More Capitalist "Democracy"

So the DSA wants to try governing. With some electoral wins under their belt and other aligned progressive winning against establishment Dems, they now have their eye on the prize. But as Bernie or AOC have shown us, playing in the arena of capitalist "politics" has a real cost. At its most basic, you have to decide how anti-capitalist-pro-socialist you want to be. You can hedge by talking about Medicare for All but eventually someone is going to bring up Marx- you know, things like ownership and markets and Capital. Already we see the uncomfortable questions around policing and prisons and military budgets.You can give speeches about the working class but at some point the middle class is going to start pressing hard. They are used to a steady supply of treats and anything that smells like austerity will not get hteir vote. On the other hand, Having Trump blather on about communists may actually help to swell the membership, give young folks an option for a political home that isn't run by consultants and corporate donors.The bottom line is this: the struggle for socialism will require more than canvasing and voting. We have seen this movie before and even when there was a massive base of industrial workers, oligarchs found ways to contain and divert populist insurrection. They start wars. They cause recessions. Remember, capital can go on strike as well. One very positive thing this left-wing politicking has done is exposed Zionism to critique, something that was absolute taboo just a few short years ago. The word genocide is now commopn parlance among progressive politicians. Closely followed by the insinuation that Netanyahu talked The Donald into attacking Iran only heightens Israels pariah status. And now AIPAC lost an election it dumped 30 million dollars into, reinforcing the ant-semitic trope of the rich manipulative Jew working behind the scenes. It is hard to imagine a more spectacular fall from grace. What is totally insane is that the average Israeli is apparently stunned at the American reaction. But we are the victims, they cry! The perpetual ever-lasting victims, now matter how grotesque our brutality. This new cadre of left-wing Dem candidates may end up backing down on de-funding police but not on support for Israel while the genocidal Zionist project remains their nationalist ideology. And Netanyahu will remain an irritating thorn in the side of Trump and the Republicans as he throws sand in the gears of any kind of Iran deal. In the meantime DSA Co-chairs are out trying to explain democratic socialism on conservative media. They are having to explain the part of the DSA platform that calls for abolishing the Senate and city owned grocery stores.