The forces of socialism in the world today are very weak. There are no countries with democratic, socialist systems of government capable of providing proper livelihoods for all citizens. Neither are there any socialist movements that are close to being strong enough to challenge capitalism.
Of course, there are countries whose governing parties call themselves communist or socialist. China, Cuba and Venezuela are three of the best known. But none of these countries have democratic control over their economies, and their governing parties are far from models of democracy. China, whose economy has grown dramatically over the past decades, is steadily moving towards a market economy.
Soviet Union
The history of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc countries has had a severely damaging influence on the idea of socialism. The brutality of the Stalin years, the authoritarian Soviet state, the suppression of democratic uprisings in Eastern Europe and the final collapse of the centralized Soviet economy, has tarnished the very term “communism”. For many people, the history of the “orthodox” communism of the USSR and its allies has persuaded them that communism and socialism are the opposites of democracy. Many others, while sympathetic to the ideals of socialism, believe that it is nothing more than an unreachable utopia.
The collapse of the USSR in 1991 brought about the disintegration of the communism of the countries and parties that had been allied to the Soviet regime. Many ruling communist parties lost power, and parties in opposition were thrown into disarray. Very few communist parties enjoy significant support today.
Trotskyism
The main alternative to the orthodox communism of the USSR has been “Trotskyism” – the legacy of Leon Trotsky. Trotsky was one of the leaders of the Russian revolution, but after Lenin’s death in 1924 and a bitter struggle against Stalin, he was exiled from the country.
In 1938, despairing of the prospect of the USSR and its allies of reform, and horrified by Stalin’s weak response to the Nazis, Trotsky led the establishment of a new international organization, the “Fourth International”. Its founding member organizations were from Europe and North America. These were later joined by parties from Asia and Latin America.
After Trotsky’s assassination in 1940, the Fourth International was plagued by divisions and splits. Despite attempts at unification, the trend has been for regular splits and bitter rivalry between various international organizations and political parties.
Despite the splits, the Trotskyist factions generally agreed on the need for workers to lead an international revolution. They were international in their outlook, and advocated a much more democratic form of socialism than that of the Russian communist party and its allies.
Obstacles to Trotskyism
The resurgence of capitalism after the Second World War and the consolidation of “orthodox” communism in the Eastern Bloc proved to be overwhelming obstacles to Trotkyist organizations trying to develop mass support.
Today there are very few large opposition parties with credible socialist programs. Most parties that call themselves socialist in reality advocate capitalist reforms.
For many people, the socialist ideal is written off as unreachable dream. Opposition parties across the world with socialist programs. are invariably tiny, with minimal members and supporters.
La France Insoumise and Bernie Sanders
La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) is probably the only socialist party today with significant support. The party’s leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is a controversial figure, not only because of his party’s policies. His comments are frequently narrowly nationalist, and there appears to be little commitment to democratic practices in the party. But La France Insoumise’s uncompromising advocacy of progressive policies has won it wide-scale support.
Bernie Sanders stood as a left wing candidate for the US Democratic Party in 2016 and 2020. Millions of Americans voted for him, despite the almost universal hostility from the mainstream media towards a politician who called himself a democratic socialist. His election campaigns have shown that even in the stronghold of world capitalism the ideas of socialism can attract support.
The example of La France Insoumise and the support that Bernie Sanders received shows that socialism is not dead. Capitalist economies are no longer able to maintain the living standards of working people. The result has been the emergence of what mainstream media calls “populism”, which is really a protest against the establishment elite. Politicians such as Donald Trump and the European far right have successfully channeled grievances of millions who believe that authoritarian and anti immigration policies will reverse the marginalization that they experience.
Stark choices
The worsening climate crisis will itself generate huge crises within the capitalist establishment. Rosa Luxembourg, a leftwing leader of the German Socialist Democratic party, declared in 1916 that humanity faced the choice between socialism or barbarism. History shows that categorical political predictions are seldom borne out as originally envisaged. But there can be no doubt that the world will face stark choices in the coming decades. Ecosocialist ideas can be powerful weapons in the struggle for a better world.