By Charles Andrews
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are celebrating wins by six House of Representative candidates whom they endorsed in the midterm elections, added to the two they had. But where is the socialism? “Democratic socialism” and “social democracy” are often used interchangeably.
However, they are two different ideas. In a democratic socialist economy, most of the means of production would be nationalized and publicly owned. It is supposed to be the opposite of capitalism.
Nonetheless, democratic socialists rule out communism or postpone it forever. The “democratic” part ignores the basic question: democracy for which class? Democratic socialists abhor the dictatorship of the working class, which you absolutely need for real democracy — workers running things, not voting for one or another officer of a capitalist state.
Democratic socialism has never been achieved. When Chilean president Salvador Allende took a few steps toward it in 1973, the military killed him along with thousands more and installed the Pinochet fascist regime.
Social democrats accept capitalist economy. “I don’t believe government should own the means of production,” says Bernie Sanders (Time, Dec. 13, 2023). Social democrats want programs that soften the exploitation of labor power. Universal healthcare, free education from pre-school through college, full employment, affordable housing, and complete social security would be financed by heavy taxes on both capitalists and workers.
Sweden and a few other European countries maintained social democratic versions of capitalism for several decades. That is no longer possible. Post-industrial capital accumulation does not allow for broad prosperity. Capitalism has entered its final phase of decay (The Hollow Colossus).
The more election victories DSA enjoys, the more that people ask, what is DSA’s socialism? DSA gurus offer democratic socialist models, for example in the recently published The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World, but they just hang a cloak on capitalism, a cloak they call “market socialism.”
DSA has moved rightward in practice. Several years ago many members engaged in local struggles, like the Chicago teachers’ strike of 2019. DSA then moved to partnership with union bureaucrats. When Shawn Fain became president of the UAW, he hired DSA’ers for his staff. They orchestrated Fain’s 2023 selective “Stand Up Strike” that let production and profits roll for the auto corporations. The UAW also boasted that the strike agreement would bring back 1,200 jobs at a Stellantis factory, but instead the company terminated 2,000 temporary positions a few months later.
Today most of DSA’s money and members’ energy goes into election campaigns. Its next project is to help representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez run for president of the U.S., or maybe for senator while a symbolic candidate runs for president. DSA wants the Democratic party to resemble European social-democratic parties. These parties gave up pretending to be democratic socialist decades ago.
Parties either accept capitalism or go for communism. There is nothing in between. DSA peddles the illusion of humanizing capitalism by elections and legislation. Communist parties commit to the overthrow of capitalism, which opens the socialist-communist path.
* Charles Andrews is the author of The Hollow Colossus and other books.
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