PUBLISHED BY THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA

Why America Needs A Second Party By Harold Meyerson INSIDE DEMOCRATIC LEFT DSAction ... 11 Why We Need a Second Party Jimmy Higgins Reports ... 16 by Harold Meyerson ... 3 Turning Rage Into Action: Daring To Be Ambitious: New York City DSA Commentary on the Clarence Thomas Hearings Organizes to Elect a Progressive City Council by Suzanne Crowell ... 13 by Miriam Bensman ... 6 Book Review: Guy Molyneux reviews E.J. Dionne's Why Americans Hate Politics ... 14 On TheLefJ Canadian Health Care Speakers Tour Report ... 8 Cover photo by Robert Fox/Impact Visuals EDITORIAL

West European social democracies. In bachev is correct to want those "inter­ SOVI ET the Soviet Union, he'd like to see similar esting results" in democracy, economic welfare state guarantees, active labor development, and human rights that market policies, and government in- are inspired by the socialist idea. In tervention in the economy for both this respect, he's in tune with the DREAMER growth and equity. In his heart of citizens of his country since polls con­ hearts, Gorby wants his country to sistently show widespread support by Joanne Barkan look like Sweden in good times. among them for welfare state guaran- Dream on -- James Baker would tees. If George Bush would stop ex­ The coup in the Soviet Union fails. certainly respond. And democratic so- porting his models of misery, what's The train of history is back on the cialists everywhere would have to admit worked best for the West Europeans reform track -- for the moment. Re­ that the economic resources and insti- might -- with time and aid -- work for publics of the former empire declare tutional mechanisms just don't exist the East. + their independence. Ethnic and na­ now in the Soviet Union to reproduce Joanne Barkan is a member of the tional rivalries heat up. The prospect a strong social democratic model. But I editorial boards of DEMOCRATIC LEFT of complete economic collapse is tem­ that doesn't mean that Mexico is the and Dissent. porarily overshadowed by the even answer. more immediate threat of a winter Members of the Bush administra­ without enough food. So what to do? tfon hope to curtail economic aid to the DEMOCRATIC LEFT In his infinite wisdom, Secretary Soviet Union until a so-called free­ of State James Baker has proclaimed market economy (or economies) has Founding Editor Mexico to be a fine model for the recon­ been set up. They don't seem to grasp Michael Harrington (1928-1989) struction of the republics of the Soviet the relevant facts here: if and when Managing Editor Union. After an, the Mexican regime anyone figures out how to transform Michael Lighty managed to privatize some industries the Soviet economy, the transition will and wring some inflation out of the be long; and in the meantime, eco­ Production economy. What more can countries­ nomic deprivation will ignite a politi­ Ginny Coughlin in-a-mess aspire to? cal explosion. Editorial Committee "Socialism," someone blurts out. Most West European governments Joanne Barkan, Mitch Horowitz Hey, who said that? Some lunatic? understood early on the implications Sherri Levine, Neil McLaughlin Well ... it was Mikhail S. Gorbachev. of this round of chaos in the East -- it Maxine Phillips, Jan Rosenberg On prime-time American television spills right over their borders. So they DEMOCRATIC LEFT (ISSN 016403207) is no les.s. During the Yeltsin-Gorbachev argued for more rod to the Soviet Union published six times a year at 15 Dutch interview, Gorbachev declared that all last winter and spring-- only to be St., s Ul·te 500 , NY , NY 10038 , the failure of the Soviet communist blocked by George Bush. Since the Subscriptions: $8 regular; $15 model "induces me to turn to the expe­ coup, the West Europeans have de- institutional. Postmaster: Send address rience of other countries an the more cided to press harder and, if neces- changes to 15 Dutch St., Suite 500, where a devotion to the socialist idea sary, to act without the U.S. govern- NY, NY 10038. DEMOCRATIC LEFT 1s has led to very interesting results, I ment. published by the Democratic Socialists both with regard to democracy and Democratic socialists in the United of America, 15 Dutch St., Suite 500, the development of the economy, of States should agitate in whatever ways NY, NY 10038 (212) 962-0390. human rights." they can in favor of emergency aid to Signed articles express the opinions of the Soviet Union. But that's not enough. the authors and not necessarily these Gorbachev was referring, of course, of the organization. as he has many other times, to the We should push the notion that Gor- L:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;m;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;!.I

DEMOCRATIC LEFT 2 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1991 Why We Need a Second Party ... and How We Should Get It by Harold Meyerson

Republicans should be nervous this election year, and it's the Democrats' fault that they're not. The Gulf War notwithstand­ ing, events are flowing in the liberals' direction. Although ban­ ished by economists, a deep re­ cession refuses to disperse. Failed banks and S&Ls -- the wreckage of deregulation -- litter the land­ scape. Abortion, particularly if the Reagan-Bush Supreme Court repeals Roe vs. Wade next sum­ mer, threatens to snap the Re­ publican coalition down the middle. The economy is moving into Presidential hopeful Tom Harkin is beseiged by supporters and media. its nineteenth year of stagna- tion: real wages continue their slow California -- the modern GOP's elec­ of the U.S.S.R. decline that began in 1973. For the toral stronghold. With the Soviet Union The prevailing wisdom is that the first time, the percentage of young gone, all that's left for the Republicans Gulf War is at the bottom of all this -­ Americans attending college has are the politics of racial demagoguery the source ofGeorge Bush's presumed shrunk, so unmanageable have costs and periodic forays against Robert Mair invincibility and the Democrats' re­ become for middle-class families. The plethorpe --which is why Jesse Helms' newed marginality. Would that it were Cold War has ended with the Soviets senatorial campaigns, for all the em­ only that. the loser -- but with Germany and barrassment they may cause the GOP, Japan the winners, as American liv­ remain the laboratory in which the Winning the Recession ing standards trail behind them. In party tests its themes. "The Republicans have won the June, a plurality of Americans (forty­ And yet, just five months before 1991 recession," a recent survey by seven percent, with thirty-two per­ the Iowa caucuses, no nationally known Democratic pollsters Stanley Green­ cent disagreeing) told a bipartisan Democrat is running for president. berg and Celinda Lake concludes. team of pollsters that the nation was Richard Gephardt and Albert Gore "Voters cannot identify a Democratic on the wrong track. have counted themselves out; Mario economic vision and have little confi­ Cuomo and Jesse Jackson are unde­ dence in the Democrats' performance Racial Demagoguery cided. The Democrats' three main can­ on economic issues." This is an un­ For American conservatives, the didates -- Arkansas Governor BiH precedented development. A funda­ dissolution of the Soviet Union poses Clinton, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin mental law ofAmerican politics-- that a fundamental crisis. Anti-communism and Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey -­ presidents are held responsible for the was everything to the right: the glue are estimable figures, but all come condition of the economy -- has been that held its factions together, the from small states. None is known to repealed, courtesy of Democratic in­ club with which Republicans beat more than ten percent of the public, eptitude. Democrats. It was the political basis and none is considered sufficiently Consider what this means. George for the defense-spending that propped versed in foreign policy that the press Bush has no domestic agenda. He can up the economies of the South and sought their comments on the collapse hardly bear to stay in the country for

