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Just popping in to say that I'm with DSA in NYC and if you have any questions about ~city life~ feel free to ask. Now, to get down to brass tacks...I think it's clear we need gang tags for DSA on these here forums. I'm thinking something tasteful, like "Raine's Rosebuds" with a little wiggling gif of Brad Pitt in Aldo Raine regalia on one side of the text and then a little wiggling rose on the other side of the text. To that end, I propose that we establish a gang tag working group to explore the idea of forming an organizing committee to determine if this is something can should be brought to a vote within the general membership.
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Jan 31, 2017 03:52
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Al-Saqr posted:Important question, Does the DSA gently caress? Buddy, yer gonna have to be more specific
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Jan 31, 2017 04:09
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Deified Data posted:There is no DSA in my area and if there were no one would join. What do What area?
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Jan 31, 2017 04:10
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Al-Saqr posted:sorry just making a Cum Town podcast reference, whenever they praise someone they first ask "do you think X fucks? Hell yeah bitch X fucks real good", the guy who leads it is the BF of Amber lee frost the lady who is a big part of the DSA in brooklyn. Apparently she came out to a fundraiser once around Christmas, but I've never seen her at any events or meetings in BK, so I dunno how accurate that. But yeah, gotcha, I listen to CTH, but haven't made the jump to CT.
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Jan 31, 2017 04:18
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Tomahawk posted:I joined the Queens chapter last week Oh no way. Were you at the meeting? I'm on the OC. I was the fat obviously goon dude who said some poo poo at the beginning.
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Jan 31, 2017 04:18
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Deified Data posted:Northeast Indiana Hmmm...does Indianapolis have a chapter? If they do, I would send them an email and see if they've been contacted by other in your area. They might be able to put you in touch and you can start something.
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Jan 31, 2017 04:20
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Tomahawk posted:Oh nice, I remember you! I'll have to say hi at the next meeting! Yeah, totally!
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Jan 31, 2017 04:27
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jarofpiss posted:anyone know of a good union printshop that ships? got some orders to put in for some yardsigns and stuff. would be good if we could get union made and printed shirts too. I think NYC DSA uses a union shop in PA. Might take me a day or two to get details, since we have some protests here that everyone will be at, but I can try.
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Jan 31, 2017 05:21
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Deified Data posted:Yes, I'll try - their web presence isn't robust but I might get lucky. It's a start! 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. This is also a start!
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Jan 31, 2017 05:25
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By the way, I'm going to bed so obviously this is outside of my ability, but people should advertise this thread in, like, relevant threads. Proposals: -DP thread -"effective" leftism thread -Chapo Trap House thread in podcast whatever forum -redundant Chapo Trap House thread in other forum -marxy thread -your fitness log cabin log thread
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Jan 31, 2017 05:37
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jarofpiss posted:my understanding is that you can start an organizational committee with 5 people just about anywhere but that you likely will be under the umbrella of your closest city chapter. you have your own meetings and plan your own work and everything though. GlyphGryph posted:a local group thats actually close enough to attend easily and often but is under the umbrella of the city group would be perfect really. That said, I think there is a lot of value in starting suburban or rural chapters. The distances might be an issue, but it's important that suburban or rural issues aren't drowned out by city issues. In my dream system, DSA is broken down into a dozen or so regional areas that aren't necessarily bounded by state lines and chapters exist below that. Chapters would be typed as urban/suburban/rural/reservation and have representatives sent up to some kind of regional organizing/steering committee that meets, say, quarterly. Representation would be proportional and all, but rural and suburban issues wouldn't be drowned out by urban issues even at the regional level. And Standing Rock makes me think that it would be smart to form chapters on reservations, so that if something like that happens again (which it will), we have a destination (and established leadership) for fundraising/supply-raising efforts and a place to be a point of contact for temporary volunteers/activists that want to assist.
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Jan 31, 2017 17:16
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owl_pellet posted:I've been reading about the DSA's stances both on their website and on Wikipedia. I think I would ultimately like to join, and I would like to go to a local chapter meeting to find out what they are working on locally, but I am also curious about something that I would like to get opinions on from people in the thread. Wikipedia says that the DSA doesn't always endorse a presidential candidate but when they do their endorsements historically seem to have been Democrats and usually not particularly left-leaning Democrats at that. Why is that? Why not Socialist candidates? I'm not really familiar with the history of endorsements beyond Bernie Sanders. That said, my guess is that it had to do with specific policies these candidates proposed that DSA wanted to support. As to why they didn't support socialist candidates...well, there mostly haven't been any. Yeah, I think SPUSA puts someone up for President every year, just like the Greens, but these aren't really movements or realistic candidates. On the ground level, DSA has definitely supported socialist candidates. There was a big push by DSA for this one socialist running for (I think) city council in Brooklyn, which unfortunately failed, for instance. Any lack of action you've probably seen in the past was likely due to lack of numbers....which isn't seeming like a huge limitation in the future.
