Reprinted from Art Young’s Inferno

Art Young was one of the great cartoonists and satirists of the US socialist movement, working largely in the 1910s and 20s. That famous image of the Gilded Age, of a tycoon with a sack of money for a head, is Art Young’s creation. Like many socialists before him, Art Young was an avid fan of Dante’s Inferno and loved using the imagery of ‘social hell’, that hell was here on Earth.

During the depression, Art Young wrote his Inferno, depicting a Hell which had been overthrown in a capitalist revolution. This is the dictionary from that book. – J.A.

For rich people to laugh at – for poor people to respect.

That’s LAW.

About money and the way to acquire it.
That’s CONVERSATION.

The joy of mating, made miserable by fear of its money consequences.
That’s LOVE.

A fortune made in a single fight by a prize-ring champion while a family of four – father, mother, and children – struggle all year round for a bare existence.
That’s THAT.

Sitting with all the power of government behind him, he sentences sinners to confinement, debt, or annihilation, who may be no more sinful than he.
That’s a JUDGE.

One who works at something he doesn’t like because he must have a weekly wage.
That’s TO BE SENSIBLE.

One who works at something he likes, but can’t make money at it.
That’s a POOR SIMP.

The man who gains some leisure, although too late to appreciate it –
He’s a LUCKY DEVIL.

When the employed man wants higher wages, it’s GREED – when the employer wants more profits, that’s a JUST RETURN ON INVESTMENT.

Muddle the people’s minds, iterate and emphasize things of no importance until they become big issues.
That’s STATESMANSHIP.

Spending millions annually to make people buy things they cannot afford and do not need, with competition between hundreds of brands, almost alike, but made to appear almost different by the skills of writers, artists, and radio coaxers, paid to work up enthusiasm over things that do not interest them –
That’s ADVERTISING.

Those who are the most greedy, the most cunning, and have the thickest hide, whose natures embody the characteristics of a pig, fox, and rhinoceros to the exclusion of human qualities – That’s SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.

Romantic emphasis on the lowest instincts in human nature: fighting, revenge, lux-urious ease, and narrow notions of honor and duty
That’s a MOVING PICTURE.

Ten percent for the poor and ninety percent for the overhead –
That’s CHARITY

When a woman sells her body–
That’s DISGRACEFUL.

When a man sells his mind –
That’s ALL RIGHT.

The post The Hell Dictionary first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

Reflections from a first-time delegate to DSA National Convention.

The post Thinking of Going to DSA National Convention? Here’s Why You Should Consider It! appeared first on Democratic Left.

Announcing DSA San Diego’s November 2025 Special Election Voter Guide! This year, San Diego has one decision on the ballot — Proposition 50. DSA San Diego’s Electoral Working Group has prepared the above-linked guide expanding on what’s at stake with Proposition 50, along with content that describes our approach to voter guides generally. [...]

Read More... from Nov 2025 Special Election Voter Guide

The post Nov 2025 Special Election Voter Guide appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America | San Diego Chapter.

by Austin DSA

On November 4, 2025, Austinites will be voting to approve a property tax increase for the city, called Proposition Q. Our chapter is working in coalition with local labor and social justice organizations to win this tax rate election (or “TRE”). We believe the property tax increase will fund city workers and programs that are necessary to care for our neighbors during the worst of the second Trump administration. We’re asking all comrades (those who have campaigned before and those who haven’t) to help us turn out our base citywide: we will be canvassing, tabling, and relational organizing to win this one, and we need your help to get us over the line.

So:

• Get out and vote early! Polls are open 7AM–7PM through 10/31, with select sites open until 10PM on 10/30 and 10/31. You can check your nearest poll site at votetravis.gov and review a rundown of the full ballot here. 
• Come canvass with us! Dates and times are listed on our linktree, we encourage you to RSVP for as many as you can: linktr.ee/PasstheTRE 

What’s a TRE?

