The possible taking of power by the people

Possibilities for the USA and the global North

      In The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South (2012, 2014), the celebrated leftist intellectual Vijay Prashad expresses the hope that platforms for regionalization will emerge from a million protests, making possible a transition from unilateral imperialism to a multilateral world order.  This is an idealist hope, in that it does not have possibilities for emerging, taking into account the lack of ideological coherence as well as the absence of historical and political-economic understanding in the million protests.  Prashad must resort to idealism due to his belief that the Third World project died in the 1980s, an erroneous belief which he presented in the book that brought him recognition, The Darker Nations (2007).

      In both books, Prashad rejects the mechanisms of power that have been central to the continued viability of nations that today are constructing socialism and/or are playing leading roles in the Third World project.  In 2007, Prashad criticized, with reference to the national liberation project in Algeria, the centralization of power in the hands of the state, the executive branch, or a vanguard political party.  In 2012, with reference to the new Latin American Left, he criticized the tendency toward the centralization of power around the personality of leaders, which reduces, in Prashad’s view, mechanisms of accountability, and it reduces the influence of social movements. 

     In assuming that the centralization of power is undemocratic, Prashad does not appreciate that power must be centralized in order for it to operate effectively in the face of a myriad of challenges and opposed interests.  For those committed to social justice and to a democratic world, the key question must be: in whose hands are the structures of power?  Are they in the hands of foreign interests and/or the national elite?  Or are they in the hands of the appointed delegates of the people?  And when structures of power are in the hands of the delegates of the people, are they able to defend the nation and the people against the continuous assault of foreign interests and the national elite?

     Distrust of the centralization of political power is fundamental to the capitalist ideology, even though the concentration of power in the hands of the corporate elite is basic to capitalist political practice.  The widespread distrust of political power functions as an ideological mechanism for delegitimating alternative anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist political practices.  In the case of Prashad’s thinking, it leads him to a lack of appreciation for alternative political processes that are under construction in China, Cuba, Korea, and Vietnam.  And it prevents him from developing his understanding on the basis of the experiences of the four said countries, thus limiting his imagination with respect to the political and economic possibilities for humanity.  In my last commentary, I noted Prashad’s lack of attention to the political dynamics of these four nations constructing socialism (see “The taking of state power by the people: The examples of Third World socialist vanguard states and parties,” February 10, 2023).

       Thus, Prashad does not see that the multipolar world for which he hopes is presently under construction in the world, a process in which the four mentioned nations are playing a leading role, along with four or five governments of the new Latin American Left.  As I reviewed in my February 7 commentary, the alternative construction began with the creation of the Non-Aligned Movement, a superregional organization that emerged to challenge the neocolonial world order; and it continues with G77, BRICS Plus, ALBA, and CELAC, as well as regional associations in East Asia and the Arab world, which embrace the fundamental principles formulated by the Non-Aligned Movement in the 1960s.  (See “The Third World project lives,” February 7, 2023).  Not appreciating the dynamics of these political-economic developments. Prashad places his hopes in confusion and dispersion. 

     In this fundamentally erroneous orientation, Prashad both influences and reflects the Western left and intellectuals from the South pragmatically and ideologically tied to it. 

Imagine a more just world, through the teachings of the vanguard nations

     If we were liberated from such beliefs, what could we learn from the vanguard states and parties and the exceptional leaders of the Third World?

     First, we would learn the importance of the state in the struggle for social justice, and its precise role in constructing a just world.  We would learn that the state (a) can promote the development of the economy through a scientific plan, intervening in the economy, when necessary, in the form of regulation and state ownership, and stimulating private investment through taxation, subsidies, and other measures, when appropriate.  That the state (b) can guarantee the social needs of the people on a universal basis with respect to education, health, housing, nutrition, and child care; and it can guarantee the special needs of a woman who is carrying out the role of reproduction and initial childcare, assigned to her by nature.  And that the state (c) can pursue just and mutually beneficial commercial and diplomatic relations with other nations, which could ensure peace and stability in the world, and which could ensure that the necessary function of national defense is carried out in a responsible manner.

    Secondly, we would learn various lessons with respect to the ways and means for the people to take control of the state.  Including (a) the need to form an alternative political party, political formation, or social movement that puts forth the goal of taking political power in the name of the people and formulates strategies for doing so. 

     Here we enter into the question of electoral politics versus armed struggle, a question that is overly debated by the Left, because the correct understanding of the question is not difficult.  In the great majority of countries in the world today, the conditions do not exist for the taking of political power through armed struggle.  As we see from the important cases in which an armed struggle succeeded in taking political power, the advantage of armed struggle is that its triumph creates the possibility for the construction of people’s democracy, which is an alternative political system more democratically advanced than representative democracy, able to defend and protect the interests of the people and establish political stability.  In contrast, when an alternative political party attains power through electoral politics, it must proceed in the delivery of its promises to the people and the implementation of its vision in the context of the conflictive terrain of representative democracy.  It therefore must plan and educate the people for a gradual transition to socialism, with each step taken with the consensual support of the people.

     We would learn (b) that, in order to attain political power, the alternative political formation must put forth a narrative on the nation, which explains its vision of social justice in the context of the history and current reality of the nation.  In the case of the United States, this means a narrative that affirms the American Revolution and the founding principles of the American Republic as a progressive and significant step in the context of its epoch, the limitations of which are overcome through the teachings and demands of movements formed by the peoples of the nation, including small farmers, artisans, workers, women, blacks, Mexican-Americans, and indigenous peoples and nations.  Thus, the USA is far more democratic today than it was at its founding. 

