Thread by @BlackSocialists

Social Democrats target “billionaires” in rhetoric instead of Capitalists and try to act like this is radical, but it really shows that they believe Capitalism just has to be “reined in.”

Billionaires could be gone tomorrow, and the system that produced them would still be here.

Nothing short of systems change will be enough to save us.

Trust us when we say:

Most of your favorite politicians who call themselves “Leftists” are Liberals in practice who think they’re being “realistic,” when they’re really stifling the radical potentialities of the people.

Any real Leftist stepping into the political superstructure of the bourgeoisie who understood what is at stake would not be content merely being on the “inside” as someone with some sort of class analysis, but would rather link their platform to an “outside” campaign or strategy.

What do we call someone who says they believe in worker control of the economy, but who stifles worker self-organization by sheepdogging the masses into Neoliberal political institutions as a supposed “entryist” tactic while the world continues to burn and fascism is on the rise?

If “Leftist” politicians want to actually be useful in this moment, then they need to come to the table with grassroots Left organizers who have a social, economic, and political #DualPower program, and commit to an “inside/outside” strategy in which they can be held accountable.

There are many roles for politicians to play...

We cannot reform Capitalism, but our fight can be made a bit easier with “non-reformist reforms,” for example (see the thread below).

Politicians can also amass massive amounts of attention and resources that can be directed toward “dual power” institution-building, which could allow us to begin building a new world in the shell of the old, and connecting this to a real social movement.

The point here is that we cannot continue to blindly throw resources and support behind individuals operating from within the institutions of the ruling class, even if they claim to have good intentions.

We need a united front grounded in some very particular principles + terms.

FYI:

A #DualPower project or initiative is a grassroots org grounded in a localized economic focus, politically using the institutions of the Solidarity Economy Movement – Worker Self-Directed Enterprises, Community Land Trusts, co-op housing, etc. – to build economic democracy.