A TRE is a tax rate election. Since the passage of a 2019 state law (SB2), cities like Austin have been required to seek approval from voters any time the city budget increases by more than 3.5% in a given year—previously, increases of up to 8% could be passed by council. The city is seeking voter approval for an additional 5¢ of revenue per $100 of property value to continue funding public services that we expect and the workers needed to make it happen. If approved, the TRE would increase local property tax by around $25/month for the average Austin homeowner.

Why are we doing this?

1. Because of the 2019 law, our city has been forced into a structural deficit: in recent years, inflation has been as high as 7%. With budget increases capped at 3.5% and property values flat or in decline, gaps in revenues have been filled from reserve funds, transfers from our public utilities, and fee increases that disproportionately affect the working class. Property taxes are based on the assessed value of people’s homes, meaning people who have more pay more. This is in contrast with other ways of generating revenue like utility rate increases, fees and fines, all of which disproportionately affect the working class. Austin is a majority-renter city, and our policies should reflect that, instead of the preferences of the wealthier, more conservative minority that traditionally dominates off-year elections. 
2. Because of the federal government removing vital funding from cities like Austin as a political punishment for standing up for ourselves. They’re using austerity as leverage to force cities to enact regressive and undemocratic policies and legislation that further criminalize and punish the multiracial working class, those seeking abortion, our queer, trans, and intersex neighbors, the homeless, and people with disabilities. We can take care of us, but we’re not going to get any outside help doing it for the foreseeable future. 
3. Because protecting our neighbors needs sustained investment. We’ve seen the benefits of housing trust funds, family stabilization grants, community violence intervention programs, council at first appearance, food pantries and parent support specialists in schools—Texas and the federal administration don’t want to admit these programs work, so they’re trying to shut them down instead.

What about APD funding?

We know that public safety doesn’t come from policing, it comes from stability and community. The budget we’ll be voting to approve allows us to continue investing in real public safety and stability during an especially turbulent time. The budget we’re voting on includes emergency housing vouchers, 24/7 EMCOT mental health response teams, funding for the Sobering Center, parks, pools, and libraries. The alternative is the carceral and punitive police state, where APD is not just the primary, but the only city agency funded to respond to public safety (through the most destructive, most expensive, most inequitable means available).

As a chapter, we fought hard to prevent city council from increasing APD’s budget last year: we believe that the contract they approved did not provide the oversight we won at the ballot box; we knew the money the city put in there can never be reinvested in real public safety and stability. Our chapter’s NoALPRs campaign in particular understands the danger in unlimited funding for carceral policing and the surveillance state, and that Texas law mandates that cities like ours can never decrease their police budget. 

Who’s opposing Prop Q?

The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Matt Mackowiak (Save Austin Now), the Real Estate Council of Austin, ATX Servicing LLC (associated with Frontier Bank of Texas), the Sandhill Family Partnership, to give you a sense of it.

What happens if this doesn’t pass?

Austerity, layoffs, service cuts. This would be the first time a tax rate election has been rejected, so there isn’t a clear playbook for how budget cuts would play out here. Many of our comrades who make the city run may lose their jobs, and all of them would be paid even less of the worth of their work. The most likely outcome if the TRE is rejected is that our friends, family and neighbors will suffer, and our shared quality of life as a city will suffer with it. 

What can I do to support?

Austinites want to do the right thing, but historically, off-year elections have been dominated by more conservative, wealthier homeowners instead of the working class. The opposition is spending heavily on misinformative billboards, scare tactics and online ads, but is doing no canvassing. We’ve already generated strong results, knocking thousands of doors and getting strong positive responses from our neighbors. We intend to continue this ground game because we’ve seen it work before, especially in low-turnout elections like this one is likely to be.

We want the results of this election to be a representative reflection of Austin’s majority-worker, majority-renter priorities. We think that by dedicating as much of our canvassing resources as we can to letting working Austinites know what’s at stake in this election, we can win this one and help protect our neighbors for the next four years. 

First, we need you to vote! Polling stations are open for early voting citywide from 7AM–7PM until 10/31, lines are short, and strong support from our full membership could be the deciding factor in this race. You can check your polling location and view a sample ballot at votetravis.gov. 

