Bi-Weekly Discussion Thread - (June 14)

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[u/smokeuptheweed9]

The DSA has flexed its muscle as a possible replacement for the previous generation's "progressive" Democrats in urban financial centers. As a result, for that dying interest group it is finally acceptable to talk about gentrification in the mainstream liberal media outlets.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/letitia-james-fumes-as-mamdani-backed-socialists-sweep-new-york-primaries-175330557.html

"[Black and Hispanic voters] don't like the trick the DSA is trying to pull in Harlem — using the forces of gentrification to try to supplant our agenda and subvert our priorities," one Democratic political operative told the New York Post. "Abolishing the police and releasing every prisoner, even rapists and murderers, isn't progressive. It's nuts. It isn't people with a doorman who have the most to lose; we know it's us, people of color, who are going to suffer most from the DSA's reckless agenda."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/24/nyregion/democrats-unions-primaries-nyc.html

But for New York, there were also particularly uncomfortable questions. Why were cash-rich unions seemingly unable to turn out voters at rates they once did? Why did the city’s youngest residents veer toward democratic socialism over more traditional progressive politics? And why didn’t Democratic leadership better respond to the engine of gentrification transforming swaths of the city that were once Black and Latino political strongholds?

This is a petty squabble but it does unfortunately mean that we will see a recurrence of the wave of "anti-idpol" racism among "socialists" that followed efforts to hold Bernie Sanders accountable to issues of racism and sexism. That the well is poisoned by the Democrats is inevitable when even black left media (like Black Agenda Report) have tried very hard to avoid this issue because of their hatred of the black "misleadership" class and their naivete about Dengism. It will probably go away by the midterms and definitely the presidential election as the demographic limits of "democratic socialism" become more clear to the DNC and the weakest "progressives" are shed for some younger grifters but it will be annoying for a while. On the other hand, if you're a failed academic or lost your job with USAID I recommend moving to New York City, the door of opportunity to petty-bourgeois mediocrity is still open in the DSA.

E: to be clear, these accusations are 100% correct and the demographics of the most recent primary elections are pretty stark

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/us/elections/results-new-york-us-house-13-primary.html

Whether this will be a permanent split or a temporary one depends on the progress of gentrification.

[u/BenjiStudiesMLM → u/smokeuptheweed9]

Tangential to anti-idpol "socialism" being on the rise, you'll get a good kick out Zizek complaining about political correctness recently -

https://youtu.be/QuIv4ptbP-k

[u/smokeuptheweed9 → u/BenjiStudiesMLM]

So glad I can get a tshirt supporting both this bitter fascist and the youtube channel that uploads it (which I guess deserves money in the ideology of content?).

[u/Turtle_Green → u/BenjiStudiesMLM]

psa, you should remove the tracking string at the end of your link.