With the winter break over and the spring semester beginning for many of you, there are several ways YDS can help you jump start activism on your campus or in your community.  Whether you're organizing an educational event for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a speak-out to discuss the ongoing war and occupation in Iraq, a strategy meeting to mobilize anti-Bush students or planning to attend YDS' upcoming national conference, we can provide useful materials and advice.  And if you're starting a new YDS group or hoping to strengthen an existing one, we have resources that can assist you, including a handy new "Organizing Committee Workbook".   Contact us and we can send you items in the mail or as email attachments.  Onward for a 2005 of peace and solidarity!


            1) MARCH 11-13 "WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE" YDS CONFERENCE
          2) INAUGURATION PROTESTS AND MORE IN D.C.
            3) SOCIAL SECURITY & THE FIGHT TO END OLD-AGE POVERTY
            4) TSUNAMI: PROVIDING RELIEF, PROMOTING SOCIAL JUSTICE
            5) NEW RESOURCE: DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST THEORY & PRACTICE     
                  
1) NYC: MARCH 11-13 "WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE" YDS CONFERENCE
**Mark your calendars!**  YDS will be hosting its national conference in New York City from March 11-13.  The weekend-long conference, entitled "WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE: Youth Organizing Against Right-Wing and Corporate Power" will bring together activists from across the country for workshops, trainings, great speakers, partying and more.  This is a unique opportunity to meet YDS members and friends to discuss how best to challenge the Bush agenda and build a long-term movement for social justice.  We're committed to ensuring that everyone who wants to come is able to attend.  We'll be offering limited travel scholarships and housing assistance for those coming from out of town.  More details with be available shortly.  Please consider fundraising or requesting funds from your Student Government Association to help cover costs.  See you in NYC from March 11-13!


2) INAUGURATION PROTESTS AND MORE IN D.C.
On Thursday, January 20, 2005, George W. Bush will be inaugurated as president of the United States. For the millions of us who stand for the values of peace and justice, it is a moment to renew our commitment to resist the Bush Administration's deadly policies of war and greed and to show Bush, and the world, that our movement is energized, mobilized, and determined to keep fighting
back.

YDS urges everyone who can to converge in Washington, DC from January 19-23. We'll be partying with DC area activists on the night of the 19th, participating in counter-inaugural protest actions and events on the 20th, and staying in town for a meeting of the National Youth & Student Peace Coalition and the Progressive Democrat Summit (www.pdamerica.org - tickets are limited, register soon!) from January 21-23.

If you are planning to come to DC any time during these dates and would like to meet up with other YDSers or would like more information, let us know.  We can provide a limited number of people with housing and transportation assistance.  Contact the YDS National Organizing Committee Facilitator ASAP at: yds_man@yahoo.com or call 917-662-0276.


3) SOCIAL SECURITY & THE FIGHT TO END OLD-AGE POVERTY
The following article references the influential work of Michael Harrington (founding chair of the Democratic Socialists of America) and the success of Social Security programs in reducing poverty among the elderly.  With Bush threatening privatization and cutbacks, it's important to take a look back at the world before limited 1960's era "War on Poverty" programs were implemented.
The 'Other America'  May Be Coming Back
by Harold Meyerson (DSA Vice Chair, writer for L.A Weekly, Washington Post & American Prospect)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48620-2005Jan4.html


4) TSUNAMI: PROVIDING RELIEF, PROMOTING SOCIAL JUSTICE
IN THE WAKE OF THE TSUNAMI:
** Demand increased U.S. aid
** Demand immediate debt cancellation
** Donate to grassroots relief efforts (details below)
** Hold a teach-in / fundraising event on your campus
===========================================
The following articles, talking points and action items can help you better understand the ongoing humanitarian crisis and the politics that surround it.  YDS encourages chapters and supporters to use the information below to hold teach-ins, setup informational tables on campus and/or fundraising events.  You can print out these materials for distribution.

Tsunami aid-The administration is still stingy 
by Ian Williams (DSA member and United Nation's correspondent for The Nation magazine)
http://www.maximsnews.com/ianjanuary72005.htm

Time To Cancel Tsunami Countries' Debt
by Mark Engler (writer/commentator and friend to YDS)
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/time_to_cancel_tsunami_countries_debt.php

The following is from United for Peace and Justice (YDS is a member organization of UFPJ):

The damage wrought by the December 26 tsunami is so epic and heartbreaking in its scope that words can hardly convey the sense of loss and grief we feel. United for Peace and Justice joins with people all around the world in mourning the devastation, and in seeking ways to help the survivors.

We do so with an acute awareness of the role that global inequality and widespread poverty plays in intensifying natural disasters, and of the repressive conditions that defined ordinary life for many in the region particularly in the hardest hit area, the Indonesian province of Aceh--even before the tsunami hit. We are recommending several action steps intended not just to respond to this immediate crisis but to promote lasting social justice in the region.

