Activist, author, & Slaughter-Free America blogger Jon Hochschartner looks for answers
ANIMALS 24-7 preface:
Founded in 1982, but emerging only recently as a leading political influence on the U.S. national scene, the Democratic Socialists of America campaign in primary elections and caucus in elected office as Democrats.
Yet, drawing distinct lines between themselves and traditional mainstream liberal Democrats, the Democratic Socialists of America have as yet very few clearly defined collective positions on most political issues, except that they are not Republicans.
There are currently no unified Democratic Socialists of America views on animal issues.
But this is also true of both Republicans and mainstream Democrats. Republicans in recent years are generally seen by animal advocates as having a better record than Democrats on animal use in biomedical research. Democrats are generally by animal advocates as having a much better record on most wildlife issues, especially endangered species, but both parties kowtow to animal agriculture, hunting, fishing, and trapping, and the spectrum of other animal use industries.
Democratic Socialists of America in elected office
The most prominent members of the Democratic Socialists of America in elected office include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. Representative for the New York 14th district, Rashida Tlaib, U.S. Representative for the Michigan 12th district; Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York City, and Jabari Brisport, New York State Senator representing the 25th district.
Among them, Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib are not vegetarian but have flirted at times with vegetarianism.
Mamdani is not vegetarian, but favors ending carriage horse use in New York City, an issue involving relatively few animals, yet of huge symbolic importance to New York City animal advocates for more than 40 years.
Brisport has reportedly been a committed vegan for more than five years, and an animal rights activist for much longer than that.
What does any of this signify about the Democratic Socialists of America as a whole?
Are animal issues “left,” “right,” or “center”? Or not on the political spectrum at all?
Noting that “The Democratic Socialists of America boast a historically large membership with a range of views on a variety of subjects,” vegan activist, author, & Slaughter-Free America blogger Jon Hochschartner “recently sought to interview some fellow members of the organization who are interested in reforming or abolishing animal exploitation, a cause,” Hochschartner told ANIMALS 24-7, “which, sadly, receives scant attention across the political spectrum, including the left,” where in Hochschartner’s opinion, “it fits most naturally.”
Opposing views
ANIMALS 24-7 notes that a significant portion of our readership, and of animal advocacy both historically and presently, hold opposite views.
Examples include the substantial support base of the frankly far-right anti-vivisection organization White Coat Waste Project, and the Republican-leaning leadership of most of the leading multi-issue national animal advocacy groups.
Among the few leaders of U.S. national animal advocacy groups with “left” history known to ANIMALS 24-7, all are septuagenerians.
Nonetheless, with Hochschartner, we are, as he wrote, “very grateful to those Democratic Socialists of America leaders who took the time to answer” his questions “about their views regarding nonhumans, how animal issues can be taken more seriously within the Democratic Socialists of America, and what plausible nonhuman policy they would like every left-wing candidate to support.”
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Where six Democratic Socialists of America leaders are on animal issues
by Jon Hochschartner
Jishnu Guha-Majumdar is assistant professor in political theory at Butler University in Indianapolis, with a focus on the relationship between animal and human liberation.
Guha-Majumdar is also co-chair of the Central Indiana Democratic Socialists of America chapter.
He describes himself as an abolitionist on the question of animal use, but he questions the utility of the welfare-vs.-abolition framework, saying the real issue is whether reforms sustain or challenge core-system logics.
What would a just society with animals look like?
Guha-Majumdar argues that classical abolitionism, represented by thinkers like Tom Regan and Gary Francione, is very good at saying what we should not do to animals, but less good at outlining what a just society with animals would look like.
For this, he turned to writers including Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka.
“The majority of Democratic Socialists of America members don’t even think of animals rights issues as on the map of the organization, and so that will have to be a site of struggle,” Guha-Majumdar said.
“A working group and/or issue-specific publication could be helpful, but it is important to understand what its goals are.
“National-level reading groups”
“I would argue there should be two: to provide a rallying point for pro-animal advocates in the organization to acknowledge each other and to come up with a relatively unified strategy for a Democratic Socialists of America animal rights ‘line’ [and] to shift consciousness about the way that domination of animals is central to capitalism and that animals are subjects of solidarity.”
Guha-Majumdar suggested there might be national-level reading groups on texts like Dinesh Wadiwel’s Animals & Capital.
Guha-Majumdar believes Democratic Socialists of America candidates should support policies focused on altering the incentive structure of food production.
He backs public funding for alternative protein development, but thinks an ideal platform would fully socialize the cultivated meat industry, as author Jan Dutkiewicz recommended in a 2019 Jacobin article.
Guha-Majumdar argues that ideas like these, along with efforts to redirect farm subsidies away from meat and dairy production, should be incorporated into discussion of a proposed Green New Deal, given the severe climate costs of animal agriculture.
