Against the Militarization of Portland
SIGN ON: Fight Authoritarianism with the “Full Force” of the Working Class
Organizations and unions: Sign on to this letter and add organizational info here.
As Trump continues to sow terror on the working class, we, the undersigned organizations, are committed to protecting our rights to organize freely without fear of state repression. Engaging in peaceful protest and criticism of the government and the current social order is essential to democracy and freedom.
This weekend, Trump published a draconian directive to federal agencies to surveil and disrupt individuals and organizations who exhibit supposed “indicators of violence” including “anti-Americanism”, “anti-capitalism”, “extremism on migration, race, and gender”, and “hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality”. These are obvious signals to repress anyone who criticizes corporations, ICE, Israel, transphobia, patriarchy, Christian nationalism, and anti-abortion policies.
Trump then announced on social media that he would deploy military troops to Portland and use “full force, if necessary.” Oregon is not being targeted for federal intervention because of any actual threat to safety here, but because we have a proud history of demonstrating working-class power such as in street mobilizations, labor militancy, and our recently elected left-leaning Portland City Council. The business lobby alongside both liberal and conservative politicians tried to create the perception of Portland being a crime-ridden warzone in recent years – and now even they are opposed to troop deployment here.
If Trump sends federal agents or the National Guard to Portland, it will do nothing to solve the daily crises – created by capitalism and made worse by Trump himself – that working Oregonians already face: housing insecurity, low wages, unstable employment, underfunded schools, cuts to public programs, escalating climate disasters, and corporate control of nearly every aspect of our lives.
We condemn the attempts to intimidate working class people, especially immigrants, and contrive an “emergency” to further repress our right to organize and protest.
We declare ourselves part of the century-old movement against fascism.
We pledge to protect members of our organizations, our families, our immigrant neighbors and our communities against Trump’s intimidation and violence. We pledge non-cooperation and resistance against illegal, unconstitutional violations of our human rights. We encourage all dissidents to organize at work, at school, in their neighborhoods, and in their faith communities.
We pledge to mobilize the power of our members in collective actions, as we know how:
- Withhold our labor or creatively deploy our labor
- Coordinate direct actions such as pickets, marches, rallies, vigils, and caravans
- Engage in civil disobedience such as sit-downs and sit-ins
- Display our union banners and wear our union gear at work and in public
- Display yard signs and window signs expressing our unity against fascism
- Encourage individual federal agents and National Guard troops to disobey unlawful orders
- Encourage our members and all resisters to participate in surveillance and rapid response to ICE, federal agent, and troop activity
People power is the only way to stop authoritarianism and create a better world that we all deserve.
The post Against the Militarization of Portland appeared first on Portland DSA.
The Capitalists Are Right: We Need to Work Harder
“Nobody cares, work harder.”
I watch my parents work themselves to the bone, while they are constantly exploited by the people for whom they work, and the capitalists who are oh so nice enough to afford them a place to live, while taking every opportunity to take more without reason and say, “That’s just how it works.”
My people sacrifice their bodies to erect buildings for companies that will exploit and discriminate against them. They leave their homeland, ravaged by corporations, corruption, colonialism, and imperialism, to build homes they may never be able to afford themselves.
I came across a forum post in which users were venting about their frustration, no, their hopelessness, in not being able to find a job in a system that requires you to have one to afford the most basic human necessities.
I sat back and read as many admitted they just don’t see an end in sight, and were looking at heartbreaking alternatives to ease the suffering.
But we’re told we just need to “work harder.”
“Work.” Rich, coming from those who don’t seem to understand its meaning.
“But you don’t understand, if you work hard enough, you too will one day own capital. You, too, will one day be a big shot!”
Okay, even if that were true, then what?
What happens when we’re all filthy rich CEOs? At the expense of exploiting other countries, mind you, but that’s a whole other story.
Who will perform the labor?
“You just hire others to do it for you! Better yet, you can replace them all with AI or overseas laborers and pay THEM pennies on the dollar.”
But I thought the capitalist dream was that we all become big shots?
Do you see how that’s an inherently flawed “plan?”
Our participation in this capitalist system leaves us with two options: sell our labor at a tremendous loss, monetary and quality-of-life-wise, or exploit our fellow humans.
What kind of a choice is that?