DEMOCRATIC LEIT 3 NoVEMRERIDECEMDER 1991 two weeks at a time. He has just pre­ '24 and '48, third-party movements mid-'50s, both the rates of unioniza­ sided over one of the worst postwar conceived in weakness are one-shot tion and of working-class voting have recessions. Each new poll and focus debacles. The task of the left must t.o been more than cut in half. What group shows that the American public reconstruct the movements for social America lost was a politicized working resents Bush's inattention t.o domestic justice. The question of a party of the class -- a class capable of keeping is­ affairs more and more. But voters ]eft -- t.o the degree that it can even be sues like hea]th care on the national prefer what they know t.o be a rotten a question, given the American e]ec­ agenda, a class capab]e of maintain­ status quo t.o the risk of Democratic t.oral system -- must await that recon­ ing organizations that cou]d turn out rule. The conservative agenda is ex­ struction. tens of millions of votes. It was union hausted, but there's no credib1e Jiberal There is an analysis of the Demo­ membership, not Democratic machines, one t.o replace it. crats' decline over the past quarter­ that racked up the Democrats' vote Is there is a place the left can go century that points t.o the revival of t.otals: since the mid-'60s, union house­ besides the Democrats? Outside the the Democrats and the left: it's not hold members have voted Democratic electoral arena, the answer is, go all that they have oriented themselves in presidential elections at a rate twelve

United on the sidelines -­ one-time Presidential hopefuls Senator Al Gore, Jesse Jackson, and Senator Paul Simon. Gore and Simon will not run; Jackson is still undecided.

over the place, and get thee there as too much around race and culture, but to thirteen percent higher than their quickly as possible: labor is stiU that they haven't oriented themselves non-union counterparts. hemmoraging, what's left of the civil enough around class. Thomas Edsall's The search for modern liberalism's rights movement is tottering, the right: race and cultural policies have origina] sin must look at labor's de­ environmentaHsts are in a do1drum. certainly pushed key constituencies cline -- at the failure of Operation For precisely these reasons, however, away from the Democrats. But it's Dixie (labor's postwar attempt at un­ there's even less of plausible alterna- hard to find Democratic economic ionizing the South) and the long, insu­ tive to the Democrats than there's policies that would have pulled them lar and disastrous tenure of George been in decades. The forces that in back. During the Democrats' quarter- Meany as AFL-CIO president. Meany themselves could comprise such a party century in the wilderness, they have was indifferent, even contemptuous, are weak, and because they're weak, watched passively as taxes descended towards labor's fai1ure to organize: they're not likely to be in a bolting more heavily on the middle class, they had enough members, he insisted. mood. To be sure, third party move- American industry closed its doors, Under Meany, labor politics became ments have arisen in moments of industrial unionism fell apart, homes inside ball, a question of lobbying and weakness as well as in moments of and college and health care became campaign contributions. strength -- labor's leap to the LaFo1- ! unaffordable, and working-class vot- The decline of unions has had three lette progressives in 1924 and the left's I ing dried up. i distinct, catastrophic effects on the to the Henry Wallace version in 1948 J A central explanation of the change 1 Democratic Party, all of which would come to mind -- but, as was the case in in American politics is that since the : have swept over the Democrats had a

DEMOCRATIC LF.PT 4 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1991 politics of racial and cultural liberal­ ism never come along. The search for modern First, when unions decayed, there was no force capable of mobilizing the liberalism's original sin must troops unions had once placed into campaigns. (To take one example, in look at labor's decline. 1944, there were 75,000 union volun­ teers canvassing in Michigan alone.) rights than their non-union counter­ voters who have experienced govern­ But politicians need to get their mes­ parts? There's a strong case that cul­ ment as something that works for them sage out by wh~tever means possible, tural conservatism is irrelevant to -- not just currently, with Social Secu­ and when the bodies stopped coming, winning back white working-class rity and Medicare, but throughout they began to rely more on mail, radio Democrats at all. There were three their lives, beginning with the job pro­ and television -- that is, on costly tech­ instances in the '88 campaign when grams of the New Deal, and then nology and deep pockets. those votes swung over to Democratic through the GI college-loan program Second, the Democrats' capacity candidates: first, to Richard Gephardt and federal mortgage assistance. to reach out to new constituencies -- a in the Iowa primary; second, to Albert Universal government programs may task beyond the capacities of high­ Gore on "Super Tuesday" in the South; not make racists any less racist, or tech campaigning -- dried up, too. In and third, in the last ten days of the affirmative action any less divisive, the 1988 presidential elections, for general election, when Dukakis nar­ but they do build a bottom-up Demo­ instance, surveys undertaken by the rowed George Bush's lead from thir­ cratic coalition. Southwest Voter Registration and teen to eight points. In each instance, Democrats cannot wait for labor Education Project showed Dukakis the conversions followed a dramatic to rebuild itself; that requires Demo­ winning eighty-three percent of the shift in candidate rhetoric and theme crats to recapture state power to re­ Latino vote in Texas, and seventy­ -- not to cultural conservatism, but to legalize organizing. They cannot wait four percent in California -- but an­ economic populism. for new universal programs to re-le- other study by political scientist Ruy gitimate government; that requires Teixeira concluded that only twenty­ Cultural Estrangement? I winning the White House, too. The three percent of eligible Latinos both­ Besides, if gay rights, the ACLU weight of the evidence suggests that ered to vote. That's a lot of non-swing and food stamps are the problem, how the Democrats must uncouple govern­ votes the Democrats are forfeiting, do we explain the voting patterns of ment and liberalism from the percep­ chiefly by failing to have any machin­ the elderly? For the Democrats strong- tion that they are intended to benefit ery on the ground. est support among white voters when only select elements of the population. Third, the declining number of considered by age comes from those Whites only support liberalism where unionists began to cost the Democrats over sixty-five. Ifthe Democrats' posi- liberalism means something other than elections. Michael Dukakis would have tion on questions of race and culture programs for blacks. The liberal im­ fought George Bush to a dead heat are all that matter, then we must age -- at least, the relative emphasis had the 1988 election taken place in a believe that the oldest white voters the party places on cultural and racial work force unionized at a rate ofthirty­ are the least racist, that their fears of issues over economic questions -- must five percent -- the movement's post­ crime and violence are less than those shift. war high -- rather than at 1988's sev- ~ of their younger counterparts', that enteen percent. The difference between their cultural estrangement from the Ascendency of Business union and non-union voters is greater new Democratic constituencies is less But it isn't cultural liberalism that among whites than blacks, among men than their children's. Conversely, the indentures the Democrats to many of than women. In the 1984 Reagan­ Democrats are weakest among white the same groups that influence the Mondale election, the eighty-nine per­ voters aged eighteen to twenty-nine -- Republicans; it's the growing ascen­ cent of Southern white males who do we think they are the most racist, dency of business and professional weren't union members voted seventy­ the least sympathetic to cultural vari- America over the majority that lives seven percent for Reagan over twenty­ ation? somewhere beneath the upper middle three percent for Mondale. The eleven The answer is that young white class. The Democrats' dependence on percent who were unionists voted fifty voters experience government as an corporatePACsandaffiuentcontribu­ percent for Mondale over forty-nine agency that takes their tax money and tors constrains the party from moving percent for Reagan. gives it to someone else -- while they forward on universal programs and What does this do to the argument stniggle to find the bucks to get through l progressive taxation: in 1988, congres­ that the Democrats need to practice a college, and give up on being able to I sional Democrats received $31 million politics that repudiates cultural liber­ buy a home. Worse than irrelevant, I from business PACs and $24 million alism? Do we really think that white government is seen as a menace by I from labor. And on no issue is this male unionized Alabama postal work­ this generation. Those sixty-five and class imbalance more poisonous to the ers are all that more liberal on women's over, meanwhile, are the only white continued on page 12

