One rallying cry for the liberal ruling class is that the November U.S. elections are about saving “American democracy” (See editorial, page 2) As the communist revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin pointed out, there is no such thing as “pure” democracy (see Lenin’s Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky). In class society, every so-called democracy is actually a dictatorship by whatever class holds state power.  Ancient Greece, often cited as the birthplace of democracy, disenfranchised all women and the people who actually kept their society going—the enslaved workers. In the 18th century, the U.S. “Founding Fathers,” many of whom owed their fortunes to large plantations under slavery, had a similar rulebook: “[T]he colonial electorate consisted of only 10 percent to 20 percent of the total population” (crf-usa.org).
Every revolutionary period, whether from slavery to feudalism or feudalism to capitalism, represented a change in the nature of “democracy.” In the U.S. today, the democracy among the bosses is also a dictatorship over the working class. As a result, voting cannot address the fundamental contradiction of capitalism: the conflict between those who own the means of production (the bosses) and those who create everything of value (the workers).
Internationally, the working class struggles for basic necessities while the capitalists fight to accumulate more wealth. War and climate change have made millions of workers refugees. Hunger is widespread and growing. As we’ve seen in recent months, decent health care is restricted to those who can afford it; those without jobs or insurance may be left to die at home.
Only through class struggle can workers exercise our power. But even after we win hard-fought reforms, the bosses will eventually take any gains back. For real democracy, workers must fight for communism and the dictatorship of the working class. Only then will the working class have the final say in how we run our factories, schools, farms, and communities.