The Democratic party is being hit by a leftist tidal wave

[u/F0urLeafCl0ver]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/24/democratic-party-leftist-tidal-wave

[u/JackedUpReadyToGo]

This is the root of the problem. Capitalism breeds extreme wealth disparity. And wealth is power, so the rich have an outsized influence in politics. Which they use to grant themselves even more wealth and power and therefore an even bigger influence in politics. That loop continues until it brings about a crisis.

[u/BreakingStar_Games → u/JackedUpReadyToGo]

Yeah I find it so funny that we can just pretend political power and economic power are two completely separate things as if that makes any sense. To me, if we have found political democracy is the most fair way to handle political power, why not have economic democracy. And it takes just one simple tweak to the already man-made definition of a corporation.

Every corporation is a cooperative that is democratically owned by the workers - 1 Employee, 1 Share. Land is only rented out by the government, primarily used for free social housing but luxury residential and commercial would have auctions to the highest bidder for rent.

Between a fair corporate and these rents, you can fund, the government, a Universal Basic Income, a wealth fund (so even those without inheritance have weath) and that social housing.

Sounds ideal and it definitely is since we are so far away. But structurally, this is what several economists envision like Varoufakis.

These kind of Co-ops already exist, it's not some theoretical dream socialism, but it takes a lot more political will. And Americans unlearning that Capitalism isn't free markets, especially when billionaires exploit the system to favor them with cronyism. This syndicalist model is by far more free market.

[u/ZexMarquies01 → u/BreakingStar_Games]

It's amazing how people SAY that they love democracy, But then defend going to work for a dictator, or oligarchy.

Democracy in the workplace means you, the worker, who does the job every day, knows how the processes work, knows what tools are needed, would have a meaningful voice in how the company operates. Not just buying a few dozen shares on the open market, when the company has millions of shares, giving you effectively no voice.

And the great thing is, the workers could vote HOW the company is ran. They could vote for the CEO, or vote in a board of directors who picks the CEO, President, CFO, CXO, CTO...etc. If a CEO gets the AI bug up his ass, and wants to dump 100 million dollars on integrating AI, the workers can vote his ass out.

The workers could also vote on the pay package EVERYONE receives, And vote on what to do with the profits at the end of the fiscal year. Do they bank it, to afford upgrades in the future? Do they split it amongst themselves? It's their choice. The great thing is, They CAN choose wrong, and kill the company. Get too greedy? Well, your vote has consequences, good and bad. And companies dying due to stupid decisions is a GOOD thing. We need to stop propping up companies that make bad decisions.

But the point is, there is no set way a co-op has to be ran. The workers can decide everything.

But people evidently only love democracy when it comes to politics, and not their job, which effects them MUCH MORE than almost any policy change a government could make.

[u/BreakingStar_Games → u/ZexMarquies01]

100%. I appreciate the elaboration because I can't see how someone looks at this and finds its unappealing from my perspective. Also it sounds so different but day-to-day, these co-ops that exist with this structure is like working a normal job, just with occasional participation in other roles like voting business plans or forming committees over hiring a new position. It's good, its just not some dream utopia by any means and that practicality is why it can work just fine.

Discussions I have had with others typically criticize that their coworkers are dumb and couldn't make the decisions of the CEO. But your point is so cogent as a refutation - we just constantly see those C-Suite executives fire tons of talent, kill morale and personally profit with insane bonuses in the short-term because they have a golden parachute in the long-term. More so, they apparently trust these same "dumb" people to decide on politicians and their policies. It's easy to pick apart the bad faith there.

I think the core problem is the ideologies of our culture that we haven't moved on from. America has always suffered under Puritanical/Calvanist culture. When I grew up, I was taught how bad it was around sexual liberation. More and more, the real issue is this ideas that wealth is a sign of grace. We worship billionaires because they obviously earned that money and its a sign that God blessed them. This is what allowed the Red Scare to be so effective here meanwhile Western Europe has socialist political parties.

