Capitalist Democracy

One important concept, idea, or even truth which we tend to either ignore, overlook, or fail to understand given our indoctrination and the intense conditioning that we have gone through in society is that the notion or idea of “capitalist-democracy” is actually a contradiction in terms. Or in other words, the notion of “capitalist democracy” is actually an oxymoron. Naturally, capitalism cannot be democratic, because if capitalism became democratic, then capital would relinquish the power it has monopolized and wielded and in turn the power would fall into the hands of the people and away from the hands of capital. Hence, by its very nature, capitalism cannot be democratic because if capitalism were to become democratic, then a capitalist system would cease to be a capitalist system. It would become something else, namely, a social democratic system.

Hence, when Washington says it is advancing or promoting “capitalist-democracy” around the world, what Washington is doing is advancing and promoting an oxymoron and a contradiction in terms. So sophisticated, catchy, and flashy on the outside, but on the inside, thoroughly flawed, illogical, and irrational. Capitalism requires a capitalist class to rule and control at the expense of others, which means that capitalism and democracy are mutually exclusive, irreconcilable, and separate concepts and terms. As the Chinese philosopher and scholar Sun Yat-Sen said: “The so-called democratic system in modern states is usually monopolized by the bourgeosie and has become simply an instrument for oppressing the common people.” In turn, a truly democratic system “means a democratic system shared by all the common people and not privately owned by the few.” 

Furthermore, the capitalist class which rules the United States at the moment is fundamentally opposed above all else to two basic concepts or principles which make a system truly democratic and free, namely, inclusivity and free trade. As Mao said: 

“Some people fail to understand why, so far from fearing capitalism, Communists should advocate its development in certain given conditions. Our answer is simple. The substitution of a certain degree of capitalist development for the oppression of foreign imperialism and domestic feudalism is not only an advance but an unavoidable process. It benefits the proletariat as well as the bourgeoisie, and the former perhaps more. It is not domestic capitalism but foreign imperialism and domestic feudalism which are superfluous in China today; indeed, we have too little of capitalism. Strangely enough, some spokesmen of the Chinese bourgeoisie fight shy of openly advocating the development of capitalism, but refer to it obliquely.”

Janet Yellen and Tony Blinken, one should note, are more opposed to free trade – which is supposed to be one of the basic principles of capitalism – than Marxists and socialists are. Hence, the contradictions and oxymorons and logical fallacies and irrationalities of the capitalist class. And more important than anything else is the reality that such contradictions, oxymorons, logical fallacies, and irrationalities of the capitalist class are the core cause and impetus of the countless crises of capitalism which we experience all the time. The crises of capitalism are not of capitalism itself, but rather, of the capitalist class which controls the capitalist system due to the contradictions, oxymorons, logical fallacies, and irrationalities of this particular class.

As a result, an escape or solution from the never-ending crises of the capitalist class – given their inherent and innate contradictions, oxymorons, logical fallacies, and irrationalities – is the expansion of the political system, greater inclusivity, and the incorporation of all groups and all voices in society, as Mao had called for in his country many decades ago. Only the expansion of the political system, greater inclusivity, and the incorporation of all groups and all voices will enable the United States to overcome the array of challenges on both a domestic front and from a foreign policy standpoint, just as it enabled China to overcome its own set of domestic and foreign challenges many decades ago.