The socialist Nathan Newman has written a good explainer on how it is that the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have both produced one of the worst policy platforms and some of the best politicians of our time. The entire piece is worth reading.
Apparently the national organization has been infiltrated by the intellectual descendants of 1950s Communists; a group that calls itself the Party of Socialism & Liberation (PSL.) They are notably anti-American, and aren’t particularly sensible about the dangers of other governments; indeed consistently make excuses for some of the worst. Local chapters of the DSA generally hold different views; Newman cites New York City, Philadelphia, and Colorado.
The PSL tactics are similar to Soviet tactics of the interwar period; infiltration and subversion. In that time, the Comintern was shot through with Soviet agents, and any positive positions it held were subverted; this was especially so with the various popular fronts, which the Soviets betrayed, as Orwell memorably chronicled in Homage to Catalonia. In our time, it seems likely that PSL/ANSWER is shot through with Russian and Chinese agents. In studying the historical material (I can’t claim to be an expert) I was distressed to learn that the conservatives had some points: there was in fact Soviet subversion of the left. Which does not, I hasten to add, justify the red scare of the 1950s and the current fascist movement, but I hope that the left (and you are further left than I) will in this time be wary of betrayal and subversion.
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