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unbutthurtable
Dec 2, 2016

Total. Tox. Rereg.


College Slice

E-Money posted:

I filled out the info form (a google form) for the NYC DSA the other day but haven't heard a response. Was hoping to check things out before deciding if paying dues and joining was the right fit for me. I probably won't' be able to make the Chuck Schumer event tonight due to childcare responsibilities but am interested in seeing if this is a good fit for me!

Assume there's just a huge wait in reviewing and processing those forms but if anyone knows if there's anything else i can do to get on emails/in the loop faster, let me know.

I'm with NYC DSA. You're totally right that we're growing so fast that it's tough to keep up (though we're definitely working out the systems and processes to manage this all better going forward, don't worry), so here's what I would do:

Check out socialists.nyc and look at the calendar of events. Then...show up to one! There's a new member meeting on (I think) a Tuesday in early February, and the monthly meetings for the four branches should be around the third/fourth week of the month. You don't need to be a member to attend, so feel free to check us out before pulling the trigger.

If you don't mind my asking...what part of the city are you in? And are there any particular issues you're concerned about? I may be able to point you directly to those sub-groups, if they already exist.

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unbutthurtable
Dec 2, 2016

Total. Tox. Rereg.


College Slice
By the way, OP -- you can add me to the list for NYC

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

Group up and push mid, proletariat!


OhFunny posted:

There's no DSA chapter in my state. I did get control of the Facebook page from the college student who had made it and have been making daily posts.

I set up an informal meet up at a Dunkin Donuts for DSA members and those interested for this Friday.

I hope people show up.

Tell us how it goes!!

Eustace posted:

NC DSA member here. I'm working on getting a chapter organized in Asheville. Do any of y'all know what other socialist groups think of the DSA? I'm pretty new to the leftist circular firing squad, so I wanted to get a feel for what the other socialist groups in town are going to accused me of.

They'll accuse you of killing Rosa Luxemburg.

Hulk Krogan
Mar 25, 2005



NYC here too. I'll be outside Schumer's house yelling tonight because apparently that sort of thing is more acceptable when I'm not doing it by myself.

quote:

Do any of y'all know what other socialist groups think of the DSA? I'm pretty new to the leftist circular firing squad, so I wanted to get a feel for what the other socialist groups in town are going to accused me of.

I believe NYC DSA has been coordinating with Socialist Alternative for some of the marches and protests that have been going down, so at the very least they don't think they'll catch reformist cooties.

Hulk Krogan has issued a correction as of 19:46 on Jan 31, 2017

E-Money
Nov 12, 2005


Got Out.

unbutthurtable posted:

I'm with NYC DSA. You're totally right that we're growing so fast that it's tough to keep up (though we're definitely working out the systems and processes to manage this all better going forward, don't worry), so here's what I would do:

Check out socialists.nyc and look at the calendar of events. Then...show up to one! There's a new member meeting on (I think) a Tuesday in early February, and the monthly meetings for the four branches should be around the third/fourth week of the month. You don't need to be a member to attend, so feel free to check us out before pulling the trigger.

If you don't mind my asking...what part of the city are you in? And are there any particular issues you're concerned about? I may be able to point you directly to those sub-groups, if they already exist.

I'm in Brooklyn. I'm an attorney but not currently practicing. In law school i was involved with working on low income tenant issues, but haven't touched it in years. Right now it feels like mounting and supporting opposition to everything that's happening right now (as it arises) is more important than a particular niche sub-issue but if there are existing sub-groups doing good things, I wouldn't be opposed to getting involved.

My wife and I have 3.5 month old twins so making time is pretty tough right now. We're going to have to be very strategic about our time and what we can do. And she's a practicing public defender so her time is a hell of a lot more useful than mine is right now.

That said, need to start somewhere, doing something.

