The July 3 presidential election in the Russian Federation was
the final act in a long process of capitulation by social
democracy in the Soviet Union to the aims of the bourgeoisie. The
Communist Party of the Soviet Union began to degenerate into
social democracy in the mid-fifties. The long road of
capitulation to the bourgeoisie and imperialism has been one of
the major causes for the establishment of pseudo-socialism and
its eventual final collapse. Prior to and during the election,
Boris Yeltsin made it very clear that he would not relinquish
power even if he lost the election. Gennady Zyuganov deliberately
gave up campaigning following the June 16 first-round results
when it became clear that he would be the winner in the run-off
if he so desired. By their dogmatic rendering of the contemporary
situation and the creation of illusions about the past, the
"left" did yeoman's service to the social democrats in this
historic capitulation.
The July 3 election was also the final act of the Russian
bourgeoisie in its preparations to regain its lost empire.
Everything is now set for a significant increase in the role of
the state and its armed forces. A period of outright repression
will set in. The bourgeoisie will try to suppress the people
fighting within the Russian Federation, whether it is the working
class or the nations and nationalities. At the same time, it will
attempt to reconquer all the areas lost with the collapse of the
Soviet Union. The capitulation by social democracy, fully aided
and abetted by world imperialism, has opened the path for even
greater disasters than the people have already suffered.
The twentieth century is witness to the greatest historical
upheaval. The Great October Revolution of 1917 transformed the
entire world. Since that astounding success of the working class
in 1917, the world has never been the same. The twentieth century
has also witnessed the greatest betrayal of the cause of the
working class and the oppressed people by social democracy. The
recent treachery of Gennady Zyuganov and the Communist Party of
the Russian Federation, with the assistance of the dogmatists and
the "left," is of the same caliber and in the tradition of the
capitulation that paved the way for one of the greatest social
disasters in human history, inter-imperialist war.
Just before the end of the Second World War, the
Euro-communists joined with the bourgeoisie of their respective
countries, such as in France and Italy, in order to betray the
cause of the working class and revolution, hand over political
power to the bourgeoisie and seal their capitulation with the
greatest dishonor. Over fifty years later they continue their
nefarious deeds with the illusion mongering that the "left" is
wining, such as the rainbow coalition in Italy. In France and
elsewhere the Euro-communists are preaching "unity" of the "left"
in order to perpetuate this fantasy that the "left" is making
headway.
The working class has to be extremely vigilant and must
continue the struggle for its own interests. This is the only way
a disaster such as another inter-imperialist world war can be
averted. They must not harbor any illusions that the "left" is
going to save them. On the contrary, the working class must fight
both the right and "left" sections of the bourgeoisie in order to
drive towards the profound transformations which are the order of
the day. Revolutionary class struggle, not reconciliation and
capitulation, is the engine of social development, and the
workers of all lands must persist in this regard and not submit
to the illusions spread about the so-called easy and peaceful
path of social democracy.
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
