Tag: Democratic Socialism

The Ghost Of Gramsci

This is my continuing series on the success that the DSA has recently had at the polls and the meltdown that the Right is having dealing with this success…..passing out propaganda like candy to a 6 year old and it is working…..

Gramsci?  If you are not familiar with the workings of socialism then the name means little to Americans and yet the Washington Times invoked his name.

Before I go any further a quick lesson on Gramsci….

Key points:

  1. Historical materialism reworked
  • Society is shaped by material conditions but mediated by culture, institutions, and political practice.
  • Emphasis on how social forces, ideas and institutions interact over time to produce historical change.
  1. Hegemony
  • Core concept: ruling classes secure consent for their rule by shaping common-sense beliefs, moral frameworks, and cultural norms.
  • Hegemony = domination through a combination of coercion (state apparatuses, police, law) and consent (civil society: schools, churches, media, unions, cultural institutions).
  • Hegemony is never absolute; it requires continual work to maintain and is always contested.
  1. Civil society vs. political society
  • Distinction between political society (state, law, coercive institutions) and civil society (associations, culture, education, media).
  • Civil society is the terrain where hegemony is produced and reproduced; control of civil society is crucial for long-term stability of a social order.

Very basic but if you want more…..https://theconversation.com/antonio-gramsci-his-philosophy-explained-286341

That out of the way this is the bullshit article that made me go to this rant….

 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/14/democrats-embrace-gramscis-marxist-playbook-america/

 

Just another MAGA rag that spread manure like it was real…..

Personally I think Gramsci was an excellent thinker and some of his ideas deserve a second look….but think about this MAGA and the GOP have been using his concepts for many decades….so is he all that wrong?

Questions?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

American Socialism–Redux

This is a continuing series that I offer on the post from IST past that cover this hot bed issue of socialism.

With the success and the possibilities of more success on the horizon the fearmongering machine of the GOP has once again started the long sleeping BS about socialism.

First let’s ask….what is a socialist?  A simple enough question yet the answers are anything but simple….

Gertrude Stein famously wrote, “A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose,” meaning everyone knows what a rose is. The same cannot be said of a Socialist.

There are many Democratic politicians who proudly call themselves Socialists or Democratic Socialists, and there are many adversaries who brand those individuals as Socialists. Both sides use the same word, but the word means very different things to the two sides.

https://thefulcrum.us/democracy/socialism-vs-democratic-socialism

Now with that out of the way let’s move on….

Fifteen years ago I posted a history of American socialism and I thought might be helpful for those scratching their heads about the Left turn the voters are trying.

 

American Socialism–A History Lesson

Just my small attempt to show that all the monsters that the Right is predicting is pure fantasy….but if you still want horrors then look at what Trump and his corrupt band of bandits have done to this nation.

We are so much better than Donny and his thugs.

Let’s prove it to ourselves and the world.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Party Of The Rich

From time to time I will bring the utter crap that the Right wing noise machine has to offer….the best lies and the best bullshit.

This is one of those outlets, Washington Examiner, the best of MAGA manure spread as if it was news.

With the rise and success of the DSA in recent elections the Right wants you to believe that it is the party of rich white guys…..

 

Socialist Democrats represent the rich, white voters in their party

This accusation is really humorous unless you one of those humorless by-standers….but this could very well be talking about the GOP….but no one wants to admit it.

The article is bullshit and unfit to grace the bottom of a bird cage……

Any opinions?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo’

“Red Rabbits”

With the success of the DSA in receent elections and the freak out the Right is having I thought this would be an interesting post.

This is a group within the Democratic Socialists of America….and this is an article doing it’s best hatchet job on this idea by DSA.

The NY Post is how lies get started…..it is a strong Far Right rag and this is the best hatchet job they could do…

 

https://nypost.com/2026/06/09/opinion/socialist-red-rabbits-are-training-for-national-uprising-against-cops/

 

Total lies!  Total bullshit!

Sorry but I refuse to give any validity to their BS other than the link so my reader can see for themselves.

I will continue to post the crap the Right wing media has to say about the rise of the more progressive candidates….these lies are nothing new they have been around since the 1920s.

But this is from the horse’s mouth so to speak)….

https://www.dsausa.org/blog/walk-rabbit-walk-protecting-the-left-nonviolently/

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Dems Are Looking Confused

This past Tuesday in some primaries especially in NY mainstream Dems were handed their butts….

New York’s primary night delivered a jolt to the Democratic establishment—and a boost to the city’s left flank, the New York Times reports. Brad Lander, a former city comptroller, unseated incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in a marquee House primary, attacking him from the left and zeroing in on his stance on Israel. In Brooklyn and Queens, state lawmaker Claire Valdez defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso for the seat being vacated by longtime Rep. Nydia Velázquez. And in upper Manhattan and the Bronx, community organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier beat incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the AP reports. That means New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani swept the primaries in which he logged endorsements: The Democratic Socialist backed Lander, Valdez, and Chevalier, using the primaries as a test of his growing influence and broader left-wing project.

