DEMOCRACY, accountability and freedom are constantly on the lips of bourgeois propagandists as they attempt to put a human face upon what they laughingly call the “free world”. In reality, capitalism has always been far from free or democratic. Its great inequalities of wealth and opportunity and its brutal aggression and plunder along with permanent exploitation of the working class make it a selfish and corrupt system. A grossly unfair system that benefits the ruling class of parasites.

The ruling class, the industrialists, the capitalists and the big landowners, rejoiced when the counter-revolutions they had worked so long to achieve took place in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. They said socialism was finished and that history was dead. They told us that we were entering an era of new prosperity called the “Third Way”.

That all ended with the crash of 2008 and the never-ending slump that followed. Now it’s the new austerity that’s only just been eased to revive the economy in the post-Covid world.

Their politicians and their tame religious leaders preach about the superiority of the capitalist system, which they call freedom. But it’s freedom only for the exploiters to continue to rob and plunder working people across the globe to ensure that a tiny handful of parasites can live the lives of Roman emperors off the backs of the millions upon millions of workers.

Communists have a duty to reveal the deception of reactionary propaganda that attempts to beautify the chains of capitalist oppression. Those chains can be broken by the workers to allow real freedom to flourish.

Bourgeois propaganda has attempted, with a fair degree of success, to brainwash the population into acceptance of their lot and not to question or think about political decisions.

A current example is the record price of gas for manufacture, heating and cooking. The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany has at last been completed despite US sanctions and is being filled ready for the supply of cheap and reliable fuel to Europe. It is still, however, waiting for approval by the European regulator. In the meantime, never-questioned market forces have pushed the wholesale price up. The western media have blamed President Putin, and many are happy to accept this lie. A little thought would reveal that the holy grail of the pursuit of profits by those companies who speculate on gas deals along with America’s need to sell its shale gas have contributed to the crisis. Gas prices would immediately fall back to normal if the EU would allow the engineers to turn on the valve.

We need socialism on the agenda but the Labour Party under its utterly useless leader is unlikely to tackle any of the important issues of today or even to back the correct side. We require a fightback on two fronts.

The first is to realise that the front-line of the class struggle lies within the ranks of the Labour Party and the trade unions.

Secondly, there is an urgent need to educate and to influence progressive thinking in Britain today. Imperialism wants war because that is the only way it can preserve its rotten system of corruption and oppression. It is up to communists to lead the struggle for a peaceful world and to expose the new Cold War against China.

It is also up to communists to show that Marxism is important and more relevant than ever to provide the scientific theory for a revolutionary class struggle. And it’s up to communists to enlighten and enthuse a new generation that will carry forward the struggle for a better form of society.

Editor: Zhong Yao  Zheng Yifan

From:http://www.newworker.org/archive2021/nw20211029/democracy_accountability_and_freedom.html.（2021-10-29）