#all of my friends online are either from america or britain or canada and there's even one from india but that's still in the northern

[predict485]

wouldn't it be funny if i organised a big-shot summer themed zine that you would certainly get a lot of attention from being in in november to february where you have Christmas and lots of schoolwork and just general work and stuff and everything's cold and miserble because that's how it feels to me, someone who lives in the Southern Hemisphere, when you organise your zines in June

[arcticdementor]

I was talking to Sarah yesterday and I had a revelation I think is worth sharing.

Let’s begin at the beginning. About a month ago, Instapundit posted this.

Now, I’ve been thinking of the rise and fall of civilizations lately. I can’t think why it’s been on my mind. It’s a tale as old as time—a civilization emerges, establishes a new worthwhile order, the good things brought forth by said order soften up the people maintaining it, the softening turns to decadence, and the decadence gives way to the barbarians, who clean the slate. Where would you say things are lately?

…

In short—the federal government of the United States of America has become impotent at almost all good things.

Expanded out—There is no start to its talents. It cannot maintain its borders. Since the “election” it doesn’t even try. No surprise there. It cannot maintain friendly relationships with allies—as our recent screwing of Britain on our way out of Afghanistan shows. The “leader” of the “free world” could not be bothered to pick up the phone for our closest ally. Speaking of Afghanistan, it can’t win a war. It can’t even lose gracefully. In fact it fucked up leaving so badly some people are entertaining that it intended to fuck it up, because how the fuck does somebody above the age of six not notice that pulling the military out first and the civilians out second is not even a remotely workable strategy? Resulting in leaving millions of dollars of equipment—and—excuse me, what? Millions of dollars of dollars in the desert? Fantastic.

It makes self sabotaging and idiotic choices to stymie its own domestic oil industry, while accepting a pipeline not from Canada, but one that’s a joint Russian-German venture instead. Which means the problem, contrary to any environmentalist whining, isn’t the pipeline—it’s the pipeline with a friendly country. Big surprise— its only true interest in the environment lies in international agreements that hamstring us while doing nothing to China, the world’s largest polluter. It either can’t be trusted on energy production  and the environment, or is trying to get it wrong.

It can’t manage its economy. What could have been a “V” shaped recovery has been turned into an “L” shaped one. What could be contributing? Paying people to do nothing? Rampant inflation? Meanwhile all the dumbasses running the country can think of is spending several billion more dollars that don’t exist. The country has infrastructure problems for a fact, but they’ll only acknowledge that to the extent of cynically plastering the word on an “infrastructure” bill which is in fact just a far Left wishlist that largely ignores actual infrastructure, in the hopes people will be dumb enough to support it because it has the right label.

And on.

And on.

And on.

What aptitudes does it have besides taking money, trampling civil liberties, and ignoring constitutional laws at gunpoint? News flash, dummies: We don’t need peaceful protestors incarcerated without a trial. We don’t need the weight of the federal government turned to the problem of violating states rights because Texas passed a law Biden doesn’t like. We need military egresses that look like they weren’t planned by Bozo the clown and an economic plan better than something China would design for us as an attempt to permanently sink the country. Is there anyone at all in DC who can provide that? If not, is there anything useful they can do? I’ll wait.

…

This is what decadence looks like. When the government stops even attempting competence because nothing and nobody that currently exists can replace or displace them so who cares about results? When comfort and plenty have become so common, been taken for granted for so long, that the question of utility or even basic sanity isn’t even distantly considered. When it’s assumed that self-harming policies that will obviously damage the country won’t really matter because nobody has ever known a world without America and fundamentally has no idea how the present day came to be. When the country’s most educated start chasing bizarre and unimaginably stupid ideas on economics that boil down to “inflation won’t happen if you double the monetary supply by printing money, if only you just believe hard enough”. In fact, when education stops being a means to greater insight, more useful abilities, and a better life, and becomes a cult devoted to the kind of idiocy that can survive only with strenuous censorship, the tenets of the cult being treated by the indoctrinated as a collection of sacred mysteries and deeply-thought paradoxes— while to those not similarly trained it is self-obviously a collection of contradictory and self-serving lies.

