Beware of Democratic Centralism

If you ever hear anyone advocating something called Democratic Centralism, I want you to stick your fingers in your ears and shout nonsense until they go away. Do not be fooled by the fact that it says “Democratic” in the term. This is so absolutely against our ideals in this country, it should never become a part of any conversation. However, it is the way that any country or party based on the ideas of Lenin is run. For example, the Communist Party of the USA believes in Democratic Centralism. The USSR was run with Democratic Centralism.

So what is it, you ask? Well, the Democratic part indicates that every person top to bottom who has any influence at all is elected. Every issue or decision that needs to be made is voted on. Sounds good, right? Sure… then we get to the Centralism part. Once a decision has been made by the top of the food chain, all debate ends. All conversation ends. All members, citizens, whatever are duty-bound not only to obey the decision, but explain and defend it as well. Sounds great if you were a part of the majority that voted in the decision, but what if you weren’t? What if you were not allowed to say that Bush or Obama should never have been elected? What if you were not allowed to say that the stimulus, Obamacare, or the Patriot Act was not good for this country? You see, no matter which side of the fence you are on, you likely value the right given to you by the First Amendment- free speech. With Democratic Centralism, there’s no such thing, at least not after a decision has been made.

So while I haven’t heard of anyone besides the CPUSA using this policy, I just want everyone to know what it is, so that nobody is fooled into trusting someone touting the idea that anything “democratic” is good.