1) BUILDING THE NEXT LEFT: UPDATES
                  2) THE YDS RECOMMENDED READING LIST
                  3) THE LIFE & LEGACY OF JAMES WEINSTEIN
                  4) ROVE & GONZALES ARE GOING DOWN!?!
                  5) STORES FROM THE BORDERLANDS
                  6) MONTHLY REVIEW'S SOCIALISM SPECIAL
                  7) NEW YDS PDF ON "WHY UNIONS MATTER"

1) BUILDING THE NEXT LEFT: CONFERENCE/RETREAT UPDATES
The YDS conference and activist retreat is less than 1 month away!
Please contact us if you have any questions about the conference of need help arranging your travel plans.  Remember that housing, food and other conference materials are included with your registration fee. Plan your trip today!

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BUILDING THE NEXT LEFT
Ossining, NY (close to NYC)
weekend of AUGUST 12-14
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Register on-line by THIS FRIDAY (July 22nd) to get a discounted rate!

COORDINATING COMMITTEE: Every year YDS democratically elects a new Coordinating Committee (CC) which helps provide political leadership and organizing support to the Young Democratic Socialists.  All YDS members can run for these positions (including those who renew their membership or officially join YDS for the first time).  Please let us know if you intend to run for the CC at the conference or in absentia.  This is a great opportunity to help organize left-wing students and youth on a national scale.  You can find out more what Coordinating Committee members do and about YDS' constitution here: www.ydsusa.org/constitution.html

ACTIVIST AGENDA: We will be adopting a new 2005-2006 Activist Agenda the YDS conference and retreat.  We would like input from you about what should be YDS' campaign and organizing priorities for the coming academic calendar year.  You can take a look at the Activist Agenda we passed last year to get a sense of ideas for the coming conference: www.ydsusa.org/aboutyds.html#do

MORE INFO & REGISTRATION: www.ydsusa.org/confs/nyc_0805.html


2) THE YDS RECOMMENDED READING LIST
We've added a new list of excellent books that are recommended for those wishing to better their understanding of democratic socialist theory, history, political strategy and values. Some of titles below are classics and others are more contemporary works. The list is not intended as a complete bibliography, nor are all the books entirely consistent with our politics. There are a number of issues, authors, and perspectives that are not adequately covered in this list. Democratic socialists are in favor of vigorous debate and respect a diversity of opinions. We welcome your suggestions for titles to add to this list or critiques of those already referenced in the following link on the YDS resource page:
YDS BOOK LIST: www.ydsusa.org/readinglist.html


3) THE LIFE & LEGACY OF JAMES WEINSTEIN
The latest issue of In These Times magazine features the comments of several authors and activists paying homage to James Weinstein, the recently deceased ITT founder.  Weinstein's last book, The Long Detour: The History and Future of the American Left, is featured in YDS' new recommended reading list: www.ydsusa.org/readinglist.html

To a Friend (in the style of Pablo Neruda)
by Adrian Bleifuss Prados (YDS member and student at Haverford)
www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2207/


4) KARL ROVE & ALBERTO GONZALES ARE GOING DOWN!?!
Classic Rove: Secret smears and public lies -- it's all in a day's work.
by Harold Meyerson (DSA Vice Chair, writer for Washington Post & American Prospect)
www.commondreams.org/views05/0714-25.htm

The Enemy of Our Enemy May Still Be the Enemy of Democracy
Paul R. Loeb (DSA member and author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While)
www.commondreams.org/views05/0713-22.htm
 

5) STORES FROM THE BORDERLANDS
The world of the border turns labor law on its head-old, established legal rights are just so much ink on paper, and even the decision of federal judges to enforce the law are simply ignored. NAFTA's labor and environmental "side-agreements" have provided no help to either labor or the environment.
by David Bacon (DSA member, journalist and photographer)
www.dsausa.org/DavidBacon/bacon.html


6) MONTHLY REVIEW'S SOCIALISM SPECIAL
The July/August issue of Monthly Review features several articles available on the web as part of their "Socialism for the 21st Century" theme.  The magazine has also recently launched the new on-line MR Zine that will feature political analysis about current affairs by activists and intellectuals from all over the world.

The Renewing of Socialism: An Introduction - John Bellamy Foster
What is Socialist Feminism? - Barbara Ehrenreich
What Is the Soul of Socialism? - Andrew Blackman
Socialism: Connecting with People's Values - Stephen J. Fortunato Jr.
MONTHLY REVIEW: www.monthlyreview.org


7) NEW YDS PDF ON "WHY UNIONS MATTER"
We've added a new document on the YDS resource page that we encourage our activists and supporters to read, print out copies of and distribute to others.  "Why Unions Matter," written by Elain Berdard (DSA member and Executive Director of Harvard Law School's Labor and Worklife Program) is now available from our website in PDF format:
www.ydsusa.org/statements/why_unions_matter.pdf

In this pamphlet, Elaine Bernard explains why anyone who cares about fairness and democracy should be excited about the labor movement. For democratic socialists, building and maintaining healthy unions is a crucial part of our commitment to economic justice. Bringing democracy into the economy, into the workplace, and into the daily life of society, is at the heart of our political vision.

Unions have always been an important part of how socialists seek to make our economic-justice principles come alive. Working people­gathered together and exploited in the capitalist workplace­are ideally positioned to fight that common exploitation cooperatively by asserting their democratic rights on the job and by advancing working class interests in the political sphere. Since trade unions are the predominant form in which working people join together to increase their own power, any democratic socialist strategy for social change must support the crucial role that organized labor plays­and can play better­in promoting greater democracy, equality and solidarity.

As young people, we face a future of work. Those entering or about to enter the workforce will encounter the terrible imbalance of power that prevails in our economy. We have a choice: we can either accept the status quo and take our chances as lone individuals or we can fight to make the global economy more accountable to all of us. By joining or organizing unions in our own workplaces, or by working with unions and other workers’ rights advocates to promote what Bernard calls “industrial democracy,” we can reshape our world.

Members of the Young Democratic Socialists often work on our campuses and in our communities to support union efforts. Many YDS members have been active members of their unions, and have gone on to work as officials, union organizers, staff, and as rank and file activists. At a time of almost unbridled corporate domination, working to strengthen the labor movement is needed more than ever.

YDS Resource page: www.ydsusa.org/resources.html



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