Socialism in America

B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/seattle-elects-socialist-city-council-20907644

With the election of a Socialist candidate to the Seattle City Council (and on top of that, the weirdly and seemingly non-evil response of the guy she beat - his assessment of Seattle's relationship with socialism is, well, refreshing), I was wondering if any of our North American contributors could put this in any more context. Is this a completely isolated occurrence, or are there any echoes of a resistance to the neoliberal hegemony elsewhere in the US (or in Canada - obv the Quebec student protests were impressive)?
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
baboon2004 said:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/seattle-elects-socialist-city-council-20907644

With the election of a Socialist candidate to the Seattle City Council (and on top of that, the weirdly and seemingly non-evil response of the guy she beat - his assessment of Seattle's relationship with socialism is, well, refreshing), I was wondering if any of our North American contributors could put this in any more context. Is this a completely isolated occurrence, or are there any echoes of a resistance to the neoliberal hegemony elsewhere in the US (or in Canada - obv the Quebec student protests were impressive)?
Click to expand...

Why are people getting so excited about this? I've got a Facebook mate who's active in SSP or some such and he's posted on this at least 10 times in the last few weeks. Hasn't Vermont had an avowedly socialist senator for years?

Edit: sorry if that sounded dismissive - wasn't meant to, I'm just genuinely curious why one left turn in one minor election in a liberal American city is arousing so much excitement.
 
B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Same experience here - it's been big news on Facebook. Yeah, the guy in Vermont seems to be senator since 2007 - maybe it's simply that Vermont doesn't have anything like the profile of Seattle. Also, Sawant is standing against Democrat candidates, whereas Bernie Sanders seems to have strong links with that party? Only a guess.

No, it didn't sound dismissive at all - I'm kind of interested in the same question, but at the same time happy that this is a concrete development in the right direction, that to some extent has arisen as a result of Occupy Wall Street.
 
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connect_icut

connect_icut

Well-known member
baboon2004 said:
I'm kind of interested in the same question, but at the same time happy that this is a concrete development in the right direction, that to some extent has arisen as a result of Occupy Wall Street.
Click to expand...

I've noticed hints of an increasing interest in Socialism on the American left in recent years but I think it has more to do with the extreme right-wing constantly slinging accusations of socialism at the Obama administration. This seems to have normalized the idea of socialism for many centre-left Americans - made it seem less alien and like maybe not such a bad thing.
 
Sectionfive

Sectionfive

bandwagon house
One swallow and all that.
I've been following the all the labour stuff in the fast food industry in the last year or two. Another and probably more significant one to watch.
 
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