#democratic socialists of america

[hero-israel]

I feel love I’ve lost a lot of respect for the left these past few days… yes I knew there was always antisemitism, but this has just been. Demoralizing. I know you’re dealing with it too, it just sucks

Half the population of Gaza is under 18. They have literally never known a world beyond its current isolated condition. Most of them have probably never even seen Israel. During the "Great March of Return" in 2018, Hamas leaders told them "The Jews have left Israel, it's abandoned, go in and take it!", and they believed them.

I have NO. SYMPATHY. WHATSOEVER. for well-fed, pathologically online Westerners, ESPECIALLY Americans, who have a world's worth of education and opportunity available to them and who still choose to believe war rape, infanticide, and snuff films are heroic liberation - and as the Americans will happily tell you, something every "colonizer" deserves. These are people who claim to be "anti fascist" and "Nazi punchers"? If I had a button that would instantly teleport all Palestinian civilians to a safe island and also all pro-paraglider leftist American shitlords into Gaza immediately to be bombed, I would have pressed it before writing that sentence. After everything that has happened, they STILL cheer for killing Jews. They are the Spanish and Norwegian fascists who went to Berlin in APRIL 1945 because they believed in the cause THAT MUCH.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Corey Walker

A caucus affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), a left-wing political organization that counts members of the US Congress among its ranks, has issued a public endorsement of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. 

The Red Star Caucus, a self-described “Marxist revolutionary” faction of the DSA, published an article on Friday glorifying the actions of Hamas, an Islamist organization that launched the war in Gaza on Oct. 7 by slaughtering more than 1,200 people throughout southern Israel. The caucus argued that lending support to the terrorist group is necessary to secure “Palestinian liberation.”

“To support a resistance without Hamas is to support something which does not exist. It is to support no resistance at all,” the group wrote. “And in turn, to spend our time on criticism of Hamas as an organization validates the widespread opinion that Hamas is an existential danger (too extreme for even the communists!) and lends credence to Israel’s justification of its onslaught. When we hear every anti-Palestinian group call for the destruction of Hamas, do we lend our voices to those calls, or stand with Palestine and its resistance?”

The group added that support for Hamas’ genocidal ambitions against Israel are necessary to secure a socialist future. 

“We must recognize what our struggle for socialism entails, and who our allies are. Those allies will be the resistance movements which actually exist, the opponents of capitalism and imperialism around the world!” the Red Star Caucus added. 

The Democratic Socialists of America, one of the country’s premier leftist political advocacy organizations, has mobilized in recent years to elect anti-Israel members to Congress. Influential lawmakers such as US Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Greg Casar (D-TX), and Cori Bush (D-MO) are all current members of the socialist organization. Others such as Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Summer Lee (D-PA) are former members.

None of these lawmakers responded to The Algemeiner‘s request for comment on the Red Star Caucus’s endorsement of Hamas.

However, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), a staunch supporter of Israel, slammed the Red Star Caucus as “antisemitic” on X/Twitter. 

[low-cole-timothy]

DSA VS. AOC

Democratic Socialists of America have withdrawn their endorsement of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez because she was in panel combating antisemitism. Apparently the DSA thinks that it is not ok to combat antisemitism. They called it a “deep betrayal”.

We are at a point in time (again) where people who combat antisemitism are being called traitors.

Maybe the next step for the Democratic Socialists of America is to change the word ‘democratic’ to ‘national’.

[irenetherogue]

Reframing common employer phrases into plainspeak

Laziness = poor ppl resting/playing, ever

Working vacation = rich ppl getting paid to rest/play

Rage applying = looking for a better job

Rage quitting = leaving toxic job/boss

Quiet quitting = refusing to do free labor

Blackmail = employees leveraging anything

Insubordination = talking about pay at work

Company culture = guilt trips & pizza as pay

Morality clause = make us look bad, get fired

"We're like family" = "we ask for favors, then never pay you back"

"We expect everyone to pitch in" = "we expect you to do free labor"

"HR is here to help you" = "HR is here to stop you from suing us"

Thx for coming to my TedTalk

[thespectrehauntingfodlan]

This might be the most Western Leftist shit I have ever fucking seen in my life

Genuinely embarrassing to think this party represents the largest collection of socialists in the US and there will be no consequences to this type of action.