Verily, decadence is here. We can infer that what comes next is the barbarians. And we have options. Mexican illegals? A heady mixture of poverty-stricken Marxists who have never known a system that wasn’t corrupt, functionally lawless, and devoted to the tenets of voting oneself rich; and outright criminals with lives like “a demon’s resumé”? Perhaps radical Muslims? By sheer numbers worldwide they’re the most likely option. The Taliban just got a huge infusion of cash and a big boost in morale. In a few short days we’ll know whether they’ve arranged a thank you gift for Zho Bi-Xen and his kleptocrat marching band to commemorate his intended pull-out date. But even if, and God I hope, they have not, we can expect an uptick in terrorism and quite shortly. Or perhaps China? The Middle Kingdom would laugh at being called barbarians, but I call genocidal communists like I see them. Mao was morally three steps below a pig and Xi has enough power to aspire to greater depths. As is I wouldn’t dream of feeding a pig Mu Shu Xi due to the great risk of poisoning the pig.

But there is a barbarian group not considered. Us.

Hang on. Before you balk, listen. Look again at what these idiots are selling as the fruits of civilization. Defenses of pedophilia and urinals as art. And more, too—sterilization and disfigurement of teenagers in the form of sex changes. Black supremacy as a panacea to made up threats of white supremacy. Books nobody reads, movies nobody watches, paintings that exist only to launder money—even the ones not made by Hunter Biden.

What good person would not be proud to be considered a barbarian by these miserable, over-decorated Faberge people? I’d be mortified if they agreed with me! So they think I’m a sexist or a racist or whatever. Fine. They do not use these words to mean the same things I mean, so it’s a pointless argument, and they are now officially beneath my explaining myself to them. When the people who are calling me names are so morally opaque that the Taliban can make devastating critiques of them just by referencing the foundational works of their own gender studies programs, I’m done caring about the names. Fine. I’m what you think is a racist. I’m what you think is a sexist. But you think a lot of very stupid things, and as the curtain continues to draw back on the carnival of madness that’s been behind the scenes the entire time it’s occurring to me that what you think and reality overlap so seldom that the only time not to ignore you is when I can ridicule you. If that is your civilization, someone hand me a pointy horned helmet.

…

Yes, this is a moment of peril, but also opportunity. See in your country what every hostile group listed above sees in it—the makings of great civilization, along other, less stupid lines. All of it guarded by weak, fat, stupid people with no will and no self-belief. Take that mindset and go forth.

Get involved in your local systems. There is an old prayer for God to make ones enemies ridiculous. Congratulations to whomever was still praying it. Your prayers have been answered. Will you tell me that you cannot defeat these people? People who lose casual debates to terrorists not on principle but on basic facts?

…

You can’t reason with them so don’t bother. Recent events have made it clear you may as well try to talk sense into a three-day-old mackerel. Just confront them with their own stupidity so that people who see the inevitable video understand what this is about, and don’t feel that you are too good to shout them out of the room. You’re the barbarian, remember? Not like the nice civilized people with their gender-queer Tik-Tokers pushing vaccine propaganda. That means you’re excused from conversations with morons. Don’t bother trying to find common ground. Look at where they’re standing! Do you want to try to find the midpoint between that and reality? Silly. Pointless. Send them back to their walled online gardens to whine to their equally stupid friends about the barbarians.

Can we take it back from the ground up? I don’t know. But hey, it’s got to be worth a shot. Join the fun! Find some friends and locate a low-hanging political event to raid. When was the last time you went to a town hall for your town? Isn’t just a part of you curious to know whether your local county commissioner starts by declaring her pronouns? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see someone like that made very uncomfortable? You can make that happen. You can probably do it within the next month. Bring a few friends! Or a few dozen. Some of the people reading this probably were afraid to do that kind of thing for fear of losing their job. The Biden economy might have freed up some of your time. What have you got to lose now? More importantly, the way things are going, are you going to lose it anyway if things continue as they are? Think on it.

