The proper thought with regard to what DSA stands for is more in line with FDR than Chairman Mao. In fact that is what I prefer to be called, an FDRian. If you don't think FDR was a good president then maybe you're not as astute as you believe you are.
In no way this movement resemble any of the FDR believes. Is actually a copy of Soviet era hate machine. But maybe you are too young to know, ppl tend to believe Soviet Union was a paradise and for your sad reality was a catastrophic failure.
The DSA advocates for policy goals and political methods that are antithetical to FDR. You may have retreated to the motte, but we can all still see the positions of your bailey.
FDR abused presidential power as much or more than Trump and made the great depression last longer. He also cozied up to Stalin because he was a bad judge of character
The majority of people don't watch piker's streams on twitch. The suit and tie shtick is just mask on for the normies. He wants a president like trump, but for his side. Which is to say, push/violate the boundaries of law and ignore the constitution. The DSA and Trumpism are two sides of the same coin. Illiberal, anti-democratic, and authoritarian. This isn't just about the govt doing things to help people for them, their leaders want to fundamentally destroy our republic and change it to a more chinese model.
When you begin by claiming the DSA is a uniquely American threat not to be conflated with Nordic social democracy, then have to dredge up 40 year old Bernie quotes and Daniel Ortega to make your point, it’s clear even you can’t show the DSA is a threat. Nevertheless, I’m glad you’re keeping an eye on them for us—some of their rhetoric is truly awful. I just hope you don’t end up like Chicken Little. I think you need to find a better balance between overheated claims and actual threats.
So did the Democratic Party, Elizabeth Warren, Ro Khanna, and many others. Platner fooled an entire state’s democratic electorate. So…that’s not “more evidence.” The moral of that story is the Democratic Party self-corrected, not whatever it is you think it was.
Bernie didn’t take back his endorsement. He advised Platner to step down as his primary endorsement. At no point did he repudiate or speak out against Platner. At no point did he own or acknowledge the fact that he endorsed a rapist Nazi. Feel free to confirm that. Bernie expressed visible support after the Nazi allegations and after the rumors of domestic abuse began surfacing. You can confirm that as well.
So you’ve got a track record that’s been consistent for 40 years: endorsing despicable people and refusing to acknowledge that he ever made a mistake in doing so. You said you wanted newer evidence and I’m spelling it out for you.
The problem here is you’re a fucking liar. Bernie called for Platner to drop out of the election. Your petty word games over whether he “withdrew his endorsement” are pathetic. Try not being a fucking liar.
The truth here is on my side and clearly that pisses you off. But by all means, if there is evidence that Bernie spoke out against Platner, let’s hear it! I’d love to be proven wrong, so show me the receipts. I’ve got the receipts where he spoke on Platner’s behalf after accusations surfaced.
Despicable gotcha word and timeline games still make you a fucking liar. Bernie told Platner he should step aside, which is a simple google search away for anyone to prove you’re a fucking liar. And I’m not even a Bernie fan.
1) Don’t be silly. Calling for a candidate to step down is essentially the same as rescinding an endorsement. The world knew Bernie would no longer support him. 2) If this is proof Bernie’s and DSA are communists, what do you make of their endorsement of Biden?
Centrist my a$$! This rightward spin is nauseating. Bernie did take back his endorsement by advising Platner to step down, and if Platner was anything like the rapist Nazi you elected POTUS, TWICE, who then put a rapist Nazi in charge of the US military, he would have denied and doubled down. But he didn’t because he is not a rapist Nazi, the man had a tattoo he got to fit in with his army peers, cause that’s what army brats do, then forced himself on HIS OWN GIRLFRIEND while drunk and regretted that. While this doesn’t make him a saint, it certainly doesn’t make him a rapist Nazi. Which makes a great point to ELECT SMART WOMEN. None of this would be happening if we had elected the “email lady” in the first place.
I’m all for using history to inform the present. That’s not necessarily what’s happening here. I think Garry is treating a potential threat as a clear and present danger. There’s a difference between an overheated claim of threat and an actual threat.
