{"id":10529,"date":"2018-05-16T07:00:17","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T11:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=10529"},"modified":"2018-05-16T00:37:54","modified_gmt":"2018-05-16T04:37:54","slug":"marc-elrich-said-hes-a-socialist-and-i-believe-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=10529","title":{"rendered":"Marc Elrich Said He\u2019s a Socialist \u2013 And I Believe Him"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Adam Pagnucco.<\/em><\/p>\n

Council Member Marc Elrich, who is running for County Executive, has posted a guest blog<\/a> denying that he is a socialist.\u00a0 Since he made that claim in a rebuttal to our writings, it is only fair that your author responds.\u00a0 Why have we said<\/a> that he is a socialist?\u00a0 It\u2019s because we have an unimpeachable source who says he has been a socialist organization member for decades.\u00a0 That source\u2019s name is\u2026<\/p>\n

Marc Elrich.<\/p>\n

In 2013, Bethesda Magazine asked Elrich flat out whether he is a socialist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Elrich declines to say whether he considers himself a socialist. \u201cIt\u2019s irrelevant,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026I was in the business world. I appreciate how things are done. I\u2019m not doing anything that will undo the business world or bring socialism to Montgomery County.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If he is not a socialist, why not say so?<\/p>\n

Elrich was more forthcoming with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), who describe themselves on their website as \u201cthe largest socialist organization in the United States.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 In his completed questionnaire for DSA<\/a>, Elrich answered as follows to their questions on his membership and identification as a socialist.<\/p>\n

Why are you soliciting Metro DC DSA\u2019s endorsement for this office?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am a member and have been impressed with Metro DC DSA\u2019s work. A lot of my positions and values align closely with the positions and values of the organization. The organization has also been very effective recently in encouraging voter turnout and helping tenants and is gaining a reputation as a real force in progressive politics.<\/p>\n

Do you identify as a democratic socialist?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Democratic socialism doesn\u2019t have a hard and fast definition; I see it as a philosophy that envisions a more democratic society. I believe in democracy in both the political and economic spheres.<\/p>\n

What does socialism mean now? We are living in the 21st century, and simply reducing political analysis to a debate between 18th century capitalism and 19th century Marxism doesn\u2019t help us find solutions. There are ideas that have worked and have moved society forward that have evolved from both perspectives, as well as things that haven\u2019t turned out so well from both. So a lot of the ideals of democratic socialism contribute to my thinking, but they don\u2019t entirely define my thinking.<\/p>\n

Are you a member of Democratic Socialists of America? If so, when did you join?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes; I joined many decades ago and was involved in both the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and New America Movement (NAM) stages of the organization.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting the history of the two organizations he cited in his response.\u00a0 The Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee<\/a> was founded by socialist leader Michael Harrington<\/a>, who personally identified with socialists like Eugene Debs and Norman Thomas but preached advocating for a socialist agenda inside the Democratic Party<\/a>.\u00a0 The New American Movement was an openly socialist group.\u00a0 According to its Wikipedia entry<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In its early years, NAM shared much of the political framework of the New Communist Movement, but rejected the strategy of building a “vanguard party”, a position prominent NAM members defended in a debate in the pages of The Guardian. The organization was built around local groups called “chapters,” which emphasized Marxist study, discussion of contemporary issues, support of local labor actions, and work in the community to raise awareness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These two socialist organizations combined to form DSA<\/a> in 1982.<\/p>\n

The <\/em>Democratic Socialists of America<\/em><\/a> don\u2019t hide the fact that they are socialists.\u00a0 They say it openly on their website.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s be fair.\u00a0 Today\u2019s American socialists have come a loooooong way since dialectical materialism<\/a> and the dictatorship of the proletariat<\/a>.\u00a0 Karl Marx wouldn\u2019t recognize them as socialists.\u00a0 Their platform<\/a> is much closer to contemporary progressivism than to nineteenth century Marxism.\u00a0 And like DSA\u2019s co-founder, Michael Harrington, their agenda is not actual revolution but to join the Democratic Party and push it as far to the left as possible.\u00a0 That\u2019s a reasonable description of Marc Elrich\u2019s three decades in public office and a big reason why he is so admired by many Montgomery County progressives.\u00a0 In fact, if Elrich were to say in public that he has been a socialist organization member for decades, many of his supporters would probably love it and work even harder for him!<\/p>\n