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“Extension of socialist values”
Leo Neustadt is a former member of New York City Democratic Socialists of America, who has been involved in the Madison, Wisconsin area chapter for approximately two years. Neustadt believes no animal should be exploited for any reason, including human consumption.
Neustadt understands this to be an extension of socialist values.
While Neustadt seeks to end all animal use, Neustadt recognizes that no profound change happens in a single step, and is willing to pursue welfare reforms.
Neustadt is frustrated that the Democratic Socialists of America’s Green New Deal Campaign Committee made no mention of the environmental impact of animal agriculture.
Like Guha-Majumdar, Neustadt believed the Green New Deal was an avenue through which the Democratic Socialists of America could address nonhuman issues.
(Beth Clifton collage)
“People are going to continue to eat meat”
“I think a reasonable policy would be to end inhumane conditions for animals bred for slaughter,” Neustadt said, when asked about positions every leftist candidate should adopt.
“Everything about the way animals are kept and treated is abhorrent, including the slaughtering itself,” Neustadt stated.
“But, I know people are going to continue to eat meat for the foreseeable future, so, at the very least, we should have federal guidelines and standards on how many animals can be in a certain amount of space to avoid overcrowding, allow free time outdoors for sunlight and grazing, and end the forced molestation and rape of these creatures who have no voice.”
[Editor’s note: This appears to be a reference to artificial insemination as practiced in agribusiness, not to bestiality as currently recognized in criminal law.]
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Has the time come? Ben Wendt
Ben Wendt is a former co-chair of Baton Rouge Democratic Socialists of America, concerned with the ethical and ecological implications of animal agriculture.
He approves of nonhuman welfare reforms, but believes they are of limited value, due to the power of industry.
Ultimately, Wendt believes a Democratic Socialist society, where people are educated about the harms of animal agriculture, would choose to greatly reduce it.
That said, Wendt is pessimistic about people’s views of nonhumans changing, and thinks an environmental or worker’s rights critique of the food system would be more effective.
For this reason, Wendt is not enthusiastic about an animal-focused working group within the Democratic Socialists of America.
“Cut subsidies!”
Wendt wants Democratic Socialists of America political candidates to support cutting subsidies to the animal agriculture industry.
“Those subsidies could be invested in lab-grown meat, small and cooperative farming, or returning land to indigenous peoples,” Wendt said.
“A few other, not very radical policies would be to ban the agriculture industry from lobbying the USDA to get their sector in the nutrition guidelines (most people are lactose intolerant, so how can dairy be an essential nutrient?), repeal bans on reporters and union activists from going to factory farms, strengthen Food & Drug Administration laws on what marketing terms the industry can use, and pardon imprisoned animal activists.”
Socialists for Animal Justice
Kiirstin Kuhi is a member of New York City Democratic Socialists of America, within which she helped launch an unofficial vegan group, Socialists for Animal Justice.
Kuhi supports the abolition of all forms of nonhuman use, but is willing to advance welfare reforms in the short term.
Socialists for Animal Justice is one attempt to answer the question of how nonhuman issues might be taken more seriously within the Democratic Socialists of America.
Initially, her group voted to call themselves Democratic Socialists of America for Animal Justice, but backed off as they were not yet formally recognized as a working group or club.
Kuhi thinks organizing locally, as opposed to nationally, is a good place to start. However, she acknowledges that Socialists for Animal Justice is still trying to find its footing.
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Hoping to build community
“We hope to continue building community through future events,” Kuhi says, “including a collaboration with the Ecosocialist Working Group on a screening of the film The Smell of Money, canvasses for Democratic Socialists of America candidates who align with our values, and eventual legislation that protects our planet and all its inhabitants.”
Kuhi noted that Ecosocialist Working Group showed up to canvass as Socialists for Animal Justice.
“I’m not sure an issue-specific publication would be the most effective approach,” Kuhi said, “since you would still have to find people to read it. Social gatherings and potlucks, on the other hand, provide opportunities to get Democratic Socialists of America members plugged into our work through one-on-one conversations about animal issues.”
“Deep empathy for dairy cows”
Kuhi found it difficult to choose one plausible, pro-animal policy she would like every Democratic Socialists of America candidate to endorse, because one never knows what is possible until it is actually done.
Kuhi cited a bill put forward by New York state senator Jabari Brisport, a Democratic Socialists of America member, that would forbid issuing or authorizing any permits to new or expanding large concentrated animal feeding operations, as an example of something she is not sure was achievable right now.
Kuhi says she feels a deep empathy for dairy cows, because she is also capable of getting pregnant and giving birth, and thus would like to focus on some reform of the industry exploiting dairy cattle.