I believe the difference between an actual threat and a warning refers to a constitutional infraction. Canada has different language than America regarding threats, opposed to warnings.
Promoting policies that violate constitutional law would not be illegal but a warning, but attempting to pass that policy, knowing it was an infraction to constitutional law would end up in court and hopefully repealed. Attempting to dismiss constitutional law would be a threat to democracy.
DSA doesn’t have a “platform.” It’s not a party. Project 2025, however, is a christian fascist roadmap for governance largely followed by the GOP, which is a political party.
Dodge my ass, you fucking troll. Why don't you go get a real job and stop being a pathetic loser online? I'm neither a socialist nor a fascist. I don't need to compare them. Go learn something so you can find a job where you don't have to humiliate yourself by cosplaying an American online to gaslight them into arguments.
This is simply nonsense. In some quarters the terms are interchangeable depending on the grammar requirements. The use of socialism or socialist moniquers by authoritarians is a misdirect. This note also conflates social economic approaches with electoral approaches. Just a fkn terrible bit of fiction.
The most important point here: “The key to understanding the difference is the noun. In social democracy, the priority is democracy. Under democratic socialism, the emphasis is on socialism, with democracy reduced to a mere modifier”
Excellent article! I used to think that Bernie Sanders is an honest but naive left-wing populist. Now I see more and more that he and other DSA leaders treat democracy and human rights as optional and seriously believe that the later-day Soviet Union was a true paradise. The true liberal Democrats need to mobilize to repel both the extremism of the DSA and the right-wing totalitarianism of the GOP.
Canada definitely knows the difference between Social Democracy and Democratic Socialism. As a multi-party system that prioritizes balance between social programmes and economic development, we have a bit more experience identifying how politics interprets Individual rights, in the long and short term.
We had to fight other wars, not our own, due to political forces in the world. We know what created the driving forces and we know how far power will go to maintain control.
Government should never have more power than the people who vote.
Yes, I have always believe in social democratic values. I can see sharply the differences between this ideals and the DSA(democratic socialist of America) we have always be able to put them in control. Maybe the last real threat was during the 1968 democrats national convention in Chicago. That seem far removed. Still the danger is tangible. Also, the rhetoric has a new enemy , Israel, in a very typical antisemitic fashion from the communist era. The hate that Picker, Mamdani and multiple other DSA members is very typical and dangerous path. Good that you keep an eye on them.
I don’t know about Piker, he seems to be a nobody, but what hate is Mamdani doing? Are you referring to him wanting to arrest a war criminal wanted by the ICC?
I think you're making assumptions that are not quite the distinction you think it is on the DSA folk versus others on the Left. If anything, DSA candidates and philosophy is driven in part by trump and his imbecilic & atrocious anti-democratic antics. That is the number one driver. But even more fundamental than that is many of us on the Left have become disillusioned with, read this carefully, American-style Capitalism. That is the crux of the matter.
No system is perfect. Unfortunately, it took an unethical, immoral, unprincipled crook, trump, to expose the deep flaws of the American system. I submit these 4 factors that have led America into decline:
1) Too much money wielded by oligarchs and super PACs run by them in elections.
2) An overemphasis on "individual freedom" without the accompanying societal responsibilities to community and the nation itself. There has to be Respect and Consideration for all, within reasonable limits. Otherwise, it's Freedumb and chaos.
3) Letting the market decide everything. There are a few things that a free & wealthy society requires: Basic housing and basic healthcare. This should be a right, not a privilege of a citizen of a country as wealthy as America. We're not talking mansions in basic housing, just a roof & 4 walls over your head. Same with basic healthcare, general healthcare & preventive measures. Everything above these basic needs, sure, let the market decide. Most people will desire for more and AIM for more, IF they know, as a last resort, they will still have a place to shelter, and / or go to when sick. You'll see the entrepreneurial spirit really sprout. That is what DSA is about.
4) trump. trump is as toxic to America as cancer is to the human body. As long as trump is the face of America, it will never be the beacon of light and hope as it was in the modern era.
