Democracy Under Attack by Corporate Power

American democracy is under the most serious attack since the Civil War. This may seem a bold statement given the history of violent, anti democratic forces in our country. There has also been the shameful role of all three branches of government in the unending assault against democracy.

Throughout our history the popular democratic forces have always beaten back the forces of slavery, reaction and fascism. Precisely because we have always preserved some element of democracy, there is a dangerous complacency toward the qualitatively different, dangerous attack now launched by corporate power against the people.

Historically, democracy has been an elusive and ill-defined concept. It has been the political cover for slavery, for disfranchisement of minorities, for the exclusion of women. The concept of majority rule has been used to justify the most violent attacks against the minority. Recognizing the contradiction between abstract concepts of democracy and the reality of our social-economic order, politicians coyly refer to “our way of life.”

We are taught about the democratic splendor of ancient Greece and the glory of Rome without mention that their “democracy” stood on the blood-soaked backs of slaves. Somehow or another American historians have been able to glorify the rise of our democracy with barely mentioning the slaughter of 35 million indigenous peoples, the horror of the African slave trade, the auction block, the whips and branding irons that made that democracy possible.

What is democracy and what is its foundation? It is much more than the right to choose which bandit will rob you. It is the free and equal participation in the political process of determining the goals and functioning of government.

Freedom of participation depends on the individual controlling the necessaries of his or her existence. If someone controls the essentials of your life you are ultimately their slave. How many American workers control access to their food, shelter and clothing? Democracy can never be less than political independence based on economic independence.

The rise of American democracy rested on the spread of ownership of the family farm, small business and the home. America became a model for the rest of the world despite its slavery, as millions achieved economic independence, compelling government by consensus. As wealth and property became more concentrated in the hands of the capitalist elite, an unending assault on democracy began. Why? Privately owned economic power simply will never submit to the will of a propertyless mass.

Does this mean that there is no future for democracy? No. It means that if democracy is to live it must be based in the common, social ownership of socially necessary means of production and exchange. This would prevent any one group from controlling the economic and ultimately, political life of others.

As the country slips deeper into an economic and social revolution, polarization of wealth and poverty becomes more pronounced. As the crisis deepens, the political awakening of the people becomes inevitable. The people will use whatever democracy remains to secure their existence at the expense of this elite. The elite intends to prevent this. The battle lines are drawn along this front. Today, the struggle for economic well-being swirls around the attack against and the defense of democracy.

The situation today is grave. The Occupy Wall Street movement has shown the revolutionary potential of the people as well as the fascist police state reality. Regardless of differences, the revolutionaries must not allow one more democracy destroying law to pass. At the same time we must utilize every aspect of democracy to defend ourselves and advance our cause.