Local officials approved the development of a network of tunnels for one of the most nonsensical means of transportation ever conceived – Teslas in Tunnels. As per the Verge report, “dubbed the “Vegas Loop,” the system will allow passengers to hitch rides in Teslas to and from places like the hotel casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, the city’s new football stadium, the Las Vegas Convention Center, and McCarran International Airport.” As usual, the Loop is a pet project of a union-busting New Gilded Age autocrat: Elon Musk.

The idea is not difficult to understand. Instead of restricting cars to the surface, the rich will build more roads underground but reserved for companies whose profits go back to Elon Musk and his shareholders. The Boring Company – probably the most apt name for a corporation specializing in inefficient and unhelpful transportation “innovations” ever coined – says “roads must go 3D,” after all.

Breathtaking stuff.

Supposedly, this network is “citywide.” Even a cursory glance at the proposed map shows the truth. The tunnels are not citywide. The tunnels will link the Strip to the Convention Center and Downtown. Beyond that, the tunnels will cross west all the way to the incredibly-distant landmark of Arville Street and as far east as the remote Thomas and Mack Center.

The Boring Company has done every possible thing to avoid interacting with locals. The “citywide” network avoids most of the city where the people live and reside. Even though we – the clerks, the casino workers, the cooks and the waiters – built this city, the vast majority of us do not receive the benefits of development.

The Vegas Loop is designed around the consumption needs of the wealthy and the tourists. Both groups, both whiter than Las Vegas’s local communities, can reach their next consumption feasts by hailing fancy, shiny Teslas underground. The novelty even comes with a feel-good bonus. For the small price of lining Musk’s pockets with yet even more money, they can use electric vehicles – how progressive! How advanced! Ignore the cost of current electric vehicle development on the environment vis a vis lithium extraction, of course.

Teslas in Tunnels do nothing more than facilitate the flow of capital. In the short term, that is largely the river of gold from one casino to another in Las Vegas. In the long term, as more and more consumers enjoy the comforts of Teslas, the tunnels lead back to more and more purchases of Teslas. Capital flows from tourists to Boring and from Boring to Tesla, all of which proceeds to Elon Musk. The people see none of the money and none of the benefits.

Las Vegas development tends to follow this capital-centric trend. Billionaires view Vegas as a neon playground for their egoistic fantasies, designed not around beneficial public policy but rather whatever unhinged whims possess them. Conveniently, these fancies allow them to collect more and more capital, funding more and more of their ego trips in the desert.

Their harebrained impulses face little resistance. Usually, policymakers and decisionmakers meekly obey the billionaires’ decrees with stamps of approval on each and every ego trip development scheme. In this Wild West of a new Gilded Age, anything goes as long as you have the money to back it up. That includes Teslas in Tunnels from the Boring Company, a plan straight out of a cyberpunk dystopian novel.

If the needs of the people were served, these 29 miles of tunnels connecting 51 stations would be the advent of a new subway system across Las Vegas. The tunnels would expand west to Summerlin, throughout North Vegas, and link Eastside with the rest of the city. A subway would not only be a more efficient transportation system than cars in tunnels; it would also combat the exact issues that the Boring Company point to as their excuses for further capital accumulation, like decreasing road congestion. A subway would just solve those issues more effectively.

Teslas in Tunnels is one of the most vapid projects for transportation ever devised to date. The best we can do with the entire scheme is let Elon Musk build his tunnels and then promptly take them over to build our subway. Policymakers should take note.

Today we’re talking with Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest and her district manager Justin Freeman about how they are bringing their socialist office directly to the community they represent and are building power not just to win elections, but pass legislation that meaningful changes the lives of the working class in Brooklyn like the Less is More bill, which was signed into law this year, and Public Power and ‘Good Cause Eviction’ bill which are top priorities for DSA electeds this upcoming legislative session.

And it’s not just the power in the halls of government that is being challenged by organizers in New York City right now. Workers are taking on one of the most powerful and influential Ivy League universities and newspapers in the country at the same time. We’ll hear from RPM’s own Chris Carr who is one of many union members of the Student Workers of Columbia currently on strike and from one of the New York Times’ Wirecutter union members who plan to strike on Black Friday.

