This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.
Maoist Internationalist Movement

"Why do you oppose democracy?"

See also, "what is freedom, anyway?"

See also, "Why do you support one-party rule?"

If we define "democracy" as majority rule, then MIM opposes democracy in principle because we prioritize serving humyn needs --peace, healthful environment, food, clothing, healthcare and shelter. If a majority decided (as in the United States) that a minority or another country should have to do without survival "rights," then we communists will fight that majority to the end, so we cannot say we are for democracy in principle. Survival rights are non-negotiable. On the other hand, in the distant future, majority rule might be acceptable in a world where there are already actually existing survival rights.

Exaggeration


1. The most common reason we oppose "democracy" is that it is used by conservatives (including people calling themselves democratic socialists) to exaggerate the merits of the status quo. The public is told there is majority rule again and again in situations where there is in fact none. So it is a factual question.

Conservatives believe majority rule of the world should not apply in economic matters, matters of property rights. Along with the European and Amerikan "democratic socialists" they have a history of believing the majority rule of their country should decide what happens in other countries. For these two reasons alone, Lenin said communism was millions times more democratic than the status quo.

Imprecision


2. Many who use the word "democracy" including many foggy-minded scholars use the word to refer to something that should more precisely be called the "American way of life." They are referring to a situation created when a country kills off the inhabitants of a continent, empties another continent for slaves and then builds its wealth. These people are largely unaware that India also has democracy, with more people practicing it there, than in the rich countries combined. Yet people starve to death in India by the millions every year.

Doesn't work


3. Democracy is a goal that often gets people excited and then slaughtered. The rich and the U.S. government spend money at home and abroad to win elections. When the Yankee imperialists and their lackeys lose elections they send in the Marines and depose elected governments or pay to subvert them. Money or guns settle the matter, not the interests of the majority.

We Maoists have read history and see that people have to be prepared to fight a people's war for their destinies. Some people in the imperialist countries see the facts but do not draw the same conclusions. They know "democracy" is not working in practice, but they downplay the problem or try to reform the system. Leave MIM's web site and see a more complete list of the facts on the CIA and other U.$. interventions abroad.

Some USENET debate on democracy and China

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