So, I was glossing over some of the PSL and CPUSA platforms and I was kind of disappointed. Not by anything that they have said that is wrong, but that it is not ambitious. CPUSA has $15 minimum wage and PSL is focused on anti-war and anti-capitalism. This are wonderful things that are materially based and would help so many people, but I have always felt it is missing something. What I have come up with is that it fails to capture people’s imagination. The vision should be front and center of any campaign.
Think about it: America offers(its its racist way) a dream, a nation, “e plurbus unum” and all this like mythology around itself as a bastion of freedom and democracy. This is totally false and manipulative, however, it is good at capturing the imagination.
We may call for a revolution; we may be too good at pointing out the flaws, but what do we propose to the average American? What do we offer them in exchange for their struggle against the hand that “feeds” them? $15 minimum wage? A 30hr workweek? That’s if we succeed at taking over the government? I don’t think the average Joe is captivated by this enough to upend everything they know…
Thus, we must really think about what could get an American to fight for their freedom. Xi, has called on us as Marxists to develop socialism for our nations. That is why I think there should be a key point in changing and appealing to the American mind.
1: land reform. From Republicans to Democrats, everyone in America is deeply aware that the American dream is being taken away by Black Rock and their ilk. The richest of the rich have forsaken the hard-working American from the right to own a home. I call it Land and Liberty. Any communist party that wants to appeal to average Americans can through the access and rights to land. This is a perfect opportunity to appeal to, eventually, living up to the promise of 40 acres and a mule(change this to maybe 4acres and a tractor or something) to black people. Anyone that can prove a slave past, they can get land. We need to think out the details.
2 capitalism: I think in America and others, capitalism will be a big part of any platform. We cannot just abolish capitalism in the heart of capitalism, at least mom and pop stores, those are a key subject to the American identity. At least full unionization to all who want to be part of one. Maybe even a natl, general Union.
3: Right to work: no one likes being homeless, no one likes seeing homeless people everywhere, therefore, the right to competitively paid work and mental health care shall be a right to anyone who seeks it and is of age.
4: Immigration: I’m an immigrant in the imperial core, yet as much as it pains me, I know most Americans really don’t like immigrants. That’s a cultural thing that will take time to change. But we had a brasero program, where seasonal workers could freely walk the border to work legally. Something similar should be proposed to solve the “problem” of immigration. Legalize all that are undocumented, and provide more and faster options for immigrants. From what I’ve noticed, Americans just want people to follow the rules, Americans are just dumb about how insane and racist the rules are.
Anyway, these are just some ideas, maybe some are bad, maybe all of them, lol. But take them as a brainstorming session of really making socialism work in America. We have to give something to fight for, and we can’t pretend that we can sell the American on the Soviet model. We have to make a socialism for the United States(honestly changing the official name to just the US would be a great step). We also have to acknowledge and meet people where they’re at, otherwise we would be adventurists. Work out all the details.
Tl;dr use your imagination Goddamn it! Give the Americans something ambitious to fight for and be realistic. We’re dealing with some ignorant and reactionary people, but as workers, they have concerns and beliefs that unify them. Appeal to those to sell them on socialism.
I agree that we could use some more firm answers/plans to point to when the inevitable question from others “But how will X be done?”. We are confused with idealists by basically everyone that sees us as “meaning well but don’t know how ‘the real world’ works’”. Many of them are just cynical defeatists that have just accepted that this is just how the world is. Maybe they have just let down too many times given how extra both current majority parties are with the never ending platitudes. The Dems/liberals have been the worst offenders in my lifetime (I am 35y/o). They can’t seem to stop themselves from trying to “feel” like they care (thoughts, prayers, careful wording about being “the party of healthcare/women/LGBTQIA+/etc”). But when it is time to do anything other than say nice things, it all goes away or they just place “bipartisan-ness” over fighting. We were promised much better healthcare access with the gutted Romney/Obama-care stuff. But while there were some parts that were a good step, it all just benefited all the private insurance carriers and costs many regular people more. So the masses are just so used to parties that have lost any meaning to regular people and only have nice speeches for them. But the ones with money get what they want regardless of which party is in charge.
Having plans that can be pointed to as to what would be basically ready to go if/when a real anti-capitalist leftist party is given the chance would be good. But we also need to be getting known to our local communities as being ready to get our hands dirty helping out with whatever is needed. They need to see that we are serious about being an actual option and change more minds regarding what actually socialism/communism is and isn’t. Based on how our media outlets and various conservative/liberal politicians has basically beat it into people that socialism/communism = evil/bad/hating freedom. We are really needing to educate even pretty well educated people. And having plans can help along with this education. We also can’t let our enemies keep controlling our narratives by responding to their bad faith attacks/“gotcha” moments. Maybe some plans could be started if some of the current leftist parties were to come together and find important issues to agree on. Like a new Internationale, but specific to our struggle in the US (though I am willing to accept that this is maybe too idealistic as written). We need to start somewhere and need to build solidarity if we want to begin to go onto dethrone the current system and its many outlets.
Yes, this is what I mean. We must be proactive and anticipate the inevitable revolutionary moment in order to seize it from the reactionaries. God knows the fascists want their 1776 America back.
We don’t want to look like the dems who only offer half-solutions and lip service to anything popular. As MLs, if we’re to be a legitimate political party then we must participate in political party Work. Policy proposals for a socialist govt in the US is one such responsibility. At the very least we need to be writing the socialist political theory for the America of today. If we don’t have the details, then who does?
I think a big part of the hesitancy from many people is this idea that a socialist party would not just be evil, but they are convinced we are unprepared and disorganized. That we would not have the organizational tools or political power to successfully revolt and I really can’t blame the average brainwashed Joe for sticking to what is known to them rather than putting their weight into yet another(in their mind) half-baked, college kid run, pseudo democratic third party. Most people only adopt something new like socialism, once it is popular enough and thus safe to do so. How can we provide that feeling of safety? I say one way is to have that detail prepared. It would give us professionalism, and it would give them the knowledge that we aren’t just angry college kids in a phase of rebellion, but a proper, working revolutionary party.