The People Are Not Fighting Over Ideas

 

The People Are Not Fighting Over Ideas

The seismic shift within the Democratic Party to determine its political direction for the next generation has taken place. Zohran Mamdani, flush off of his mayoral victory in New York City, supported two democratic socialists and another left populist in the recent Democratic primaries in New York. All three of Mamdani’s favorites won, with one defeating the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Then last week another democratic socialist, reminiscent of Anastasia Ocasio-Cortez’s victory in 2018, beat a 15-term incumbent in the Colorado primaries. And in Michigan, a state where Democrats must hold a Senate seat held by a retiring incumbent, Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed a self-proclaimed ‘progressive’ in the Democratic primary against a moderate Democratic House of Representatives member.

The Democratic Party establishment is beside itself seeing these results. On Sean Hannity’s Fox  Network show Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman described the situation as the ‘dancing days of the dirt bag left’ and wondered why more Democrats in Congress aren’t calling out these ‘communists’ who have appropriated the Democratic brand. [1] Long-time Democratic strategist James Carville has gone as far as saying that Darializa Avila Chevalier, who is against interracial marriage and has allegedly said Israel doesn’t have a right to exist some years ago should not be allowed to caucus with Democrats if elected.[2]

Carville and Fetterman’s response to democratic socialist successes in the primaries are sad but predictable. On Fox Carville admitted socialism was a broad body of ideas and breezily alluded to Scandanavian socialism, but he never talked about the principles that are central to socialism that might make a socialist outlook plausible for voters. Fettermen called democratic socialists communists, a reach that anyone following my posts knows is grossly inaccurate.

‘Socialism broadly is belief in any set of policies that tax or regulate the private sector of the economy in the name of collective well-being.’ Unlike Soviet-styled state socialism democratic socialism retains the private sector of the economy, and taxes and regulates it ‘to pay for health care, education and other social services.’ [3]

Carville, Fetterman and the rest of the Democratic establishment are social liberals. They say they want the same things as democratic socialists: affordable gasolene, groceries and housing, access to quality health care and education, etc. But after a second more blatantly anti-democratic and inhumane Trump administration, democratic socialists and the rest of the populist left want more aggressive stances by Democratic candidates, and more robust policy once in power.

I want to make two points here that may seem at odds with one another, but illustrate the range of responses Democratic leadership can marshall toward a base that sits further to its left on the ideological spectrum.  First, it would be possible to define democratic socialism in ways that show that it’s not so different from mainstream (social) liberalism. In the context of the current political landscape, they both want ‘affordabilty,’ Democratic socialist may want more assertive policies that require more government intervention (and more taxes, ‘cause somebody’s gotta pay for it!), but socialists and liberals want the same outcomes.

But the democratic establishment doesn’t wish to have a full-throated public conversation about socialism, because they feel the mere acknowledgement of socialism would discredit the party in the public eye. But the Dems have to find it within themselves to embrace those voters, brash as they may be, who want the same things they want!

Establishment Democrats would do well to heed the advice of former President Barrack, already a venerable elder despite his relative youth (64 years old). In a recent interview with Stephen Colbert, Obama, talking about the challenge presented by Zohran Mamdani in New York, said Mamdani ‘just wants people to be able to afford housing in New York. Obama added that ‘he ‘assume(s) liberals want the same thing.’ What Obama is more concerned about with Democrats is ‘do you just know how to talk to regular people like you’re not in a college seminar?’[4]

Amilcar Cabral, the Cape Verdean revolutionary that you’ve seen me quote before was a Ph.D. agronomist steeped in theoretical Marxism when his party organized peasant communities to fight Portuguese colonialism. Yet Cabral in speeches before his party leadership cautioned them that ‘the people are not fighting for ideas, ... They are fighting to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, to guarantee the future of their children.[5]

When people band together in common cause, whether it be to fight ICE abductions of community members, protest racism in the criminal justice system, or food desserts in urban working-class communities, they may come from a variety of world views, or political understandings. For some it might be systemic racism, or the contradictions of capitalism. For others it could just be that certain people are being treated unfairly. Let them talk about what motivated them to act as they come together fighting for material benefits to craft a better future for themselves and their families.

