Introduction to Democratic Socialism

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DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA

Outline of this Session

• What Is Socialism?
• What Is Capitalism?
• Goals of Socialists and How to Get There
• Socialism, Socialisms and You
• Why Build Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)

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The issue of income and wealth inequality is the great moral issue of our time, it is the great economic issue of our time, and it is the great political issue of our time.

-Senator Bernie Sanders, May 26, 2015,

announcing his candidacy for the presidency

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Part I: �What Is Socialism?

PRINCIPLES, ECONOMY, SOCIETY, CULTURE AND POLITICS

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Philosophical Principles

SOCIALISM

• Humans create enduring social bonds based on cooperative and mutually beneficial interactions.
• Markets tend to concentrate income and wealth.
• Therefore: Reduce the role of the market for production of shared goods and services (de-commodification).
• Therefore: Favor choices made by collectivities, through workplace associations, the state, and other groups.
• Increase the role of the public sector as a mechanism for providing shared goods and services.
• Humans are social beings and our full potential is achieved through interaction with others.

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CAPITALISM

• Humans are by nature competitive. Markets control this competitive instinct, channeling it into nonviolent human interactions.
• Markets maximize efficiency
• Therefore: Expand scope of markets. (This is called “deregulation.”)
• Therefore: Favor choices made by individuals over collective decisions (individualism).
• Therefore: Reduce size of government (cut spending for social goods).
• Markets offer the individual freedom from the demands of the social group.

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What Is Socialism: I

• Socialism: The deepening of democracy
• Extending it into the economic and cultural sphere
• Defending and strengthening existing political and civil rights�
• “Socialism” refers both to a social and economic system and to a tradition of thought and action

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What Is Socialism: II

• A social and an economic system in which:
• The technology, resources, intellectual propert and machinery (“means of production”) necessary to produce goods and services are owned collectively by everyone
• These resources and their use are managed cooperatively and democratically
• Needs such as shelter, food, health care, etc., are treated as rights, not as items for sale
• This is an important first step in overcoming inequality by race, gender, etc.
• A social system in which the “natural” gender-based division of caregiving labor is ended
• This is a vision: it has never been fully realized, although some countries come closer than others.

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What Is Socialism: III

• A tradition of thought and action that:
• Criticizes capitalism as a system that concentrates wealth and income in the hands of a few
• Criticizes capitalism as a system that presents a choice to the rest of us: work for these few or suffer the consequences
• Connects class with other intersecting systems of oppression – race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, etc.
• Demands that we organize - into parties, associations, unions – to fight for our needs and our rights
• And, ultimately, demands that we transform our society into a socialist society

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What Is Socialism: IV

• Socialism is thus the overcoming of capitalism, the replacement of capitalism with a society founded on socialist philosophical principles.

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• How do socialists explain the workings of capitalism?

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• And why do we seek to overcome capitalism?

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Part II: �What Is Capitalism?

PRINCIPLES, ECONOMY, SOCIETY, CULTURE AND POLITICS

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Philosophical Principles

SOCIALISM

• Humans create enduring social bonds based on cooperative and mutual beneficial interactions.
• Markets tend to concentrate income and wealth.
• Therefore: Reduce the role of the market for production of shared goods and services (de-commodification).
• Therefore: Favor choices made by collectivities , through workplace associations, the state, and other groups.
• Increase the role of the public sector as a mechanism for providing shared goods and services.
• Humans are social beings and our full potential is achieved through interaction with others.

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CAPITALISM

• Humans are by nature competitive. Markets control this competitive instinct, channeling it into non-violent human interactions.
• Markets maximize efficiency.
• Therefore: Expand scope of markets. (This is called “deregulation.”)
• Therefore: Favor choices made by individuals over collective decisions (individualism).
• Therefore: Reduce size of government (cut spending for social goods).
• Markets offer the individual freedom from the demands of the social group.

