this post was submitted on 19 May 2026
21 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Lemmygrad

1320 readers
73 users here now

A place to ask questions of Lemmygrad's best and brightest

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

How do you argue with someone to explain why Marxism-Leninism is more democratic than western liberal democracy, when they are deeply propagandized to think that only the western democracy is democratic and just and say that rich people are needed to make the economy work etc (all the usual talking points). I am not very good at this, when I say our democracy is not democratic they said I sound insane

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] happybadger@hexbear.net 7 points 1 day ago

If democracy is social but not economic, it isn't democratic. I can vote for the guy who will tax my boss less, but I can't vote to elect a new boss or increase my pay or decrease my rent. My boss, landlord, and the political class all enshrine their own power over me the more they amass wealth. When their vote has more weight than my vote, it's the same dynamic as pretending to let your pet choose something. The illusion of control obscures a fundamentally uneven relationship.

Under socialism, my vote improves my life. It isn't a pressure valve to prevent revolution, but a means of achieving it across all the spheres of my life.