By: Dylan Wegela

The following statement was originally posted to social media on October 3rd, 2025 by State Representative for Michigan’s 26th District, Dylan Wegela.

Last night, after a marathon session, the Michigan Legislature passed its General and School Aid Budgets. These budgets were tied to a road funding plan. I ultimately decided to vote no on both budgets, and I hope to outline why in this post. This post is going to be detailed, and I am going to do my best to explain the complexities involved. I urge you to read this entire post, as it is necessary to fully understand why I voted the way I did.

I want to first try and explain our undemocratic and non-transparent budget process. The way we do budgets in Michigan always stinks, but this year was particularly bad.

The Process:

Normally, budgets are passed before July 1st, but this year, Republican Speaker Matt Hall intentionally dragged the budget process out to the October 1st deadline. The deadline approached, and we were facing a shutdown.

It was announced last week that leadership in both parties agreed to a budget deal, and even though they knew all of the details of the budget, they intentionally chose not to share this information with us rank and file legislators. This was done to prevent the public, the press, lobby groups, and legislators from advocating for changes that might blow up the deal.

Several days ago, we were briefed on the toplines of the budget, with some essential information being withheld, and with no way to verify the accuracy of the information.

Yesterday’s session started at 10 am and ended this morning at 4:30 am. I sit here writing this at 1 pm the day after. Exhausted, frustrated, and disappointed.

In the House, we ended up voting on the General Budget around 9:30 pm. It wasn’t until 6 pm that I received the House Fiscal non-partisan summary of the General budget. A 240 page document that is simply impossible to review with any real scrutiny in 3.5 hours. We actually didn’t get the actual line-by-line budget until around 9pm.

We were then forced to vote on this budget almost none of us had seen, with less than 30 minutes to review. This is obviously an intentional tactic used to force votes on a budget. More time to review means more questions to answer. Republican Speaker Matt Hall is the only one with the power to call the vote, and he did.

Call me a radical, but I think that the press and public should have time to look over the budget, provide scrutiny, and ask questions before the vote. At the bare minimum, we should expect that elected representatives should have time to review. To be blunt and honest, I would be surprised if even 1/3 of Reps. even opened the House fiscal analysis to review before voting.

GOVERNMENT SHOULDN’T WORK LIKE THIS.

It is the next day, and I still don’t know everything that is in the budget. I will be analyzing it over the next several days.

I want to stress that both of these budgets and the roads package are interconnected. One doesn’t work without the other. I am going to outline why, despite the shell games played to move money around, this budget simply doesn’t work. I first want to start with the budget implementation bills that make this budget possible.

Budget Implementation Bills:

1. Decoupling of the Corporate Income and No Tax on Tips and Over Time:

I voted yes on this bill, and it is one of the most important bills in this equation.

First. “What is decoupling?”

In tax policy, “decoupling” refers to a state choosing not to follow (or only partially follow) certain federal tax rules, even though state tax codes are often based on federal definitions. It’s a way for states to preserve revenue, maintain policy preferences, or avoid unintended consequences when federal tax law changes.

Before this bill, the Michigan Corporate Income Tax (CIT) was coupled with the Federal Government. So when the Big Beautiful Bill Tax cuts were passed, it triggered a tax cut for Michigan corporations. Passing this bill stopped that corporate tax cut from happening, freeing up revenue in the budget.

Additionally, this bill started coupling the state with the federal government for the purposes of removing taxes on tips and overtime, as well as social security. This was a revenue hit, but was offset by the CIT decoupling.

2. Sales Tax & Gas Tax Swap:

These bills exempted gas and several other fuels from sales tax on fuel. Instead, replace it with a gas tax. I voted against exempting these fuels from sales tax.

Here is a simple breakdown of where the constitutionally protected revenue from the Sales Tax goes in Michigan.

Michigan Sales Tax Allocation (6% total)

1. School Aid Fund
2. General Fund
3. Local Revenue Sharing

Exempting fuel from the sales tax means these areas will lose funding. Moving it over to a gas tax ensures that revenue can be used for roads instead.

Schools were set to lose $700 million from this shift. This money was replaced in other parts of the budget (backfilled). Even with this maneuver, I still have major concerns with backfilling school funding from a non-constitutionally protected source.

The local revenue sharing hit is an estimated $64 million. This was not backfilled. Constitutional local revenue sharing is one of the pots of money that cities, counties, villages, and townships receive from the state. At the time of this writing, the amount of money local governments get in this budget is still unclear; it is a bit of a shell game, but more on this later.

24% Cannabis tax increase:

In order to raise money for roads, you need revenue. The road plan proposed a 24% Wholesale tax increase on Cannabis in Michigan. This is estimated to raise $420 Million (Yes that is the actual estimate…), and this money is to be directed into the newly created roads fund. I want to note that some believe that this hit of a tax increase on Cannabis might have devastating effects on the industry. Some also believe that this might force people onto the black market, which could lead to inaccurate revenue projections. Conversations that would have been nice to have, but this was another vote given on minimal notice.

It is also possible that this change will be ruled unconstitutional, due to the fact that the Cannabis ballot proposal that was passed by voters is constitutionally protected. Depending on interpretation, this might mean changes need a ¾ vote to change. (which this didn’t get).

I share these concerns as well, and if this is ruled to be the case or if this is tied up in court, preventing the tax from being collected, the math of the entire budget simply doesn’t work. This would mean local governments would get less road funding than projected under this budget.

I should also be clear that when we voted on this budget, those projections were not available for us to see how each city would be impacted. Even if they were, these projections would be merely speculative.

Even though I had some reservations, I ultimately voted yes on this. I have seen the State Legislature only reduce revenues since being elected. While I think it would be wise to find other sources of revenue, such as taxing the rich. We will never have the roads and schools we deserve if we don’t raise some type of revenue.

Saving Medicaid:

This was another change that was needed because of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. I voted yes on this. Here is my best simple explanation of what we did.

Michigan helps fund Medicaid using a tax on health insurance companies called the Insurance Provider Assessment (IPA), but new federal rules say the current setup doesn’t fully qualify anymore. To avoid losing federal money that supports healthcare for millions of residents, we passed changes that allow Michigan to temporarily keep using the IPA while it asks the federal government for permission and works on a new plan. If that permission is denied, Michigan will need to create a different funding system to replace the IPA. The state has up to about three years to make the transition.