More on the outcome from these primary wins from a blogger I follow, the Secular Jurist….

Democratic Party establishment rocked by socialist earthquake in New York

The old man of Dem strategists, Carville, is butt hurt that progressives are winning elections….

Longtime figure on the right Tucker Carlson no longer wants to be part of the Republican party because of how it’s changing. Now longtime figure on the left James Carville no longer wants to be part of the Democratic party for the same reason. On the podcast Politicon, Carville said it’s time to openly consider splitting the party after three progressive candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, won House primaries in solidly blue districts on Tuesday, reports Mediaite.

“Lady, I ain’t in the same party as you,” Carville said of union organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier, referencing her past comments that white people should not be in interracial relationships. “I’m sorry. I’m just not. And I actually do think it’s time for Democrats to talk the ‘s’ word: schism. I really do. Everybody’s always said, ‘No, no. We’re a coalition. We’re a big tent. And there’s just some s— I can’t be in the same tent with.” Avila Chevalier unseated Rep. Adriano Espaillat in Tuesday’s primary, while state Rep. Claire Valdez defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, and former New York City comptroller Brad Lander easily beat Rep. Dan Goldman.

“I’m done,” said Carville. “In not in that … political party.” He also referenced Israel, saying that he doesn’t want to be in a party “that denies the right of the state of Israel to exist.” In a separate appearance on NewsNation, Carville suggested the progressives form their own party. “All of these people hate Democrats,” he said. “Why do you want to run as a Democrat? Start your own movement. If it’s such a powerful, sweeping movement that’s got momentum everywhere, then go ahead and be at the head of it. Don’t use the Democratic Party to advance it.”

First of all Carville was never on the Left he has always been a centrist, a big dollar Dem…..second the best thing that could happen to the Dems is he takes a bow and shuts the fuck up….and he has been in Israel’s pocket for decades…time for him to fade away.

It looks like the DNC needs to realize what is happening and adjust their focus……but will they?

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jun/24/socialists-draft-aggressive-new-agenda-democratic-party/

You know the Right will be frothing at the mouth and will inevitably start their bullshit about socialists….personally I am glad to see some progressives getting into the fray with the DNC, a tired dinosaur that needs replacing.

Now if they can just keep up the pressure and win these  damned elections.

BTW, DSA is not a socialists organization….makes good propaganda to say they are socialists but that would be a lie and we know the the Right has mastered lying.

Not to worry I will be explaining the DSA once again so people can keep up and try to dispel the misinformation from the Far Right slugs.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Eugene V. Debs

My weekend begins and as usual I have something different to post…..I do not usually do book or movie reviews but I will make an exception in this case.

In my past I was a member and organizer of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and as a member I learned all about the early days of the workers movement of the early 20th century and one of the giants of the labor movement in those days was Eugene V. Debs.

Tuesday was May Day and a new movie was released about the life of Eugene V. Debs and since I live in a jerkwater town in Mississippi it will not show here so I will have to wait for streaming or the DVD.

I did find a good review of the movie in The American Conservative…….

May Day is a workers’ holiday in socialist history, greeted with joy, celebration, picnics and speeches since at least the 1880s. In contrast, and exactly a century ago, May 1918 was a time of trepidation. The government of Woodrow Wilson, reacting to opposition of US entry into WWI, set out to squelch the free speech of antiwar protesters. At the same time, labor struggles had reached a point that threatened the administration, and so Wilson also set out to drive the Socialist Party and the Industrial Workers of the World out of business entirely, if possible.

Imagine the great socialist hero Eugene Debs at this moment. Sixty-two years old and physically worn out, discouraged because the socialist presidential vote two years earlier had fallen sharply from 1912, he nevertheless rallied his energies. He would speak about the horrors of war and the hopes of socialism, no matter the dangers to himself.

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/44254-american-socialist-film-chronicles-the-life-of-labor-hero-eugene-v-debs

If you live where the movie is showing then you should go watch if you like American history and the people that made this country great and see just what the American worker had to go through to get to where they are today.

Time for a breakfast and a walk……TTFN

The “Socialists” Are Coming

Have you had enough of that pig Judge Roy Moore?  Me too.  He lost and he will not now go away…..

So let’s talk about something completely different.

Fearless Fosdick as president is it possible that the American Left can be resurrected?

“Where is the leftwing when we need it” is a question I have asked at times.  Some of my readers who confuse the left with Antifa and Identity politics have been confused by my question.  Why, they ask, do I want more Antifa thugs and Identity Politics hatred of white people?   

The answer is that Antifa and Identity Politics are the antithesis of the left.  The real left is pro-working class, pro all of the working class, all races, genders, sexual preferences.  Identity Politics splinters the working class and destroys the cohesiveness of the working class, thereby making it easier for exploiters to exploit.  Antifa aids in this process by focusing hatred on whites by accusing only whites of racism.  

https://www.globalresearch.ca/can-the-american-left-be-resurrected/5621911

Oh No….those dreaded “commies” from years gone by are making in-roads….what to do?  What to do?

Last summer, two authors asked Fast Company readers a simple question: “Are you ready to consider that capitalism is the real problem?”

