Democratic Socialism and the Democratic Party

I thought it would be a good idea to have a thread about Democratic Socialism, and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). What is their long-term vision, and how do they intend to achieve their goals?

Here is where they lay this out in their own words:

Toward Freedom: Democratic Socialist Theory and Practice

It's a bit longish -- too long to quote more than a small excerpt -- but if you read it, you should be able to understand where they are coming from and what they hope to achieve. It lays out their vision of how the institutions of society would be organized if they achieve their goals, and also some discussion about how they intend to work towards those goals.

Instead of forming a third party like the Green Party, they see the Democratic Party as the only realistic political vehicle by which they could achieve them, given the nature of the American political system. Third parties tend to fail in the US.

I think, for example, that the Tea Party on the right recognized this. If the Tea Party had organized itself as an actual third party and ran its own separate candidates against Democrats and Republicans in three-way races, it would have had much less success than it did by working from within the Republican party. Instead, Tea Party candidates ran in Republican primaries against more moderate "establishment" Republicans. This was a more successful political model than any independent third party has ever achieved (at least since the latter half of the 20th century). So you can sort of see the DSA as a kind of "Tea Party of the left".

But anyway, what is Democratic Socialism anyway? One thing it is not, is the Nordic Model. The Nordic Model is not socialism. It is a kind of hybrid model that includes capitalism and private property rights. It would be an error to mistake Democratic Socialism for the welfare states of Sweden, Denmark and Norway. If you carefully read the link above (from the DSA), this should be pretty clear.

From the perspective of a mainstream liberal democrat such as myself, this is a little concerning. Because while I support the Nordic Model, and would like the see the United States move in that direction, I don't support the far-left goals of Democratic Socialism, such as the abolishment of Capitalism. I believe a well-regulated capitalism is important to the economy. I see the Nordic Model as a real-world example of these policies actually working in practice, whereas there appears to be no functioning, succesful real-world example of Democratic Socialism. The closest examples of how Democratic Socialism actually works in the real world appear to be in Latin America.

Here is a critique of Democratic Socialism from the perspective of another mainstream Democrat:

Democratic Socialism is a Scam

Quote:

In a classic bait-and-switch scam, democratic socialist politicians and their allies in the media are hoping that Americans confuse them for Nordic social democrats. While the terms are phonetically similar, those of us who have worked and spent time in Latin America understand that this is more than a misnomer. The ideology and policies of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which include an end to profits and “democratizing” the means of production, are much more like those of Havana and Caracas than Helsinki and Copenhagen.

In short, I think that mainstream liberal Democrats need to be wary of this political movement for the same reason that traditional Republicans need to be wary of movements like the Tea Party or Trump-style populism. If this movement is allowed to take over and dominate the Democratic party, it could become a different kind of party from what it was in the past.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2RgoVmh