u/Ok_Cheetah_5941

There are a lot of admirable things about Lenin, but history will never forgive him for this- when the Petrograd soviets took to the streets in July, 1917 demanding “all power to the soviets,” this was the closest Russia came to a real socialist revolution- so why did Lenin disavow the rebellion, leading to its failure? When he adopted the slogan “all power to the soviets,” it was a cynical, insincere use of the popular idea to gain power. He never really wanted to give all power to the soviets at all, unless they were dominated by the Bolsheviks. Then when the elections to Constituent Assembly didn’t result in the Bolshevik victories he anticipated, he simply dissolved the assembly and assumed dictatorial power, and the soviets, the greatest experiment in socialist democracy in history, died.

I feel that the idea of expressing a united front after hearing all views definitely has some merit, but those who have historically supported the idea of “Democratic Centralism” have been disingenuous about really supporting the “Democratic” part and are really authoritarians wanting to whitewash their position and make democracy into window dressing.

I adapted Hamish Henderson’s internationalist anthem from the original Scots into English and put in references to the American historical context (afterwards I am including the Scots original). Please let me know what y’all think:

“Rough, the wind in the clear day’s dawning
Blows the clouds, head-over-heels, across the
bay
But there’s more than a rough wind blowing
Through the hills and valleys of the world today.
It’s a thought that would make our masters,
Those moneyed rogues who strut and swagger,
rue the day
Take the road and seek greener pastures
For their ill ploys to have their way.

Never more will our brave young gallants
March to war at the rich man’s beckon call,
Nor wee ones from village and hamlet
Mourn the ships sailing off to land abroad.
Broken families in lands we’ve harried
Will curse the Home of the Brave no more, no
more;
Black and white, one to the other married
Make the vile barracks of dominion bare.

So come all ye at home with freedom
Never heed what warmongers croak for doom
In your house all children of Adam
Will find bread, barley-beer and painted room.
When Joe Hill meets his fate in Utah*
All the roses and cherries turn to bloom
Mother Jones, marching with her children**
Weaves a new future from oppression’s loom.”

*Joe Hill (1879-1915), Swedish-American labor
activist, songwriter & IWW member, was
executed in Salt Lake City on trumped-up
charges & requested his ashes be scattered
“where some flowers grow. Perhaps some fading
flower then would come to life and bloom again.”
**Mary “Mother” Jones (1837-1930),
Irish-American schoolteacher, dressmaker, labor
organizer & IWW co-founder, led the 1903 “March
of the Mill Children” to end child labor.

Scots original, by Hamish Henderson, 1960

“Roch the wind in the clear day’s dawin
Blaws the cloods heelster-gowdie owr the bay
But theres mair nor a roch wind blawin
Through the great glen o the warld the day.
Its a thocht that will gar oor rottans
A they rogues that gang gallus, fresh and gay
Tak the road and seek ither loanins
For their ill ploys, tae sport and play.
Nae mair will the bonnie callants
Mairch tae war when oor braggarts crousely
craw,
Nor wee weans frae pit-heid and clachan
Mourn the ships sailin doon the Broomielaw.
Broken faimlies in lands weve herriet
Will curse Scotland the Brave nae mair, nae
mair;*
Black and white, ane til ither mairriet
Mak the vile barracks o their maisters bare
So come all ye at hame wi Freedom,
Never heed whit the hoodies croak for doom
In your hoose a' the bairns o Adam
Can find breid, barley-bree and painted room.
When MacLean meets wis freens in
Springburn**
A' the roses and geans will turn tae bloom,
And a black lad frae yont Nyanga***
Dings the fell gallows o the burghers doon.”

*When colonized peoples in the British
Empire heard bagpipes playing “Scotland the
Brave,
” it struck fear in their hearts, as usually
this meant British troops were on their way.
**John MacLean (1879-1923) was a Scottish
schoolteacher and revolutionary socialist of the
Red Clydeside era.
***This is a reference to the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.

Inspired by Emmet Doyle’s great interpretation, I tried to piece together the best verses from the various English versions- the first verse is from Charles Hope Kerr’s American version, the second is from the traditional British version, the third and the fourth are from Emmet Doyle’s version, and the fifth is from Billy Bragg’s. The chorus is a combination of all of them. Tell me what y’all think:

The Internationale- combined version:

Arise ye prisoners of starvation
Arise ye wretched of the earth
For justice thunders condemnation
A better world’s in birth!
No more tradition’s chains shall bind us
Arise, ye slaves, no more in thrall;
The earth shall rise on new foundations
We have been naught, we shall be all.