[bigyack-com]

Right-Hand-Drive Cars: Not Just for Mail Carriers

Drive-throughs are difficult, and tollbooths are worse. But for people who own right-hand-drive cars in the United States, the infrequent headaches are the price they pay for a unique kind of fun.They might not have the wow factor of a Lamborghini, but right-hand-drive cars (besides the mail carrier’s) elicit double-takes on North American roads just the same. Roughly a third of the world’s nations drive on the left side of the road, and cars from Australia, Britain and Japan with the driver’s cockpit on the “shotgun” side are particularly desirable. By law, cars imported into the United States must pass a raft of federal safety and emission standards; cars at least 25 years old are exempted. Jeff Zurschmeide of Portland, Ore., grew up in a family of automotive enthusiasts. His dad loved British sports cars and passed that appreciation onto him. So when he got the chance to own a right-hand-drive 1976 Austin Mini 1000, he jumped at the opportunity. This British racer looks a little like a go-kart, and it’s crazy fun to drive, Mr. Zurschmeide said. “A friend owned this Mini, and she was moving away and couldn’t take it, so I bought it about eight years ago,” he said. He made some performance enhancements, including better front brakes. (The originals could occasionally whiten a driver’s knuckles.) Mr. Zurschmeide, who is 6 feet tall, also replaced the original front seats with a more comfortable pair, from a Mazda Miata, that match the caramel-colored interior and rear bench seat.Then it was time to trick out the interior. He put in a chunky, high-performance MOMO steering wheel and made a custom horn button from a coin commemorating Queen Elizabeth’s 50th year on the throne. The stick shift knob is a billiard ball. “You might think that learning to shift with your left hand would be hard,” Mr. Zurschmeide said, “but it’s not. The hard thing to learn to do is to look up and left for the rearview mirror, instead of up and right.”Phil Hansford’s right-hand-driving ways began in 2006. A teacher in Airdrie, Alberta, he spends as much time in nature as he can — mountain biking, camping, hiking — and a capable four-wheel-drive vehicle is essential to get him off the grid. He realized he could import vehicles he couldn’t get in North America — short-wheelbase diesel S.U.V.s, with manual transmissions, for example. “I’ve lived in many parts of Canada, including Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia and Alberta,” Mr. Hansford said. “All these places have great outdoor areas, but accessing them means you need the right vehicle.”His first import from Japan (known as Japanese domestic market or J.D.M. vehicles) brought a realization: These well-maintained cars often had lower miles and weren’t exposed to the same hostile temperatures, terrain and speed extremes they would have seen here. “Not to mention the engine combinations that we didn’t get here, along with extra options,” Mr. Hansford said. In North America, “aside from a rare few, pretty much every S.U.V. is a V6,” he added. “Our choice in diesels is limited to full-size pickups. Manual trans? Almost extinct in every vehicular application. To be able to buy a Japanese-engineered, short-wheelbase, manual diesel? Pretty much unicorn status.”After his first Japanese car, “it was difficult to go back to North American market vehicles again,” Mr. Hansford said. He and his wife currently own four right-hand-drive S.U.V.s: two 1999 Toyota Land Cruisers (one a diesel with a manual transmission); a two-door Mitsubishi Pajero; and their crown jewel, a 1997 Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution. Mr. Hansford said that this was a special model made for rally racing and that Mitsubishi had sold only 2,500 in Japan. His is No. 581.The prices for these cars vary widely. The cost to import will include shipping, and a good starting price is a few thousand dollars. It’s worth seeking out an importer who can help with all of the arrangements, including customs.This right-hand-drive world isn’t limited to sports cars and S.U.V.s. A case in point: my husband’s 1989 Mitsubishi Delica Star Wagon. This oddball is powered by a turbo diesel engine, with a manual transmission, and can be used as a cargo van or a passenger van for up to seven people, or sleeping quarters for two when camping. It has toured all over western North America, taking on dirt, gravel, sand dunes and snow.The Delica gently dings at speeds above 100 kilometers an hour (62 m.p.h.), Japan’s top speed limit. This xylophone-like dinging sometimes misses a beat, or dings incessantly, but even though it’s an annoyance, other Delica owners say my husband should be happy his works, as the van is hardly a speed demon.Life on the right side of the car has some quirks. “Drive-throughs are best done when you have a passenger,” Mr. Hansford said. “Additionally, tollbooths can be an exercise in calisthenics.” Consider E-Z Pass. The Japanese gauges show kilometers, so smartphone apps that convert kilometers to miles will help owners go with the flow. Additionally, fender-mounted mirrors on the Japanese vehicles (for curbside parking in Japan) seem to throw people off.Parts can be hard to get. Most right-hand-drive vehicles were not sold in North America. Online forums, international parts websites and social media groups can be great assets. After eight years, Mr. Zurschmeide, who owns both left- and right-hand-drive Minis, still sometimes walks up to the wrong side of the car when wants to drive. That’s a theme for people who own both left- and right-driving flavors. Mr. Hansford recounted his early right-hand-drive hiccups: “trying to shift the door handle as I attempted to turn off the wipers and indicate correctly at the same time.” In J.D.M. vehicles, the turn signal and wiper stalks are often opposite their North American counterparts. “The expletives that came out of the old tire shop guy’s mouth when he had to drive my truck into the shop,” Mr. Hansford said, “I still laugh just thinking about it.”Mr. Zurschmeide has fun with his Mini. “I bought a full-size plastic skeleton and sometimes belt it into the left-hand seat,” he said. “People see the Mini and they look at it before they know it’s a right-hander. They see the skeleton in the ‘driver’s seat’ and do a double-take.”Any time Mr. Zurschmeide drives either Mini, he’s grinning. “I love running club rallies or driving in the hills with other British sports car owners,” he said. “My club is the Original Minis Group, or O.M.G.” Read the full article