I admire your activism and accomplishments, Mr. Kasparov, but this post is not your best effort. The Democratic socialists are a tiny faction of the Democratic Party if indeed their part of the Democratic Party. Only three members of Congress today Bernie, Sanders, AOC and Rashida Tlaib identify themselves as such. The fact that some goofball spoke to a student group in a Mao costume is not a harbinger of the DSA as a Bolshevik clique that will take over Democratic Party.
Your criticism of Bernie Sanders actions in the supporting the Sandinista regime in the early 80s is not a valid criticism in 2026. Sanders prediction that Ortega wouldn't last actually came true in the time frame in which it was made. Ortega was out of power for quite a long time. Blaming Sanders for Ortega's actions after 2007 does not hold water.
I would not ordinarily comment on this article, but there seems to be a big media campaign going on these days to tar the Democratic Party with the communist label. You are a major opinion leader, and I hate to hear your voice added to that. We see it in the Graham Platner hysteria snd hubbub over 3 Democratic socialists elected to the New York City council. 3 out of 51. Thats a revolution in the making?
What you are actually advocating here, perhaps without intending to, is censorship of a small fringe group. This fits way too easily with Republican messaging promoting hysteria about communism taking over the Democratic Party. Obsessing over a. statistically small phenomenon is wildly disproportionate when we consider that a destructive, extremist right wing fringe led by Donald Trump is actually running the country now.
You certainly are familiar with the term "whataboutism." Huge numbers of Republicans are perfectly aware of Donald Trump's dishonesty, corruption and gross incompetence, but respond to "what about" messaging like "the Democratic Party is full of extremists too."
urge you to quit swatting flies and quit assisting the media actions that are distracting or normalizing the raging beast like "oh politics are dirty and they're all corrupt" or, is your post ignoring the fact that the Democratic fringe has zero effective power whereas the crazies on the Republican Party again running the show. The raging beast of Trumpism is devastating our country so please don't waste time swatting flies.
I admire your activism and accomplishments, Mr. Kasparov, but this post is not your best effort. The Democratic socialists are a tiny faction of the Democratic Party if indeed their part of the Democratic Party. Only three members of Congress today Bernie, Sanders, AOC and Rashida Tlaib identify themselves as such. The fact that some goofball spoke to a student group in a Mao costume is not a harbinger of the DSA as a Bolshevik clique that will take over Democratic Party.
Your criticism of Bernie Sanders actions in the supporting the Sandinista regime in the early 80s is not a valid criticism in 2026. Sanders prediction that Ortega wouldn't last actually came true in the time frame in which it was made. Ortega was out of power for quite a long time. Blaming Sanders for Ortega's actions after 2007 does not hold water.
I would not ordinarily comment on this article, but there seems to be a big media campaign going on these days to tar the Democratic Party with the communist label. You are a major opinion leader, and I hate to hear your voice added to that. We see it in the Graham Platner hysteria snd hubbub over 3 Democratic socialists elected to the New York City council. 3 out of 51. Thats a revolution in the making?
What you are actually advocating here, perhaps without intending to, is censorship of a small fringe group. This fits way too easily with Republican messaging promoting hysteria about communism taking over the Democratic Party. Obsessing over a. statistically small phenomenon is wildly disproportionate when we consider that a destructive, extremist right wing fringe led by Donald Trump is actually running the country now.
You certainly are familiar with the term "whataboutism." Huge numbers of Republicans are perfectly aware of Donald Trump's dishonesty, corruption and gross incompetence, but respond to "what about" messaging like "the Democratic Party is full of extremists too." It distracts and promotes complacency when the real crisis of Trump is devastating the country
I hoped for a genuine debate comparing the pros, cons, and core differences between Social Democracy and Democratic Socialism. Instead, this article is nothing more than an uninspiring hit piece—dredging up 40-year-old grievances against Bernie Sanders to intentionally bash the DSA and stoke division within an already splintered party. It offers zero solutions, zero vision, and zero cause for optimism. What a colossal waste of time. The GOP couldn't ask for a better gift."
