THE END OF DEMOCRACY AND THE WAR ON TYRANNY

DEMOCRACY BUSINESS – THE WAR ON TYRANNY

Andrew McKillop

Nov 24, 2011

Egypt’s lurch towards civil war is moving faster forward, as its so-called caretaker government, the post-Mubarak military junta, clings on to power using live ammunition on democracy protestors in El-Tahrir Square. The government-friendly media of the debt-strangled “mature democracies” are obliged to report Egypt’s mass democracy protests – now spreading across the country – but always minimising the number of protestors and the number of deaths.

In fact Egypt’s massive democracy deficit, its massive debts, financial deficits, unemployment and poverty are only a more intense version of similar deficits, failures and loss of wealth that challenge the elites ruling the so-called “mature democracies”. These face the same likely terminal economic, financial and monetary crises generated by the same late stage “neoliberal” free market capitalism which detonated the politicial and social explosion of Egypt.

As we know, while Egypt and other Arab world countries are shifting towards democracy, more and more often in a bloodbath, the “mature democracies” are rapidly drifting the other way. They are shifting to one-party, all-party or no-party unelected coalition governments, called National Unity governments. These are operated by so-called “technocrats”, to enforce austerity, increase poverty, increase social injustice, and raise unemployment inside the so-called “mature democracies”. This is called No Alternative. This is to satisfy global financial markets owned by ultra-capitalists.

In these ex-democracies the intensity of economic crisis broght on by decades of “laisser faire” late stage liberal market capitalism makes democracy a luxury item that is no longer needed. The elite controlled media sums it up: Maybe later on, when or if things get better. When capital decides.

DEBT AND DEMOCRACY

Before Mubarak’s ouster, Egypt’s national debt was close to $400 billion and increasing, but only slowly. As long as the Mubarak regime clung on to power, and obediently ran its neoliberal export platform sweatshops to supply designer T-shirts sold at $75 each and kit-assembled Mercedes Benz cars sold at $40 000 each, using Egyptian labour paid $350 a month, the liberal capitalist system kept bailing it out. Since Mubarak’s ouster, national debt is estimated by some analysts as growing at a yearly rate of 33%, as the country’s national bank reserves of gold are surreptitiously shipped out, with false or no declaration of the amounts shipped being given to the World Gold Council. This is the politics of fait accompli: if the military junta falls now, Egypt will be truly and totally bankrupt. Its money will be truly and totally worthless. What happens after that ?

Democracy would be difficult and could be impossible; street fighting and civil war will be easy and possible, in fact certain. Too many years tolerating the late stage neoliberal capitalist model, called No Alternative, brings these endgame choices to Egypt. The same choices will soon be forced on the people of the ex-democracies currently shifting to one-party rule by so-called “technocrats” under the smokescreen of economic emergency – unelected technocrats dedicated to further impoverishing the people, sucking their wealth and increasing social injustice. This is a declaration of war.

Since September, one party rule has officially and openly replaced democratically-elected government in Greece and Italy. The new “caretaker prime minister” of Italy, Mario Monti goes cap in hand to Brussels to prostate himself before the New European political power system ruled by the Merkel-Sarkozy duo. No independent decision by Italy will be tolerated: austerity rules.

Following Spain’s overnight change of government in November, its new prime minister Mariano Rajoy Brey, interviewed on a French state-owned radio station, explained that all his government’s major economic decisions would be “strictly guided” by the New European Cash Caliphate presided by Germany’s Merkel, France’s Sarkozy, the European Commision, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He added that no major economic decision can be made in Spain without their permission and approval.

Who needs democracy ?

As we know, in Afghanistan today and every day since November 2001, heavily armed troops from the “mature democracies” strut about waving their high-tech weapons – and justify their invasion and military occupation of Afghanisan with the claim they are “bringing democracy”. In their home countries this is already judged surplus and useless. In their home countries democracy is worthless: why force it down the throat of Afghans at the point of a gun ?

To Afghanistan they bring a typically derisory version of so-called “democracy”. This is rule by a group of organized criminals practicing total and permanent corruption – but is simply a more intense version of the corporate kleptocracy which operates in the ex-democracies, and has now stripped off its mask and moved to take total power.

This is global capitalism’s last lurch forward. It can be stopped, but only by force.

MORE SOON AND MORE LATER

The potential for either de facto, or formal one party governments spreading to other European debt strangled countries is high. In several countries with major upcoming elections in 2012, especially France and Germany, the calls for postponing and pushing forward elections, and creating National Unity governments “to fight the crisis” are rising. In the French-German case this would initially focus a common and single super ministry of finance and taxation, operating in both countries. Both Portugal and Ireland are other candidates for what we can call “guided post-democracy” in what used to be called the “mature democracies”.

The result in every case is known and announced long before the act. Whatever the type of non-democratic rule that is installed, either local or from Brussels and Frankfurt, Berlin and Paris, this will force increased misery on the mass of the people. Should we be surprised if they rise up and fight?

Most of all, time is short. As with the fast accelerating and explosive case of Egypt, national bankruptcy and economic collapse are the only possible final stage which the neoliberal capitalist economy and society can produce. It is incapable of anything else. This system has no need at all for luxury trimmings like democracy. It is ideally suited to one party rule, totalitarian regimes, military juntas and absolute monarchies – as in the Arab world until 2011, or in Soviet Russia until 1989, or in Germany and Italy through the 1930s until 1945. We know all about totalitarian and fascist rule.

Unlike previous totalitarian and fascist power systems however, the possibility for today’s neoliberal juntas and technocrats of creating war as unifying tactic, as diversionary tactic is very low. Who can these downsized neofascist neoliberals attack ? The war will internal and civil – and is coming fast.