i want the working class to win by seizing actual power and i think that’s done by building & bolstering its own institutions - like labor unions, tenants unions, and a strong workers party that can direct them. viable left parties are built through organizing and struggle, they don’t just spring up from the earth - and as an active member of a very active communist party, i’m trying to do my part in that struggle (my investment in this goes far beyond just being correct from the sidelines).
so yeah, winning parliamentary seats in the immediate is a nice to have at best. and to add, “Democratic party” is far more than a label, it’s an institution & organ of power built for and maintained by the bourgeoisie, with well developed tools for flattening and absorbing any internal opposition (assuming that the ostensible opposition wasn’t comprised of careerists from the get-go). even the most degraded, reactionary trade union is still comprised of the workers, and would therefore be a better investment of organizing energy.
“Democratic party” is far more than a label, it’s an institution & organ of power built for and maintained by the bourgeoisie, with well developed tools for flattening and absorbing any internal opposition
If you’re actually organizing within the Party apparatus this is true. Outside the party meetings it’s a ballot line. There’s no party structure to force you off that line, no recall ability, and the party can ot legally do anything to people who run under that ballot line in most states and most races (President being a big exception). Simply put, anyone can run as a Democrat. They just have to be registered as one and be willing to win the primary.
I’m tired of seeing good people throw away winnable elections because they care too much about how they look on a ballot.
The voters are stupid and uneducated. You will never have the time or the energy to do the amount of persuasion needed to convince millions of people to take a chance with a third party vote.
As long as there’s 40+% of the electorate that will always vote for you if you have a “D” next to your name you should take that opportunity. Being a third party candidate is a great way to get 1% of the vote. That’s what I don’t want to see from these PSL candidates: a bunch of activists spinning their wheels on campaigns that can’t win.
It’s more than nice to have. It’s an imperative that we take seats away from both fascist parties. Winning elections is self-defense.
One less fascist vote to harm us and our friends & family.
If we get a few leftists in power in one chamber of one legislative body, now we have enough people to block tight votes. That’s leverage that forces the capitalist reps to come to the table and give us consessions.
But even if there’s just a mayor that means a ton of executive power to reign in NYPD, fund all sorts of projects across the city, and actually make people’s lives better. That’s 1000x better than letting a ghoul like Cuomo in.
The labor organizing is good but it’s not working here in the states. Union participation is at its lowest level in, what, 50 years? And that’s not for a lack of leftists trying. People don’t support unions. It’s not working here. Maybe you have better experience than I do but the people I talk to day to day say things like “I love my job” if I even start hinting at helping with unionizing. The Starbucks workers near me didn’t want to unionize because despite what the company did it was still better than working for the other fast food chains. There’s a lot of Stockholm syndrome involved but also a lot of self-imposed “I deserve to be in this spot” mentality that IDK how to break through.
I see the same mentality on here. Ya’ll are so used to losing that you cope by rabidly attacking anyone getting close to power. You nitpick Zohran and yeah he’s not perfect but nobody is! And if you really want the “perfect” candidate the only person that can be is you.
The time for book clubs is over. It’s too late for that. We have armed paramilitary forces marching through cities and abducting people right now. Either we take power through the only legal means left OR we do what Mao did, and I’m not saying any more to get myself on even more lists.
And that’s what’s better about the DSA strategy compared to PSL’s? Because you guys win seats, it’s worth it to equate socialism with imperial welfarism?
Nothing else is working, that’s why. I’d love to support tenant organizing, or unionizing efforts or whatever. The left has tried these things for decades and from what I can see gotten nowhere. We need power to get anything done for the working class.
We need power to get anything done for the working class.
This is why you need to build power, not just rely on the bourgeois state to give it to you. Unless your goal is to be like a euro type social democracy.
You build power through establishing relations and connections with people in your community. I don’t know what world you’re living in where people listen to candidates.
Then you will get 5 votes and be considered a third party nobody.
