Let’s Talk About Democratic Socialism

Every since Bernie Saunders ran for President in 2016 the word socialism has been bandied about in American political circles with greater emphasis than at any time in the last seventy years.  Not since the degenerate Joe McCarthy spread his poison in the 1950’s has socialism had such prominence. But with the surprising election of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a few other candidates, the DSA, The Democratic Socialists of America, has come to prominence. With that notoriety comes a decided amount of power and a responsibility to use that power in a way that will benefit their followers. We already have a President who is showing the nation how to use power the wrong way. We really don’t need anyone else with that disposition.

The December 3, New York Post had an article on the DSA and their approach to the candidates for New York City Public Advocate.  I use this specific example because it can and probably will, be replicated across the country.

Of course the first thing we have to understand is that the NY Post is a right wing rag, the equivalent of Fox News, more interested in flash than veracity. That said, the Post asks some very important questions and provides some supposedly factual information about the DSA. It seems that the DSA has put together a 42-page questionnaire that, because of their current positions, most candidates for Public Advocate are filling out in order to get the DSA to support them.

Of course many of the questions are those to which any logical, functioning organization would want to know the answers. However, if the Post is to be believed, many need a hell of a lot of qualification, while a couple are downright stupid or at the very least not in keeping with the needs and wants of most citizens.

Normally I would just ignore something from a fringe element of the Democratic Party. The Democrats have long been known for having splinter groups with nutty ideas but the DSA is more than just a splinter group. It has all the potential to become a large element in the Democratic Party. It is youth orientated and for the most part its progressive agenda is something to which most Democrats should aspire. In addition it is a hard working operation that gets the troops out when needed. So let’s try and see what is really going on with them.

First, I think it must be understood that while we have long fought against the label, this is very much a socialistic country. Any country that takes care of those who, for any number of reasons, can’t take care of themselves is socialistic. And the basis of Americanism is reaching out a helping hand. Yes, there are those who call themselves Americans who are so greedy and self-involved that they care nothing for anyone but themselves. They are championed by our current President and backed by a significant section of the Republican Party. They are the ones who long ago lost sight of what it really means to be an American. They are those who wave the flag and step on the poor. These particular faux Americans are a rightful target of the DSA but in making them a target the DSA has to be careful not to bend too far in the opposite direction and step on the rights of those who are trying to live the dream and trying to do it the right way.

One of the key questions on the DSA questionnaire is: “Do you identify as a socialist and what does socialist mean to you?” It would seem to be a simple question and in a less formal setting it actually would be, but in this setting it is a pressure question that is simply aimed at increasing those who identify publically with the DSA. If the candidate answers ”no” does that mean he can’t get an endorsement even if he is the right candidate? It’s a Trump question, a bully’s question.

A second question asks if the candidate would pledge not to take money from real estate developers or landlords. Why single out this class of millionaires from corporate CEO’s or industrial leaders? It becomes obvious when one looks at other questions such as; will the candidate back universal government rent control and health care?

It’s obvious that in bunching together rent control and health care, the DSA leaders are too young or too uninformed to understand or remember why the one is absolutely necessary and how the other almost destroyed the city of New York when it was first instituted in the 1950’s. It was only because certain areas had housing stock that was exemplary that the city survived the depredations of universal rent control but it still has taken almost seventy years for it to come back in certain neighborhoods and seemingly will never come back in others.

Look, public housing is essential for a thriving city but to achieve that by means of rent control is a decidedly undemocratic policy. What that does is place the entire burden of supporting a city’s working-class and poor citizens solely on the backs of one industry. Better the DSA should throw their support behind well-run and functioning NYCHA housing. Yes, NYCHA is currently a mess but that doesn’t mean that it’s not the right solution; only that the right solution has to be run the right way.

And speaking of NYCHA, (New York City Housing Authority), the DSA’s question regarding making it fully accessible to those with felony convictions, shows how poorly thought out the questionnaire really is. There is no doubt there is much to be done in bringing our criminal justice system up to date. The elimination of private prisons, a complete revamping of sentencing guidelines, serious work on the rehabbing of inmates before release and any number of other changes that must be wrought should be under consideration, but allowing all convicted felons to have access to public housing is definitely not one of the changes that should be considered. What this does is victimize the non-felonious residents of public housing which is already too dangerous because of is lack of policing. Certainly non-violent felons should have access, under controlled conditions but allowing access to violent criminals, even those who have served their time, is a benefit they have, most often, not earned just by serving a sentence. Basically the idea is overkill.

The same can be said for another DSA position in regard to voting rights for non-citizens. For most Americans this is a non-starter. Voting rights, which are hard enough to maintain in certain states in this country, have always been widely regarded as one of the primary benefits of citizenship mainly because the right to vote confirms a right to permanently change the conditions under which one lives. There is no demonstrable reason why non-citizens should have that right. You want to vote, become a citizen! The right to vote is not a bonus on a plane ticket to this country. On the other hand, the DSA’s laudable work in getting out the legitimate vote is one of the most important functions of that branch of the Democratic Party.

One very interesting plank in the DSA platform is their support for public financing of pro-Palestinian causes. I am all for supporting the Palestinians, despite their support of Hezbollah, mainly because I think they have been royally screwed by the Israeli state which has abused their people and stolen their land. This is, however, a private position of my own. I do not think that New Yorker State tax dollars should be spent on this kind of foreign problem. That’s for the Federal Government to deal with. I further think that DSA getting involved in this sort of situation, when there are far too many problems that they will never, because of the reality of time, get to confront, indicates that they do not have a firm enough grasp of what their platform should include and what it should exclude.

More often than not, one of the largest problems with socialist thought is; that because of the enormous number of issues with which it concerns itself, it becomes too splattered to be functional. There are already so many important issues that need our attention that submitting to the functionally destructive socialistic desire to solve all problems, no matter how large or small, has almost always led to socialism’s failure to solve the most important ones.

We are at a point, in this country where the most important issues have already been clearly defined; at least for those in the Democratic Party or those who just oppose Trump. It would be a crime to have important solutions slip through our fingers just because we were trying to hold too many of them in one set of hands.

Define and attack! That’s how you get shit done. Insignificant problems just muddy the waters and waste limited resources that should be concentrated on solving the most important problems first!

The Palestinian issue is the kind of over reach that splinter groups have indulged in in the past, and which, almost universally have been detrimental to the Democratic cause. I think that the DSA can and will be a very influential part of the Democratic Party, but only if they keep their heads and don’t go running after every fly-by-night issue that emerges from membership. There will always be those who want to sponsor hair-brained causes. The DSA must keep itself under control and not become too splayed by unimportant or unrelated side issues. DSA can become a very strong core group in the Democratic Party but only if it doesn’t misplace the forest among the trees.