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(Originally published during September of 2023) The world is on the verge of a choice. It is deciding upon a continuation of the neo-liberal bourgeois democratic framework, running wild with free markets, libertarian moral values, increasing poverty, inequality, and environmental destruction; or systems of authoritarianism wherein the state exercises greater control over the direction of society. By bourgois, I refer specifically to the upper half of the income spectrum whose value system seems to dictate the American way of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the end, both systems are authoritarian. As previously written on this Page, private capital rule, inherent to the bourgeois democratic framework, exerts its own authoritarian demands on society, perhaps no less forgiving than authoritarian leaders found around the globe. Although I would personally prefer a more balanced democratic framework over the current bourgeois diluted form of democracy, where the center of power resides in the upper income groups, but also where arbitrary rule is still somewhat limited; I would also prefer the latter over the developing forms of authoritarianism which currently spread across the globe. The current authoritarian trend is a reaction to massive social transformations and declining economic prospects among the working classes. When the election process does not grant the changes that the masses seek to achieve, political violence, via strong-man government, or through smaller anarchic militia groups is likely to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sometimes occurs in socialist aspiring countries where the pre-existing bourgeois “democracies” established power in the hands of the elites\u2013to the detriment of the working classes, through the power that wealth bestows on the upper economic groups. A different form of democracy develops in these so-called socialist authoritarian nations. Here, typically, the working classes are more actively involved in the community governing apparatuses, while the broader state governing machine spends much of its time exerting control over large corporate bodies while fending off reactionary capital forces which seek to re-impose its authoritarian ways. Socialist aspiring nations have at times resorted to strong man tactics in order to thwart the strong arm tactics of reactionary private capital. To date, this has been the only way to keep capital at bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now the same, approached from the right of the political spectrum, seems to be happening in the capitalist regimes of the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, and the east European bloc nations: the latter admitted to the European Union with the understanding they would continue progress towards the democratic norms traditionally associated with the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the right-wing authoritarian movements, however, there seems to be a bit of confusion as to whether more or less government control is necessary in order to rectify the economic ship. Furthermore, the authoritarian trend combines economic concerns with greater state intervention which strives to restrain the progression of social norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an optimal world there would exist a purer form of democracy, i.e. non-bourgeois, where the working classes exert greater control over the powerful corporations which run and shape our lives. This has been difficult to achieve as established capital forces control the message through control of the media which espouses the benefits of free markets and its supposed favorable trickle-down outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Capital control has also greatly expanded into the political arena as a result of the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, which, along with the companion D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in SpeechNow. org vs. FEC, have enabled unlimited contributions to Super Pacs which may spend unlimited amounts in support of federal candidates for office, so long as those expenditures are not coordinated with the candidate’s campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are areas where the far-right and the far-left agree; notably, both groups generally oppose U.S.-NATO involvement in the war in Ukraine, albeit generally for different reasons. Likewise, there is agreement that the economic status quo has thwarted working class economic advancement. Their solutions differ wherein the Left might deem greater government involvement as the appropriate path to economic reform while the Right might view government as the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In either case, both sides might be tempted, in the face of entrenched capital rule, to rely on authoritarian measures in order to achieve their idealized version of the world, due to the inability of bourgeois democracy to meet its needs. Bourgeois democracy which centers power in the hands of capital interests thwarts working class advancement. The only way the current democratic framework can advance the working class cause is through a massive educational effort which prevents the working classes from easily being led astray by corporate and political manipulation. Outside of this, the world likely faces increasing authoritarian rule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Originally published during September of 2023) The world is on the verge of a choice. It is deciding upon a continuation of the neo-liberal bourgeois democratic framework, running wild with free markets, libertarian moral values, increasing poverty, inequality, and environmental<\/p>\n