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Jan 31, 2017 17:24
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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. I think that's just the Central Jersey chapter (which I want to say is Larry Website's home chapter). North Jersey is static, though I think it switched from somewhere else to Jersey City recently
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Jan 31, 2017 19:25
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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! 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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Jan 31, 2017 19:37
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By the way, OP -- you can add me to the list for NYC
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Jan 31, 2017 19:38
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Whoa, add me to the list for NYC
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Feb 1, 2017 05:35
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Bok Bok posted:So aside from marches/protests what have your chapters been doing for direct action? Let's share ideas. This is more support/infrastructure, but I'm working with the NYC chapter to start a permanent fundraising committee and I want to do things like...fundraiser screenings of Inglourious Basterds around the city.
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Feb 2, 2017 15:02
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Bok Bok posted:LA chapter is too big to meet all at once and new people are pouring in daily so there's some scrambling to find venues to get all the new members in. You should be hearing from them soon. NYC chapter is already four branches, and will likely be seven or eight in the next couple months. Are you guys going to do something similar?
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Feb 3, 2017 14:56
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Nitrousoxide posted:I'm a libertarian, so I clearly disagree with like 90% of the dem socialist's economic points. you are such a sweetie, and the world needs more sweeties. edit: probably national? You can base it on whether or not you like how your local chapter operates though. There's a lot of variation. edit2: and I swear there's some kind of libertarian socialist caucus within DSA, but someone challenged me on it the other day and I didn't have proof, so it may have just been a dream like where stantz got a ghostjob in the firehouse edit3: gently caress everything, beaten unbutthurtable has issued a correction as of 21:02 on Feb 3, 2017 |
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Feb 3, 2017 20:55
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Grand Prize Winner posted:Must be nuts. They just fired an email back to me yesterday. At midnight. Holy poo poo, DSA burning the midnight oil. They were probably just getting off second shift at the Soros Inc. protest factory
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Feb 3, 2017 22:33
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I *believe* there is a DSA chapter in the UK, or maybe Sweden, and yeah, it's obviously for expats.
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Feb 6, 2017 14:33
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So, the Queens branch of the NYC DSA chapter had a happy hour last night, and a reporter from the New Yorker showed up to interview some of us. Right on the heels of the Rolling Stone peice. Edit: and yeah, post those drat articles you people are referring to
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Feb 9, 2017 15:43
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Anyone know the technical requirements of gang tags? I might be able to have a friend put something together soon.
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Feb 13, 2017 16:51
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Top City Homo posted:nerd bullshit This was dope, and I really do hope we can put together a publishable packet with links and checklists and poo poo to help chapters get organized and secure, quickly. Condiv posted:Does the DSA have any flyers or graphics I can use for recruitment? PM me. I have a cool MLK one we made for our first branch meeting, but I don't want to share out my google drive info to the ether. Top City Homo posted:also keep in mind that the most effective route of mass organizations is first and foremost a grassroots community that discusses the issues that they care about and then tries to change them in an organized way outside of electoral politics We're already looking into becoming a partner org to a credit union over here that takes our NYC ID cards as identification (which are open to undocumented persons) so that DSA members can join. And my dream is that the NYC chapter (and obviously national could do this broadly) has the funds and organization in a year or two to start a Cooperative Development working group to provide guidance and seed money to potential co-ops. Even aside from helping people own their own employment, just finding union or co-op vendors can be tough, just for things that DSA needs, so I think that a co-op print shop in the city somewhere could be a win-win.
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Feb 16, 2017 15:47
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SINCERITY SPOTTED
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Feb 19, 2017 17:11
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Phi230 posted:This is amazing. I really like this idea to get rappers and MCs on our side. I think Killer Mike got an award from the Atlanta DSA last year. He's down
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Feb 20, 2017 18:15
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Ruzihm posted:does ICP count as one or two MCs? Like one and a quarter, maybe
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Feb 20, 2017 20:37
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mysterious frankie posted:I paid dues last Thursday, am going to my first meeting this Wednesday (north side Chicago). The movement has gained a powerful amateur grade speed eater. I literally only made rent one month because I won a speed eating contest at a bar
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Feb 20, 2017 22:09
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Agean90 posted:theres been no good socialist anthems written in like 70 years so this would unironically own for getting the word out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaERHs8Q93E
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Feb 21, 2017 02:34
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GlyphGryph posted:All the real DSA work gets done by the work groups. The general meetings are just there for them to recruit from. blue squares posted:That's a lovely strategy that's going to make most new people drift off. Maybe they need to pick a particular local issue or area and have a series of events designed around improving it. Ace of Baes posted:It depends on how big the chapter is, if you have like 200 people it's more practical to split people off into work groups where people with similar goals (primarying dems, recruiting, focusing on racial justice, etc.) can laser in on policy goals or w.e. Every DSA chapter is guided by the national but afaik given a shitload of freedom of how they want to set up and operate. A sweet spot in the middle is to use the main meetings to have the different working groups present their status update to the main organization and advertise for the events they've planned where they need the massed actions of the group at large. If feasible, you can precede this stage of a meeting with 20 minutes or so, where everyone breaks into their group for more details. The main meetings can be a great way to re-unify all the working groups on a monthly basis, and it gives you a whole menu of events to present to the general membership. Also, it's a great opportunity to showcase how many leadership positions are occupied by women and people of color, which by golly better be how they are led.
