Points of Unity
We Need a Program - Strategize for the War of Position
Today, there are many sects that base themselves on strict adherence to slogans, alignment with historical factions, and commitments to minute tactical details. Historic mass parties avoided such pitfalls, just as DSA has today. However, these historic parties also produced guiding political programs with a clear end goal, along with the strategic objectives and demands needed to achieve such. These points, similar to a caucus’s points of unity, were both a battle plan and the basis for mass messaging to the broader movement and the working class.
Without abandoning any and all debates of tactics, we would call upon DSA and its members to commit to such an outline, one that must be democratically constructed and approved by the total membership as represented by the DSA Convention. This programmatic unity would then serve as the agreed-upon framework for our political interventions. However, every member and faction should retain the right to criticize such a program, to organize for its amendment, and to approach its overarching ideas in different ways.
We do not, however, believe in simply producing a program; we believe that our program must center its strategic objectives around the needs of what Gramsci called the war of position. For the socialist movement and its program, this means advancing a series of demands related to the politically educational social spaces called civil society. Such spaces, both through direct instruction and practical experience, develop the worldview and logic that Gramsci termed common sense. Today, civil society is overwhelmingly structured to reproduce a common sense which brings people under the ideological influence of bourgeois forces, or in a single word, their hegemony. Even more tragically, it has caused many to respond to various crises by blaming immigrants or other marginalized groups for the sins of capitalism.
In order to resolve this crisis of consciousness and expand DSA’s hegemony and the ranks of the fighting proletariat, we need to alter the terrain of civil society. Whilst we cannot expect reforms in government to produce a terrain that is outright socialist, we believe we can use a combination of inside and outside power to progressively reopen civil society to socialist politics, transforming it to have strong labor laws, expansive public education, robust public transit, and neighborhoods that are both dense and diverse. The more we are able to enact these and similar changes, moving toward the conditions which have produced our strongest chapters, the greater our potential is for organizing a militant mass movement with the numbers needed to seize state power and transform society.
Political Independence - Building a Socialist Party
We believe that DSA must pursue political independence, though we acknowledge that this will be a lengthy struggle.
The process of independence begins with the establishment of our own program, branding, and messaging, and our electeds must have their own caucus. We must never be afraid to show that we are a socialist organization which fights for the working class and that we will oppose any attacks against the workers. Attacks against the workers will often come from members of the Democratic Party, or even the Democratic Party as a whole, and we should not shy away from emphasizing this fact when it is relevant.
Independence is not, however, a simple matter of slogans; it requires real power. Thus, we shall have to develop the various forms of political infrastructure that both the Democratic and Republican parties now possess. Most obviously, this means our own comms teams, contact lists, and an expanding field of organizers to offer support on matters ranging from labor organizing to electoral campaigns, but it also means developing stronger formal ties to politically active institutions in civil society, such as labor unions, which are a reservoir of manpower, cash, and ideological influence.
In the long run, however, it is not enough to do all of this whilst still running as Democrats. Both because it limits the influence we can exert over the groups that may support us, and because of the deeply rooted perceptions that the masses attach to party labels, regardless of the messaging or policy content. Yet, independent campaigns cannot be reliably depended upon to attract left-wing Democrats or turn out working-class non-voters. For this reason, we believe the primary way out of this predicament is to fight for proportional electoral systems.
Elections - The Dual Task & Pyramid Electoralism
Elections are the primary means by which the majority of workers engage with politics. Whether that is by volunteering for a campaign, or simply by absorbing media discussing candidates and their platforms. Moreover, the influence of policies and legislation enacted by elected officials greatly shapes the organizing conditions under which DSA operates. For both of these reasons, electoral work is indispensable.
Our electeds are thus presented with a dual task. Electeds are both prominent public figures with a responsibility to act as articulators of socialist politics, and legislators who need to pass vital reforms so as to improve our organizing conditions. In regard to the former, we must ask that they present themselves as DSA candidates, advancing our program alongside the general principles of class struggle. In regard to the latter, they must not only be supportive of positive progressive-liberal legislation like Medicare for All, but also prioritize reforms that benefit socialist organizing in the long run by altering the structure of civil society. There are also areas in which the roles of articulator and legislator converge, such as the opportunity to connect bodies like labor unions to DSA directly through meetings and coordinated action.