[profcolsymorgan]

google “dsa + your city”, go to the website, click on calendar and go to the next meeting you see. democratic socialists are doing good work, we are building community, we are raising minimum wages for our cities, we sent THREE socialists to office yesterday. join dsa i am not asking 🔫

[landbackblog]

to american tumblr liberals jockeying for Harris at the erasure of voices Palestinian, Cuban, Hawaiian and others disenfranchised:

when you libs disparage hopes for a glorious revolution, which you often place in quotes, can you explain how it’s not just a manifestation of racism against cubans? Cubans did have a glorious revolution. So first of all, F you for pretending it’s something impossible that never happened before and “not coming” F YOU. And before you jump to age old US propaganda, Cubans experienced a glorious revolution, and in the wake of US retributory economic isolationism then Cubans did suffer under the yoke of a reactionary cult of personality in direct response to YOUR own U.S. imperial aggressions.

You Americans owe it to Cubans and to the abused and disenfranchised EVERYWHERE to fight tooth and claw against the american empire. Just as that of england, this one will FALL. Flimsy professings to shut out justified voices of dissent against Harris (which would otherwise IMPROVE her campaign & administration) those efforts end up silencing, omitting, and shutting out the most important voices needed to be heard, and those actions are actively materially harmful.

[cayomuchacha]

sadly it seems a vocal plurality of americans will simply always prioritize their material security over the lives of others.

you know, until harris actually makes concrete acceptable progressions wrt Palestine, until that happens KAMALA HARRIS CAN CHOKE, because, well ONE SHOULDN’T THINK that a military expansionist apartheid regime and genocidal rogue state such as israel deserves ANY right to “self defense” in a clear obfuscation of israel’s violative, menacing, authoritarian, expansionist and so clearly the antithesis of a self defensive position in the region.

I really, really don’t think any well meaning Democrat should so calmly accept such unacceptably condoning rhetoric of a pariah state committing genocide. We must demand from and hold accountable our leaders to the ideals from which we draw our collective power as a democracy.

:3 no respect for treaties with genocidal states! in breaking decency and humanity they thereby break the treaties! Which necessarily invoke propriety and good faith relations. please dont act like you liberals actually believe in treaty law now when you keep so quiet over broken treaties with Cuba, Hawai`i, Native Sovereign Nations, and beyond.

fuck you uncaring americans who only wish to elect a democrat so you can tune out from political engagement. many of us aren’t granted that luxury

[fruitymarcy]

Democratic Socialist Rashida Tlaib, the first and only Palestinian American serving in U.S. Congress, submitted South Africa’s genocide case against the Israeli government to the Congressional Record, and proclaimed that the Biden Administration and Congress are complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people.

[amaditalks]

“The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) retracted their endorsement of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) on Wednesday over her support for the Iron Dome, her opposition to “boycotting Zionist institutions,” and a meeting she had with Jewish leaders on antisemitism.

When the DSA endorsed the New York congresswoman in June, it laid out anti-Israel and pro-socialist conditions she had to fulfill to keep the endorsement, including opposition to all aid for Israel and support for the boycott, divestment, and sanction of the Jewish state.”

Iron Dome is a missile defense system. The DSA’s official stance is that candidates have to oppose the means by which civilians in Israel - of all religions and nationalities - are protected.

They’re also angry that AOC hosted a meeting with leaders from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs over the organization’s endorsement of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which says:

“Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

Now ask yourself these two very basic but critical questions:

Why is the DSA official position that the protection of Israeli citizens from missile bombardment must be opposed? and

Why is the DSA opposed to an anodyne definition of antisemitism, which has been officially adopted by 43 different nations, including the entirety of Europe?

[titleknown]

I will say, wrt the electoralism-discourse, while I deeply understand the desire to punish the Dems for their active support of Israel's monstrous actions and make them fly right, witholding your vote's not really gonna do much.

