Zomentum is fucking real, the memes, the charisma, the engagment and the policy are exciting! This is a genuine moment of political importance, and as with all other moments of political importance, leftists are here to remind you politicians will not save you, you save you. I am not here to crush hope, this is a genuinly hopeful moment, but I want us to be hopeful for the right things.
This election should be read as extraordinary excitement for Progressive politics and a rebuking of the Red Scare propaganda pushed into us for our whole lives, but it should not be read as the solution that will undermine American fascism or imperialism even if repeated consistently. I think the positives are obvious and if I was in New York I would be celebrating right now, so unfortunately I’m going to focus on the negatives, and specifically the case against social democracy.
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Is Zohran a Social Democrat -
No, the man Zohran Mamdani is probably a socialist, and a quite principled one at that. But the politician Zohran Mamdani is certainly a Social Democrat. Social democracy takes the form of softening the harms of capitalism, without offering a revolutionary alternative, think New Deal Democrats or the Scandinavian Countrys. Socialism is the politics of the global working class. It would be great to live in a social democracy, but I don’t think anyone is thinking, and most tellingly the capitalist elite are not thinking, that the Norwegian model of economy is threatening to capitalism. And there is a reason for that.
Whats So Wrong with Social Democracy
In one sentence: it relies on and does not challenge global capitalism, and serves as a saftey valve for and bulwark against revolutionary energy. So lets break down exactly how it does that, taking Zohran’s proposals as examples: frozen rent, free buses and building affordable housing all paid for by taxing the millionares and billionares of NYC. These are objectively beneficial and necessary proposals, that will genuinely benefit the lives of New Yorkers. But they dont divorce the interests of the working class and the ruling class, or even put them at odds, but rather put them in a mildly unhappy but functional marriage.
The working class now relies on the funds of the billionaires and millionaires for free buses and cheaper rent and groceries. And the billionares get a local peoples that’s can at times be grateful for them and at least are less mad at them.
Now you may be thinking, ok surly its better for the working class to take more and more from the elites right until they have the means of production? Thats what socialism is all about right? Yes, but that’s how we end up with national socialism, in the most literal sense, we must remember the nature of industry in Empire.
A Schism Between the Working Class in the Empire and Outside it -
Social Democracy redistributes to the wrong working class: the vast majority of these Millionaires and billionaires are not making their money off of working class New Yorkers, but rather overwhelmingly industries that are extractive from the global South. The workers in the global South are unlikely to be able to make the lives of the Millionaires and billionaires that are stealing from them worse off, but the local working class can. Social democracy can function as a system to calm the anger of the local working class, and prevent their solidarity with the global working class by aligning their interests with the empires industries. holy shit a lot of buzz words, let me try again
Take an example of harsh neoliberal capitalism (everywhere in america where the working class is suffering) If I am a taxi driver in New York who is paying too much in rent, groceries, and buses I’m naturally going to be angry at Millionaires and billionaires who are taking my taxies, lets say who work for Barclays, and I am going to find I have a lot in common with the global worker that is being fucked over by Barclays, or the Palestinians dying from guns funded by Barclays (boycott barclays btw). Maybe I’ll cuss him out when he takes my taxi, maybe my union will boycott Barclays.
Now lets magic in some social democracy. My rent is lower, my groceries are cheaper and my buses are free, all of which is paid for by the elites that happen to live in this city. Am I going to be as angry at them? maybe but certainly not MORE angry. Am I going to boycott them? no that directly affects my lifestyle.
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Putting it Together -
Do you see the trick now? At the end of the day social democracy will make you trade your class solidarity for national or regional solidarity, even if you feel connected to the working class nationally or regionally.
And we see this exact thing happen. Norway has one of the best social mobility scores in the developed world, extraordinarily good social safety nets education and affordability (for some), and yet we do not see a burgeoning socialistic movement coming out of them. They did not effectively boycott against Imperial struggles in Palestine Sudan or Congo, nor have they divested to undermine global warming. This is because Norway’s social democracy is funded off the backs of the global working class, almost entirely funded off of thier Sovereign wealth fund which was built off of oil money. To hold solidarity with the Tongans being flooded off their island by Global warming caused by Norwegian Oil, Norwegians would have to materially worsen their lives and the ideology of social democracy helps them avoid doing so, by focusing on solidarity of the working class within the nation.
The elites are somewhat obvious about this issue, they recognize the most effective threat they can levy: to leave. They recognize the fatal flaw in the system being that it relies on their money and does not remove their power. It does not change the labor relation, it softens it.
Now they clearly are threatened by something about Mamdani, as is clear from literal billions in PAC money and corporate media being pushed against Mamdani, but I don’t think that’s because his ideas quo his ideas genuinely threatened their power but rather what he can represent and what I would call on y’all to take him as representing: a burgeoning working-class movement in America.
What is to be Done?
Take this as a symptom, not a cure. Just as the rising fascist movement is a response to the increasing intensity and harshness of global capitalism and imperialism social democracy will be as well. Both are responses by capital (moderated through workers at times) to maintain the system but either calm the consequences (FDR) or shift blame and attention (Mussolini). Social democracy is doomed to fail the working class of the global South, and insofar as it does not undermine the capitalistic system made to destroy it, it will likely fail the working class even of the empire.
Zohran’s campaign is a flagrant rejection of Fascism yes and that should be taken with excitement, but we must take that joy and excitement and push it into a mroe radical, genuinely threatening movement, that need to not be a nationalistic or regional socialism, but global solidarity amongst the working class.
And the first step in that, just as the Black Panthers recognized, is not furthering reliance on the imperial system for food, transportaiton and living, but buildign alternative systems to provide those for eachother. Mutual Aid. It is not changing the Imperial laws to be kinder to those with some amount of voting power but limited economic power, but rather it is to have as lasse an attitude towards the Imperial laws as the authoritarians do when “enforcing them”. Direct action.
This shit is hard, is often less flashy, but the joy of it is that it is consistently less disappointing and is genuinely fun, having effective and reliable community. So my call to action is repetitive, but more relevant than ever: if you got out to vote today or canvased or posted, reach out to the people you canvas with or that agreed with the post or went to vote with you, and see what they are doing everyday to fight fascism. Look locally at people and organizations you can rely on when the fascists come for you, and when the millionaires stop funding you. Lets build a system where every taxi driver can and will cuss out any CEO that dare enter their car, or better yet, one without CEO’s. Not one relying on their blood money.
Official Stuff -
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