We the members of the Eugene chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America declare we are, as socialists have been throughout world history, against war, including any war the current administration may be seeking with the people of Iran.

As American socialist Eugene Debs who was jailed for opposing WWI said 102 years ago, “The master class has always declared the wars. The subject class has always fought the battles.”

But in all the history of the world, Debs said, we the people, have never had a voice in declaring war, and strange as it certainly appears, no war by any nation in any age has ever been declared by the people.

To resist war and stop it, we need in this country and in this town, a broad-based, worker-led antiwar movement that is led by the communities most affected by the outbreak of war. Our voices must counter those of warmongering Republicans, collaborationist Democrats and a press that repeats war propaganda uncritically.

Beyond simply declaring we are against war, we understand that people want to know what we can do to stop the march to war, given the fact our leaders aren’t looking to we ordinary working people for permission to launch still more bloody and pointless conflict.

Our members have suggested the following actions:

• Identify businesses in our backyard that profit from war as members of the military-industrial complex. This is the first step in pushing back against the influence capitalists have in pushing working folks into wars.
• Interfere with military recruitment efforts, particularly when recruiters target the young at our high schools and the University of Oregon. We want people to know they’re good for something other than cannon fodder.
• Connect with local antiwar groups and help with organization efforts when and where our input would be welcomed.
• Pressure our elected officials to cut the military budget. The Pentagon has more than it has even asked for, and the people don’t have enough. The solution is obvious.
• Reach out to the Eugene Iranian, Syrian and Iraqi population for advice and mutual aid.
• Recommend reading so we can better understand how the US’ adventures overseas have made the world a crueler place for all kinds of people. If we don’t know our history, we will continue to repeat it.

The people of Iran deserve peace, happiness, safety, health and plenty just as everyone else in the world does. No matter where in the world we live, working people have the same enemy: A ruling class that starves us, neglects us, exploits us and sends us to die in ridiculous wars.

We declare that we have more in common with one another than we do with the ruling class — propaganda be damned. Therefore, we will not stand by and let the capitalists drag us into another war that most Americans don’t want and most Iranians do not want.

No war but the class war.

The members of the Eugene chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America

January 12, 2020

Monthly Meeting Time!

Join the Miami Democratic Socialists of America for our body-wide Monthly Meeting where we’ll be talking about our ongoing Bernie campaign, our working groups, and interviewing Melba Pearson, a candidate for Miami Dade State Attorney who is seeking our chapter’s endorsement. Pearson is challenging longtime incumbent Katherine Fernandez Rundle and is running on proposals such as ending cash bail, holding police accountable and winding down War on Drugs policies. Please come with questions about her platform and past experience that will help inform our endorsement process. You can read more about her candidacy here:

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-prosecutor-candidate-melba-pearson-wants-bail-reform-police-misconduct-accountability-11432351

The meeting will be held at 2:00pm on Sunday, February 23rd at the Center for Social Change at 2103 Coral Way, 2nd Floor. Location is WC accessible. Food and drinks will be provided. There is paid street parking and a garage connected to the building.

Hope to see you there!

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Miami DSA for Bernie Canvassing and Training

Join our local Bernie 2020 campaign!! Meet us at 12:00 noon on Saturday for a detailed training on door-to-door conversations, followed by canvassing at 1 p.m. We’ll be knocking on doors making the case for a Sanders presidency and for deep working-class organizing between elections. Let’s get some wins!! Event starts at the Belafonte TACOLCY Center located at 6161 NW 9th Ave, Miami, FL 33127.

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Film Screening This Friday

This month’s film screening will discuss the local history and impacts of gentrification on the Black community in Miami. We will watch two short documentaries: Golden Side of the Tracks and Liberty Square: Power, History, & Race in Miami.

In addition, we will have Ms. Rose Adams, the leader of the Annie Coleman public housing project’s resident council, speak about the displacement of their residents and privatization of public housing in their Brownsville community. We are raising funds to help Annie Coleman residents keep up the fight against displacement and gentrification.

Event starts Friday at 7 PM – 10 PM at Space Mountain, 738 NW 62nd Street, Miami, Florida 33150

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You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM.

Click Here to view the full issue

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM.

Click Here to view the full issue

Jay Forth is a graduate from Duke Divinity, a director of homeless outreach at a nonprofit in DC, previously he was the executive director of Festival Center, a faith-based space for organizing. In this wide-ranging conversation, Sarah talks with Jay about a paper he published linking the book, The Making of the Indebted Man: An Essay on the Neoliberal Condition by Maurizio Lazzarato and Jonathan Edwards’s sermon on sinners in the hands of an angry God. He also shares what it was like to grow up with black Jamaican immigrant parents, tenant organizing, and why queerness should not be just an identity, seamlessly connecting threads from racism to queerness to capitalism to the gospel.

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM.

Over 100 MADSA members turned out for our first general meeting of the year on Jan. 25, a record high (thanks to the Membership Committee phone bankers!).This meeting was all about DSA looking for ways we can have a direct impact on the policies of our state. After a brief presentation on how bills are passed by the Georgia legislature and how citizens can lobby and track those bills, a distinguished panel including Sen. Nan Orrock, Rep. Park Cannon, and leaders of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, the Labor Council, SPARK, the Feminist Women’s Health Center and others, clued us in about what to expect from the upcoming legislative session; who is fighting for working people’s interests in Georgia; and how to get involved.

A breakout session provided an opportunity for members to connect with our working groups and committees that help us take action, among them Immigrant Justice, Afro-Socialism, Ecosocialism, Political Education, MADSA for Bernie, Anti-war, Women’s Caucus/Reproductive Rights and Mutual Aid (which had held a brake light clinic earlier that day and provided refreshments for the meeting).

After a lively debate, we voted on whether to endorse two candidates for Georgia congressional seats. A separate blog post on the results will follow soon. The proposal for bylaws revisions was tabled to February’s meeting due to lack of time.

Following announcements of upcoming events and singing “Solidarity Forever,” we adjourned and many of us gathered for more solidarity at a friendly bar and restaurant on the Edgewood strip.

MADSA’s monthly general meetings welcome everyone, although voting is limited to dues-paying members.W

Photo: Michael Roberts

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com. You can find us on our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com or on twitter @nycRPM.