Like, "witholding votes to push them left" has basically never worked, if anything they always go farther right after a loss due to the Skeksis running the party only holding to "It's the principle of the thing" whenever if fucks over their base, themselves, or basically anyone who's not a far-right fascist republican.

And while the current emerging idea of "playing chicken with the prez until they cave" is more solid than I usually see, it probably needs to get way more organized way more quickly, and even then it's risky as hell...

...But, that all being said, there is a way we can actually organize to hold their feet to the fire, perhaps even transcend them (Though I think it will take decades of work/changes to voting laws to get there).

The Democratic Socialists of America is one of the biggest leftist orgs in the US, getting bigger by the day, and if you want to create a force to counterveil the shitty center-Dems power by both electoral and non-electoral means, they're the ones to join.

Their dues are reasonable (They even have a tier for low-income folks), the local chapters across the US are doing a lot of good work you can get involved in now, if you're looking for a way to try and build an org to fix things, here you go.

So, on the voting question, my answer would be, either way, join the DSA.

[hero-israel]

do you think there can be a reconciliation between being a Marxist or leftist and also not hating Israel? I use to feel so safe in leftist spaces, and while I don’t anymore I miss that connection. I still agree with the majority of my politics and I am sympathetic to socialism/communism. But I don’t think there’s space for me to do so or if I am doing a disservice to the Jewish people (I’m not Jewish or Israeli) by “siding” with an obvious anti Jewish group. Or would my position as a leftie who supports Israel strengthen my argument ? I’ve been told my support for Israel as a non Jew is very important, and I’m wondering if the same is applied here. I don’t think the crazy people who are anti Israel will change their minds, but will it be worth it ? Or am I wasting my time even putting myself in these spaces. What would be wise for me to do? Completely distance myself from the left and stick w holding my same views, or say I’m a leftie Israel supporter?

That is a very good question!

If there is any way for you to square the circle of being a pro-Israel Leftist, that would be quite helpful; I assure you there are many Jews who are "naturally" left-wing / Marxist but can't bear to engage because of the prominent antisemitism within those movements. There was a huge, ugly crack-up about this within the DSA, and another in the pages of Dissent Magazine and "Jewish" Currents. Perhaps seeing someone else speak up in that regard would encourage them. JVP is universally understood to be anti-Israel and antisemitic - they are a lost cause - but maybe the DSA could be steered back towards a humanitarian approach? Maybe just a sub-branch of them? Just a thought; please don't put yourself at risk. The best way you can be an advocate for Jewish people is to be an advocate for Jewish people - which is different from opening yourself up to fights from all sides.

Perhaps search up any involvement with your preferred issues among members of left-wing Zionist groups like Hashomer Hatzair, Habonim Dror, or ARZA. You might actually fit in better with the Israeli Meretz political party, but I doubt there are opportunities to get involved with it in America. EDIT: And certainly check out A Land For All!

I myself have never disagreed with Chuck Schumer about anything, so I'm not the best source on where to participate in truly left-wing or socialist groups. Would certainly appreciate reader input on this.

No matter what your decision - thank you for standing up for us!

[eretzyisrael]

By 

Michael Kaplan, Sara Nathan, and Joshua Rhett Miller

Mass anti-Israel protests which stopped traffic out of Manhattan Monday were secretly coordinated by radicals — and are a dramatic escalation of their tactics, experts tell The Post.

At least six radical anti-Israel groups were behind the rush-hour protests which stranded commuters on the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges and the Holland Tunnel.

The groups, which include the Democratic Socialists of America whose members include squad member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, co-ordinated their actions then blasted their social media accounts with glossy films reveling in the misery they brought.

They also deployed the Hollywood star power of Susan Sarandon, the actress who previously had to apologize for antisemitic comments at a rally in Manhattan.

Justin Finkelstein, analyst with Center on Extremism at the Anti Defamation League, said it was evidence of secret backchannels between the groups and told The Post: “I this is the most disruptive that I’ve seen.

“It’s slowing down daily movement of New Yorkers and making it impossible not to notice them. I think that is their goal. They think these direct actions raise awareness of the Palestinian cause.”