We cannot, however, expect such disciplined dedication to our politics by virtue of their moral legitimacy. We know that we must emphasize running cadre candidates, who view DSA as their political home, and participate regularly in the chapter’s internal democracy. We must ensure that we communicate regularly through SIOs, either to offer guidance or to clarify the issues with certain opportunistic turns. We must ensure that we are not only making demands, but offering support through mass action, whether that support be canvassing during an election, or showing up in force to demonstrate mass support for legislation, though without forgetting the standards of our politics, we must be patient as both aspects of this are developed.
Electoral work is, however, fraught with many difficulties, even for a well-run campaign with favorable candidate quality. Resources are limited, and even a single congressional district requires the most extraordinary investment, all the more for the many overwhelmingly proletarian-populated districts in which civil society has produced a great fog of false consciousness. Winning such races shall require the development of broad coalitions of both electeds and left-wing organizations. There are, however, various districts and even whole states in which the terrain is impossibly poor, where there is no path to a majority for socialist politics. Such cases require that we first make meaningful reforms in accordance with a strategy of position, whether at the local, state, or federal level.
The plan we have devised to truly address these combined issues is called ‘pyramid electoralism.’ Without discouraging the pursuit of every opportunity possible, we believe the highest-priority campaigns are found in the states and districts where civil society offers us the clearest opportunity for hegemony. The road to majorities in Congress, the high positions in the pyramid, first requires us to build strong foundations from the base. A series of local electoral wins can combine into a state legislative win, and a series of those into a congressional seat. Thus, through the development of both more coalitional ties and an expanding web of cooperating electeds, one layer of the pyramid cooperates to produce a layer atop it.
Urban Reconstruction - End De Facto Segregation
Despite most legally enshrined forms of racism and segregation being abolished for decades now, it is well-evidenced that these abuses linger in communities of color. Many such injustices continue to exist, often in the form of ‘subtle’ housing discrimination by private landlords, or the tendency for such neighborhoods to be viewed as unprofitable, and thus abandoned as food deserts by corporations. Our government continues to perpetuate and exacerbate these inequalities by carving up communities with redlining and by designing school districts so that the property taxes of the wealthy and often white are used only to benefit their children. All of these issues become even more pronounced for non-citizens, who are completely denied representation in the communities where they have lived and worked for years.
To this end: We must develop publicly owned housing which prioritizes residents threatened by gentrification and homelessness, because affordable housing is vital for the economic welfare of every family. We must demand the establishment of publicly owned grocery stores in food deserts, as reliable access to nutritious food is vital for the health and well-being of both growing children and working adults. We must do away with these divisive highways, replacing them with public transit and green spaces, because bringing communities together is the first step in organizing them. We must abolish divisions in school funding as much as possible, because every child deserves a quality education. And we must fight for the voting rights of non-citizens, because everyone deserves the right to choose their elected officials and have their voice be heard.
To address this oppression represents not only a neglected opportunity to connect with the multiracial working class, but also laying the foundations for the most immiserated workers to regularly organize for their own political goals.
For A Democratic Socialist Republic - Communism & Democratic-Republicanism
The United States Constitution was written as a “pact with the devil,” one founded on compromises that protected both slavery and minority rule for generations to come. The working class, and every movement for progress, suffers from this fact daily. It is foremost a violation of our right to a democratic society, one in which our voices are equal, and where the will of the people is carried out by their representatives. The Constitution is also an enormous obstacle to basic progressive legislation like Medicare for All, and an insurmountable hurdle to socializing the economy.
In place of such progress, we are instead subject to a reign of terror by all manner of reactionary institutions. The unelected Supreme Court invents and abolishes precedent at will, its only consistent promise being to uphold corporate and military power. The minoritarian US Senate blocks most legislation, acting as an eternal guardian of the status quo. The president, chosen through the electoral college, rules with unchecked power even when losing the popular vote. To put an end to these injustices, we must democratize the Constitution. Socialists must demand a constituent assembly chosen by proportional representation and run by the principle of majority rule.