[prfm-uk]

Get to Know Me Uncomfortably Well (Filled Out)

@southeastasyano wanted me to completely fill out these 100 questions and a bonus one, and an anonymous asker wanted me to answer just a few. So here ya go! Go on and stalk me, young ones.

For the questions below the cut, I tag: @southeastasyano, @fukigen-na-boy, @prfm-au, @prfm-us, @housekinoame, @cosmog-explorer, @jenmarii, @chrism-sol, @p-r-f-m, @securitylucy, @a-chan-san and @jeffhardys!

What is your middle name? I never use it on my passports or regularly, but I do have a middle name. But I don’t wanna say it >///<

How old are you? I am currently 17 years old!

When is your birthday? June 24th!

What is your zodiac sign? Cancer (yes, I’m that mentally unstable b*tch)

What is your favorite color? Green all the f*cking way!!

What’s your lucky number? 3

Do you have any pets? I had two fish, but they died when I was 11 :’(

Where are you from? While I was born in London, United Kingdom, my family originates from Sri Lanka

How tall are you? I am 6 foot 1 inch.

What shoe size are you? I am only UK size 7.

How many pairs of shoes do you own? I own only five pairs of shoes.

What was your last dream about? It was a dream in which my best friend committed suicide... Yeah, it was grim, and was more of a nightmare :(

What talents do you have? I am pretty good when it comes to learning foreign languages, and I play piano maybe kinda semi-decently well? I can also do that thing where I can show the red bit inside my eyes, and I can fit my whole fist in my mouth.

Are you psychic in any way? Ask @prfm-us

Favourite song? ‘New Americana’ by Halsey or ‘I Know Places’ by Taylor Swift or ‘Warm Blood’ by Carly Rae Jepsen...

Favourite movie? It would have to be ‘The Emoji Movie’

Who would be your ideal partner? James Wright <3 Well, he is my bf so, um, yay?

Do you want children? Yup, I’d love to see my kid go through life and me be like “ha, I remember when I went through that shizz”

Do you want a church wedding? Well, I’m a Buddhist and I don’t know how they do weddings, so I guess I’d be fine with a civil ceremony of sorts..?

Are you religious? Not at all, and I’m not really sad about it either.

Have you ever been to the hospital? So many f*cking times, honestly. Some weren’t as bad, whereas there is one in particular that will always be my worst ever day alive.

Have you ever got in trouble with the law? Nope, I’m pretty submissive with the law, I’m too scared of punishment haha

Have you ever met any celebrities? When I was in primary school, I was chosen to go meet the Queen and that was pretty cool. We gave her like this bouquet of flowers and she didn’t seem very appreciative. (Just kidding, I love you, Lizzie)

Baths or showers? I prefer baths, but I always have showers because otherwise I might never come out.

