- Capitalism and Alternatives -

Argue that Marxism = Democracy

Posted by: Nikhil Jaikumar ( Eviction Free Zone, Massachusetts ) on March 26, 1999 at 17:00:53:

In Reply to: help posted by Jon Way on March 26, 1999 at 10:36:38:

: I must give a 3 minute speech fo my public speaking class on why marxism would be better than the "Democracy" that we live in now. My goal is to persuade the class. A vote will be taken at the end of the class. I must assume that my audience is completly unfamiliar with Marxist ideology. Thank you for your help,
: Jon Way

My advice is not to oppose Marxism and democracy, but rather to argue taht true democacy is better achieved under Marxism. Assume that your audience believes in freedom and equality, and then argue that these things are not acheived in America today, but could be better achieved under Marxism. This would be more productive, I think, than going on about "the two-line struggle", "the falling tendency of the rate of profit", and other economiic jargon.

You can point to the many failings of American "liberalism" to achieve democracy; e.g. our homeless problem, increasing inequality, the lack of health care for millions of people, corporate control over the media, racial divisions, crime and alienation in the inner cities, lack of popular control over teh government, support for ThirdWorld dictators, etc. And you can cite Kerala in India, and Nicaragua under the Sandinistas as particualrly good examples of grassroots democracy amnd developemnt which are perhaps more democratic. Don't believe what the US media tells you about the FLSN, by the way, objective sources generally recognize that they were freely elected in 1984 and were one of the least corruprt or repressive, most democratic governments in teh Americas.
Good luck.


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