5LL #11 - Democratic Socialist Quiz, Historic Socialists, ContraPoints, Market Systems, Living Wages

Are You a Democratic Socialist?
Maggie Astor, The New York Times
But for all their electoral triumphs so far, democratic socialism remains poorly understood and is frequently conflated, incorrectly, with communism — or, on the flip side, with European-style social democracy. So we built a quiz to help you understand what it is, and how your own political views compare with it.
Our Great Historic Socialists
Nathan J. Robinson, Current Affairs
But I also think it’s worth remembering that even though socialism “failed” here, insofar as it never became the kind of political force it was in many European, Latin American, Asian, and African countries, we do have a socialist history, and a rather inspiring one! Delving into that history is a great way to find lessons for contemporary democratic socialists.
The Oscar Wilde of YouTube Fights the Alt-Right With Decadence and Seduction
Katherine Cross, The Verge
ContraPoints, whose real name is Natalie Wynn, is known for slick, moodily lit YouTube videos that draw hundreds of thousands of views, where she brings a leftist perspective to a variety of hot-button issues — things like structural racism, Marxism, transgender politics, and the alt-right.
Capitalism Is Not the "Market System"
Richard Wolff, Truthout
To the extent that capitalism’s problems – inequality, instability (cycles/crises), etc. – stem in part from its production relationships, reforms focused exclusively on regulating or supplanting markets will not succeed in solving them.
If They Could Pay Us Less, They Would
Sam Wallman, The Nib
The wealthy seem to believe that workers seeking a living wage are the unreasonable ones. Like everything in the world, what you think of the minimum wage depends on where you sit at the table.
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