On the 9th and the 10th of November, the US President, Joe Biden, called for a so-called "Summit for Democracy".
Virtually 110 countries were invited to come together because of the danger that democracy is in today, according to Joe Biden - among them, of course, the Federal Republic of Germany, which took part in the summit in the form of the new Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). The US President sees democracy increasingly in danger around the world, especially with the rise of so-called car cards. "In the face of persistent and alarming challenges to democracy and universal human rights around the world, democracy needs champions," he proclaimed in his speech at the start of the summit. Autocratically ruled countries are increasingly using repressive measures " ...as a more efficient way to deal with today's challenges," Biden also said.
Olaf Scholz also voiced his alleged concerns. According to the German chancellor, the " ...democratic institutions must be strengthened internally and externally." US President Joe Biden additionally announced the establishment of a so-called "Initiative for Democratic Renewal" to invest in the promotion of democracies around the world. Next year, 424 million US dollars are to be made available for this purpose. Ultimately, the summit has two reasons that are closely linked. First of all, it should be noted that imperialism is in a general crisis that is developing on different levels. This general and also last crisis of the imperialist system hardens the contradictions immensely. In this process, the interimperialist contradiction that exists between the different imperialist superpowers and powers is also developing. The struggle for hegemony continues steadily, with everyone wanting to get to the top to grab the biggest piece of the spoils. Such a trial of strength worldwide is currently particularly evident between the USA, Russia - as the two superpowers, and socialimperialist China. Of course, the two main rivals of the Yankees were not invited to Biden's summit for democracy and thus the summit is also a direct declaration of war against the competitors.In the main, however, Biden's summit shows how the general crisis of imperialism is developing on the political level. The fact that Biden, Scholz and about a hundred other states see democracy in danger is no coincidence. For democracy is in a deep crisis, which is concretised in the crisis of parliamentarism. It is not the autocrats who are to blame, as Biden and Co. claim. It is the powerlessness of the system, which continues to disintegrate. This very crisis of parliamentarism is evident in several ways. One example is the declining participation of the masses in elections. In the OECD countries, this fell from 75 to 65 percent between the 1990s and the 2010s. In the FRG, the trend has been going downhill since the 1970s and the host of the Summit for Democracy has also seen a steady plunge in participation in presidential elections (from as low as 89.7 percent in 1968 to 65.4 percent in 2016). Only at the presidentialellections in 2020 the participation gets higher, because of the big spektakel that was made to vote out the allegedly fascist Donald Trump. In the process, the imperialists also have the problem of not reaching out to the masses and failing to bring them back to the way of the system.
Even though Joe Biden and all the others may try to present themselves as the great champions of democracy, freedom, equality, human rights, etc., it is all nothing but hypocritical talk. Here in the FRG, too, we have been allowed to experience in the last two years how much democracy actually still exists, when, roughly summarised, basic democratic rights and freedoms were restricted, the parliament was undermined in its function and the executive was strengthened. What the bourgeoisie needs, especially in times of crisis, is a strong state that creates stability. Parlaments that control are only counterproductive. The tendency here in the FRG, in the USA and elsewhere is towards fascism, no matter how much money is supposedly invested in democracy and how many summits are organised. Every new Goverment that follows of an old, become more reactionary. Thus, Joe Biden's summit is the admission of the bourgeoisie that democracy is in this deep crisis and at the same time a pathetic attempt to defend the crumbling power of his country based on conspiracy and strife, which is characteristic of the imperialists.
