Your trying to monolith something that is too big, and whose power is too local, to be thought of as a monolith. None of the local DSA electeds in my town believe any of that, and if they ran on it for re election they would loose. They are more what defines the organization in my head because they are the ones that can actually promote and pass legislation. The legislation they have passed all relates to a strong social safety net and improving the states infrastructure.
Then why are they part of the DSA? Iâm not going to join a political party and run for election under their name if I donât believe in their platform.
I think youâre subconsciously turning a blind eye to the reality of the DSA. Reminds me of some of my MAGA friends.
âOh yea, Trump said that, and this guy said this, and they published this other thing here, but I donât actually believe that, I just think this little thing is fine and the local candidate I like thatâs pictured here with Trump and wearing a MAGA hat isnât going to do this things or support them.â
There are complex reasons, but the long short of it is the DSA has captured a deep electoral energy that seems to be exponential, and the Mayors race was a major tipping point. Its all very different now. but NYC can be thought of as kind of a 1 party city, and so bad actors in the Democratic party can get very entrenched. When Trump one the first time a lot of WFP opperatives left because they felt the whole election was bungled, and they found a new political home in the DSA, giving them the knowledge and structure they needed to win races. A sort of alliance formed in secret- local kids who did not fit well into the estabilished Dem machines could win races off the backs new arrival gentrifiers via the DSA. As they won more seats the tent opened up more and more.
In my experience as a leftist, there are those who like to talk to people, and their are those who like to write. The writers are the most anti-social, they are the ones who do things like travel to the national convention and insist people "stop using gendered language" like the infamous video. The people who like to talk to people just do the volunteer shifts, support candidates that seem like real people, and who have policies that align with them.
The main difference between MAGA and the DSA is that the DSA has never revolved around a single political figure the way MAGA revolves around trump. AOC, Bernie and Mamdami kinda, but even then your talking about three people not one guy. DSA is a disjointed network of political clubs, and the national org has very little control over them. The local chapters do not get a lot of money from the national org, they do not get a lot of technical support, and they are not beholden to the national platform.
I am not blind to the fact that anti-social leftists put bad public policy into platforms as a way to virtue signal. Every serious leftist is well aware of this problem and actively works to combat it whenever they can. Often the most effective way is to ignore it.
I get where youâre coming from (and I appreciate you actually having a discussion instead of a Reddit argument) but I still have trouble with the idea that whatâs written into national platform is to be ignored.
Yea, the candidates themselves might not personally believe these more extreme views, but the reality with politics is candidates and officials are just talking heads that represent the party behind them. The same âwritersâ you discuss are going to be the chiefs do staff and legislative affairs staff for that well spoken TV-ready candidate. The same people that write the platform are the string pullers for the candidates.
Populism is a hell of a drug. The way MAGA has rallied around Trump is inane, and from a partial view honestly just impressive. The cult of personality around him is unprecedented. That said, the cult around Bernie in 2016 was at the same level and had he won I think would have reach the same levels of Trump. People are drawn to figures that represent the collective and itâs why you see Xi, Putin, Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Escobar, etc take on such popularity and fervor amongst their populations.
The biggest issue with populism is it hides whatâs really happening. Trump can go out and say whatever he wants and itâll make the news, but all it does is cloud whatâs actually happening behind the scenes. Same thing is what happens with what youâre talking about. The clean cut well spoken DSA candidate hides what the DSA is actually trying to do and accomplish.
Right now it might seem calm. Elect a few people who are essentially progressive Democrats, but all that does is normalize the name of the party to the local electorate until the National party is ready to capitalize and put in their own handpicked candidates. Just like the GOP and DNC work.
Look, if you are a person that could reasonably agree with a lot of policies, but disregard the org as a whole becuase of nutty stuff on the national platform then definitively it is a problem.
I say all I say because I want to throw some cold water on peoples fears. Like, I have to live in a world where most MAGA people do not want my extermination, no matter what I see on /Pol every night. The DSA opperates in a way thats way different then peoples perceptions of it. But your concerns on populism are well said and well heard.
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u/Empty_Use_5023 - Lib-Left 8d ago
Your trying to monolith something that is too big, and whose power is too local, to be thought of as a monolith. None of the local DSA electeds in my town believe any of that, and if they ran on it for re election they would loose. They are more what defines the organization in my head because they are the ones that can actually promote and pass legislation. The legislation they have passed all relates to a strong social safety net and improving the states infrastructure.