What's the right terminology for a democratic, free and and anti-dictatorial socialism/communism?

Question

Socialism has been associated with communist/socialist dictatorships at the time of the Cold War, and the nowadays dictatorships such as China and North Korea.

The biggest argument against socialism and communism is that they failed in every system to which they've been applied so far. But a socialist/communist doesn't necessarily agree with what socialist/communist governments did so far.

So the question is: if one believes in true socialism/communism without agreeing with dictatorships and anti-democratic states, how would that person be called?

Answer 1

I think the question is put backwards. If you would have asked "What's the right terminology for a dictatorial socialism/communism?" it would have been much easier. Then the answer would be stalinism or maoism. But to answer your question you would have to list all the various branches that are for a democratic, free and and anti-dictatorial society. Some that could be mentioned are social democracy, libertarian socialism (that includes syndicalism, anarchism and anarcho-syndicalism), libertarian communism, anarchist communism, left communism and so on.

Answer 2

To explain this, we have to go back to the split in the First International, specifically the Hague Congress of 1872. At this point Karl Marx expelled Mikhail Bakunin. Bakunin had been critical of what he thought of as Marx's "authoritarian socialism".

Bakunin rejected Marx's "dictatorship of the proletariat" and said: "If you took the most ardent revolutionary, vested him in absolute power, within a year he would be worse than the Tsar himself". Bakunin believed that Marx's socialism would merely replace the ruling elite instead of destroying the old system entirely.

From this split we have an obvious distinction between Communists (Marx) and Anarchists (Bakunin). The latter believe in a total transformation of society through the creation of a wholly democratic model. During the Russian Civil War anarchists inspired by Bakunin formed the 'Black Army', which fought against both White and Red Armies. In the end they were backstabbed by the Red Army and destroyed.

Their leader, Nestor Makhno, was loved by many of his followers, largely because he was mostly true to his anarchist ideals. Whenever towns were added to the "Free Territory" prisoners were released and locals were told they now have free speech and free association, and were left to manage themselves as cooperatives.

From this we can understand that the ideological flow, from Marx to Lenin to Stalin or Mao, was consistently authoritarian and authentically Communist. Anarchism in comparison is a radical and revolutionary democratic socialism, while a reformist or moderate alterative would be the sort of democratic socialism achieved through parliamentary systems.

Since the collapse of the USSR most have transitioned from Democratic Socialism proper to Social Democracy, which gives up the public ownership of the means of production as an objective. For example, in 1995 when Britain's Labour Party gave up Clause IV of their party constitution.

So a socialist who wants freedom of expression and is against dictatorship would either be a Democratic Socialist (like George Orwell, Clement Attlee, Milovan Djilas, Mikhail Gorbachev, Vaclav Havel, Albert Einstein, etc) or an Anarchist (like Bakunin, Makhno, etc).

Answer 3

According to Lenin, socialism is the dictatorship of proletariat in the sense one class dictates its will to the others. Similarly, in his view capitalism is dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.

According to him, dictatorship of proletariat is the highest form of democracy because the power belongs to those who works and produces the goods, and also proletariat is (at least was at his time) the largest class numerically.

A person who adheres to these views is properly called Marxist-Leninist or Communist.

A dictatorship of a person or a close circle would be thus contrary to Communist principles.

Answer 4

The two concepts are not interchangeable. Otherwise, we might also say that fascism and capitalism are interchangeable.

To answer the question: Social-democracy. But that completely depends on one's definition of those concepts. Many would not think of as Soviet-Russia as a proper example of communism, let alone socialism. if you think of socialism as a philosophy where the principle is to have high solidarity between the classes than most of Western Europe, Japan, British Commonwealth is socialist. And distinguish between the Rhineland model (co-operation) and Anglo-Saxon (conflict) model.

Also, what's your measure of success? Onw can make a good case that present day America is an abject failure, because it doesn't manage to provide even basic functions to as much people as possible. 20 percent of Americans live under the poverty line, inter-generational undernutrition is a real problem and check out obesity in West-Virginia. In many respects, Cuba is more successful than America (except for big box stores and 72 kinds of cereal...of course. Which, incidentally is a waste of resources.)

As long as countries like Costa Rica and Czechia manage to beat you with regards to ANY social indicator, with HALF the wealth or less, you're failing as a country.

Suggestions for improvement of the question:

1. This association you speak of was limited only to (rightwing) America. Did not exist in Europe, "socialism" is a perfectly acceptable 'ism'. Same goes for communism. There were/are many communist parties in Western-Europe.

2. Your question is also leading on two other points: That of 'total failure':

• China is a resounding success, while being a one-party rule communist state, personality cult and 5 year plans and all. Also: Universal health care! (if that doesn't make them 'socialist' ....)
• Whether Soviet-Russia was a good application of socialism/communism is highly debatable.