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“Continuity between humans and other creatures”
Justin Anthony Knapp is a member of Central Indiana Democratic Socialists of America. He believes our relationship with animals needs to be reimagined and radically changed, but does not think this will happen within his lifetime.
Knapp emphasizes the continuity between humans and other creatures. He argues that within the Democratic Socialists of America, animal activists should raise consciousness about nonhuman welfare and “ag-gag” laws, which criminalize whistleblowing and undercover investigations of farm facilities.
Knapp added that Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates should seek to overturn “ag-gag” laws on First Amendment grounds.
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Wants leftists to back abolition of animal testing
Shawna Rose Robbins Nixon is a member of Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America. Her father has been involved with the group since its founding in 1982, following the merger of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and the New American Movement.
She approves of a variety of forms of animal use, conceding her stance might simply reflect a desire to eat meat, but wants to improve nonhuman treatment.
Nixon thinks an issue-specific publication or working group would be a good way to get animal issues taken more seriously within Democratic Socialists of America.
She wants leftist candidates to back the abolition of animal testing, which Nixon considers inhumane and outdated.
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From beef ranching to veganism
A member of New York City Democratic Socialists of America, Cody Smith is a third-generation participant in the beef industry and a second-generation cattle rancher.
Smith became committed to animal rights after majoring in philosophy in college.
Smith is not sure whether welfare reforms help or merely assuage ethical concerns and normalize nonhuman exploitation.
Within his Democratic Socialists of America branch, Smith is primarily involved with the membership committee, the Central Brooklyn Community Solidarity Committee, the Political Education Committee, and the Socialists for Animal Justice group.
Forming vegan group
“We are in the process of creating a formal Democratic Socialists of America vegan group in New York City,” Smith said, adding that Socialists of Animal Justice seeks to promote veganism within the Democratic Socialists of America and turn vegan liberals into socialists.
“We do this by collaborating with the Democratic Socialists of America’s Ecosocialist group, pushing for animal rights legislation, drawing connections between animal rights and other liberation movements, and organizing vegan events within and outside of Democratic Socialists of America.
(Beth Clifton photo/collage)
“I’m not particularly plugged into the electoral elements of Democratic Socialists of America,” Smith said, “but I think cultured meat is worth investing in. On a similar note, if plant-based food can be produced inexpensively for schools, Meatless Mondays for schools can be an easy win.”
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“Pushing for animal Legislation” where, exactly? The Politburo? The latest DSA platform wants to do away with a) private property (that’s your house- based on preferences, they will assign where everyone lives –and how); b) “free housing for everyone,” see a) and the Dr. Zhivago homecoming scene; c) the Senate, d) the office of the president, and e) the Supreme Court. That leaves of course Central Planning, to hell with liberal, Democratic Republic capitalist checks and balances.
A Google AI synopsis of the Democratic Socialists of America national platform is as follows:
“The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) national platform, titled ‘Workers Deserve More,’ focuses on shifting economic and political power from corporations to the working class. The program advocates for sweeping socialist economic interventions alongside radical structural overhauls of the U.S. constitutional system.
“Economic and Social Demands
“Public and Worker Ownership: Shift major private corporations and key economic sectors under public or worker democratic control.
“Healthcare & Education: Establish a state-run, universal healthcare system and provide free public higher education.
“Housing and Labor: Implement nationwide rent control, expand public housing, and secure robust protections and fair compensation for all forms of labor.
“Social Justice: Enact reparations for slavery, grant amnesty to undocumented immigrants, and abolish ICE and the prison system.
“Political & Structural ReformsGovernment Overhaul: Rewrite the U.S. constitution to replace the presidency and the Supreme Court with an executive-judiciary branch chosen by and subordinate to Congress.
“Legislative Restructuring: Abolish the U.S. Senate and expand the House of Representatives into a single, proportional, multi-party legislative body.Electoral Reform: Replace the Electoral College with a national popular vote and extend unconditional voting rights to noncitizens and people with past criminal convictions.”
Indeed, some of these positions appear to be lifted straight from the Bolshevikism of 1918 Russia. Some of the others, though, have at times in the now distant past been advanced, alternately, by both the Republican and Democratic national parties.
You’ve got to watch the housing.
https://housing.dsausa.org/socialhousing/
In absolute agreement with poster Susan Russell in having absolutely no faith in the Democratic Socialists, including the one who said, years ago, that $300 was not too much to spend on a haircut. Those with fairly long memories will know who I’m referencing.
Extremists on either side of the political spectrum are just that — extremists. They are dangerous. Study history. PLEASE. And LEARN from it. Human beings, and human nature, do(es) not change.
As far as animal advocacy goes, most politicians are firmly on the side of their own advancement and interests, and will flip whatever way the wind happens to be blowing at the moment. In other words, like most people, their self-interest is the motivator.