The Return of Socialism: A Spotlight on Germany, India, and Chile (Part 4)
by Institute for Nationalist Studies
Where we stand
To our beloved readers, we acknowledge your comments and suggestions for this thinkpiece series. We sincerely thank everyone who shared their feedback and contributed to a lively discussion.
The original goal of our thinkpiece series was to unpack the factors that led to the electoral victories of the three featured political parties in Germany, India, and Chile. We hoped to understand the dynamics behind their electoral successes and thereby draw insights that may apply to our country, especially given that we are quickly heading into one of the most crucial and consequential elections in our recent history. Every lesson matters.
It is the primary objective of the Institute for Nationalist Studies to struggle for an independent and sovereign Philippines that upholds a democracy which works for all, respects the rights of everyone, and uplifts the quality of life for the Filipino masses. As an organization, we are informed by our role to study and report the history of mass movements. We are in no position to declare any movement in other countries or in history as the sole path to achieving our objectives.
With that said, in the unfolding of history can we only know the truth of the matter and how patterns emerge. As students of history, we gather that just and lasting peace, democracy, and social equity can only be fully realized when the proletariat have the power to enact policies that benefit all. In the parliaments of the elite dominated by corrupt politicians, landlords, and foreign interests, the struggle of the masses continues to fall on the deaf ears. To gain a seat in such parliaments, mass movements are born out of the need to overcome suppression and disrupt politics-as-usual of the elite. We still, however, recognize movements that launched armed struggles and have suffered great losses.
We also acknowledge democratic forces who fought for democracy through the ballot. We lend recognition to their victories that managed to tactically fulfill a part of the demands of the masses. However, history has shown us that when the ruling elites are forced to make even the tiniest concession, they violently oust such progressive leaderships. We saw how US-backed Pinochet launched a coup against the Allende government in Chile and many other countries in the world. On the other side of the spectrum, we have also witnessed how some political parties that organized their way to parliaments can forget to fully immerse themselves in the struggle of the masses. Thus, they can lose relevance or worse, become enablers of fascism.
In conclusion, INS studies all mass movements to draw insights and learn from them. However, we only support movements with clear and advanced steps toward a just, lasting, and equitable peace and democracy. Afterall, history reveals those who have the correct theory and praxis. We appreciate the feedback and we ensure that we will take note of it in our future releases.
Let’s do our part to advance theory and practice of social change.