Affordability is a useful term for capturing the crisis of our system that covers a host of issues in our everyday lives. The only isms that matter these days are a humanism which centers the satisfaction of human needs and pragmatism which hammers out practical policies that address those human needs. Everyone from mainstream liberals to democratic socialists, noblesse oblige conservatives and libertarians can contribute to these debates.[6] The community organizers Obama and Cabral understand this. Come on Democrats! What are y’all waiting for?

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[1] Fetterman, Sen. John Fetterman: Some of these candidates are outrageous | Fox News Video 

[2] Carville, James Carville says socialist Democrat shouldn't be in the party, calls her views 'a bridge too far'. I dug around before writing this, and all I can find on Chevalier’s views on Israel is that she calls Israel a settler colony who occupied its current territory and dispossessed the Palestinian people. She (I’m guessing) would argue that a people under occupation always have the right to fight to alleviate that condition; a position that I share. I would add (and maybe she would) that Hamas extremism might never have had the chance to flourish if the US had muscled Israel into the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza after the 1967 Six-Day War.

[3]‘MSNBC Distortion of Democratic socialism.’ https://drvernondamanijohnson.substack.com/p/msnbc-distortion-of-democratic-socialism

 

[4] Joseph A. Wulfsohn, ‘Obama, Colbert gush over Zohran Mamdani as they discuss Democratic Party's future.’ Fox News Channel, https://www.foxnews.com/media/obama-colbert-gush-over-zohran-mamdani-discuss-democratic-partys-future?msockid=38f4baaeba1965361d70b49cbbaa6496

 

[5] Amilcar Cabral, ‘Tell No Lies,! Claim No Easy Victories! Revolution in Guinea. Monthly Review Press, 1969, p. 86.

[6] ‘Noblesse oblige’ is French for the ‘obligation of the nobility’ in a medieval aristocracy. It has been used to describe modern conservative elites who prefer less government, but recognize the obligation of the wealthy to give back to those less privileged than themselves in the name of the public good.

 

MSNBC Distortion of Democratic Socialism

 

In the break between games of World Cup soccer today I tuned into Katy Tur’s program on MSNBC. She had David Weigel of Axios on talking about the upsurge of support for democratic socialist candidates in American cities. I’m writing here because Katy Tur seems to invite comments on her show only on X and I refuse to subscribe to it. So here’s my two cents to what I think is an informed audience of influencers.

Weigel did a pretty good job overall, but then Katy asked him what’s the difference between socialism and democratic socialism? That is a great question that could have given rise to a discussion of the broad and rich intellectual tradition characterizing socialism.

In his response Weigel talked about how there are some democratic socialist who wish to get rid of capitalism, or eliminate the prison system, but for now they mostly focus on concrete policies that can make our daily quality of life better: things like affordable housing or accessible health care access. But Weigel never situated democratic socialism within in the broad spectrum from Soviet-styled state socialism to the thoroughgoing welfare state characteristic of the Scandinavian countries. Nor did he emphasize the democratic piece and that democratic socialists don’t want to do away with competitive elections or take away our civil liberties. And far be it for Katy Tur to press him on these issues.

In my post from November 27, I analyzed the elections of Zohran Mamdani in New York City to those of Katie Wilson as mayor in Seattle and Girmay Zahilay as executive of surrounding King County.[1] All of them are progressives and they each ran for office as Democrats. But while Mamdani and Wilson ran as avowed socialist, Zahilay did not.

I went on to discuss the way that democratic socialist and social liberals (which I would call Zahilay) have very similar policy preferences. They both talk not only about groceries and gasolene (mainstream liberalism), but also housing, healthcare and transportation.

MSNBC wants to see itself broadly as the progressive alternative for cable news. But like the moderate liberals of the Democratic Party establishment, the network fears a robust debate on the left between mainstream liberals and those to their left who speak more directly to the concerns of the young, the working class and BIPOC folks.

Let the battle for the soul of the Democratic Party and the future of the country continue!

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[1] “Left Populism and Democratic Socialism,"  https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5729996108959536995/3720053984822575411

 

In Memoriam to My Dearest Rebecca

                                                  In Memoriam to My Dearest Rebecca

                                                    February 12, 1958 – March 12, 2026

Rebecca and Damani Johnson

Rebecca McDonald Johnson transitioned to the ancestors on March 12, 2026, in Bellingham Washington. Surrounded by family and friends, she passed after a brief battle with gallbladder cancer.

