I'm trying to look for some background readings for a course I'll be teaching about the history of the Socialist Party USA. Most of the links I found online are a few years old and don't go into some of the more interesting, though old, events in the party.
I apologize if this post is in the wrong place. If you know of a good resource, or a subreddit where this could be posted, please let me know.
Basically the title. Im looking for arguments as to how it is just as democratic as a multi-party system and/or how it is superior to a multi-party system, in the context of socialism. I plan to use these arguments myself for an extensive essay.
I often hear how elections in capitalist countries are rigged against anti-stablishment actors, which makes me wonder, why was 70's Chile able to elect marxists into power and how could they succesfully pass legislation such as nationalization of industries and the persecution of "especuladores"?
why was 70's chile different?
https://twitter.com/englishradical/status/1480976156346269696?s=21 Great quote from Scargill. He's got a complicated legacy, especially after the miners strikes of the 80's but he was undoubtably a socialist and it's always good to remember the left's history
I dissociate myself from recent events
If socialists think the Dem party is their friend , they are mistaken.
This Bryon Brown guy lost the primary but decided to do a write in campaign and won.
We could have had a socialist mayor of a major city. The Dems stole this from us.
Screw the Democrats. Screw them to hell.
Second largest party in Moldova
The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic European political party.[6]
The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom. This includes major parties such as the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the French Socialist Party, the British Labour Party, the Italian Democratic Party and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. Parties from a number of other European countries and from the Mediterranean region are also admitted to the PES as associate or observer parties.[7] Most member, associate and observer parties are members of the wider Progressive Alliance or Socialist International.[4][5]
The PES is currently led by its president Sergey Stanishev, a former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. Its political group in the European Parliament is the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D). The PES also operates in the European Committee of the Regions (in the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions) and the European Council.
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... keep reading on reddit β‘Economic Policy
- Abolition of Private Property and the establishment of common ownership of the means of production in which is owned by all of society with management and control delegated to those who operate and use the means of production.
- The socialization and social ownership of all industry.
- Implementation of an Economic Bill of Rights that would guarantee employment, food, clothing, leisure, a living wage, housing, healthcare, social security, and education to every Kalian.
- A Four-Day Work Week.
- Implementation of a National Jobs Guarantee.
- Paid Maternity, Paternity, Family, Sick, and Vacation Leave.
- Council Economy: The economy would be controlled by councils, meaning workers would collectively own their own workplaces and have workplace democracy. These workplaces would be managed by councils in a decentralized planned economy.
- Protectionism, Economic Autarky and Self-Sufficiency will be established.
- A ban on all usury.
Environmental Policy
- A ban of all GMO production and distribution of GMO products in Kalia.
- Expansion of Nuclear Energy, Solar Energy and Wind Energy.
- Ruralization and Deindustrialization of Kalia will take place in a shift towards primarily agricultural industry.
Electoral Reform
- Council Democracy: All workers in one municipality would form a council and would elect one or multiple of themselves to represent them on the city council. Which would then elect representatives for the state council (if there were to be one in the future), which would then elect representatives for the national council. All higher councils could at any point be dissolved by the lower councils, ensuring that the higher councils still act in a way that people agree with. These representatives would also be able to be recalled at any point.
- Photo ID mandatory for voting.
- A ban on all lobbying and private donations to candidates by organizations.
Immigration Policy
- All foreign immigration to Kalia would be stopped and borders would be closed. Immigration only if necessary with extensive background checks and total assimilation.
- Increased restrictions on border security policy.
- A ban on Dual Citizenship.
Criminal Policy
- A portion of police funding would be redirected to social and community-based programs.
- Convicted criminals would have the right to vote.
- The end of qualified immunity for police officers.
- Ban on the use of solitary confinement.
