Democratic Socialism

Capitalism Cannot Exist Without Imperialism

June 14, 2021 Rania Khalek, Breakthrough News. Resistance Report Capitalism, Colonialism, Democratic Socialism, Finance and the Economy

Prahbat Patnaik, professor emeritus at JNU, joins Rania Khalek on her program Dispatches to discuss the argument he lays out in his book A Theory of Imperialism, which argues that capitalism was always a function of imperialism. But today’s imperialism takes a subtler less visible form than during colonialism, keeping large parts of the world in poverty through mechanisms like income deflation so that the wealthy nations can maintain access to the cheap commodities only tropical regions can produce. Imperialism also requires an army of unemployed people in the third world that are even more essential to capitalism than the army of reserve labor in the global north. Patnaik also addresses the democratic socialist ideal of turning America into Denmark but that too cannot happen without imperialism.

Scheer Intelligence: For Many Young People, Socialism Is As American As Apple Pie

June 26, 2020 Robert Scheer, ScheerPost.com. Educate! Bernie Sanders, Democratic Socialism, Podcast, Youth

In the devastating aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, many young Americans who felt betrayed by capitalism were introduced to socialism by Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns. Meagan Day, a staff writer for the popular left-wing magazine Jacobin and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), serves as an example of how the Vermont senator radicalized a generation with a platform that called for policies like Medicare for All and tuition-free college. Day credits Sanders with her decision to choose socialism when she felt the time came to “pick a side” in American politics and has since been working to understand how the socialist resurgence the Democratic candidate inspired can grow without him in the White House.

Coronavirus Opens The Door To Big Changes, The Left Faces Pushback

April 2, 2020 George Lakey, Waging Nonviolence. Educate! Capitalism, COVID-19, Democratic Socialism, Nordic Model

Emergencies have a way of shaking up old, limiting beliefs. The coronavirus pandemic is pushing people back to the drawing board. In the United States, many are noticing the institutional failures forced on us in recent decades, during what billionaire Warren Buffett calls the “class warfare” waged by the economic elite. The health crisis opens the door to bolder thinking. Even establishment politicians today consider moves that cost trillions, but their motivation is to save the existing system, not to transition to a better one. For many Americans, however, it’s time for a system change. Fortunately, we don’t have to start from scratch. The American left in recent years has been shaking off its vision-aversion that began in the Reagan presidency.

Democratic Socialism In The Twenty-First Century

February 28, 2020 Scott Tucker, Counterpunch.org Educate! Democratic Socialism, Ideology

In the previous century I was a regular columnist for The Humanist magazine, and I was fortunate to work for an editor, Rick Szykowny, who was committed to publishing both class conscious and explicitly socialist writers. On March 1, 1994, The Humanist published my article titled “The Good Fight: The Case for Socialism in the 21st Century.” The article is archived online at The Free Library. Here’s an excerpt...

“Democratic Socialism” – Bring It On Corporate Socialists!

February 17, 2020 Staff, Nader.org Educate! Democratic Socialism, Electoral Politics

Crooked Donald Trump, the erstwhile failed gambling czar and corporate welfare king, is assailing Bernie Sanders for his “radical socialism.” How ludicrous given Trump’s three-year giveaway of taxpayer assets and authorities to giant corporations – a perfect portrait of crony capitalism. Others are joining the socialist labeling bandwagon, including corporatist right wing radio talk show blowhards, themselves freeloaders, profitably using the public airwaves.

A Path To Democratic Socialism Means A Path To Climate Justice

April 20, 2019 By Thea N. Rio Francos, Inthesetimes.com Strategize! Climate Change, Democratic Socialism

While the question of whether we should address capitalism first or climate change first is often posed in sequential terms, it is a false choice—though a compelling one. One can cogently argue, as Tobita does, that the timeline to avert the worst of climate chaos is exceedingly short, much shorter than the time it would take to overthrow and replace capitalism. But one can also argue, as Ashley does, that the climate crisis is historically a symptom of capitalism, and that this has intensified since the post-war Great Acceleration of globalized production and consumption.

