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Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

Group up and push mid, proletariat!


Add me to the list. I'm in MD

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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.

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

Group up and push mid, proletariat!


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

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/

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

Group up and push mid, proletariat!


Pener Kropoopkin posted:

Why not both?

Obviously time is limited, but you could spend time working with both orgs and see which one you think has the most efficacy.

Technically, national bylaws prohibit DSA members from also being members of democratic centralist organizations. Your local chapter can override these, though!

But in practice, nobody in your chapter would probably care enough to ask you to choose between them.

Ruzihm has issued a correction as of 17:16 on Feb 1, 2017

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

Group up and push mid, proletariat!


Weeping Wound posted:

yeah that pretty much changed my mind quicker than poo poo

Changed your mind about PSL or DSA? If what Yoss said is making you reconsider joining DSA, I don't even know if Yoss is in DSA, but even if he is I encourage that you go to your local DSA chapter and ask them what they think about PSL before finalizing your decision.

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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SSJ_naruto_2003 posted:

Then again when was the last time that reforming into socialism worked even as well as the limited success of a revolution. I doubt you'll be able to use the process made by the people in power to take them out if power.


I'll still join the dsa tho

My impression of the common DSA member is that they are sort of trotskyist in that they want to engage in a transitional program before engaging in revolution. but again DSA membership is pretty varied so i'm probably overgeneralizing on that.

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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jarofpiss posted:

the characterization of dsa as trots is cracking me up and i decided i fully embrace it and cannot wait to trot the gently caress up in the democratic party and splinter it to the winds

i mean the reason trots splinter so much is because of the nature of democratic centralism. if you disagree you have no choice but to splinter. no tolerance for factions

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Also I'm in the slack. very naice 👌

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:

the DSA slack needs more SA smilies. I keep wanting to respond with :same: but nothing happens.

I got :thonking: on there but we need that on SA now.

Ruzihm has issued a correction as of 05:21 on Feb 4, 2017

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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rumble in the bunghole posted:

don't do this, they're dumb enough to believe it.

No, do this but format it so it forms an acrostic that says, "you are gullible as gently caress yo"

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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That's pretty dang cool. I hope more people make it to the next one!

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:

i would like to put forward a motion that we develop DSA gang tags

I second the motion.

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Pls link media coverage of DSA, even if it is milo, infowars, breitbart. Especially decent media like npr

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Give em the "afedsayswhat" test

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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MShadowy posted:

Don't have a facebook, but that's good to hear. Thank you; I'll try and get down there if I can.

https://denverdsa.org/

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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https://twitter.com/AnchorageDsa/status/828818635682566144

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Business Gorillas posted:

is there some kind of socialist fascination with thursdays? they're the one day i can't make the meetings and every DSA in driving distance of me has meetings thursday nights :gonk:


Baltimore's are on Sundays. :buddy:

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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"Knights for socialism" is a weird name to me. I associate modern political use of "knights" with the KKK. Am I alone in this? Is your school mascot a knight or something?

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Top City Homo posted:

also Knights of Labor was the first labor union in the US

which is tangentially related to what you are talking about

thanks for reading this info

You're welcome :buddy:

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Top City Homo posted:

since the democratic party does not have an actual base its probably the only time in history where entryism is a good idea

Yes, and in quite a few states there are some absurd limitations on getting on the ballot. Entryism is absolutely the way to go there in the short term. Libertarians, the most widely available 3rd party, are only in 33 states.

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Top City Homo posted:

SOME GOOD poo poo

Thanks, comrade

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Top City Homo posted:

with Internet communism you take what you need friend

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

Parents have 3 jobs and can't watch the kids? Set up a childcare coop and get those parents involved

Payday loans sucking up money from the poor? Sponsor a credit union existing or otherwise and get them signed up and the payday loans out of business

You want to have parallel institutions that compete and supplant the legitimacy of our elected "representatives" by solving the problems of neglected communities through direct democratic participation

You can empower people by having them thrust into a responsible position

The energy and stark contrast of a mass organization that actually takes care of its constituents vs stagnant elected neoliberal governments creates momentum to replace worthless politicos because as soon as people see another path and another vision the more they want it

Imo

is this what a friendly leftcom looks like????? :popeye:

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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these posts are too good for this world.

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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let me in, I'm ruzihm#0421

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Phi230 posted:

I suggested organizing ourselves to go vote in members of our chapter into local positions. I was met with the mantra "we are not a political party"

sorry about your dumb egoist chapter

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Phi230 posted:

Somebody bust out the guillotine

*teleports behind you* Nothin private, kid.

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Bless u, comrade

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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does ICP count as one or two MCs?

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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unbutthurtable posted:

I literally only made rent one month because I won a speed eating contest at a bar

the saddest cyberpunk universe

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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New signup page for DSA chat: https://dsachat-register.herokuapp.com/

May want to add this to the OP

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Internet Explorer posted:

I thought they were switching to Rocketchat or something?

Yep! This is the signup for rocketchat!

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Doorknob Slobber posted:

To become a member, is a monthly donation on the Join Us page the same as paying all at once for the sake of getting access to the rocketchat and 'be a member'

A monthly donation made here should qualify you for being a dues paying member, yes.

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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https://twitter.com/LarryWebsite/status/830073692805808128

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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https://twitter.com/IAStartingLine/status/834140725021401090

I can't wait to support socialist dems and/or third party candidates in these states.

Ruzihm has issued a correction as of 23:10 on Feb 21, 2017

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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logikv9 posted:

:siren: Hello DSA thread. :siren: Your lovely OP has organized a gangtag for those of you who have donated a minimum of $5 to the DSA, if you choose to have it.



If you would like it, please quote this post along side proof of a donation of sufficient quantity. Proof can be simply quoting an older post you made previously that itself contained donation proof, or if you are a new donor that wants it, quote this post alongside proof of that donation.

I can nearly guarantee that your title will be safe and sound underneath your avatars within five (5) business days, or whenever I check this thread, really. :hai:

I got capitalism'd but just wanted to quote and say thank you for this~

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Hulk Krogan posted:

I'm new to this political organizing stuff but from experience in other areas, I think this is a good thing to be wary of. It's kind of an odd comparison to make when talking about a socialist organization, but it's kind of like business networking, in a way. Nobody likes the guys who show up to networking events to sell every person they meet on how they can add value. People who are good at networking do a lot more listening and try to build relationships based on earning trust and being of service, which translates to business or referrals down the line.

I think this is a similar thing. Showing up out of the blue to BLM meetings or anti-deportation protests or whatever trying to fill a non-white dude quota won't work. Going to those groups and asking what they need, how we can help, etc and then showing up consistently and showing we really are committed to supporting them for the long haul is probably the only way to make progress on that front. That's what will separate us from the Democrats we love to criticize for engaging in empty pandering to minority groups. If you focus on doing good work in a respectful way then I think the recruitment will come as a byproduct. If you make the recruitment the focus then you just come off looking like a salesman.

This is a cool & good post.

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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left wing gun culture is good

Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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(it's also a link)

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Ruzihm
Aug 11, 2010

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Ace of Baes posted:

I think maybe we can all agree to disagree and not poo poo on people who are Anti-gun or pro-gun? After all we all want to destroy Capitalism. :getin:

I'm sorry but this is the marxist leninists of america where we have to determine the party position on every single issue.

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