Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 07:28:00 -0500
Subject: Re: Who would you vote for?


Jerry:

>There was nothing [bourgeois] undemocratic per se about the old
>constitution.

I confess I don't remember much about the old constitution, but, as I
recall, the delegates to the highest legislative body were not elected, at
any number of removes, by the people, which would seem to be a violation of
any notion of bourgeois democracy. Had the parliament really wanted
democracy instead of the extension of privilege, they could have proposed a
democratic alternative to Yeltsin's autocratic constitution-manufacturing.
At the time it happened, I couldn't make it into anything more than a
choice of Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Of course, the Western press was very
amusing, saying that Yeltsin was defending democracy by blowing up the
parliament, but being a victim doesn't necessarily make you right.

As far as the current CPRF goes, I'm surprised that you term it
social-democratic. It is similar to social democracy in its bureaucratism
and opportunism, but what about their Great Russian nationalism,
militarism, and lack of concern for democratic rights?

Rahul




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