What colour socks are you wearing? I’m wearing black socks which say “Thursday” in green font. And yes, it is Thursday where I am, my OCD is too much.

Have you ever been famous? Well, Kyary tweeted my video once and I f*cking YELLED, but no, I’m pretty irrelevant!

Would you like to be a big celebrity? No haha, I wouldn’t be able to handle that much attention to be honest.

What type of music do you like? Electropop, I guess is what it is. I also like modern 80s pop (does that make sense) and also EDM.

Have you ever been skinny dipping? No, haha, I think that just isn’t a very common thing in Britain.

How many pillows do you sleep with? Just one, under my head.

What position do you usually sleep in? I sleep like a fetus does in the womb. Enjoy that mental image.

How big is your house? 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Not amazing, but my family is somewhat well-off.

What do you typically have for breakfast? Basic cereal, generally.

Have you ever fired a gun? Yup, I spent a short while in my school’s combined cadet force before deciding that it wasn’t for me.

Have you ever tried archery? No, I think I have terrible hand-eye co-ordination anyway haha

Favorite clean word? If you mean normal, random word, then my favourite is kumquat.

Favorite swear word? My favourite swear word on it’s own is c*nt because I love how it rolls off the tongue, it just sounds like pure spite. In an insult, definitely f*cknut or f*cktard is a common resort for me.

What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep? 4 days, powered by a coffee each day. And I wasn’t even tired, people basically forced me to have coffee.

Do you have any scars? I have one on my leg from a surgery where they put a metal screw in my hip to make sure that it grew straight (well I didn’t turn out straight, but my leg did). Also, I still have a few old ones on my thighs and wrists...

Have you ever had a secret admirer? Ahahahahahaha, as if anyone would go to that effort over someone like me.

Are you a good liar? If I do say so myself, yes, I am. Or was I lying there?!?!?!?!

Are you a good judge of character? Ask @prfm-us

Can you do any other accents other than your own? I can do an LA valley accent..?

Do you have a strong accent? I have a strong British accent, and then I have a semi-strong Essex accent layered on top, so words like “fam” and “lit” just sneak their way into my speech.

What is your favourite accent? Canadian and Australian are my favs!!

What is your personality type? Unstable, but caring..? <3

What is your most expensive piece of clothing? I have a £45 tie that someone gave me as a bday gift. Yes, I don’t get spending tons on clothes...

Can you curl your tongue? I can do it into a U shape and that weird W shape thingy.

Are you an innie or an outie? Innie. Is this really helpful information to you?

Left or right handed? Right handed!

Are you scared of spiders? DON’T GET ME STARTED. I get terrified of the world’s smalliest spiders and I will legit scream and chuck my phone across the room and everyone else will just be confused.

Favorite food? Profiteroles..?

Favorite foreign food? Um, maybe, poutine? Tim Horton’s? Basically I love Canada.

Are you a clean or messy person? Clean, always clean. I cannot function in a messy environment.

Most used phrase? “I put the SAD in Social Anxiety Disorder”. Yes, I am too real sometimes.

Most used word? Well, it’s probably “the”, “a” or “lopsided”

How long does it take for you to get ready? Literally around ten minutes.

Do you have much of an ego? I mean, I don’t have a shred of self-confidence, so no..?

Do you suck or bite lollipops? I don’t know what this shows about my gay self, but I suck... yeah.

Do you talk to yourself? When I’m intensely lonely or need to calm myself down.

Do you sing to yourself? All the time. I cannot listen to any music without dancing and/or singing to it.

Are you a good singer? Hell no!

Biggest fear? Losing those who are closest to me. Oh, and f*cking spiders.

Are you a gossip? Nope, I guess i’m just not in that circle.

Best dramatic movie you’ve seen? I can’t name the best I’ve ever watched, but I recently watched a British-made film called “I, Daniel Blake” and I really liked it.

Do you like long or short hair? Short hair.

Can you name all 50 states of America? No, I’m British.

Favourite school subject? German or Physics!

Extrovert or Introvert? Introvert 100%

Have you ever been scuba diving? Yup, I’ve been in Sri Lanka

What makes you nervous? The dark and silence.

