What the hell is an "avowed Democratic Socialist," anyway?

[vive la commune]

49. The definition of democratic socialism

is problematic, because people use it to refer to more than one thing. Even political scientists disagree about the term. It can mean socialism brought about by electoral (democratic) means instead of revolution (think Salvador Allende), or it can mean an approach to socialism that rejects authoritarianism. It can include phasing in socialism through gradual reforms, or through a radical program. Most people who call themselves socialists of all different types will tell you they believe in some form of democracy, so the term “democratic socialist” can sometimes be politically loaded.

What you are specifically talking about (capitalism plus social programs) is more precisely referred to as social democracy. That's where the distinction should be made—between socialism and social democracy, not between socialism and democratic socialism. People do frequently use the terms democratic socialist and social democrat interchangeably, but this isn't really correct, though they do overlap and there is a historical relationship between the two. The major problem with the definition of democratic socialism is that depending on usage, it straddles the fault line on the left between anticapitalism and capitalism. Some things that people call “democratic socialism” fall on the anticapitalist side, and other things, on the capitalist side, with a big, broad fuzzy line of gradual reformism in the middle. If you try to confine the meaning of democratic socialism to social democracy only, to mean a system that accepts capitalism or a “mixed” economy, you are excluding radical anticapitalists like Eugene Debs. Which isn't really right.

Some quick history--most socialist parties in Europe were established in order to bring about socialism (social ownership of the means of production) through gradual reforms, but they ended up for the most part just compromising with capitalism. Modern social democracy grew out of socialism, or at least out of an idea of a commitment to socialism in the past. I really suggest looking up socialism, democratic socialism, and social democracy on Wikipedia to get some historical background on the subject.

Also, I just want to mention that DSA isn't the only organization in the U.S. that considers themselves in the democratic socialist tradition. For example, there is also the Socialist Party USA, and they are a third party. They don't work within the Democratic Party. Also, they are anticapitalist.

Bernie Sanders refers to himself as a democratic socialist. Is he? Well, he admires Eugene Debs, a staunchly anticapitalist and revolutionary democratic socialist who was one of the founders of the IWW. I think that's probably where his heart lies. I'm sure he'd love to be Eugene Debs. But he also admires Nordic model social democracy, and sees that as a direction he'd like this country to take. Is his platform socialist? Well, he does advocate supporting worker-owned cooperatives, which could be considered a nod in a socialist direction. But he's not, for example, advocating bringing the banks and major corporations into public ownership. Would he like to? Maybe, I don't know. Even if he did, it wouldn't be politically feasible because I don't think most people in the U.S. want that, at least not now. He's running on a practical progressive program to get big money out of politics and to try to prevent the gutting of the social programs that were won by so much struggle and bloodshed by the working class. I think he's very concerned about the state of the nation and our world, and wants to try to wrest some control back from the oligarchy who are destroying us.

You know what? I would just let Bernie be Bernie and let him define himself the way he wants to, and to explain where he's coming from, rather than putting so much energy into trying to define democratic socialism. He is going to get red-baited anyway, and fiercely. He does an excellent job of staying on topic and letting people know where he stands. If I were to try to explain to others what he is and where he comes from if the whole socialism conversation comes up, I'd keep it simple and say “Yes, he does consider himself a democratic socialist. As far as his platform goes, what he wants to do is kind of like FDR's New Deal", and then explain his 12-point program. People will either accept him or they won't.

His platform may be social democratic rather than fully socialist, but I think it does Mr. Sanders a disservice to try to insist that he has nothing to do with the socialist tradition whatsoever, because that's not true, and I think he'd tell people so himself. He has a deep respect for socialism and it's history and tradition, and I'm pretty sure he sees himself as a part of that history and tradition. Personally, when he insists to the media that he is a democratic socialist, I hear him saying "I'm not an authoritarian, stop blowing the Stalinist dog whistle already" rather than "I'm not at all a socialist, socialists are totally different than democratic socialists. I really love the heck out of capitalism and I just want to add a little universal healthcare to the mix". See what I'm saying? I hope this makes sense.