RiotGearEpsilon
Jun 26, 2005
SHAVE ME FROM MY SHELF
I'm with the DSA. Boston Strong, motherfuckers.

apropos to nothing
Sep 5, 2003

Eustace posted:

NC DSA member here. I'm working on getting a chapter organized in Asheville. Do any of y'all know what other socialist groups think of the DSA? I'm pretty new to the leftist circular firing squad, so I wanted to get a feel for what the other socialist groups in town are going to accused me of.

I'm a member of Socialist Alternative. The only "leftist circular firing squad" is over tactics; we all want to destroy capitalism. An example is DSA openly endorsed Sanders for president, SA "supported" him and told him to run as an independent but didn't endorse, and ISO said he's an imperialist social democrat. They all used Sanders to grow their base, just different approaches. We all still should work in solidarity with each other as much as possible though. I'm in the process of helping some organizers from DSA get a branch started up in my town now as well as helping some students at the local college get a YDSA branch up, even though I'm not a member. I'm not trying to block them or convert them, I'm giving them help and connections and going to their meetings. We're all comrades, even if our acronyms are different.

Thaddius the Large
Jul 5, 2006

It's in the five-hole!
I talked my wife into going to our first DSA meeting, the next one in Portland isn't for a couple weeks but I'm pretty stoked she agreed, political action isn't really her bag, but it feels pretty good to be doing something, and I'm hoping we can be more plugged in and participant going forward. As an added bonus the meeting is being held at my union's office, so it feels especially appropriate to start there.

jarofpiss
May 16, 2009

apropos to nothing posted:

I'm a member of Socialist Alternative. The only "leftist circular firing squad" is over tactics; we all want to destroy capitalism. An example is DSA openly endorsed Sanders for president, SA "supported" him and told him to run as an independent but didn't endorse, and ISO said he's an imperialist social democrat. They all used Sanders to grow their base, just different approaches. We all still should work in solidarity with each other as much as possible though. I'm in the process of helping some organizers from DSA get a branch started up in my town now as well as helping some students at the local college get a YDSA branch up, even though I'm not a member. I'm not trying to block them or convert them, I'm giving them help and connections and going to their meetings. We're all comrades, even if our acronyms are different.

everyone knows socialist alternative is only out to poach members from other orgs to press into service for the green party. you can tell this is true because the poster instinctively denied that's what they were doing even before i accused them of it. :smug:

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

Group up and push mid, proletariat!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS-0Az7dgRY

Baby Babbeh
Aug 2, 2005

It's hard to soar with the eagles when you work with Turkeys!!



I'm DSA in San Francisco, but I haven't really had a chance to get very active yet.

Internet Explorer
Jun 1, 2005





Thank you so much for starting this thread. I am going to my first DSA meeting on Thursday. :3:

Ferdinand the Bull
Jul 30, 2006

Could you add me to the "Goons by State" section? I am a card-carrying DSA member here in the great state of Georgia.

GlyphGryph
Jun 23, 2013

Down came the glitches and burned us in ditches and we slept after eating our dead.
What do the different membership tiers mean?

Like there's an Introductory one on the site but not in the OP, what's up with that one.

Terrorist Fistbump
Jan 29, 2009

by Nyc_Tattoo

E-Money posted:

I'm in Brooklyn. I'm an attorney but not currently practicing. In law school i was involved with working on low income tenant issues, but haven't touched it in years. Right now it feels like mounting and supporting opposition to everything that's happening right now (as it arises) is more important than a particular niche sub-issue but if there are existing sub-groups doing good things, I wouldn't be opposed to getting involved.

My wife and I have 3.5 month old twins so making time is pretty tough right now. We're going to have to be very strategic about our time and what we can do. And she's a practicing public defender so her time is a hell of a lot more useful than mine is right now.

That said, need to start somewhere, doing something.

The housing working group has a meeting next Monday that I'll be attending. I'm not yet a DSA member but am very interested in finding out what they're doing as an org on this issue. Maybe I'll see you there!

Rated PG-34
Jul 1, 2004




GlyphGryph posted:

What do the different membership tiers mean?