Domestic P
... keep reading on reddit β‘
Socialist candidate India Waltonβs loss in the mayoral elections in Buffalo is another example of the double standards and dishonesty of Democratic Party centrists. Walton beat Byron Brown fair and square in the Democratic Party primaries in June. She lost on Sunday because in addition to a flood of big money supporting Brown in his successful write-in campaign in Sundayβs election, the centrist Democratic Party leadership of the state of New York refrained from providing Walton with meaningful support. The Democratic centrists would prefer to have a traitor win the elections than to have a real progressive triumph.
I remember clearly the same thing happening to then progressive anti-war candidate Ned Lamont in CT (who I personally campaigned for, house to house in New Haven and then at the polls) who defeated Joseph Lieberman, who then left the party to run as an independent. The Lamont campaign pleaded with Bill Clinton and Obama to come to CT to campaign for him, but it never happened. As a result the Democrats lost the opportunity to have a much-needed 60-person majority in the Senate.
Compare that with independent Bernie Sanders. In order to run in the primaries in 2016 he had to swear that he would support the winning candidate, that is Hillary Clinton. βDo as I say, not as I doβ is the identifying slogan of Democratic centrist leaders.
The Socialist Party was founded in 1898 under the name Social Democratic Party of America. The party was largely founded by leaders of the American Railway Union in response to the National Guard putting down the Pullman Strike of 1894, and veterans of the Socialist Labor Party of America. The Socialist Labor Party was a party founded in 1876, largely made of German socialists who come to America to escape anti socialist laws. In 1901 a faction of the Socialist Labor Party merged with the Social Democratic Party to become the Socialist Party. In the early 20th century, the party enjoyed decent success. It at its peak had almost 100,000 members and elected a thousand members into public office. Two members of the House of Representatives, dozens of state legislators, and more than 130 mayors. In 1912 the Socialist Presidential candidate got 6% of the national vote in the four-way race.
Then things went downhill from WW1, the Bolshevik coup in Russia, and the First Red Scare. The Socialist Party opposed America entering WW1, and with the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 (which Meyer London, the only Socialist in the House, was the only member of the House to vote against) make it illegal to speak against the war. Due to this, a number of Socialists were under legal attack. Eugene Debs, leader of the Socialist Party, was sent to prison, where he ran for President for one final time. Victor Berger, despite winning the election and following special election, was twice denied a seat in Congress. In 1920 five Socialists were denied entrance into the New York State Assembly.
Worse than this was the split with the Communists, and the Red Scare. During the 1919 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party, the pro Bolshevik faction of the party would split and form the Communist Party of America. The Red Scare also deported Socialist immigrants, and scared off many members, the party lost tens of thousands of members during this time.
Eugene Debs retired from this role as party leader, with Norman Thomas taking over the role. In the 1930s there was a split between the "Old Guard" and the "Militants". The Old Guard formed the Social Democratic Federation and supported FDR and the New Deal, while the Militants remained in the Socialist Party and ran Norman Thomas against FDR in the elections. In the 1950s the Social Democratic Federation merged back into the Socialist Party. Around this time the Socialist Party stopped running indepen
... keep reading on reddit β‘Meyer London was born in 1871 in the Russian Empire, to a Jewish family. He immigrated to America in 1891. He joined the Socialist Labor Party before leaving to join the Social Democratic Party (renamed the Socialist Party in 1901) in 1898. During the time of the Russian Revolution of 1905 he helped to raise funds to aid Jewish victims of pogroms. He was actively involved with the organizing the labor movement in New York. In 1914 we won on election for New York's 12th district, becoming the second Socialist to serve in the House of Representatives, the first being Victor Berger. He served two terms in a row. Meyer London was one of 50 representatives and six senators to vote against entry into WW1. He later was the only member of the House to vote against the Sedition Act of 1918. He lost his next race for Congress, but was then reelected in 1920, serving his third and final term. Unfortunately, he was struck and killed by a car in the street in 1926. His funeral was witnessed by 500,000 people, with 50,000 in his funeral procession.
