A Trek’s Rest Thought: Democratic Party

As a life long member of the Democratic Party I’m still scratching my head  trying to understand how it let a Socialist into its party’s presidential 2016 primary. The puzzlement continues because it apparently  plans to do so in the future.

Perhaps the leaders of the party are so old they no longer think there is a difference between Democrats and Socialists. Don’t they know the aim of Socialists is to do away with the capitalistic system?

Eugene Debs ran for president as a Socialist. Bernie Sanders is every much the Socialist as Debs. Why doesn’t the party understand this? Or, is it there is no distinction between Dems and Socialists anymore?

 

 

 

 

6 Comments

  1. Bernie’s political positions are those of FDR not Joseph Stalin. I think you still suffer an irrational fear of the word “socialism” because you grew up during the height of the Cold War. Times change, those that refuse to evolve go extinct. The Democratic Party has shifted its focus of pushing broad pro-working class economic policies to focusing almost exclusively on identity politics and bowing down to corporate takeover of govt.

  2. Can the Dems win any elections without the billionaires in Hollywood, Wall St. and Silicon Valley? Hillary raised and spent twice as much money as Trump yet still lost. The primary voter in the Repub party is quite conservative and the primary voter for the Dems is quite liberal. The general election pitting a liberal vs. a conservative advantages the GOP. Most voters want less government and lower taxes. 2. What does NATO ally Turkey buying it’s anti aircraft system from Russia portend? Are Turkey, Russia and Iran going to dictate Syria’s future? Is America going to abandon the Kurds or stay indefinitely?

  3. Wa-llahi! We’ll have distinct right-wing (bourgeois) and left-wing (proletarian) parties, instead of a choice of a hard-right (Republican), or, moderate right -wing party (Democratic). First, though, we’ll have to purge the banksters and hedgefund traitors from the Democratic Party. There’s, already, a private property loving, fetish based, rentier political party. The Dems have to stand for something else. Down with the Clinton faction. Keith Ellison for President! All power to the dialectic!

  4. Matt, they let Joe Moakley into the Democratic Caucus and he was an “Independent” when he beat Louise Day Hicks. What’s the problem?

  5. Peter Singer, Australian philosopher, best known for his work on animal welfare.

    Question:

    Marx’s influence in still evident today among left-wing campaigners who favour revolution over incremental change. How do you respond to those activists who say we should focus, not on charity or working to alleviate poverty within the free market system but, on overthrowing the global capitalist economic order?

    “I respond by inviting them to tell me, first, what realistic plan they have for overthrowing the global capitalist economic order, and second, what demonstrably superior economic system they will institute in place of capitalism. I’ve yet to receive a convincing answer to either question.”

    https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/karl-marx-at-200-what-did-he-get-right-1.3471229Australian philosopherAustralian philosopherAustralian philosopher