INCREASE U.S. AID: Contact your Congressional representatives to demand that the U.S. government dramatically increase its aid to the affected countries. After considerable pressure, the Bush Administration has upped its pledge of support to $350 million but that figure is still insultingly small, less than the amount that is wasted every two days on the disastrous and unnecessary war in Iraq. Find contact information for your representatives at http://www.house.gov/ and http://www.senate.gov/

CANCEL THE DEBT: Like much of the Global South, the countries most affected by the tsunami have been crippled for years by staggering debt. Indonesia alone pays more than $7 billion each year in debt service to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank a figure that dwarfs the total aid pledged so far to the entire region. UFPJ strongly supports the call by Jubilee South (http://www.jubileesouth.org) and groups all around the world in calling for the unconditional cancellation of all the debt owed by countries hit by the tsunami. Support this demand by joining Jubilee USA Network in sending a letter to President Bush and Treasury Secretary Snow calling for immediate debt relief. Click here:
http://www.jubileeusa.org/jubilee.cgi?path=/take_action&page=tsunamiletter.html

SUPPORT GRASSROOTS RELIEF EFFORTS: Private giving is not a substitute for government aid or debt cancellation. That said, there are many grassroots nongovernmental organizations in the region that are not only doing key relief work but are also empowering local communities and providing a crucial counterweight to the often corrupt and brutal governments of the most affected countries. Below are several groups that we especially encourage you to support:

East Timor Action Network
http://www.etan.org/action/action2/23alert.htm
The East Timor Action Network is collecting contributions from people in the United States who want to give direct aid to local grassroots and humanitarian organizations in Aceh, the remote and war-torn Indonesian province that has been most devastated by the tsunami. Direct donations to grassroots organizations in Aceh circumvent the inevitable siphoning off of resources - both monetary and material--to the Indonesian government and military, which has a long and brutal record of human rights violations in Aceh. Big international NGOs will be obliged to work through the Indonesian government, while donations via the ETAN relief fund will go towards developing local capacity and will help sustain groups that have been doing important humanitarian and social justice work for years.

Via Campesina
http://www.viacampesina.org/art_english.php3?id_article=500
Via Campesina is global alliance of peasant, family farmer, farm worker, indigenous and landless peoples organizations, and other rural movements; they have numerous active member organizations in the region affected by the tsunami. The relief philosophy of Via Campesina is that local communities particularly, in this case, fisherfolk and peasant organizations -- should participate actively and be the key actors in the reconstruction process. By donating to Via Campesina's relief fund, you can help those in need at this time in ways that help build self-sufficiency, grassroots organization, and peoples power for the future.

American Friends Service Committee
http://www.afsc.org/give/asia-relief.htm
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a member group of United for Peace and Justice, is mounting an important relief effort in hard-hit Aceh. AFSC has had a presence and contacts in Indonesia for more than 35 years, through its peace-building efforts and international conferences and seminars, and is working to offer pragmatic, immediate help that builds longer-term recovery so that communities can rebuild long after the media attention and compassionate responses for aid have diminished. AFSCs longstanding expertise in relief work, peace-building, and grassroots empowerment make it especially well-suited to provide effective support to communities in Aceh.

MADRE
http://www.madre.org/programs/appeal/tsunami.html
The human rights group MADRE, which is a member group of United for Peace and Justice, has partnered with a Sri Lankan womens organization, INFORM, to help establish and equip emergency health centers in areas affected by the tsunami. Through these centers, survivors will receive the emergency medical attention and clean drinking water they so desperately require and displaced women and families will receive crucial trauma counseling, which will help them cope with the deaths of their children and other loved ones, gradually heal from their trauma, and begin to rebuild.

Nonviolence International
http://www.nonviolenceinternational.net
This member group of United for Peace and Justice has been doing peace-building work for years in Aceh, the remote and war-torn Indonesian province that has been most devastated by the tsunami. When the earthquake and massive waves hit, the group's Peace Education Program office in Banda Aceh was completely destroyed; one staff member, Curriculum and Training Coordinator Sayed Subhan Almabrur, is missing and feared dead. By donating to the Nonviolence International-USA Aceh Earthquake/Tsunami Relief Fund, you can directly support both immediate grassroots relief and important long-term peace-building work in Aceh.


5) NEW RESOURCE: DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST THEORY AND PRACTICE    
A new resource, now available on-line, traces the historical development of democratic socialist politics.  "Towards Freedom: Democratic Socialist Theory and Practice", is broken down into the following sub-sections:

• The Democratic Socialist Vision
• Marx's Analysis of Capitalism: Social Production Versus Private Control
• Class Structure and Political Agency: The Imperative of a Coalition Strategy
• Strategy: The Role of the Party and the State
• Class Consciousness and Struggle in Civil Society
• The Transition to Socialism
• Transitional Strategy: Strengthening Public Provision and Democratic Control over Production
• Towards a Vision of Democratic Production and Social Provision
• Socialist Internationalism versus Capitalist Globalization
• The Promise of Socialism

To view, download or print out this document click here: www.dsausa.org/pdf/TheoryPractice.pdf



 
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