Stuck in the Middle With You - Joining the DSA

Yeah, I don't know why I came here tonight
I got the feeling that something ain't right
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair,
And I'm wondering how I'll get down those stairs

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you

- https://youtu.be/DohRa9lsx0Q

In 40 minutes I'm joining a conference call with the Democratic Socialist of America . I mean, what can I do?

I've been continually disappointed by the Democratic Party. I hear tell that they are the party of the working person in America, but those seem to be legends. Starting with the failed McCarthy campaign in 1972 against incumbent Richard Nixon, the party seems to swing right, fearful of appearing too radical for Middle America. Gone were the days of FDR and the New Deal. Now, talk about "growth" instead of inequity. Corporations are our friends (and campaign donors). Screw the working person just trying to get along.

I was a child then, but I still remember an economy when even a crappy job would pay enough to just get by, as long as you were working. And if you couldn't work, there was a safety-net to catch you. Gone. There is a gun to your head that fires bullets of homelessness and/or malnutrition if you don't have at least a para-professional job. Capitalism worked because FDR had saved it. Some say that saving it was a bad idea.

Enter the Social Democrats. Now, *real* Socialist and Communists say that what the DSA proposes is only "sheep-dogging" would-be radicals to the Bourgeoisie (Owners, Bosses, Etc) political parties again. Real change will only come about by a true Workers Party that seizes power from the Capitalist Class. That might be very well true. See Revolutionary Marxism vs. Sanders “Socialism” for Democrats

On the other hand, Democratic Party friends whom I greatly respect often support the idea that any criticism of that party will destroy our only breakwater against the radical right-wing tide attempting to take over the county.

Has not the Dems rightward swing only enabled them by re-framing the debate?

The Rules of Disengagement (Despair)

As indicated above, the Western response to despair is to deny it. Don't wallow. Dust yourself off and get back to it. Be sad for it bit if you must, but hurry up and get through the stages of grief and move on. Get over it.

Goth and Emo subcultures may be counter-response to this perpetual sunny perspective that we in the West are supposed to have. Hamlet, mourning his father gives his famous speech "Seems," madam? Nay, it is; I know not "seems." (1.2.77). Despair, if we work with it properly, should be a signal that "something is rotten in Denmark," and we should do something about it, not just paint on a happy-face and get on with life.