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yellowyams posted:I'm curious to hear from people who have attended meetings DSA or otherwise, what sort of tools are they suggesting? What other organizations are they promoting? Anything besides the usual protests and marches and meetups worth mentioning? I've only been to two meetings so far here in NYC, but the focus seems to be on partnering with local issue groups on specific initiatives as a way of a) actually doing poo poo and b) increasing visibility and community ties for DSA. They had a citywide meeting just before the holidays that was mostly listening to speakers from a number of different organizations that DSA is working with on various initiatives. So for example, there were speakers from a group that organizes/advocates for homeless people and a police accountability group that the Brooklyn DSA branch has been working with to push for passage of the Right to Know Act, which would hopefully cut down on the number of minorities being stopped on the street by police for no reason. At the Brooklyn meeting, each of the committees gave a report and then held breakout sessions to give out information and schedule their own meetings where the actual work goes down. The racial justice committee is the one working on the Right to Know Act, the housing justice committee is working on preventing some public land in Brooklyn from being sold to luxury developers, they formed an electoral politics committee to work on finding/supporting candidates willing to run on a sociliast/dem soc platform, etc. It all seems pretty practically minded and the people running things seem pretty intent on not just being a reading group, from what I've seen so far. As far as marches and protests, I know there are some NYC folks working on counter-inauguration stuff with Socialist Alternative and J20 and there was just a march to Chuck Schumer's home the other day that involved DSA, Working Families Party, and I think a few others. Hulk Krogan fucked around with this message at 17:29 on Jan 13, 2017 |
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Jan 13, 2017 17:26
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yellowyams posted:I'm curious to hear from people who have attended meetings DSA or otherwise, what sort of tools are they suggesting? What other organizations are they promoting? Anything besides the usual protests and marches and meetups worth mentioning? From the marxist thread in CSPAM jarofpiss posted:v good dsa meeting tonight. had like 40 people and a whole bunch of first timers. had an environmental action speaker asking for civil disobedience signups to train for arrests and stuff. had an infosec speaker that walked everyone through tor and internet/phone security stuff for activists. had a call to action for a leftist coalition action on the 20th. very militant themed. only had two walkouts lol. jarofpiss posted:this is Houston and I think liberals get lost sometimes and show up. we were about 10 chairs short so had a number of people standing and they left when the speaker started talking about public, private, secret, communication and if you're doing anything illegal do it only face to face with no phones around.
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Jan 13, 2017 17:44
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I never knew that democratic socialists were also organizing crimes, the name make them seem so benign.
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Jan 13, 2017 17:48
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The DSA does not endorse the cool, cool crime of civil disobedience. I feel like I'm repeating myself a lot in this thread, but the DSA is big-tent. My chapter has IWW members and anarchists and Food Not Bombs people as well as Berniecrats and disillusioned Hillary voters and tech workers who are priced out of liberal politics. Chapter directions are decided democratically by members, so a chapter with a more 'conservative' membership might have actions that consist of phone calls, GOTV and speaking at council meetings.
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Jan 13, 2017 18:00
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if anyone is in the Houston area and wants to get involved in dsa or other activism pm me and we can talk. we're currently organizing a large counter inauguration action for the 20th 7pm at city hall downtown.Shayu posted:I never knew that democratic socialists were also organizing crimes, the name make them seem so benign. lots of things are crimes and being smart about your communications doesn't make you a terrorist.
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Jan 13, 2017 18:02
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So, the Democratic Party Participation thread set up a Discord channel a few days ago for chatting, coordinating, etc. about anything involving the Democrat party, though if you want to talk about anything involving politics, volunteerism, leftism, etc. it's the perfect place for that too. We've got a few people from MA and a smattering of other states, and I personally would love to see more Texans in there so I have someone to complain about Greg Abbot and Dan Patrick with. Also, there's an Our Revolution meeting tomorrow in Austin that I probably won't be going to. I read about how the organization emptied out basically as soon as Weaver was appointed president of it, so I'm not really sure how effective of a group it'll be. There's a DSA meeting next Thursday I'm going to go to, though, and see if I can't try to get them to start teaming up with my local Dems on stuff since apparently there's little to no contact between them and my county (Williamson) party.
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Jan 13, 2017 19:41
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yellowyams posted:I'm curious to hear from people who have attended meetings DSA or otherwise, what sort of tools are they suggesting? What other organizations are they promoting? Anything besides the usual protests and marches and meetups worth mentioning? I recently went to the DSA meeting in Boston, it was really good. 80-ish people, most of us being newbie Berniecrats as far as I can tell -- I'm guessing 20 or so of the people there were old regulars? There was a good amount of chat about Fight for 15 as well as the usual Stand For Healthcare / Resist Trump stuff this weekend and next. Since the meeting was so full of newbies we didn't delve too much into specifics, though I believe there's an education working group meeting that I can hit up soon so I can find out more.
