By David Duhalde

Michael Harrington regretted not including the word “socialism” in his breakthrough book The Other America. He abstained from mentioning socialism because he did not want socialist ideology to distract readers from the issue of poverty. In my following letter to The Nation, published in the December 15th issue, I refrained from specifically writing the “Democratic Socialists of America” (DSA). I feared mentioning DSA would leave my letter unpublished. Now, Harrington and I share a similar – albeit smaller on my end – lamentable act.

Re Philip Green’s “The Road to Socialism?” [Nov. 17]: I was not shocked by the antisocialist rhetoric used by Republicans against Barack Obama. But those attacks fell on deaf ears among young people. My peers and I (I’m 24) grew up without cold war fears, but we have collectively witnessed the horrendous effects of deregulated capitalism. As a former youth organizer for a democratic socialist organization, I am optimistic that my generation is open to the idea of social democracy, not only because of our affirmation of progressive change but also our exposure to the world. Friends returning from study abroad told me of their positive impression of social equality and benefits in Western Europe and Scandinavia. Unlike Green, they did not make the connection that this was partly the result of organized working-class power, but they did see what government as a force for good looks like. My generation desires our government to work for everyone, not just the privileged few. We want no more Katrinas – or Wall Street bailouts on the backs of taxpayers.

I also have hope for the future because my fellow millennials are not attached to laissez-faire capitalism, but we are to democracy. Obama’s victory gave us the first mass movement victory of our lifetime. But we all know an election alone is not enough. I agree with Green that democratic socialism can exist only if battles are won to expand democratic control and to curtail capital’s unelected influence on society. There is a long way to go before we see a social democratic United States, but it may be only a generation away. Let people of all ages remember that we are “not champions of lost causes but causes not yet won.”

Let me share a few links to fellow comrades who had the guts to refer to DSA in their letters to the editor:

DSA National Frank Llewellyn responded to false accusations about DSA and our relationship with Barack Obama in “Socialism is Not Communism” published in Richmond-Times Dispatch.

DSA National Political Committee member Theresa Alt and former New York state representative Marty Luster wrote “For the Left, This is No Time to Relax,” an editorial about our Economic Justice Agenda on behalf of the DSA Ithaca local.

Former Maine state representative Harlan Baker wrote a brief history of American democratic socialism and what DSA is doing today. His article, “Where are All the Socialists? Here, There, and Everywhere” was in Portland Press Herald-Maine Sunday Telegram.