Socialists in America have a big problem: most of them are not very social. Indeed, friendly conservatives have come to represent the working class, and aloof pseudo-elites have donned the socialist mantle. The left is not connecting with the American public, which is leaving some socialists concerned.
“Why has the U.S. right since the seventies been more effective than the left at grassroots community organizing?” laments Eric Blanc of the radical website Jacobin.
One answer is that socialist events do not address the human element. Socialists base their activism on inciting class struggle, entitlements and hatred of inequalities, which is a very mean task. Their rhetoric tends to be resentful, and their grassroots find it disagreeable and family-unfriendly.
Conservatives, on the other hand, hold events that stress the social aspect of life. They hold picnics, potlucks and social get-togethers as part of their program to celebrate family and community. Political action needs this social dimension. Activists cannot get things done unless there is bonding between families and individuals.
Socialists Not Social Anymore
Thus, the Jacobin article laments the vibrant social activities of the right and the depressing events of the left. It says the left has lost its social sense. Socialists are not social anymore.
Too many leftists have the wrong idea that socialism only spreads by capitalizing on the resentments of the working class. They attach too much value to boring speeches and pamphlets expounding unattractive socialist doctrine. They believe that success can be reduced to organizing techniques, political street theater and posturing.
Such assumptions have always been wrong. Experience shows that the socialist message alone is not enough to move or attract the masses. The faceless masses need social outreach, emotional bonds and friendship to get involved. Real political action requires that the masses be treated like real human beings… not faceless masses.
Socialist Past, Full of Social Interaction
The Jacobin article notes the left was not always so clueless about organizing. The late nineteenth-and early twentieth-century socialist movements understood the need for entertainment, relationships and social events. Thus, they borrowed from the social structures, customs and institutions that were already in place to advance their godless agenda.
The same socialists who worked against Christian morality, hierarchy and traditions used Christianity-informed social institutions to bring about their destruction. They sought to appeal to and adapt those things in which people naturally take delight. In this way, they tried to put a warm veneer on a cold ideology.
Thus, early socialist events included picnics, choirs, orchestras, dances, campouts, baseball teams and even Sunday schools. One socialist instruction manual highlighted the importance of “lemonade stands, hamburger stands, doll racks, pounding machines, merry-go-rounds, shows.” Music was a universal hook as well-known tunes were given socialist lyrics. Anything cultural or even bourgeois could be hijacked to serve the socialist cause. The end justified the means.
The joy of being together proved more attractive than staid meetings over labor theory. These social events were considered essential for recruiting and retaining membership. They built communities and satisfied the human need for social interaction. The Jacobin article considered this social element so important that it mistakenly argued that churches depend not on God but “this desire for association for their very existence.”
“The shortest road to the [socialist] understanding of the majority is via brass band and vaudeville,” said one report from a 1910 socialist camp in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Today’s Anti-Social Socialists
Eric Smitz laments that today’s socialists are so anti-social. They cannot seem to get their act together. He considers even Zohran Mamdani’s lively campaign for New York City mayor to be an exception that proves the bland rule.
“Compared to right-wing events today,” he notes, “the culture of our contemporary left is anemic.” Workers have left the cause, and college-educated activists from outside the working class take their places, often online.
However, he does not give a reason for this decline in sociability. He insinuates that the left’s focus on political programs inched out the social events that came to be seen as distractions. He also does not explain why the right develops social relationships so successfully.
What Went Wrong
Digging deeper, it is easy to see what went wrong. The left’s constant pursuit of equality and unbridled license undermines the social order that makes these social events possible. The reason why today’s socialists are unsociable is that their program is based on individualist passions, class hatreds and provoked resentments taken to extremes. When people are told they can be anything they want to be and do whatever pleases them, the world becomes a very selfish, isolated and polarized place without a common good and common social structures. It becomes a strange collection of self-absorbed, entitled individuals unable to engage in civil debate and community action. Building communities will necessarily be underwhelming if one cannot agree on pronouns.
Thus, the left will never make America social again. It has drifted too far from the mainstream, destroying the brass bands and community orchestras that once provided the illusion of unity. The left now tends to divide rather than unite.
On the other hand, conservatives work to restore social structures that bring people together. Morals serve as safeguards to protect the social fabric. The traditional family is the building block that helps construct political institutions. Christian charity joyfully unites people in a common bond in Christ. In such an atmosphere of common trust and concern, social events come naturally and bear fruit.
The future belongs to those who can look beyond themselves, sacrifice for the common good and truly love God.