You don't need to be a Marxist to believe that class war is real - both sides believe that and continue to prosecute it, while no longer calling it by name. Social democracy, in the 20th century, was an armistice, where labour agreed not to expropriate capital in exchange for regulation, welfare states and modest redistribution (more of income than wealth). Democratic socialism is an oxymoron: an attempt to win without having to suppress the owning classes (Lenin v Bernstein/Kautsky).
Social democracy is what the world badly needs to combat inequalities and climate crisis, but it seems unlikely it can be revived under that name: trust in the state and government have evaporated. Another way is urgently needed...
Mao suits don’t belong in the U.S. Mr. Piker is helping MAGA. MAGA and MAO are different terms for the same thing. America, with all the imperfections of its founders, as well as its imperfect Presidents throughout our short History, Is not a nation to tolerate Extremism on either side. Extremist ideas usually lead to ‘CONTROL’/Dictatorship
If part of the DSA is a threat, the solution would be making the most intelligent and positive of them mainstream. Then it will be their own task to separate themselves from the loonies.
The proper thought with regard to what DSA stands for is more in line with FDR than Chairman Mao. In fact that is what I prefer to be called, an FDRian. If you don't think FDR was a good president then maybe you're not as astute as you believe you are.
In no way this movement resemble any of the FDR believes. Is actually a copy of Soviet era hate machine. But maybe you are too young to know, ppl tend to believe Soviet Union was a paradise and for your sad reality was a catastrophic failure.
Implying the DSA and Soviet Union are similar is such a stretch that it renders the rest of your commentary worthless.
Eradicating Western Civ is 100% a point of agreement between the DSA and USSR.
The DSA advocates for policy goals and political methods that are antithetical to FDR. You may have retreated to the motte, but we can all still see the positions of your bailey.
Read their new platform. Honest to frick, man
FDR abused presidential power as much or more than Trump and made the great depression last longer. He also cozied up to Stalin because he was a bad judge of character
…HUH…?!
Which part is confusing?
…it’s reply to Keaney, if you didn’t get what i wrote - piss off
Oh sorry, I should've considered that "…HUH…?!" would have a special meaning for Kearney that I wouldn't understand.
…exactly
On what planet are the DSA and FDR alike? My goodness…
The majority of people don't watch piker's streams on twitch. The suit and tie shtick is just mask on for the normies. He wants a president like trump, but for his side. Which is to say, push/violate the boundaries of law and ignore the constitution. The DSA and Trumpism are two sides of the same coin. Illiberal, anti-democratic, and authoritarian. This isn't just about the govt doing things to help people for them, their leaders want to fundamentally destroy our republic and change it to a more chinese model.
When you begin by claiming the DSA is a uniquely American threat not to be conflated with Nordic social democracy, then have to dredge up 40 year old Bernie quotes and Daniel Ortega to make your point, it’s clear even you can’t show the DSA is a threat. Nevertheless, I’m glad you’re keeping an eye on them for us—some of their rhetoric is truly awful. I just hope you don’t end up like Chicken Little. I think you need to find a better balance between overheated claims and actual threats.
Bernie just endorsed a rapist / wife beater with a nazi tattoo in the last year. How’s that for more recent evidence?
So did the Democratic Party, Elizabeth Warren, Ro Khanna, and many others. Platner fooled an entire state’s democratic electorate. So…that’s not “more evidence.” The moral of that story is the Democratic Party self-corrected, not whatever it is you think it was.
And once all that came out, Bernie withdrew his endorsement. So what’s your point? That Bernie should have foreseen the future?
Bernie didn’t take back his endorsement. He advised Platner to step down as his primary endorsement. At no point did he repudiate or speak out against Platner. At no point did he own or acknowledge the fact that he endorsed a rapist Nazi. Feel free to confirm that. Bernie expressed visible support after the Nazi allegations and after the rumors of domestic abuse began surfacing. You can confirm that as well.
So you’ve got a track record that’s been consistent for 40 years: endorsing despicable people and refusing to acknowledge that he ever made a mistake in doing so. You said you wanted newer evidence and I’m spelling it out for you.
The problem here is you’re a fucking liar. Bernie called for Platner to drop out of the election. Your petty word games over whether he “withdrew his endorsement” are pathetic. Try not being a fucking liar.
