The House of Representatives passed an updated version of its annual resolution condemning socialism. This year it complained about the Democratic Socialists of American (DSA) in particular. DSA did not take it lying down. A prominent DSA ideologist, Ben Burgis, took to the webpages of Jacobin, DSA’s unofficial magazine, with a fierce protest: DSA is anti- communist!
Burgis begins, “The House just passed a resolution condemning the Democratic Socialists of America and socialism broadly. While it rehearses opposition to Stalinist authoritarianism, the bill’s real preoccupation is with socialists’ advocacy for expanded democracy.”
Burgis is a philosophy teacher and logician. The heart of his rebuttal is this paragraph:
“The resolution’s nominal argument is a mess. The first two ‘whereas’ clauses are claims about the crimes of Stalinist regimes. But democratic socialists have always been critical of such regimes, even then. Condemning democratic socialists with claims about the crimes of Stalinist authoritarianism makes about as much sense as an atheist bringing up the Spanish Inquisition to condemn the Southern Baptists.”
I didn’t imply hiding views. I meant dodging dangerous or thought-terminating labels while being honest abt views with people. When I talk to communism-is-satan people in Canada, I don’t use labels. I tell them what I think and they listen and often agree with a lot. After a while a couple have gone so far to telling me they “think they might be a socialist” in a hush-hush manner at first, then normally. So this seems to work in my little corner.
I think there’s a distinction between public figures representing organizations, and grassroots dialogue. Even then, you’d be surprised by how many people prefer talking to an open communist than a “could-be-a-socialist.”
You should see how real orgs navigate the “evil communist” label. They’ll say Happy Bday Mao, drop some facts, and then dip out. They don’t like, argue with people in the instagram comments or condemn communism cuz they’re running scared from fascism.