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.
Karl Kautsky’s grandson John told a very revealing anecdote about attitudes towards his grandfather in the 1960s. He recalled a historian named Georges Haupt, who had many discussions among students about the history of the Second International. During those talks,...
In March 2020, several longtime members of the Democratic Socialists of America published an essay entitled “The Dangers of Factionalism in DSA,” warning about the dangers of entryism by organizations such as Socialist Alternative. Using the example of the “French...
Dear Natalia and Tempest comrades, I am writing here in response to your article, “The blush is off the rose.” Some of your assessments are spot on. I disagree sharply with others. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is clearly in decline and has been...
We have enacted a policy prohibiting our members from holding dual membership in our organization and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). This policy is based on our commitment to working-class independence and revolutionary socialism, because we understand...