Enjoy your December Dispatch! This month, reach out to your chapters, read and share socialist political education, and get involved!

• From Maria: Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize
• Volunteer with the National Tech Committee!
• Socialist Forum Fall Issue Out Now
• Call for Submissions: Socialist Forum Winter Issue
• From the National Political Committee: A Statement on the Question of Expelling Congressman Bowman

FROM MARIA: KEEPING OUR EYES ON THE PRIZE

Did you know that the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) will take place in Hungary, a country ruled by authoritarian prime minister Viktor Orban? Orban’s message of restoring “Christian” purity, making Hungary “great again” by keeping out migrants, suppressing the votes of those he deems not “real” Hungarians, and packing the courts should all sound familiar. The same people who now look to Hungary are the ones defending Republican Congressman Paul Gosar for implicitly threatening the life of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez last month.

Unfortunately, we can’t rely on the Wall Street Democrats to build an effective defense against the far right. The best strategy is a strong offence. But while the GOP in state after state is stripping voting rights and the Supreme Court is rolling back decades of legal precedents with abortion (which reproductive justice organizers long expected), the Democrats who control the House, the Senate and the White House couldn’t even push through the Biden and Bernie Build Back Better package, even when it has been watered down and neoliberalized to the point of being unrecognizable.

So we have a choice. Do we turn away from politics, or do we stand and fight? It’s been an exhausting two years under the pandemic, and retreating to spend time with family and friends seems seductive. But that road leads to ruin. Some of us can’t afford to wait, we’re already underwater. Others may think we’re doing OK, but just wait until Wall Street drives the economy off a cliff and the new brand of Republicans take back Congress and possibly the White House.

Solidarity is the only way we win. We know a strong labor movement is a bulwark against authoritarians, so our labor work is key. Striking Kellogg workers just voted to reject a contract that would have created a divisive second tier of workers, and DSAers are walking picket lines and strengthening their unions across the country. Organizing ordinary people not already involved in political groups is also central to our work, so our electoral work and non-legislative pressure campaigns in chapters bring new people into the movement. We are laser-focused on building people power — the multiracial working class movement capable of changing our conditions.

In the wise words of Ursula K. Le Guin, “We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.”

You know what to do.

In struggle,

Maria Svart
DSA National Director

VOLUNTEER WITH THE NATIONAL TECH COMMITTEE!

The National Tech Committee (NTC) is looking for volunteers to get involved with our Chapter Websites project. This is a no cost and wide-reaching project which will involve making sure nearly 100 DSA Chapters and Organizing Committees currently lacking a website are provided one by the NTC.

We’re looking for members with web development experience, but are very open to members without any who are willing to learn. You will be assisting with the development of several websites along with interfacing with the respective Chapter’s leadership, to ensure that all content, statements, or other expected pages for a DSA chapter are included on the final delivered product.

Want to get involved? Know someone who might be a good fit? Reach out through this form to get mobilized!

SOCIALIST FORUM FALL ISSUE OUT NOW

The Fall 2021 of Socialist Forum, DSA’s quarterly long-form publication of theory, strategy, and debate, is now live. This issue tackles a wide range of topics, from the US-China rivalry, to the nature of American-style political parties, to the challenge of reactivating and reengaging retirees and older members in DSA’s work. As always, we invite readers to submit responses to any of these articles to our inbox at [email protected].

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: SOCIALIST FORUM WINTER ISSUE

All DSA members are invited to submit ideas for articles for the Winter 2022 issue of DSA’s Socialist Forum, a quarterly publication of theory, strategy, and debate. Pitches must be submitted by 11:59pm on Thursday, 12/23 in order to be considered. If your pitch is accepted, the full article should be roughly 3500-4000 words in length. Please note that submissions are not officially accepted until after editors review the first draft of a full article. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected].

FROM THE NATIONAL POLITICAL COMMITTEE: A STATEMENT ON THE QUESTION OF EXPELLING CONGRESSMAN BOWMAN

The National Political Committee, DSA’s elected leadership body, has released a statement on our relationship with Congressman Jamaal Bowman following his recent trip to Israel with J Street. You can find the full statement here.