DEMOCRATIC LEFT 5 NovEMnr.RIDE<:f:;o,rn.:R 1991 Daring To Be Ambitious New York City DSA Organizes To Elect Progressive City Councilmembers

by Miriam Bensman isolated progressives on the council by Thus, our local newsletter pro­ electing insurgents in the open dis­ vided information that was unavail­ tricts -- and perhaps by challenging a able elsewhere. The newletter served few incumbents. as a motivational tool for our member­ The second thing we did right was ship and an excellent outreach ve­ New York DSA embarked on its dare to be ambitious: We decided to hicle. At the Majority Coalition en­ most ambitious electoral campaign consider making endorsements in a dorsement meeting, voting members effort ever this year and succeeded dozen districts or more in the hope of overwhelmed by the thick sheafs of in­ beyond ou~ expectations. More than defining who was progressive, inde­ formation available could be seen flip­ 100 local members were involved in pendent, and likely to challenge the ping through our newletters to bone an endorsement and action program traditional power structure. We pub­ up on candidates. that helped identify the progressives lished special issues ofour local news­ Similarly, the Meet-the-Candi­ in a wide field of candidates, help letter to whip up enthusiasm; we held dates events each attracted about make the crucial difference in several three Meet-the-Candidates events forty DSA members. Held in three campaigns, and built our activist core. prior to our endorsement meeting; we neighborhoods where most of our The effort also raised our visibility became very involved in the Majority members live, these events were in and increased our links to the pro­ Coalition for a New New York, a pro­ models of civic involvement one sel­ gressive political community, and gressive community and labor effort; dom sees. particularly built ties to We made certain cru­ progressive activists in cial decisions early on. The communities of color. In­ decision to endorse a slate of deed, I would argue that Other locals can learn a candidates arose in part our electoral program, to­ lot from what we did right from a new self-conscious­ gether with our excellent ness about the role that work in the Canadian and what we didn't. New York DSA has often Health Care tour, has played in city politics: Since • brought the local to a new DSA doesn't seek or dis- level of activism, effectiveness, so­ and we encouraged our members to pense patronage and doesn't have phistication, and engagement in New participate, particularly in five races much to lose, our endorsements often York City politics. where we could really have an impact. carry a certain moral authority that New York DSA and our comrades It worked because, and despite, of few other multi-issue groups have. in other locals can learn a lot from a surreal situation: The council elec­ Clearly, however, we couldn't what we did right, and what we didn't. tions, held in an off-year with no top­ make endorsements in all fifty-one-­ The first thing we did right was of-the ticket candidates, became a districts -- just the research would be seize the opportunity--and it was ex­ pitched battle among political activ­ overwhelming. We decided to endorse traordinary. A Supreme Court ruling ists and professionals, to which the only in those districts where excellent had forced New York City to revise its city's population was mostly oblivi­ progressives were running, while charter; the new charter gave the City ous. The news media, overwhelmed making an extra effort to try to en­ Council more power and added six­ with covering fifty-one districts and dorse in those districts where many of teen new seats in an attempt to give I 300 candidates, gave up trying. The our members live. • people of color better representation. daily newspapers barely attempted to To find out who to consider, we That meant that the local elections, cover most of the races, while the drew on one of our richest resources: normally a dull parade ofincompetent television and radio stations did even our many members and friends in the incumbents seeking re-election, were less (and then had the gall to wonder labor, feminist, gay and lesbian 1 suddenly an open battlefield. why the turnout on primary day was I rights, and civil rights movements, We perceived a reasonable chance only about fifteen percent of the regis­ and in reform politics. Indeed, one to significantly bolster the handful of tered voters.) benefit is that we had a chance to ask

DEMOCRATIC LEFT 6 NOVEMRERIDECEMBER 1991 our friends in high places for some­ election day. Contrary to the predic­ community or our members. thing other than money, and we found tions of the political pundits, he won In one case, we didn't have infor­ them happy to oblige. the primary by a 300-vote margin. matfon we should have weighed -- ei­ While we generally wanted to A number of members played a ther because we might have made a endorse candidates with progressive crucial role turning the tide in a cor­ different decision, or at least given our positions on a broad range of issues, ner of the district for Una Clarke, aJa­ friends the sense that we took their we were particularly interested in maican child care worker and union points of view seriously. In another, their views on the city's budget crisis, activist who won the primary in her our members who lived in a district health care, aRd housing problems, Brooklyn district by thirty-four votes. mostly favored the other candidate, and rising racial tensions. Two other Of the thirteen people we en­ which severely hampered our ability endoresement criteria were long-time dorsed, eight won the primary and to be effective. community activism and the empow­ will probably win the general election. Our task now is to keep on fight­ erment of women, people of color, and (Democratic primaries virtually guar­ ing in the general election -- and then lesbians and gays. antee election in most of New York to figure out how best to capitalize on As a result, the thirteen faces pic­ City.) Four won open seats, two in­ our success to build our membership tured in the endorsement issue of our cumbents won, two didn't face prima­ and our political engagement. In fact, newsletter included seven women ries, and a fifth, surprisingly lost. All we are already talking about how to and six men; six African Americans, of the challengers we backed -- includ­ help um;eat U.S. Senator Alfonse five whites, one Chinese and one ing Miller -- lost, though several put in D'Amato. + Latino; eight insurgents and five in­ good showings. Add it all up, and the cumbents. That enhanced our credi­ Council will probably have ten to Miriam Bensman is a freelance writer bility with many activists, although twelve fairly independent members. and a member of the New York City as always in politics, our choices What could we have done better? DSA local. sometimes angered our friends. We could have In a hotly contested race in been quicker to Greenwich Vil1age that divided many get started. Our long-time allies in the progressive endorsement community, we picked Tom Duane, a process was not progressive white gay man with along completed until history of community activism, over the end of the Liz Abzug, a progressive white les­ crucial petition­ bian. We judged her lack ofactivism in ing period, the the community to be her fatal flaw. first hurdle for Our endorsements behind us, we getting on the turned to activism. We decided to ballot. We also direct our firepower where it could should have been most make a difference: principally in more systematic the five new districts without incum­ in tapping our bents -- although we also devoted sig­ network for infor­ nificant resources to helping a mation. There DSA'er, Craig Miller, challenge a were a few really long-time incumbent who had excellent candi­ switched districts. We got on the dates we should phones, calling members that had have endorsed been to the endorsement meetings or but didn't hear who had indicated interestearlier. We about until too also sent postcards to almost all our late, which lost us members just before the primary, re­ an opportunity to minding them to vote for our candi­ make valuable date. contacts for the In the end, some twenty DSA future. We also members were involved in the cam­ weren't always paign of Guillermo Linares, a Domini­ aware just how can school board president running in controversial an open seat in Manhattan. Members some of our en­ carried his petitions, coordinated vol­ dorsements unteers, phonebanked, organized a would be within Tom Duane, soon to be New York's first fundraising party, and worked on the progressive openly gay City Councilmember.

