Towards a Socialist America

[Charles Brown]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-wilkes/towards-a-socialist-ameri_b_5898248.html


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Co-Minister to Young Adults, Director of Social Justice Ministry at
the Greater Allen Cathedral of New York




Towards a Socialist America

Posted: 09/29/2014 6:07 pm EDT Updated: 09/29/2014 6:59 pm EDT
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"America can do better than capitalism". Richard Wolff declared these
words at Riverside Church on January 22, 2012. His affirmation
surfaced the sentiments that many Americans harbor. I suspect that we
submerge our discontent for many reasons. Among them, we fancy the
illusion that the Federal Reserve Bank and the three branches of our
federal government can manage the booms and busts of our business
cycle. Perhaps the right mix of Democrats and Republicans will address
the market failures of concentrated power among corporations,
spillover costs borne by communities, and the information gap between
producers and consumers. One of these glad mornings, our candidate of
choice will assume power, appoint the right judges, roll out the right
policies in 100 days, and administer the good government of our
dreams. We envision an America that forever grows the economic pie,
splits it fairly for every race in all places, and inaugurates the E
Pluribus Unum country of our civic rituals. This is the hope of our
nation -- comprehensive political liberties, complemented by justice
in our courts, prosperity in our commerce, peace in our communities.
I, too, dream America. I do not, however, believe that capitalism
delivers on the promises rehearsed every November.

Instead of democratic capitalism, I propose that democratic socialism
serve as the regulative ideal of our life together. What this means is
that I support scaling up -- and bringing forward -- the already
existing aspects of cooperative organization in American history and
our contemporary moment. Though largely unknown, some regional
authorities possess the title of flourishing utilities, municipalities
own convention centers and plan our land use strategies, and within
the past decade, we temporarily nationalized our banks. By ignorance
or intention, political figures and institutional actors within
Washington deny this reality, which is well-documented by Gar
Alperwotiz's classic text, What Then Must We Do.

Socialism, or something like it, is the settled conclusion of a
society that values democracy. Our bloody past, and historical
arguments notwithstanding, I take it as a given that Americans cherish
democracy. Despite our violent acquisition of indigenous land and our
coercive leveraging of black slaves as financial instruments, the
postcolonial story of America, set against the landholding,
white-males only, yet egalitarian image of our Constitution is still
an idea worthy of perennial refinement into our laws, practices, and
governance.

So, how might we ramp up democratic socialism within our already mixed
economy? Our intellectuals can excavate little-known histories of
American cooperative work, tell the oft-told story of a commonwealth
country, and no longer provide conceptual legitimacy for the notion of
democratic capitalism. As a citizen preacher, I recall the legacies of
Angela Davis and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, emerging outlets like
Jacobin magazine, and veteran groups like Democratic Socialists of
America.

Secondly, we can celebrate conceptual openness to a new political
economy. The Pew study indicates that socialism among millennials
possesses more fans than opponents--49 percent hold a positive view of
it; 43 percent, not so much. Inferences from this study have been
overstated, but this seems fair: the inequalities and externalities of
capitalism have created a hearing for socialist arguments, campaigns,
and messaging strategies.

Thirdly, we can organize in a way that emphasizes participatory
governance, increasing commonwealth stewardship of real estate, and
alternate business structures like B Corps, LC3, etc. In many ways,
socialism of this sort is implied by the work of groups like National
People's Action, Democracy Collaborative, but also folks like
Criterion Ventures' New Economy, the expanding philanthropic
commitments of social justice philanthropy, and other developments.

Capitalism seeks to grow the economy while managing inequality.
Democratic socialism seeks to secure economic well-being while
rearranging the power and productive relationships that create
inequality. The latter is neither a panacea nor a utopia. It is,
ultimately, a less grotesque analogy of God's beloved community than
the former. America, we can do better than capitalism -- let us choose
a more equitable, efficient, and excellent way.

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