A trend is common in the Western democracies of Europe: one Social Democratic, one Liberal
and one Conservative or right-wing populist party are among the largest in the country,
more often the party landscape is even more diverse.
In the US, however, there are only 2 relevant parties: a Liberal, the Democrats, and a Conservative,
the Republicans.
So the question occurs why there isn't a big leftist party in the US?
A condition that is strongly interwoven with US history.
The nineteenth-century workers' movement in
the US occurs mostly in small labour unions and politically unimportant parties.
With the founding of the Socialist Party of America 1901 the first foundation for a mainstream
workers' party is laid.
In the nineteenth century, the Knights of Labor union even manages to unite a large
number of workers under its banner.
In 1905 the syndicalist labour union IWW is formed, which does not shy away from committing
sabotage to enforce their demands from company bosses.
Unlike the Knights of Labor, the IWW survived the decade and was even able to found sections
outside the United States.
After a bomb attack on a group of police officers in Chicago during a demonstration for lower
daily working hours by a still unidentified protester, a massacre occurs.
The police start shooting at the crowd.
8 eigentlich unschuldige Männer, hauptsächlich Anarchisten, werden, teilweise zum Tod, verurteilt.
Das Jubiläum des Massakers wird jährlich am 1.
Mai international gefeiert.
8 innocent men, mainly anarchists, are sentenced, sometimes to death.
The jubilee of the massacre is celebrated internationally on the first of May each year.
The scandal surrounding the massacre is a harbinger for what should blossom many American
leftists in the next 50 years.
In Europe war is raging and blood is flowing, the First World War has begun.
For many socialists, this means advocating for peace, partly because they see the war
as the struggle of superpowers for colonies.
Due to a law banning the agitation against US interference in the World War, Eugene Debs,
party chairman of the Socialist Party, was arrested.
Although he was in jail, he was still able to win a million votes in the 1920 presidential
election campaign.
Change of scene: in Russia the Tsar is overthrown.
A civil war between Tsar loyalists and the Red Army ends with the victory of the Bolsheviks,
who begin to build the totalitarian Soviet Union.
Fearing a communist uprising in the United States, a chain of events is started, which
should be later known as the first Red Scare.
Politically motivated attacks on almost all leftists occured, in the Palmer Raids more
than 10 thousand were arrested and a part of the migrants among them is deported.
Among the deportees are well-known philosophers like Emma Goldman.
And the planned communist uprising?
It was a myth.
The past successes of the Socialist Party seem to be broken.
Because of the political persecution, the membership numbers fell into bottomlessness
and the party is pushed into insignificance.
In 1921, the Communist Party of the United States is founded, which served as the extended
arm of the USSR in the United States.
With the onset of the Cold War, any chance of survival for left-wing parties disappears.
With the beginning of the second Red Scare and the witch-hunt McCarthy's on alleged
communists many leftists are forced to withdraw from the public political arena.
McCarthy's "House of Unamerican Activities" puts suspected "soviet spies" on trial, including
famous figures such as Albert Einstein and Thomas Mann.
Because of disputes over the attitude of the Socialist Party regarding the Vietnam War
the party is split.
From the old Socialist Party emerges the Social Democratic SDUSA, the democratic socialist
SPUSA and the equally democratic socialist DSA, all claiming to be the successors of
the Socialist Party.
During the Cold War, university campuses are forming a new, political left that relies
on "counter-culture" and turns its back on the old, dogmatic Marxism.
Philosophers like Noam Chomsky and Murray Bookchin emerge from the New Left.
Fighting against war, especially the Vietnam War, and authorities.
Old, anarchist tendencies break out again.
Out of ideological differences the New Left dissipates again.
So why doesn't a big leftist party exist
in the US?
Political attacks have destroyed any attempts to form a left-wing party.
On the other hand, socialist parties have had a difficult foothold since the beginning.
We interviewed Canadian historian Tristan Johnson on the topic:
Since the dawn of the United States it always has been very business-friendly.
Is the American dream dead?
For many Americans it seems that way now.
For decades, the US has surpassed Europe in its poverty figures,
with fourteen percent of Americans living in poverty.
High tuition fees and a dilapidated health system lead to huge debts.
A surprising illness often means years of debt,
and when medical costs cannot be paid, desperate individuals often resort to online fundraising campaigns.
The labour unions are usually powerless because of the continuing impact of the Red Scares.
Faith in laissez-faire capitalism, which has formed the ideological foundation of the United States for a long time, is dwindling.
The old establishment parties?
For many disillusioned people, they seem more and more lacklustre and desperate.
A fact that paved the way for Donald Trump's entry into the White House.
The businessman finally triumphed against the Democrat Hillary Clinton in a dirty election campaign.
What was first seen as one of the hugest failures of the centre-left, now seems to be changing into the contrary.
Trump is surprisingly the best that could happen for American leftists.
For many Trump voters, who desperately chose the Donald because of their financial situation,
Trump's failure to combat poverty in America makes a rethink necessary.
Trump's popularity has been dropping repeatedly since taking office
and his current presidential career is littered with scandals.
With global mistrust of America's new leaders and organized protests against them,
alternative, often socialist, institutions are gaining ground.
Like the Democratic Socialists of America:
The DSA, a split-off from the Socialist Party, benefited most from the dissatisfaction:
within 10 months after Trump's election victory, the party was able to celebrate a membership increase of 300 percent.