The Lemming Effect And The Left

October 20, 2018 By Greg Godels, Zzs-blg.blogspot.com Educate! Democratic Socialism, Electoral Politics, Party Politics

With two weeks before the mid-Presidential-term US elections, the number of Democratic Party political solicitations in my e-mail inbox now approaches fifty a day. The curious-- “cynical” might be a better word-- thing is that none mention a genuine issue, none suggest an argument for a cause. All come with a folksy tone, an easy familiarity (from Bob, Chuck, Nancy, or Michelle) and all presume that I’m on their “team’ with cash at hand. The cheap emotional card is pulled frequently-- “Do you want to wish President Obama/Michelle Obama/Nancy Pelosi a happy birthday?” or “You didn’t respond to our request, do you HATE Bob Mueller?” Some are scolding: “TRAGIC ENDING. I [Nancy Pelosi] e-mailed yesterday. Barbra Streisand e-mailed. Harry Reid e-mailed.

Democratic Socialism And Political Power

October 1, 2018 Rob Urie, Counterpunch.org Strategize! Democratic Socialism, Politics, Revisionism

Occasionally a phrase supports a wide range of political posturing while bearing little determinable relationship to actionable politics. ‘Income inequality’ is one of these phrases. Few using it are communists, a politics that recognizes concentrated economic power as both cause and effect in the skewed distribution of income and wealth. And the entire point of capitalism is the concentration of these that functions as (circular) proof of the social utility created by capitalists. As corollary to American democracy, the phrase ignores centuries of evidence that political power is determined by economic power. Of current relevance is its place in the programs of Democratic Socialism, a rebranding of New Deal type social welfare programs that proponents (I am one) apparently intend to fit into existing American political economy.

Capitalism Is Not The “Market System”

September 5, 2018 Richard D. Wolff, Truthout.org Educate! Capitalism, Democratic Socialism, New Economy

With the Democratic Socialists of America now counting 48,000 people within its membership and socialist candidates such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pushing for free universities and Medicare for All, Americans are once again discussing capitalism versus socialism. Fortunately, they are not doing so in the old Cold War manner of uncritically celebrating one while demonizing the other. Rather, it’s a debate over the choice Americans must make now between keeping capitalism or changing the system to some form of socialism. As debates often do, this debate awakens us to problems and differences in how we understand its basic terms. For clarity and to make progress in this important debate, we need to stop conflating “capitalism” with the market. This is done far too often and on all sides of the debate.

Merkel’s CDU Wins But Far-Right AfD Enters Bundestag

September 25, 2017 Catherine Stupp, www.euractiv.com Educate! Democratic Socialism, Electoral Politics, Germany

By Catherine Stupp for Euractiv. Germany - Merkel’s coalition partners, the Social Democrats, were also dealt shocking losses, bringing them their worst results since World War Two. Party leaders said on Sunday evening that they would leave the government and lead the opposition in the Bundestag. The AfD, which had campaigned on the anti-Islam and anti-immigration ticket, will be the first far-right party to take up seats in the Bundestag in more than 50 years. Merkel, SPD leader Martin Schulz and other parties’ leaders were frequently criticised for leading boring election campaigns. But the losses to the CDU and the SPD are bigger than polls predicted, and the AfD’s win marks a dramatic change in the German political landscape. After exit poll figures were announced Sunday, Merkel admitted she was disappointed by the results. “Of course we expected a slightly better result, that’s totally clear,” she said at the CDU party headquarters. The CDU suffered its biggest ever slide in support between elections, drawing 33% of the vote, compared to 41.5% in 2013. The centre-left SPD picked up only 20.5% of the vote, down from 25.7% in 2013. Merkel has been chancellor since 2005, and her win will be celebrated as a sign of stability by many in Brussels. But talks on a new government could take a while. Exit poll results rolled in starting at around 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. According to final figures that were released early Monday morning, the AfD pulled in 12.6% of the vote, making it the third strongest party in the next Bundestag.

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