And he warned more attempts to interrupt ordinary people’s lives are on the way and said: “Anything that gets them visibility is something they might consider.”

The six groups know to have taken part in what they called “an autonomous collective” were Palestinian Youth Movement; Democratic Socialists of America, New York branch; Writers Against War On Gaza; Jewish Voice for Peace; Al-Awda; and Critical Resistance.

Between them they boast ties not just to AOC and Sarandon, but to “Angels in America” playwright Tony Kushner, elite colleges including Yale, Brown and UCLA — and have received funding from the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, a Rockefeller family foundation and through Schwab Charitable, a fund set up with the help of the investment company Charles Schwab to allow people to make donations to other non-profits.

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

[topekadsa]

What is DSA?

Democratic Socialists of America both national and local, have multiple campaigns going at any given time in pursuit of the goals of their platform. These include but are not limited to:

An end to deportations. Free movement of people, not capital

Ending discrimination based on race, sex, gender identity, sexuality, religion, disability or class

Tuition free public education at all levels

Healthcare as a human right

Complete reproductive freedom in all forms

Safe affordable housing for all

The end to military aggression

Equality in and democratization of the workplace and economy

Abolish of the police and prison industrial complex people and the environment over profit

How do I become a member?

You can apply for a card through the DSA website and get connected to your local chapter that way but it is not required. Your local chapter should be able to explain the specific needs they have for card carrying members, but you do not need a card to attend meetings.

Why should I pay attention to DSA?

DSA works as a central hub for leftist organizing. Even if your local chapter is not the right fit, you may find people or organizations in your local area that you did not know existed.

National DSA News and Resources

Class: Democratic Socialists of America (spotify)

Topeka DSA

We are a relatively new Kansas chapter of DSA, looking to reach potential members where our website, Facebook and Instagram are lacking.

If you are interested in attending meetings, or joining the discussion via our discord feel free to reach out to us at topekadsa@gmail.com

Kansas News and Resources

KS Legislature live (youtube)

Watch state legislature review bills

House Roster Senate Roster

Follow along with ks legislature and put names to faces

Loud Light (tiktok) (youtube) (website)

Highlighting state legislation topics to pay attention to

Kansas Reflector (spotify) (website)

Kansas podcast covering a variety political topics and promoting current events

Topeka City Council (youtube)

Watch City council livestreamed

Topeka Jump (website)

A Topeka Justice Unity & ministry project

LGBTQKS (website)

Directory for Kansas queer resources

SeeClickFix (app)

An app for reporting negligent maintenance for apartments/potholes/etc

BuyNothing (app)

App Resource for low income kansans looking to barter

Kansas Landlord Tenant Rights (website)

A quick FAQ guide for tenants rights in kansas

Kansas Tenant's Rights Quiz

Uquiz to test your knowledge of your rights

Topeka Tenants Survey

Share your level satisfaction with renting in topeka and sign up for updates on Topeka Tenants future events

Braided Haven (website)

A new LGBTQ+ shelter in Topeka

Whose land am I on?

Find out what indigenous communities your area in kansas is the traditional territory of.

Sign up for Kansas newsletters!

LGBTQKS

TopekaPride

Shawnee County Democrats

Kansas Reflector

[theculturedmarxist]

In the first days of 2023, the reactionary and repulsive dynamic of American capitalist politics has been on full display.

For decades, the following process has played out time and time again: No matter how small its numerical presence, the far-right wing of the Republican Party dominates, the Democratic Party adapts in the name of “bipartisanship,” and its “left” flank capitulates without a fight in the name of “unity against the right.” As a result, the political axis of bourgeois politics moves to the right, and the process repeats itself. Each episode is more degrading than the last.

To socialists, this spectacle demonstrates that imperialism is reaction all down the line and that a movement of the working class is necessary to sweep both parties out of power and enact the revolutionary transformation of society.

To the Democratic Socialists of America, it is another opportunity to promote the tired fiction that the Democratic Party can be pushed to the left.

On January 7, Jacobin published an article by DSA member Neal Meyer entitled “The right played hardball in Congress. The left should take notes.”

