this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2026
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This is why my first action if I ever get near the levers of power is to arm the homeless and give them homes
Also to arm all my friends and give them dune buggies
Build up that armed contingency force that will defend the dream to the death with dune buggies
This but more seriously. If you're doing Democratic Socialism, its because conditions for armed revolution are currently impossible and democratic reform is the only thing you can actually use to build a mass revolutionary movement. But you do need to keep a large armed and mobilized wing for when democracy stops working for the bourgeoisie. More recent LatAm movements have been better about that.
This brings up my poorly thought out theory that Democratic socialism might actually be viable if militancy is strong within your ranks and you have formidable armed forces on your side. Not sure if that’s paradoxical with democratic socialism, if the conditions for that would never allow for demsocialism the first place. All AES throughout history have had their military be a focal point point in their movement. Allende…clearly didn’t have the military’s backing.
That's because all of those states didn't have existing established demoractic institutions before socialism. (Except places like the GDR but they had socialism via soviet imposition not via revolution). AFAIK no socialist movement has ever overthrown a liberal democracy with any public legitimacy. Militant attempts have been made but they've always been frankly pathetic failures (sorry Rosa but its true).
Allende but with real shooters is basically the only feasible option in the imperial core. All the more orthodox strategies have failed miserably because they were developed in wildly different conditions.
It's what Venezuela and Bolivia did. While their situations right now are less than ideal, it's inarguable that they made major stride in advancing socialism, Venezuela especially so. Elect a president and legislature, hold a constituent assembly, empower militant mass organizations to defend it, and do whatever you can to purge the cops and military. Revolution is not some opposite side to elections - they are dialectically connected, with elections able to act as an important, pivotal tool within a revolutionary process. The power still has to stem from mass organization, militancy, and the capacity to fight the ruling class. But elections do bestow power, and that power can be used to consolidate more. You should drop all pretense of fair elections with the bourgeois parties and use your electoral victory to cement working class power on every imaginable front. Eventually, a more violent revolutionary process is inevitable, but you can approach it from a position of strength with a state that is on your side or at least divided.
Yeah I cited Venezuela and Bolivia in a different thread and I'm seeing other people citing them as well. Its good to see comrades looking to LatAm for examples. Its definitely not the same as the US but far more similar than Asia or Africa and in some ways Europe too.
Regarding electoralism, the catch is you actually must earnestly try to pass the reforms if you want any traction with the masses. They have no patience for ideological obstinance, that doesn't pay their bills. That puts the party on knife's edge of liberal cooption or political irrelevance. The good news is the libs have been making this pretty easy for us by being even more obstinate while loosing on their own terms.
To a certain extent, I think revolution is only possible when the state keeps making the same mistakes.
Well, it's not my cup of tea but...
Charlie Manson??
The fifth Beach Boy
And now for our next song Cease to Exs...I mean Never Learn Not to Love ~I~ ~hope~ ~ripping~ ~off~ ~that~ ~crazy~ ~short~ ~guy~ ~doesn't~ ~bite~ ~anyone~ ~in~ ~the~ ~ass~