Elrich told Seventh State<\/a>, \u201cI don\u2019t have a socialist agenda that I\u2019m trying to bring here.\u201d\u00a0 Well, maybe.\u00a0 A genuinely Marxist policy agenda would be precluded by federal and state law.\u00a0 But Elrich\u2019s socialist beliefs have manifested themselves at least twice during his time as a County Council Member.<\/p>\n

First, he is arguably the strongest supporter of an indisputably socialist institution: the county\u2019s liquor monopoly.\u00a0 The notion that a county government should have a monopoly on the wholesale distribution of alcohol is about as socialist as one can get.\u00a0 Not only is Elrich one of the monopoly\u2019s biggest defenders \u2013 he actually accused restaurant owners who wanted freedom from it of \u201cwhining\u201d and wanting to \u201csteal everything.\u201d<\/a> \u00a0That got him banned from four restaurants<\/a> that had protested the monopoly.\u00a0 As a County Executive candidate, he promises to increase the monopoly\u2019s sales<\/a>, thereby expanding the reach of MoCo\u2019s most prominent socialist institution.<\/p>\n

Second, Elrich once recruited the socialist government of Venezuela\u2019s Hugo Chavez<\/a> to participate in providing county services.\u00a0 In 2007, the Washington Post reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Montgomery County Council member Marc Elrich (D-At Large) invited Venezuela’s ambassador this month to meet community leaders and possibly get involved in funding local social programs, only to find himself yesterday at the center of a heated international political debate\u2026<\/p>\n

The visit, planned for Oct. 23, was conceived after Elrich met a representative from the embassy at a District rally to support domestic workers. They talked about poverty and the health-care needs of the county, and Elrich said the diplomat expressed interest in learning more about Montgomery’s community services.<\/p>\n

In an e-mail to more than a dozen community leaders Tuesday, including to Leggett’s directors for economic development and health and human services, a legislative aide to Elrich described the visit as part of a “project currently underway to promote future socio-economic partnerships for the development of a common goal to address community needs.”<\/p>\n

“The first step toward this goal is to convene a meeting to introduce the Ambassador” to the county and “to begin a dialogue on how to productively address those needs,” the e-mail said\u2026<\/p>\n

Talk of a visit was so potentially explosive that [County Executive Ike] Leggett issued a strongly worded statement from Israel. “We do not want to be involved in this visit. We are not involved with this visit,” he said. “Montgomery County can take care of its own problems. Thank you. No thank you.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The visit did not happen and Elrich\u2019s envisioned cooperation between the county and a socialist foreign government fell through.<\/p>\n

Look folks, we respect Marc Elrich for having deeply held principles that have guided his political philosophy for many years.\u00a0 Some politicians have no principles of any kind.\u00a0 Elrich has deployed his on behalf of progressive causes like his signature minimum wage bills.\u00a0 His supporters love him for that, and from their perspective, rightly so.\u00a0 We have found him to be a creative, intelligent and thought-provoking Council Member.\u00a0 And he deserves massive credit for authoring the county\u2019s proposed Bus Rapid Transit system<\/a> ten years ago.\u00a0 But Elrich has told \u201cthe largest socialist organization in the United States\u201d that he is a member who \u201cjoined many decades ago.\u201d\u00a0 He put that in writing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So why not just admit it to the rest of us?<\/p>\n

Disclosure: the author wrote this in reply to <\/em>Marc Elrich\u2019s guest blog<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>supports Roger Berliner for Executive<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Adam Pagnucco. Council Member Marc Elrich, who is running for County Executive, has posted a guest blog denying that he is a socialist.\u00a0 Since he made that claim in a rebuttal to our writings, it is only fair that your author responds.\u00a0 Why have we said that he is a socialist?\u00a0 It\u2019s because we … Continue reading Marc Elrich Said He\u2019s a Socialist \u2013 And I Believe Him<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[151,84],"tags":[1545,1508,2108],"class_list":["post-10529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adam-pagnucco","category-marc-elrich","tag-adam-pagnucco","tag-marc-elrich","tag-socialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4mKJE-2JP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10529"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10535,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10529\/revisions\/10535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}