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Feb 21, 2017 05:44
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jarofpiss posted:DSA is a socialist organization so i don't know what you're wanting different (maybe a secret socialist org that doesn't talk about worker controlled economies?) I just want to chime in here and point out the value in the original criticism that you're responding to. There is absolutely an issue with some places being all talk about pie in the sky Marxist theory without much attention on day to day activism and progress. Is DSA a socialist organization? Yeah, totally. Is a lot of socialism rooted in Marxist analysis? Again, for sure. But most people aren't coming to it for that. Most people are coming to it because it seems like the vehicle most able to work towards a country we all want to live in -- one where the primary motivator of policy is public good and not private profit. On a low level, that involves just fighting back against regressive initiatives by the current government and then putting forth our our policy proposals that fit our progressive agenda. Some places are great about combining theory and action. Maybe Houston is great at that. But it seems like maybe this poster's chapter isn't.
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Feb 21, 2017 14:41
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jarofpiss posted:sure, and some of the national email chains are insufferable on that front, but it's important to hold to the socialist messaging. Fair. And, thankfully, I somehow avoided all national email groups.
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Feb 21, 2017 15:05
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Yeah, one thing I've mentioned before is that security may not seem that important now, but that's only because no one gives a poo poo about us because we're not a threat. But make no mistake, our goal is to be a threat (politically, obviously), and the closer we get to our goal, the more they'll care.
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Feb 21, 2017 15:41
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logikv9 posted:
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Feb 22, 2017 13:35
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Hello DSA thread. 
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apokaladle posted:Thanks. There were definitely non-male/non-white people there, but it was still pretty bad. What almost bothered me more was how the speakers talked, the floor was opened for public comment, people were sharing all sorts of thoughts and questions (shoutout to the vanguard from some org I can't remember who all got up to talk about how the DSA needed to become a revolutionary communist movement) and yet nobody was addressing the first thing that hit me when I walked in the room. All your points are rad as hell, but I'd like to hear more about this especially. Like, even in NYC's outer boroughs, there's still a big contingent of 20s-30s white dudes at DSA meetings. We want to fix that. Until we do, we're just straight-up not representing the working class as comprehensively as we should be, since the working class is composed of all peoples (who aren't the capitalist class, obviously). Being on some form of leadership in the city, our strategy to fix that has mostly been to, as an organization, partner/ally with and follow the lead of other, more identity-specific groups (I do NOT mean that in a pejorative sense) with the hope that we'll just naturally establish credibility and trust and have more cross-membership and ultimately those people can become leaders. But just like you said, we're not starting each meeting highlighting the demographic issues within DSA. Do you think we should be doing that? I'm, personally, afraid it would seem superficial and cheap to ask people of color to join without first showing them that we're worth their time, but.....my angle on this isn't from first-hand experience, so I'm not locked into this line of thinking at all. Really, any advice you have for DSA organizers would be appreciated (and already is). Relatedly, but more open to all posters, I was talking to a national organizer at DSA about how we could bring in more native and indigenous voices. On a concrete level, this might involve chapters on reservations. Obviously it wouldn't be limited to that, since native and indigenous voices are limited to reservations, though. Does anyone have any insight/thoughts/advice on how to get an initiative like this started? I follow some people from Native Twitter, but I wouldn't know who to contact to even start.
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Feb 23, 2017 16:26
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apokaladle posted:Oh no, that's actually the line of thought I want to encourage myself (following the lead of other orgs, supporting them, building up goodwill and trust). I meant that until we're at that point, it serves us well to frankly discuss the fact. A couple people came up to me afterwards and said they'd also noticed the skewed demographics but didn't know how to say anything, so people knew there was a problem there but weren't addressing it. I'll see if I can find some like minded people to really push this, because we don't have time to waste. Okay, so, it sounds like we should continue with the broader strategy of building credibility and trust through Good Works and also be a little more vocal about the fact that this is an issue we see and are trying to improve upon?
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Feb 23, 2017 17:05
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If anyone here is in Queens, our next meeting is next Tuesday: https://twitter.com/fotemp/status/834445154836738048
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Feb 23, 2017 19:42
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Obstacle2 posted:So I was going to go to a DSA new member meeting tomorrow, but I just realized that its scheduled from 10:30AM to 3:30PM and has assigned readings. which of you is responsible for this It was in Sacramento, apparently
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Feb 26, 2017 18:11
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:DSA Sac is, I believe, goon-free right now. After, what looks like, multiple goons bailed on that meeting after getting the agenda,
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Feb 27, 2017 06:04
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Jack Gladney posted:I've been reading this thread since the OP and I still don't know what the deal is with rocketchat? Is there some kind of regular DSA thing going on through it, and if so where do I apply to get a url to paste? Sorry to ask, but for the longest time I thought people were talking about it and slack as tools to help local groups get started. Yeah, it's a national platform set up by the Tech Committee. edit: PM me and I'll get you the sign up link
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Feb 27, 2017 19:40
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