Thoughts a long-term vision and our immediate programmatic orientation
The socialist movement dates back over 200 years. You might think that after the considerable debate during that time about public vs. private ownership and after the many attempts to actualize socialism a consensus would have developed by now about which is the “better system.” But that’s not the case. There was widespread resonance when Bernie Sanders advocated “democratic socialism” during his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns; yet the capitalist system remains dominant, even as the sense of its inadequacy remains prevalent.
The left continues to debate a post-capitalist vision. The Green Party’s contribution to the discussion has been to offer an ecosocialist program that addresses the valid critiques of the over-centralized and bureaucratic twentieth century implementations of socialism in countries like the Soviet Union and the UK. The Green program stipulates that public ownership should be selective and implemented in such a way as to be as grassroots-democratic as possible.
My own conception of ecosocialism has elements of an ultimately communitarian orientation. It acknowledges a requisite need for an immediate political-economic transition in order to defang the ruinous capitalist system and open pathways toward “the greening of society.” During an emergency period of ecosocialism, some mega-corporations could be semi-socialized via intensive regulation, while some could be brought under democratic public ownership and control. But at the same time a gradual downscaling process should be implemented to begin regionalizing the economy. The participatory form of democracy and cooperative form of economics advocated by the Greens is only possible at smaller scales of government and enterprise. In that light, a bioregionalist reorganization of society ought to be our ultimate vision.
In a theoretical future of diverse regionalized economies, a logical assumption is that they might not all be socialist or ecosocialist. Limited private enterprise at small scale is not necessarily problematic. In a bioregional future we could expect to see local populations opt for or gravitate toward various forms of property relations. But Greens know that the immediate crisis compels immediate system change. The dire alternative is that profit-driven exploitation will result in transgression of Earth System Boundaries regarding climate, biosphere, water cycles, nutrient cycles, etc. So we should not be afraid to advocate for an ecosocialist transition in our current electoral campaigns. I’m putting this to the test as I run for Congress in New Jersey’s 3rd district this year as part of the “Green 13” slate of candidates in our state (a candidate for US House in all 12 congressional districts plus a statewide candidate for US Senate). My campaign platform is here. One point reads: “Take the energy industry and all railroad systems into public ownership using a democratic federated structure, with municipal and regional utilities.” I’m finding that this platform plank resonates widely with progressively-inclined voters. And in my campaign appearances I do put it into the context of an explicit advocacy of ecosocialist transformation. In longer-form interviews I occasionally have a chance to broach the fuller bioregionalist desideratum that has a more esoteric but at the same time more visionary deep-green appeal.
