If our goal is to build a principled socialist movement with revolutionary ambitions, the very idea of two-party rule should be noxious to us and we must fight it tooth and nail. We need to conquer the ballot—to force a democratizing overhaul of the American electoral system.
OP-ED: We’re all Bad Socialists and That’s OK: A Call for Wholehearted Praxis By Joshua Whitaker This piece is the first in a series we’re calling “Bad Socialists.” DSA has ambitions for real national coordination as an unprecedentedly decentralized organization. This series aims to improve our internal discourse and operation in order to support those…
Editor’s Note: Recently Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was drawn into a public discussion of Israel, Palestine, and occupation. In response, numerous DSA debates have emerged regarding DSA’s position on such matters. The following is one position, and here is another. Open Letter Concerning Ocasio-Cortez and Palestine To Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the DSA National Electoral Committee, and DSA’s New York City chapter,…
Editor’s Note: Recently Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was drawn into a public discussion of Israel, Palestine, and occupation. In response, numerous DSA debates have emerged regarding DSA’s position on such matters. The following is one position, and here is another. Palestine is not an Excuse for Bad Strategy by Charles Lenchner A popular taxonomy identifies four kinds of activists. At…
Last year, Charlottesville became an international “symbol” of far-right extremism. Residents of our city suffered ongoing harassment, violence, and racism over the course of the summer, culminating in the deadly rallies on August 11 at the University of Virginia and August 12 in downtown Charlottesville. Organized by local fascists, white supremacists near and far gathered…
By C.M. Lewis Democratic Socialists of America has expended extraordinary energy debating a proper approach to electoral politics. With some exceptions, the primary positions fall into two categories: Seth Ackerman’s plan for the ballot line, and building a mass, independent working class party (in full disclosure, I favor Ackerman’s approach with some small reservations).…
By Thomas McGath While DSA Weekly has lately been debating the significance of “the gig economy,” some of us are trying to find other ways to work without losing our lives. Our lives are made of time. I decided to look at the nature of work in the neoliberal world and explore its material…
Renovating the House of LaborBy C.M. Lewis How we define the labor movement, how we interact with it, and what we want from it are questions to which we desperately need answers. Recent work on "the gig economy" offers a start to a discussion that needs to be had openly, involving both organized and unorganized…
Members of NYC-DSA are voting on whether to endorse Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane Williams’ run for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively. While we respect our comrades who support endorsement, we nevertheless encourage our fellow members to vote “no” on an endorsement and sign on to this letter. Members of NYC-DSA are voting on whether to…
By Charles Lenchner With Cynthia Nixon’s campaign and DSA’s consideration of endorsing her, the points below are meant to contextualize her fight for governor in the broader battle for socialism. 1.“Democratic Socialism” is a long standing current on the left that has many adherents. Some strong, some weak. Some new, some old.…
