The Democratic Socialists of America
Doing a spot of digging and not liking the stench that is coming out of this particular hole.
There is an organization called the Democratic Socialists of America.
From
their website:
Democratic Socialists believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically�to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few. To achieve a more just society, many structures of our government and economy must be radically transformed through greater economic and social democracy so that ordinary Americans can participate in the many decisions that affect our lives.
Couple of points:
#1) -- we are not a democracy. The United States of America is a republic. There is a very very big difference.
#2) -- that line about: "to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few" is straight out of the Marxist playbook. The classical re-distribution of wealth. The problem here is that Marx, although he was intelligent, completely fucked up one of the most basic fundamentals of economics. Money is fungible. There is not a fixed pool of it that is being hoarded by the evil rich; money can be created and it can be destroyed. When
Lehman Brothers tanked in 2008, there were no dollar bills flying out the doors and windows -- all of Lehman's bad assets were electronic. Promises to pay XYZZY on a certain date.
#3) -- that line about: "many structures of our government and economy must be radically transformed" is so opposed to what is written in our Constitution and our Bill of Rights that it is not even funny. That a group of American citizens actually promotes this is bordering on treason and sedition.
And finally:
#4) -- that line about: "so that ordinary Americans can participate in the many decisions that affect our lives"
WE ALREADY HAVE THIS. It's called voting and we do it whenever there is an election.
Anyway, the Democratic Socialists of America are not afraid to state on their website what they believe in.
Discover the Networks has some interesting information:
Formed in 1983 during the Cold War by merging splinter factions of the Socialist movement, DSA brought together what it calls �former Socialists and Communists, former old leftists and new leftists, and many who had never been leftists at all.� In its early years, DSA supported the Soviet-backed nuclear freeze program that would have consolidated Soviet nuclear superiority in Europe � under the banner of promoting �peace.�
And some more:
DSA seeks to increase its political influence not by establishing its own party, but rather by working closely with the Democratic Party to promote leftist agendas. "Like our friends and allies in the feminist, labor, civil rights, religious, and community organizing movements, many of us have been active in the Democratic Party," says DSA. "We work with those movements to strengthen the party�s left wing, represented by the Congressional Progressive Caucus. ... Maybe sometime in the future ... an alternative national party will be viable. For now, we will continue to support progressives who have a real chance at winning elections, which usually means left-wing Democrats."
Until 1999, DSA hosted the website of the Progressive Caucus. Following a subsequent expose of the link between the two entities, the Progressive Caucus established its own website under the auspices of Congress. But DSA and the Progressive Caucus remain intimately linked. All 58 Progressive Caucus members also belong to DSA. In addition to these members of Congress, other prominent DSA members include Noam Chomsky, Ed Asner, Gloria Steinem, and Cornel West, who serves as the organization's honorary Chair.
So we go to Discover the Networks entry for the
Progressive Caucus:
The Progressive Caucus is an organization of Members of Congress founded in 1991 by newly-elected House Representative Bernie Sanders (Independent-Vermont), who is a self-described socialist.
As of April 2007, the Progressive Caucus included Sanders (who became a U.S. Senator in 2006), Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and 69 members of the House of Representatives, all of them leftist Democrats and almost all in districts heavily gerrymandered to guarantee the re-election of any Democratic Party incumbent, no matter how extreme.
On November 11, 1999, the Progressive Caucus drafted its Position Paper on economic inequality. It reads, in part, as follows: "Economic inequality is the result of two and a half decades of government policies and rules governing the economy being tilted in favor of large asset owners at the expense of wage earners. Tax policy, trade policy, monetary policy, government regulations and other rules have reflected this pro-investor bias. We propose the introduction or reintroduction of a package of legislative initiatives that will close America's economic divide and address both income and wealth disparities. � The concentration of wealth is a problem because it distorts our democracy, destabilizes the economy and erodes our social and cultural fabric."
And this:
As of June 2006, the following Members of Congress belonged to the Progressive Caucus: Neil Abercrombie; Tammy Baldwin; Xavier Becerra; Madeleine Z. Bordallo; Corrine Brown; Sherrod Brown; Michael Capuano; Julia Carson; Donna Christensen; William "Lacy" Clay; Emanuel Cleaver; John Conyers; Elijah Cummings; Danny Davis; Peter DeFazio; Rosa DeLauro; Lane Evans; Sam Farr; Chaka Fattah; Bob Filner; Barney Frank; Raul Grijalva; Luis Gutierrez; Maurice Hinchey; Jesse Jackson, Jr.; Sheila Jackson-Lee; Stephanie Tubbs Jones; Marcy Kaptur; Carolyn Kilpatrick; Dennis Kucinich; Tom Lantos; Barbara Lee; John Lewis; Ed Markey; Jim McDermott; James P. McGovern; Cynthia McKinney; George Miller; Gwen Moore; Jerrold Nadler; Eleanor Holmes Norton; John Olver; Major Owens; Ed Pastor; Donald Payne; Nancy Pelosi; Charles Rangel; Bobby Rush; Bernie Sanders; Jan Schakowsky; Jose Serrano; Louise Slaughter; Hilda Solis; Pete Stark; Bennie Thompson; John Tierney; Tom Udall; Nydia Velazquez; Maxine Waters; Diane Watson; Mel Watt; Henry Waxman; and Lynn Woolsey.
This explains a lot of the crap that is coming to a head these days. It has been steadily advancing below the political radar screens for over a decade and now, they are within pouncing distance. The 2010 and 2012 elections are going to be crucial votes.
Posted by DaveH at April 8, 2010 10:36 PM