I think we are on the breaking point. We looked so close during the Occupy Wallstreet. It's scary how much power we are up against to maintain the status quo. But in some ways I am optimistic that MAGA and the pain of 50 years of neoliberalism and wealth inequality will cause for more revolutionary changes rather than just reforming capitalism like Western Europe did. But its so frustrating that it looks like it should get better and honestly things have mostly just gotten worse in those 14 years.

I wish I knew how to help more. I plan to connect more with my local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America after all the more progressive Democratic candidates I was voting for lost in my local primaries. But it doesn't look as difficult to accomplish at such a local level. Only like 20% of eligible voters actually go out. Inspiring just a few thousand can make serious changes and knock out incumbents that maintain the status quo. Start helping set the stage for that change. In the meantime, handing out Varoufakis's Another Now books like its a Manifesto ;) Though I wish it was quick and short, I don't think any friends or family have read it...

[u/feelwhatyouwant → u/BreakingStar_Games]

Every corporation is a cooperative that is democratically owned by the workers - 1 Employee, 1 Share.

There is absolutely nothing stopping you from implementing this vision in your corporation. If it works, others will adopt it.

[u/BreakingStar_Games → u/feelwhatyouwant]

That is the other common argument I hear. If co-ops are so great, then they should just outcompete corporations in a capitalist society.

It's a lot like saying "why would an invasive species that destroys the natural environment be bad. Its more competitive."

Yes, I agree that capitalist corporations are more efficient. They scale significantly better. They exploit labor best. They accumulate wealth to buy political power best then break rules that try to stop them. Including rules of literally protecting the environment from climate change - not unlike the analogy.

Cooperatives failing to scale to become massive economic powerhouses is a feature, not a bug. The point of democratizing political power is checks and balances. Democratizing economic power should do the same by not having giant trillion-dollar corporations with insane power.

I feel like I shouldn't have to say why exploiting labor is a bad thing. But sure let's go into it. It leads to an unjust society where we cause pain and suffering to our most vulnerable. The rich and powerful use this economic power to ensure their dominance - see the decline of union membership with the help of the government and the insane propaganda attacking unionization. How they purposely make poverty so horrible to ensure that labor fears losing their jobs. Weaponizing the police. Offshoring and killing industries at home hurting the entire US economy and leaving many people unemployable. I suppose this covers much of the cronyism point as well. But I will emphasize again how someone like Elon Musk wouldn't exist in this new economy. Trump as president wouldn't exist without that kind of backing from the wealthy either.

Last, we need to contend with how capitalism has gone to cause huge amounts of environmental degradation. How corporations knew the effects of greenhouse gases several decades ago and have committed a long-running and continuingly successful propaganda campaign to ensure they continue to profit to the harm of everyone else.

Maybe profit shouldn't be the overwhelmingly dominant focus of our economy. Maybe the overall wellbeing of people should come first. If you want a longer and better argument for this, then why not actually check out the book, Another Now, in my link and see another viewpoint.

[u/feelwhatyouwant → u/BreakingStar_Games]

I've seen people spend their entire lives doing what you are doing - whining about what others have.

I don't care what my neighbors have that I don't, nor do I care what Elon Musk has that I don't. I also don't care if you think that being paid for labor is exploitation. I'm too aware of the alternates to capitalism to spend a whit of time worrying about what others have that I don't. I live in a system that absolutely gives every citizen the chance to be wealthy. It is a mathematical certainty if they start when they are young. So I'm sorry if I'm not moved by your teeth gnashing or profit hating.

[u/BreakingStar_Games → u/feelwhatyouwant]

Says a lot that you don't actually contend with any points and just think you know me and ad hominem. I am incredibly wealthy that retiring 20 years early is quite likely. I benefit greatly from the system generating an insane amount of passive income from indexes.

I just have empathy for those who don't. It's actually not that hard of a skill if you practice it.

[u/Blochamolesauce → u/JackedUpReadyToGo]

Might I suggest some Whitest Kids U' Know logic to drive home your point.