Post #3301222

2026-06-12 15:10 UTC

Yes and also no. Yes because that is clearly the role it plays in the US. But no in the sense that it is a name for a specific theory of action, the theory that you can achieve socialism through voting instead of through a coup (even a bloodless one) or a civil/revolutionary war.

Replies (4)

@dessalines@lemmy.ml 2026-06-12 16:11

True, but also as a tactic (IE voting in socialism) its a complete historical failure that should be relegated to the history books. All the attempts in the late 1800s until now showed that capitalists will not give up state power without violence, and even explicitly socialist parties who acheived some electoral success, end up quickly capitulating to the demands of the capitalists who run the country’s economy, and make a hard turn to the right. Look at the state of the European “socialist” or “labour” parties. Red Phoenix - Pacifism - How to do the enemy’s job for them. Youtube Audiobook Not to mention all the coups the US carried out even on countries who attempted to tread a “non-violent” socialist path: like Chile in 1970. While the countries who took control of the military and went through a civil war to disempower and nationalize capital are still standing on their own two feet: Cuba, China, Vietnam, DPRK. “Democratic socialism” also sometimes use (incorrectly) to refer to capitalist-run states in the imperial core (like the nordic states) with some welfare band-aids, funded on the backs of the world’s workers in the global south. What about social democracy / democratic socialism / the Nordic model? Isn’t Sweden socialist? On the unraveling of the Nordic welfare states: increasing inequality and forced austerity. Scandinavia’s covert role in western imperialism

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@FreudianCafe@lemmy.ml 2026-06-12 16:24

Not a theory, an illusion

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@redrumBot@lemmy.ml 2026-06-12 16:48

What you describe is called social democracy. And, in my opinion, it is an ideological cul-de-sac.

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@Transform2942@lemmy.ml 2026-06-12 16:14

Has any election in human history ever actually disrupted a class hierarchy?

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