There’s a few critical misunderstandings you have.
Revolution is not simply change. Revolution is the conquest of state power by one class against the previous. Both FDR and Reagan serve the capitalist class, neither was a revolution but instead a shift in how capital dictates.
Further, you are entirely erasing imperialism. The New Deal grew alongside the US Empire. It was a way to export the contradictions within society to the global south. With the 50s onward, the US Empire was the world hegemon, super-exploiting the global south for super profits. Domestically, ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples were crushed, alongside LGBTQIA+ people. Internationally, the global south was horrendously butchered for profit. It is through the exploitation of the global south that both capitalism and a large welfare net remained.
The rise of Reagan was the triumph of imperialist capital reaching a new stage. Neoliberalism is the imperialism of the modern era, where finance capital has shifted from simple capital export to neocolonialism and unequal exchange.
“Healthy, well-regulated capitalism” cannot exist, nor can it be complementary to socialism. Markets can play a part in either system, but the question of who society serves is determined by which class controls the state and the commanding heights of the economy. China has a socialist market economy, and leverages this to uplift the people. Finland, the other user’s previous example, has a capitalist economy, and uses it to plunder the global south and bribe their domestic working class.
Socialism is not welfare. Socialism is not the public sector. Socialism is a system, as capitalism is. There is no such thing as an “elected revolution.”
What is critically necessary is revolutionary organizing for the purpose of overthrowing the old, capitalist state apparatus, and creating a new worker state. This has been done around the world successfully many times before, and we need to learn from their efforts. Not simply hide imperialism and hope to share in the spoils of it.
There’s a few critical misunderstandings you have.
Revolution is not simply change. Revolution is the conquest of state power by one class against the previous. Both FDR and Reagan serve the capitalist class, neither was a revolution but instead a shift in how capital dictates.
Further, you are entirely erasing imperialism. The New Deal grew alongside the US Empire. It was a way to export the contradictions within society to the global south. With the 50s onward, the US Empire was the world hegemon, super-exploiting the global south for super profits. Domestically, ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples were crushed, alongside LGBTQIA+ people. Internationally, the global south was horrendously butchered for profit. It is through the exploitation of the global south that both capitalism and a large welfare net remained.
The rise of Reagan was the triumph of imperialist capital reaching a new stage. Neoliberalism is the imperialism of the modern era, where finance capital has shifted from simple capital export to neocolonialism and unequal exchange.
“Healthy, well-regulated capitalism” cannot exist, nor can it be complementary to socialism. Markets can play a part in either system, but the question of who society serves is determined by which class controls the state and the commanding heights of the economy. China has a socialist market economy, and leverages this to uplift the people. Finland, the other user’s previous example, has a capitalist economy, and uses it to plunder the global south and bribe their domestic working class.
Socialism is not welfare. Socialism is not the public sector. Socialism is a system, as capitalism is. There is no such thing as an “elected revolution.”
What is critically necessary is revolutionary organizing for the purpose of overthrowing the old, capitalist state apparatus, and creating a new worker state. This has been done around the world successfully many times before, and we need to learn from their efforts. Not simply hide imperialism and hope to share in the spoils of it.