A Day Without Capitalism

 Wth the rise of 'progressive' candidates who are running against - and often defeating - 'traditional' democrats, I think we need to have a conversation about how candidates label themselves, how they're labeled by the media, and how to talk about their ideas for governing.

Here are a few of the up-and-comers who won seats, or won primaries and will battle it out in November's election. And here's your quiz question: which (if any) of the winning candidates named below are actually members of the Democratic Socialists of America?

• NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who won just over 50% of the vote in defeating so-called 'Independent' Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa. 

• Darializa Avila Chevalier (also known as DAC) defeated five-term incumbent Adriano Espaillat in the primary for the NY-13 Congressional district. 

• Brad Lander defeated two-term incumbent Dan Goldman in the primary for the NY-10 Congressional district. 

• Janeese Lewis George won the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, DC. 

• Nithya Raman was one of the two Democrats advancing to the general election in the race for mayor of Los Angeles. Karen Bass, the incumbent mayor, is the other.

• Dr. Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic primary for US Senate in Michigan, defeating Rep. Haley Stevens 48.5% to 47.5%. 

• Melat Kiros defeated Rep. Diana DeGette in a primary for Colorado's 1st district. DeGette was first elected to the seat in 1997. 

Given the recent successes of DSA members, democratic socialists, and progressive Democrats, I thought it was important to share this narrative, part of the DSA Program. It's an interesting place to kick off a review of the DSA and its platform.

Imagine taking a day off from work in a future without capitalism.

It might not feel as badly needed as it does now. You enjoy your work; it’s interesting to you, and you’re well trained for it. You work as much as you are able and no more than needed, and you would control your own labor and see it going to good use. It's not just a job to pay the bills.

Speaking of bills; you don't really have them anymore.

You have no debt. You don’t need health insurance. You don’t pay a mortgage or have a landlord, because comfortable housing is a human right. Your retirement is publicly funded. Food, education, energy, medicine, and transportation aren’t for-profit businesses; they are common goods and utilities.

OK, enough about bills. What do you do on your day off? Maybe in the morning, you walk your kids to school, run errands, or go to a doctor’s appointment. In the afternoon, you might play a sport, practice a new skill, read, plan a trip. In the evening, you could meet up with friends or family and eat together, maybe go to the movies or down to the park.

These are all familiar, everyday activities. A socialist day off could be like any good day now. But what if you were free to spend your time how you like without worrying about cost or dreading going back to work? What if you didn’t have to think about paying rent or loans at the end of the month, or saving for college, or affording groceries?

It’s been said that it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism. But just because it isn’t easy to imagine now doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to make it happen.

Workers deserve more.

Do workers, or does anyone, "deserve" a day without bills, no landlord or mortgage, without needing health insurance, with a publicly funded retirement? 

Is it just me lacking an imagination, or is this 'day without capitalism' something that we should be striving to make happen? Chime in on any of these candidates/races; on the DSA generally; on the challenges facing the Democrats heading into the midterms and beyond, , or anything else that strikes your fancy.

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And, as best as I can tell from researching and asking AI,  here are the answers to the quiz at the top of the post:

• NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is a member of the DSA

• Darializa Avila Chevalier is a member of the DSA and the Democratic Party.

• Brad Lander is not currently a member of the DSA, but he was once; he left following the October 7th attack on Israelis, according to published reports.

• Janeese Lewis George self-describes as a democratic socialist, and was endorsed by the DSA, but does not appear to be a member of the DSA.

• Nithya Raman is a member of the DSA and the Democratic Party. Karen Bass, the incumbent mayor, is not a socialist or a member of the DSA.

• Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is not a member of the DSA and says he believes in 'regulated' capitalism, not socialism. 

• Melat Kiros is a member of the DSA.

How'd you do?