The Protracted Conflict

It is a basic principle of Marxist- Leninist doctrine that “no ruling class ever yields power peacefully.” Is this principle now about to be disproved in Chile? Is Chile’s governing elite—the landowners, industrialists, merchants, . bankers, military officers and upper clergy—going to quit without a fight? Is it ready to give up because a left-wing coalition won 36.3 per cent of the vote in a three-man election? Let me list some of the elements in the Chilean compound.

1) Everyone writes that Salvador Allende is “the first Marxist to be democratically elected a head of government.” This way of putting it is incomplete and ambiguous. Nearly two-thirds of the voters opposed him; he beat his nearest opponent by fewer than forty thousand votes. He became president by getting a majority not of the democratic electorate but of the legislature. This was in accord with constitutional procedure, though not required by the constitution. We should therefore change the comment to read, “the first Marxist to be constitutionally chosen. . . But in that case the comment is not true. A Communist became head of the Czech government through constitutional procedures, and many Socialists—i.e., reformist Marxists—have been elected, democratically as well as constitutionally, to govern many nations.

JB

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James Burnham

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It is a basic principle of Marxist- Leninist doctrine that “no ruling class ever yields power peacefully.” Is this principle now about to be disproved in Chile? Is Chile’s governing elite—the landowners, industrialists, merchants, . bankers, military officers and upper clergy—going to quit without a fight? Is it ready to give up because a left-wing coalition won 36.3 per cent of the vote in a three-man election? Let me list some of the elements in the Chilean compound.

1) Everyone writes that Salvador Allende is “the first Marxist to be democratically elected a head of government.” This way of putting it is incomplete and ambiguous. Nearly two-thirds of the voters opposed him; he beat his nearest opponent by fewer than forty thousand votes. He became president by getting a majority not of the democratic electorate but of the legislature. This was in accord with constitutional procedure, though not required by the constitution. We should therefore change the comment to read, “the first Marxist to be constitutionally chosen. . . But in that case the comment is not true. A Communist became head of the Czech government through constitutional procedures, and many Socialists—i.e., reformist Marxists—have been elected, democratically as well as constitutionally, to govern many nations.