DEMOCRATIC LEFT 7 NovEMRERIDECEMBER 1991 DSA Canadian Health Care Speakers Tour by Harry Fleischman Another question repeatedly is DSA's sister party and a mem­ asked during the tour was, "How ber of the Socialist International. do you pay for it all?" The answer "Now, no party-- left or right The question popped up over is simple. A universal, single-payer - can touch the health care sys­ and over again, "How much do system, like that of Canada, will tem. That's how popular it is," you really pay when you go to the insure everyone and cost less than said MP Chris Axworthy at a public doctor?" our current system. The bulk of meeting in New York. Americans seem to find the that savings comes from eliminat­ "Even our Conservative fed­ Canadian health care system dif­ ing insurance industry red tape eral minister of health admits that ficult to believe: universal cover­ and profits. ninety percent of Canadians sup­ age with no payment at the time of "The administration of your port our health system," said trade service -- while costing less than system costs about five times as unionist Julie Davis at a labor the U.S. system. It was only after much as ours does," Dr. Mimi breakfast in Washington, D.C. hearing it from Canadian health Divinsky said in an interview with The Speakers Tour educated professionals, trade unionists, and National Public Radio during the and inspired DSA'ers and other members of parliament that people Speakers Tour. health care activists, giving them really began to understand the The Canadian speakers ex­ invaluable organizing tools. The benefits of the Canadian system. plained that their health care Speakers Tour was a tremedous The DSA Health Care Speak­ system was the result of years of success, thanks to the expertise of ers Tour featured twenty Canadi­ hard work by the New Democratic our Canadian speakers and to the ans speaking in twenty-four U.S. Party (NOP), the labour move­ relentless organizing ofDSA local cities to trade unionists, senior ac­ ment, and progressive doctors and Youth Section activists across tivists, students, women'sgroups, organizations such as the Medical the country. Through the Tour, health care providers, members of Reform Group of Ontario. The DSA added a significant voice to Congress, and local legislators. NOP, ademocraticsocialistparty, the fight for universal, single-payer health insurance - helping to push it to the top of the agenda, both locally and nationally. The fol­ lowing is a wrap-up of the Tour: In the keynote of the Tour, Audrey McLaughlin, Leader of the NOP, met with members of Congress, trade unionists, and media in Washington, D.C. DSA, AFSCME, and the American Soli­ darity Campaign organized a Con­ gressional breakfast, press lunch­ eon and labor reception for McLaughlin. They also set up meetings with House Majority Whip David Bonior, Congressman Marty Russo, UMw A President Richard Trumka, and AFSCME President Gerald McEntee. Los Angeles DSA organized a whirlwind of public events, media interviews and receptions. Debo­ Dr. Haresh Kirpalanl answers questions at a City Hall hearing in New York. rah McPherson, President of the

DEMOCRATIC LEFT 8 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1991 TOUR SITES East Coast New York City, Hartford, New Haven, ~altlmore Princeton, New Brunswick, Trenton, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Camden, Atlanta Midwest Columbus, Cleveland, Oberlin, Black Lake, MI, Chicago, DeKalb, IL, Lebanon, IL, Lafayette, IN, St. Louis West Coast Sacramento, Los Angeles NOP Leader Audrey Mclaughlin and DSA National Director Michael Area, San Francisco, Lighty meet with the press at a Washington, D.C. luncheon. Bay Area, San Diego Columbia Health Sciences Asso­ Union Women while Wayne For a list of speakers see page 10. ciation and Roberts spoke before Samuelson, Political Education a standing-room-only crowd at a Director of the Ontario Federa­ public forum in Oakland. In addi­ tion ofLabour, spoke to the Build­ British Columbia Nurses' Asso­ tion, the speakers were interviewed ing Trades Council. The Oberlin ciation, Ken Georgetti, President by the editorial boards of the San DSA chapter held a public meet­ of the Britisch Columbia Federa­ Francisco Chronicle and the San ing with the speakers. tion of Labour, and William Francisco Examiner. At the UAW Educational Re­ Roberts, Member of Alberta's Sacramento DSA'ers organized treat Center in Black Lake, Michi­ Legislative Assembly spoke at a legislative hearings which were gan, 300 trade union activists gave fo rum attended by 175 people and broadcast on cable TV, press in­ a standing ovation to Dr. Gordon a UCLA event attended by 150 terviews, a public forum at Sacra­ Guyatt of the Medical Reform people. The speakers were inter­ mento State University, and a Group and Wasylycia-Leis. viewed by the LA Weekly, Santa reception. San Diego DSA organ­ Chicago DSA held a labor Monica TV, and radio host Phil ized a meeting with health care breakfast meeting, addressed by Ansell , a DSA'er. workers and a public forum at San Don Aitken, President of the Al­ "We made an important con­ Diego State University. berta Federation of Labour, tribution to a front-page issue," Columbus DSA sponsored an Guyatt, and Wasylycia-Leis at said Steve Tarzynski of LA DSA. event which was broadcast on AFSC:ME District 31. A DSA public "The Tour inOuenced a lot of ac­ DSA'er Bob Fitrakis's cable TV event featured the Canadian speak­ tivists, trade unionists and public show, "From the Democratic Left." ers as well as DSA'er and Physi­ policy makers." In Cleveland, the speakers cians For a National Health Pro­ In the East Bay, DSA'ers put were featured on several radio gram (PNHP) President, Dr. together a wide range events, from talk shows. Kathleen Connors, Quentin Young. a legislative hearing to a recep­ President of Canada's National Purdue University DSA or­ tion for doctors and medical school Federation ofNurses' Unions and ganized a labor event. McKen­ students. Dr. Rosana Pellizzari of Judy Wasylycia-Leis, Member of dree College DSA and Northern the Medical Reform Group, Peter Manitoba's Legislative Assembly, 111inois University DSA both or­ Cameron, Pr esident of the British addressed the Coalition of Labor ganized student forums.