Follow Phara and Justin on twitter @phara4assembly and @JustinR_Freeman

and get involved with Phara's office at bit.ly/pharaoffice 

The Portland DSA calls on the DSA National Political Committee to censure or expel Representative Jamaal Bowman from the Democratic Socialists of America

In the past weeks, Rep. Bowman has:

1. Voted to provide military aid to Israel to fund the “Iron Dome” missile defense system
2. Traveled on a propaganda delegation to Israel
3. Visited the Israeli Knesset, met with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, and met and posed for a photo with far-right Zionist Prime Minister Naftali Bennett

DSA passed its first political platform outlining the principles of the organization at our 2021 convention. The platform, passed overwhelmingly by our national organization’s highest decision making body, makes our position on Palestinian liberation quite clear. In the section titled International Solidarity, Anti-Imperialism, and Anti-Militarism, the platform states:

• “Stand in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against apartheid, colonialism, and military occupation, and for equality, human rights, and self-determination, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”
• “Discontinue US support of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people, including an end to all military aid and resisting the ‘normalization’ of relations between the Israeli government and other governments.”
• “Support self-determination for the Palestinian people and a political solution to the current crisis premised on the guarantee of basic human rights, including an end to the military occupation, an end to discrimination against Palestinians within Israel, and the right of return of refugees, as outlined in the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.”

Portland DSA stands in full solidarity with the struggle for Palestinian liberation and affirms the national platform’s commitment to that cause. We note that Representative Bowman’s choice to undermine our commitment to BDS places him in substantial disagreement with our principles, as outlined by our platform. Additionally, Article I, Section III of DSA’s National Bylaws states:

Members can be expelled if they are found to be in substantial disagreement with the principles or policies of the organization or if they consistently engage in undemocratic, disruptive behavior or if they are under the discipline of any self-defined democratic-centralist organization.

When our organization works to elect representatives to public office, we must hold them to a standard that truly represents the beliefs of our membership. Representative Bowman’s actions directly contradict the democratically decided positions of DSA, both as a member and as a DSA-endorsed elected official. As such, we recommend the NPC do the following.

1. Determine a disciplinary action, such as a commitment not to re-endorse Representative Bowman for reelection, a censure, or expulsion from the organization.
2. Develop a policy for DSA-endorsed elected officials that outlines escalating measures for repeated instances of actions in contradiction with the national platform. The policy should leave the NPC the flexibility to determine measures commensurate with the transgressions committed by the elected official and should include expulsion as a final measure.

We believe in a democratic organization where members are accountable to each other and it is time that we hold Representative Jamaal Bowman accountable. His actions and statements run counter to our values and our recently adopted national platform. Within the last few months, Bowman has voted in favor of $3.3 billion in military aid to Israel and $1 billion in funding for Israel’s Iron Dome, as well as toured Israel, posting pictures of himself with the leader of an apartheid regime.

These are not inconsequential actions that can be written off as a difference of opinion. As our national political platform states, “as socialists living in the heart of the American empire, we must oppose imperialism and work to address, cease, and heal the harm caused by our ruling class.” In May, DSA also released a statement claiming that it stood “in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against apartheid, colonialism, and military occupation, and for equality, justice, and self-determination.” However, with his actions, Bowman sides with the ruling class in upholding imperialism.

Bowman’s actions are not abstract. By directly supporting Israeli aparetheid and endorsing Zionism, Bowman condones the continued Israeli settlement of Palestinian land, as well as the forced displacement, genocide, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. This is happening in real time —as we see in Sheikh Jarrah and in the open-air prison of the Gaza Strip, for example. This stands in direct opposition to the portion of the national platform that calls for solidarity with Palestinians and “for equality, human rights, and self-determination, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”

Here in Las Vegas, our chapter has developed a close relationship with Palestinian rights organizations and we count them among our strongest allies locally. To continue to ignore these actions by a national representative of our organization, the face of one of our largest campaigns, compromises our coalition and forces us to betray comrades with whom we have shared struggles.

Las Vegas DSA calls on the National Political Committee to demonstrate a commitment to our organization’s values by standing in solidarity with Palestinians and expelling Representative Jamaal Bowman from DSA.

This reading is part of the Imperialism Study Series put together by DSA Los Angeles and used in our own Socialist Night School study sessions on imperialism. The reading comes from module 2, “America’s Ascent Into Power.”

The excerpted version of “The Specificity of Imperialism” (PDF) by Salar Mohandesi that we are reading for our study series is approximately 8,900 words with an estimated reading time of 32 minutes.

Beginning:

“Imperialism,” David Harvey announced at a roundtable last year, should be seen as a “sort of metaphor, rather than anything real.” This came as quite a shock, not least because it was none other than Harvey himself who wrote one of the most acclaimed accounts of contemporary imperialism, The New Imperialism.