Those are the major bills that were required to make the budget work functionally. Now, let’s look at the budgets. I want to start with the School Aid budget, because what they did to this is at the core of why I opposed both budgets.

School Aid Budget:

The Good Stuff!

• Per-Pupil Funding $10,050 ($442 Increase)
   — Note: You will see people calling this record funding. We have to stop doing that. Is it the highest it’s ever been? Yes. Does that account for inflation? No. Michigan schools are still severely underfunded.
• Free Breakfast and Lunch Protected
   — It’s wild to think this would ever be on the chopping block….
• Mental Health and School Safety Funding increased.
• ELL, Special Education line items preserved.
• At Risk Funding Increased

Things that should never happen:

• An additional $400 million was raided from school aid for Higher Ed (aka a shell game to fund roads)
   — This was one of the largest raids on the School Aid fund in Michigan’s History
   — There is a bit of a shell game here, but this was done in order to free up more money for roads.
   — This isn’t complex. We shouldn’t steal from public schools to fund roads.

In 2018, I helped lead one of the largest teacher strikes in US history to secure $400 million for Arizona’s Public Schools. I refuse to steal that exact same amount from schools today. As I said, these budgets are intertwined. I refuse to support budgets propped up by stealing from our kids.

• $100 million was reduced from MPSERS reimbursement, raising costs for our school districts.
• Cyber Schools are getting the same Funding as traditional public Schools.
   — It simply doesn’t cost nearly as much to run online schools. This just pads the pockets of these “schools”.
• Public Dollars funding private schools.
   — This budget allows private schools to access some public funds related to school lunch and school safety.
   — I am all for requiring private schools to feed kids and keep schools safe, but it is unacceptable to fund them with public school dollars. This is a slippery slope and brings us one step closer to vouchers and other ways for private schools to steal public funds.

Now onto the General Budget. It is important to note again that the General Budget cannot be funded without stealing an additional $400 million from the School Aid fund. This brings the total amount of School Aid dollars being raided from School Aid to $1.3 billion.

General Budget:

• Almost every Single Department in the State had its funding cut.
   — At a time when we are seeing federal efforts to cut departments across the government, I refuse to support a budget that makes significant cuts across the board for no good reason.
  — Republicans will claim they are cutting 2,000 ghost jobs, and Democrats will claim they are cutting no people currently in a position.
   — In reality, there are around 1,000 of these positions that our departments are actively trying to fill; in some cases, these are seasonal positions, subject to regular turnover. Now these positions will simply not be filled. Just because a position isn’t filled, it doesn’t mean there wasn’t work that needed to be done. We should not be cutting government jobs for the sake of cutting jobs.
• The Local Revenue Sharing Shell Game
   — We are cutting 64 million from constitutional revenue sharing.
   — Some types of Local Governments are getting additional road funding
   — It was unclear at the time of the vote and of this writing, the exact breakdowns.
   — Estimates will be based on the assumption that the Cannabis tax holds up in court. If it doesn’t, the road funding would certainly be less than advertised.
   — Like with schools, it is usually a bad idea to cede constitutionally protected funding.

Huge Wins!

• The SOAR (Corporate Handout) Fund has sunsetted (Ended) and will not be funded moving forward.
• I have been fighting to eliminate this funding since being elected! I am happy to see it go.
• Medicaid and SNAP protected (For Now).
• Money for Lead Line Replacement.

Enhancement Grants:

As with every budget enhancement, grants are used to wrangle votes and drum up support for the budget.

Romulus received $1 million for a Fire Truck thanks to Rep. Reggie Miller.

Inkster received $500,000 for the Inkster Cultural Center thanks to Sen. Dayna Polehanki.

Not every rep/district received an enhancement grant. They were limited this year. While I am glad these were added to the budget, it doesn’t change the potential risks of limiting constitutional revenue sharing for all of the cities in District 26, and it didn’t fix the fact that this budget is propped up by questionable math, budget shell games, and, most unfortunately, by robbing even more from our public schools.

This isn’t an easy job, and this wasn’t an easy decision, but I center myself in always trying to do what is right for our District and the long-term health of the State. I am sure there are some who will disagree, and some who will have an honest disagreement with my assessment. There will be others who weaponize it for political victory.

We are in a split government, and things could have been worse. That could be true, but it is equally true that if we had an open and transparent budget process with journalistic and public discourse, it could have resulted in a better budget.

It would have been almost certainly easier for me to fall in line, plug my nose, and vote yes, but I think that is part of the problem right now. We have to stand up and demand better from leaders on both sides of the aisle. Demand better for the people of Michigan. I will never stop fighting to ensure that we have the Public Schools and government we deserve.

In Solidarity,

Dylan Wegela State Representative District 26

Why I Voted No on the State Budget was originally published in The Detroit Socialist on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

By: James N

WORCESTER, MA — About 700 medical residents, represented by CIR-SEIU, are in their fifth month of negotiations with UMass Memorial Healthcare.

Residents are working physicians — often more than 80 hours a week and 24-hour-plus shifts in Worcester — that also specialize in specific fields, like internal medicine or pediatrics. Medical residents agree to work for a hospital, generally three-to-seven years, depending on their speciality. 

“When patients come to the hospital for an appointment, they are most likely first seen by a resident,” said Dr., Dipavo Banerjee, a psychiatry fellow at UMass and CIR-SEIU regional vice president. “Residents are at the heart of the care that UMass provides.”

What the Union Fights For

According to Dr. Banerjee, medical residents in CIR-SEIU are fighting for three primary points: reinstated contributions to workers’ medical plan, a meaningful increase in pay that reflects the rapidly climbing cost of living in Worcester, and a housing stipend.

As in many cases, workers’ labor battle is not just a battle for workplace conditions.

The Worcester Telegram and Gazette reports that Worcester is the third most competitive rental market and experiencing a severe shortage of Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) to meet the needs of the most vulnerable fixed-income, low-income, and no-income tenants, against a context of no requirement for landlords to accept Section 8 vouchers. Only 52% of people can secure a lease using a Housing Choice Voucher (HCV). That’s down from 93% about eight years ago.

