Newly-elected Denver city councilwoman Candi CdeBaca (D-CO) is making waves with her comments about our being in “late phase capitalism” and her strong belief in the “community ownership of land, labor, resources, and distribution of those resources.” She’s so fervent in her belief that she goes on to say “I’m excited to usher it in by any means necessary.”Ordinarily, we might not take much notice of a fringe lefty’s socialist rantings from a newly-won city council seat, but we’ve been tracking the left’s thirst for lunging ever more leftward in the person of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It’s also note-worthy that no one on the left finds it the least bit ludicrous that South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is being seriously considered in his much-ballyhooed run for the 2020 Democrat presidential nomination.On the bright side, “Mayor Pete” has been mayor since the days of yore, way back in 2012, while two years ago AOC was working as a bartender. Indeed, so predictable is the left’s quick embrace of “progressive” stars that community organizer CdeBaca is already being touted as a possible candidate for Denver mayor.She’s the subject of some serious fan-girling over at CityLab.
. . . . A fifth-generation Denver native with a no-bullshit political style, CdeBaca has drawn comparisons from right-wing media and leftist groups alike to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the congresswoman from New York City.“Bet you never saw that coming,” she told me on the phone earlier this week.The comparison makes sense: Like AOC, CdeBaca is a Democratic Socialist and Latina, two identity labels that made both of their victories historic. (A third for CdeBaca: She’s queer.) But her political aptitude and potential were never lost on me—they’re hard to miss.
To her credit, CdeBaca is very outspoken about her extremist views (at least to this point in her newly-minted political career).
CdeBaca, who won in an upset runoff election earlier this month, said in late March during a candidate forum for City Council District 9:
I don’t believe our current economic system actually works. Um, capitalism by design is extractive and in order to generate profit in a capitalist system, something has to be exploited, that’s land, labor or resources.And I think that we’re in late phase capitalism and we know it doesn’t work and we have to move into something new. And I believe in community ownership of land, labor, resources, and distribution of those resources. And so, whatever that morphs into I think is what will serve community the best and I’m excited to usher it in by any means necessary. [Emphasis in original]
Watch:
This isn’t a slip of the tongue, she means it.
Here’s an excerpt from the Jacobin article she’s so enthusiastic about:
A new documentary titled Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution excels at discussing these first two images. It’s less adept at covering the third: an organization built on socialist principles and ideology.The Black Panthers’ “Ten Point Program,” put forth in 1967, outlined the party’s basic precepts for a wide audience. Economic progressivism, long an important part of the twentieth-century African-American freedom struggle, pervades the document.Point two, for example, advocates full employment for African Americans, and the following point demands “an end to the robbery by the capitalists of our black and oppressed communities.” Erasing this element of the Black Panther Party’s history — or even downplaying it — distorts the reality of not just the Panthers but the black freedom movements of the period and the US left more broadly.
CdeBaca is proud of her community organizer roots, as well. She tweets:
Here’s the post to which she links:
Agitate, educate, and organize. Sound familiar?
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