Like there's an Introductory one on the site but not in the OP, what's up with that one.

membership tiers determine the pecking order in the post-revolutionary world. hope you donated enough to not end up shoveling poop in siberia.

You can put me down as a member in NYC

mags
May 30, 2008

I am a congenital optimist.
I'd like to join up, currently in Central FL

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

Group up and push mid, proletariat!


Just got a rad email.

DSA national posted:

We stand at a crossroads. Will this country choose democratic socialism, or barbarism?

In this memo:
What we face
Why respond with DSA
Our 2017 strategy and how you can take action now


On November 8th, voters had a choice between two pro-capitalist candidates, after a primary season with a viable democratic socialist candidate. Voter apathy after years of economic neglect and racist voter suppression by the GOP took their toll.

Donald Trump’s actions since his inauguration Friday confirm our greatest fears.

He undermines the free press through clear lies and threats. He directs federal agencies to ignore the checks and balances provided by the rulings of the judiciary and re-shuffle to increase his personal power.

He pits us against each other with racist rhetoric and fear-mongering, because he and his cronies understand that a divided working class is a defeated working class. When any working people are driven underground through fear and violence, it weakens us all.

Trump’s actions this week both consolidate his power and distract us from his radical moves to benefit the billionaire class.

But there is hope. The mass non-violent occupations of airports and protests in town centers across the country this past weekend demonstrate a popular will to resist his dangerous administration.

We know collective solidarity is the single greatest form of self defense that ordinary people possess.

That why DSA chapters across the country mobilized this weekend to say NO! Thousands of DSAers rushed to action, from JFK and LAX to Houston, Lincoln, Eugene, Portland (ME and OR), Orlando, Albany, Detroit, Boston, Omaha, Seattle, Rochester, Atlanta, and beyond!

Mass protest is critical to stop Trump, Steve Bannon and the other members of his cabal in their tracks. The victory for legal permanent residents is an example. But it is not enough.

Our job is also to build a long term democratic socialist political vehicle capable of moving thousands of people to strategic, independent and sustained action, in and outside the formal political system, as quickly as possible.

History shows us that only massive resistance and unprecedented organization will save us.


DSA members can play a key role in the current struggle for freedom and democracy.

Our bottom-up democratic practice and grassroots base make us resilient and allows us to use a diversity of tactics, from direct action to electoral. Our growing groups from Spokane to El Paso, Omaha to Little Rock, Akron to Orlando, each pursue the strategy that makes the most sense locally for building power. At the same time, groups coordinate with each other to leverage local pressure on national decision makers.

For us, socialism means democracy in all areas of life, so we refuse to choose between economic justice and racial justice. The U.S. was founded on colonization and slavery intertwined with capitalism, so our strategy must be address the legacies of both or it will fail. We fight for reforms that confront corporate power and also the particular ways institutions and culture oppress women, people with disabilities, LGBTQ folks, people of color, religious minorities, people without papers and other marginalized groups.

We are serious about building multiracial, working-class power, which means taking effective collective action is our number one goal. We believe that when you confront the powerful, hand in hand with others across differences, you are transformed. In order to win and to bring more and more people into the democratic socialist movement, we work in coalition, especially with organizations rooted in poor and working-class communities and communities of color, prioritize bringing in new voices through organizing people long ignored by the elites in both major parties.

We work for a “leaderful” movement. This means member volunteers are engaged at all levels of the organization, including not just the day to day nuts and bolts organizing work, but also in a consistent, long term capacity. Our local and national elected member leaders carry out high level strategic thinking, management, and policy formation for DSA. Most importantly, we are always working to bring people with new and diverse perspectives and skills into DSA, and into our leadership.

We foster the big-tent, respectful political discussion that helps us make good short and long term strategic choices. We value the diversity of political perspectives and life experiences we hold in our broad and democratic organization, and the ability to ask each other difficult questions. It means we can learn as we go and we have a more clear understanding of what it will take to win.