The tenants’ crisis and lack of homes is taking a toll on medical residents, their families, patients and everyone in between, Banjeree said. Maeve O., a second-year resident, right before she met a patient going into labor after speaking with Working Mass, reported:

Honestly, we’re not even asking (UMass Memorial) to pay us what we’re worth, because we know we’re worth far more than what we’re being paid. We’re just asking for the bare basics to cover our cost of living living and necessities.

Medical Residents or Student-Workers?

UMass Memorial management claims medical residents are students, not physicians. Banerjee said:

We are often the first providers patients see when they come to the hospital for an appointment. We wholeheartedly serve as the frontline caregivers for this region’s most vulnerable – caring for the sick, acutely ill, uninsured, and underinsured – while stretching ourselves to fill gaps in staffing and resources that threaten the health of our entire community.

Other institutions that employ student-workers rely on flawed methodology that also ignores the important first provider role performed by residents. But even more broadly, attacks on student-worker rights have increasingly become an arena for labor battle. Earlier this year, Working Mass reported undergraduate workers at Clark University went on strike in their fight for student-worker rights, utilizing tactics informed by challenges to their own classification as workers they anticipated from the NLRB.

UMass management claims they don’t have the funds to cover cost-of-living raises, housing stipends, or medical plan contributions for student-workers. That stance informs UMass’s refusal to meet worker needs. Meanwhile, according to The Boston Globe, UMass CEO Dr. Eric Dickson’s pay increased 26% in 2023 year-over-year, totaling $3.9 million. UMass Medical Center’s former president, Dr. Michael Gustafson, received a 60% raise, during the same time, totaling $2.8 million.

“At this critical time, hospital systems must prioritize putting resources into patient care, not executives’ pockets,” Banerjee said. “When we invest in those who provide care, we protect the patients and communities who depend on us most.”

Management Pushes to the Indefinite Future

A common medical management response is that residents will make much more money once they graduate and finish their residency programs years down the road, resident Maeve O. said. “To me, and a lot of us, it felt like a slap in the face, because my landlord doesn’t care if I’m going to make a lot of money in two years.”

With rising rents, student loans, other costs, and landlords willing to evict, residents can be priced out of the city. Adding a commute on top 80+ hour work weeks can take its toll on worker morale. Patients want a doctor who is healthy and not burnt out and sleep deprived,” Banerjee said. “A fair contract for residents means improvements to our well-being which are inextricably tied to patients and the care we provide them.” 

Bargaining sessions have been tough and emotionally challenging, he added. Nevertheless, residents are building solidarity through collective action across medical specialties. Earlier this year, UMass reached a tentative deal with another union, UMass Food and Commercial Workers Local 1445. Banerjee said that collective effort is a path toward reaching an agreement.

And support has also come from other places. On September 30, Worcester City Council officially passed a resolution urging UMass Memorial Healthcare to reinstate health benefits and bargain a fair contract.

As Maeve O. said:

Our hospital admin folks are good people, trying to do good things for the community… with the financial crisis as of late, it’s been kind of easy to put the residents to the side, despite the fact that we’re the ones that are on the front lines, actually helping patients.

James N is a member of Worcester DSA and contributing writer to Working Mass.

The post Worcester Medical Residents Persevere Through Fifth Month of Negotiations with UMass  appeared first on Working Mass.

SOMERVILLE, MA – On October 6, 2025, the Somerville Elections Commission issued a final decision to overrule an objection to a divestment ballot initiative led by Somerville 4 Palestine, paving the way for city divestment to be decided by the electorate on the November ballot as Question 3.

Opposition to the ballot measure was led by Judy Pineda Neufeld. The former Ward 7 Councilor decided to not run for reelection in May 2025 before forming the committee that would accept $150,000 in funds raised by the Anti-Defamation League and their allies to defeat the ballot measure to divest the city from genocide. The average donation was over $1000.

In March, Somerville residents nearly overwhelmed Somerville City Hall in their demand for divestment – 700 outside the doors. The council at that time voted to put the initiative as Question 3 on the ballot for voters to decide, rather than to approve it directly. Six months later, with the opposition now consolidated to challenge Question 3 on the basis of its rules, the Elections Commission scheduled the hearing on Monday, October 6. 

A Summer of Canvassing

Somerville 4 Palestine has spent the past six months in a “summer of canvassing.”

After learning that Question 3 would move to the ballot, Somerville 4 Palestine registered as a municipal ballot committee and started building support through bread-and-butter conversations with residents across Somerville. 

Organizers spoke to every membership and at every town hall and to every assembly that would have them. They also planned a canvassing operation that spanned the city. Somerville 4 Palestine clipboarded at farmers’ markets, borrowed time at Porchfest stages, and intercepted pedestrians and bikers traversing across the four square miles of the city. Organizers rolled suitcases full of signature sheets from people’s house to house, from Union to Magoun, from Porter to Ball Square. 

It was “pure democracy at work,” said one organizer. 

In the end, Somerville 4 Palestine turned in 11,000 signatures. The number was more than double the 5200 unique signatures from residents needed to reach the ballot.  Organizers indicated there were 288 different community members volunteering for the initiative, working to gather the astounding mountain of signatures. 

Even though 8000 signatures were certified by Elections prior to the hearing, Zionists still poured money into their challenge to decertify the “polarizing, divisive” ballot question to divest from genocide. Supporters rallied outside City Hall at 9:15AM before packing the council chamber for the hearing at 10AM.

Challenge in the Chamber

The room quickly reached capacity. Outside, supporters turned away by security stood in the bright sunshine texting others in the chamber. Others wrapped in keffiyehs stood in tense conversation with hecklers who showed up late just to deny Palestine’s existence and dismiss genocide concerns with “we both want humanity for both peoples.”

Nonetheless, the only person whose voice rose to a screaming pitch was yelling about parking.

Inside, every seat was filled. Willie Burnley, Jr., DSA-endorsed city councillor running for Mayor of Somerville, listened to the hearing next to other supporters in the audience. DSA-endorsed Ward 2 city councillor JT Scott took notes, brow furrowed, in a chair on the side of the room. Palestine banners draped from seat to seat as the people watched the hearing. Minutes passed.

At 10:45AM, Somerville 4 Palestine began to rebut the arguments of the objection to Question 3. The Elections Commission listened, impassive, as organizers related each point of the canvassing operation. Organizers also described the step-by-step process through which Somerville 4 Palestine approached the subject to ensure all rules were followed, including the recommendations of city councillors and the city solicitor. At the end of the hearing, the chair motioned for deliberation.

