[PEN-L:8127] Re: Re: The National Endowment for Democracy and the Serbian opposition

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxx>]

Michael Hoover wrote:

> > The National Endowment for Democracy
> >

<SNIP>

> NED channeled more than US $7.5 million into Nicragua during 1990
> elections, beneficiaries and their fronts included:

This is highly relevant to the debates that break out periodically concerning
socialism and democracy. As long as the predominant world system
remains imperialism, any country which breaks away from that system
and attempts to preserve a bourbeois-like parliamentary democracy
will not be able to resist outside subversion. Even in a revolution
involving the maximum active participation of the citizenry a large
majority will be untouched (i.e. inactive) by either the revolution or
the reaction. That more passive majority can always be mobilized
for anti-revolutionary purposes in so passive an exercise as casting
a vote, provided that sufficient material aid is available, as Michael
shows was the case in Nicaragua.

Socialist democracy is an absolute necessity. Parliamentary elections
will never form part of any viable socialist democracy. What socialist
democracy is remains to be determined by future practice and criticism
and self-criticism within the revolutionary forces of a given country. Its
shape cannot even be vaguely captured in a blueprint before the fact.
This is one of the reasons why no scenario for revolution can ever be
offered. Were it possible for revolutionary theorists to do so, their
discoveries would be known to the the reaction and that particular
scenario would be cut off in advance. Only scenarios that surprise us
all -- revolutionaries and reaction alike -- are possible.

Carrol