3. The world wide financial crashes of 1929, 1997 and 2008 speak against the American extremist capitalism as a model of success, as well as the fact that America performs so miserably on so many essential social indicators: teen pregnancy has been 10 times higher than Europe for decades (https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/U-S-teen-birth-rate-higher-than-Western-Europe-s-2462254.php), poverty is much higher, health care is FAR worse. Nobody in Europe dies because of lack of health care, in America: 45.000 people per year. America is a good country for millionaires, but not for the poor or the middle class. The poor run the risk of serving 25 to life for merely shoplifting (https://bit.ly/3F9cEor) Caveat: It's also good for those earning more than $150-200K, provided of course, they're not black nor Hispanic. Caveat two: it's also not a good country for millionairs of color who dare to speak out. Same goes for white women, but somewhat lesser: their risk for street executions of the cop kind (with impunity) are virtually zero.

Answer 5

So the question is: if one believes in true socialism/communism without agreeing with dictatorships and anti-democratic states, how would that person be called?

Let's break this down through the multiple questions you ask.

true socialism/communism

This person would be called a "sectarian" for believing they have special knowledge of a future and as yet unrealised society, and holding their views above all others and above experimental determination of what is possible.

if one believes in communism

One is called a Communist or an Anarchist. There's a minor tendency going around to call for "Full Communism Now," as in "higher" communism, as in a stateless society immediately. Obviously a large number of Anarchists have been calling for this for over a hundred years.

if one believes in communism without agreeing with... states

Still a communist or an anarchist.

without agreeing with dictatorships and anti-democratic states

So there's obviously an area where some socialists or communists agree with some kinds of states. Let's break this down:

Support revolutionary councils of workers directly controlling their own society, and repressing the bourgeoisie

Council Communists, Left-wing Communists, some Bolsheviks / Leninists, Bordigists, some Anarchists (often dispute that this is a state due to a different definition of "state" to most Marxists).

The general term for these is either Anarchists, or, Libertarian Communists, or, simply, Communists.

Support revolutionary councils of workers OR state-capitalism governed by an ideologically pure party controlling society

This is generally Bolshevism / Leninism and its off-spring.

Support parliamentary style representative democracy either with direct workers council control of the economy or state-capitalist nationalisation in parliamentary hands

This is generally known as "Social Democracy", though social democracy has abandoned this programme, and a number of former communist parties have taken it up ("Eurocommunism" / "New Times"). This is also occasionally seen as a more maximal demand by Labour Parties in the British / Australian / New Zealand mould, though these have abandoned any element of this programme too.

Though, given the argument that bourgeois parliaments are dictatorships, either Bolsheviks / Leninists who advocate traditional forms of states (bureaucracies, parliaments, etc.) and continued wage labour (state capitalism) should be included here. Similarly the argument has been put that Social Democracy is anti-democratic and dictatorial because it ends up implementing the wishes of the bourgeoisie against the workers when it achieves power in a bourgeois parliamentary state.

Answer 6

Your question is confusing, democratic and free are not the same thing. Any form of socialism that is administered by the government will always be authoritarian to some degree because it will always involve the use or threat of violence to subvert the means of the individual in order to achieve the aims of the collective. Even if a socialist government came out of a democratic process this would still be the case.

So socialist governments are just socialist governments, state coercion is implied, the only difference is the degree of control.

As for freedom, if you have a economically and politically free population any system can exist within that population group. Free people can and do choose to set up voluntary collectives that are run on socialist principles.

Answer 7

Such a person would be called a Social Democrat, examples of successful Social Democracies can be found in countries following the Nordic Model.

Put Simply, Socialism and Communism are economic systems, systems which could be blended with any number of political control mechanisms: Authoritarianism, Democracy, Republic, Absolute Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy,etc.
For example, many Arab states could be called Socialist Monarchies: Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia to name a few. Although, few would profess to be practicing such, in terms of State distribution and control of wealth, it is more or less akin to a blended form of benevolent socialism distributed through a welfare state.

Who says communism has failed? Cuba has some of the best healthcare in the third world, their medical schools are some of the best in the region. Life expectancy in Cuba is higher than in many other nations.

Arguably less famine, and suffering exist in socialist republics/democracies than in Authoritarian systems, in that, with absolute power comes inequality, and mismanagement, for an example see Canada, or Ecuador, Vs. Lao, Cambodia, China, and the USSR.

Answer 8

So the question is: if one believes in true socialism/communism without agreeing with dictatorships and anti-democratic states, how would that person be called?

It depends on how one understands socialism/communism. The Marxist view is that those who control the means of production (i.e., the economy) also have the political control - since they can always use their economic power to help those parts of the population that support them and to punish the opponents. This is usually decried as crony capitalism - the corporations ("the rich") exerting influence on the government. It is often overlooked that this abuse involves two parties - those who influence the government and the government bureaucrats who (ab)use their influence (in exchange for some favors.)

Socialism/communism (Marx himself used these terms interchangeably) suggest resolving this problem by transferring the ownership of the means of production to "people", but in reality this means giving the control over the means of production to the government bureaucracy - essentially concentrating the financial and the political power in the same hands. If economic power is indeed the determinant of the political power, as Marx suggests, then we have a recipe for dictatorial power.

Thus, "if one believes in true socialism/communism" as described in Marx, they essentially subscribe to an establishment of a dictatorship (or even a totalitarian regime, systematically intruding in personal lives.) Whether non-Marxist forms of socialism/communism are compatible with democracy is more difficult to discuss due to the vagueness of the definitions.