The truth here is on my side and clearly that pisses you off. But by all means, if there is evidence that Bernie spoke out against Platner, let’s hear it! I’d love to be proven wrong, so show me the receipts. I’ve got the receipts where he spoke on Platner’s behalf after accusations surfaced.
Despicable gotcha word and timeline games still make you a fucking liar. Bernie told Platner he should step aside, which is a simple google search away for anyone to prove you’re a fucking liar. And I’m not even a Bernie fan.
1) Don’t be silly. Calling for a candidate to step down is essentially the same as rescinding an endorsement. The world knew Bernie would no longer support him. 2) If this is proof Bernie’s and DSA are communists, what do you make of their endorsement of Biden?
Centrist my a$$! This rightward spin is nauseating. Bernie did take back his endorsement by advising Platner to step down, and if Platner was anything like the rapist Nazi you elected POTUS, TWICE, who then put a rapist Nazi in charge of the US military, he would have denied and doubled down. But he didn’t because he is not a rapist Nazi, the man had a tattoo he got to fit in with his army peers, cause that’s what army brats do, then forced himself on HIS OWN GIRLFRIEND while drunk and regretted that. While this doesn’t make him a saint, it certainly doesn’t make him a rapist Nazi. Which makes a great point to ELECT SMART WOMEN. None of this would be happening if we had elected the “email lady” in the first place.
Did you really think a centrist was going to be pro-far left and a Bernie Sanders supporter? I mean cmon.
Not that you care, but I've never voted for a republican in my life so far and I don't intend to start now.
No, but I thought “centrist” would be at least fair, which you certainly are not.
If a political Chicken Little uses history as a light into the future, then the sky is surely going to fall if voters don't learn from history.
I’m all for using history to inform the present. That’s not necessarily what’s happening here. I think Garry is treating a potential threat as a clear and present danger. There’s a difference between an overheated claim of threat and an actual threat.
Garry is using a historical reference to point to potential threats which have undemocratic implications, otherwise called a ‘warning’.
His second to last paragraph says that Democrats are “at war” with the DSA, so it’s more than a “warning”
I believe the difference between an actual threat and a warning refers to a constitutional infraction. Canada has different language than America regarding threats, opposed to warnings.
Promoting policies that violate constitutional law would not be illegal but a warning, but attempting to pass that policy, knowing it was an infraction to constitutional law would end up in court and hopefully repealed. Attempting to dismiss constitutional law would be a threat to democracy.
When do we get to be afraid of the DSA? Is it after the riots and violence of 2020 or nah?
When there’s a real reason, not made-up bullshit like yours
I just asked you what you would say is a 'real' reason?
And I just answered you: when there’s a real reason, not your made up bullshit. Was that not clear?
Read their new platform, and compare reactions like yours to reactions to Project 2025.
DSA doesn’t have a “platform.” It’s not a party. Project 2025, however, is a christian fascist roadmap for governance largely followed by the GOP, which is a political party.
I checked just to be sure... https://chatgpt.com/share/6a627dbd-8f44-83ea-9f47-1bf649f5c0f5...
And - wow. Absolutely bad faith semantic dodge. Your kind are at least as bad as Kasparov says you are.
Dodge my ass, you fucking troll. Why don't you go get a real job and stop being a pathetic loser online? I'm neither a socialist nor a fascist. I don't need to compare them. Go learn something so you can find a job where you don't have to humiliate yourself by cosplaying an American online to gaslight them into arguments.
You ok?
Why are you such a fucking loser that you can't get a real job?
This is simply nonsense. In some quarters the terms are interchangeable depending on the grammar requirements. The use of socialism or socialist moniquers by authoritarians is a misdirect. This note also conflates social economic approaches with electoral approaches. Just a fkn terrible bit of fiction.
The most important point here: “The key to understanding the difference is the noun. In social democracy, the priority is democracy. Under democratic socialism, the emphasis is on socialism, with democracy reduced to a mere modifier”
Excellent article! I used to think that Bernie Sanders is an honest but naive left-wing populist. Now I see more and more that he and other DSA leaders treat democracy and human rights as optional and seriously believe that the later-day Soviet Union was a true paradise. The true liberal Democrats need to mobilize to repel both the extremism of the DSA and the right-wing totalitarianism of the GOP.