The party plans not to gain seats at the national level but instead prefers to organize itself locally.
35 members of the DSA now accompany state offices, almost all at the regional level.
Because of the deadlocked two-party system in the United States, DSA's entry into Congress is virtually impossible.
Instead, they resort to the tactics of the Tea Party, which became known for their influence on the Republicans, and tries to influence the Democratic Party from outside.
The most recent success of the DSA:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who managed to prevail in the democratic primary against former Representative Joseph Crowley.
For the New Yorker and socialist, a move into Congress is not unlikely.
Unlike many centre-left parties in Europe, the ultimate goal of the DSA is overcoming capitalism.
At least they say so.
The party is ideologically diverse:
the members consist of Social Democrats, who increasingly seek an economic system like in the Scandinavian countries,
but also classical anti-capitalist socialists
and also some anarchists have found themselves in the DSA.
In terms of political positioning, the DSA is comparable to the socialist parties of Europe in the inter-war period, when they still hosted a wild mixture of radicals and moderates.
The DSA is, if you like, a look into the past, but maybe also a look into the future?
70-80 percent of the DSA are under 35, many younger.
Socialism is fascinating for many young Americans.
But why are leftist ideas so popular right now in the young population?
The new generation of Americans grew up without the Cold War.
Increasingly, the word "socialism" is no longer associated with Soviet totalitarianism as old generations did.
When one asks today's DSA members and other self-declared socialists where they were first confronted with anti-capitalist ideas, one often hears one specific answer:
occupy
Occupy Wall Street was the first sign of a resurgence of the American left, the protest managed to push US inequality into the mainstream media and politicized many young Americans.
The DSA has become part of a new New Left.
In 2017, the Americans became acquainted with a group that is already widespread in Europe:
Antifa, or anti-fascist action, has existed in Europe since the 1970s.
The increased emergence of organized anti-fascists is not a spontaneous action:
in the wake of Trump's the neo-fascist Alt Right has grown more and more strong.
Many Alt-Righters wanted to benefit from right-wing Trump and tried more and more to push their ideas into the political mainstream.
This triggered a large-scale backlash, counter-protests and disruptive actions against alt-right events were inevitable.
Often the situation escalated:
with the fist blow against the unofficial spokesman of the Alt Right, the nationalist Richard Spencer,
a debate was launched on whether "violence against Nazis is justified".
Be it through protest or an image loss in the media: the Alt-Right is on the way down today.
At the 1991 conference of the Democratic Socialists, a man appeared as a speaker, a man who years later should breathe new life into the American left:
Bernie Sanders
With a similar momentum as British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn Sanders was able to assemble a rapidly growing group of supporters in the presidential primary.
The independent Senator had become a socialist during his college years and kept in touch with the Socialist Party and the Democratic Socialists.
Politically, Sanders managed repeatedly to be elected in offices, almost always as a nonpartisan.
He is considered a political rebel.
However, he had to end his story of nonpartisanship in 2016 to compete in the Democratic primary for the potential position as presidential candidate.
Despite huge popularity among some Democrats Sanders lost to the establishment candidate Hillary Clinton
, among other things, because the outsider was disadvantaged by the party leadership.
Sanders is unpopular with the democratic elites, he symbolizes a potential change in the rather business-friendly mindset of the United States.
Individuals who benefit from the current situation confront and oppose him, within and outside of the Democratic Party.
In addition to classic progressive projects, such as fighting racism, sexism and global warming, Sanders wants to enforce a universal health care system.
The 78-year-old wants to fight the influence of the economy on politics.
Other goals include a more moderate foreign policy, raising the minimum wage from seven dollars to fifteen, and investing in American infrastructure.
A major criticism of Sanders policies: they are too expensive, and many experts fear that Sanders would not be able to enforce his plans in Congress in the current political climate.
Many of the new mainstream leftists, including Bernie Sanders, call themselves democratic socialists.
However their policies are mostly classically social-democratic; such as their desire to improve the health system.
But why then use the term democratic socialist?
When the sheer mention of the word socialist triggers a huge portion the American population.
For conservative Americans, Bernie Sanders is an enemy figure
but many die-hard liberals also reject Sanders, mainly because Sanders refuses to submit to the party apparatus of the Democrats.
Sanders is not uncontroversial even among leftists. Although shift to the left he started is welcomed, many doubt Sander's earnestness:
says the philosopher Noam Chomsky.
For many leftists, including many members of the DSA, Sanders is not left enough.
A noticeable shift to the left within the Democratic Party is to be noted, started by Sanders and continued by his sympathizers and organizations, such as the DSA.
America's left no longer sleeps its long-prescribed sleep but is on the front line.
And if Sanders actually manages to becomes President, that would probably be the starting point for further major changes in the United States.
Of course, what Sanders would actually achieve is hard to predict.
Presumably, the health system would be reformed.
Also one can speculate that Sanders could cause a Gorbachevisation of foreign policy.
The arms race with China and Russia could be reduced and US foreign policy could be less aggressive.
Ultimately, however, it's hard to predict the future with President Sanders:
After all, Sander's actions would depend heavily on his team and advisors.
Should it actually come to a lasting shift to the left in the states it would be a mistake to think that this is limited only to the USA.
Success always attracts impersonators, sympathizers and counter-reactions.
What turns out to be particularly successful will soon be able to celebrate its appearances in Europe and the rest of the world.
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