TDT: The New Left- Socialists & Communists

 

Source:TIME Magazine- Democratic Socialists of America.

"As the 2018 midterm elections approach, the campaign season has come with its fair share of surprises. Among them is the phenomenon of primary-election success for members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — a situation that would have been extremely unlikely relatively recently, as socialism has long been considered a “dirty word” in American politics. In the post-World War II era, for example, only 15% of Americans wanted to see the country “go more in the direction of socialism,” according to a 1949 Gallup poll."

From TIME Magazine

"New Left, a broad range of left-wing activist movements and intellectual currents that arose in western Europe and North America in the late 1950s and early ’60s. Often regarded as synonymous with the student radicalism of the 1960s, which culminated in the mass protests of 1968 (most notably the events of May 1968 in France), it may also refer more narrowly to particular segments within or alongside those movements.

The diversity of sources and forms of resistance complicates attempts to identify shared features of the various currents, but among those most commonly cited are a libertarian and democratic impulse, an emphasis on cultural as well as political transformation, an extension of the traditional left’s focus on class struggle to acknowledge multiple forms and bases of oppression, including race and gender, and a rejection of bureaucracy and traditional forms of political organization in favour of direct action and participatory democracy. In theoretical terms, the New Left’s major contribution was to a process of revision and diversification within Marxism and related doctrines, especially with regard to concepts of class, agency, ideology, and culture.

New Left currents first arose in Europe in response to the perceived moral discredit of Soviet communism following Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s “secret speech” in February 1956, which revealed the extent of political repression under Joseph Stalin’s leadership. French and British groups adopted the label New Left to denote their search for a socialist “third way,” distinct both from official communism or orthodox Marxism and from mainstream social democracy. Opposition to nuclear weapons and opposition to Cold War bipolarity (a system of international relations characterized by the existence of two superpowers) were critical rallying points for the disaffected communists, independent socialists, and young radicals who formed the New Left’s constituency. Anticolonialism and the problems of the Third World were increasingly salient, especially after the Cuban revolution of 1959." 

From Britannica 

There's always been Socialists and Communists (whether they were closeted or out in the open) in America, but up until the mid 1960s at least in America, the Left in America were Progressives (Democratic and Republican) who loved America and what the country was supposed to stand for, but who were so patriotic that they were always trying to make America better and to work for more Americans. Especially Americans who weren't born to wealth and had to struggle just to survive in America. 

In the 1960s with Baby Boomers coming of age and with young Silent Generation babies in their 30s, there was the emergence of the New-Left in America. People who were young left-wing radicals, who didn't buy the Cold War and the propaganda from it, who weren't afraid of Socialists and Communists or socialism and communism and if anything looked up to those radicals and started following them publicly and ideologically. 

And since the 1960s the New-Left as a political movement of Socialists and Communists is still with us as a country. They have new members now, but their ideas are still the same and what they're trying to accomplish and create an America with no wealth or poverty, but where everyone is equally economically and everything else. 

New Left  

"Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893 – September 10, 1935), byname "The Kingfish", was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a member of the United States Senate from 1932 until his assassination in 1935. He was a populist member of the Democratic Party and rose to national prominence during the Great Depression for his vocal criticism of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal, which Long deemed not radical enough. As the political leader of Louisiana, he commanded wide networks of supporters and often took forceful action. A controversial figure, Long is celebrated as a populist champion of the poor or, conversely, denounced as a fascistic demagogue.

Long was born in the impoverished north of Louisiana in 1893. After working as a traveling salesman and briefly attending three colleges, he entered the bar in Louisiana. Following a brief private legal career in which he represented poor plaintiffs, Long was elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission. As Commissioner, he prosecuted large corporations such as Standard Oil, a lifelong target of his rhetorical attacks. After Long successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, Chief Justice and former president William Howard Taft praised him as "the most brilliant lawyer who ever practiced" before the court.

After a failed 1924 campaign, Long used the sharp economic and class divisions in Louisiana to win the 1928 gubernatorial election. Once in office, he expanded social programs, organized massive public works projects, such as a modern highway system and the tallest capitol building in the nation, and proposed a cotton holiday. Through political maneuvering, Long became the political boss of Louisiana. He was impeached in 1929 for abuses of power, but the proceedings collapsed in the State Senate. His opponents argued his policies and methods were unconstitutional and dictatorial. At its climax, political opposition organized a minor insurrection.

Long was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1930 but did not assume his seat until 1932. He established himself as an isolationist, arguing that Standard Oil and Wall Street orchestrated American foreign policy. He was instrumental in securing Roosevelt's 1932 nomination but split with him in 1933, becoming a prominent critic of his New Deal. As an alternative, he proposed the Share Our Wealth program in 1934. To stimulate the economy, he advocated massive federal spending, a wealth tax, and wealth redistribution. These proposals drew wide support, millions joining local Share Our Wealth clubs. Poised for a 1936 presidential bid, Long was mortally wounded by a lone assassin in 1935. Although Long's movement faded, Roosevelt adopted many of his proposals in the Second New Deal, and Louisiana elections would be organized along anti- or pro-Long factions until the 1960s. He left behind a political dynasty that included: his wife, Senator Rose McConnell Long; son, Senator Russell B. Long; and brother, Governor Earl Long, among others." 

From Wikipedia 

Huey Long  

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