DEMOCRATIC LEF1' 9 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1991 AFSCME. Phi11y DSA'ers also organized a health care activists conference, a senior activists event attended by U.S. Congressman Bob Borski, a forum for health care professionals co-sponsored by Phy­ sicians For A National Health Program, and labor events in Camden and at the Rutgers Uni­ versity Labor Education Center. Central New Jersey DSA spon­ sored a meeting at Princeton University that was attended by over 100 students and faculty and by the president of the university. Baltimore DSA held a meet­ ing at Johns Hopkins University and public event attended by over 100 people. The speakers met with Trade unionist Dick Martin explains the history of Canadian health care. the Baltimore City Council, Citi­ St. Louis DSA organized pub­ "We helped to energize and zen Action, trade unionists and lic forums at St. Louis University educate the health care activists community health professionals. School of Community Health and in the city," said DSA'er Steve Ol­ DC/MD/NoVA DSA sponsored Washington University. Don iver. "Because of the Tour several a labor breakfast with Julie Davis, Aitken appeared on a cable TV public officials have announced Secretary-Treasurer of the On­ show, "Labor Vision." Aitken was that single-payer health care re­ tario Federation of Labour. In also interviewed by several radio form will be at the top of their addition they organized a series of shows and the St.Louis Post-Dis­ agendas." events and meetings with the patch. Dr. Haresh Kirpalani of the speakers and Congressman John New York City DSA sponsored Medical Reform Group, Nancy Conyers, and the staff of Con­ a series of events over a span of Riche, President of the New gressman Bernie Sanders. five days. Events included a re­ Democratic Party, and MP Chris The grand finale of the DSA ception for physicians and provid­ Ax.worthy spoke to a packed crowd Canadian Speakers Tour will be a ers, a meeting with the general of trade unionists in Hartford, Con­ reception with Dr. Michael Rach­ executive board of AC1WU, a labor necticut and met with students at lis, co-founder of the Medical Re­ breakfast with Jobs With Justice, Yale University. form Group of Ontario, at the and a City Han meeting with In Philadelphia, Barbara Bey­ American Public Health Associa­ DSA'er Manhatt.an Borough Presi­ ers, President of the Saskatchewan tion National Meeting in Atlanta. dent Ruth Messinger. The speak­ Federation of Labour and Guyatt (Wednesday, Nov. 13, 6-7:30 p.m. ers met with the editorial boards spoke to 125 trade unionists at a American Hotel, International of the New York Times and Busi­ labor luncheon hosted by Henry Boulevard, Carnegie Way and ness Week. Nicholas, President of 1199- Spring Street.) + DSA Health care Tour: Canadian Speakers Don Aitken President Alberta Federation of Labour Canadian Union of Public Employees Richard Martin Chris Ax.worthy, Federal MP. Saskatchewan Bar'bara Executive Vice-President, CanadlanLabourCongress Beyers President. Saskatchewan Federation of Labour Audrey McLaughlin Leader, New Demoi::ratic Party Peter Cameron President, Brttish Columbia Health Dr. Rosana Pellizzari Medical Reform Group of Sciences Association Kathleen Connors President. Ontario Nancy Riche Executive Vice-President. National Federation of Nurses' Unions Julie Davis Canadian Labour Congress and 'President, New Secretary-Treasurer. Ontario Federation of Labour IDemocratic Party William Roberts Member. Legislative Dr. Mimi DivinskyMedical Reform Group of Ontario Assembly of Alberta Wayne Samuelson Political Ken Georgetti President. BrlUsh Columbia Federation 1 Education Director, Ontario Federation of Labour of Labour Dr. Gordon GuyattMedical Reform Group Judy Wasylycia-Leis Member, Legislative Assembly of Ontario Dr. Haresh Kirpalani Medical Refom1 of Manitoba Dr. Don Woodside Medical Reform Group Group ofOntarto Eugene Kostyra Regional Director. of Onlaiio

DEMOCRATIC LEF't' 10 NOVBMOEl!fDECEMBER 1991 DSAction

POSITIONS AVAILABLE GOINGS ON ACTIVIST ALERT

The DSA Natioual Office in New +Atlanta area DSA'ers and APHA +Would you like to be more active in York City has an immediate open­ members take note: The grand finale DSA local politics? Call Ginny Cough­ ing for a part time Financial/Of­ of the DSA Canadian Speakers Tour lin, DSA's Local Liaison for informa­ fice Manager. The Comptroller will be a reception with Dr. Michael tion about the DSA Local nearest you, handles DSA's accounting and book­ Rachlis, co-founder of the Medical or for information about setting a up a keeping, oversees all financial Reform Group of Ontario. It wl11 take Local in your area. (212) 962-0390. transactions.and helps develop the place at the American Public Health annual budget. Salary will be pro­ Association (APHA) Annual Meeting +Are you a health care activist? If so, rated based on $18,000/year plus in Atlanta, Wednesday, November 13, you should be part of the DSAHealth health benefits and three weeks va­ 6:00-7:30 p.m. at the American Hotel, Care Task Force. Receive the cation. Hours are flexible. Women, International Boulevard, Carnegie Way newsletter of the Task Force, Health people of color, lesbians and gay and Spring Street. Dr. Rachlis is a Care Activist. For information, write men are encouraged t.o apply. Send leading progressive analyst and critic to the DSA Health Care Task Force, letter and resume to DSA, 15 Dutch of Canada's health care system. 15 Dutch St., #500, NY, NY 10038. St., #500, NY, NY 10038, Attn: Dom.

California DSA is seeking two or­ ganizers for north and south of DSA National Convention state. $1,000 per month. For more information call Duane Campbell in Sacramento (916) 361-9072 or OUTREACH EVENT: Steve Tarzynski in Los Angeles {213) 419-3324. Democratic Socialism In A Post-Communist World witIi RESOURCES + The new issue of Socialist Forum, DSA's discussion bulletin, is hot off the presses! This special issue con­ Corne/ West tains the initial thoughts of DSA'ers Democratic Socialists of America Honorary Chair on our vision of democratic socialism and the mission of DSA. Writers in­ Bernie Sanders clude Joanne Barkan, Dick Flacks, U.S. Congressman from Vermont Todd Gitlin, Christine Riddiough, Rosemary Ruether and Michael Walzer. Ideas discussed include: the Nancy Riche collapse of communism, market so­ President, Canada's New Democratic Party cialism, social movements, and elec­ t.oral politics. For your copy send $5 (includes postage) to DSA. 15 Dutch Jo-Ann Mort St., #500, NY, NY 10038. Communications Director, ACTWU + Activists of color and anti-racism FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8 •!• 7:30 P.M activists: subscribe to Our Struggle I Nuestra Lucha, the newsletter of MUNDELEIN COLLEGE •!• SKY AUDITORIUM -:· 6363 N. SHERIDAN ~ CHICAGO DSA's Anti-Racism, Latino/a, and This forum is part of the National Convention of the Democratic Socialis~ of African American Commissions. For America. The Convention will run from 9:30 a.m. Sat., Nov. 9 to 12:30 p.m. Mon., information write to DSA, P.O. Box Nov. 11 at Chicago's Allerton Hotel, 701 N. Michigan. Leadership School: Fri., 162394, Sacramento, CA 95816. Nov. 8. Observers are welcome! $15 per day for observers (includes materials).

