This past fall, I watched the fourth and latest installment of the Jurassic World franchise, Jurassic World: Rebirth (hereafter, Rebirth). Jurassic World is a sequel franchise to Jurassic Park, launched by the classic film of the same name in 1993. In the original Jurassic Park, a wealthy businessman, John Hammond, creates a theme park on a remote island with dinosaurs resurrected (or de-extincted) through genetic engineering from dinosaur DNA recovered from prehistoric mosquitos trapped in resin. Hammond invites two paleontologists, Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler, to review the park and give Hammond their scientific recommendation to boost his park’s reputation. Unfortunately, the genetically resurrected dinosaurs end up escaping their confines and terrorizing the humans. Jurassic Park has become synonymous with the dangers of the misuse of science, which is explored in more detail in the two sequel films of the original franchise.

The first film of the sequel franchise, Jurassic World (2015), delves more into the theme of misuse of science for the sake of economic profit. A new park is created many years later by the same company, InGen, which starts to create increasingly more monstrous dinosaurs to revive the novelty of the park and increase profit from ticket sales. Eventually, one of the genetically modified dinosaurs, Indominus Rex, gets out and chaos ensues. Themes of animal rights are also implicit in a striking scene in the first Jurassic World film. Vic Hoskins, head of InGen security, portrayed as enthusiastically supporting using velociraptors as weapons of war because they “can follow directions,” convinces the protagonist, Owen Grady, to use the velociraptors to track the renegade Indominus Rex. When the velociraptors catch Indominus Rex, with the human characters watching in the background, the semi-sapient velociraptors and I. Rex communicate with each other and conspire to betray the humans. 

This scene could be interpreted as the dinosaurs revolting against the humans to avoid becoming slaves in a biotech military-industrial complex. To drive the point home, Hoskins is eventually eaten by a velociraptor, a common fate of greedy corporate characters in the franchise. The slogan “eat the rich” is literal in these films. 

A pattern throughout both franchises is a dichotomy between the corporate characters interested in profiting off the dinosaurs and those who see the dinosaurs as intrinsically valuable and want them to be left alone so that they can have the best chance of survival. Another example of the former is Peter Ludlow, the CEO of InGen in the second film, The Lost World: Jurassic Park who has a T. Rex transported to San Diego to start a new theme park. In contrast, Hammond is an example of the latter. He is portrayed as an idealist who wants to bring back the dinosaurs to give humanity humility and perspective. 

Implicit in both franchises are different perspectives on the role of technology.  In the former case, exemplified by corporate characters, technology is for extracting value from nature, seen as a warehouse of raw materials for human production and consumption, through exploitation of natural resources. In the latter case, exemplified by Hammond and most scientist characters in the films, technology is to help us to gain humility and perspective on our true place in the cosmos. 

A real-world example of using technology to help us gain humility and perspective from appreciating nature is the famous pale blue dot image of Earth. In 1990, the Voyager 1 spacecraft, on its way out of the solar system, was told to turn its cameras to look back at Earth. Voyager 1 recorded Earth as only a point of light suspended in a sunbeam. In this way, a robotic spacecraft was used to remind us of our true place, small and fragile in a vast universe. 

In the real world, the for-profit company Colossal Biosciences wants to resurrect long extinct animals, such as woolly mammoths, to restore ecosystems and even fight climate change. It could be argued that this is misguided, but it is certainly a mission-driven, not profit-driven, enterprise because there is currently not a business case for resurrecting woolly mammoths.

The challenge is that although many tech startup founders seem to genuinely seek to benefit humanity and the planet, they operate within an economic system that is based on accumulating profit for investors. Many startups interested in sustainable or “eco-friendly” technology are shaped implicitly or explicitly by eco-modernism. Eco-modernism is better than mere capitalist extractivism in its emphasis on environmental sustainability but falls short because it fails to question the underlying assumptions of the ideology of economic growth for its own sake that undermine environmental sustainability efforts. Religion could play a role in shifting from eco-modernism to true ecological solidarity that encourages the necessary structural changes.

Many religious traditions emphasize our connection to the planet and the importance of nature as God’s creation. They also warn against the folly of seeking wealth as the ultimate source of fulfillment. This outlook is common within Indigenous communities. Also, within Christianity, my background, there is a strong tradition of seeing humans as stewards of God’s creation, particularly in the tradition of Saint Francis of Assisi and the work of modern eco-theologians such as  Leonardo Boff and Sallie McFague who have argued that a healthy relationship with nature is essential to a robust spirituality. More recent religious statements such as Laudato Si by Pope Francis II also emphasize the importance of caring for the planet as a human calling and warn against the dangers of environmental destruction in the name of avarice.

