The ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) has an illusion of grandeur: that after almost three years of nationwide looting of the common wealth by Mr Weah and his henchmen and compounded by an unending economic crisis that has butchered living standards, worsened poverty levels, taken inequality and unemployment to a new high and plunged the education and healthcare sectors of the country back into the abyss of the Middle Ages, the people would remain unchanged in their political disposition and continuously support the scandalous populism. Fortunately, the historical process and the evolution of social consciousness do not work in such backward way. Society is always in constant flux and subject to change. So is the social consciousness of man which changes based on changing conditions and circumstances. That the CDC enthusiasts have not drawn this apt conclusion tells more about their intellectual defects and unmasks the built-in bankruptcy of the CDC’s “Blue Revolution”- which is wrongly named and must be considered the “Blue pillage”.
Report by Moses Uneh Yahmia, Contributing Writer
The CDC suffers from a dearth of revolutionary consciousness and lacks a sense of history – the reason it is not only incapable of building alternative institutions that differ from the old and rotten society but is also bereft of the sea of cadres with the human material who would carve out undertakings to usher the people into a new era and shift power and wealth from the predatory elites and their external backers to that of oppressed humanity. The Liberian masses have refused to commit themselves to such a farce as evidenced by the defeat of the party in the 2019 senatorial election in Montserrado County and the series of popular protest actions that erupted on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic. The fan club is politically obsolete and despite the state funded political spectacles we have witnessed in recent time, the opposition will register a massive win in the impending midterm senatorial election. That is, if the coronavirus pandemic does not hinder the conduct of such election. The outcome of December 8, 2020 would again confirm the disillusionment the people have and their hunger for an alternative to the disaster.
There is a tiny layer of the masses, especially in the urban slums, that is still fascinated by the empty populism led by Mr. Weah. This is understandable as there is this tendency of conservatism among the masses. But this does not have a long life span. Time and circumstances will erode such illusion that the people in question have for Mr Weah. Only a social revolution that constructs a new social order and produces a literate, healthy, and dignified populace is capable of sustaining the commitment of the people. If the revolution does not resolve historical grievances and create the condition for the masses to unleash their potential and produce wealth to meet their needs as opposed to the profit interest of the few, they wouldn’t remain at political inertia. Throughout history, all exploited people, at a decisive moment, have carved out remedies to resolve inherent contradictions. They may be timid for a certain period. This does not mean changes are not taking place below the surface. Gradual quantitative changes which are not seen with the naked eye reach a tipping point and produce a volcanic eruption.
No phenomenon in nature has an eternal life span. Be it organic or inorganic matter, everything comes into being, develops, declines and in the final analysis perishes. Man is born. Man develops his highest potential. Then man becomes decrepit. He reaches a stage of senile decay, declines further and then man is finally a dead man. This basic scientific law of change and development applies not only to organic matter–man. It also applies to the evolution of society. It is the premise of historical logic. Contradictions which are the motor force of change, have multiplied enormously in Liberia. These contradictions are generated by a system of domination that denies people the opportunity to aspire, dream and concretely experience reality. And this has ignited a popular rage among the Liberian masses. This rage has united all the oppressed people, awakened their consciousness and prepared them to settle scores with their oppressors.
But the Liberian people at this stage intend to take the legal road to oust the political gravediggers who have buried them in extreme poverty and deprivation. This is why they are very enthusiastic about the impending election. A section of the ruling elites knows this very well. And for a group of people that has plundered a country in reckless abandon, losing its grips on power is too bitter a pill to swallow. They are aware that they would be subjected to a judicial commission of inquiry and be stripped of their wealth and social status. Thus, the regime has resolved to block an opposition victory in future elections. It doesn’t rely on the popular mobilization of the people as it has not only been discredited; it has also lost the confidence of that chunk of the masses who thought George Weah had a magic wand to improve their lot.
The tricksters and vicious and corrupt kleptocrats have concluded a Ponzi scheme. They would copy from the 2017 playbook of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and look to the forces of repression to frighten the people and brutally crush any resistance to a fraudulent electoral process. The regime enjoys the service of a puppet electoral commission and the subservience of a Supreme Court. These institutions would dress the fraud with legality. But this would be the catalyst for the people to take matters into their own hands. They would vote with their feet after being denied the outcome of the ballots. I emphasize again that the armed bodies of men including mobilized and trained paramilitary thugs would be unleashed on an angry and protesting mass of people to defend the privileges of the black fascist vandals. This is how far the forces of reaction intend to go to maintain power. They are determined to drown the people’s revolutionary resilience in blood. But to steal the democratic verdict of the people is to rob them of the rights to settle political grievances through democratic means. This would create the condition for the organized masses to adopt alternative methods and struggle for the transformation of society. This is the lesson of history!