     However, further advances in the USA must be made, particularly in the areas of: the universal protection of socioeconomic rights with respect to income, education, health, nutrition, housing, and child care; the deepening of the process of the renegotiation of treaties with indigenous nations; and the development of a democratic foreign policy.  To ensure such socioeconomic rights, priority must be given to strengthening the productivity of the economy, especially with respect to ecological and non-military forms of production, a process that would be integrally related to the development of a democratic foreign policy and mutually beneficial trade among nations.

      We would learn (c) that the alternative political formation must function as a vanguard political party that gives priority to the education of the people and to the elevation of the political and historical consciousness of the people.  An alternative political formation that would encourage the development of small, informal people’s schools in communities and neighborhoods, disseminating digestible texts that can be read and debated among the people, with local leaders of the alternative party playing a leading role.  Mass demonstrations should be limited to the commemoration of certain events, such as the Fourth of July, the international day of the worker, international women’s day, and Martin Luther King day; and they should always be carried out in a festive mood, never non-violent. 

     We would learn (d) that the alternative political formation ought to put forth specific concrete demands that respond to the needs and anxieties of the people.  These demands should be well thought.  No demands toward the protection of socioeconomic rights, for example, should be put forth without a comprehensive plan for financing its costs and for the overall development of the economy.  The alternative political party must generate among the people an image of responsible and mature leadership, concerned with the long-term interests of the nation, not merely throwing out slogans in an idealist manner.

     With respect to issues that divide the people, such as abortion, marriage, sexuality, and gender identity, the alternative political party must be careful in its selection of words and conduct itself with political intelligence.  In general, it must call the people to unity, in spite of ideological differences with respect to these questions, for the sake of the long-term economic and social development of the nation.  It must call for respectful dialogue with respect to such questions, with recognition of their complexity.  When the alternative party makes a specific proposal with respect to a divisive cultural issue, it should seek resolution of the conflict or reduction of its intensity.  It should be kept in mind that the triumphant people’s revolutions in the world had very limited engagement with respect to polemical cultural issues, with the single and important exception of their advocacy of equal rights for women, without denying the natural and cultural differences between women and men.

     We would learn (e) to appreciate the common destinies of all the nations and peoples of the world and to develop a democratic foreign policy that seeks mutually beneficial commerce and peace among nations.  Here we would condemn the imperialist policies of the USA, developed during the course of the twentieth century, as violations of the founding principles of the American republic.  We would recognize the logic of imperialism from a certain limited viewpoint, in order to not be overly harsh on previous generations.  But we would make clear that such a myopic viewpoint no longer has a place in the construction of a better future for humanity.

To reiterate the fundamental lessons

     Therefore, if we were to study the current and recent cases of the taking of political power by the people in the Third World plus China, we in the United States who are committed to social justice would arrive to the understanding of the need to form a movement for socialism with American characteristics, dedicated to democratizing the political process, the universal protection of socioeconomic rights, increasing the productivity of the economy, and developing an anti-imperialist and cooperative foreign policy.  A movement that affirms the nation’s past struggles for democracy as well as its possible future role as a leading nation in constructing a possible world of peace and prosperity for humanity.  Such hopeful possibilities are not invented out of thin air; they are inspired by the achievements of the social and political movements in other lands, particularly those of the vanguard nations constructing socialism.

      The alternative political formation would seek to take control of the executive and legislative branches of the federal government in twenty-five years, beginning with favorable congressional districts.  It would put forth proposals for the reduction and eventual elimination of the role of money in electoral campaigns.  Its members would provide worthy examples of reasoned dialogue and debate in the political process.  It would give priority to the development of historical and political consciousness among the people, including the formation of small, informal people’s schools in communities and neighborhoods, which could issue certificates as points of pride and recognition, but not degrees and diplomas useful for employment.

     The alternative political formation would put forth economically responsible proposals for the full and universal protection of socioeconomic rights, which would give highest priority to those most in need, regardless of their race or ethnicity.  It would propose state investment in the productivity of the economy and the stimulation of private investment in the economic productivity of the nation, focusing on the development of new and ecologically sustainable industries, based in the nation’s continuing global advantage in science and technology; as well as on a renewal of industrial manufacturing.  It would propose and begin to implement programs for local community development, especially in impoverished urban and rural areas.  It would give urgent priority to ecological sustainability, without ignoring issues of economic productivity, and without exaggerating ecological threats for political purposes.  It would frame the rights of all historically oppressed sectors and groups in the context of its comprehensive proposal for fundamental structural change. 

     The alternative political formation would put forth a critical analysis of the nation’s 125 years of continuous imperialist foreign policy, and it would propose a fundamentally different foreign policy based on cooperation with the nations of the world, as the soundest foundation for world peace.  It would seek mutually beneficial trade with other nations, with diligent respect for their sovereignty.  It would propose technology-transfers and other strategies for promoting the economic development of other nations, with recognition that the economic development of less developed nations would expand markets for U.S. products, and it would ensure world political stability.  The alternative political formation would advocate a strong military, but oriented to true national defense and not imperialist aggression.

     The alternative political formation would frame the attainment of all goals in the context of the founding principles of the American Republic.  It would seek a solid constitutional and legal foundations for its reforms through constitutional amendment and federal legislation.  It would have an orientation to state’s rights with respect to divisive cultural issues, in which a consensual majority cannot be attained at the federal level. 

Conclusion

     Note that this proposal reflects a leftist agenda and the Left’s historic commitment to social justice.  Yet it seeks to avoid the idealism, superficiality, moral arrogance, and abrasiveness of the Left, which has had the consequence of provoking profound division in the nation.

     Can the moral arrogance of the Left be set aside?  Can the nation’s ethnocentric embracing of imperialism be overcome?  Yes they can, because as Ed Warren points out in “Rediscovering Our Shared American Values,” average Americans are decent and honorable men and women who reject the conflictive ideological extremes of the Left and the Right.  It is a question of effectively appealing to that fundamental decency.

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