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Jan 13, 2017 21:16
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:The DSA does not endorse the cool, cool crime of civil disobedience. It sure does. I'm not sure how wide the request went out, but in NYC the DSA was trying to get people to commit to being part of their contingent to a civil disobedience action at (I think) the statehouse, along with some other groups. It had something to do with climate issues, I think, and they definitely said you should expect to get arrested and had some dates for getting trained up on it. edited: for phrasing unbutthurtable fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Jan 13, 2017 |
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Jan 13, 2017 21:51
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:It would almost certainly backfire horribly. Look up the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog clips where he tried to find some parody position Trump Republicans wouldn't support, and couldn't. Yeah I for one quit making jokes about the Republican party for basically that reason. There is nothing you can say that they won't have a worse opinion on. The turning point was when I joked about the Republicans finding a way to criticize Obama for having a hamburger for lunch. Then discovered that Sean Hannity did exactly that. It's like when you find out that 30% of Republicans are in favor of bombing Agrabah when asked you're like "do you people understand, like...anything?" They're a parody of themselves at this point. The reality is worse than any joke anybody can come up with.
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Jan 13, 2017 23:34
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Taran posted:I recently went to the DSA meeting in Boston, it was really good. 80-ish people, most of us being newbie Berniecrats as far as I can tell -- I'm guessing 20 or so of the people there were old regulars? There was a good amount of chat about Fight for 15 as well as the usual Stand For Healthcare / Resist Trump stuff this weekend and next. Since the meeting was so full of newbies we didn't delve too much into specifics, though I believe there's an education working group meeting that I can hit up soon so I can find out more. eyyyyy I was the guy trying to recruit for the wobblies
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Jan 13, 2017 23:37
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unbutthurtable posted:It sure does Oh no, my joke's completely smashed on the wall above you!
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Jan 13, 2017 23:57
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:Oh no, my joke's completely smashed on the wall above you! Oh poo poo. Yeah, sorry, didn't realize it was a joke.
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Jan 14, 2017 05:18
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no problem. these are dark times.
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Jan 14, 2017 05:42
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jarofpiss posted:this is Houston and I think liberals get lost sometimes and show up. we were about 10 chairs short so had a number of people standing and they left when the speaker started talking about public, private, secret, communication and if you're doing anything illegal do it only face to face with no phones around.
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Jan 14, 2017 11:15
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Reporting from Davis where we literally blocked Milo and Skereli from speaking. I'm super proud of everyone who was there. We did some great work, and no matter what you hear it was the protesters who were stopping violence the moment it broke out. Peace and power to you all, stay strong.
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Jan 14, 2017 11:51
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Asehujiko posted:Ah yes, the "I'd rather lose an election to nazis than compromise my principles and deal with the center-left" strategy. Yeah, I'm with this post. Do we need people who want to work? Of course. But we also need people who show up to meetings every other month and maybe a large protest two or three times a year whose main role is to normalize genuine leftism in the wider public. These are the people who, when their uncle starts railing on "COMMUNISTS!!!" can respond along the lines of "Nah, I know some. They're pretty good people. Anyway, how was your pilgrimage to Wassila? You said you'd have pictures." We need to make those people feel just as welcome as the old guard American socialists.
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Jan 14, 2017 15:13
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Asehujiko posted:Ah yes, the "I'd rather lose an election to nazis than compromise my principles and deal with the center-left" strategy. lots of members do work within the dem party but if people cant handle a talk on civil disobedience they're in the wrong meeting and need to join one of the many other progressive orgs in the 4th largest city in the country imho unbutthurtable posted:Yeah, I'm with this post. need to be careful about this because centrist dems have a real bad habit of trying to coopt left groups and drag them toward capitalist causes which is explicitly not the purpose of a socialist group. i welcome any ally but part of building a broad based people's movement is having a principled left that can form and direct it. the dsa and other leftist groups are on the edge of that movement and if we allow them to become coopted by the capitalists then it fundamentally undermines the entire struggle.
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Jan 14, 2017 18:55
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jarofpiss posted:lots of members do work within the dem party but if people cant handle a talk on civil disobedience they're in the wrong meeting and need to join one of the many other progressive orgs in the 4th largest city in the country imho Once I was young and impulsive I wore every conceivable pin Even went to the socialist meetings Learned all the old union hymns But I've grown older and wiser And that's why i'm turning you in
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Jan 14, 2017 19:06
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jarofpiss posted:
That's a good point, but I think it's mitigated by the fact that every branch I've been to makes education a cornerstone. Not saying it isn't something to watch out for, just that I don't think it should hold us back. If people can learn that being in favor of single payer, unions, and social equality means they're already on the socialist spectrum, I think it can work.
