The Democratic Socialists of America

To best understand the place of “socialism” in American society it will be helpful to quickly establish the results of capitalism in American life.

Let’s begin with a simple, verified statement: “Ten percent of Americans own 90% of this country” and have for a very, very long time.

And with this sincere question: Is money the only true value left in America?

And as a result, can our newest generation, Gen Z – hopefully as idealistic as every new generation has a right to be – believe that this is the America they want?

So, let’s agree for these purposes to consider that our beloved Constitution was written by and for those brilliant, educated, very established men who literally owned and operated our very young country at that time.

Subsequent writing in the years that followed indicated an awareness that leadership should remain in those wealthy, powerful hands even as the country sought to segment itself into what we now know as political parties to try to represent all the voices in society.

Leading historians and economists believe that the horror and death caused by the first open fracture of America we know – the Civil War – was essentially not about the humanity of ending slavery, it was about the economic impact on the agricultural South. Freeing slaves ended the free labor which the South employed as it built its economic strength in competition with the economic growth of the North’s industrial and corporate focus and with it, the political control of the growing nation.

The brutality of the Civil War could not disguise the reality of its conclusion – the power of money drove the successful result for the North – in its economic strength and fierce commitment to the idea of a united nation which it believed could work together – industrial and agricultural – to forge a power that would takes its place in the World competition for territory and power.

Never once in all the 250 years of this Nation has socialism become a genuine part of the growth, power and influence of the United States…even as the war between corporate America and the growth of unions indicated some sense that workers had a role in the growth of our power.

While individuals and elements in the archly conservative, wealthy Catholic Church – through Dorothy Day and the priestly Berrigan brothers and their Catholic Workers Union in the mid-20th Century – brought the ideas of State ownership to the educated elements in American society, the country was far beyond any significant interest in anything but the capitalism that guided our economic movement from its very beginning.

Private ownership of corporate influence was the key to growth and profits far beyond any other form of economic system.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, capitalism, like democracy, wasn’t that great an idea until compared to other economic and political systems.

As our well financed warlike behavior helped us expand the country from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Palisades, as we influenced trade in all areas of the World, the country lived through the experience of the Robber Barons who built and profited from the expansion by literally owning transportation, energy, construction and communications. When Henry Ford caused an outrage among them by giving his workers the stunning salary of $1 an hour, he simply told them that he wanted those workers to be able to buy his Model T car.

To all intents and purposes, American capitalism caused our essential growth into a World power unknown in history despite the previous successes of most European nations and of course, the once overwhelming British Empire.

Now Europe has the European Union and belongs to NATO. The British have the Royals.

And here is where we say as we’ve said before…the end of all previous Great Powers came when they each stopped educating their young.

We have arrived at that state now.

And with it will produce a generation of want-to-be “leaders” without the knowledge and common sense to lead anything.

As both national political parties – Democrats and Republicans – lose their sense of purpose – one to a deeply anti-government conservative foundation with a mouthy businessman with a show business background as its mouthpiece, the other to a complete loss of identity – we find ourselves dealing with an organization which has found a key to filling the hole in our bucket of national purpose: the Democratic Socialists of America.

THE ORGANIZATION

Socialism is defined as the public ownership/control of all means of production, distribution and exchange instead of by private sources.

It is for this reason that Michael Harrington, the founder of the organization he called the Democratic Socialists of America in 1983. He declared that socialism would never be part of the American economic system and he wanted the Democratic Party in New York to have a sustained liberal left wing.

A journalist, professor of political science and a socialist, Harrington was also an active member of the Catholic Workers Party which was founded by Dorothy Day and a number of very liberal Catholics including two Catholic priests from Chicago, the Berrington brothers who became quite well known nationally.

Harrington’s mentor was Norman Thomas, who ran for President of the United States on the Socialist Party line eight times in 32 years. Thomas was a frequent guest of ultra conservative William Buckley’s influential media program. Their eloquent discussion of isms and events was a delight to those who enjoyed the often brilliant give and take between them.

Sadly, Harrington died of cancer before he could give his new organization the benefit of his organizational and policy skills.

The DSA was essentially invisible for 38 years before it found the way in which it could make a decided difference in the activities of New York’s Democratic Party.