Are you scared of the dark? Oh, I just accidentally answered that. Yes, I am.

Do you correct people when they make mistakes? Only when it’s appropriate, I don’t want to bother people!

Are you ticklish? VERY ticklish! If you touch my neck, I’ll be on the floor in a few seconds.

Have you ever started a rumour? No haha I’d get baited out so quickly.

Have you ever been in a position of authority? I was an editor for my school newspaper? I mean, it wasn’t that thrilling at all

Have you ever drank underage? In the UK, the legal drinking age is 18, I’m 17, and although I’ve never gotten hammered or drunk vodka and stuff like that, I have had very light alcohol for the taste!

Have you ever done drugs? God no, and I intend never to!

Who was your first real crush? Ugh, it seems so immature when I see it now, but there was this cute guy called Josh in my class who kept paying so much attention to me, so I asked him out, and he was like “How’d you know I was gay? Oh, and I’m not interested”. Yeah, I cried that night haha

How many piercings do you have? None!

Can you roll your ‘R’s? I can <3

How fast can you type? Around 75 words-per-minute (I used an online typing test just now!)

How fast can you run? I think I run pretty slow! In school, I was just average, in the middle, but I’m not going to be winning any fun-runs :P

What colour is your hair? Jet black, but any other colour would look out out place on my brown skin :D

What colour are your eyes? A relatively dark brown, but they are still visibly brown in the sun.

What are you allergic to? Nothing, as far as I know :)

Do you keep a journal? I keep a kinda mood tracking thingamajig through an app called ‘Pacifica’. It’s great for anyone tackling stress or any mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar, etc. But other than that, I don’t keep a journal as such, no.

What do your parents do? My father is a physiotherapist, and my mother is a fraud investigator; she works for the government to find people who are illegally claiming benefits.

Do you like your age? No, because it’s too ‘in the middle’! If I was below the age of 14, I’d be able to relax and be pretty carefree, and if I was above the age of, say 25, I wouldn’t be studying random crap that will never come up in the future and will actually be doing worthwhile things. Instead, I’m 17 and I need to study stuff that won’t come up even in my degree, and it’s almost impossible to find motivation right now.

What makes you angry? People making mistakes when I literally warned them not to; they were just that f*cking ignorant.

Do you like your own name? Some people know, but no, I don’t like my name. I feel like it just sounds a weird, so whenever I tell someone my name, I always include some disclaimer like ‘Oh, it’s a weird Asian name’.

Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they? Nope, I haven’t thought of any! I mean, unless I name my kids Dan and Phil...

Do you want a boy a girl for a child? Call me sexist, but I want a boy!

What are you strengths? I can fit my whole fist in my mouth, and I’m pretty good at languages.

What are your weaknesses? I’m quite sensitive and sometimes I get carried away with jokes.

How did you get your name? Well, my parents called over some kinda psychic name-giver as soon as I was born, and they’d use my star sign, read my palm and use God knows whatever info they could make up, and then name me based on it. That gave me ‘Yasath’, which I’m pretty sure means ‘treasure’ or something.

Were your ancestors royalty? No, but they were pretty high up in government jobs :]

Do you have any scars? That’s Question 39, so just refer back to that :3

Colour of your bedspread? It is white and brown. Hey, it’s like me! Sorry, bad joke.

Colour of your room? It has generic, textured cream (I think) wallpaper.

Does it ever get better? I like to think so, and it’s usually the only shred of hope I have left. But if you think it will never get better, then it won’t ever get better, because you won’t let it get better! So yeah, just have that small light at the end of the tunnel in mind whenever you’re starting to lose hope in yourself <3

Jeeeeeeez, that was long! I hope someone enjoyed that at least haha

[democratsunited-blog]

How 57,000 Socialists and Communists Plan to Take Over the Democratic Party

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=9551

How 57,000 Socialists and Communists Plan to Take Over the Democratic Party

News Analysis

In a move that could have major implications for American politics, the leading socialist and communist organizations in the United States have formally allied to increase their infiltration and manipulation of the Democratic Party.

Communist Party USA (CPUSA) leader John Bachtell partially explained the new strategy in the pitch for party members to attend an online webinar that was held on May 23, 2018. According to Bachtell, the webinar would feature a panel of representatives from the CPUSA, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Freedom Road Socialists Organization (FRSO), LeftRoots, and others.