We are visionary: we see the real roots of the problem and the alternative future. Donald Trump is part of an authoritarian global trend. We are not the only country where a weak left and the misery caused by capitalism are creating space for the far-right to rise. We face the choice between democratic socialism and barbarism, and the path to victory is a strong, multiracial, democratic socialist movement working hand in hand with a broader progressive movement.

We are strategic about elections and about building power, which means being flexible. We can work with anti-corporate Democrats -- and use the Democratic Party ballot line when it makes sense to run democratic socialist local candidates. But we prioritize an inside/outside strategic approach towards the Democratic Party as an institution, and that means also building an independent mass base and even running candidates independently when it makes sense in context.

You and many others have recognized these strengths.

Since the election, we have more than doubled in membership.

We have tripled in the number of organized local groups in schools and communities, many in red or purple states, and many in high schools and on college campuses.

Some of our 95 local groups are forming state federations that can fight the billionaire class’s agenda state by state.

We are in an unprecedented moment of danger. But this crisis is also an opportunity to build a democratic socialist organization in the United States and use that organization to wield working-class power.

We now stand at 15,000 members, and our hope is that each and every member will take action to throw sand in the gears of the Trump agenda, whether through fighting for visionary reforms like Medicare for All, taking direct action to prevent immigrant deportations or grassroots organizing around campaigns like increasing the minimum wage to bring into our movement the almost 50% of voters who didn’t participate in the last election.


DSA Strategy in 2017

DSA's strategy is to build a powerful, organized and visible democratic socialist movement to work on multi-racial coalition campaigns that both combat the Trump administration's national agenda and build upon the organization and energy of Sanders' Political revolution to elect diverse democratic socialists to office. We fight to put power into the hands of poor and working people at the state and local level.

We need a real opposition, not just resistance.

We want to win the battle of ideas, not preach to the choir.

We will build effective, independent democratic socialist organizational capacity that can play a meaningful role in larger progressive struggles.

We will elect both democratic socialists and true anti-corporate progressives, including our own members, in strategically chosen districts. We do not want to run protest candidates.

We will leverage real power to win victories, help people feel their own power and make real changes in people’s lives.

All politics is local. We will focus on nurturing our grassroots.

To do so, DSA members, chapters and state federations will fight on three levels:

Defensive struggles as part of a broad multiracial front, engaging in self-defense and solidarity with those most targeted, whether migrants and refugees, the disabled facing health care cuts, or communities targeted by unaccountable police.

Social democratic struggles where possible to win reforms that actually redistribute power from corporations to working people, such as expanding unions into the “gig economy, winning state-level single-payer health systems, or establishing state or local public banks or public utilities, and to leverage this organizing to build political power through elections.

Ideological struggle through education and media work, to change the story about who is to blame and reframe the problems we face as the result of a rigged economy and political system.


We will do this through:

Training our MEMBERS to organize wherever they are at:

Ramping up our infrastructure to support at-large member action, whether through phone-banking, online organizing, national working groups or other forms of activism.

Mobilizing members nationally in solidarity with targeted local struggles, such as Standing Rock in North Dakota, North Carolina resistance to the GOP coup, or Kentucky work to protect reproductive justice and union rights.

Developing a popular education program with an emphasis on racial and gender justice and a critique of capitalism and highlighting case studies of effective organized working-class resistance.

Training members to intervene in media and counter the “deflect, divert and distract” strategy of the right, by:

Articulating democratic socialist ideas and framing of issues in mainstream, traditional media in their communities.

Expanding and refining our social media work to engage a broader audience.

Take Action as an At-Large Member

Click here to see the list of DSA national working groups by issue and skill set, and sign up to get involved.

Click here to go to the “Indivisible Guide” and get tips on pressuring elected officials immediately.

Click here to find your federal elected officials and their contact information in Washington, D.C. as well as local, in-district offices.