DEMOCRATIC LEFT 11 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1991 global "free trade." In recent weeks, ure is the great insulator against one's Southwest Voter, the leading Latino own marginality.) It's not a sentence frompages Meyerson voter registration organization, has in perpetuity ·· but revival requires held conferences in San Antonio and rebuilding working class institutions general welfare ·· and to the Demo­ Los Angeles, at which they've docu­ and reinventing a cross-racial solidar­ crats positions and prospects ·· than mented how free trade in the form of ity, daunting challenges both. In a on trade. For most Americans, the maquiladoras has lowered Mexican­ sense, the left's charge resembles but way the government handles the trade American incomes in cities like El goes beyond that facing the Demo­ question in the new international Pa.so, and how it's likely to lower them crats. With capitalism's obliteration of economy will determine whether their on both sides ofthe border in the years borders, the left must learn to espouse living standards rise or fall. ahead. Both the Canadian NDP and both a new globalism and a new na­ Yet, congressional Democrats are the Mexican PRD participated in tionalism. embracing the Bush Administration's Southwest Voters' conferences, as they It's on this murky but not unnavi­ Free Trade Agreement with Mexico, a will in the DSA convention. The ap­ gable terrain that a new left must document whose premises are those of pearances -- and, more important, the arise. + a laissez-faire fantasyland. As Rich­ policies ·· suggest the basis for a con­ ard Rothstein has noted, no one would tinental left, devoted to the promotion Harold Meyerson is a member of the think California's economy would of social standards across borders. DSA National Political Committee. benefit if Mississippi could suddenly Portions of this article first appeared slash its minimum wage to one dollar What's Next? in LA Weekly. an hour ·· but when we relocate Cali­ In 1992, the Democrats are going fornia factories just across the Mexi­ to have to suffer the consequences of can border, it's supposed to generate a their own transition. They will be asked CLASSIFIEDS huge Mexican market for our advanced to abandon or modify policies that post- industrial products. Talcing their have alienated the votes they need to 1991-92 DIRECTORY OF ALTERNA­ lead from the wizards of the economics bring the Reagan Age to its overdue TIVE AND RADICAL PUBLICATIONS. profession, the Democrats have ne­ end. In some instances, these sacri­ Over 350 periodicals listed; $4.00. Write: glected to consider forgiving the fices ·· downplaying Affirmative Ac­ Alternative Preee Center, P .O. Box 33109, Baltimore, MD, 21218. Mexican debt or conditioning free trade tion, for instance·· may cost nearly as on raising Mexican wages and stan­ many votes as they gain; in others·· in ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE AMERICAN dards. The DemOCTats have acquiesced the case ofbasic civil rights·· they are LEFT, 970 pp., dozens of entries on and/ in administration policies of leveling not only politically counterproductive, or by DSAers. Get socialism into your li­ down. but morally impermissible. In the end, braries $95 prepaid to Garland Publish­ though, the Democrats probably can't ing, 136 Madison Avenue, NY, NY 10016. Progressive Nationalism win without de- emphasizing some of Nor is it only the Democrats who their cultural liberalism. (Ifyou check ACTMSTS wanted to organize low in­ are inattentive to the policies of a leading Democrats' positions on capi­ come neighborhoods nationwide. Fight progressive economic nationalism. So tal punishment, you'Jl note this has for housing, health, education. Cont.act ACORN, 522 8th Street, SE, Washing­ is the American left. The New Left already begun.) ton, DC 20003 (202> 547-9292. bequeathed to both liberalism and the The tougher question is, what do left an abhorrence of nationalism. But the Democrats and the left wish to MEET OTHER LEFT SINGL.E.S through there's nationalism and then there's become? Many of the economic and Concerned Singles Newsletter. Men and nationalism. The right's version of political forces to which the Demo­ women who care about peace, social jus­ nationalism was bound up in anti­ crats are subject·· the shrinking elec­ tice, and racial equality. National and communist, anti-socialist, anti-Third torate, their upper-class funders, the international membership. All ages. Since World militarism, and it served the rise ofethnic politics and the decline of 1984. Free Sample: Box 555-D, Stockbr­ right, come election time, as a way to the unions ·· impede their transfor­ idge, MA 01262. impugn the liberals' patriotism. It is mation to an internationalized New now time for a left-wing nationalism .• Deal party. Democrats have forgotten COMMUNITY JOBS, eocially responsible a policy that defends workers here how to heed questions of class and to job opportunities. Subscribe to the only nationwide listing covering organizing, and abroad, and that challenges the speak in the name of the nation. They'd disarmament, labor: environment, and corporate "one-worldism" that has do well to remember. The alternative more. $3.50/sample. $12/6 issues. Box masked the loss of two million indus­ is political oblivion. DS1516 P St., NW, Washington, DC :mo5. trial jobs in the last decade. As for the American left, oblivion In particular, both the liberal and is a state with which it has become far Cla&sifwd aduertising mil's are $2 pu /foe, left communities need to examine some too accustomed, even comfortable. (A $50 per column inch. Paymf'nt in ad11anCf'. of the "third-worldist" assumptions function, perhaps, of the relegation of TMre u a 20% discount if