As the title suggests, the article argues that socialists should pressure “progressive” congresspersons to “use the bully pulpit” and “fight” the Democratic Party leadership “just as hard as the right does against their leadership.” Meyer writes, “We should be prepared to go to war against Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and others…”

Meyer asserts that this is the strategy of the DSA: “Democratic socialists use electoral politics and our position in legislatures to build our popular base,” “spread democratic socialist ideas” and “rally millions to a program of transformational change.”

As a preliminary matter, the DSA’s record in Congress is not rallying anyone for transformational change, except in the negative sense. The DSA’s representatives have used their electoral positions to illegalize railroad strikes, fund the Israeli military and provide the American military industrial complex with tens of billions of dollars to wage the US-NATO war against Russia, risking nuclear catastrophe.  

Meyer papers over these votes, writing, “As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said in the past, in any other country she would not be in the same party as Joe Biden. That has never been more clear than in the aftermath of Joe Biden’s decision to crush railroad workers’ right to strike to win paid leave.”

This is an unfortunate example, given the fact that Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of the DSA slate (save Rashida Tlaib) voted “to crush railroad workers’ right to strike to win paid leave.” There is a reason why Ocasio-Cortez and Biden are in the same party: The DSA plays a critical role in this sordid right-wing process, by trapping social opposition within the Democratic Party where it can be suffocated and eliminated.

Jacobin’s article is yet another example of this role. Meyer writes in a manner which makes clear the DSA is sensitive to the growing realization of the true role played by Ocasio-Cortez and her DSA cohorts. He presents the relationship between the DSA and the Democratic Party leadership as follows: “We ought to sit very uncomfortably inside the Democratic fold. It is, at best, a temporary and fraught marriage of necessity, one that we should want to exit as soon as possible.”

This is a falsification of the relationship between the DSA’s own congressional members and the Democratic leadership, as evidenced by the recent speakership fight. The DSA’s representatives unanimously voted for Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on every round in last week’s leadership contest, despite Jeffries’ 2021 statement that “there will never be a moment where I bend the knee to hard-left democratic socialism.” In fact, Jeffries started a Political Action Committee (Team Blue) specifically to oppose left-wing challengers to Democratic incumbents. Even so, he won the votes of all those he is trying to unseat.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, confronting growing left-wing opposition to her subservience to the Democratic Party, gave an explanation which was as revealing as it was pathetic. “I see some people say Dems should negotiate to get concessions,” she said in a social media post this week. “We do, but what we don’t do is bring them publicly in order to empower not just Republicans but the fascist flank of the Republican Party.”

This statement tracks with her record in Congress: The class struggle must be suppressed for the sake of the institutional security of the imperialist Democratic Party and the Biden administration. For this same reason Ocasio-Cortez and the DSA’s congressional representatives illegalized the rail strike and denounced left-wing criticism of Biden as “privileged” and racist.

In comments to MSNBC responding to the Republican speakership fight, Ocasio-Cortez confirmed the DSA’s role, saying, “What was important today was to send the message that we were united behind Hakeem Jeffries as the new minority leader, that there would be no defections, that Democrats are here, we’re not going anywhere.”

Undermining her own claim about the efficacy of secret negotiations, she pledged the Democratic Party would “stay 100 percent united” no matter what, adding, “We absolutely have differences,” but she is “willing to put that aside.”

Here, Ocasio-Cortez has accidentally told the truth. For the sake of the stability of the Democratic Party, the Democratic Socialists of America is willing to put aside its differences with the establishment, however minor they may be, by backing a party leader who has pledged to ignore them until he can remove them from Congress.  

There is nothing unexpected or unusual in this behavior. Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of the DSA’s slate are not socialists, they are conformist politicians, and they are acting in conformity with the DSA’s political essence as a pro-imperialist faction of the Democratic Party.

The DSA exists not to extract reforms from the Democratic establishment, but to trap social opposition and channel it behind the Democratic Party. Only an organization with such a long practice in pseudo-socialist gymnastics could try to present Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s concessions to the far right as a rallying cry for reforming the two-party system from within.