By Sean O’Torain in Chicago
Some of us writers for the Facts for Working People blog thought that it was a positive step for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to defeat the established right-winger for the Democrat nomination in New York. This is not because we supports or will ever support, the Democratic Party, one of the two capitalist parties which hold a monopoly over US politics, and the only party which has ever dropped an atomic bomb on a civilian population, but because we believed this had the potential to hasten the splitting of the Democratic Party and help open the way to the building of a workers or labour party.
However, this did not happen as it looks like the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and Ocasio-Cortez are not prepared to fight the capitalist leadership and policies of the Democratic Party.
Some of us thought that the DSA leadership would fight for working class interests and hasten this development. However, it is now clear that the DSA leaders are not standing for the working class.
It now appears that the DSA leadership has adopted the policy of Bernie Sanders. Rather than take up the battle to break the working-class base and the youth from the Party, the leadership of the DSA has decided to work as part of the Party rather than use their resources and positions to build a workers’ party. They are going along with the Nancy Pelosi “we are a capitalist party” leadership.
There is no way that the Democratic Party, with its multi millionaire leadership, will ever represent the US working class. A splitting away of the Democratic Party’s working-class base and members is necessary to open up the development of a workers party.
A struggle should now be taken up by the members of the DSA against this policy. Otherwise the potential of the DSA will not be realized. There are times when a principled non-sectarian struggle in a left-wing party is necessary. This is one such time in the DSA. A struggle should now be taken up by rank and file DSA members to build a united front, an alliance of working people on the following program.
# Against the capitalist offensive on wages, benefits, health care, education, women’s rights and the rights of all minorities.
#Against all racist and sexist attacks, state repression, incarceration rates, gun violence and wars and occupations.
#Against policies that exacerbate climate change and environmental destruction.
While working to build such an alliance, such a united front, DSA members should also seek to build a mass workers/labour party, with roots in the rank and file of the trade unions and in working class and minority communities. We must end the two capitalist party monopoly of US politics.
As part of this struggle, those of us who believe that only the ending of capitalism and the building of a democratic socialist world can solve the crisis that is facing life on earth should, in a non sectarian manner, seek to build a socialist current within such a united front and workers/labour party.
This is the policy of Facts For Working People and its blog.
November 21, 2018
From the US socialist blogsite, Facts for Working People:
https://weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com/
