The Hungarian Quarterly, 1993 (34. évfolyam, 132. szám)

Bibó István: The Alleged opposition Between Capitalist Liberalism and Socialism Communism

István Bibó The Alleged Opposition Between Capitalist Liberalism and Socialist Communism1 T he most universalized theory on their irreconcilable differences states that capitalist liberalism is based on the interests of the bourgeoisie, on democratic and liberal theories formulated to defend them, and on the French and other revolutions which resulted in the rule of the bourgeoisie. Socialism on the other hand, and communism, its most thoroughgoing manifestation, are based on the interests of the industrial proletariat, on socialist-communist theories formulated to defend them, and on the breakthrough effected by the Russian Revolution of October 1917, which ensured working class rule. This is not merely the official communist point of view and the generally accepted Marxist interpretation; it is also the position of a number of so-called bourgeois political theorists who, far from being communists, are indeed, often enough, declared anti-communists. They accept it as self-evident that the bourgeoisie was conceived by ideological class-interest, all they do is to reverse the roles of angels and devils. They argue that the class which will come to include the whole of society, establishing a universally valid value system in its own interest, will not be the proletariat but the bourgeoisie. The root of such errors in interpretation is a fallacy already known to antiquity: an attempt is made to explain what is obscure with the help of concepts of even greater obscurity. Let me, first of all, gloss the notion of a "basic interest". This is presented as if the interests of a class were perfectly clear or, at the very least, could be objectively defined. But that is far from being the case. No kind of interest is clear, nor can it be objectively defined. It is one of the most subjective of concepts. The social interest of an individual may well be to exploit his fellow men to the greatest possible degree; or else, it may be that he should be held in the highest possible respect by them; or that he should close his life as a hero, as someone of great moral authority, or even as a saint. The latter may be rarer than 1 ■ Taken from an essay of the same title "A kapitalista liberalizmus és a szocialista kommunizmus állítólagos ellentéte", in István Bibó: Válogatott tanulmányok W (Selected Studies IV) Budapest, Magvető, pp. 759-782. 41 Capitalist Liberalism and Socialist Communism

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