Such religious traditions could help to inspire an approach to technology where the main goal is not expanding capitalist production but to remind us of our place in the cosmos, encourage humility and a non-anthropocentric perspective, and improve the wellbeing and flourishing of humanity and the planet. 

A social movement that embodies such a view of technology is the convivial technology movement founded by Ivan Illich, which inspired the creation of human-scaled technologies to promote individual and communal autonomy. Other examples include the indigenous-led Buen Vivir movement in South America, which encourages living in an ecologically sensitive relationship with nature, and the Red Deal, an Indigenous political proposition that includes restructuring the world economy around, among other things, ecological solidarity rooted in an Indigenous worldview.

It could be said that capitalism currently functions as a global religion. Specifically referencing ecology and biotech, do we want a world that looks like Jurassic World, where dinosaurs are exploited for profit often to the endangerment of human beings, or one that looks more like, say the ending of Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, where humans and talking animals together live freely and in peace? It will depend on what we end up worshiping.

The post Jurassic Park, Ecological Justice, and the Technological Future appeared first on DSA Religious Socialism.

Avelo Airlines announced it will cease its Department of Homeland Security (DHS) charter service that transports detainees for the Trump administration, closing its Mesa, Arizona base on January 27. The budget carrier said the program had delivered only “short‑term benefits” but failed to provide enough predictable revenue to offset the operational complexity and costs involved. Avelo’s spokesperson, Courtney Goff, confirmed the move in an email to the New Haven Independent, noting that the airline began running deportation flights from Arizona last May amid growing backlash.

The decision follows months of protests and a boycott movement led by groups such as Connecticut Students for a Dream (C4D), the New Haven Immigrants Coalition, Unidad Latina en Acción, and the Democratic Socialists of America. Activists condemned the airline’s participation in what they described as “sloppy, dangerous” deportation flights, citing an American Prospect report that highlighted safety lapses. Pastor Jack Perkins Davidson warned that “human suffering is not profitable,” while Tabitha Sookdeo emphasized how community organizing and refusal to patronize harmful practices can force corporations to change. CEO Andrew Levy had previously defended the contracts on financial grounds, arguing they were essential to keep Avelo’s New Haven operations running.

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/2026/01/07/avelo-to-exit-deportation-biz/

by Andrew H

In 2025, the United States observed the first proper referendum on the second Trump Administration. Democrats performed well, winning gubernatorial contests in Virginia and New Jersey and prevailing in many local contests. Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, received over one million votes in November; Mayor John V. Lindsay was the last person to draw such resounding support in that contest.

Within those local results, I want to highlight some specific victories of fellow members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) – especially given my current run for Justice of the Peace in Precinct 1 of Travis County, Texas. In Minneapolis, Robin Wonsley cruised to re-election on the Minneapolis City Council, and Soren Stevenson won in the first round of a ranked choice system after narrowly losing in 2023. Katie Wilson prevailed in the mayoral race in Seattle, and Denzel McCampbell won a seat on the Detroit City Council. Two democratic socialists in Jersey City, Jake Ephros and Joel Brooks, became the first open socialists elected in New Jersey in a century. Members of our organization celebrated victories from coast-to-coast on Tuesday, November 4, 2025 and Tuesday, December 2, 2025.

America renewed its interest in socialist politics across the past year. After Trump’s re-election, Council Member Mike Siegel, a fellow member of the Austin Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, won a runoff election for Austin CIty Council’s District 7 on December 14, 2024. Facing the various cruelties of many in power in 2025, including endless wars, extrajudicial murders by ICE, deep cuts to the American social safety net, and lawless military strikes, more people find themselves curious about what, exactly, socialism is. At doors and in the community, people continue to resonate with the message that kids don’t need to face criminalization in response to their actions, renters deserve due process in eviction proceedings, and quality of life concerns – such as homelessness – shouldn’t land a person in the court system. Democratic socialists are committed to preserving and building the public infrastructure in this era of mass privatization, with an emphasis on shifting money from carceral systems like prisons to social services like parks & libraries.

My own journey with socialism has been a long and fulfilling one. I first ran for office in 2022 as a democratic socialist, challenging a long-term incumbent. I lost decisively. I was thirty years old during my first election, and the Biden Administration was in power. Circumstances and conditions have changed rapidly in four years. One thing that has remained consistent across this period is my engagement with the Democratic Socialists of America. I joined the organization in 2021; after I was defeated in my first election, I went deeper into my organizing with the chapter. I knocked on doors for Prop A (and against Prop B) in 2023, attended the biennial DSA convention in Chicago, visited Cuba, spoke to voters about the campaigns of Jose Garza and Mike Siegel, and built invaluable relationships with other members of the chapter.

