bro the point of electoralism as a socialist isn't to change policy (tho you might get some concessions here and there which are welcome) but to give your policies and organization a bigger platform, so you can propagandize. a big chunk of why socialism has come back to public discourse is because of Sanders' 2016 campaign. especially now that socialism is in ascent and only socialists will defend very popular policies (15$ minimum wage, M4A, stimmies/UBI, etc) electoralism can be a very good opportunity for propagandizing and growth of the socialist movement.
will you create the United Socialist States of America through electoralism? no. can it help you get there? maybe, but when it comes to politics, taking power and overthrowing a ruling class "maybe" is as good of an answer as you're gonna get.
I'm not saying that socialists should never engage tactically in bourgeois democracy. There's a time and a place for that. But the DSA's national strategy of being the left wing of the Democratic Party is not one that I have faith in in the long term
i agree with you here, for the most part. but even if the DSA's strategy isn't sustainable in the long-term you can still join one of the more radical caucuses and agitate in the DSA itself. a lot of people will eventually realize that taking over the Democratic party (if DSA leadership even plans on going that "far") is a pretty shitty plan and that the more radical people have had solid criticism of the DSA's strategy and tactics. that will lead to people joining/creating/splitting into better suited orgs for a socialist path.
i'm not from the US but i truly don't see a better org for socialists to join other than the DSA: it's pretty big, its members are pretty open minded to ideas to the left of them, etc obviously keep in mind the limitations of the organization but most other organizations are pretty much irrelevant at the moment and i don't see that changing any time soon.
I'm a DSA member currently, but I don't think I really want to spend my time and energy trying to push the DSA left. I'm already part of a giant, terrible union that is controlled by liberal ghouls with a deathgrip on power. The biggest problem I have is that it's an organization, not a party. It has no ideology (by design). The politicians they endorse and elect aren't accountable to the organization or its membership. There are good caucuses and good chapters, but I've just been feeling like I want an org with some discipline and ideological consistency.
bro the point of electoralism as a socialist isn't to change policy (tho you might get some concessions here and there which are welcome) but to give your policies and organization a bigger platform, so you can propagandize. a big chunk of why socialism has come back to public discourse is because of Sanders' 2016 campaign. especially now that socialism is in ascent and only socialists will defend very popular policies (15$ minimum wage, M4A, stimmies/UBI, etc) electoralism can be a very good opportunity for propagandizing and growth of the socialist movement.
will you create the United Socialist States of America through electoralism? no. can it help you get there? maybe, but when it comes to politics, taking power and overthrowing a ruling class "maybe" is as good of an answer as you're gonna get.
I'm not saying that socialists should never engage tactically in bourgeois democracy. There's a time and a place for that. But the DSA's national strategy of being the left wing of the Democratic Party is not one that I have faith in in the long term
i agree with you here, for the most part. but even if the DSA's strategy isn't sustainable in the long-term you can still join one of the more radical caucuses and agitate in the DSA itself. a lot of people will eventually realize that taking over the Democratic party (if DSA leadership even plans on going that "far") is a pretty shitty plan and that the more radical people have had solid criticism of the DSA's strategy and tactics. that will lead to people joining/creating/splitting into better suited orgs for a socialist path.
i'm not from the US but i truly don't see a better org for socialists to join other than the DSA: it's pretty big, its members are pretty open minded to ideas to the left of them, etc obviously keep in mind the limitations of the organization but most other organizations are pretty much irrelevant at the moment and i don't see that changing any time soon.
I'm a DSA member currently, but I don't think I really want to spend my time and energy trying to push the DSA left. I'm already part of a giant, terrible union that is controlled by liberal ghouls with a deathgrip on power. The biggest problem I have is that it's an organization, not a party. It has no ideology (by design). The politicians they endorse and elect aren't accountable to the organization or its membership. There are good caucuses and good chapters, but I've just been feeling like I want an org with some discipline and ideological consistency.