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Why the U.S. Will Never Be a “Social Democracy”

The most powerful left organization and current in the U.S. right now is the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).  They have the largest organization in nearly every city; they have elected members to Congress and the Chicago City Council; their journal “Jacobin” and their publishing ventures provide an ideological guide to the future.  They have become a pole of attraction for many young and even older socialists.  Certainly the Sanders’ campaign opened the door for DSA.  DSA’s main planks are popular and somewhat transitional demands - $15 Now; the partly neoliberal 'Green New Deal'; Free College; Medicare for All; Oppose Charter Schools; perhaps nationalize certain sectors of the economy.  Several of these are large advances against capitalist privatization and should be supported.

Not the Society of Equals

Behind this is DSA’s main ideological prop - their promotion of the “Nordic” social-democratic models – Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and aspects of this model in the rest of Europe.  Even Canada has socialized medicine, socialized car insurance, price-controlled drugs and a labor party, the New Democratic Party.  DSA’s appeal is that this model can be translated to the U.S.  And certainly, who in their right mind wouldn’t like a more progressive, financially secure, planned and humane society, a more mixed economy with widespread equality, with large labor and left parties, such as these countries exemplify?  Sign me up!

However, the Republican Party and majority elements of the Democratic Party are against this perspective, saying that “America’s” individualist culture is unique, its ‘frontier’ culture is unique, its religiosity and economy are unique, so social-democracy, or as DSA prefers, ‘democratic socialism,’ would never work.  I don’t think any of these reasons hold water, though some do relate to the larger problem.

And that is militarism.  The real reason that the U.S. will never become a social-democracy similar to the ‘Nordics’ is that the U.S. is the ‘policeman of the world.’  This is the U.S.'s necessary role in world capitalism and imperialism.  Some state has to do it!  A cursory look at the present Trump-Pompeo-Bolton-Abrams violent craziness and the near past under Bush(s)-Clinton-Obama indicates this.  Bi-partisan regime change, bombing campaigns and invasions, massive military budgets, a 1,000 military bases around the world, the world’s largest arms industry, covert CIA activities and on top of that - sanctions, embargoes and trade wars against China, Russia, Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, Syria, North Korea and even against Mexico, Canada and EU countries.  This indicates a military and political state intent on controlling every single event on the globe in its own interest.  Why?  Are they just mean people?  Are they just sociopaths?

Symbol of Norwegian Labour Party

No.  Unlike the Nordics, U.S. corporations dominate a good chunk of world trade and production.  U.S. banking and industrial sectors all have worldwide economic interests, while controlling international organizations like the IMF and WTO.  The dollar is the world’s ‘reserve’ or main currency.  This is what the U.S. military is actually protecting.  As an obvious example, the oil in Iran and Venezuela make them consistent targets because their governments do not allow U.S. oil corporations to control that oil.  Libya's plan to organize African and Arab countries to go off the dollar standard contributed to its destruction by NATO.

So for both factions of the U.S. ruling class, militarism is perfectly rational – and also a profitable method of Keynesian tax-driven ‘pump priming’ by the government.  As Smedley Butler pointed out in 1935, protecting corporate profits is the U.S. military’s role.  The U.S. military also provides protection for ‘allies’ – including the EU, Japan, Israel and the Gulf states.  The financial interests of the Nordics do extend across the world, but in not such a massive way.  Nor do they need to militarize their societies, as they have the U.S. military and NATO to play that role.  Which is why Trump is demanding they pay their fair share for ‘protection,’ much as any mafia Don would do.

So the mentions of a ‘unique’ economy and a ‘unique’ frontier psychology are relevant in a way the right-wingers don’t expect.  The new ‘frontier’ is the world.  Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East are the frontiers for JSOC and military drone strikes; for U.S. battle-carrier groups, for U.S. airforce bombers.  This is nothing but the extension of ‘Indian country’ warfare to other continents.  The ‘unique’ economy is really a reference to imperialism.

In the economic realm capital allows small sectors of a country or the world to be more ‘socialistic.’  Just as worker-owned or producer-owned cooperatives or a state bank (North Dakota) have a small space in U.S. society or in countries like Spain (the huge Mondragon!), so too does capital allow some space for national welfare states or state-owned entities in oil, banking or health care.  This is just as long as they play ball with the more capitalistic part of the world economy - which means they cannot grow too large.  But even now these sectors are always under constant undermining and pressure by capitalist privatization.  Look at the unending pressure on China's partially planned or state-owned entities or the British NHS, which Brexit will make worse.

The timidity of ‘democratic socialists’ to address some of these international issues suggests that they know the role of U.S. militarism deep down.  AOC, a leading heroine of DSA, just refused to oppose the bi-partisan regime-change plans of Trump in Venezuela.  They downplay these military issues to the point where the old adage, ‘politics stops at the waters edge’ or the Mexican border rings true.  Sometimes pressure from the bottom leads to some action on this front, as Sanders work against the Yemen war waged by the hated House of Saud proves.  (Republicans also voted for Sanders’ resolution.)  Sanders has also attempted to blunt Trump's coming attack on Iran.  But it seems social-democratic opposition to militarism is never consistent or broad.   Most DSA members are against war-mongering by the U.S., but whether this gets translated into actual DSA politics is up for grabs.

On the domestic side, few note the relationship between militarism and our gun culture, school shootings, right-wing fascist and police violence, police militarization, the domestic gun industry and a television and film culture that glorifies all of this. 

That is THE one big “if” to the democratic socialization of the U.S.  The other, of course, is that a capitalist-controlled party like the Democrats will not usher in democratic socialism, no more than a donkey can give birth to a dragon.  Any cursory study of Nordic history shows that massive labor movements inspired by Marxism formed Labor and Social-Democratic parties, which led the fight for social-democracy there.  The Nordic model did not come from capitalist parties, but actually was built against the parties of capital.  So ... details, details...

Jacobin is for sale at May Day, along with many other left periodicals.

Other reviews on this subject below – use blog search box, upper left:  “War is a Racket,” (Butler)“Viking Economics,” “Up From Liberalism,” “Sanders, A Left View,” “The Democrats – a Critical History,” The Unwelcome Guest,” “Dirty Wars,”(Scahill) “Look at the War Monger Facts” or the word “Jacobin.” 

Red Frog

May 8, 2019