I spoke at Austin DSA’s org fair on Saturday, November 15, 2025. Ahead of my remarks, I noticed excitement all around me for DSA’s campaigns. Through our Austin Against Apartheid work, we’ve gotten scores of businesses in the community to adopt a boycott-divestment-sanctions framework and agree to not sell Israeli products. Our Trans + Intersex Rights and Bodily Autonomy (TIRBA) campaign is uplifting the incontrovertible fact that every person controls their own body; through our work with TIRBA, queer and trans people will experience freedom everywhere, and abortions will be easily available upon demand. We recently launched our Labor for an Arms Embargo work to push for an end to the incessant aid that the U.S. pours into the genocidal settler-colonial state of Israel. We are laboring with a clear vision of what the world will be in fifty years – one where socialism governs.

I must end with a reflection on the material realities of our time. In Austin, a broad coalition of socialists, labor leaders, and mutual aid organizers suffered a loss with the defeat of Prop Q in November 2025. This election occurred while millions of people faced uncertainty with their SNAP benefits. People are hurting in many ways right now, and an increase in taxes simply wasn’t going to fly. However, as we face this austerity budget in Austin – with its $520 million untouched police line-item – I want the public to know that me and fellow socialists are here for our neighbors. We are committed to building a political party that is truly responsive to the needs of people who – like me – live paycheck-to-paycheck, highlighting the harms that masses of workers experience under American capitalism. My second campaign is simply one piece of that puzzle; even if I lose again, I am so glad that I have found a political philosophy that animates me so clearly. As a Black socialist, I am committed to building a multiracial, multigender, and multinational movement for human dignity. I hope you will join us.

Andrew Reginald Hairston is a civil rights lawyer, writer, and democratic socialist based in Austin. He is running for Justice of the Peace in Precinct 1 of Travis County, Texas on March 3, 2026. More information is available at hairstonforpeace.com

The post An Inflection Point for Democratic Socialism first appeared on Red Fault.

The Portland, Oregon chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America calls on Portland City Council and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson to take critical action to protect Portlanders from ICE and all Federal policing agencies.

Two Portlanders were shot by federal agents working as a rogue personal army for President Trump. We hold them in our thoughts, as well as the people of Minneapolis grieving Renee Nicole Good, who was killed this week by CBP murderers. 

At a vigil and rally at city hall last night with 400 people in attendance, Portland DSA was joined by representatives of unions and community organizations, calling for the abolition of ICE and for the city to stand up to state violence. City Councilors Mitch Green, Sameer Kanal, Angelita Morillo, Tiffany Koyama Lane, Jamie Dunphy, and Candace Avalos also attended and spoke at the event.

“ICE must be abolished. The work of our time is to tear down the system that built it and remake it into one that embraces and designs systems that include all people from all places. This work will be done, because the alternative is unbearable. We do that by organizing block by block, neighbor to neighbor until we’ve built a mass movement. From Portland to Minneapolis, we will win,” said Councilor Mitch Green.

“ICE is a rogue paramilitary force that has declared war on our cities. This is a hostile takeover. We must not comply. We need complete noncompliance at all levels of government,” said Olivia Katbi, co-chair of Portland DSA.

Portland is a frequent target of Trump’s brutal crackdown on speech and communal defense— and, for an obvious reason: Portlanders believe in peace, freedom, and an end to state-sponsored brutality in all its forms. Time and time again, Portlanders have stood up and taken to the streets for the rights of all people, especially immigrants and people of color, to live free from the fear of police brutality and Trump’s fascist deportation regime.

“As we grieve the harm done to our community, we must also be clear-eyed about the moment we are in. This is how history repeats itself — unless people interrupt it,” said Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane. 

One fact is clear today: Sanctuary City status alone will not protect Portlanders. Now is the time for the City of Portland to take a more aggressive approach to keeping Portlanders safe from Federal terror. 

We call on City Council to:

1. Pass a policy of complete noncompliance with federal policing agencies, treating armed federal agents as overtly hostile actors
2. Instruct the District Attorney to obtain a warrant to arrest the federal agents who committed the shooting
3. Develop specific policies to defang and disempower federal agents within Portland, including prohibition of masks, local taxation of income earned from federal law enforcement activities, and any other meaningful restriction on their ability to recruit and operate within Portland
4. Implement a human rights investment screen, to ensure Portland is not invested in companies that assist in ICE’s violence 

Alongside the many organizations and Portlanders fighting to keep our immigrant neighbors safe, Portland DSA is ready to stand against Trump’s violence – both at home and abroad. Join us on Saturday, January 10 at 11 AM at the Battleship Oregon Memorial in Tom McCall Waterfront Park to protest the war on Venezuela and ongoing ICE violence in Portland and across the country.

