Jul 25, 2018 03:53 AM
(This post was last modified: Jul 25, 2018 06:04 PM by C C.
Edit Reason: added extra link
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Slavoj Žižek: . . . we should remember Mao's old motto: "There is great disorder under the sky, so the situation is excellent!" [...] The signs are clear here – the surprising electoral victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist [...] was, hopefully, the first in the series of shocks that will transform the Democratic Party. People like her, and not the well-known, and tired, faces from the liberal establishment, should be our answer to Trump. --Democratic left, not liberal establishment, can defeat Trump
The Rebirth of Democratic Socialismhttp://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-reb...socialism/
EXCERPT (E.J. Dionne Jr): . . .[Michael] Harrington founded Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which, in the often splintered politics of the left, was a breakaway group from the old Socialist Party. My hunch is that Harrington—whom I counted as a friend until his death in 1989 at the age of 61—would be amazed, though not entirely surprised, by the extraordinary growth of DSA since Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.
It would thrill him that the organization is now heavily populated by the young, although I also suspect he would have spirited tactical arguments with youthful rebels about what works in politics. [...] Socialists have had quite a journalistic run since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old DSA member, defeated veteran Rep. Joe Crowley, a genial and rather liberal stalwart of the old Queens Democratic machine, in a primary last month.
Opinion has been divided, roughly between those who see her as the wave of the future [Žižek quote at top] and those who warn of grave danger if Democrats move “too far to the left.” I use quotation marks because that phrase has been repeated so much, and because it’s imprecise and misleading. [...] to use her victory as a prelude to a radical takeover of the Democratic Party badly misreads what has been happening. In Democratic primaries this year, more moderate candidates have done well. There have been important progressive victories, Ocasio-Cortez’s being one of the most striking, but no lurch left....
MORE: https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-re...socialism/
