Chapter 1: In search of “true democracy”
1.4. Democracy and communism
The idea of the Commons' Convention/World Commonwealth is to pursue "true democracy" on the basis of communism, but such a statement would directly contradict the schematic understanding of "communism = totalitarianism = anti-democracy," which is still the world's common sense at this point in time. I have already pointed out the fallacy of such stereotypes in one article in my "On Communism," but I would like to reiterate it here in detail.
The source of this "common sense" was the anti-communist propaganda of the West during the Cold War, with the United States as its ally, which had in mind the communist dictatorship of the former Soviet Union. Indeed, the former Soviet system could hardly be called democratic, no matter how one looks at it.
However, as discussed in "On Communism," the former Soviet Union itself clearly admitted in the preamble to its constitution that even though it was ruled by the Communist Party, it was not in fact a communist system, but was in a "developing" stage on the way to communism. Therefore, it must be reiterated that it is premature to characterize the former Soviet Union's system model as communism and conclude that communism = undemocratic.
Since communism is originally a concept related to economic systems, it is not possible to directly extract a theory of political systems from it, as is the case with capitalism. Therefore, it is theoretically possible for both communism and capitalism to be linked to one-party dictatorships or even military dictatorships.
It is true that communism, which is characterized by the non-profit, communal nature of productive activity, can easily be thought of as having an affinity with totalitarianism. However, this is the case when it assumes the existence of the state and is oriented toward state-led economic planning. This is precisely the model of the former Soviet Union, which was pseudo-communism, or collectivism.
However, the case of a more liberal communist system of joint planning by the production organizations themselves is quite different. In this case, a political system that enables more democratic management of society while overcoming the framework of the state is required. The idea of the Commons' Convention/World Commonwealth is a political system extracted from this angle of "free communism."
One might wonder, then, if such a political system could also be combined with capitalism. Although this cannot be said to be impossible in principle, it would be impossible in practice.
Since capital can ensure its sustainability by having political patrons to shape policies in its favor, it requires the existence of patronage political groups - political parties or party-like partisan groups (or civil service groups such as the bureaucrats and the military officers). The Commons' Convention/World Commonwealth is a political system whose protagonists are the general public, as opposed to such patronage politics, and therefore it cannot effectively function as the superstructure of capitalism.
In this sense, the Commons' Convention/World Commonwealth, which will be discussed in detail in the next chapter, is a political system of the highest communist type. At the same time, it is a political system that is the antithesis of the false "communism" of the "communist dictatorship" embodied in the former Soviet Union.
👉The papers published on this blog are meant to expand upon my On Communism.