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Jan 14, 2017 19:58
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Dr. Arbitrary posted:Once I was young and impulsive "Ten degrees to the left of center in good times, ten degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally" is so on the nose it hurts.
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Jan 14, 2017 20:11
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For the other people who, like me, were asking about the most effective environmental organization to work with, the environmental speaker at our meeting very strongly advocated 350.org, which I'm currently setting up a monthly donation to. https://act.350.org/donate/build/ Just in the process of writing this post I found out there's a local 350 org here in Houston I can participate in so check to see if there's one near you as well. It is so essential that there is a large and visible environmental movement right now, we cannot afford to build a single more drill or pipeline, we need to rapidly scale down our current fossil fuel industry before methane leaks get so out of control that it destroys everything, something that may only be a decade or two away. That already seems next to impossible, there's no way we can afford to wait to act. The speaker at the meeting pointed out that the Arctic was already 50 degrees above average this December, something I'm frankly baffled is not being discussed far more. We need to divest from oil and invest in renewables and clean energy as arduously as possible. Ruzihm posted:From the marxist thread in CSPAM Cool, I was at that meeting! I sort of felt that only 40 people for the 4th largest city in the U.S. was kind of a pitiful number so I hope we can make it bigger. But we're also still just an organizing committee so I don't know whether that has an impact or not. jarofpiss posted:if anyone is in the Houston area and wants to get involved in dsa or other activism pm me and we can talk. we're currently organizing a large counter inauguration action for the 20th 7pm at city hall downtown. I plan to be there! I've never done anything like this so I'm kind of unclear on the specifics of what I'm supposed to do but I'll save my questions for this Thursday I guess.
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Jan 15, 2017 02:31
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I enrolled to the DSA three days ago. After doing that I found the NHDSA Facebook page. Dude who's been trying to get the ball going on that is a college student without a lot of time and is leaving the state this weekend for college. So the guy handed me the New Hampshire DSA Facebook and I guess I'm in charge? I've signed up for the January 27th conference call about organizing chapters and stuff.
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Jan 15, 2017 20:14
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OhFunny posted:I enrolled to the DSA three days ago. After doing that I found the NHDSA Facebook page. Dude who's been trying to get the ball going on that is a college student without a lot of time and is leaving the state this weekend for college. Well that escalated quickly. I'm in the DSA as well but I've just moved to New Hampshire and don't know a whole lot about the political situation there other than the new governor is pushing hard on right to work legislation. Would you have an idea of what local media and groups I should be following to stay informed?
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Jan 16, 2017 02:06
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congrats on your elevation, comrade!
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Jan 16, 2017 02:11
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Matthaeus posted:Well that escalated quickly. I'm in the DSA as well but I've just moved to New Hampshire and don't know a whole lot about the political situation there other than the new governor is pushing hard on right to work legislation. Would you have an idea of what local media and groups I should be following to stay informed? For local news there's the New Hampshire Public Radio, Union Leader, Foster's Daily Democrat, and the Concord Monitor The issues facing New Hampshire are: The opioid crisis. The state is one of the hardest hit by the current drug epidemic. The cost of higher education. The University of New Hampshire is the most expansive public college in the United States. More NH high school graduates are attending school out of state than in and not coming back. The aging demographic of the state. With the youth leaving for cheaper college and better jobs elsewhere in the country. New Hampshire is facing a skilled worker shortage. Manufacturing businesses are having difficulty finding/retaining skilled workers in the state. This will likely only worsen if Republicans' work-for-less law passes. The high cost of electricity. Businesses are moving out due to the high price of energy in the state. Nothing anyone can really do since New England is a single market, but there it is. With united Republican control of the state government for the first time since the 90s(?) we're looking at a lot of garbage going through like no same voter registration, deregulation, charter schools, etc. I'm super pissed and ready to fight.
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Jan 16, 2017 03:55
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Just wanted to say that this thread pushed me to join DSA.
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Jan 16, 2017 04:00
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OhFunny posted:For local news there's the New Hampshire Public Radio, Union Leader, Foster's Daily Democrat, and the Concord Monitor Yes that has been a problem with public education in colleges, where the student goes for reduced or no fee to him then leaves for better job else where. Or the more wealthy families send their students to these college when they do not need the help, while the poorer people pay the taxes to support them in their education while they themselves do not usually attend college. From what I have read this is always been a problem with the public colleges. It is a little funny to me that these colleges were set up to help the disadvantaged and the local society but it rarely does either. Oh well, what can be done?
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Jan 16, 2017 04:36
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Maybe the DSA will make some terrorism and prevent people from leaving or the rich from going to college.