As a Somerville 4 Palestine organizer said during their speech:

There’s no ballot question that isn’t contested. That’s the whole point of elections. This is an exemplification of the democratic process.

The audience murmured for the three minutes of deliberation taken by the commission. Then, suddenly, the chair stood. “We have decided to overrule the objection,” he said. A quick all in favor passed before he slammed the gavel: “so ruled.”

The audience erupted into a storm of applause. Now, the decision on divestment rests with Somerville itself.

Travis Wayne is the deputy managing editor of Working Mass.

Edit: This report was edited after publication to name the ballot initiative as Question 3, as it will appear on the ballot.

The post Somerville 4 Palestine Defeats Challenge, Divestment Moves to Ballot appeared first on Working Mass.

When did prisons become the primary method of justice? What future should abolitionists be working towards? In her short but powerful book, Angela Davis carefully maps out the origins of the prison system, explains the haphazard merging of interests that created the Prison Industrial Complex, and uncovers the inner workings of its racist and misogynistic structures that continue to evade reformation.

Join us for a collective conversation using this landmark book! This will be an open discussion. So bring your unanswered questions, your concerns, and your personal stories. Feel free to join even if you didn’t get the chance to read.

The post Greenville Book-Talk: “Are Prisons Obsolete?” by Angela Davis appeared first on Grand Rapids Democratic Socialists of America.

October 7, 2025 marks two years of genocide in Gaza. That is two years of bombings and massacres that have killed at least 67,000 Palestinians – 3% of the pre-war population, who were already living in an open-air prison under an illegal occupation prior to October 7, 2023. The vast majority of those killed have been innocent civilians, including over 20,000 children. This amounts to one child killed every hour. On top of this, one in every 14 Palestinians in Gaza has been injured, many in life altering ways, and that is before we even consider the mental and emotional injuries living through a genocide inflicts. It is estimated that 3-4,000 children have lost one or more limbs. It must be noted that the official death statistics only count those bodies that have been recovered, identified, and have a cause of death directly related to an attack. There are likely thousands still under the rubble, unidentifiable, or who died by starvation, dehydration, disease, or lack of normally accessible care for pre-existing medical conditions. Determining the true toll will only be possible via an extensive, comprehensive study – something Israel has made impossible both through its relentless onslaught of attacks and its refusal to allow foreign press, investigators, and officials into the Strip. As ghastly as the official numbers are, there will come a day when we learn the situation was much worse all along.

Israel has also manufactured the mass starvation of Palestinians in Gaza by blocking humanitarian aid. Instead of allowing the passage of the thousands of tons of food and medical supplies waiting at the border ready to be distributed, Israel has solely authorized the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to carry out this task. This supposed humanitarian organization is well-documented to be a front for the IDF and foreign mercenaries to systematically humiliate and massacre the people who are forced to travel long distances through hostile territory in the hopes of collecting a meager bag of flour for their starving families. Last week, the Global Sumud Flotilla attempted to break the Israeli blockade and deliver food, medicine, and baby formula to the people of Gaza. Israel illegally intercepted the 42 civilian vessels in international waters and kidnapped 462 activists. Those kidnapped were taken to an Israeli prison where many were beaten and abused. As of writing, six remain in captivity. 

In the West, massive censorship and free speech violations have been employed in an attempt to cover up the genocide that is being live streamed to all of us and to suppress our righteous dissent. This includes the unconstitutional ICE kidnappings of green card and student visa holders who have dared protest against Israel and the buy-out of TikTok by tech billionaire, mass surveillance zealot and ardent Israel supporter Larry Ellison. While these actions can most immediately be connected to the genocide in Gaza, we can also see that they serve a larger purpose in the advancement of fascism at home, the war against the enemy within. Just as policing techniques and surveillance technologies first used abroad are inevitably deployed within the heart of empire, so too will fascist tactics used first to defend Israel be extended to support the total suppression of freedoms in the United States. We are already seeing this happen across the country, including in LA, Chicago, Portland, and now Madison as well. In many ways, we can view October 7, 2023 as the day the thin veneer of liberalism was finally shattered, laying bare the two options before us: socialism or barbarism.

Living in this reality, it is easy to give up hope and cower in fear. That is what the Trump regime is betting on – that you will eventually lie down and accept barbarism. The capitalists and their mouthpieces will tell you the other option is impossible. We know that isn’t true – socialism is winnable, but only through solidarity, organization, and our collective resolve to fight for the world we deserve. If you are feeling hopeless and scared in this moment, remember that you are not in it alone. In this week’s newsletter you will find a number of events where you can learn, protest, organize, and most of all, build the community we all need to fight fascism and win socialism, together. Check out the highlights below, and check your inbox for the full newsletter or click here to subscribe.

Tue. October 7, 6:30pm: Copaganda Book Talk with Author Alec Karakatsanis

Thu. October 9, 6:30-8pm: Marx’s Capital and Global Capitalism Today

Sun. October 12, 11am-12:30pm: Wretched of the Earth Reading Group

Sun. October 12, 5-9:00pm: Halloween Carnival & Queer Liberation March Fundraiser

Wed. October 15, 6:30-8:30pm: October General Membership Meeting

Sat. October 18, 12-5pm: No Kings! No Bosses! No Billionaires!

Mon. October 20, 6:30-8pm: Virtual New Member Orientation

Thu. October 23, 6-8pm: Organizing 101

Tue. October 28, 6:00pm: Madison Community Town Hall

Events & Actions

Events with a are especially new-member-friendly!

