Democratic Left

23/08/2023

Through the tragic story of Sacco and Vanzetti, and the inspiring images of those who keep their memories alive, audiences will experience a universal – and very timely – tale of official injustice and human resilience.

17/07/2023

20/06/2023

“After emancipation there would come questions of labor, wage and political power. But now, first, must be demanded that ordinary human freedom and recognition of essential manhood which slavery blasphemously denied. This philosophy of freedom was a logical continuation of the freedom philosophy o...

11/05/2023

Actual good news!

Rutgers historian, union rep and DSA member Whitney Strub's insider account of the first faculty strike in Rutgers’ 250-plus year history , and probably the largest public-sector strike in New Jersey history

24/04/2023

Climate disinformation puts the future of our planet at risk.

22/03/2023

The twentieth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq reminded me of something I will be bitter about for the rest of my life.

31/01/2023

Time to revisit this on its 175th birthday, says China Mieville and Paul Buhle

A Spectre, Haunting: On The Communist Manifesto By China Miéville, Haymarket Books, 2022 Every leftwinger across at least four generations, in a bewildering number of global locations and languages, was likely to have a story about an early personal encounter with “the manifesto.” A falloff in ...

16/01/2023

On Martin Luther King Day, leftists remember that his heart was with democratic socialists, mainstream writers talk about his dream and today’s realities, and rightwingers contort themselves to claim something of his legacy. Even if you;re a person who knows nothing about King, you’ve probably...

04/01/2023

The world is burning. Climate change continues unabated, and although there have been encouraging signs of international cooperation, much of it seems too little, too late. Over the summer, heat waves shattered records across the globe, leading to excess deaths, catastrophic crop failures, and treme...

22/12/2022

In many communities, December 21 is the date when a local house of worship serves as the host of a Longest Night service memorializing the homeless persons who died in the past year. In my community of Indianapolis, Christ Church Cathedral at the center of downtown began last year’s event by rin...

05/12/2022

“Chile was the cradle of neoliberalism, it will also be its grave.” — Chilean president Gabriel Boric On September 4, 2022, Chilean voters rejected a constitution that had been hailed as a “‘new global standard’ on climate and inequality.” The new draft was written to replace the 1980 ...

09/11/2022

A red wave did materialize Tuesday night, just not the one pundits expected. DSA-endorsed campaigns saw huge victories across the country – the protection of abortion rights in Kentucky, the increase of the tipped minimum wage in DC, a sweep of DSA candidates in the Twin Cities, and more. While we...

31/10/2022

As our 40th Anniverary year winds down, many thanks to Steve Early for sharing his thoughts.

All year, we at DL have been hearkening back to 40 years ago, when a new organization was born out of a risky merger. We asked DL regular Steve Early to reflect on his prescient piece in the issue below (PDF link here). It also included Barbara Ehrenreich’s thoughts on the recent defeat of the…

21/10/2022

What happens when socialists "go into industry."

Review: Fighting Times: Organizing on the Front Lines of the Class War By Jon Melrod (PM Press, 2022) This year, young militants have sent shock waves through the labor landscape by unionizing under the nose of corporate America, at brand-name juggernauts from Starbucks to Amazon to Chipotle and bey...

20/10/2022

This might go on my wall.

Inhabitants of some Kissinger's "often-resistant" places might have been interested in another book.

14/10/2022

Last month, Democratic Left carried out an interview with a non-union Starbucks worker (SW). This interview is with a DSA San Francisco member and union organizer in the Castro Starbucks store.

14/10/2022

Today is Indigenous Peoples' Day!

The place we now call Wisconsin is the ancestral land of many Native nations who call this place home, and we are honored to be a place of stories, memory, and living tradition for all. Today, Wisconsin is home to twelve Native nations.

