Not all leftists are communists

Considered one of the low points of Chief Justice (CJ) Renato Corona’s May 22 testimony was his wild assertion that President Noynoy Aquino (P-Noy) is under the control of Leftists - referring specifically to Akbayan, which is headed by Political Adviser Ronald Llamas. The CJ further alleged that these Leftists are seeking to takeover the P-Noy government.

The only explanation that can be seen from that wild assertion is that it was meant to sow intrigue in the military against their Commander-in-Chief. As an issue, a competent political strategist will know that it will not resonate in the public mind. To majority of Filipinos the bad ‘leftist’ tag pertains to Bayan, the ones associated with the communists, and one of the most vicious critics of P-Noy. Filipinos may not be that well informed on the technical differences between socialists and communists but they’re firm in not wanting the communists.

Actually, the communists here hate the socialists more than they hate the military. Why? That’s because the socialists are found more attractive and that reduces communist recruitment. Association with the communists had given the leftist tag a bad name. Many Filipinos are unaware that socialists are also leftists, just as anyone seeking structural reform is technically a leftist. The PDP-Laban party of Vice President Jojo Binay is an avowed leftist party. The UK, Australia and Canada have socialist policies.

The wiki.answers.com website provides some very good insights on how we can differentiate the socialist from the communist, as follows:

“Socialism is the idea that the working class, the class that produces the profits, the wealth, the cars, houses, planes, steel, should take over and run things collectively, democratically, for the benefit of the majority (who also “just happen” to be workers too).

Communism is the idea that society should not have classes — exploiters and exploited, oppressors and oppressed, and so on.

Socialism generally refers to an economic system, while communism refers to both an economic and political system.

Socialism seeks to manage the economy through deliberate and collective social control.

Communism seeks to manage both the economy and the society by ensuring that property is owned collectively, and that control over the distribution of property is centralized in order to achieve both classlessness and statelessness.

Both socialism and communism are based on the principle that the goods and services produced in an economy should be owned publicly, and controlled and planned by a centralized organization. Socialism says that the distribution should take place according to the amount of an individual’s production efforts, whilst communism asserts that that goods and services should be distributed among the populace according to individuals’ needs.”

Over the years, socialists and communists have evolved. In Russia and China, the communists embraced capitalism while socialists also made compromises with their ideology. In US politics, the Republicans, who are associated with conservatives and the very rich, often brand the Democrats as socialists. Just like the CJ, the Republicans are using the negative association of socialist that was bred by the Cold War. However, in the light of their current difficulties, many Americans would gladly embrace some socialist practices now like the free health and free education that the UK, Australia and Canada provides its citizens.

The Economy of Communion, Focolare founder Chiara Lubich’s new economic paradigm, which is endorsed by the Vatican, is basically socialist in that it seeks to give more to the least of our brethren. One big difference though is that socialism aspires to give more to the workers by imposed government policy while Lubich’s new paradigm is exercised individually in freedom.

Going back to CJ Corona’s wild accusation of a leftist plot to takeover the P-Noy government — its best shot would have been to sow doubts in the military about their Commander-in-Chief. This would also suggest that there could be a plot to promote a military uprising in order to save some evil persons from impending prosecution and jail time.

My intelligence sources have confirmed that there have been attempts to promote disunity in the military against P-Noy except that the former regime doesn’t have the credibility to get a sympathetic military ear and the military is quite happy with P-Noy. We give credence to this possibility because it would fit in a scenario — if and when a constitutional crisis happens.

CJ Corona has shown to what lengths he would go in order to keep his job. He metamorphosed into a thespian and made a dramatic performance at the impeachment trial. We, who knew him from way back, never imagined that he had it or would dare do it. He and his family initiated a move to reconcile with the Basa family — likely to regain lost moral high ground caused by Sister Flory’s narration of the Basa tale of persecution. He even signed the waiver for his dollar accounts, probably knowing that the tribunal — committed to a May 29 verdict at the latest — cannot act on it anymore.

It cannot be ruled out that if convicted by the impeachment court, CJ Corona and his Supreme Court allies might intervene, effectively causing a constitutional crisis.

Shakespeare: “Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.”

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Chair Wrecker e-mail and website: www.chair wrecker. com