URB#1
Reform or Revolution
American liberal democracy is a system built by rich white men to serve rich white men. Over its 250 years of existence, reforms have been implemented to make the system more "equal".
Growing up in America you are taught these reforms were won with peaceful demonstrations and government benevolence; erasing the fact that each concession was achieved by the blood sweat and tears of our predecessors. It erases the battles fought to free the slaves, erases the riots that spawned the voting rights act of 1965, erases Stone Wall and the AIDs epidemic.
Modern progressive movements seem more than happy to buy into this sanitized history, rejecting any resistance that is more than token.
To make a sweeping generalization there are two flavors of leftism, Reformist and Revolutionary.
Reformists want to end capitalism peacefully using existing political systems. They are of the opinion that slow, steady, and above all orderly progress is more sustainable than rapid chaotic change.
In contrast, revolutionaries believe that any political system created to function under the capitalist structure is inherently oppressive and must be supplanted using any and all means.
Among the American left, reformism is dominant. The DSA (by far the largest socialist organization in America) broadly follows a reformist program with its original mission to pull the democratic party to the left being replaced with a strategy of hostile takeover, primarying establishment democrats with their own candidates. It's an undoubtedly bold move but one that still buys into the idea that real lasting change is possible in a system created under and in service of capitalism.
Is this a workable strategy? As discussed earlier the "reforms" carried out on the American system weren't won at the ballot, they were won on the streets, and those achievements are proving to be temporary. Sure slavery is banned, expect if you are in prison in which case its legal, sure Jim Crow is dead and buried, just don't look over at all the reactionaries working towards his resurrection, sure you can be openly gay, just be "respectful", don't wear clothing that makes people question the institution of gender, and don't be a loud queer.
Over the past three decades the servants of reaction have been systematically undermining and repealing the victories won by our forbearers, their pace has only accelerated over that past few years; as a leftist you should be angry about this but not surprised. This was always going to happen, a system built to exploit and disenfranchise will always strive to exploit and disenfranchise with maximum efficiency; no amount of voting or lawful activism is going to change that fact, no amount of reforms are going to fix this system. The system isn't broken, it's evil. The only way we are gonna fix it is by tearing this system down and building a newer fairer one from the ground up.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that voting is unimportant, or that peaceful activism is useless. Participating in elections is vital for winning over the working class, even if the leftists don't win, it gives the people a familiarity with leftism that they otherwise wouldn't have. Peaceful demonstrations build working class solidarity and teach the people that when the situation becomes intolerable it's time to take to the streets. Both of these strategies are parts of a larger whole, not the whole itself.
This isn't going to be an easy fight, but it's our only hope for a better future. Real change won't come from a lawmaker's desk, it will come from people in the streets.