Tuesday, October 7 (8:00 AM – 4:30 PM): ICE out of SF courts! (in person at 100 Montgomery St)

Tuesday, October 7 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Watch party: “Documenting Genocide: Gaza, Before and After October 2023” (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Tuesday, October 7 (6:00 PM – 7:30 PM): Ecosocialist Bi-Weekly Meeting (Zoom)

Wednesday, October 8 (6:45 PM – 9:00 PM): October General Meeting (Zoom and in person at Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate Ave)

Thursday, October 9 (5:30 PM – 6:30 PM): Education Board Open Meeting (Zoom)

Thursday, October 9 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Immigrant Justice Court Action Orientation (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Friday, October 10 (8:00 AM – 4:30 PM): ICE out of SF courts! (in person at 100 Montgomery St)

Saturday, October 11 (10:00 AM – 2:00 PM): No Appetite for Apartheid Training and Outreach (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Saturday, October 11 (12:45 PM – 4:00 PM): Homelessness Working Group Outreach and Outreach Training (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Sunday, October 12 (11:00 AM – 1:00 PM): Physical Education + Self Defense Training (in person at William McKinley Monument)

Sunday, October 12 (5:00 PM – 7:00 PM): Capital Reading Group (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Monday, October 13 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Tenderloin Healing Circle (in person at Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate Ave)

Monday, October 13 (6:30 PM – 8:00 PM): Homelessness Working Group Regular Meeting (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Wednesday, October 15 (6:00 PM – 7:30 PM): What Is DSA?  (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Thursday, October 16 (7:30 PM – 9:30 PM): “Housing the City by the Bay: Tenant Activism, Civil Rights, and Class Politics in San Francisco” – TOWG Reading Group (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Saturday, October 18 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Homelessness Working Group Food Service (meet at Castro St & Market St)

Sunday, October 19 (3:00 PM – 5:00 PM): Palestine Study: Understanding Zionism and Imperialism (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Sunday, October 19 (5:30 PM – 7:15 PM): Homelessness Working Group Reads  “Capitalism & Disability…” (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Monday, October 20 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Labor Board x Divestment Priority Meeting (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Check out https://dsasf.org/events for more events and updates.

ICE Out of SF Courts!

Join neighbors, activists, grassroots organizations in resisting ICE abductions happening at immigration court hearings! ICE is taking anyone indiscriminately in order to meet their daily quotas. Many of those taken include people with no removal proceedings.

We’ll be meeting every Tuesday and Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM at Immigration Court at 100 Montgomery. We need all hands on deck. The 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM window is when we most need to boost turnout, but if you can’t make that please come whenever works for you. 1 or 2 hours or the entire time! We’re also holding orientation sessions for folks, but that is not required to attend. See the Immigrant Justice Court Action Orientation event for more details.

IFPTE Local 21 Comrades Protest Airbnb

Local 21 comrades have asked for our support in protesting Airbnb this Wednesday, October 8 at 12:00 PM at 888 Brannan St.Tech giant Airbnb is suing San Francisco for $120 million while using our city as their personal playground and not paying their fair share. At a time when public services are crumbling and budget cuts run rampant, Labor Board is endorsing this campaign in support of our workers. A pledge to boycott Airbnb will be soon to come, and our very own DSA member Firas will be a speaker at the protest.

Immigrant Justice Court Action Orientation

Come one, come all to 1916 McAllister St for our court watch orientation! You’ll learn how we are resisting ICE , how you can help, and participate in a biweekly art build. Bring questions and anti-ICE slogans! This event will take place every other week on Thursdays starting at 7:00 PM and the next one is October 9th!

No Appetite for Apartheid Outreach Training & Canvassing

No Appetite for Apartheid is a campaign aimed at reducing economic support for Israeli apartheid by canvassing local businesses to boycott Israeli goods. Come and canvass local businesses with the Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Imperialist Working Group!

On Saturday, October 11 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, we will be doing a training on how to talk to stores in your neighborhood, then going out and talking with stores together! Meet at 1916 McAllister St. RSVP here.

DSA SF Tenant Organizing Reading Group – “Housing the City by the Bay: Tenant Activism, Civil Rights, and Class Politics in San Francisco” 

San Francisco has always had an affordable housing shortage, but solutions outside of the private sector have long been neglected or overlooked. Join us as we learn about the history of one proposed solution: public housing.

Our four-part reading group will meet every other Thursday at 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM hybrid in person at 1916 McAllister and Zoom with RSVP to discuss John Baranski’s book “Housing the City by the Bay”. The next meeting will be Thursday, October 16.

If you wish to join please RSVP here!

DSA SF Homelessness Working Group Reads: Capitalism & Disability: Selected Writings by Marta Russell

Join DSA SF’s Homelessness Working Group as we read through Capitalism & Disability: Selected Writings by Marta Russell. We’ll be meeting every other Sunday evening starting in September for 4 or 5 sessions at 1916 McAllister. The next session is Sunday, October 19. For more info, register here: bit.ly/martacd and check the events calendar for latest details.

Palestine Study on Zionism: Understanding Zionism and Imperialism for Palestine Liberation

Join DSA SF on Sunday, October 19 from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM at 1916 McAllister St for the upcoming Palestine Study exploring the foundations of Zionism and how we fight imperialism for Palestinian liberation. We will equip ourselves with a precise understanding of the history, foundations, aspirations, and contradictions of Zionism in order to fight for Palestinian liberation. Participants will walk away from this first session with a precise understanding of the forces that propelled the colonization of Palestine and how US imperialist interests continue the efforts today. This curriculum is designed especially for those new to DSA, the Palestine movement, or those deepening their commitment to being anti-zionist. RSVP here!

Reportback: EWOC Fundamentals of Workplace Organizing

The Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) ran the four week Fundamentals of Workplace Organizing course this past September. Just like we did back in May, we got a group to take the course together and benefit from in-person discussions and activities (at 1916 McAllister). The four weeks covered developing worker leadership for Organizing Committee formation, the steps of the Organizing Conversation, what actions can constitute the arc of a campaign, and how to inoculate workers against the boss. Each plenary featured stories from ongoing organizing, with the discussion section giving time for participants to share about their own organizing experiences, ask questions about the material, and share strategies.

One of the sessions focused on Collective Action and Escalation, where we heard from comrades Elce R. and Phoebe G. about an ongoing campaign at Sesame Street Workshop, the nonprofit production company which produces Sesame Street and other programs for children. We learned that the workers at SSW didn’t want to run a confrontational campaign, preferring instead to organize around principles at home on Sesame Street such as inclusivity, playfulness, creativity. As a result, the first action in the campaign was a March on the Boss framed as “Delivering the Good News”—the good news being the existence of the union. Subsequent actions included gatherings and block parties to build community and show how the boss couldn’t celebrate their own decisions. Earlier this year, SSW workers voted to form their union and are currently in contract negotiations.