We work ourselves to death, and for what? Low wages, maybe some benefits, and to be tossed aside at any given moment while CEOs rake in the fruits of our labor.
We’re then, if lucky enough, forced into gig work, meaning even longer hours, less pay, no benefits, and still, the company giving you the wonderful privilege of “being your own boss” takes their unfair cut of your labor.
And if you manage to start your own business free of these parasitic owners, congratulations, you are now in competition with them.
Do you see how hard we’ve been working and continue to work? Do you see how easy these corporations, these capitalists have had it at YOUR expense?
You know what, maybe we do need to work harder.
We need to work harder to take back our labor.
Our time
Our dignity
Our lives.
The post The Capitalists Are Right: We Need to Work Harder first appeared on Salt Lake DSA.
Imagine a World Without Political Violence
Get Up, Get Excited, Get Organized with MADSA!
After an action packed September General Meeting, two important shout-outs are in order:
First, we voted to kickstart a No Appetite for Apartheid Campaign here in Madison. No Appetite for Apartheid is a DSA National campaign launched by the Palestine Solidarity Working Group to pressure grocery stores to become Apartheid Free Stores by dropping companies and products that participate in Israeli apartheid and theft of Palestinian land. The campaign is powered by a number of chapters and coalitions across the country, and the Madison Area chapter will now be engaging in that work as well! As socialists, we stand in solidarity with all those facing settler-colonialism, and as Americans it is our duty to work from within the empire to end American imperialist violence around the world. At the September General Meeting, the chapter voted overwhelmingly to reaffirm this commitment by being the force for change in our own city. We look forward to an apartheid free Madison – and we need your help to get there. To get involved in this important work, join the #palestine-solidarity channel on Slack, check the chapter calendar for upcoming No Appetite for Apartheid (NA4A) planning meetings and events, and read more about the national campaign here.
Second, we voted to charter an Electoral Working Group to formalize the work already being done by the Power Mapping Committee as we prepare for local elections and work towards a statewide electoral strategy. If electoral work is your jam, you’ll definitely want to check out an upcoming EWG meeting, help canvas our neighborhoods with your MADSA comrades, and mark your calendars for the members-only town hall with Rep. Hong on September 29. Why a town hall with Rep. Hong? Well if you haven’t heard, Francesca Hong – a MADSA member and endorsed state legislator – is running for governor! We are excited to see where this campaign goes and to working with Fran on building the democratic socialist movement in Wisconsin. To that end, we must now engage in the process of democratically deciding if and how to get involved in the gubernatorial race. The town hall will be the first step in this process, where members will have the opportunity to ask Fran any and all questions – so don’t miss out! If you’re not yet a member, join DSA today to be able to attend.
If all that isn’t enough action for you, we have so many more exciting events and opportunities to get involved in our growing movement for a better city, state, country, and world, so get your calendars out and read on for all the details.
In this newsletter:
- Thu. September 25, 6-8:00pm: Beyond the Two Party System: A Socialist Way Forward
- Sat. September 27, 10:00am-12:00pm: Coffee with Comrades!
- Sun. September 28, 11:00am-12:30pm: Wretched of the Earth Reading Group
- Mon. September 29, 6:30pm: Members-Only Town Hall with Rep. Francesca Hong
- Sat. October 4, 2-3:30pm: October New Member Orientation
- Tue. October 7, 6:30pm: Copaganda Book Talk with Author Alec Karakatsanis
- Sun. October 12, 5-9:00pm: Halloween Carnival & Queer Liberation March Fundraiser
- Wed. October 15, 6:30-8:30pm: October General Membership Meeting
Kelly Latimore | Iconography as Resistance
Statement On the Assassination of Charlie Kirk
Salt Lake DSA condemns the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Since DSA does not advocate political assassination, it was unsurprising to learn that Tyler Robinson is not associated with DSA.
We do not believe political assassinations bring us a single step closer to socialism. Instead, it creates a fearful, retributive, violent political climate which endangers workers and therefore lowers our ability to engage in activism. Charlie Kirk was a racist, sexist, white supremacist supporter of the capitalist class but workers are not convinced of socialism because of his murder.