DEMOCRATIC LEFT 12 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1991 Turning Rage Into Action Commentary on the Clarence Thomas Hearings by Suzanne Crowell not only knew intimately the humili- In the Thomas case, the Democrats ation visited upon women in the appeased no one -- not the women, not workplace; they also believed it their the blacks, not men, not the editorial In the ten days between Anita Hill's right to have it ended. writers. In the meantime, the women pres.s conference and the Senate vote Women in general, however, are who have been the backbone ofDemo­ to confirm Clarence Thomas for the trained to think otherwise; first, that cratic Party organizing and fundrais­ Supreme Court, what the Washing­ they must have prompted their tor- ing are furious. Talk of a third party ton Post called the "feminist roar" was mentors by some manner of dress or percolates the mainstream like never heard and then silenced. The surge of decorum, and are therefore to blame, before. Those who believe it unwise to rage that felt like power on October 8 or second, that in any case they ought launch a third party cannot continue was strangled in the throat of those to be able to ''handle" it. Usually only to talk only of its impracticality, how­ who voiced it within the week, and it those whose expectations are raised Iever. They must offer an alternative is hard, looking back, to imagine that by education, union activity, or a ser- vision and strategy that promises to we thought it would be any other way. endipitous rebellion reject these as- link independent political efforts in an Anita Hill and the feminist move­ sumptions wholesale. In fact, it is alliance that shares a social demo­ ment lost the war for public opinion astonishing that as many women re- cratic vision, at the least, and de­ because they needed allies and oppor­ jected the male-oriented explanations mands the allegiance of those who are tunities that never materialized. They as could be heard in that one week. elected with its energy. needed forthright defenders on the The political fallout appears grave As the immediate feminist wave Senate Judiciary Committee; they for the Democrats. Nine voted with ebbs, it remains to be seen whether it needed forthright condemnation of the Republicans, including Chuck Robb, hit a new high-water mark. The pain sexual harassment by recognizable chair of the Democratic Senatorial Cam- experienced by millions of women black leadership; and they needed equal paign Committee, and Sam Nunn, the watching Anita Hill savaged by the access to the media, all of which they senior party leader on defense policy. likes of Alan Simpson, Orrin Hatch, lacked and had no hope of getting. The Democrats on the committee did and Arlen Spector was not empower­ The lessons learned from this epi­ not have a flawed strategy for the ing. While the issue of sexual harass­ sode are not new, although that makes hearings; they had no strategy at all. ment was aired at a new level the them no less disheartening. One les­ The White House conveyed the re- apparent lessons are murky. It is hard son retaught is that race and sex are sults of its porno research on a spe- to contend that Anita Hill did the still a volatile mix in American soci­ cially-installed hotline direct to the country a service by provoking this ety, the chemistry of which can ex­ Russell Building, where it was used debate unless you believe her; if you plode in any direction in any given set by Hatch within the hour. The Demo- believe her, you are left concluding of circumstances. Accused of a sexual crats never even caucused. that her experience is an object lesson offense, Thomas reached back to a While much of the potentially in why the cost of complaint is higher shield he heretofore eschewed: his race. Democratic electorate will soon forget than most women want to pay. He invoked the powerful imagery of what happened here, they will long Whether Anita Hill will prove to the Southern lynch mob, and the image remembertheineptitudeoftheDemo- be, as Jesse Jackson said, "the Rosa was left unanswered, twisting in the cratic leadership in handling the is- Parks of sexual harassment" rests on wind as each set of Thomas's wit­ sue, and they will remember it be- the ability offeminist activists to uni­ nessesembellished its details. That no cause it fits a picture they already versalize her experience, most likely man was ever lynched for an offense have in their minds' eye. This is the without her help, and convert the rage against an African American woman, party that took months to discover its she unleashed into concrete political of course, was left unsaid. base was unemployed; that appears to activity. It has not been a coalition­ Class was the other unspoken fac­ stand by and watch as urban America building week. + tor at work. The rage was voiced by is dismembered in a delayed reaction women positioned to be heard - women to the Reagan budget cuts; and that Suzanne Crowell is a member of the who had tried in the last twenty years seems hard to put to run someone for DSA Washington, D.C./Maryland/ to compete with men as equals for president that the populace has ever Northern Virginia local and the power and recognition on the job. They heard of. National Political Committee.

DEMOCRATIC LEIT 13 NoVEMBERIDECEMBER 1991 BOOK REVIEW A Tale of Two Ideologies Examining America's Contempt For Politics by Guy Molyneux

WHY AMERICANS BATE POLITICS by E.J. Dionne, hopes for the future. That DioP.ne clearly shares liberal Simon & Schuster, 1991, New York. values, regarding race, gender, and U.S. foreign policy, should force us to take his powerful criticism all the more seriously. N otwithstanding its title, Why Americans Hate Conservatism was of course politically far more suc­ Politics is not a book about Americans' widely-noted al­ cessful over this period, but Dionne criticizes its cynical ienation from poJitics. Rather, E.J . Dionne takes today's attacks on government, and sees it today as intellectually "trivial and even stupid" politics as his point of departure, exhausted and hamstrung by tensions between its inter­ and asks: How have we come to this sorry state? Many nal factions. There is a symmetry to the critiques, rooted others have looked to process -- television advertising, in an essentially communitarian perspective. Both camps PACs, soundbites--for the answer. Dionne follows another subordinate the needs of community to other priorities: path quite rightly, suggesting that the fault lies not in our economic freedom for conservatives, cultural tolerance for procedures, but in our politics. More specificaUy, he argues liberals. Dionne tells us that this happened because the that the two dominant ideologies of our time, liberalism ideologies were hijacked: and conservatism, are both fatally compromised as guides forward for the nation. What is striking about the political events of the Looking primarily through the prism of intellectual 1960s is that they allowed both of the nation's history, Dionne brilliantly sketches the development of dominant ideologies, and both parties, to become ve­ contemporary liberalism and conservatism. One of the hicles for upper-middle-class interests ... While nation's finest political journalists, he writes in a style both [they) argued about morality, anticommunism, lively and graceful -- no mean feat considering his mate­ imperialism, and abstract rights, a large chunk of rial. He has a particularly keen eye for irony, nicely dis­ the electorate was confined to the sidelines, wonder­ played in his discussion of Jimmy Cater and liberalism, a ing why the nation's political discussion had become relationship of unacknowledged mutual dependence that so distant from their concerns. ends in mutual destruction. He is also consistently respect­ ful and fair in discussing these two sets of ideas, even as he The resulting debate poses a series of "false choices," develops devastating critiques. responsibility vs. compassion, sexual equality vs. support for families, that leave many Americans out. We are left Liberalism Torn Asunder with a symbolic and often deeply cynical politics, which Dionne sees a liberalism brought down in large meas­ has little or nothing to do with solving the nation's real ure by self-inflicted wounds, torn asunder and then pub­ problems. Some may feel Dionne overstates the amount of licly defined -- to its great disadvantage -- by the issues of common ground available on these issues, especially race, race, gender, and U.S. foreign policy. He points convinc­ but no one can doubt either the counterproductive nature ingly to an anti-democratic strain in 1960s liberalism, of the debate over them, or the extent to which they have including a dangerous indifference to who was paying the pushed many vital issues relevant to people's lives off the costs of social engineering. This is a liberalism with a agenda. distinctly minoritarian perspective, with predictable elec­ Dionne thus gives us a framework for understanding toral consequences, and it lives on today. I suspect readers an apparent paradox of contemporary politics: sharp po­ of this magazine will feel, as I did, that Dionne is tougher larization alongside widespread apathy and withdrawal on liberals than on conservatives. But that's only because from public life. But Dionne's picture is less useful in he expects more from liberals, in whom he still places his understanding the other great paradox of our time: sharp