“It’s going to take all of us standing in solidarity, and understanding that we must be disciplined in this moment. No matter how many people try to divide our movements, we must be disciplined. Our fight is one fight,” said Councilor Angelita Morillo. 

Luisa Martinez, a formerly undocumented immigrant who is a member of Portland DSA and leader in the national organization, said: “ICE was created in 2003 and can be abolished. Throwing human beings into prison for civil infractions is a violation of international human rights laws. This violence and human suffering enriches private prison corporations while working people go without adequate housing, health care, and education.”

“ICE needs to be taken apart, brick by brick, and we need to salt the earth,” said Councilor Sameer Kanal.

The Columbus chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is appalled at the news of ICE agents murdering a legal observer in Minneapolis on January 7. This escalation is just the next in a long string of escalating violence and oppression from ICE specifically and law enforcement in general. ICE has repeatedly demonstrated that they do not protect working people, they serve the fascist regime taking hold of our country to continue advancing their racist capitalist agenda.

Over the last year, ICE has been on a rampage across multiple cities, including here in Columbus. We’ve seen firsthand how their presence makes people feel more scared, not safer. ICE has demonstrated that fear not safety is in fact their goal, and we have seen now where this fear campaign was always headed.

Our chapter has an active campaign to convince local governments not to support federal agents when they inevitably come back to terrorize working residents in Central Ohio once again. This tragic incident is proof that this work continues to be critical. To get involved in the fight, join us at an upcoming meeting to see the work we’re doing to change the way our cities protect immigrants. Check out our calendar of events here: https://www.columbusdsa.org/events/

Also keep an eye out on local channels for other ways to protect our community and show solidarity with those most directly targeted by this regime. This violence is a clear reminder that those who are sworn to protect and serve are not serving us, the people. We must double down on our knowledge that it is on us, the working class, to keep each other and our communities safe, and to do that successfully we must work together.

(see the statement on Instagram)

To celebrate Zohran Mamdami’s inauguration, and in honor of the mass mobilization that made this moment possible, our first newsletter of 2026 is about ways to get involved right now.

First, GMDSA is proud to endorse the following candidates:

• Marek Broderick for Burlington City Council Ward 8

• Matt Gile for Vermont House of Representatives (Chittenden-21)

• Jeffrey Peterson for Vermont House of Representatives (Chittenden-16)

We will be canvassing for Marek starting at 1:00PM in Burlington, location TBA. Reply to this email if you would like to join, and expect many more canvassing opportunities in our next newsletter and beyond. If you’ve been considering getting involved but don’t know how, canvassing is one of the best ways to start. Zohran’s campaign knocked 3 million doors! 

​​To that end, our Electoral and Communications Committees are launching a new, joint initiative. If you are part of a group doing something about our current crisis, formal or informal, big or small, if you’ll have us, we want to meet you in person (or, if you prefer, over Zoom) to learn how we can help. 

​The first stop of this tour will be at Building A Local Economy (BALE) in South Royalton on January 21 at 6:00PM. Our 2026 Electoral and Communications Chairs, Adam and Alejandro, will be giving a talk and discussing our political strategy with BALE’s Resistance Hub.

A lot is going wrong right now, and we know that there are people all over Vermont trying to do something about it. We already work with many of you, and the coalitions we’ve made are behind our biggest successes, but we know that there are more of you out there doing important things. We want to work with you. Write in, and we can do it together.

Upcoming Events:

• Canvassing for Councilor Marek Broderick Saturday, January 3, starting location TBA.

• Fundamentals of Workplace Organizing on January 6. This is a virtual training.

• GMDSA member Brandon Lawson is hosting Green Mountain IWW Workplace Organizing Workshop Sunday January 11 at 3:00PM in the Community Room in the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington.

• Worker’s Circle is every 2nd and 4th Wednesday at 6:00PM at 179 S. Winooski Avenue in Burlington. The next one is January 14.

• GMDSA @ BALE - January 21 at 6:00PM.

• For regular GMDSA Committee meetings, see our calendar.

State News:

• Starbucks workers are on strike across 145 stores and counting, and the union is asking customers to stop shopping at Starbucks. 

• Hospice United had a successful Honk and Wave on December 20 as they bargain their first contract.