For millennials, the answer seems to be increasingly yes. “A lot of young people don’t believe in it anymore,” Ana Garcia, a college junior, told the Wall Street Journal in a recent article on the topic. “We don’t trust capitalism because we don’t see ourselves getting ahead.”

A 2016 poll by the Harvard Institute of Politics found that just 19% of Americans aged 18 to 29 identified themselves as capitalists; only 42% claimed they supported the economic system. Another Harvard poll, released on December 5, found that two-thirds of that same age group is fearful for the future of the country. Just 14% think we’re headed in the right direction.

Recent elections have found several DSA members as winning various positions in their local regions…giving one moron in the GOP to say that radical Marxists were coming to town….first, a DSA member is not and has never been a Marxist……two how many of my readers even know what the Democratic Socialists stand for?

But since I would imagine not many…allow me to help out…..

Many Americans are starting to look beyond the two parties for representation….and some have found the DSA as a choice to represent them…..

Americans in large numbers are becoming puzzled and agitated. Every day newspaper headlines blare out that the US is in trouble, together with our Western free market allies. The government doesn’t work as political divisiveness freezes decision-making. The extent of inequality is “obscene,” to borrow an oft-used description by Bernie Sanders. The elected president comes over as an egomaniac and buffoon. The middle class is in continuing decline, struggling to survive through multiple jobs. The infrastructure is decaying and CEOs dismantle industry, transporting production to more profitable global domains. Racism abounds, punctuated by recurring protests against police brutality. Workers face unemployment, declining wages, reduced benefits, and weakened unions to fight their cause. Homelessness is a continuing, intractable shame. All around us students agonize about being able to afford college and old people worry about whether Social Security will hold firm for them.

https://www.laprogressive.com/democratic-socialist-alternative/

I have been saying that the voter should look at all political parties instead of hanging onto the two party system….move beyond the rich ruling class and find those people that truly want to represent the people and not their donors.

Finally, someone was listening…..and with good reason….at least according to Noam Chomsky…….

We live in an age of illegitimate neoliberal hegemony and soaring political uncertainty. The evidence is all around: citizen disillusionment over mainstream political parties and the traditional conservative-liberal divide, massive inequality, the rise of the “alt-right,” and growing resistance to Trumpism and financial capitalism.

Yes, the present age is full of contradictions of every type and variety, and this is something that makes the goals and aims of the left for the reordering of society along the lines of a true democratic polity and in accordance with the vision of a socialist reorganization of the economy more challenging than ever before.

In this context, the interview below, with Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin, which appeared originally in Truthout in three separate parts, seeks to provide theoretical and practical guidance to the most pressing social, economic and political issues facing the United States today.

https://www.alternet.org/human-rights/imagining-new-social-order-noam-chomsky-and-robert-pollin-conversation

After 40 years of activism and finally someone is listening……what took you guys so long?

But can the true Left” be resurrected? (I know this is a dupe post….it is here for effect)………

“Where is the leftwing when we need it” is a question I have asked at times.  Some of my readers who confuse the left with Antifa and Identity politics have been confused by my question.  Why, they ask, do I want more Antifa thugs and Identity Politics hatred of white people?   

The answer is that Antifa and Identity Politics are the antithesis of the left.  The real left is pro-working class, pro all of the working class, all races, genders, sexual preferences.  Identity Politics splinters the working class and destroys the cohesiveness of the working class, thereby making it easier for exploiters to exploit.  Antifa aids in this process by focusing hatred on whites by accusing only whites of racism.  

https://www.globalresearch.ca/can-the-american-left-be-resurrected/5621911

I can hope that before I expire the Left will find its place in American society and politics…..it will be refreshing to have a true political debate on issues and policies.

Closing Thought–14Nov17

Last week parts of the country went to the polls to elect various candidates from city council to House of Delegates….and you will not believe what happened…..Democratic Socialists made in-roads where no roads were possible just a few short years ago.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) today announced that its membership now includes 15 new elected officials. This is in addition to 20 elected already in offices around the United States. On Tuesday the DSA was represented in 25 elections across 13 different states. Four of those running have national endorsements from the DSA, and many others were supported by our local chapters.

http://www.dsausa.org/15_dsa_members_elected

Some areas have not seen a socialist elected since the days of Eugene Debs back in the early days of the 20th century.

I saw one Tweet by a mental midget on the Right who called the DSA members as “radical Marxists”……apparently this idiot knows NOTHING about DSA….they are not Marxist by any stretch of the imagination.

About time that Americans realized what a Democratic Socialists stood for…..if you listen to the half wits on the right then you will be misinformed…..DSA works for the people not the corporations…..keep that in mind and you cannot go wrong.

To learn more about the DSA…….

http://www.dsausa.org/

This is good I feel because it is allowing yet another layer of political discourse into the conversation…..and that cannot be anything but good……another way to make the republic even stronger than in the past.

Most of these position are a local sort…..can the DSA play on a wider scale?

MY day is over….I must leave my friends until tomorrow when I shall return with more stuff…..chuq