i can give my whole experience with DSA chapter maybe even blog about it. but the cliffnotes are that I met them at the second no kings rally and decided to investigate them to see if they’re worth contributing too. also I’m still in the tire kicking stage.
I’m more curious about other people experiences with DSA. did you hear about them? did you attend one of their meeting? have you done anything with/for them? any opinions on the organization?
Yes they elected the guy in charge (his words) cause he’s black, almost as soon as he walked in the door. He’s a communist and I was the only other minority there (trans) and we joked around a lot and drank some beers together later.
I am terrified that all organizations like this are likely to be raided at some point. Then every known member will be rounded up for blacklisting, “reeducation”, or disappearing.
“Are you now or have you ever been a member of the (fill in the blank) party?”
Don’t let them scare you into compliance. Fight for what you believe in.
The same principle unions operate on. To successfully oppose you must be willing to fight back under your own name. It’s unfortunate, but most work can’t and shouldn’t be done anonymously. The strongest resistance is public
The fact that fear exists is a reason to stand up against the government.
I’m not government is actually getting more incompetent
Fair. But weighing malice against incompetence seems risky these days with malice ascendent.
DSA state and local chapters are all different. Some are reasonably organized and strong, like in NY, others are more sleepy or just smaller. Check your local one out, give them a little grace for doing hard work in hard times, but ultimately you’ll be able to see if they are a good fit for you.
I’ve been in the DSA for a bit over a year and it’s been wonderful. We’ve made meaningful wins for people and are steadily growing. Our chapter is beginning caucus more which is exciting because it means more opportunities to engage with the national conversations and do necessary political education.
The core of my chapter is mostly ML’s though we have a right wing contingent that I am hoping we can persuade if we could get some of them to read a goddamn book. There are serious growing Marxist factions on the left of DSA that are gaining a lot of traction quickly and it’s an exciting time imo.
Anyway go to some of your local chapters meetings and see what they’re doing. An organizer will 100% reach out and talk to you if they are competent. It can be daunting to get started but it is extremely rewarding.
I’m confused. Why would you join the democratic socialists if you’re advocating for Marxist-leninism? That’s not even big tent thinking, that’s “I’ve decided that you are wrong about the trajectory you want for society and am going to supplant it with my own ideas”.
Like, the CPUSA exists. They’re a joke right now, mind, but they exist and you could join them. Stand with people who actually want to stand beside you, not just people who think you’re on their side but you’re lying to them.
DSA is, in my opinion, currently the most viable leftist organization in the US. It is certainly the biggest and most active one in my area.
Originally I joined because I wanted to get involved locally just somehow. I didnt know what to do and found the most organized leftist group to join to learn the skills I was clearly missing.
I know people like to shit on DSA because there are the most baby leftists in it imaginable who often treat it as a pool activists they can tap for their capitalist adjacent reforms. There is truth to this in some chapters. Some of the largest chapters in the DSA like NYC and LA are so big they get NGO brain sometimes and lose sight of the mission.
From where I am sitting there is a clear path to move the national politics of this group towards being a true party of the people with designs to bring about socialism and eventually communism.
I am an applicant to the Marxist Unity Group caucus and strongly believe in their vision for the future of this org. It is our duty to bring these lessons to the working class to merge socialism with the worker movement. To build truly Democratic structures and bring them to the masses to show them another way is possible. We need a social democracy in this country and we have go to where the people are - imo that’s DSA. I dont think its lying to people its educating them out of their infantile understanding of what is necessary for us to cohere a national movement to take our country back.
I have much to criticize about DSA but I’m here because I want to help change it and educate people on why our path is the necessary one to move in the direction of Revolution and emancipation. I am surrounded by communist comrades in this org who feel similarly. MUG is a rapidly growing caucus that has National influence with the seats it has. DSA is moving left towards really being an independent force but it will take time. I wanna speed that up.
Ultimately I am here for progress. If it turns out CPUSA is the right ship brother I will pledge myself to that org so fast it will make your head spin. Same with PSL for that matter. But as it stands today I’m with DSA.
The PSL is less of a joke
I assume for the same reason Lenin supported Arthur Henderson.
At present, British Communists very often find it hard even to approach the masses, and even to get a hearing from them. If I come out as a Communist and call upon them to vote for Henderson and against Lloyd George, they will certainly give me a hearing. And I shall be able to explain in a popular manner, not only why the Soviets are better than a parliament and why the dictatorship of the proletariat is better than the dictatorship of Churchill (disguised with the signboard of bourgeois “democracy”), but also that, with my vote, I want to support Henderson in the same way as the rope supports a hanged man—that the impending establishment of a government of the Hendersons will prove that I am right, will bring the masses over to my side, and will hasten the political death of the Hendersons and the Snowdens just as was the case with their kindred spirits in Russia and Germany.
I might be doing good DSA chapters wrong by comparing them to the Labour guy who doesn’t like strikes lol
skip the DSA and go straight for IWW
either or both.
check your local chapters now.
solidarity forever.
If only the IWW was more active, I love them tho