Canada definitely knows the difference between Social Democracy and Democratic Socialism. As a multi-party system that prioritizes balance between social programmes and economic development, we have a bit more experience identifying how politics interprets Individual rights, in the long and short term.
We had to fight other wars, not our own, due to political forces in the world. We know what created the driving forces and we know how far power will go to maintain control.
Government should never have more power than the people who vote.
Yes, I have always believe in social democratic values. I can see sharply the differences between this ideals and the DSA(democratic socialist of America) we have always be able to put them in control. Maybe the last real threat was during the 1968 democrats national convention in Chicago. That seem far removed. Still the danger is tangible. Also, the rhetoric has a new enemy , Israel, in a very typical antisemitic fashion from the communist era. The hate that Picker, Mamdani and multiple other DSA members is very typical and dangerous path. Good that you keep an eye on them.
I don’t know about Piker, he seems to be a nobody, but what hate is Mamdani doing? Are you referring to him wanting to arrest a war criminal wanted by the ICC?
I think you're making assumptions that are not quite the distinction you think it is on the DSA folk versus others on the Left. If anything, DSA candidates and philosophy is driven in part by trump and his imbecilic & atrocious anti-democratic antics. That is the number one driver. But even more fundamental than that is many of us on the Left have become disillusioned with, read this carefully, American-style Capitalism. That is the crux of the matter.
No system is perfect. Unfortunately, it took an unethical, immoral, unprincipled crook, trump, to expose the deep flaws of the American system. I submit these 4 factors that have led America into decline:
1) Too much money wielded by oligarchs and super PACs run by them in elections.
2) An overemphasis on "individual freedom" without the accompanying societal responsibilities to community and the nation itself. There has to be Respect and Consideration for all, within reasonable limits. Otherwise, it's Freedumb and chaos.
3) Letting the market decide everything. There are a few things that a free & wealthy society requires: Basic housing and basic healthcare. This should be a right, not a privilege of a citizen of a country as wealthy as America. We're not talking mansions in basic housing, just a roof & 4 walls over your head. Same with basic healthcare, general healthcare & preventive measures. Everything above these basic needs, sure, let the market decide. Most people will desire for more and AIM for more, IF they know, as a last resort, they will still have a place to shelter, and / or go to when sick. You'll see the entrepreneurial spirit really sprout. That is what DSA is about.
4) trump. trump is as toxic to America as cancer is to the human body. As long as trump is the face of America, it will never be the beacon of light and hope as it was in the modern era.
Kasparov the neoliberal prop. Comparing Piker to Stalin is a good tactic when you want to serve your corporate handlers
PIKER IS BACKED BY SEVERAL BIG CORPORATIONS
I admire your activism and accomplishments, Mr. Kasparov, but this post is not your best effort. The Democratic socialists are a tiny faction of the Democratic Party if indeed their part of the Democratic Party. Only three members of Congress today Bernie, Sanders, AOC and Rashida Tlaib identify themselves as such. The fact that some goofball spoke to a student group in a Mao costume is not a harbinger of the DSA as a Bolshevik clique that will take over Democratic Party.
Your criticism of Bernie Sanders actions in the supporting the Sandinista regime in the early 80s is not a valid criticism in 2026. Sanders prediction that Ortega wouldn't last actually came true in the time frame in which it was made. Ortega was out of power for quite a long time. Blaming Sanders for Ortega's actions after 2007 does not hold water.
I would not ordinarily comment on this article, but there seems to be a big media campaign going on these days to tar the Democratic Party with the communist label. You are a major opinion leader, and I hate to hear your voice added to that. We see it in the Graham Platner hysteria snd hubbub over 3 Democratic socialists elected to the New York City council. 3 out of 51. Thats a revolution in the making?
