redbloodedamerica:

Democratic Socialism is ‘Diet Communism’

Democratic socialists will not be covered as the radicals that they are.  They’ll be covered as innovative, millennial friendly upstarts, fresh ideas on how to rescue and save the country from the tyranny of white patriarchy and capitalism.  It’ll be covered as a “people’s movement”.  “See, this is what people have been clamoring for under the tyranny of President Trump.”  

So, who are the democratic socialists of America?  Well, we’ve gone over this before but we really need to start learning about them and sharing with friends.  You’re going to be hearing a lot more about the DSA.  It’s not a third party, it’s been around since 1982 as an activist organization with chapters around the country that host meetings.  Like the one in California that actually hosts the readings from Karl Marx.  It sounds so fun.  

The DSA, quoting their own website, believes that “both the economy and society should be run democratically to meet human needs, not make profits for a few.”  So in other words, we’re all going to vote on what we take from people.  Two groups, that have been around since the early 1970s, merged to form the Democratic Socialists of America, 1982.  One of these groups was called the New American Movement.  It was founded by the people who splintered off from the Students for a Democratic Society.  If the SDS sounds familiar, then you either live through the 60′s, or you’ve watched some of my programs and remember them as the group that produced Bill Ayers,

Bernardine Dohrn, and The Weather Underground terrorist group that was responsible for 25 bombings in the early 1970s.  Now to be fair, you know it is a benevolent terrorist group; they always called ahead and said hey we’re about to blow up the police station.

In 2011, the DSA joined antifa groups in the Occupy Wall Street movement from day one.  Now at that time, the DSA only had 6,500 members.  But since then, the group has mounted a national student debt campaign.  “You got a lot of debt, we’re here to help.”  That’s worked wonders in roping younger recruits in who like the sound of government giving them a free ride.  The DSA has also thrown its support behind the Black Lives Matter movement, and has helped raise money for the National Network of Abortion Funds.  Although, for a group dedicated to free universal health care and a guarantee of basic income, you know, they’ll still remove some of the major rationales of women choosing abortion. 

The the DSA’s crowning achievement, I would say, would have to be their push to make Bernie Sanders President in 2016.  Part of that effort, included their People’s Revolution 101 program, which the Democratic Socialists of America sponsored seminars teaching people basic democratic socialist principles.  By election day, the DSA membership was up to 8,500; but since Trump’s inauguration, the DSA membership has exploded to over 24,000 members, with 100 new local chapters started just this last year.  Most are new members, and they’re between the ages of 18 and 35.  

So, what are the basic democratic socialist principles?  Well, according to their website it’s working to legitimize socialism as a mainstream part of US politics.  "We are socialists because we share a vision of humane social order based on popular control of resources and production, economic planning, equitable distribution, feminism, racial equality, and non oppressive relationships.  We are socialists because we are developing a concrete strategy for achieving that vision, for building a majority movement that will make democratic socialism a reality in America.”  Any keywords stick out there?  "Popular control of resources and production.”  "Economic planning and equitable distribution.”  There’s no way around it, socialism and communism are kissing cousins.  The only difference is when this “concrete solution” begins to fail that’s when somebody grabs a gun and socialism goes to communism.  

Socialism really is just diet communism.  Putting “democratic” before “socialist” is the diet part.  It makes it seem, I don’t know, less Stalin and more Bernie Sanders.  But where did the term come from?  Lenin.  Lenin used to refer to himself as a "democratic socialist.”  He wrote:  “We Social-Democrats always stand or democracy, but not ‘in the name of capitalism,’ but in the name of clearing the path for our movement.”  That pretty much describes the strategy of the Democratic Socialists of America.  In America, socialism has always been fused with progressivism.  Now this is progressivism on steroids.