Democrats suck ass, but voters still turnout for the label. There’s no getting around that and an actual left party doesn’t exist.
So do you want to be right or do you want to win?
i want the working class to win by seizing actual power and i think that’s done by building & bolstering its own institutions - like labor unions, tenants unions, and a strong workers party that can direct them. viable left parties are built through organizing and struggle, they don’t just spring up from the earth - and as an active member of a very active communist party, i’m trying to do my part in that struggle (my investment in this goes far beyond just being correct from the sidelines).
so yeah, winning parliamentary seats in the immediate is a nice to have at best. and to add, “Democratic party” is far more than a label, it’s an institution & organ of power built for and maintained by the bourgeoisie, with well developed tools for flattening and absorbing any internal opposition (assuming that the ostensible opposition wasn’t comprised of careerists from the get-go). even the most degraded, reactionary trade union is still comprised of the workers, and would therefore be a better investment of organizing energy.
If you’re actually organizing within the Party apparatus this is true. Outside the party meetings it’s a ballot line. There’s no party structure to force you off that line, no recall ability, and the party can ot legally do anything to people who run under that ballot line in most states and most races (President being a big exception). Simply put, anyone can run as a Democrat. They just have to be registered as one and be willing to win the primary.
I’m tired of seeing good people throw away winnable elections because they care too much about how they look on a ballot.
The voters are stupid and uneducated. You will never have the time or the energy to do the amount of persuasion needed to convince millions of people to take a chance with a third party vote.
As long as there’s 40+% of the electorate that will always vote for you if you have a “D” next to your name you should take that opportunity. Being a third party candidate is a great way to get 1% of the vote. That’s what I don’t want to see from these PSL candidates: a bunch of activists spinning their wheels on campaigns that can’t win.
It’s more than nice to have. It’s an imperative that we take seats away from both fascist parties. Winning elections is self-defense.
One less fascist vote to harm us and our friends & family.
If we get a few leftists in power in one chamber of one legislative body, now we have enough people to block tight votes. That’s leverage that forces the capitalist reps to come to the table and give us consessions.
But even if there’s just a mayor that means a ton of executive power to reign in NYPD, fund all sorts of projects across the city, and actually make people’s lives better. That’s 1000x better than letting a ghoul like Cuomo in.
The labor organizing is good but it’s not working here in the states. Union participation is at its lowest level in, what, 50 years? And that’s not for a lack of leftists trying. People don’t support unions. It’s not working here. Maybe you have better experience than I do but the people I talk to day to day say things like “I love my job” if I even start hinting at helping with unionizing. The Starbucks workers near me didn’t want to unionize because despite what the company did it was still better than working for the other fast food chains. There’s a lot of Stockholm syndrome involved but also a lot of self-imposed “I deserve to be in this spot” mentality that IDK how to break through.
I see the same mentality on here. Ya’ll are so used to losing that you cope by rabidly attacking anyone getting close to power. You nitpick Zohran and yeah he’s not perfect but nobody is! And if you really want the “perfect” candidate the only person that can be is you.
The time for book clubs is over. It’s too late for that. We have armed paramilitary forces marching through cities and abducting people right now. Either we take power through the only legal means left OR we do what Mao did, and I’m not saying any more to get myself on even more lists.
And that’s what’s better about the DSA strategy compared to PSL’s? Because you guys win seats, it’s worth it to equate socialism with imperial welfarism?
Nothing else is working, that’s why. I’d love to support tenant organizing, or unionizing efforts or whatever. The left has tried these things for decades and from what I can see gotten nowhere. We need power to get anything done for the working class.
This is why you need to build power, not just rely on the bourgeois state to give it to you. Unless your goal is to be like a euro type social democracy.
To build power you need people to listen to you. Who do people listen to? Candidates, not activists
You build power through establishing relations and connections with people in your community. I don’t know what world you’re living in where people listen to candidates.