In This Issue  

 Young Democratic Socialists Update: January 29, 2009

Scholarships for YDS Winter Conference
 
 
 

 


 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
Scholarships for "Beyond the Ballot" 
Get YDS to Underwrite Your Conference Costs  

The Young Democratic Socialists national conference, ?Beyond the Ballot: Making the Movement Matter? is only a month away!  We know in these tough economic times, it is hard for many people to afford to go to New York City.  Therefore, we are offering travel subsidies ? but only if you send a travel subsidies application by Sunday, February 1st.  A travel subsidies application will be sent to you when you register here.  We want to make sure all those who want to attend can, but if you need assistance you must register and send in your application now!  
 
Important Details:
Where: Academy of Environmental Science, 410 East 100 Street, New York, NY
When: Friday, February 27th to Sunday, March 1st.       
 
To preregister for the conference and save ten dollars click here.  The deadline for requesting housing is February 15th.   For further information, contact YDS Organizer Erik Rosenberg at erik@dsausa.org or 212-727-8610.  
 
The gathering will feature great workshops and plenaries with speakers such as journalists Amy Goodman, Christian Parenti, and Liza Featherstone; democratic socialist trade unionists Bill Fletcher Jr. and Mark Levinson; and radical academics Frances Fox Piven, Stephen Eric Bronner, Joseph Schwartz, and Corey D.B. Walker. 
 
Dr. Schwartz, the first YDS organizer, is the recent author of The Future of Democratic Equality.  You can read a book review by YDS Co-Chair Chris Maisano here.  

Rich Get Poorer, Poor Disappear
Ehrenreich on Economic in Today's Economy
 
The Democratic Socialists of America Honorary Co-Chair Barbara Ehrenreich has spent years criticizing social inequality in America.  In her piece ?Rich Get Poorer, Poor Disappear? she addresses the lowering living standards of all Americans due to the recession.  She reminds us ??hard times are no more likely to abolish class inequality than Obama's inauguration is likely to eradicate racism.?  
 
Read ?Rich Get Poorer, Poor Disappear? here.
 
Crisis in Gaza
Do the Attacks Discredit the Ideal of Progressive Zionism
 
The attacks by the Israeli Defense Forces on Gaza shocked the world.  Many on the Left and in YDS were highly critical of Israel?s actions.  However, many Jews in democratic leftist organizations consider themselves to be Progressive Zionists.  Advocating a two-state solution, they and others believe there can be both a Jewish and Palestinian states side-by-side.   
 
Today, shifting demographics in the region lead some to believe a two-state solution ? while noble ? maybe unattainable.  On YDS?s blog, The Activist, Adrian Bliefuss Prados writes that the Jewish state - absent a redefinition of left-wing Zionism and the purpose of Israel ? may cease to exist because of demographic shifts.
 
Check out ?Whither Progressive Zionism? here. 
 
 

 
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