Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 59 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H2'ed 7/31/15

No. 1: Lessons in Greek -- for Leftists

Follow Me on Twitter     Message Steven Jonas
Become a Fan
  (21 fans)

Reprinted from Greanville Post


As I said in the column which inaugurated my "Duopoly Watch" series for The Greanville Post, one of the most important books by the great leader on the Russian Revolution, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, was "The State and Revolution." Among other things, I noted:

"...it deals with the nature of the state apparatus under capitalism. It is important to understand that the state apparatus never exists independently of the economic system of the country within which it stands. (Italics ours) Rather it is there to make sure that it, the economic system, stays firmly in place. The disagreements between political parties in the capitalist nations come over how best to go about maintaining the ruling class's control, the ruling class being those individuals, corporations, organizations, and interests that have their hands on the levers of economic [and consequently political] power in the nation. In other words, the direct and principal beneficiaries of the rule of capital.

"Concerning the nature of 'constitutional democracy' under capitalism, Ulyanov himself put it this way:

'To decide once every few years which member of the ruling class is to repress and crush the people through parliament -- this is the real essence of bourgeois parliamentarism, not only in parliamentary-constitutional monarchies, but also in the most democratic republics.'"
______________________________________________________

"[The role of] constitutional democracy under capitalism, is...'to decide once every few years which member of the ruling class is to repress and crush the people through parliament -- this is the real essence of bourgeois parliamentarism.'"
______________________________________________________

Now, every once in a while comes along a leftist party, although pledged to operate within the confines of capitalist "constitutional democracy," that truly believes that it can get elected (a), and (b), that it can really change ruling class control, through the parliamentary system.

Greek lesson 1: what has happened to Syriza and Tsipras shows, once again that that is not possible. The ruling class is the ruling class, and short of revolution, as Lenin so rightly noted, it will always rule, one way or another.

Greek lesson 2: The Greek ruling class seems to be coming out of the mess in very good shape. They managed to make sure that the worst of the "austerity" measures, imposed by their brethren in the European Union, were carried out under the nominal governmental control of a "leftist" government rather than its "center-right" predecessor. Of course it was the latter that was largely responsible for presiding over the making of the mess to begin with, e.g., (a VERY important article): "How Goldman Sachs Profited From the Greek Debt Crisis: The investment bank made millions by helping to hide the true extent of the debt, and in the process almost doubled it," by Robert B. Reich (who, by the way, is no socialist).

Please note also, that the tax increases demanded by the European Union do not seem to be falling on the Greek ruling class (although I may have missed something there), nor do the demanded "reforms" (read further punishment for the Greek working class to pay for the ruling class' mistakes/greed) seem to include forcing the Greek billionaires to pay the taxes that they have avoided for years by shipping their profits overseas.

Greek lesson 3: The international capitalist ruling class (of which the Greek ruling class is of course a part) is absolutely intent on showing the people of Italy and Spain what would await them if they were to elect a left-wing government that would attempt something along the lines of what Syriza originally intended to door seemed to, if we are to take their rhetoric as a true reflection of intent (at bottom, force a significant amount of loan forgiveness upon the most irresponsible of the original lenders). In my view, it is the teaching of this political lesson, even more rather than the "regardless of who was responsible for incurring them, good people pay off their debts, donchaknow" lesson, that Angela Merkel and the joint ruling classes of the EU nations, want to accomplish through the "negotiations."

There are more lessons for the left in parliamentary so-called democracies, of course, but to my mind, thanks to Vladimir Ilyich, these are the most important ones.

Must Read 3   Well Said 2   Supported 2  
Rate It | View Ratings

Steven Jonas Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Steven Jonas, MD, MPH, MS is a Professor Emeritus of Preventive Medicine at StonyBrookMedicine (NY). As well as having been a regular political columnist on several national websites for over 20 years, he is the author/co-author/editor/co-editor of 37 books Currently, on the columns side, in addition to his position on OpEdNews as a Trusted Author, he is a regular contributor to From The G-Man.  In the past he has been a contributor to, among other publications, The Greanville PostThe Planetary Movement, and Buzzflash.com.  He was also a triathlete for 37 seasons, doing over 250 multi-sport races.  Among his 37 books (from the late 1970s, mainly in the health, sports, and health care organization fields) are, on politics: The 15% Solution: How the Republican Religious Right Took Control of the U.S., 1981-2022; A Futuristic Novel (originally published 1996; the 3rd version was published by Trepper & Katz Impact Books, Punto Press Publishing, 2013, Brewster, NY, sadly beginning to come true, advertised on OpEdNews and available on  (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Pope Francis and Change in the Roman Catholic Church

Limbaugh, Santorum, Sex, and the Origins of the Roman Catholic Church

The "Irrepressible Conflict" and the Coming Second Civil War

Gay Marriage and the Constitution

The Republican Party and the Separation of Church and State: Change Does Happen

What the Gunners Want: What's in Rick Perry's Pocket, Unlimited

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend