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With "socialism" nearly a household word in the US, what happened to the socialist movement matters. So how is it that confusion reigns in the socialist movement? How did it come about that so many socialists support the counter revolution in Syria? Or support the union bureaucracy at home? Why is it that there is so little questioning of whether socialists should support ANY candidates from the corporate-controlled Democratic Party? And do the old debates within the socialist movement of the 1930s still matter? (Answer: Yes, more than ever.) '“Unemployment is low because everyone is working two jobs.” So spoke probable future US Congresswoman and self-proclaimed democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. This confused statement reflects the general state of affairs on the socialist left. Unlike in the past, it matters because “socialism” is almost a household word nowadays. 'How has this developed, why is it important and how can it change? '*Historical background* First and foremost is the absence of the US working class as an independent force in society. This has combined with the role of the Soviet Union’s bureaucracy in days long passed – in fact now so far in the past that a whole generation of young socialists aren’t even aware of what those ideas were nor of its influence. 'On the one side, the role of the bureaucracy of the Soviet Union turned millions of US workers off to anything that even hinted of socialism. This weakened the union rank and file because it was always socialists who played a key role in building the US workers’ movement – the unions – and it was socialists who best kept alive the fighting traditions of that movement. The fact that they lost almost any influence helped enable the union bureaucracy to largely stamp out those fighting traditions.' *Read more*: https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/08/29/what-happened-to-revolutionary-socialism/ -- *“In politics, abstract terms conceal treachery.” *from "The Black Jacobins" by C. L. R. James Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
