the Socialist Party

[Weathermen333]

Do you think the Socialist Party USA has abided by true socialism in the past election?

[PRC-UTE]

My impression (based on very limited knowledge) would be yes. They're bringing more attention to the socialist idea without falling for the lie that socialism can impelemented by parliament or decree.

[bolshevik butcher]

That's good, thats the scottsih socialist party's major flaw, it concentrates far too much in elections.

[BOZG]

Originally posted by [email protected] 2 2005, 05:57 AM
My impression (based on very limited knowledge) would be yes. They're bringing more attention to the socialist idea without falling for the lie that socialism can impelemented by parliament or decree.
I think the SPUSA officially stands for "democratic socialism" as in socialism by parliamentary means but there's a number of revolutionary tendencies within the party.

[YKTMX]

I think the SPUSA officially stands for "democratic socialism" as in socialism by parliamentary means

I'm not sure about this. Sometimes, when someone says this, "democratic" is an adjective i.e. socialism that is "democratic", rather than socialism brought to be by "democracy".

It is used by some people to try and distinguish themselves from past and existing "socialist states".

[redstar2000]

With regard to parties like the Socialist Party U.S.A., I'm not at all sure that "free market socialists" would not be a better and more descriptive term than "democratic socialists".

Should they ever come to power (most unlikely), I don't think they'd do anything besides introduce a generous "safety net" and, possibly, nationalize a few major corporations -- as the British "Labour" Party did in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Things would really not be very different than they are now; there'd be nothing remotely resembling a revolutionary transformation of society.

http://www.websmileys.com/sm/cool/123.gif

[BOZG]

Originally posted by [email protected] 5 2005, 01:52 PM

I think the SPUSA officially stands for "democratic socialism" as in socialism by parliamentary means

I'm not sure about this. Sometimes, when someone says this, "democratic" is an adjective i.e. socialism that is "democratic", rather than socialism brought to be by "democracy".

It is used by some people to try and distinguish themselves from past and existing "socialist states".
Depends on the country and in the context in all honesty. I know in Ireland and in Britain both our parties would refer to themselves as democratic socialists as opposed to authoritarian socialists, but in America, the phrase "democratic socialist" generally refers to reformist socialism.

[SonofRage]

Originally posted by [email protected] 5 2005, 12:50 PM
With regard to parties like the Socialist Party U.S.A., I'm not at all sure that "free market socialists" would not be a better and more descriptive term than "democratic socialists".

Should they ever come to power (most unlikely), I don't think they'd do anything besides introduce a generous "safety net" and, possibly, nationalize a few major corporations -- as the British "Labour" Party did in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Things would really not be very different than they are now; there'd be nothing remotely resembling a revolutionary transformation of society.

http://www.websmileys.com/sm/cool/123.gif
As a member of the SP-USA, I can't really confirm or refute this assertion. The thing with the SP-USA is that, in addition to being "Democratic Socialist", it is also multi-tendency. It's not a homogenous party, so you can't really label us as you would a group like RCP or the ISO.

Since it has this sort of dual character, there really isn't an agreed definition as to what exactly Democratic Socialism is. There are some members (and even entire locals) in the party which are Social Democratic. To them, a welfare state is what they are fighting for because it is what is "realistic." Some members think of Democratic Socialism as just being non-Leninist socialism. I'd say that the Democratic Socialism of Eugene Debs

Other locals, like one in Michigan seem to have Trotskyist leanings. In NYC, New Jersey, and Oregon, the locals are Anarchist/Libertarian Socialist leaning.

I myself do not know how the percentages work out as far as which group is the largest. My impression is that the Social Democratic, reformist wing of the party is on the way out. This is based on the members I have interacted with and well as the fact that many in the Social Democratic wing seem to be freaking out about "the direction the party is going."

There are a few organized revolutionary tendencies in the party. One, the Debs Tendency (http://www.debstendency.org) is pretty much an explicitly Marxist tendency (with Trotskyist sympathies in my opinion).

I'm a member of the Direct Action Tendency (http://www.actiontendency.net) which some label as being the Anarchist wing of the party (most of us are also Wobblies).

There's also a group in the party called the "Grassroots Tendency" but they don't have a website with any information. An unofficial tendency exists in the party called "Socialist Tactics" but I am not clear what exactly they stand for.