Those online political tests always put me somewhere between the left and far left. I live in one of the more publicly leftist cities (the operation of any liberal city is more bureaucratically moderate in the background) and I’m a mainstream writer. So most of my close friends are on the left and at least sympathetic to the DSA. And the key attribute of those friends is the romanticization of politics. They are, in an unrecognized way, very patriotic. They truly believe that things can be better, that the United States is fully capable of getting better. While believing that the USA has already greatly improved over the decades, I’m far more cynical about that process. I might share a lot of political beliefs with my DSA and DSA-adjacent friends but I do not share their love and admiration of certain politicians.
Hi Ross, as one of the oldsters you mention-a founder of DSA, former chair of the NY Local, former vice chair, director of the Democratic Party work in the old DSA, and a very , very close ally of Michael Harrington's-I'd be happy to talk to you. I don't think it is as simple to say that Mike would be delighted with the newly elected DSA members. It's much more complicated than that. Mike saw the Democratic Party as the closest thing that the US had /has to a mass social democratic movement with all of the social forces contained within--that's why he chose to create DSOC and then DSA to work inside the party not, a third party, but the ripping down and rush to overtake some old alliances are more problemmatic, I think for the old DSA strategy--as well as what we had which was a deep believe in expanding democracy, not allowing vanguardism to exist within the organization... happy to engage more on this- Jo-Ann Mort
He's right about one thing. I'm a centrist, in favor of sensible, good faith exercise of government. I'd like to see a healthcare system that pushes the insurance companies aside, that is funded by the gov't, but allows the providers to be outside the gov't, kind of like a bunch of 501(3)c's. I'd like sensible gun legislation. I'd like decentralized education, again gov't funded but locally run. I'd like us to really help Ukraine. I'd like to see away where we disconnect with many of the Mideast countries. Etc.
AND ... I'm no longer a fan of the national Democratic Party. All they do is harass me for money, but for the life of me I can't figure what they do with it.
I too wanted to think of myself as an old-fashioned classical liberal until fairly recently. I hoped against hope that after 2016 the Democratic party would learn their lesson and make the structural changes that were necessary to defeat Trump once and for all. Instead they doubled down on the same old stale crusty tone-deaf rhetoric that the donors and consultants love to hear. My position now is that if they're not going to make the change, we have to do it for them. The center is dying and future is either going to be fascist or socialist. I know which side I'm on.
Good piece, Ross. It does seem that the press mandarins and would be mandarins are not just ignorant. They want to frame DSA and socialism as gentrifiers or feckless radicals. It suits them that the world is like that, its their world and they resist change. Why do journalists who would presumably support something like a more robust new deal get scared and huffy about those who are working toward it?
I share the general disgust with the DNC and how it has managed to take the party further and further away from where a solid, good-faith electorate stands. But I have a major concern regarding the funding of positions that have been strengthening the DSA. Much of the current growing strength of the DSA seems have come from a revolt against the Democratic Party’s support for Israel in the wake of the Netanyahu government inhumane handling of Gaza. However, so many of the anti-Israel websites and TikTok sites funding can be traced to Qatar. Similarly, Qatar is now the largest single foreign government funding U.S. college campuses. In short, the so-called spontaneous pro-Palestinian demonstrations (which began immediately after the October 7 massacre by Hamas — even before Israel launched its military response) appear to be the result of Qatar funding. If, in fact, these pro-Palestinian efforts allow such dangerous nitwits as Hasan Piker and Darializa Chevalier to erode the Democratic Party (Michigan, anyone?), this will only serve to allow the Trump kleptocracy to move this country closer to authoritarianism.
thanks for this detailed discussion. (I don't get why anyone would take Chait seriously at any point in his career. But he is very plainly offering a fright-take on DSA and leftists in general, which helps make things clear for your argument.) I too, like Jo-Ann Mort, am a very long-term member of DSA, and before that DSOC, but not in an active, let alone a leadershp, role. I take her argument about vanguardism seriously, and would love to see some further discussion on your substack, if that's not too 'deep in the weeds.'
Excellent essay. Understanding the opposition is crucial (and as a fiction writer too I know the importance in developing believable characters who may be reprehensible to my own point of view). Unfortunately we live in a world of sound bites, not sound research. Finding a commonality with the other is difficult and time consuming. But sometimes seeing a tiny grain of truth is the first step in a shared humanity. It's tough!
Open question inspired by the first paragraph: what are some other common caricatures of one's political opponents, and what nuances are they missing? We're a smart commentariat, we can crowdsource a good list...