Indigenous people are an inextricable part of Wisconsin’s past and present, and yet, in so many damaging ways, they have been missing from the stories we tell. There are no references to Indigenous people on our state flag, for example. We too often talk about pioneers coming to this state without acknowledging the violent removal of Indigenous people that made European immigration possible. And often history lessons fail to communicate that people of Native nations are not just part of the past — they are a crucial part of Wisconsin today!

We take this day to acknowledge the Indigenous people of Wisconsin, the past, current, and future stewards of this land we stand on.

To learn more about American Indians in Wisconsin, check out https://wisconsinfirstnations.org/

📷: Map of Wisconsin First Nations — Treaty lands in 1800 and present-day tribal lands: Wisconsinfirstnations.org

11/10/2022

Just look at that map for one second.

In the poverty report of the U.S. Census, “Poverty in the United States: 2021,” released on September 13, there was some good news. The official poverty rate stood at 11.6% of the population. That was essentially the same as the rate (11.5%) in 2020. Amazingly, it was just a little higher than i...

18/08/2022

DSA Disability Working Group makes an important contribution to the debate around 2023 Convention.

When we propose a hybrid convention, we do not do so because of caucus affiliations but because living as disabled people under capitalism forces us to confront an uncomfortable truth: Those who have good health, the resiliency of youth, and ability to withstand the intensity of labor demanded by ca...

04/08/2022

An essay that really adds to the SCOTUS conversation.

The time has come to decide for ourselves whether or not we accept the actions of this Supreme Court as reasonable.

02/08/2022

A labor-history amuse-bouche, notes Chris Riddiough.

Buried in this sentimental concoction are two tales of labor organizing.

16/07/2022

Hmmmmm.....

This airline could become one facet of a state-owned transportation system that optimizes travel by train, plane, and bus to maximize quality of life while preserving the planet,

06/07/2022

Thank you,Viral Mistry

The history of the Mexican Revolution has been largely overlooked by the modern U.S. Left. Bad Mexicans introduces readers to Ricardo Flores Magón and co.

30/06/2022

Thanks for this, Steve Early and Suzanne Gordon!

The goal of Sanders' "Stop Jeff Bezos Act" legislation was to force Amazon to reimburse the federal government for the cost of public benefits, like Medicaid or food stamps, that thousands of its workers are eligible to collect because their pay is so low. Sanders’s attempt to hold the company acc...

28/06/2022

Thanks to Alice Embree and the Rag Blog for this timely reading.

Before Roe v. Wade went to the Supreme Court, feminist activists throughout the country were agitating against restrictions on birth control, abortion, and access to reproductive healthcare. In Austin, many who would later become DSA members were involved in an underground newspaper whose volunteer....

23/06/2022

While we wait for Dobbs, from Liz Weston about the struggles still to come

Today, many of the issues that led to reproductive rights activism in the 1970s and 1980s are back in the headlines. DSA chapters and members are joining with local organizations to protest the possible overturn of Roe. We are also involved in fighting against racism. These concerns are not separabl...

20/06/2022

It’s a Friday night in Berlin, and Jeremy Corbyn has the audience at the “Socialism in our Time” rapt. “The socialist idea is about people working together, solidarity with our fellow human beings, and unleashing the creativity and the wonder that’s in everybody.” The crowd erupts with e...

09/06/2022

I will always remember Urvashi for the passion with which she argued for her perspectives on activism and movement building as well as for the way she was willing to embrace people and draw them to her, even when there were political differences.

29/05/2022

Lots of wisdom here, from Richard Healey to Jack Clark.

The task of political education is to provide a grounding and the dynamics and strategy of building a larger front. this. How do you do it state by state? How do you build a left-center coalition that elects good people to the state legislatures, the cities, and most important, the Congress.

24/05/2022

Was waiting to hear from Stricker about all this. Were you?

The official unemployment rate stayed low in April at 3.6%. It has been at or below 4.0% since December of 2021. The official rate is only about half the real unemployment rate (9.3%–see the Full Count of the National Jobs for All Network at www.njfac.org), but remembering that the official rate r...