Post by ck4829 on Aug 13, 2017 12:17:25 GMT
Why the Democratic Socialists of America are experiencing a boom
or the Democratic Socialists of America, there has been a silver-lining in this dark year dominated by Trump. Thanks to a post-election membership boom, the organization is now 25,000 people strong. The DSA has become the largest socialist organization since the heyday of Eugene Debs and the Socialist Party of America at the turn of the 20th century.
Most of the new members of the organization have been young people, whose affinity for socialist ideas – or at the very least a rejection of capitalism – has been growing in recent years as the punishing blows of neoliberalism have placed them in a more precarious place than ever before.
This newfound energy was on display at their biennial convention last weekend in Chicago, where approximately 1,000 delegates from dozens of chapters around the country gathered to debate resolutions, set priorities for the next two years, and elect people to serve on the National Political Committee.
So why has the DSA’s membership increased three-fold since Donald Trump won? The first reason is the most obvious one: the Bernie Sanders effect.
While polls had shown a growing dissatisfaction with capitalism in the wake of the Great Recession, there had not been a national figure that was able to coalesce that disquiet into an alternative vision for society, politics, and economy.
It was thought that Barack Obama might be this person at one point, but disillusionment set in once it became clear that Obama was not keen on using his mandate for the kind of truly transformational change that had been promised throughout his 2008 campaign for president.
...
Because while the stock market is rising to new heights, people can see that they are not any richer than they were before. The unemployment rate is down, but people are still working multiple jobs and 16-hour days just to get by.
The television and radio sets across America tell the working class that sunny days are here again, but the first of every month brings the dark storm clouds of impossible choices and ever-increasing austerity.
Where organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America go from here is uncertain, but one thing is clear: those who toil and struggle from paycheck to paycheck have a growing number of organizations dedicated to ending their plight.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/12/democratic-socialists-america-experiencing-boom
or the Democratic Socialists of America, there has been a silver-lining in this dark year dominated by Trump. Thanks to a post-election membership boom, the organization is now 25,000 people strong. The DSA has become the largest socialist organization since the heyday of Eugene Debs and the Socialist Party of America at the turn of the 20th century.
Most of the new members of the organization have been young people, whose affinity for socialist ideas – or at the very least a rejection of capitalism – has been growing in recent years as the punishing blows of neoliberalism have placed them in a more precarious place than ever before.
This newfound energy was on display at their biennial convention last weekend in Chicago, where approximately 1,000 delegates from dozens of chapters around the country gathered to debate resolutions, set priorities for the next two years, and elect people to serve on the National Political Committee.
So why has the DSA’s membership increased three-fold since Donald Trump won? The first reason is the most obvious one: the Bernie Sanders effect.
While polls had shown a growing dissatisfaction with capitalism in the wake of the Great Recession, there had not been a national figure that was able to coalesce that disquiet into an alternative vision for society, politics, and economy.
It was thought that Barack Obama might be this person at one point, but disillusionment set in once it became clear that Obama was not keen on using his mandate for the kind of truly transformational change that had been promised throughout his 2008 campaign for president.
...
Because while the stock market is rising to new heights, people can see that they are not any richer than they were before. The unemployment rate is down, but people are still working multiple jobs and 16-hour days just to get by.
The television and radio sets across America tell the working class that sunny days are here again, but the first of every month brings the dark storm clouds of impossible choices and ever-increasing austerity.
Where organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America go from here is uncertain, but one thing is clear: those who toil and struggle from paycheck to paycheck have a growing number of organizations dedicated to ending their plight.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/12/democratic-socialists-america-experiencing-boom
