Our Mission for the 21st Century
We’re in a long-term struggle to reconstruct democracy. Defeating MAGA is phase one.
Note: This is an edited transcript of Puya Gerami’s opening remarks from our recent webinar “3 Socialist Tasks for 2024: Block, Broaden, Build.” To view a recording of the webinar, click here. You can read our “Block, Broaden, Build” paper on Substack. For a printable zine version, check out our brand new, DIY "Block, Broaden, Build" Zine.
As socialists, leftists and progressives, we’re in a long-term struggle to fundamentally transform our politics, economy, and society. But in order to build 21st-century socialism, we need to block MAGA from completing a slow-motion coup that would take us back to the 19th century. And if we want to block the dangerous threat from the far right—both in November and beyond November—then we need to bring together anyone and everyone who's opposed to the right. That means we need to build a united front. And the broader the front is, the more capable we are of beating MAGA.
Right now that united front isn't neatly organized in this country. But we know there is a set of forces capable of coming together and mobilizing a voting majority against MAGA. And I think the crucial point here is that we as leftists need to see ourselves and understand ourselves as part of this broad united front, and act on that basis.
Now, as you know, centrist Democrats are part of the front. In fact, at this very moment, they're the ones leading it—Kamala Harris is at the top of the ticket. With these centrist Democrats, we share a common objective of defending democracy. But our visions of democracy are starkly different. We must join with them to defeat MAGA whenever necessary. But we also fight them in intense conflicts over everything from immigration to the genocide in Palestine.
So we on the left must navigate this challenge by committing to the broadest possible united front—and at the same time, by fighting for the leading position within it. By that I mean we need to strengthen our power as the Left, so that over time we can govern. So that through our leadership, we can mobilize majorities of voters, elect leaders from the left into the highest offices across the land, and enact a transformational agenda.
Now, how do we do that? Practically speaking, how do we build the power of the left within this broad united front? We have to be clear—we build our power by building organization, and by building and uniting all our mass organizations on the left.
So first, specifically, we have to build our own independent political organizations. Usually these are membership organizations that recruit and run their own candidates and fight on a progressive platform. They're structurally independent of the Democratic Party, but work inside and outside of it. Depending on where you're calling from today, there's probably an independent political organization that's already building power in your state.
We also have to build the power of all our mass organizations across every sector of society— labor unions where we work; tenant unions where we live; progressive faith organizations where we worship; mass organizations fighting for environmental justice, for immigrant rights, for peace abroad, for racial and gender liberation.
And most importantly, I think we have to try over the long haul to unite all our organizations around a common direction. We have made tremendous strides over the last decade, but the left is still unbelievably fragmented. Building the left means building our organizations and weaving them together into a self-conscious fighting force at the local state and national levels.
So this work that we're talking about today will extend way beyond November. It's going to take a lifetime of organizing together. All of us who are committed to the fight, not just to defend democracy, but to expand and deepen democracy, have to recognize that ours is a long-term struggle: the struggle to rebuild the left, the struggle to reconstruct democracy. Let's call that our mission for the 21st century.
So, taking that long view, we can see that the election in November is a critical step in our mission. It's not an individual choice between two individual candidates. Instead, we have to ask ourselves: on what kind of terrain do we want to carry out our mission? On what kind of terrain do we want to build the left?
On one terrain—If we fail in November—our mission to reconstruct democracy will be, if not doomed, at the very least significantly harder. We’ll be fighting for our lives.
But on the alternative terrain—if we succeed in November—then there's a lot of potential ground to gain. And that doesn't mean inflating our hopes of what a Harris administration or what centrist Democrats will achieve. It means envisioning the advance that we on the left could achieve ourselves. Working for victory before November will allow us to seize the opportunity after November. And that opportunity is to keep building the left and to pursue our mission for the 21st century.
Puya Gerami is an organizer and writer who lives in Connecticut. He has served as education director at SEIU 1199 New England and as director of a statewide progressive coalition named Connecticut For All.
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