In place of our current order, we must demand a democratic socialist republic. One that is governed by a sovereign unicameral legislature, elected through proportional representation, and without the influence of corporate money. One that secures the human right to a quality education, fair treatment for the working class, and individual liberties like freedom of speech. One that can meet the demands of social justice by uplifting the communities of the colonized and marginalized. Under such a state, we may at last begin working toward our ultimate goals: a democratic economy and the withering away of the state entirely.
We must not forget, however, what has ultimately preserved this order from past and present threats. Heavily armed police patrol our streets, and soldiers with weapons of mass destruction prepare to defend the state if ever the people should unite against it. In both cases, these guardians of bourgeois society serve at the behest of capital and its governing agents. In order to ensure any republic is truly democratic, truly governed by the masses, it must be the masses that uphold that order. In place of these “special bodies of armed men” on the streets, we require democratically governed citizens’ militias. In place of distant agents commanding armies abroad, we must explore new ways to bring command of the military into the hands of every worker. Only then can we be sure that the workers rule over society.
Against Campism and Imperialism: Working Men Have No Country
Mountain Caucus roots its internationalist principles in a firm position of anti-imperialism, opposing all forms of global capitalism, particularly manifest in the exploitation of the Global South for the profit of the imperial core. To this end, we demand the immediate closure of all American overseas military bases, the return of all troops stationed abroad back to US territory, the permanent dissolution of pacts between imperialist states such as NATO, and a dramatic reduction in military spending. We make these demands in the spirit of an end to American imperialism, and in recognition of the need for the workers of the world to oppose all the toxic manifestations of imperialism that undermine humanity’s liberation.
In order to effectively combat imperialism across the globe, and in order to develop national liberation into an internationalist perspective that favors socialist politics, we believe in centering the right of nations to self-determination. Without necessarily endorsing every instance of its use, socialists must always be prepared to defend the right of a people to secede, to resist occupation, and to return to their home. We emphasize this right not in the spirit of nationalist division, but rather in the rejection of any privileges for one nation over another. We know that it is only by fighting such privileges that we may lead a nation’s workers in the direction of universally equal brotherhood, just as we know that the continuation of such imperial abuses will only cultivate reactionary sentiments in service of the domestic bourgeoisie.
In the rejection of imperialism and national privileges, we must also come to reject the various forms of campism which have cropped up in modern socialist politics. We believe it to be self-evident that supporting violent western misadventures conducted in the name of “freedom” can only serve to legitimize the chauvinism of the oppressor, as well as to legitimize the rule of various bourgeois nationalists abroad. Nonetheless, support to the various bourgeois states acting in the name of “multipolarity” would be no more productive. As imperialism arises naturally from the higher developments of capitalism, it is thus inevitable that any configuration of capitalist powers—unipolar or multipolar—will simply reproduce a system of globalized imperial terror. This system will only be ended when working people overthrow their ruling bourgeoisie and pursue the path of international socialism.
In order to cohere this internationalist strategy, we recognize that a cornerstone of DSA’s engagement with the world must be to agitate and organize for a Democratic Socialist International. The Democratic Socialist International should represent a network of parties that work toward the end of capitalism and class domination in favor of radical proletarian democracy. To be properly functional, the DSI must have proper membership standards, bylaws, the tools for meaningful collaboration, and a robust structure for internal democracy. In forming such a body we would endeavor to further the multi-tendency unity of the left everywhere; to provide a space for cross-party dialogue, solidarity, criticism, and the furtherance of recognition that socialism is a universal struggle unbound by any one nation, race, or creed.
DSA Is Our Home - For a Big Tent & Democratic Culture
DSA is our political home, and we do not believe that any other organization is capable of replacing it. Rather, we believe that DSA is the incubator for a mass party. That DSA is the only socialist organization capable of birthing such a party, not simply because of its size, but because its internal democracy and big tent have enabled it to grow so much.
We know that no individual tendency, no matter how correct it may be, can better organize the working class than when we all work together. The best tactics emerge from trial and error, and collaborative decision-making between comrades with different viewpoints. In order to protect this process, however, DSA must make room for debate, voting by as many members as possible, and generally work to create a culture in which everyone is expected to respectfully engage with their comrades as fellow soldiers in the war to liberate humanity.