Our final session this past Monday (September 29th) focused on inoculation and responding to anti-union talking points from management, anti-union consultants, and coworkers. In the plenary session, we heard from comrades from Starbucks Workers United and Kickstarter United on how they inoculated their coworkers against anti-union propaganda from their bosses. We went through the most common anti-union strategies and talking points, such as framing the union as a third party, captive audience meetings, and fearmongering about union dues. We learned how important it is to respond to these common talking points with your coworkers before management even starts their anti-union campaign. After the plenary session, we talked through how we would respond to common anti-union talking points if they were raised in our workplaces.

If you’d like to get involved with the SF local chapter of EWOC, reach out to the lead coordinator Caitlin S or email labor@dsasf.org. The EWOC meetings of the Labor Board are the first Monday of every month at 7:00 PM, both in-person at 1916 McAllister and over Zoom. Anyone is welcome to attend, and we’re always looking for people interested  workplace lead canvassing, organizer trainings, and volunteer outreach. And if you’re interested in organizing your workplace and would like to be connected with an EWOC organizer, fill out the request form here.

Reportback: DSA SF at Oakland Arms Embargo March

This past Saturday, DSA SF, EB DSA and YDSA marched in Oakland to demand an arms embargo and an end to the genocide in Gaza. We also gathered 14 pages of signatures for the No Appetite for Apartheid consumer pledge!! Thank you to everyone who showed that the Bay Area will keep fighting back against genocide and Israeli war crimes, free Palestine

Behind the Scenes

The Chapter Coordination Committee (CCC) regularly rotates duties among chapter members. This allows us to train new members in key duties that help keep the chapter running like organizing chapter meetings, keeping records updated, office cleanup, updating the DSA SF website and publishing the weekly newsletter. Members can view current CCC rotations.

Interested in helping with the newsletter or other day-to-day tasks that keep the chapter running? Fill out the CCC help form.

by R.K. Upadhya

It is the two year anniversary of October 7th, of Palestine’s al-Aqsa Flood and the beginning of Israel’s genocidal response. Only two years; has it not felt like a lifetime? And is there anything left to say? It has been two years of mass murder and indiscriminate killings, with full backing from our government. Our protests and mobilizations have failed to halt the genocide, even as public opinion has shifted dramatically. Today, we are even more on the defensive, with domestic repression ratcheting up to unprecedented levels. 

How do we maintain our sanity, our courage, and our commitment to the struggle in such times? How do we maintain hope when faced with such insurmountable evil? 

I have never much liked poetry. But somehow, it has been poems that have brought me the most emotional and spiritual clarity over the past two years. I think this has less to do with the poems themselves, than who they were written by: refugees, prisoners, martyrs. Despite being written in the most unimaginably harsh conditions, their words are still somehow infused with hope and love – and a source of strength for all of us.   

This poem, “I Grant You Refuge”, was written by the Palestinian poet, novelist, and teacher Hiba Abu Nada, on October 10th, 2023 – a few days after the al-Aqsa Flood, as an indiscriminate hail of missiles, bombs, and shells from the IDF were falling across Gaza:

I grant you refuge
in invocation and prayer.
I bless the neighborhood and the minaret
to guard them
from the rocket

from the moment
it is a general’s command
until it becomes
a raid.

I grant you and the little ones refuge,
the little ones who
change the rocket’s course
before it lands
with their smiles.

[…]

I grant you refuge
from hurt and suffering.

With words of sacred scripture
I shield the oranges from the sting of phosphorous
and the shades of cloud from the smog.

I grant you refuge in knowing
that the dust will clear,
and they who fell in love and died together
will one day laugh.

Ten days after she wrote this poem, Hiba was killed in her home in Khan Younis by an Israeli airstrike.   

Countless hundreds of other prominent Palestinian writers, poets, artists, and teachers have been murdered by Israel over the last two years. Thus, one small means of resistance is to defy this attempt at cultural erasure, and to protect and reproduce Palestinian art. In San Antonio, one effort around this that I was pleased to be a part of was the Palestine Cinematheque, which showcased documentaries, films, and shorts produced by Palestinians. On February 25th, 2024, we showcased “Where Should the Birds Fly”, a documentary produced in Gaza, centering on a young girl and her experiences during Israel’s 2008-2009 assault on Gaza. It was a harrowing film, with raw uncut images of death and destruction from Israel’s bombs; but also, of survival and resilience.

The final shot of “Where Should the Birds Fly” is of a little girl, an orphan, who the director met during the course of the filming. She’s playing on the beach with other orphans. The director closes out the movie reminiscing about her own childhood memories of the beach, and a simple poetic conversation that was about nothing – and yet, everything:  

I remember when I played on the beach. Life seemed simple. We had fun. My dad would carry me on his shoulders. 

Once I asked him, ‘where does the sun go?’ He told me, ‘the sun just shines somewhere else, so that others may see. A sunset here does not mean the sun is gone.’

Out of necessity, Palestine has developed an incredible culture of resistance and resilience, particularly around its martyrs. It is very different here in the US, where we can struggle to talk openly about death. But things shifted on that day that we screened the documentary. February 25th was also the day that Aaron Bushnell, an active-duty member of the US Air Force, self-immolated in protest of US complicity in Israel’s genocide. His succinct words about what the genocide in Gaza meant rang out around the world: “This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal”.   

Of course, Aaron was not just another soldier, but an anarchist and a member of San Antonio’s mutual aid network. Some of Aaron’s close friends and comrades were there during the screening that day. I still remember glancing over and seeing their stunned faces as they shared the news with each other. I wouldn’t know until later what had transpired, but I knew it was devastating.

It wasn’t until some time later that I realized I had known him too. I met him once, right when he was getting involved with the Left. He had come to the opening of a local socialist space, and we had struck up a conversation. I learned about his background and interests, and I gave him a quick spiel about the different niches of the Left and different things he could get involved in around the city, such as mutual aid work. I didn’t see him again, or think about him – until he became an international news story. 

This is part of what we can expect, as the flames from Gaza spread, as repression deepens and our movements come under increasing fire. People you know may one day disappear forever; others you met once and forgot about, will suddenly re-emerge in headlines. This is where, as with many things, Palestine has been ahead of the curve; as Alex Birnel said at a speech at Aaron Bushnell’s vigil, Palestinians have always “celebrated, cherished, and remembered their martyrs”. We will have to learn to do the same, to embrace our martyrs, those among us who give up everything for the struggle.  

