Beyond Abstract Criticism of the Democratic Party We've all said or heard criticisms of the Democratic Party. I'd like some things that are a little different.
* An overview of the process that led to the emergence of the Liberty Party, the Free Soil Party, and eventually the Republican Party in the 19th century, and the rise and fall of the Populist Movement, with a view to drawing lessons from both processes for the benefit of those who want to overcome the Democratic and Republican Parties. * Analysis of the process that led to the emergence of the Left Party in Germany. * Concrete analysis of strengths and weaknesses of each state Green Party: membership size, demographic composition, ideological orientation, current political activity, races that it won, races that it lost, races that it can win. After that, we can objectively evaluate whether the Green Party is still a useful political vehicle for leftists. * Class analysis of economic and social benefits of the Democratic Party during the neoliberal stage of accumulation, i.e. after the mid-1970s. What are the quantities of benefits? To which strata of the working class in general and women, Blacks, gay men and lesbians, disabled, etc. in particular do the benefits of electing Democrats (differences between Democrats and Republicans in terms of wages, social program benefits, incarceration rates, unemployment rates, abortion access, civil union and gay marriage support, etc.) accrue? My working hypothesis is that the Democrats do bring small benefits, relative to Republicans, but mainly to the top quarter to half of American workers, and, below the certain threshold, benefits of electing the Democrats approach zero, which is why the poor seldom bother to vote. * Concrete strategy for the Green Party or another party on the Left of how to win winnable races and how to leverage small proportions of votes (say, 5-10%) in losing races -- which can mean electoral defeat for not only itself but also its Democratic opponents -- for a political gain. -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>
