Thread by @JMColony

After almost half a year of work, my 17,000 word essay on the socialist revival in America finally been published in @the_point_mag.

Each of the essay’s three sections can be read in ~30 minutes for 1 1/2 hours’ read overall.

This thread is a summary.

thepointmag.com/2019/politics/…

@the_point_mag At the heart of the essay is a simple question.

Socialism was dead — and that wasn’t just an illusion.

So how has it suddenly returned in such force?

My youth was haunted by a narrative of inevitably failed revolutions (eg Orwell’s Animal Farm).

Now everything’s changed. Why?

@the_point_mag I’d wager the reason answering such a question (if you even can) takes so long — 17,000 words is, as you’ll see, little more than a surface skim — is it requires a whole theory of historical change.

It needs a story tying individuals, society, culture, politics, & economics.

@the_point_mag I’ve attempted, and humbly present you with, a version of such a story.

One side of it is personal.

So in reading it you’ll be treated to fun little bits like these — about my class background, upbringing, education, college activist years, and political evolution.

@the_point_mag What I’ve tried to do is place these personal stories in the context of the vast historical forces which shaped the world I was born into — & eventually, the way my generation has begun to shape it.

So here, for instance, is some of my stab at explaining capitalism & socialism.

@the_point_mag Ever wanted somebody to explain in plain language what the hell neoliberalism is?

Are you constantly confronted by semiliterate centrist pundits who pretend the word doesn’t mean anything?

Fear not! This tweet is designed to be quoted, the essay it quotes to be tweeted.

@the_point_mag And lest the center-leftists like our dear comrade @SenSanders get too satisfied with themselves, and declare postwar welfarism to be socialism as such, here’s a critique of the social-democratic compromise years from the fledgling POV of me and my college friends.

@the_point_mag @SenSanders (Sidenote: if in general you’re the sort of mutant pervert who likes to be assigned homework, I’ve got good news about the footnotes.)

@the_point_mag @SenSanders So why socialism now? In many ways, the same reason socialism died then.

One theme of my piece is that, when broad social circumstances can no longer support a society’s animating myth, people will seek new ones and revolt.

Then, neoliberalism. Now, fascism and socialism.

@the_point_mag @SenSanders As the magazine’s cover advertises and politically minded readers would likely have predicted anyway, a key protagonist of this story is the @DemSocialists, of whom I’m a part.

It’s my sincere hope that passages like these capture a fragment of the hope they inspire in me.

@the_point_mag @SenSanders @DemSocialists But, I’m sorry to say, it’s not all bread and roses in this essay.

Another theme that emerged as I wrote was the recurring tendency of socialist movements — movements for radical democracy and egalitarianism — to turn into authoritarian hierarchies.

And DSA is hardly immune.

@the_point_mag @SenSanders @DemSocialists The piece rails pretty hard against two distinct — and indeed opposed — forms of authoritarianism that have begun to emerge on the Left.

Neither had its origins in nor is exclusive to DSA; but both are present in it and fundamentally threaten its mission in different ways.

@the_point_mag @SenSanders @DemSocialists The first is identitarianism, which I first encountered on campus after around 2014 & afterwards in the radical press.

Leftists who deny the obvious fact of its existence: please read with an open mind — especially those who like me support racial, gender, and sexual liberation.

@the_point_mag @SenSanders @DemSocialists The second is class reductionism, which reduces all social questions to the orthodox Marxist idea of class exploitation and sees any identity based struggle as a neoliberal con.

The faction most associated with this attitude in DSA, Momentum, has been hideously authoritarian.

@the_point_mag @SenSanders @DemSocialists As I allude to in the piece & will say now explicitly, identitarianism had begun to recede in DSA, & class reductionism is the much bigger problem atm.

It pains me to say, but inspiring comrades who built DSA up at @jacobinmag & @socialistcall now threaten to tear it all apart.

@the_point_mag @SenSanders @DemSocialists @jacobinmag @socialistcall (Though, on the other hand, it’s worth noting that the political situation in the org has been improving, both due to the seeming mellowing out of the Momentum crowd in recent months & the growing influence of forces like @BuildDSA and @dsa_lsc, the latter of which I’m part of.)

@the_point_mag @SenSanders @DemSocialists @jacobinmag @socialistcall @BuildDSA @dsa_lsc These two authoritarianisms are related — and not just because they’re each responses to the other (though they are).

Both share a lot of the same ideological architecture. And both threaten the pluralism and radical democracy at the heart of DSA — and socialism as such.

@the_point_mag @SenSanders @DemSocialists @jacobinmag @socialistcall @BuildDSA @dsa_lsc But if there is hope, it resides in empowering ordinary people.

For me, the promise of a robust, decentralized assembly democracy brought about by @OccupyWallStNYC eight years ago remains the only thing that can combat authoritarianism & create a truly democratic socialism.

@the_point_mag @SenSanders @DemSocialists @jacobinmag @socialistcall @BuildDSA @dsa_lsc @OccupyWallStNYC And in its best moments, when it’s truest to itself, the DSA embodies that hopeful, forward-looking, pluralistic assembly democracy.

It has been & can be un mundo donde quepan muchos mundos, and the vehicle by which we can build the free and pluralistic world of our dreams.

@the_point_mag @SenSanders @DemSocialists @jacobinmag @socialistcall @BuildDSA @dsa_lsc @OccupyWallStNYC And that about covers most of it.

If you thought any of these themes were even somewhat interesting, I urge you to take the time to read the whole essay.

@the_point_mag @SenSanders @DemSocialists @jacobinmag @socialistcall @BuildDSA @dsa_lsc @OccupyWallStNYC Regardless of politics and in spite of whether or not you agree with any of my views, I can only hope that the essay proves useful to you.

Many people are trying to make sense of our increasingly scary and hopeless world — & I hope some of my analysis helps them find their way.

@the_point_mag @SenSanders @DemSocialists @jacobinmag @socialistcall @BuildDSA @dsa_lsc @OccupyWallStNYC Many thanks especially to the indefatigable and heroic editing of @BaskinJon, without whom the piece would never have gotten done; and to the whole Point editorial team (@a_n_a_berg, @rachelcwiseman, @jonnythakkar, et al), who took a chance on me & gave a punk kid his big break.