The event was sponsored by a group called the Left Inside/Outside Project, which is the idea of “building power inside and outside the Democratic Party.” The organization began shortly after the 2016 elections as a response to the Presidency of Donald Trump. Bachtell claimed that CPUSA “is collaborating with several left groups and progressive activists to promote unity and coalition building in the electoral arena.”

The plan is to encourage all elements of the left to vote, which would result in “defeating the extreme right domination of government and the courts.” This “strategic imperative,” according to Bachtell, is why “building electoral coalitions with every force possible including with the Democratic Party is key.”

Inside/Outside

The Left Inside/Outside Project first announced itself in a letter, “The Left We Want to Build: Breaking Out of the Margins,” published on FRSO-aligned website Organizing Upgrade on June 9, 2017.

The letter laid out a bold plan by America’s leading communist groups to massively expand their collective influence both inside and outside the Democratic Party. In the wake of “the ascent of authoritarian white nationalism to the White House and the GOP’s headlock on 25 state governments and Congress,” the letter called for “building a left trend – an alignment of organizations and individuals – based on strategic unity.”

Further: “We believe that … Only determined, long-term, energetic efforts to break out of the margins based on a common view of how to engage in our electoral system, while also building mass protest, offer a chance to make the left a force in U.S. politics and, eventually, a contender for power.”

The letter went on to propose better coordination among America’s largest Marxist organizations, to increase infiltration of the Democratic Party and to further pressure it from without, through mass protest action:

“The fight against the far right is strongest when it is energized by an inspiring vision for economic and social justice. Campaigns for openly socialist candidates and progressive challenges to neoliberal Democrats must all be part of the political mix. And the opportunities for broadening the reach of progressive and left forces will be greatest when they both struggle within and work in tandem with the larger anti-Trump or anti-right front…”

The letter described this proposed communist/socialist alliance as a “left trend.”

“All of the organizations and networks we belong to have important strengths, but also very real limitations in terms of size, demographics, or geographic or sectoral concentration. None of them, in their current form, are capable of playing the strategic role we believe the left must play in the next period. A left trend might have that potential – the ability to reach far beyond the existing left to create a force that can move us from defense to offense.”

The letter was signed “In unity and struggle” by key leaders of America’s most powerful Marxist organizations, CPUSA, FRSO, DSA and the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS).

Potential Disaster

Broadly speaking, there are two lefts in America. One side is the anti-Democratic Party left –which consists of the Revolutionary Communist Party, Socialist Alternative, Socialist Party USA, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Party of Communists USA, and so on. On the other side are the groups willing to work inside the Democratic Party – that is, those organizations signing on to the strategy outlined above.

These organizations are not to be underestimated. Separately, all these groups are dangerous. Together, they spell potential disaster.

For example, CPUSA claims about 5,000 members, but its support base is much wider. Many Communist Party USA leaders are also Democrats. Examples include Houston Communist Party Chairman Bernard Sampson (local Democratic Party Precinct chairman) and Ohio Communist Party Chairman Rick Nagin, who serves on the Cuyahoga County Democratic Executive Committee.

The CPUSA is strong in organized labor, in Black churches and in the “peace movement.” CPUSA strongholds include New York City, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Arizona, California, and Texas. The CPUSA is aligned with China, Vietnam, Cuba, Venezuela and the communist parties of Russia, Britain, Canada, Mexico, Iraq, and Iran.

CCDS is only a few hundred strong. It often shares members with DSA, FRSO and CPUSA. Its strongholds include Boston, New York City, Chicago, Louisville, Kentucky, and the Bay Area. CCDS has close ties to China, Vietnam, and Cuba.

FRSO is extremely secretive about membership numbers. Fewer than 100 cadre are publicly acknowledged. My estimate is around 2,000 members, but that is purely an educated guess. Dozens of front organizations of FRSO are extremely well funded through the Ford Foundation and other large leftist non-profits.