Aaron had once planned to have a uniform-burning ceremony when he was able to finally quit the military. He wanted to recite the poem “The Empire Raised Me”, from Anansi’s Library:

I was a soldier for her before I knew her name
Raised to die before I fully knew mine
Crafted by hand for eternal war
Raised for combat as the empire’s ward
[…]
Now the muzzle is at my back
The boots are at my door
The guns are all racked
And like my ancestors before
A hail of bullets will set me free
Express one day delivery
From your state god to thee
Expect from your lord no loyalty
For I was raised a soldier.

On September 25th, 2025, Assata Shakur passed away in Cuba, where she had been in exile since 1984. Her time in the revolutionary ‘60s and ‘70s was of an intensity that is hard to imagine in today’s US: a veteran of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, godmother to Tupac Shakur, imprisoned for allegedly shooting down a police officer, broken out of jail by a communist militia. There can often seem a world of difference between Palestine and the US; but the truth is that the parallels have always been here. 

Assata died free. But her vision of freedom and liberation never came to fruition. Was the vision even clear in her youth? Even if it wasn’t, she nonetheless gave the struggle her all. And this is the question we must ask ourselves as well: are we prepared to give the current struggle our all, even if victory will not happen in our lifetimes? Even if we can’t even imagine victory?  

Assata might have posed the question a different way. She may have asked us if we believe in living. From her poem “Affirmation”, from her autobiography:

I believe in living.
I believe in the spectrum
of Beta days and Gamma people.
I believe in sunshine.
In windmills and waterfalls,
tricycles and rocking chairs;
And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts.
And sprouts grow into trees.
I believe in the magic of the hands.
And in the wisdom of the eyes.
I believe in rain and tears.
And in the blood of infinity.

[…]

I have been locked by the lawless.
Handcuffed by the haters.
Gagged by the greedy.
And, if i know any thing at all,
It’s that a wall is just a wall
and nothing more at all.
It can be broken down.

I believe in living
I believe in birth.
I believe in the sweat of love
and in the fire of truth.

And i believe that a lost ship,
steered by tired, seasick sailors,
can still be guided home
to port.

On March 14, 2025, federal agents arrested Leqaa Kordia.  She was a Palestinian student who had attended pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University, and the second one to be arrested, after Mahmoud Khalil. She was born in Jerusalem; over 100 of her family members have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. She has now been imprisoned for over six months in the Prairieland Detention Facility, about a half-hour drive south of Fort Worth.

On July 4, a small group of anarchists and antifascists staged a noise demo outside of the prison. Something went awry, and shots were allegedly fired; now 17 comrades have been jailed, facing spurious terrorism charges. On September 22nd, Trump signed an executive order declaring “antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization. A few days later, Trump signed National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, declaring a national counter-terrorism initiative for the FBI to uncover and disrupt “anti-fascist” networks.

Five years after the George Floyd uprisings, and two years after the al-Aqsa Flood, there should be no more doubt: we all live under the same Empire. The savagery of the war against Palestine has spread far beyond the region; in the US alone, it is impossible to keep proper track of the pace and scale of state violence, and how quickly basic rights and norms once taken for granted are disappearing. There is no more pretense of human rights or the rule of law; no more pretense of the ruling class wanting to negotiate. As President Gustavo Petro of Colombia – a former guerrilla fighter and revolutionary – said earlier this year at a meeting of the Hague Group: “Gaza is simply an experiment by the ultra-rich…on how to respond to humanity’s rebellion.” Put differently: one way or another, the fate of Gaza is the fate of humanity.      

On June 4, Leqaa wrote a poem and statement from her prison cell. I’ll end with her words. They speak for themselves. As all of our martyrs’ poems do.  

Peace be upon you, and the mercy and blessings of God.
Peace be upon you, O Palestine.
Peace be upon Gaza, the steadfast and proud.

Peace be upon a people who taught the world
the meaning of patience, dignity, and resilience.

Peace be upon the mothers
who buried the remains of their children on street corners
—and still chose to keep Living.

Peace be upon the fathers
whose eyes wept for the first time
—and oh, what a brutal first time it was.

[…]

Peace be upon our noble martyrs, precious and beloved.
Peace be upon our free, glorious prisoners who are
charting the path to freedom.

[…]

To you, the free people across the world,
the rebels, the defiant, the unwavering
—peace be upon you and my deepest respect.

I write to you from a cold place, hoping my words
may carry a little warmth amid the tragedies, the suffering
and the unimaginable stories I witness here.

Still, I write with full certainty that we will all be freed
from this cruel injustice. And I believe, with all my heart
that I will meet you soon as a free woman—God willing.

From me—a granddaughter of the Nakba—to you,
the generation of return and the makers of freedom.
Accept my greetings and reverence.

The post Poems From Our Martyrs first appeared on Red Fault.

Chapter & Verse: a summary of chapter news for September 2025

The post DSA Electeds Arrested Outside Immigration Court, Labor Support Mapped, and More appeared first on Democratic Left.

Author: Julie C

The purpose of this piece is to notify Cleveland DSA members that there are now two local caucuses in our chapter and to give some brief history of internal politics in our chapter from a personal and limited perspective. These caucuses do not hold any formal positions of power within our chapter, and in fact are not “officially affiliated” with DSA Cleveland, but they were created in order to bring comrades together based on shared identities and vision.

The Black and Brown (B&B) Caucus was announced at or around the time of the June 2025 General Meeting. Inspired by Detroit DSA’s Black & Brown Alliance, as well as DSA’s national Multiracial Organizing Committee, the purpose of the B&B caucus is to bring together members of color and focus on ways to increase our diversity within the chapter, and working class power in Northeast Ohio’s communities of color. The caucus is not exclusive to members of color and there is no formal leadership or approval process for planning events for the B&B Caucus. If you are interested in this caucus, please reach out to Shay or Emma B on our member Slack.

The Praxis Caucus was announced at the September 2025 General Meeting and its Points of Unity can be found here. This caucus was formed with the intention of bringing members together to form a long-term and proactive vision for DSA in Cleveland and the surrounding areas. While the founding members have ideas on where to start, the current goal is to bring more members together to help develop the vision for our chapter in a way that aligns with our Points of Unity. All Cleveland DSA members are welcome to join meetings and events held by Praxis. If you are interested in this caucus, please reach out to Justin E or Julie C on our member Slack.

