Only a powerful leftist platform can save Chicago
I have to throw this together on my lunch break today, which is a shame because the topic deserves a much better treatment. But I have to say that I’m withdrawing from the mayoral positivist caucus of Chicago DSA’s Electoral Working Group, contingent on me changing my mind for the thousandth time, and I’m moving to revive the platform positivist caucus.
What we need — DSA, leftists, and Chicago as a whole — is a powerful, specific and unabashedly leftist platform, not a candidate.
Candidates can let us down. Platforms can’t.
Realistically we’re only endorsing one candidate, not multiple. But if we instead propose a platform, multiple candidates could sign on to our platform.
Candidates require effort. Platforms…OK, a platform would require quite a lot of effort.
But the fundamental reason I’m leaning toward a platform over a candidate is that a platform has a life way beyond candidates. Aldermanic candidates will sign on, we can hold electeds to it after the election, and it will galvanize activists and voters better than a candidate.
It shouldn’t be just a DSA platform. That would be immensely impractical and candidates would have very little reason to sign on to it. It should be a united platform co-created by organizations across the city.
I don’t think we have a very good mechanism for creating such a platform quickly. If there are secret meetings, I’m not invited. The process needs to be democratic and needs to happen pretty quickly, so organizations need to start/increase their communication.
At the same time, we’re not starting from scratch. Chicago activists have already been creating this platform through our work. Off the top of my head, I know the next mayor must sign on to a platform consisting of, at minimum:
- No Cop Academy
- CPAC
- No further privatization and reverse privatization that’s happened
- Elected school board
- End the TIF program
- No corporate welfare, especially Amazon HQ2
- Community control of zoning and development
- Reopen mental health clinics closed by Rahm
- Abolish the gang database
- True sanctuary city with zero deportations
- Program to replace lead pipes in homes
- Public bank
- ***EDIT: As Rossana Rodriguez points out, I made a huge error by leaving out rent control and $15/hour minimum wage and a union***
We must establish a platform incorporating these things and more and demand that candidates sign on. We can’t delay. I don’t think we can wait and see what the candidates say, because the people should be leading and the candidates following. That does happen sometimes, but this is the clearest opportunity for us to force that pattern to happen.
To that end, I’m asking Electoral members to take the lead within DSA in forming a committee and identifying other leftist organizations to participate in writing this platform. I’m sure the same process is playing out at other leftist organizations across the city.
I believe very much that well-executed collaboration and a powerful platform can transform Chicago into a city for the people. All of us in DSA signed up for exactly that purpose. It’s time to build a platform to make that happen.