Should the Democratic Party reject Democratic Socialists

Should the Democratic Party reject Democratic Socialists

Philip Kotler

In a recent Bill Maher show, Maher surprised his audience by saying that he is not sure that he will vote Democratic if the party let’s Democratic Socialists in. Maher proceeded to quote the extreme words of about eight different Democratic Socialists. They talked about doing away with prisons, that government can take private property away, that factories should be owned by the workers, etc.

Clearly there are some extreme Democratic Socialists who sound like Marxists. However, most Democratic Socialists are of the Bernie Sanders type. Here is Bernie’s description of the Key Policy Pillars of Democratic Socialists:

• Universal Healthcare: Guaranteeing health care as a fundamental right for all citizens.
• Education Equity: Making public colleges and universities tuition-free.
• Economic Fairness: Raising the minimum wage, establishing paid family leave, and appropriately taxing the wealthy and large corporations.

· Campaign Finance Reform: Ending the influence of billionaire donors and corporate money in elections.

There is no trace of Democratic Socialists aiming to end social classes, taking over and running existing industries, government ownership of the mean of production, or ending private property.

Yet the Trump Republican Party is making a heyday out of the remarks of less than a dozen extreme Democratic Socialists. Republicans are not only calling these extremists “communists” but Republicans imply that the whole Democratic Party is communistic. Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor, has called left-wing politics a “fatal cancer of civilization” and should not be “left to run its course” and must be “rooted out” before they “destroy society.”

Bill Maher is surprisingly loose in his thinking about left-wing members of the Democratic Party. My argument is that the Democratic Party needs its left wing so that it stands for more than bland capitalism. Left wing candidates normally operate in communities where there is openness to free thought, communities that would not vote Republican and who carry more progressive values. The left-wing has especially strong appeal to young Democrats who will be the Democratic Party’s future.

The Democratic Party wants a forward looking society based on human rights, livable income, and an affordable health and educational system.