Second, we need you to talk to your friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers about Prop Q! The more people get to know about what’s in the budget we’re voting on, the more supportive they’ve been. Stay tuned for more on this front as we get closer to the election.

Third, we need you to sign up for canvasses between now and November 4th. This is the best way to have the biggest impact on the race: you can only vote once, but you can canvass as many times as you’d like. Each time you do, you’ll be helping get vital information about this election into the hands of voters we need. If you’ve never canvassed before, we’ll show you how and set you up with a partner. Canvass event links below, and solidarity forever:

• THIS FRIDAY, 10/24 at 3:30 PM
• THIS SATURDAY, 10/25 at 10:00 AM
• THIS SUNDAY, 10/26 at noon
• Monday, 10/27 at 3:30
• Friday, 10/31 at 3:30
• Saturday, 11/1 at 10:00 AM (with Mike Siegel, Vanessa Fuentes and Zo Qadri)

The post Call To Action: Vote Yes On Prop Q first appeared on Red Fault.

Dock workers in Italy threatened to “block everything” if the Global Sumud Flotilla, the biggest effort from organized labor to end the genocide in Gaza.

The post The Power of the Strike appeared first on EWOC.

NOLSW Forward Leads Union to Declare Support for BDS and Opposition to U.S. Imperialism

By: Siobhan M.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent the official position of Working Mass.

BOSTON, MA – The National Organization of Legal Services Workers (NOLSW, UAW 2320) emerged from our 2025 National Joint Council (NJC) and National Executive Board (NEB) elections energized to fight for the rights of our members, as well as for the working-class and oppressed people across the world. The NOLSW Forward slate swept the union’s 13-member NEB, including seven DSA members, with a vision rooted in social, economic, and racial justice. The slate—elected as the new NEB by acclamation after our strong NJC showing—aims to transform NOLSW into a militant organization capable of challenging capitalism, imperialism, and state repression.

The NJC is our 7,000-member union’s highest delegated body and included over 120 delegates from across the country. 

The core programming of the NJC spanned three days. On Monday, July 21, delegates participated in workshops on topics like labor history, sectoral bargaining, and solidarity with Palestine. On Tuesday, the delegation traveled to the Capitol to advocate for healthcare and homes for all before, on Wednesday, holding our business meeting to deliberate and chart our course for the coming year. Delegates voted overwhelmingly to adopt plans to build sectoral bargaining campaigns in several cities, support immigrants, transgender people, and Palestinians, and amend bylaws to improve our internal democracy and transparency, among other decisions. 

Much of the initiative behind these resolutions came from the NOLSW Forward slate.

Affirming Our Solidarity

As the UAW’s only nationally-amalgamated local, NOLSW has over 150 bargaining units spread out across dozens of states. Practically, this makes it difficult for our members to meet and organize with each other across units. By UAW’s rules, each of our units also has autonomy to decide their own contracts. However, our union is taking steps to amplify our power, recognizing that the working class is strongest when it is united. 

Taking inspiration from the NYC-based Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA, UAW 2325), NJC delegates voted to create a Sectoral Bargaining Committee tasked with coordinating bargaining campaigns in 2028 and beyond. This past summer, 2,000 ALAA workers from 11 shops who had aligned their contract expirations all went on strike with some common goals, including a $70,000 wage floor for all workers. Legal aid workers make the U.S. legal system run, so this collective strike was immensely disruptive. Each unit negotiated with their own management, and each made their own contract decisions, so strike lengths varied—Bronx  Defenders Union reached a tentative agreement almost immediately while other units were striking for weeks. The resulting contracts did not meet all of workers’ demands, but they featured some significant wins, including wages of at least $70,000 per year for all workers at the Office of the Appellate Defender.

