It seems a lot of people think "parliamentary politics won't bring about socialism, but at least they'll bring about some positive reforms." The problem with this is that even social democratic reforms throughout history have been won through class struggle, not elections.

If we look at all the social democratic ideals - the New Deal in the US, labor reforms in Scandinavia and the UK, these all came not because the elected politicians were just that benevolent, but because of persistent and militant labor organizing and strikes.

Before the New Deal, the US was on the brink of a revolution. The major reforms that benefited workers so much were enacted to prevent a revolution. It was due to pressure from radical workers, not because of the ballot box.

We can further see that parliamentary politics do not cause socdem reforms by the fact that, when working class organizing died out, previously social democratic parties like the UK's labor party or Norway's Arbeiderpartiet began adopting neoliberal policies.

Capital is a global system. No matter how benevolent or dedicated an elected leader is, a single person has never and will never shift its direction, even if they wanted to. That can only be done through mass organizing.

We do, however, live in a time of opportunity. The present crisis is exposing all the cracks in the system and strikes are breaking out. The important part is to recognize the collective social powers we have, without alienating them through politicians or union bureaucracies.