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Jan 16, 2017 04:41
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Matthaeus posted:Well that escalated quickly. I'm in the DSA as well but I've just moved to New Hampshire and don't know a whole lot about the political situation there other than the new governor is pushing hard on right to work legislation. Would you have an idea of what local media and groups I should be following to stay informed? Oh I forgot groups. Rights & Democracy NH (Facebook and their website) is a real group of people doing actual organizing, meetings, protesting in NH. I'd give them a look. Shayu posted:Yes that has been a problem with public education in colleges, where the student goes for reduced or no fee to him then leaves for better job else where. Or the more wealthy families send their students to these college when they do not need the help, while the poorer people pay the taxes to support them in their education while they themselves do not usually attend college. From what I have read this is always been a problem with the public colleges. It is a little funny to me that these colleges were set up to help the disadvantaged and the local society but it rarely does either. Oh well, what can be done? In the near term UNH has asked for an increase in funding to freeze tuition at the current level and to offer new scholarships in-state students who pursue STEM degrees. If funding stays where it is UNH will increase tuition 2.5% this year and next (bring the cost to 37K a year) and not offer any scholarships.
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Jan 16, 2017 05:50
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Jack Gladney posted:Just wanted to say that this thread pushed me to join DSA. If you shiver with outrage at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine. Welcome!
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Jan 16, 2017 05:53
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We're gonna need DSA gangtags soon
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Jan 16, 2017 15:38
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I too joined the DSA. Kinda wish contributions were tax deductible.
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Jan 16, 2017 20:56
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Rated PG-34 posted:I too joined the DSA. Kinda wish contributions were tax deductible. Where we're going, we won't need tax deductions.
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Jan 16, 2017 21:50
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We now have an actual date for the snap elections called in Northern Ireland: March 2nd. This will be the first election to use the representation distribution meaning the number of MLA's at the next Assembly will be 90 rather 108, with each of the 18 constituencies returning one less member than in previous elections.
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Jan 17, 2017 03:53
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Captain Fargle posted:We now have an actual date for the snap elections called in Northern Ireland: March 2nd. This will be the first election to use the representation distribution meaning the number of MLA's at the next Assembly will be 90 rather 108, with each of the 18 constituencies returning one less member than in previous elections. What are the potential implications of this? Wasn't there talk of NI having a renewed interest in joining the Republic in order to stay in the EU after Brexit, or am I making that up? Not sure my question is appropriate for this thread, but I'm curious.
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Jan 17, 2017 03:56
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unbutthurtable posted:What are the potential implications of this? Oh no, you're not making it up. Support for NI joining the Republic since Brexit has gone up considerably. Nothing's probably going to come of it though, and the election honestly isn't likely to change very much except who's sitting in the First and Deputy First Minister seats. The nature of how the local assembly is made up means that things are basically locked into a perpetual stalemate. Things pretty much never go anywhere but it also means attempts to blow each other up have dropped to almost nothing. We haven't had a successful bombing here in quite a long a time now, which is nice. If you are in Northern Ireland and are planning to vote, please remember that you need to be on the electoral register in order to do so: http://www.eoni.org.uk/ Captain Fargle fucked around with this message at 07:20 on Jan 17, 2017 |
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Jan 17, 2017 04:21
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Captain Fargle posted:Oh no, you're not making it up. Support for NI joining the Republic since Brexit has gone up considerably. Nothing's probably going to come of it though, and the election honestly isn't likely to change very much except who's sitting in the First and Deputy First Minister seats. The nature of how the local assembly is made up means that things are basically locked into a perpetual stalemate. Things pretty much never go anywhere but it also means attempts to blow each other up have dropped to almost nothing. We haven't had a successful bombing here in quite a long a time now, which is nice. As an American, I don't have a ton of background information on unification issues. Is the left generally pro-republic, or pro...ummm...UK? edit: I guess my point is that Irish nationalism (would you call unification nationalism?) doesn't seem to be obviously tied to any particular wider ideology so I don't know where it fits.
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Jan 17, 2017 16:09
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As far as I understand (which is not very), wanting to get out from under the heel of the British Empire has historically attracted a lot of Irish leftists, though it's far from exclusively a left-wing position. Obviously, anyone who knows better should correct me if that's wrong.
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Jan 17, 2017 19:55
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Facehammer posted:As far as I understand (which is not very), wanting to get out from under the heel of the British Empire has historically attracted a lot of Irish leftists, though it's far from exclusively a left-wing position. My takeaway from this is that the American founding fathers could therefore be considered revolutionary leftists, and nothing you say can convince me otherwise.
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Jan 17, 2017 21:32
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unbutthurtable posted:My takeaway from this is that the American founding fathers could therefore be considered revolutionary leftists, and nothing you say can convince me otherwise. I think that's reasonable. It's hard to put them on a contemporary spectrum, but they were in favor of spreading the wealth a bit, but not too much. Only enough to get out from under the King, but not enough to empower the rabble.
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Jan 17, 2017 22:31
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