Late Stage Capitalism
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Introduction to Socialism (external links)
Marxism-Leninism Study Guide: Advanced Course
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Hakeem Jeffries is criticising members of what is functionally another party. The DSA is an insurgency whose members use the label of the Democratic Party only because the United States has a broken electoral system that forces them to. They don't listen to the leaders of the Democratic Party, they're only here to use the resources that the nameplate can unlock. They nominate their own candidates, talk against the Democratic leadership, and time and time again, trounce Democratic nominees in elections in the areas where they are strong. The DSA is a party within the party, and Jeffries is utterly wasting his time crying about this.
The DSA being treated as an unruly faction of a party he supposedly leads is laughable. The age of moderates is over. Those who remain in office next year should look to the DSA members who occupy the benches as a coalition partner; an equal political force, not a subordinate.
I'm at the tail end of GenX, and I have watched the Democrats slide consistently to the right for my entire adult life. They're basically center-right Reagan-era Republicans who believe in women's healthcare and LGBT+ human rights. It's well past time for someone to shift the party leftward.
For fuck's sake, Dick Cheney was on their side in the last presidential election. That is not normal. It's not Cheney who changed. The Dems' entire plan for 20 years has been to move closer to the "center" (as it is perceived in the US), which has meant compromising policy ideals in a bid to appeal to "moderate" (again, as perceived in the US) voters. The effect has been slowly turning the party Republican-Lite.
I disagree with your statement that the DSA is an "insurgency" and that "they're only here to use the resources that the nameplate can unlock."
The Tea Party ratcheted Republicans to the right. The DSA could function as the equal and opposite reaction.
I wouldn't argue that.
The candidates participate in a closed primary, it's about what the voters and members of the party want, not the bigwigs. The DNC elites are undemocratic, as if their own voters shouldn't have a say in their policies.
The American use of the word "moderate" irks me anyway. An American "moderate" Democrat passes as a non-rabid conservative elsewhere. The Overton-Window has been shifted to the right to an extent that's not funny anymore.
It's not only "not funny," it's frightening. The Overton window is so far right that fascism is actually inside the window now.
Moderate means someone between the Democrats and Republicans. So, a very right leaning fence sitter, rather than an actual demographic. Meanwhile, the American population actually sits center left on preferred policy positions.
getting rid of Hoggs was the first red sign.
David Hogg for anyone not aware. See DNC Vice Chair section.
Short answer is the young DNC vice chair who lived through the a school shooting wanted to soberly look at the state of the DNC and was kicked out of some BS technicality.
Full letter here. I am leaving out good stuff.
it would be cool if we could make ranked choice voting the standard nationally. then we could have other parties and the democrats could finally shrink to the tiny minority they actually represent.
ranked choice is in alaska, it threatens the gop as much as the DInos, which is why they dont want it.
I agree that instant-runoff voting is better than first-past-the-post (almost anything else is), but there are a few problems with it:
In terms of alternatives, I think a simpler system like MMP or simple open-list proportional representation with multi-member constituencies are better.
yeah ive def voted in a ranked choice election with way too many candidates. it was super annoying researching all of them, even after filtering out the republicans. i think having more parties would make that much easier though. it would also be super helpful if there was an easily accessible database the candidates were required to fill out in order to qualify for running. make them enter basic background info, a blurb on a number of major policy positions, party affiliation, endorsements, that kind of thing. would make it much easier to filter out candidates.
i dont know about those other methods, ill have to read up on them. honestly anything that makes more than 2 parties work would be acceptable to me.
RCV is just one of many alternative voting systems but it has alot of warts. I think there are better options that should be explored
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=O-dzK3YIAf8