Harvey went on to explain that recent developments in capitalism – such as multinational corporations, technological networks, or shifts in the global division of labor – have raised enormous questions about how we understand imperialism today. What, for example, are we to make of the fact that Latin America is being turned into a massive soybean plantation, with most of the exports headed for China? Or, to take a similar, though even more drastic example that Harvey does not mention, how can we explain the fact that the single greatest U.S. export to China is soybeans, while China’s biggest export to the United States is computers? Does that make China an imperialist power? Is it extracting wealth from the periphery? Is the United States slipping into the periphery?

Reality, Harvey suggested, has become far too complicated for conventional models of imperialism. In fact, the concept of imperialism has become a kind of “straightjacket,” preventing us from really understanding new historical developments.

Keep reading (PDF)

Want to Know More?

The full version of Salar Mohandesi’s “The Specificity of Imperialism” can be read at Viewpoint Magazine. It is about 13,500 words with a 49-minute read time.

Election day was Tuesday and DSA’s 30+ nationally-endorsed campaigns were put to voters. With a nearly 70% win rate for DSA's campaigns nationally, there's much to discuss about organizing for socialism at the ballot box and the rising tensions between the left and the existing Democratic establishment. On tonight’s show,  we'll share provisional election results and an interview with a DSA-endorsed candidate for Somerville, Massachusetts City Council, Tessa Bridge.

Here in NYC, Eric Adams has -- unfortunately -- swept to victory as mayor. Adams has publicly distanced himself from the left and socialism, so to extend the courtesy, let us just say that *all* cops are bastards.  How are we going to beat Adams and the bourgeois, capitalist interests he represents? We discuss that question live with our comrade Robert Cuffy, a union city worker and police abolitionist who organizes with NYC-DSA's Labor Branch and Afrosocialist Caucus.

We also hear a report from RPM's antifascist correspondent Amy Wilson on the rise of far-right organizing in New York City around the wedge issue of mandates for COVID-19 vaccine.

Keep up with the results of DSA's nationally-endorsed races as they develop, thanks to our comrades at Metro DC DSA: https://washingtonsocialist.mdcdsa.org/station-z/dsa-races-2021

The Comanche 3 Coal Plant is the largest single source of air pollution in Colorado. It’s a massive generating station southeast of Pueblo where you can see the smoke from miles away. To avert the worst of the climate crisis we need to shut it down as soon as possible.

A Bad Idea from the Beginning

One of the tragedies of the Comanche Coal Plant is that it was built in 2010. We were already experiencing record-breaking heat waves and other extreme weather events from climate change. It was clear then that building new coal plants was a death sentence.

Yet, Xcel Energy pushed for the project and the Public Utility Commission (PUC), responsible for regulating Xcel, gave the project the green light.

The project cost nearly a $1 billion to build. Since it came on line, not only has the electricity been dirty, but it has struggled to even work. Break downs have cost hundreds of millions of dollars to fix. It’s one of the most expensive, unreliable sources of energy in our state.

It’s criminal that Xcel built this coal plant and that the PUC allowed the project to go through.

Glaring Example of Environmental Racism

The Comanche Coal Plant sits near the heavily working class and Latino city of Pueblo. One out of every ten adults has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, more than twice the state average. As is so often the case, frontline communities endure the worst harms of running coal while Wall Street investors reap the profits.

Join the Fight to Close the Comanche Coal Plant

Originally Xcel planned on running the coal plant until 2070. After public outcry and determined organizing, that date was pushed back to 2050, then again to 2040 and now finally 2035. However, the science is clear that coal needs to wind down by 2030.

Xcel just proposed its ten year plan to the Public Utility Commission (PUC). The PUC is responsible for listening to public comments and deciding what the final plan will be.

Hundreds of people have already submitted comments telling the PUC to close all coal plants, especially Comanche 3, by 2030.

Luckily, the PUC has new commissioners from the one that approved construction of the plant in the first place. We have a good chance of convincing them to do the right thing, but we need to show an outpouring of support for closing the coal plant to make that happen.

Three ways to help Close the Comanche Coal Plant

1. Write a comment demanding that the Comanche 3 Coal Plant close.
2. Join our DSA Climate Comment & Watch Party on December 2nd
3. Email ecosocialist.committee@denverdsa.org to join us in building power for a Just Transition