Background

When I joined Cleveland DSA (fall 2020), our chapter was very focused on local issues and local organizing. We were not fully plugged into the national org structure or any particular working group/committee in any serious or noticeable way. Also, from my perspective, while there were some political differences among comrades, our membership seemed rather homogeneous and came to consensus regularly. The most obvious difference was the approach to electoral politics and our biggest political “battle” was whether or not to endorse Nina Turner in 2021. This issue drew our largest General Meeting crowd at that time (over 60 members) and the motion failed with about 63% of the vote (it needed 66%).

Since then our chapter has experienced sizable growth in our membership which has naturally magnified the differences in perspective of how to achieve our shared goals. The national organization is more visible and connected to the work that we do through the use of resources available to us as well as some of our members being plugged into the work of different national committees. We also have at least close to a dozen members who belong to various national caucuses. At our October 2024 General Meeting, we passed a much more rigorous endorsement policy and that policy was put to the test this year. A substantial amount of work was put into a project proposal that would see a local DSA member endorsed in their run for city council. That proposal failed 64 nay vs 51 yea after a zealous debate at our May General meeting (5/8/25). The Praxis caucus formed with core members who voted yea on endorsement.
During and after the May General meeting, the political strategies among Cleveland DSA members have been more clearly outlined through internal debates and discussions. To be clear, DSA is a socialist organization. We believe in transitioning our society from capitalism to socialism and our “political” differences stem from what is the best way to do that. And even more specifically at our chapter level, what should our focus be in order to contribute to that outcome. While the differences in political opinion at times seem great, we are very much working towards the same goal.

1.  There are many lists and articles about the national caucuses but I am not linking any here since there is no “official” list that broadly summarizes them.

The post Caucuses in Cleveland DSA appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America.

By Tiffany P

“Gather around, kids! I’m going to show you how to use drugs.” – Terrance Zdunich

I watched Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) when it first released. Back then, I enjoyed the music, wacky characters, and gore. Today, the movie hits different. The movie takes place in the not-too-distant future. That future has arrived.

GeneCo is a company that specializes in organ transplants. At first, the organ transplants were necessary because of a pandemic that caused mass organ failure. GeneCo harvested organs from the dead and sold them to the living. Many could not pay for the surgery so they signed a payment plan with the company. Rotti Largo is the founder of GeneCo and should look very familiar to many of us today. He is your typical selfish sadistic billionaire. He lobbied a bill through Congress to make it legal for this private company to murder citizens if they are 90 days late on
their payments. By the time the movie starts, the people are tired of living in fear. Prop 598 would make it illegal for GeneCo to repossess organs. GeneCo gaslights the citizens and says they need the ability to murder your neighbor or else they might run out of organs to save your life. This is a typical billionaire tactic that keeps citizens divided and voting against their own interests.

Working for GeneCo is a more extreme version of what it’s like to work in corporate America today and certain members of government are trying to get us even closer to this dystopian reality. They are attempting to give more power to the employer, less power to the worker, reduce safety in the workplace, and even want to
eliminate child labor laws.

The Repo Man is the one who legally murders citizens to reclaim stolen property. By property, they mean someone’s heart, spine, or any other organ. You would think anyone who would do a job like this must be a monster. Far from it. The movie does a very good job making the Repo Man a sympathetic father. However, his current job of cutting out someone’s heart with no anesthetic while it’s still beating has taken a major toll on his psyche. He develops a split personality to hide behind to do much of the dirty work. This reminds me of slaughterhouse workers of today. They murder animals who struggle and scream for their life all day long. They are paid very little and are often times undocumented workers. This allows the company to abuse and threaten them. Because of the violent and cruel nature of the job, slaughterhouse workers will either quit because of extreme PTSD or develop violent tendencies outside of work. Meat packing factories are also often times staffed by undocumented workers. They have very few safety standards and finger and hand amputations are common there.

Genterns are a type of female worker at GeneCo. You see them perform various jobs such as surgery and inventory. They are expected to perform sexual acts for their employer, dress in very skimpy clothing, and can’t complain if their co-worker is suddenly murdered in front of them. Clearly, Genterns need to form a union. It is not unusual in today’s workplace for a woman to feel pressure to be more sexualized or even perform sexual favors to get promoted. Harassment and abuse are swept under the rug and employees are expected to suffer in silence. Employees at GeneCo can be forced into contracts that prevent them from leaving the company alive. They are in a type of indentured servitude. They work for the company in exchange for a surgery, but if they leave then the Repo Man will kill them. Today, companies want their employees to sign contracts which prevent them from leaving. This type of contract emboldens the employer to abuse their employees, and if the employee chooses to leave then the employer will steal their paychecks.

We are not shown this world’s economy directly, but we get a sense there is the very poor and the very rich with not much in between. GeneCo spends a lot of money advertising for cosmetic surgeries. They encourage people to buy a name brand spine or spleen as a fashion statement. Despite being poor, many people have these surgeries because they sign up for a payment plan. This makes the surgeries more affordable. This is reflected in the Labubu craze going on today. In previous decades, cosmetic sales would rise during financial turmoil and depression. Labubus make you look cool to your friends at a relatively affordable price. People nowadays understand they will never afford a house or have financial security so why not buy a $30 toy? It’s not as if saving that $30 will suddenly allow them to buy a house. Many buy Labubus because they are depressed and these little toys provide a glimmer of joy in their day.

The Genetic Opera in the movie itself is a massive advertising campaign. It is a yearly event that is run like a mega church. There is a band and a lot of spectacle. People testify on live TV to how GeneCo helped them. A single mom needed a kidney transplant and said the company showed her sympathy, but the company will have no problem turning her children into orphans if she is late on her payments. This reflects the constant flood of propaganda we see today. Companies spend millions to develop brand loyalty to keep their customers coming back for decades. None of us are immune to propaganda. Remember, they need us more than we need them.

Repo! The Genetic Opera will be playing at Hyperreal Film Club in Austin on October 6th at 7:30pm.

The post The Goth Rock Opera of Our Present first appeared on Red Fault.