Independence from capitalist parties is a fundamental principle of Marxism. History has demonstrated that any support for the Democratic Party catastrophically dilutes our politics and forestalls revolutionary organizing. Instead, for the foreseeable future, revolutionaries should embrace “electoral nihilism” — a politics that is hostile to electoralism and elections.
The history of leftist efforts to realign the Democratic Party demonstrates that strategies like the “dirty break” and the “party surrogate” are not ways forward for the left, but traps instead. Beyond sabotaging left Democrats like Zohran Mamdani and their proposed reforms, a greater danger is the party’s ability to absorb them. Instead, we need an independent socialist workers’ movement.
Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City has caused excitement on the left due to his democratic-socialist politics and his support for Palestine. Such excitement has historically led to disorientation and disillusionment when reformist Democrats — such as AOC and Brandon Johnson — inevitably betray the left. Revolutionaries must retain our opposition to all Democrats and executives of the capitalist state.
Earlier this week, Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, died at the advanced age of 100. The outpouring of tributes to Carter as news of his death broke reflected his great popularity. Though he was despised by the right-wing during his presidency,...
What does the election say about current consciousness? Are a majority of Americans now MAGA racists? People approach elections pragmatically. The majority decides how to vote on the basis of lesser-evilism. They estimate which candidate will be better for themselves...
Read part two here: Marxists and Elections: FAQs Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race and the candidacy of Kamala Harris has changed the character of the coming election. Instead of just another in the endless, monotonous slog of election cycles, with the...