Answer 9

As far as terminology is concerned, it is just that: socialism/communism. Most advocates of socialism/communism today would argue that there is a way to implement one of these systems without it being a dictatorship. So there is no need to find any special term here. Socialism/communism in principle does not say if it is a dictatorship or not.

It is a completely different question, if socialism/communism can exist in a free society or in a democratic society. This has nothing to do with the original question.

Historical evidence suggests that the more socialistic/communistic a society becomes, the more dictatorial it has to be to keep it (temporarily) stable. It seems that people just do not function the way it would be necessary to keep socialism/communism stable without government force.

The states in Europe and America are somewhere between a capitalistic (free) and socialist (dictatorial) society. Most of them are still free/capitalistic enough so that open dictatorship is unnecessary. Still these governments force their citizens/foreigners to many things that would be unnecessary in a completely free society (e.g. restriction of drug use, restriction of abortion, detention of citizens/foreigners without due process etc.), so they have already clear signs of dictatorship.

Answer 10

If you read Hayek, such a thing is not possible. In his 1944 book the Road to Serfdom, Hayek argues that socialism ultimately leads to dictatorship & subjugation & oppression of the masses.

Socialism, while presented as a means of assuring equality, does so through "restraint and servitude", while "democracy seeks equality in liberty". Planning, because it is coercive, is an inferior method of regulation, while the competition of a free market is superior "because it is the only method by which our activities can be adjusted to each other without coercive or arbitrary intervention of authority."

Centralized planning is inherently undemocratic in Hayek's view, because it requires "that the will of a small minority be imposed upon the people". The power of these minorities to act by taking money or property in pursuit of centralized goals, destroys the Rule of Law and individual freedoms. Where there is centralized planning, "the individual would more than ever become a mere means, to be used by the authority in the service of such abstractions as the 'social welfare' or the 'good of the community'". Even the very poor have more personal freedom in an open society than a centrally planned one. "While the last resort of a competitive economy is the bailiff, the ultimate sanction of a planned economy is the hangman." Socialism is a hypocritical system, because its professed humanitarian goals can only be put into practice by brutal methods "of which most socialists disapprove". Such centralized systems also require effective propaganda, so that the people come to believe that the state's goals are theirs.

Answer 11

A democratic, free, socialist place is called a "democracy".

If it's democratic and free then it is free to choose socialist policies at any point in its existence, and also to 'unchoose' socialist policies at any time in the future, without changing its system of government. This is what democracies do.

It can also be called "socialist" while it remains socialist, and if you want to combine them it can be called "democratic socialist" (although in many countries this is a party name and might be misunderstood.

Answer 12

What's the right terminology for a democratic, free and and anti-dictatorial socialism/communism?

capitalism vs. communism is about economic structures. democracy vs. dictatorship is about political structures.

as such, you can have all sorts of mixes:

1) capitalism + dictatorship: singapore, taiwan, skorea, until recently.

2) communism + dictatorship: ussr, china, cuba, nkorea, ...

3) communism + democracy: most western nations are on the verge of getting them. I think it is called progressivism today.

4) capitalism + democracy: most western nations prior to 1950s? conservatism maybe?

Answer 13

Heaven on earth is the name for such a system. And anyone who believes there is salvation on earth is usually called a "fool". To quote James Madison, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." And any society attempting to pretend that men are something other than what they are ends up being predatory towards men who exhibit imperfections. And these predatory tendencies inevitably snowball and produce tyranny.

Answer 14

The simplest (if perhaps not the best) answer would be to call such a person a Trotskyite. Trotsky advocated the emancipation of the working class through democratic means. His understanding of a 'dictatorship of the proletariat' was more or less indistinguishable from mass democracy; the only sense in which it was a 'dictatorship' is that it vested sole and complete power in the entire body politic. If Stalin hadn't won out and had Trotsky assassinated, the entire Marxist project would have had a very different appearance.

But a deeper and more analytical answer would point out that the term 'communism' refers to a pure, classless society in which the historical and economic foundations of dictatorship and oppression have been erased. Likewise, the term 'socialism' (in Marxist parlance) refers to an intermediary stage in which the government is ostensibly in the process of erasing class mindsets and the historical and economic foundations of dictatorship and oppression. Either 'communist' or 'socialist' would suffice to point to someone who advocates a non-capitalist form of democracy and liberty, except that in the US these terms have been co-opted by the more rabid proponents of capitalist statism, who use them as boogiemen.

Keep in mind (if we're going to be fair) that very few of the nations that call themselves free and democratic are overtly free or democratic. The ideals of liberal democracy are often used by dictators, tyrants, and nationalists to foster oppression and feed their own hunger for power. Should we judge socialism and communism for not having achieved their ideals when we Western liberal are doing a piss-poor job of achieving our own? Can we really pat ourselves on the back for being democratic when we see the Jan 6th insurrectionists storming the capital to overturn a free and fair election and install their own preferred choice as president? As they say, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, and democracy is always a glass house.