I went to shitty public schools and spend all my time reading about communism instead of US government. Anyway I got to thinking about how some liberals say communism isn’t possible in the US, but is democratic socialism even possible? Would a president like Bernie Sanders actually have the power to implement any progressive policies or would they just get blocked? It feels like no part of US government has any legitimacy any more other than the military because it makes the oligarchs money. So I find it hard to believe an old guy could just completely change our economy when trump wasn’t even able to build a wall.
It’s as possible in the US as it is anywhere else in the world, which is to say it is impossible.
There are numerous examples of failed attempts to achieve socialism via legal means, and all have fallen victim to either internal sabotage or if that is avoided then via violent overthrow by their military. Salvador Allende’s attempt to establish socialism via the ballot box is a particularly illustrative example of this, but no less important is the lesson learnt when the British labour party attempted to nationalise the energy sector during Harold Wilson’s time as PM, only to have it scuppered via manoeuvres from the civil service.
Both of these examples highlight the reality that the ruling class will not surrender their preeminent position in society quietly under any circumstances. When it comes to politics and power you cannot plead or bargain with the dominant class because you can’t negotiate with structural features of a class system as you can with an individual or even a group of individuals. Even if you do convince this or that bourgeois group, other interests will always oppose you in the end because they stand to lose everything if you have your way. The position, wealth, stature and power of these people depends entirely on our weal and woe. Our gain is necessarily their loss and vice versa.