The Dilemmas of Democratic Socialism

​To transform the world to more closely align with our principles, we must think and act politically.
Leo Casey ▪ October 8, 2024 
 
To transform the world to more closely align with our principles, we must think and act politically.
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/the-dilemmas-of-democratic-socialism/
 
Leo Casey ▪ 
 
This essay will elucidate four interrelated concepts—principles, objectives, strategies, and tactics—that often feature in democratic socialist political discourse in the United States and elsewhere. Despite their common usage, there is not a common understanding of what each concept entails or how each relates to the others, let alone to political power. Elucidating these concepts will allow us to think more clearly about our political work and the choices we make in it; in turn, this will better situate us to build and use political power for progressive change.
 
Our Principles
For democratic socialists, our politics are ultimately based on principles: values that give us both our vision of a better world and our motivation for engaging in political activity. Solidarity—our dedication to and action for the common good—is one of these foundational principles, and the one that most distinguishes us from the political perspectives of the right and center. Any list of democratic socialist principles would also include values we share, at least in part, with other democratic political philosophies, such as equality and liberty, as well as respect for human life, dignity, and well-being. Yet democratic socialists have more expansive conceptions of such principles. For example, our understanding of democracy is not limited to support for the institutions of representative government, as important as they are, but extends democracy to the workplace and the community, with a focus on giving a voice to ordinary people in the decisions that impact their lives. We are democrats, but we are radical democrats.
 
Much of what we think of as central to democratic socialism—such as our commitments to working-class empowerment, anti-racism, feminism, and LGBTQ rights—follows from these foundational principles. Still, there are real challenges to honoring these values. Our actions are often fraught with dilemmas simply because the world rarely presents us with unambiguous moral choices.
 
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https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/the-dilemmas-of-democratic-socialism/