What you are actually advocating here, perhaps without intending to, is censorship of a small fringe group. This fits way too easily with Republican messaging promoting hysteria about communism taking over the Democratic Party. Obsessing over a. statistically small phenomenon is wildly disproportionate when we consider that a destructive, extremist right wing fringe led by Donald Trump is actually running the country now.
You certainly are familiar with the term "whataboutism." Huge numbers of Republicans are perfectly aware of Donald Trump's dishonesty, corruption and gross incompetence, but respond to "what about" messaging like "the Democratic Party is full of extremists too."
urge you to quit swatting flies and quit assisting the media actions that are distracting or normalizing the raging beast like "oh politics are dirty and they're all corrupt" or, is your post ignoring the fact that the Democratic fringe has zero effective power whereas the crazies on the Republican Party again running the show. The raging beast of Trumpism is devastating our country so please don't waste time swatting flies.
I admire your activism and accomplishments, Mr. Kasparov, but this post is not your best effort. The Democratic socialists are a tiny faction of the Democratic Party if indeed their part of the Democratic Party. Only three members of Congress today Bernie, Sanders, AOC and Rashida Tlaib identify themselves as such. The fact that some goofball spoke to a student group in a Mao costume is not a harbinger of the DSA as a Bolshevik clique that will take over Democratic Party.
Your criticism of Bernie Sanders actions in the supporting the Sandinista regime in the early 80s is not a valid criticism in 2026. Sanders prediction that Ortega wouldn't last actually came true in the time frame in which it was made. Ortega was out of power for quite a long time. Blaming Sanders for Ortega's actions after 2007 does not hold water.
I would not ordinarily comment on this article, but there seems to be a big media campaign going on these days to tar the Democratic Party with the communist label. You are a major opinion leader, and I hate to hear your voice added to that. We see it in the Graham Platner hysteria snd hubbub over 3 Democratic socialists elected to the New York City council. 3 out of 51. Thats a revolution in the making?
What you are actually advocating here, perhaps without intending to, is censorship of a small fringe group. This fits way too easily with Republican messaging promoting hysteria about communism taking over the Democratic Party. Obsessing over a. statistically small phenomenon is wildly disproportionate when we consider that a destructive, extremist right wing fringe led by Donald Trump is actually running the country now.
You certainly are familiar with the term "whataboutism." Huge numbers of Republicans are perfectly aware of Donald Trump's dishonesty, corruption and gross incompetence, but respond to "what about" messaging like "the Democratic Party is full of extremists too." It distracts and promotes complacency when the real crisis of Trump is devastating the country
I hoped for a genuine debate comparing the pros, cons, and core differences between Social Democracy and Democratic Socialism. Instead, this article is nothing more than an uninspiring hit piece—dredging up 40-year-old grievances against Bernie Sanders to intentionally bash the DSA and stoke division within an already splintered party. It offers zero solutions, zero vision, and zero cause for optimism. What a colossal waste of time. The GOP couldn't ask for a better gift."
You don't need to be a Marxist to believe that class war is real - both sides believe that and continue to prosecute it, while no longer calling it by name. Social democracy, in the 20th century, was an armistice, where labour agreed not to expropriate capital in exchange for regulation, welfare states and modest redistribution (more of income than wealth). Democratic socialism is an oxymoron: an attempt to win without having to suppress the owning classes (Lenin v Bernstein/Kautsky).
Social democracy is what the world badly needs to combat inequalities and climate crisis, but it seems unlikely it can be revived under that name: trust in the state and government have evaporated. Another way is urgently needed...
Mao suits don’t belong in the U.S. Mr. Piker is helping MAGA. MAGA and MAO are different terms for the same thing. America, with all the imperfections of its founders, as well as its imperfect Presidents throughout our short History, Is not a nation to tolerate Extremism on either side. Extremist ideas usually lead to ‘CONTROL’/Dictatorship
If part of the DSA is a threat, the solution would be making the most intelligent and positive of them mainstream. Then it will be their own task to separate themselves from the loonies.
The Authoritarian Strategy Is to Make Democracy Destroy Itself
It’s time to act before it’s too late.
https://corypowell.substack.com/p/the-authoritarian-strategy-is-to?r=1f58df&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web