Helping our GRASSROOTS GROUPS build working-class power locally and wield it strategically to prevent rollbacks and win meaningful victories for working and poor people. Face-to-face community-building brings the social support that will be necessary in the dark times ahead:

Coordinating with progressive and Left allies nationally to facilitate local coordination.

Helping build multiracial progressive coalitions locally, putting special emphasis on:

Working with the Bernie Sanders base from the primary.

Pushing those forces to connect with groups rooted in working-class and poor communities of all races.

Developing models for rural, suburban and urban local chapters to identify and map the sources of power in communities and to organize effectively.

Building an explicitly democratic socialist but broad base, particularly organizing those who abstained from voting or were prevented from voting by the GOP (poor and working-class people, young people and people of color.)

Engaging in issue campaigns using a combination of mass protest, non-violent direct action, media work and systematically reaching out, listening, and moving new people into this work:

Protecting each other and the most vulnerable under attack.

Identifying and pressuring corporate Trump supporters and elected officials.

Preparing to run openly democratic socialist candidates for local office, in and outside the Democratic Party. We will use DSA’s resources to identify and support diverse DSA members running openly as democratic socialists in local races. Where we cannot support DSA members running for office, we will focus our efforts not only on defeating Republicans, but also on taking out pro-corporate, neoliberal Democrats in primaries.

Take Action in a Local DSA Group

Click here to find a local DSA campus, high school or community group, and if there’s not one near you, get started on forming one by filling out the interest form.

Click here to go to the “Indivisible Guide” and find ways your DSA group can organize local events pressuring elected officials in-district

Click here to find upcoming DSA organizing skills trainings for chapter activists (done via conference call or webinar).



In closing, please remember that you’re in an organization with an important history.

DSA was founded in 1982 of a merger of two organizations on the U.S left, though our roots are much deeper.

Our socialism is deeply democratic, as embodied in the words of early 20th-century socialist organizer Eugene V. Debs, who said, “I would not be a Moses to lead you into the Promised Land, because if I could lead you into it, someone else could lead you out of it.”

Debs understood the need for democratic grassroots power.

I hope to work with you in the coming days as we fight to build an economy that works for all of us, defend our imperfect democracy, and stand strong with the most vulnerable.

This election demonstrated the need for an independent and explicitly democratic socialist organization rooted in communities across the country.

Don’t mourn. Organize with DSA!

¡La lucha sigue! The struggle continues!

Maria Svart, DSA National Director


http://www.dsausa.org/

the bitcoin of weed
Nov 1, 2014

I'm pretty sure there are Florida DSA chapters in Miami and Orlando but I'm not either of those places so I have no idea if they have any presence here

doesn't hurt to join up anyway I guess

get that OUT of my face
Feb 10, 2007

i really should throw some money for a membership. i'll post proof in the next couple of days
they updated the event description but i'll be there regardless

Maduo
Sep 8, 2006

You see all the colors.
All of them.


Another new Boston member here. I'm living upstate atm so I won't be able to get to Boston proper often but I'll be at the 101 meeting next week.

OhFunny posted:

This came up on an organizing call last Friday. A woman in northeastern Mass. was interested in starting a local chapter, but was nervous about "stepping on the Boston DSA's toes". She was told to go for it. That the Boston DSA would be happy to see another chapter in the state and that's it important to have chapters in the communities where you live working on local issues.

This would be very, very welcomed, I think.

mags
May 30, 2008

I am a congenital optimist.

Fullhouse posted:

I'm pretty sure there are Florida DSA chapters in Miami and Orlando but I'm not either of those places so I have no idea if they have any presence here

doesn't hurt to join up anyway I guess

Yeah, when I can afford it I'll be signing up

ThatBasqueGuy
Feb 14, 2013

someone introduce jojo to lazyb


https://forums.somethingawful.com/newreply.php?action=newreply&postid=468918484
North Florida goon dues paying member :toot:

ThatBasqueGuy has issued a correction as of 23:00 on Jan 31, 2017

no more books
Aug 4, 2011
I'm a dues paying member in the "inland empire" region of California

Laphroaig
Feb 6, 2004

Drinking Smoke
Dinosaur Gum
hello DSA friends, I have posted a General Strike thread, please work hard to agitate for this so I can take the day off, thank you in advance

edit: I also have April 14th and May 29th off, so April 17th and May 26th work well for my schedule, if you want to push it back a few months, but I think Feb. is best honestly.

