say in the nations' politi
cal affairs. - .. , '
We thus see the beginnings'of parli
amentary democracy as early as the
14th century. However, it wasn't until
the late 19th century that parliaments
began to be elected by all citizens and
to fully assume the power of the abso
lute monarchs.
Thus, capitalism has only been demo
cratic for the last 100 years of its 600
year existence.
Socialism has only been in existence
for 67 years. With the exception of
Nicaragua, it has yet to produce a
democracy that survives.
The reason for this is that socialist
revolutions have occurred in underdev
eloped countries. Russia in 1917 and
China in 1949.
In these countries, the Communist
dictatorships have played the same
role the absolute monarchies played in
Europe. They have helped to unify and
develop their nations.
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t 7 Daily n
lijjiicaiLJid
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Uinning to the same.
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Nevertheless, we have also seen the
temporary emergence of council demo
cracy in these socialist nations during
revolutionary times.
Like the early forms of bourgeois
parliament ary democracy, these forms
of socialist democracy are merely seeds
which can only sprout when the his
torical conditions are right when
the Communist dictatorships like
the absolute monarchies cease ful
filling their historical purpose.
We can be optimistic becausejust as
parliaments defeated the absolute mon
archs, so will socialist council demo
cracy defeat the present Communist
dictatorships.
With the rate of historical change
constantly accelerating, this may very
well take place in our lifetimes.
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