Rebecca will be remembered for her warm and welcoming demeanor, tireless advocacy social change, and as a loving mother, wife, aunt, and friend. She cared deeply about her family, friends, and community and was always ready to roll up her sleeves to help and to open her home in times of celebration and struggle.

Rebecca was born on February 12, 1958, in Seattle Washington. She was the youngest of five siblings born to Claude “Red” McDonald and Ruth Graham McDonald. She had an idyllic childhood on Yarrow Point, Bellevue Washington, and graduated from Bellevue High School in 1976.

When Rebecca was in high school, her sister Flossie invited her to visit Washington State University (WSU) where Black Power advocate Stokely Carmichael gave a lecture. His speech left an indelible impression on young Rebecca, and she developed a lifelong commitment to racial justice.

Rebecca attended WSU where she met Vernon Damani Johnson, a graduate student, who became the love of her life. Across the late 1970s and early 1980s, Rebecca and Damani were part of the network of activists engaged in South African divestment, farmworkers issues, and global human rights.

Rebecca married Damani in 1982 in Pullman, Washington and graduated from WSU in 1984. The couple lived in Spokane, then Seattle and in 1986 moved to Bellingham where Damani was offered a teaching position at Western Washington University.

Rebecca worked in the insurance business but soon after moving to Bellingham, she began working in community organizations, including WomenCare Shelter and then at the Whatcom County Health Department where she did HIV testing, health education, and outreach. From there she was hired by Interfaith Community Health Center to administer its Ryan White Program, the largest federally funded program to care for people living with HIV/AIDS. She would eventually become development director for the health center and served a brief stint as interim executive director in the 2000s.

Along the way Rebecca acquired a graduate certificate in public health from the University of Washington and a master’s degree in nonprofit leadership at Seattle University.

In 2009 Rebecca went into full-time community health consulting, first for Community Link Consulting, and in 2013 she established her own business, Health Center Solutions. Originally serving the Pacific Northwest region, she would come to have clients from Alaska to the Carolinas.

Somehow Rebecca found time to get deeply involved in the Bellingham and Whatcom County community. Damani and Rebecca had been associated with the Washington state branch of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition from their time in Seattle and they brought the movement to Whatcom County in 1988. They were both Jackson delegates to the 1988 Washington State Democratic Convention. They remained active in the state coalition until the mid-1990s, and the Whatcom County chapter which survived until the turn of the century. The couple loved the Rainbow idea. It gave them language to articulate the journey they had embarked upon in their relationship and political work.

Rebecca’s community service did not stop there. The deadly pipeline explosion in Bellingham in 1998 occurred near her home and the Johnsons had relationships with the families of the three children who were killed. She served as a board member of the Pipeline Safety Trust from 2005 to 2013.

She also served as a commissioner on the Bellingham Whatcom County Commission Against Domestic Violence and on the boards of Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood and Northwest Youth Services. Most recently, Rebecca has been actively involved with the League of Women Voters including serving as co-president; and as a trustee, and president of the board of trustees of Whatcom Community College.

For all her notable community service Rebecca’s deepest commitments were to her family, her life partner Damani and their two children Cedric and Elizabeth. She and Damani were best friends and political compatriots. Rebecca volunteered in the kids’ classrooms and chaperoned school excursions. She was close to her extended family and affectionately known as “Aunt Boppy.” The Johnson family regularly hosted Thanksgiving dinners for up to 40 people.

Rebecca’s presence will be sorely missed.

She is preceded in passing by her father, “Red;” her mother Ruth, her brother Peter McDonald; and her niece, Megan Crowther. She is survived by her husband, Damani; her children, Cedric and Elizabeth; her sisters, Linda Fremott (John), Claudia Kokinda, and Florence Crowther (Ric); and many nieces and nephews.

A “Celebration of Life” will be held for Rebecca on Saturday, April 25, 2026 at the Syre Student Center at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham, Washington. The doors will open at 1:00 and the program will begin at 1:30.

In lieu of flowers donations in Rebecca’s name can be made to:

- Whatcom Community College Foundation

- Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and Northern Idaho

- Bellingham Food Bank