The kind of transformative political change we need will come about when the vast majority of workers understand the nature of class society—currently dominated by capitalists and their allies in the two-party system—combined with the level of worker organization necessary to take political power from this ruling class. We do this by winning reforms which protect and advance our ability to organize: The right to live without the constant terroristic threat of deportation; to free speech without state persecution; to basic bodily autonomy and gender affirming care; to organize labor unions and bargain fairly; to affordable housing, childcare, healthcare, and education. In essence, reforms to protect workers from the systemic, daily violence of capitalism, the pursuit of profits over people’s well-being, and to show all workers the unjust nature of class society.
Trump extends his political violence on the working class in Utah and nationally with tens of billions of funding to turn ICE into an oppressive force to terrorize migrant communities and eradicate freedom of speech, while simultaneously shredding Medicaid, Medicare, and our remaining social services. Of course Trump wants to distract us from his snowballing Epstein political crisis.
Trump is using Kirk’s assassination as an excuse to crack down on our rights to organize for socialism. To be clear, the oppressors of the working class will use any excuse to do so. What matters is that Utah workers witnessing this crackdown know who their allies are in defending our Constitutional and democratic rights. That they learn, with certainty, that the capitalist class is their enemy, using the flimsiest excuses to try to crush those fighting for a better future.
We recognize that violence will continue in this society with no reasonable gun control and an unaffordable physical and mental healthcare system. Regardless, do not give in to the mindset that there are individual solutions to our social problems. Instead, grow your working class consciousness. You are not alone; together we are the working class that can create a humane, socialist society.
Our organizing will not stop. Socialism is necessary, but not guaranteed.
A better world is possible. Join Salt Lake DSA.
The post Statement On the Assassination of Charlie Kirk first appeared on Salt Lake DSA.
A Weapon of Annihilation Flies Over Montpelier
Note: posts by individual GMDSA members do not necessarily reflect the views of the broader membership or of its leadership and should not be regarded as official statements by the chapter.
GMDSA Co-Chair Joe Moore on the recent B-2 flyover. Photo Credit: Northrop Grumman/U.S. Air Force
On the afternoon of Saturday, September 20, a B-2 “Spirit” stealth bomber flew low over Montpelier on its way to Norwich University. The 2 p.m. flyover was scheduled to coincide with the kickoff of Norwich’s homecoming football game.
The B-2 is a heavy bomber designed to carry a large payload, including up to sixteen 2,400 pound B83 nuclear weapons - each one with a potential yield 80 times that of the Hiroshima bomb. At about $2 billion per plane, the B-2 is the most expensive military aircraft ever produced. In terms of both cost and destructive capacity, the F-35 pales in comparison.
I happened to be standing in the parking lot behind Montpelier’s Christ Episcopal Church when I heard the low roar of the B-2 overhead. It was a terrifying sight to behold from directly below. Its unique angular profile makes it immediately recognizable as a nuclear-capable stealth bomber. With only 19 in existence, the B-2 is a rare sight in most places, not to mention the skies over Vermont’s capital.
A deep sense of unease at finding myself directly below a weapon of mass annihilation quickly turned to anger. At that moment, I was surrounded by the tents and canopies of Montpelier’s unhoused population. Dozens of Vermonters were forced to seek refuge in the Church parking lot following the end of the state's motel housing program on July 1 and Montpelier City Council’s ongoing ban on camping in “high sensitivity areas.” The juxtaposition of the $2 billion B-2 flying low over a cluster of makeshift shelters erected on parking lot asphalt could not have been more stark.
This one plane alone could have paid for the construction of 10-20,000 additional units of housing – not to mention clinics, schools, childcare centers, and other socially useful infrastructure. At $2 billion, one B-2 represents just under one-quarter of Vermont’s entire state budget. Its presence in the skies over our communities is both an affront and a timely reminder that the existence of poverty and homelessness in America – the wealthiest county in the history of the world – is not an inevitability. It is a social choice.
While gratuitous displays of military power have become commonplace at U.S. sporting events, we should remember that those machines that inspire feelings of awe and pride in many Americans are weapons of mass destruction that inspire terror in most other places around the world. For the thousands of refugee families who have resettled in Vermont after fleeing wars abroad – including U.S.-launched wars – low-flying bombers are not associated with patriotic pageantry. They are associated with death and devastation.
Norwich University is a private military college, but its leaders should consider its responsibility to the community and region in which it is embedded. Football is enjoyable on its own. The University doesn’t need to subject Washington County residents to the presence of weapons of annihilation for the purpose of “entertainment”.