In part one of Marxist Unity Group (MUG) and Cosmonaut’s series on democracy and the Constitution, Ian Forgie detailed the Constitution’s undemocratic structural provisions. In part two, I presented a slightly edited version of my article, “The U.S. Left’s Rediscovery of Democratic Republicanism.” Thank you to everyone who attended the discussion and asked questions.
I say slightly edited because I was presenting myself as a representative of Marxist Unity Group. Therefore, it was only right for me to cut sections from my article that, by my best guestimation, don’t match the ideas of more than half the organization. So, I cut explicit references to my belief that democracy is more important to talk about than socialism. Gone are lines like “The desire for democracy should be our primary psychological appeal” and “DSA can only build a mass movement capable of fundamentally changing society if we tap into [the ideology of democratic republicanism].” I retained one of the core parts of my argument: the U.S. needs a democratic constitution to create the political framework in which a socialized economy could be realized. The revolution is political in order to be economic. A question from the audience raised the question of means and ends; I think I defended my position reasonably well using references to Engels, Marx, and various socialist party programs.
The Left’s Rediscovery of Democratic Republicanism