Tyson Kelsall
Culture Editor

n 6 January 2014, Kshama Sawant

became the first elected socialist city
councillor in Seattle in almost a century.
Sawant is a former Occupy activist
and an Indian immigrant. She teaches
economics,and previously worked as a
software engineer. Sawant, a member of
Socialist Alternative, was also active in
the movement towards a minimum wage
of $15 for city employees, and has already
begun taking to the streets to demand
a $15 minimum wage for all workers in
Seattle, which she called a “major city in
the heartland of global capitalism” in her
inauguration speech.

Sawant, on Democracy Now, credits the
Occupy Movement for “breaking the
silence” on the two-party domination of
American politics. She claimed that she
will never make a back-room deal with
an unethical corporation for political
ascent, and that she wears the “the badge
of socialist with honor.” Sawant is making
the argument that America is the richest

country in history, yet the working people
are being swindled. She argues that average
corporate CEOs are making seven thousand
dollars per hour, while workers are
constantly rejected a fair wage.

This wage inequality is not unique to
America. On 2 January 2013, the Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives published a
study that clearly showed that the average
pay of the top 100 CEOs in the country was
as much in two days as what the average
Canadian worker makes in an entire year.
The gap between rich and poor is becoming
wider in North America, whether fair or
not.

A heavily criticized point in Sawant’s
campaign is her stance on rent control.
Most economists agree that rent control

is a horrible idea. In fact, in 1992 the
American Economic Association produced
a survey and found that 93% of economists
find that “a ceiling on rents reduces the
quality and quantity of housing.” Although
it may be a good thing that Sawant is
bringing the issue of unaffordable and
inaccessible housing prices to the forefront,

internationalen

rent control is unlikely to help the city’s
sustainability; when prices go below market
value in a capitalist economy, supply will
stop increasing. Historically, a symptom of
this type of shortage has also been a lack of
maintenance to shelters, and has left cities
in disarray. Famous Swedish economics
professor and so-called post-socialist

Assar Lindbeck, PhD, once said, “In many
cases rent control appears to be the most
efficient technique presently known to
destroy a city—except for bombing.”

What kind of role can a socialist play within
a capitalist economy? In the simplest
sense, her election win indicates that
many Americans are open to a change

in the political discourse. The country

has a long history of Democrat versus
Republican parties. For Sawant, it means
reforms will give the labour class self-
determination, and the ability to live a
good life in a system that, theoretically, is
not working for them. It certainly gives
her a soapbox to stand on when she rallies
for things like a higher minimum wage
and environmental restrictions, such as
her opposition to a new coal terminal. Her

campaign showed people that it is possible
to be a grassroots activist and win against
the goliaths of American politics. By the
end of her first term, it is unlikely that all
the cities’ workers will own their means of
production through municipal reforms, but
perhaps she is creating a safe-place within
a capitalist country for the average person
to be heard; perhaps the soapbox is not
only for her, but for all the working people;
all the 99%. In any case, a self-identifying
socialist city councillor in Seattle will

offer a glimpse to one of the alternatives

to the current political discourse in North
America.