Lenin CW-Vol. 23.pdf - From Marx to Mao

A CARICATURE OF MARXISM43The political superstructure of this new economy, of monopolycapitalism (imperialism is monopoly capitalism), isthe change from democracy to political reaction. Democracycorresponds to free competition. Political reaction correspondsto monopoly. “Finance capital strives for domination,not freedom,” Rudolf Hilferding rightly remarks in hisFinance Capital.It is fundamentally wrong, un-Marxist and unscientific,to single out “foreign policy” from policy in general, letalone counterpose foreign policy to home policy. Both inforeign and home policy imperialism strives towards violationsof democracy, towards reaction. In this sense imperialismis indisputably the “negation” of democracy in general,of all democracy, and not just of one of its demands, nationalself-determination.Being a “negation” of democracy in general, imperialismis also a “negation” of democracy in the national question(i.e., national self-determination): it seeks to violate democracy.The achievement of democracy is, in the same sense,and to the same degree, harder under imperialism (comparedwith pre-monopoly capitalism), as the achievement of arepublic, a militia, popular election of officials, etc. There canbe no talk of democracy being “economically” unachievable.Kievsky was probably led astray here by the fact (besideshis general lack of understanding of the requirements ofeconomic analysis) that the philistine regards annexation(i.e., acquisition of foreign territories against the will of theirpeople, i.e., violation of self-determination) as equivalentto the “spread” (expansion) of finance capital to a largereconomic territory.But theoretical problems should not be approached fromphilistine conceptions.Economically, imperialism is monopoly capitalism. Toacquire full monopoly, all competition must be eliminated,and not only on the home market (of the given state), butalso on foreign markets, in the whole world. Is it economicallypossible, “in the era of finance capital”, to eliminatecompetition even in a foreign state? Certainly it is. It isdone through a rival’s financial dependence and acquisitionof his sources of raw materials and eventually of all hisenterprises.