FRSO is strongest in the following areas: Boston; New York/New Jersey; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; North Carolina; Tennessee; Georgia; southern Florida; Los Angeles; and the Bay Area. FRSO also has smaller bases in Austin, Texas, New Mexico, Missouri, Vermont, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington state. FRSO supports Cuba and Vietnam. Some elements also support China and North Korea. Freedom Road focuses heavily on racial politics and is the main force behind Black Lives Matter. FRSO-aligned activists currently holding public office include Philadelphia City Councilor Helen Gym, Memphis Tennessee County Commissioner Tami Sawyer, and Jackson, Mississippi Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba.

LeftRoots “is a national organization of 250 front-line organizers and activists, committed to politically developing their members to lead social movements across the U.S.” It is essentially a project of FRSO.

DSA is the giant of the bunch. On the back of the Bernie Sanders movement, DSA has grown from 6,000 to upwards of 50,000 dues-paying members in less than two years. The organization has locals in every state but South Dakota. The larger locals include Seattle (600 members), Portland Oregon (350 members), East Bay (850 members), Los Angeles (1200 members), Chicago (1100 members), Boston (1000 members), New York (3,000+ members), Washington, DC (1200 members), Baltimore (450 members), Atlanta (500 members) and Austin, Texas (700+ members).

Thousands of DSA comrades are active in the Democratic Party and have taken hold of local Democratic County committees from Maine to Nebraska. In Iowa, DSA controls about 20 percent of the delegates to the Democratic State convention. DSA has run hundreds of members and supporters across the country on the Democratic ticket this election cycle. They include DSA members Kaniela Ing (Congressional District 1, Hawaii), Rashida Tlaib (Congressional District 13, Michigan), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Congressional District 14 New York), Zak Ringelstein (U.S. Senate, Maine), and Connie Johnson (governor, Oklahoma).

The Democratic Socialists of America is in many ways further-left than the Communist Party. In 2017, DSA voted to leave the Socialist International because it was too moderate.

Democratic Socialists of America also controls Our Revolution, the reportedly 100,000-strong nationwide organization set up to support candidates sympathetic to the Bernie Sanders movement.

Working Together

According to David Duhalde, former Deputy Director of Democratic Socialists of America and now “Senior Electoral Manager” at the activist website Truthout:

“I have been rather pleasantly surprised about how well the different post-Bernie formations have been doing and working together to keep this political revolution going. I want to give one great example, which is Our Revolution, [which] either locally or nationally endorsed all of our candidates that we endorsed nationally, as well. Not to mention tons of local races.

“We have a very good working relationship with Our Revolution. We often share information and talk about candidates. We, also, have this affiliation program where DSA chapters can be the local Our Revolution chapter, as well. That is to avoid unnecessary conflicts, duplication of efforts. So, our Knoxville chapter which helped elect two DSA members is, also, the Our Revolution chapter.”

According to John Bachtell, the CPUSA is also present in Our Revolution, as well as other “grassroots” progressive organizations:

“[CPUSA] members were involved with Bernie Sanders campaign and are continuing their activism in Our Revolution, Swing Left, Indivisible, Working Families Party, statewide groups like the New Virginia Majority and local Democratic Party groups and 2018 electoral campaigns.”

The hard-left has infiltrated the Democratic Party in virtually every state, from the largest cities to remote rural areas. From New York City and Los Angeles to North Dakota and Central Oregon. In rural areas in Republican-dominated states, the Democratic Party is often a shell, nothing more than a ballot line. It is easily conquered by disciplined socialist activists. In the big cities DSA and their friends can overwhelm local Democratic party branches by sheer weight of numbers.

The shock primary victory of 29-year-old socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over high-ranking Queens Congressman Joe Crowley is but one of many examples.

Our Revolution and the communists and socialists of the Left Inside/Outside Project are rapidly taking over the Democratic Party.

All in all, the Democratic Party-aligned U.S. left can boast about 57,000 cadre. Support organizations and affiliated unions, churches, civic groups, and non-profits would add several hundred thousand more to that total. If well organized, these numbers are than enough to solidly take over the Democratic Party.

The Party of FDR, Harry Truman, and LBJ is rapidly becoming the party of Marx, Lenin and Mao. Voters need to be acutely aware of their choices when they go to the polls in 2018, 2020, and beyond.

Read full story here