Chorus:
So, come, brothers and sisters,
For the struggle carries on;
The Internationale
Unites the world in song.
So, comrades, come rally
And the last fight let us face;
The international working class
Shall free the human race.

No saviors from on high deliver;
No trust have we in prince or peer.
Our own right hands the chains must sever:
Chains of hatred, greed and fear.
Before the thieves give up their booty
And give to all a happier lot,
Each at the forge must do their duty
And strike while the iron is hot!

Let no one build walls to divide us
No war but class war shall we fight.
Come greet the dawn and stand beside us
Workers of the world, unite!
Let no army march upon another
Throw down your medals, throw down your swords.
Embrace as sisters and as brothers,
We’ll march instead upon our lords.

Like monsters bathing in their godhood
They steal all that’s built and all that’s grown.
Have they ever done anything other
Than to exploit because they own?
Their estates are but golden cages
For this world our work gave birth.
In asking for our rightful wages
We demand only the earth.

And so begins the final drama
In the streets and in the fields.
We stand unbowed before their armor.
We defy their guns and shields.
When we fight, provoked by their aggression,
We’ll be inspired by life and love.
Although they offer us concessions,
Change will not come from above.

A kid just asked me if DC would become a state because DC statehood is supported by the DSA. I was first of all shocked that he knew what was in the DSA platform, and secondly that he seemed to think that DSA-endorsed candidates were taking over the government, and he seemed pretty excited about it. The news has been so full of DSA victories that random people are convinced the demsocs are taking power. Arguably, never has there been so much potential for growth in a socialist movement in the US as there is now. We are about to be inundated with people enquiring about what the DSA stands for and how to join. If we aren’t able to take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity, I don’t know how we could ever claim to be serious about accomplishing our stated goals. We have to be clear with ourselves that DSA cannot be just a club for the cool anticapitalist vanguard who are fundamentally different from all those unenlightened throngs of apolitical sheeple. This is not to say that there isn’t a significant number, if not a majority, of DSA members who are working their asses off to be welcoming to new and potential members. But we do have to figure out how to do this- an opportunity like this may not present itself again in our lifetimes.

A kid just asked me if DC would become a state because DC statehood is supported by the DSA. I was first of all shocked that he knew what was in the DSA platform, and secondly that he seemed to think that DSA-endorsed candidates were taking over the government, and he seemed pretty excited about it. The news has been so full of DSA victories that random people are convinced the demsocs are taking power. Arguably, never has there been so much potential for growth in a socialist movement in the US as there is now. We are about to be inundated with people enquiring about what the DSA stands for and how to join. If we aren’t able to take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity, I don’t know how we could ever claim to be serious about accomplishing our stated goals. We have to be clear with ourselves that DSA cannot be just a club for the cool anticapitalist vanguard who are fundamentally different from all those unenlightened throngs of apolitical sheeple. This is not to say that there isn’t a significant number, if not a majority, of DSA members who are working their asses off to be welcoming to new and potential members. But we do have to figure out how to do this- an opportunity like this may not present itself again in our lifetimes.

…and they’d play the Internationale at the beginning of each game? Just sayin.’

What are some very succinct, hard-hitting elevator speeches or mottoes that we can post, print on t-shirts & bumper stickers, and use in various contexts to get the word out? I feel these are needed- there are a lot of misunderstandings and misinformation out there we need to combat. Here is my contribution:

What is Democratic Socialism, you may ask?

Socialism is the democratization of the economy.

Democracy is the socialization of power.

To the extent that humanity has progressed, it has come about mostly through popular movements for greater democracy and social equality.

In short, Democratic Socialism is the future.

…seriously not cool, or is there another side to this story?

I wonder if there may be a division here between a literalist, “body-focused” version of Daoism (the one that was trying to use external alchemy produce the elixir of physical immortality, for example), and a more mystical, “spiritual” version (the one that uses meditative internal alchemy to produce another sort of “immortality”)? Or is this simply my Western, Platonic tendencies distorting my interpretation of Daoism? I understand that the Western, academic tendency has historically been to interpret Daoism more philosophically and to see more of a division between 道教 (“religious Daoism”) and 道家 (“philosophical Daoism”) than the East does. I know that I am personally more interested in a metaphorical or mystical interpretation of 仙, but how correct is that interpretation?