Those online political tests always put me somewhere between the left and far left. I live in one of the more publicly leftist cities (the operation of any liberal city is more bureaucratically moderate in the background) and I’m a mainstream writer. So most of my close friends are on the left and at least sympathetic to the DSA. And the key attribute of those friends is the romanticization of politics. They are, in an unrecognized way, very patriotic. They truly believe that things can be better, that the United States is fully capable of getting better. While believing that the USA has already greatly improved over the decades, I’m far more cynical about that process. I might share a lot of political beliefs with my DSA and DSA-adjacent friends but I do not share their love and admiration of certain politicians.
Hi Ross, as one of the oldsters you mention-a founder of DSA, former chair of the NY Local, former vice chair, director of the Democratic Party work in the old DSA, and a very , very close ally of Michael Harrington's-I'd be happy to talk to you. I don't think it is as simple to say that Mike would be delighted with the newly elected DSA members. It's much more complicated than that. Mike saw the Democratic Party as the closest thing that the US had /has to a mass social democratic movement with all of the social forces contained within--that's why he chose to create DSOC and then DSA to work inside the party not, a third party, but the ripping down and rush to overtake some old alliances are more problemmatic, I think for the old DSA strategy--as well as what we had which was a deep believe in expanding democracy, not allowing vanguardism to exist within the organization... happy to engage more on this- Jo-Ann Mort
He's right about one thing. I'm a centrist, in favor of sensible, good faith exercise of government. I'd like to see a healthcare system that pushes the insurance companies aside, that is funded by the gov't, but allows the providers to be outside the gov't, kind of like a bunch of 501(3)c's. I'd like sensible gun legislation. I'd like decentralized education, again gov't funded but locally run. I'd like us to really help Ukraine. I'd like to see away where we disconnect with many of the Mideast countries. Etc.
AND ... I'm no longer a fan of the national Democratic Party. All they do is harass me for money, but for the life of me I can't figure what they do with it.
I’m not sure those make you centrist, as much as you want to be labeled as one
I too wanted to think of myself as an old-fashioned classical liberal until fairly recently. I hoped against hope that after 2016 the Democratic party would learn their lesson and make the structural changes that were necessary to defeat Trump once and for all. Instead they doubled down on the same old stale crusty tone-deaf rhetoric that the donors and consultants love to hear. My position now is that if they're not going to make the change, we have to do it for them. The center is dying and future is either going to be fascist or socialist. I know which side I'm on.
Good piece, Ross. It does seem that the press mandarins and would be mandarins are not just ignorant. They want to frame DSA and socialism as gentrifiers or feckless radicals. It suits them that the world is like that, its their world and they resist change. Why do journalists who would presumably support something like a more robust new deal get scared and huffy about those who are working toward it?
I share the general disgust with the DNC and how it has managed to take the party further and further away from where a solid, good-faith electorate stands. But I have a major concern regarding the funding of positions that have been strengthening the DSA. Much of the current growing strength of the DSA seems have come from a revolt against the Democratic Party’s support for Israel in the wake of the Netanyahu government inhumane handling of Gaza. However, so many of the anti-Israel websites and TikTok sites funding can be traced to Qatar. Similarly, Qatar is now the largest single foreign government funding U.S. college campuses. In short, the so-called spontaneous pro-Palestinian demonstrations (which began immediately after the October 7 massacre by Hamas — even before Israel launched its military response) appear to be the result of Qatar funding. If, in fact, these pro-Palestinian efforts allow such dangerous nitwits as Hasan Piker and Darializa Chevalier to erode the Democratic Party (Michigan, anyone?), this will only serve to allow the Trump kleptocracy to move this country closer to authoritarianism.
Lmao
thanks for this detailed discussion. (I don't get why anyone would take Chait seriously at any point in his career. But he is very plainly offering a fright-take on DSA and leftists in general, which helps make things clear for your argument.) I too, like Jo-Ann Mort, am a very long-term member of DSA, and before that DSOC, but not in an active, let alone a leadershp, role. I take her argument about vanguardism seriously, and would love to see some further discussion on your substack, if that's not too 'deep in the weeds.'
Excellent essay. Understanding the opposition is crucial (and as a fiction writer too I know the importance in developing believable characters who may be reprehensible to my own point of view). Unfortunately we live in a world of sound bites, not sound research. Finding a commonality with the other is difficult and time consuming. But sometimes seeing a tiny grain of truth is the first step in a shared humanity. It's tough!
DSA in 2026 = Tea Party in 2009. Illiberal, uncompromising and unpopular nationally.
Open question inspired by the first paragraph: what are some other common caricatures of one's political opponents, and what nuances are they missing? We're a smart commentariat, we can crowdsource a good list...