In its “discovery” of a Northern Westchester recent college graduate and bartender, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the DSA saw the possibilities of working with an inexperienced would-be politician running against a very experienced but absent long-term Congressman, Joseph Crowley, who never bothered coming back to his district to run against this “girl” as he was trying to replace Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

This was their approach: Working with a strong group of enthusiastic DSA volunteers, AOC knocked on thousands of doors in one section of the Congressional District and amassed enough votes to beat him – and drive him from politics completely.

No one ever knew what Alexandria knew or didn’t know about government as a new member of Congress. We found that she had a difficult time explaining the functions of the three sections of the Federal government. She’s learned a lot more since.

No one had ever heard of the Democratic Socialists until the first campaign of Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Senator. Born, raised and educated in Brooklyn, Bernie moved to Burlington, Vermont when he found the possibilities of political success in Brooklyn blocked by a long line of hopefuls in the Democratic Party led by one Charles Schumer.

He moved to the Democrats in Burlington. We moved to the Liberal Party of NY.

Bernie never used the term socialist in Vermont as he served as Mayor of Burlington for four terms, then as a Congressman, and finally to the Senate where we first heard the reference.

When he ran for President in a primary campaign already sewn up by Senator Hillary Clinton, Bernie talked a great deal about the “millionaires and billionaires” who ran America with regard only for themselves. It was hard-hitting, factual, very negative and attracted a staggering number of young people – college students to be sure and those in the working class who hadn’t ever heard references like this in their lives.

Bernie spoke like the leftist working-class Americans of the thirties and forties who fought the great union fight against the major industrial powers of this country…all of them…transportation, construction, energy and communications.

His vibrant, energetic and “in your face” delivery soon had him making powerful inroads among young voters and even more soon-to-be voters. He gave them language they hadn’t heard or read about in schools as America’s public school system began to narrow its focus on reading and math and skipping economics, history, political science and civics.

Bernie’s “old language” and left-liberal pitch produced sparks of energy and delight. He opened the minds of those young people looking for a cause that begged for their involvement and support.

The DSA listened carefully and began to focus on the young.

Then came AOC.

And now comes Zohran Mamdani.

What the DSA understands and will soon propagate across the country is this: first find campaigns where there is a significant indication of weakness…The AOC campaign against a missing candidate or the New York City campaign for Mayor where there is an ex-Governor who hides from the public whose votes he wants, a sitting Mayor surrounded by the reality of a Federal indictment for criminal behavior which has never been explained but continues with his closest advisers, and a talk show host who knows the city but has never been involved in government and is again the candidate of a Republican Party which barely exists; and received less than 30% of the vote in the previous Mayoral election.

There is a major hole to be filled by a brightly smiling, bearded recent immigrant who has served three terms in the State Assembly with no real distinction…and has never been in charge of anything.

Give him specific campaign ideas to sell, surround him with a volunteer force to knock on doors in Brooklyn with the city’s largest number of young residents, and run him against these other candidates and watch as he steals the Democratic primary away from the Mayor and former Governor.

Now hear the so-called donor class of real estate developers who essentially run New York City call him a socialist and a Commie wondering what to do about him after watching millions of their dollars for TV ads go down the drain as he wins the primary and still leads the field as we head towards the important months of September and October.

Are his specific ideas: free bus passes, a $30 minimum wage, free child care, a tax increase on the rich, rent freezes and cheaper food prices at city run grocery stores – socialism?

Are they even doable in a city which controls very little without New York State approval in a Gubernatorial election year coming up?

Are they really meant to be serious or are they little more than a nice group of wants in a city controlled by the corporate World and the Real Estate Board in particular?

The Democratic Socialists have found themselves a method to elect young people with ideas to break the hold and control of corporate America on all Americans.

In a country whose educational system is broken so badly that public tax money is now supporting parents who want their children taught in home school and private school systems, that approach will certainly never work.

The trouble is this: these 30 year old’s in politics know very, very little. To expect that one of them can run the most important city in the World without any experience at all – a budget worth billions…some 300,000 employees…is a lot crazier than Mr. Mamdani’s proposed programs.

Whatever happens, this will be true: if you wondered how badly educated our young people truly are…a Mamdani victory will show you.

Would the brilliant-humanitarian founder of the Democratic Socialists approve?

We doubt it.