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What Is Capitalism: I

• A political and economic system in which:
• Capital is wealth that can be used to create more wealth
• Everything is produced for sale (“commodities”)
• The ability to produce commodities is controlled by a small group – capitalists – own the buildings, machinery, technology, needed for production
• The driving force of a capitalist political economy is profit:
• What is produced must be profitable
• Workers are hired only if their labor will help increase profits
• The value of what workers produce is greater than the amount they are paid

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What Is Capitalism: II

• A political and economic system in which:
• Workers have little or no control over what is produced, how the work to produce it is organized and how the profits – the surplus – is allocated and used. (Workers are alienated from the products of their own labor.)
• It is a system of domination: democracy ends at the door to the shop, store or factory
• Separates the work of producing commodities from the caregiving work of reproducing society, often along lines of gender and race
• “Labor saving” technology is introduced to increase the rate of profit, not for the reduction of the work day and the expansion of “time for what we will”

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What Is Capitalism: III

• An economic and political system in which:
• Increased economic concentration of income and wealth translates into unequal political power
• One dollar, one vote undermines one person, one vote
• The natural environment is also exploited as a source of profits
• Pollution, mountain-top removal and the destruction of nature is driven by the pursuit of profit, resulting in unsustainable growth
• Growth is the ultimate goal
• Therefore the need to seek more and more profits drives businesses to expand into other parts of the world

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What Is Capitalism: IV

• Capitalism is also a set of beliefs, values and cultural practices
• Choice is the promise of markets
• Individual freedom is realized through choice – therefore the more choice the better
• We all have equal opportunity – to compete against each other
• Incentives are necessary to compel people to seek work – and are necessary to get the 1% to invest

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Capitalism Has Changed over Time

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• A classical period of 1800s – 1930s
• A period of welfare state development (1930s – 1970s)
• Neoliberal capitalism (1970s - ??)

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Neoliberal Capitalism

• Deregulation – in the economy (but maybe not in personal life styles)
• Destruction of workers’ voice (unions, class-action lawsuits, etc.)
• Decreased taxes – on high incomes and on interest, dividends and capital gains (wealth)
• Privatization of education, health care, water – and more
• The rise and dominance of finance (banks, hedge funds, derivative trading)
• Globalization is neoliberalism on steroids

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Summary: Capitalism and Its Critics

• For workers: Democratic decision making should replace an arbitrary authority in the workplace
• For citizens: The power of money should be removed from the political process
• For religious activists: Community needs should come before individual wants
• For social justice activists: Hierarchies based on race, gender, ability, sexual orientation should be eliminated
• For climate activists: Ecological sustainability should “trump” profitability

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Part III: What Do Socialists Want? And How Can We Get There?

LIBERTY, EQUALITY, SOLIDARITY

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Goals of Democratic Socialists: I

• Revive political democracy by eliminating the power of money in our elections
• Expand both representative and direct forms of democracy to increase popular control of political and economic institutions
• Democratize the workplace (unions, workers’ ownerhip and management)
• Provide for all basic needs through progressive taxation (de-commodify) as well as for access to self-directed or cooperative forms of work
• Taken together these measures would drastically reduce the huge inequalities of wealth (and income) that thereaten our future

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Goals of Democratic Socialists: II

• Change the driving economic motive from profit to the satisfaction of human needs
• Combat and overcome all forms of domination: class, gender, sexual, racial/ethnic, ability
• In sum: Create a society in which “the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all”

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How Can We Achieve These Goals?

• Rebuild the vehicles of workers’ voice
• Build a strong political movement for socialism
• Fight for non-reformist reforms
• These transform the power relations in a capitalist society
• Examples: publicly funded single payer health care
• Labor law reform such as card check
• Financial transaction tax
• Worker control of pensions

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Part IV: Socialism, Socialisms, the Critics – and You

PROMOTING SOCIALISM

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How Democratic Socialists Differ

• Unlike the “Leninist” tradition, we see democracy as the most important means and ends of socialism
• Unlike the “Social Democratic” tradition, we believe capitalism must ultimately be overcome and transformed into socialism

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What The Critics Say – �and What You Can Say

• Doesn’t socialism threaten individual freedom?
• Isn’t the chance to become wealthy necessary for innovation?
• Aren’t markets necessary for economic growth?
• Can workers really manage a business where they work?�

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Part V: Why Build DSA?

THE NEED FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST ORGANIZATION

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Why Build �Democratic Socialists of America?

Socialist organizing

• Strengthens broader “progressive” movements
• Undermines anti-socialist attacks
• Promotes the vision of transformative reforms
• Connects us to a rich international tradition
• Combats the Right on an ideological level
• Builds a majority in favor of transitioning from capitalism to socialism

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DSA’s Growth

• DSA has more than tripled in size in the last year.
• We have groups in over 120 communities – and more are developing every week
• We have groups now in nearly all 50 states.
• We have more than 50 people working to build new DSA chapters around the country
• We’re adding staff – and we hope the new membership allows us to keep these additional staff

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