Ace of Baes
Jul 7, 1977
I will add everyone who posted to the OP when I get home tonight, glad to see so many DSA goons!

Internet Explorer
Jun 1, 2005





Ace of Baes posted:

I will add everyone who posted to the OP when I get home tonight, glad to see so many DSA goons!

Apparently I may be running into you at the CO DSA meeting on Thursday. Quick question, to show up to a meeting you have to be a dues paying member, correct? If so, I'd like to sort that out beforehand.

jarofpiss
May 16, 2009

Internet Explorer posted:

Apparently I may be running into you at the CO DSA meeting on Thursday. Quick question, to show up to a meeting you have to be a dues paying member, correct? If so, I'd like to sort that out beforehand.

you should pay your dues but meetings are open to everyone (including non members) and nobody checks that anyway

Internet Explorer
Jun 1, 2005





Thanks for the quick response. I definitely will, was just trying to figure out if I needed to sort that out for my wife and I before we went. Already have a bunch of reoccurring donations set up to progressive causes and the DSA is certainly welcome to their :10bux:

cheese
Jan 7, 2004

Shop around for doctors! Always fucking shop for doctors. Doctors are stupid assholes. And they get by because people are cowed by their mystical bullshit quality of being able to maintain a 3.0 GPA at some Guatemalan medical college for 3 semesters. Find one that makes sense.
Recent South Bay (CA) DSA member, heading to my first meeting soon (mmm potluck).

Matthaeus
Aug 1, 2013

I am a member in NH if you want to add me to the OP. Looking forward to getting the ball rolling there.

Ace of Baes
Jul 7, 1977

Internet Explorer posted:

Apparently I may be running into you at the CO DSA meeting on Thursday. Quick question, to show up to a meeting you have to be a dues paying member, correct? If so, I'd like to sort that out beforehand.

No, anyone (who's not a nazi or w.e.) is welcome at DSA meetings.

Ace of Baes
Jul 7, 1977
Double post

jarofpiss
May 16, 2009

Gridlocked
Aug 2, 2014

MR. STUPID MORON
WITH AN UGLY FACE
AND A BIG BUTT
AND HIS BUTT SMELLS
AND HE LIKES TO KISS
HIS OWN BUTT
by Roger Hargreaves
Where does JEB! fit into all this?

Pener Kropoopkin
Jan 30, 2013

The new wave of DSA agitprop is :discourse:

jarofpiss
May 16, 2009

Pener Kropoopkin posted:

The new wave of DSA agitprop is :discourse:

yeah got the new batch in the email and have an order to pick up from the printers tomorrow. sunday is gonna be lit in houston

Agean90
Jun 28, 2008


strongly tempted to show up to the dsa meeting in boulder, except i live an hour and a half away (assuming the highway doesnt die) and if i do got there it'll be half an hour after the metting starts at least.

Ace of Baes
Jul 7, 1977

GlyphGryph posted:

What do the different membership tiers mean?

Like there's an Introductory one on the site but not in the OP, what's up with that one.

The introductory rate is for new members, the one in the OP is from my screenshotting and cropping the renewal price chart, the diff membership tiers don't mean anything, they're just different rates depending on what you can afford. Obviously the student rate is for students, low income rate for low income indv., etc. But AFAIK there's no verification process or anything.

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Pener Kropoopkin
Jan 30, 2013

jarofpiss posted:

yeah got the new batch in the email and have an order to pick up from the printers tomorrow. sunday is gonna be lit in houston

this is the first time in my life Houston sounded like a cool place to be

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