Will the democratices go the same way as communist countries?

By N.S.Venkataraman

(March 20, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) There was a time when there was sort of cold war in the world between two blocks, with one representing the so called free world and the other representing the communist countries , which were supposed to be serving the cause of the downtrodden and protecting them from the so called oppression of the capitalists.

The communist governments failed due to their inner contradictions and because they went under the control of the coterie of communist leaders who themselves became the power mongers and exploiters, in the garb of representing the working class. In the course of time, the communist governments inevitably collapsed as people rose against the oppressive communist leaders.

China, which claims that it has Communist Government is really no more a communist country now and it remains communist only in name, as it has adopted capitalist methods for all practical purposes. It is actually evolving some sort of system where the free economy is allowed to be practiced with all it’s faults and at the same time restricting the political freedom of the citizens to a large extent. It appears to be a case of communist methods being adopted to facilitate capitalistic goals!

The system in China is still evolving and perhaps this too may collapse in due course, as people would start revolting, demanding greater freedom and protesting against the style of functioning of the `comrades’ controlling the show. Those who now control the government in China do not even have the claims of those in power in erstwhile communist countries who claimed that they represented proletariat.

While one can say without fear of contradiction that communist philosophy espoused by Marx, Lenin and Mao have failed when put to test, the question is whether the other philosophy of “free world” has succeeded. Though the proponents of communist philosophy still argue that there is nothing wrong with the philosophy but only with the comrades, who happened to control the communist governments.

A careful consideration of the recent developments in the so called democratic countries, particularly in Asia, Latin America and Africa clearly signal that the democratic system has also not met the expectations. It is showing signs of failure and it could be a question of time when the people would revolt against it, in the same way as they revolted against the communist countries.

Virtually, the democracies have gone under the control of the ambitious and self centered politicians in these countries and the democratic scene is now one of unending conflict between various politicians representing different political groups . These political groups have no objectives other than capturing power and holding on to the captured power at any cost and as long as possible, which is sought to be done under the camouflage of serving the people.

While periodical elections do take place in these democracies, the elections have become very deceptive and are no more held under acceptable conditions . The politicians create obnoxious conditions during the elections by entering into fraudulent deals, by bribing the voters , indulging in violence and even rigging the polls. As a result, free and unprejudiced will of the electorate could not be registered during the polls. By indulging in malpractices and unethical ways, the most corrupt people and even murderers have managed to get elected and even become ministers. In these conditions, the democracies have become coloured and are increasingly being viewed as one of oppression by politicians.

In these developing countries, where the democratic system are supposed to be prevailing, large segment of the population are illiterate or semi literate and they are steeped in poverty and they are desperately looking for aids and support from any quarter. The politicians exploit the vulnerable conditions and the plight of the poor population by extending them freebies (free gifts, subsidies and concessions) and exploiting their religious and caste differences, not only at the time of elections but even during other times to buy peace with them and ensure that they would not become restive. The freebies are being extended by the government, which are controlled by the self centered politicians, diverting the government funds which should normally go for implementing development projects that would contribute to the growth of the economy and ultimately alleviation of poverty. In this scenario, the economy is left to suffer with no hopes for the poor people to improve their living conditions in their life time. After deceiving such poor people with false promises of hope and extending freebies, the politicians manage to remain rich and comfortable, leaving the poor people high and dry.

The ruling politicians in all democratic countries including even the developed countries seem to strongly believe that extending concessions, gifts and other benefits in one form or the other can always tempt the people and they would enable them to buy the loyalty of the people so that they can continue to stay on in power .

Even in developed democratic countries like USA, the government is trying to buy peace and gaining popularity with the citizens by extending all sorts of concessions like loans with zero interest etc. that make no economic sense for the country but have virtually contributed to the near collapse of the economy.

Such conditions in developing countries will only ultimately lead to more sufferings for poor people and leading to unrest, similar to what happened in the erstwhile communist countries, which resulted in the collapse of communist movement in Eastern Europe.

It is unfortunate that the politicians in these countries have failed to learn right lessons from the collapse of the communist governments.