A few weeks ago
we got a response to one of our blog postings on democratic socialism from a
(gasp) democratic socialist! Now, that
in and of itself was not unusual. What
really threw us was the fact that this one was actually civil and seemed
honestly to be seeking information. Here’s
what the DS said:
 |
| Pope Leo XIII condemned socialism. |
I come from a left-leaning
family (or at least I received a lot of influence from my brothers in this
respect), and I also spent a lot of time at the Catholic Newman Center on my
campus. I always found the socialist arguments very convincing — it was always
the idea that society should be governed from the bottom up. For a while I was
also very convinced by the Catholic perspective, especially by Rerum Novarum, a document I love. But,
at the Catholic center, and by friends who are conservatives, the
representation of socialism which they attack like an effigy is more like a
straw-man or piñata than the real thing. So I've never been convinced that
socialism is wrong, because the arguments I've hear against it, I see, have
never been against what I actually know it to be. To me, it's really worker
ownership of the means of production — direct ownership, not state ownership.
It doesn't involve the abolishment of property. I wouldn't call myself a
socialist, though. Rather, I would call myself someone who advocates for a
greater consciousness by both sides of the nuance of each perspective. This
also means understanding the conservative perspective. My political faith is
that if we communicate our ideas more perfectly, by building bridges and
nurturing relationships, we can agree, and we can accomplish great things as a
nation and as a humanity.
Right off the bat you can see
there are some serious problems. Not
with the DS . . . with the belief that what he (or she) was talking about was
socialism! This is a very revealing
statement from someone who calls himself a democratic socialist if only because
it makes us wonder how many more there are out there who call themselves
democratic socialists — or any other kind of socialist — and have these same
beliefs and opinions.
First off, this so-called “democratic
socialist” isn’t even a socialist! As he
said, “To me, it’s (socialism) it’s really worker ownership of the means of
production.” Given that Karl Marx
defined socialism as the abolition of private property, as did Pope Leo XIII, clearly
what we have here is a failure to communicate.
The DS is defining socialism as widespread capital ownership and in the
same breath correctly states that what he’s talking about isn’t socialism!
Our DS is also correct that
we need to build bridges and nurture relationships. And the place to start is with defining our
terms. Frankly, what happens more often
than not these days is people hearing a word like socialism or capitalism and
go to total war before they even know what is being said.
We’re not being snarky or
rude, then, by taking the DS’s comments and dissecting them. He is wrong in almost everything he said, but
that’s actually a good thing. So to
begin:
1. “Socialism .
. . was always the idea that society should be governed from the bottom up.”
No, that’s not socialism,
that’s subsidiarity. Socialism, while it
claimed from the beginning to be democratic, has always ended up being that the
élite in charge of the community end
up governing because they have the power.
 |
| "Socialism means widespread ownership? Do tell. . . ." |
2. “So I've
never been convinced that socialism is wrong, because the arguments I've hear
against it, I see, have never been against what I actually know it to be. To
me, it's really worker ownership of the means of production — direct ownership,
not state ownership..”
What the DS believes isn’t
wrong because it’s not socialism! He was
never able to agree with the so-called conservatives because they were not
speaking the same language.
3. “I wouldn't
call myself a socialist, though. Rather, I would call myself someone who
advocates for a greater consciousness by both sides of the nuance of each
perspective.”
Our DS can’t call himself a
socialist because he’s not a socialist.
Advocating greater consciousness on both sides? Of course.
And it needs to start with getting a clear picture of what everyone is
talking about.
For that, the
CESJ “comparison matrix” is probably a good place to start. It’s a two-pager, so we just put up a portion
of one page here, but it’s enough to give you a feel for it.
#30#