DEMOCRATIC LEFT 14 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1991 partisan conflict at a Kevin Phillips to find time when the par- out they never really ties are closer to­ meant it (if he's fig­ gether than any Dionne provides the latest ured itoutyet). Trade other time since the unionists, one sus­ 1920s. So intentis he chapter in an old American pects, were less taken on seeing the "false story -- the absence of a social aback by Republi­ choices" that he un­ cans' real priorities. derstates what we democratic tradition. This is why I find might call the "false it hard to share Di- consensus": namely, onne's optimistic the rule of the marketplace. Liberalism in this era did not I view that we are moving beyond the false choices toward have even what Richard Hofstatder calls the "social demo­ a new consensus. Republicans, more anti-political than cratic tinge" it had during the New Deal; less and less did truly "conservative," are quite happy with a debased and it protect working people's economic interests or speak the discredited politics. Only liberals need government, and language of class solidarity. It is worth recalling that in thus, politics. For Dionne, politics is about solving prob­ policy terms 1978 was as conservative a year as 1981, and lems, "the search for remedy," but in the real world, Democrats completely controlled the federal government. Republicans don't seem to agree. He is encouraged by a re­ spectful review of the liberal American Prospect in Bill Impoverished Politics Buckley's National Review; I would be more impressed to This makes sense when we remember Dionne's analy­ see business leaders support extended unemployment sis of who dominated the coalitions: a politics divided over benefits. cultural differences within the upper middle class, will be No, my guess is that American business and its politi­ united around the interests of the upper middle class. So, cal allies will once again have to be saved from themselves when Dionne summarized the predicament of what he ... by liberals (in one ofhistory's great tragic roles, along­ calls the "great American middle" -- "In liberalism it saw side Lear and Oedipus). Educational reform, infrastruc­ a creed that demeaned its values; in conservatism it was a ture investment, retraining programs, universal health doctrine that shortchanged its interests" -- I would argue care -- all the things Dionne wants to see will meet fierce he hasn't got it quite right. Instead, we might say that opposition from a business class which, in the end, will find many working- and middle-class people, seeing no one de­ its international competitive position restored, Only then fending their interests, voted their values (which were will we have consensus. This should not surprise us: the indeed demeaned by liberals). liberal "consensus" with which Dionne begins his tale was In a sense then, Dionne provides the latest chapter in itself the outcome offierce struggle in the 1930s and 1940s. an old American story: the absence of a social democratic tradition, the almost unconscious acceptance offree mar­ Look To the Future ket assumptions, and the resulting impoverishment of po­ Whatever my disagreements with his diagnosis or litical debate. The less discussed part of that story is the prognosis, Dionne's prescriptions are right on the mark. absence of a true (Tory) conservatism in America. Dionne Liberals increasingly obsessed with process -- campaign has trouble locating any genuine communitarianism be­ reform, "none of the above" voting options, the reverse cause the two great communitarian traditions have never frank, registration reform -- are well advised to follow him existed in America. in looking to political substance for answers. We must also This is where I have my one real disagreement with show respect for values, especia1ly work, and strive to Dionne: his discussion of conservatism. He explores the in­ bridge the cultural divides exploited so well by conserva­ tellectual debates between libertarians and traditional­ tives. ists, but fails to appreciate that conservatism as a political Most of all, we must heed Dionne when he tells us to force has never taken tradition seriously. Ronald Reagan's look to the future: "if liberals and conservatives spend all personal hypocrisy -- divorced, never attending church, their time relighting the meaning of the liberal 1960s and conspicuous consumption -- was really American conser­ conservative 1980s, we wiJl waste the 1990s." Today some vatism's great lie. When tradition confronts the market, Democrats insist we apologize for the 1960s, while liberals the market always wins. insist "we made no mistakes;" both miss the point. At the very heart of the idea of America lies the notion of a fresh Sham Agenda start, of leaving one's past behind, whether in the Old Consider the Business Roundtable and the Moral I World or Back East. It's time -- long past time, actually -­ Majority, and who saw more of their agenda realized. If for a new politics in America. you have any doubt, take a look at the U.S. tax code, and then watch a little MTV. Of course, liberals were often as DSA member Guy Molyneux is a senior fellow at the taken in by the sham agenda as were the movement Commonwealth Institute and studies politics at Harvard's conservatives: Norman Lear was probably as surprised as Kennedy School of Government.

DEMOCRATIC LEFT 15 NoVEMBBRIDECEMBER 1991 JIMMY HIGGINS REPORTS

SOCIALISTS WIN STATE POWER MAC NEIULEHRER ON SOCIALISM ... AGAIN Public television newscaster Robin Mac Neil was recently DSA's sister organization in Canada, the New Democratic caught discussing democratic socialism with Zbigniew Party, recently won the provincial governments in British Brzezinski: Columbia and Saskatchewan. In British Columbia, NDP Robin Mac Neil: Since democratic socialism and Marxism candidates won fifty-one of seventy-five seats. NDP candi­ shared some common tenets, at least early in the develop­ dates did even better in Saskatchewan, winning fifty-five ment of both, does the collapse of the Communist version out of sixty-six seats. More than fifty percent of the Sas­ discredit socialism, or does it give it a fresh legitimacy now katchewan NDP candidates were farmers. The downfall of that the taint with Communism is going to be removed? the Tories in that province was their "now-discredited Zbigniew Brzezinski: I think it emphasizes the importance privitization policy" according to the Toronto Globe and of the connection between socialism and democracy ... Mail. Last year the NDP won the provincial governments minimum standards of well being, some collective re­ in Ontario and the Yukon -- meaning that the NDP now sponses to injustices, but in a setting of free choice, of represents more than half of the population in Canada. democratic altemativesy .. . If we eliminate the Manich­ Congratulations to our comrades up north! ean, the utopian elements in Communism, we have social democracy and that I think is a viable alternative. Mac Neil: Is it likely to make socialism any more respectable in ANYTHING FROM SWEDEN the U.S., where it has never had, at least after the nine­ Don't miss the November/December issue of Utne Reader. teenth century, grown very strong roots? Brzezinski: I It features an artic1e by journalist E.J. Dionne as well as a would think not in the short run because... inevitably, the pictorial landscape ofAmerican politics. DSA is at the edge failures of Communism rub off negatively against even of a red blurb and green sea on the map -- somewhere social democracy. In the longer run, I do suspect that we between freedom and equality. We are surrounded by also come to realize that the failure ofCommunism doesn't Jesse Jackson, Paul Wellstone, and Alexander Cockburn. mean sanctifying the notion of capitalism,. .. that social re­ What do we read, according to Utne Reader? "In These sponsibility, that concern for the poor that joint collective, Times and anything from Sweden." In the same issue, democratic action by society to alleviate injustice and don't miss DSA Honorary Chair Barbara Ehrenreich's inequality has some justification. respose to the question: "How to beat Bush in '92?" Hmm ... sounds like democratic socialism. Democratic Socialists of America Join tts! Members of the Democratic Socialists of America work in immediate struggles for justice -- as we build a movement for long-term social change. We bring to our work a strategy for building alliances among social movements and a vision of a more just and equitable society. Join DSA and become a card-carrying member of the largest and most exciting democratic socialist organization in the U.S.! · r------, I 0 Send me more information about DSA. NAME I I 0 Enclosed find my dues! (Includes a subscription AooREss I I to Democratic Left.): 0 $50 (sustaining) Cr1Y/STATE/Z1P I I 0 $35 (regular) 0 $15 (low-income, student) I IL------J Make check payable to DSA, 15 Dutch SL, #500. NY. NY 10038. (212) 962-0390 I