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Jay Forth on the connection between capitalism, evangelicalism, and a state of indebtedness

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

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Record Turnout As We Head Into 2020

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

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

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

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

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

Photo: Michael Roberts

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Free Film: “American Socialist: The Life and Times of Eugene V. Debs”

Bernie inspired a generation, but who inspired Bernie? Labor organizer Eugene Victor Debs led the United States socialist movement in the early 20th century. He received almost one million votes for president in 1920, running from his cell in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, where he had been jailed for protesting World War I — when our population was one third the size of today’s! Debs was a charismatic, extremely popular figure during his lifetime but this history, like so much of our radical history, is rarely taught.

Debs famously declared: “While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison I am not free!”

Metro Atlanta DSA and Georgia State U. YDSA are proud to present this film, produced by Yale Strom and Elizabeth Schwartz, two San Diego DSA members. Discussion will follow the film, so please plan to stay.

We also plan to have some copies available of Eugene Debs, a Graphic Biography, by DSA members Paul Buhle and Steve Max, at half price. You can order a copy at half price online from national DSA.

Admission is free, though donations to help pay for the screening fee and theater rental will be welcome.

the logo of Revolutions Per Minute - Radio from the New York City Democratic Socialists of America
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MADSA at King Day March

As we do every year, a contingent of MADSA members joined the Martin Luther King Jr. Day march on Jan. 20, along with hundreds of others from peace and justice organizations, labor unions, community groups, churches and schools, and individuals. The lead marchers chanted “Ho, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go!” and many other concerns were voiced, including demands for peace, reparations, and police accountability. Photos: Reid Freeman Jenkins.

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The NYC-DSA Squad in Albany & Bernie in the White House with Jabari Brisport

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

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Montgomery County Residents Again Demand End to Country Club Giveaways


Montgomery County DSA

Montgomery County Residents Again Demand End to Country Club Giveaways

January 8, 2020

Montgomery County DSA Says: “Money for Jobs and Education, Not the Wealthy’s Recreation”

(CHEVY CHASE, MD) — Montgomery County residents gathered at Columbia Country Club today to demand that state delegates put an end to tax subsidies given to private country clubs. This is the first of a series of planned protests.

The protesters held banners and signs that said “End Tax Breaks for Country Clubs.”

The State of Maryland provides property tax subsidies to country clubs by assessing their property at a rate far below market value when determining clubs’ tax liability. Columbia Country Club, for example, pays less than 25% of what its property tax bill would be if it was taxed at the same rate as homeowners.

Last year, revenue shortfalls forced the County to propose painful budgetary cuts, including $25 million from Montgomery County Public Schools and $3.9 million from Health and Human Services. Now, the County is predicting a $100 million shortfall next year. Meanwhile, the tax giveaways enjoyed by elite country clubs amount to $10 million annually — even as these clubs charge initiation fees of $80,000 to $100,000. 

Montgomery County DSA Chair Elissa Laitin remarked, “Today is the first day of the Maryland legislative session. We are sending a message that it remains unconscionable for the working class to pay more in order to continue subsidizing the recreation of the ruling class. A few years ago, the County raised property tax rates on homeowners by almost nine percent, and we’re told we have to live with budget cuts to essential services. Meanwhile, these clubs for the 1% continue to pay lower taxes than the rest of us. This needs to end.”

Said MoCo DSA Steering Committee member Zach Wiita, “We once again call upon the Maryland General Assembly to pass a bill ending these giveaways to the playgrounds of the wealthy, and put working Marylanders first.”

illustration of lightning bolt striking a rose on top of U.S. Capitol Building
illustration of lightning bolt striking a rose on top of U.S. Capitol Building

The post Montgomery County Residents Again Demand End to Country Club Giveaways appeared first on Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America.