NOLSW wants to learn from and build on ALAA’s 2025 campaign. While focused on areas where we have density—including Massachusetts, New York, Chicago, Texas, and the Bay Area—we’re committed to “do everything in [our] power to assist and support any shop that chooses to participate in sectoral bargaining.” One element of these contract fights will be protecting our transgender and nonbinary members from the Trump administration’s attacks on our healthcare and public existence. Per another 2025 NJC resolution, our members will be equipped with model contract language to fight for gender-affirming care and workplace nondiscrimination protections,

Our solidarity doesn’t stop with our union siblings. As legal aid and human services workers who spend our lives helping some of U.S. society’s most vulnerable people, NOLSW members understand the need to merge our workplace struggles with those of working and oppressed people in our neighborhoods and around the world. Our members are among those on the front lines against the Trump administration’s deportations, both in immigration courtrooms and on the streets. Our NJC delegates voted to become a Sanctuary Local, with commitments like a refusal to cooperate with federal agents, “Know Your Rights” trainings for immigrants and protestors, legal observation and mutual aid for those targeted by police, and political advocacy for pro-immigrant policies at all levels of government.

Delegates also reaffirmed our solidarity with the Palestinian people and opposed U.S. military intervention across the world. Building on 2024’s Resolution for the Liberation of Palestine, the 2025 iteration urged units to divest their retirement plans, endorsed the Mask Off Maersk campaign against arms shipments, and pledged to defend members facing discipline for standing with Palestine. It also demanded “the U.S. government immediately stop engaging in and supporting foreign wars and otherwise taking and supporting military actions abroad” and called on the UAW, AFL-CIO, and all other bodies to which we send delegates to refuse support to any politician out of step with these values. This gives our representatives on these bodies a mandate from membership to stand with Palestine.

Democratizing National Leadership

NOLSW Forward’s goals also included some internal reforms to improve union democracy and transparency. We passed bylaw amendments to have more frequent national meetings and improve a system of collective leadership among the NEB. We will invite our members in to organize with us, proactively sharing Zoom links and notes for NEB meetings with membership. Our union knows we’re strongest when we are united, and we hope to build a working-class movement for peace, justice, and liberation across the world.

Siobhan M. is a Trustee on the NOLSW National Executive Board, elected by acclamation as part of the NOLSW Forward slate. The views expressed herein are her own.

The post OPINION: UAW 2320 Legal Workers Elect National Slate of DSA Leaders and Allies to Lead the Union appeared first on Working Mass.

Logan W. Cole

The following remarks were made in front of Batavia City Hall at GLOW Community Alliance and Genesee County DSA’s Workers Over Billionaires rally on September 1st, 2025.

I am Logan Cole, secretary of Genesee County DSA, and I want to thank the GLOW Community Alliance for their planning of this event and this opportunity to support workers.

This Labor Day, I want to highlight how the ruling class divides workers from one another to weaken the working class. Race and gender have long been used to prevent the working class from cohering strategically. Union busting and misleading language (unions are not a third party — they are the workers) have also been used to divide workers. More recently, the differences between manufacturing and service workers have been cynically deployed to weaken the labor movement. 

The Trump administration’s more overt focus on migrant workers is part and parcel with these efforts — a riff on the now clichéd method of using race and xenophobia to divide workers and erode workers’ powers. The detention of fourteen workers in May and another seven workers a little over two weeks ago abducted by ICE from Lynn-Ette & Sons Farm in Orleans County is an attack not only on immigrants but also workers writ large. Among those detained were United Farm Worker organizers and workers who were owed back pay. These detentions were wrong because these are people but were also tactically beneficial for local agri-business tyrant farmers, who are nefarious agents of the ruling class in rural upstate New York. Many workers are detained right here at the Buffalo Detention Center in Batavia.

If your pay comes directly from making something, like a good or service, you are part of the working class. Fabricators, baristas, teachers, farmers, miners, cashiers, and others who make are workers regardless of their race, gender, immigration status, or job sector. We are all workers and we are stronger together.

Support workers and support unions — right now, we need to meet the moment and specifically support the United Farm Workers, who are leading the effort in supporting the most vulnerable workers, including those who have been detained — donate to the workers’ bond funds and follow the UFW online so you can attend their demonstrations, which are sometimes organized with very short notice.

The post Support Every Worker first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

DSA’s big tent makes it unique on the U.S. Left. Protecting it will help us weather and even grow during the second Trump administration.

The post Keep DSA Together appeared first on Democratic Left.