World Communist Movement, of late, shows signs of revival across the world after its decline began from the 70’s and near total collapse after the disintegration of Soviet Union, followed by other European Communist countries like Poland, Romania and Hungary. Marxism as claimed by certain modern day intellectuals as well as politicians elsewhere is not an outdated ideology. It has a humane compassionate approach to the suffering millions- the have-nots- in Marxian parlance. Then why it had begun to come down in the world political horizon is a mute question. As an eyewitness to the decline and fall of Marxism I think it is not the fault of Marxist ideology, but the schisms in the power hierarchy in the communist governments, iron-fist of the ruling class with the ample support provided by ruthless military frameworks bureaucratic stranglehold and corruption, in short a parallel government or to be more precise, government within a government. The downtrodden felt it unendurable due to the inhuman approach of the ruling elite who after coming to grip with total control of the nation shed their humane approach, which is the basic tenet of Marxist ideology. There is a patience to human tolerance and when a spark of protest gradually evolves into wild-fire, the rebels as well as the next generation rulers begin to think different and they aspire for more individual freedom, freedom of speech and with Gorbachev coming to power in Soviet Union, Glassnost and Peristroika launched by him became hot subjects of discussion and it was quite natural that a new era dawned on the world political horizon. With it came the disintegration of the Soviet Empire, the conglomeration of various States opted for their freedom and achieved it. To blame the Marxist philosophy for this state of affairs simply put is utter nonsense and similarly to find fault with it terming it as an outdated ideology by certain quarters is also not correct. But the total blame rests upon the erstwhile iron-fisted communist rulers. The biggest beneficiary was Capitalism after the near total collapse of socialist countries, the capitalists tried their level best to cash-in on it. Corporate greed, wealth accumulating in the hands of a few eventually affecting the suffering humanity. They found themselves left in the lurch and as far as capitalist nations are concerned, they don’t care much for the latter, yes they care a bit only when the elections are round the corner throwing peanuts to the poor. And in a country like India it is quite easy for the ruling alliance to garner their votes promising to bring heaven to the earth during election times. Even these politicians stoop to the level of beggars requesting the valuable votes of the electorate even by prostrating before them.The poor have no other alternative as those who are supposed to fight for them, I mean the communist parties, since its inception in 1921-then there was only one and now it has got splintered into many incredible it may seem is in its nascent stage. Convening Polit-bureau occasionally and passing resolutions attacking the government for its wrong policies ranging from steep rise in prices of essential commodities making the lives of common man horrible, discrimination of women and children and to the lop-sided pro-imperialist policies won’t be of much consequence. Even the glamorous politician Amar Singhji the SP (Samajwadi Party) General Secretary who a few days before quit all his posts in the party while remaining a trusted friend of fat cats like Anil Ambani, Amitabh Bachan and such corporate honchos ( nothing wrong with befriending those glamorous ones) even while he is not well and is recuperating after a kidney transplantation, once in a while finds time to write for those at the bottom of the ladder and their predicaments by listing out the sky-high prices of various food items of common man. ( now rumour mills are working overtime about his impending entry to Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar, our Food&Agriculture Minister who is actually to be blamed for the shooting up of the prices of essential commodities.)
Anyhow a Communist party, either left or right has a basic human ideology unlike many other parties especially regional entities who aspire for power and pelf in the corridors of power and hence communist parties are bound to fight to the hilt for the liberation of have-nots from the clutches of profit driven powers.
Capitalism after its decline beginning with the global economic recession, starting in the most developed country, ie. USA in 2008 with the collapse of more than hundreds of financial institutions like sub-prime mortgage lender Lehman Brothers and banks, the shocking housing bubble burst which left a number of people homeless, and massive unemployment of millions, still the process goes on unabated and despite a beleaguered Barack Obama government after announcing a bail-out package of $789 billion as a stimulus to save the sagging economy has been mulling over announcing another stimulus package but without success due to opposition from Republicans who are still dreaming about a capitalist world. “The markets will correct itself”- the infamous economic ideology of the capitalists proved to be a damp squib. Even Allen Greenspan, Fed Reserve Chairman who was in the seat for 18 years without break of late has admitted to the failure of his policies, still some other quarters love to indulge in their make-believe world of capitalism.
The signs of a socialist revival are absolutely natural in the aftermath of the decline of capitalism. Most of the Latin American countries like Venezeula of Hugo Chavez, Bolivia of Evo Morales, Chile of Michelle Bachelet and a number of other Latin American countries had already chosen the path of socialism and to socialist parties of other countries they should serve as a catalyst in their pursuit for a socialist world. Media, intellectuals, authors on the whole a new generation are engaged in marathon discussions to re-invent the left which to them is the only option left in this morally and economically bankrupt world. Even in Kerala the southern tip of India, heated discussions about the relevance of Marxism are going on with renewed vigour and enthusiasm. An ideology based on integral humanism won’t fail ever. But it all depends upon the sincerity and integrity of those who guide it in its proper ways. The unfortunate truth is that, such leaders are a bare minimum in the political landscape.
The path chosen by Marx, Engels and Lenin is, if properly followed will certainly provide a world of equal opportunities to the entire humanity.
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