Comrades,

Yesterday, we celebrated Labor Day as unemployment benefits expired for millions of Americans and protections against evictions are ceasing. Even as working-class couriers are forced to deliver Grubhub orders during a flood or drive Ubers to rescue people from wildfires, those same workers face conditions that are ever more precarious. 

These are unprecedented circumstances to recognize the importance of Labor to society. But that contrast makes the conflict clearer than ever: labor is the force that drives our society, and the rules of capitalism require capitalists to turn the screws harder until something cracks.

We as socialists are preparing for that crack, however that may look like. It’s a terrifying thought, but take heart in knowing that our labor is not in vain and the fight for the working class is far from over. 

Solidarity,

DSA SF Communications Committee

Upcoming Events

? Wednesday, 9/8 (6:45 p.m.): September Chapter Meeting (Zoom)

Wednesday, 9/15 (7pm): Forward Thrust: A Conversation with Seattle DSA’s Shaun Scott

? Saturday, 9/18 (3:00 p.m.): Conflict in China: 1949 to Now panel discussion (Zoom)

For more events, click here.

Chapter Accessibility

As part of its plan of work this year, the Steering Committee identified accessibility as a long-standing chapter need. For accessibility concerns and accommodation requests, or if you would like to join the Chapter Accessibility Task Force to help us implement a chapter survey and accessibility guidelines, please email steering@dsasf.org

Regular Chapter Meeting

Mark your calendars – the next regular DSA SF chapter meeting is Wednesday, September 8 at 6:45 p.m.!  Be sure to RSVP for the meeting here.

Announcements

Conflict in China Panel: 1949 to Now

Join the Education Committee on Zoom for a panel discussion on the social and political conflicts that have driven China’s history since the 1949 Revolution to develop a stronger understanding of China today. Speakers will be from China, Europe, and the US, covering labor and feminist struggles in China since 1949, political developments, and the contemporary situation.

Register via Zoom here.


Envisioning Real Utopias by Erik Olin Wright

Please join the Twenty-First Century Socialism Reading Group for its next book: Envisioning Real Utopias by Erik Olin Wright (1947-2019). The first meeting will be Sept. 7th at 6:30pm. The first session asks that you have read up to the end of Part I of the book. Register via Zoom here.

The new work of Wright––who was a preeminent figure in recent American socialist thought––is a comprehensive assault on the quietism of contemporary social theory. Envisioning Real Utopias lays the foundations for a set of concrete, emancipatory alternatives to the capitalist system through a systematic reconstruction of goals and values for Leftists thinkers. Wright diverges from classical Marxism with his classification of subgroups in the working class. He introduced novel concepts to adapt a changing perspective for ideas like deep democracy and interstitial revolution. Rigorous and engaging, this will become a landmark of social thought for the twenty-first century. 

The Twenty-First Century Socialism Reading Group usually meets every two weeks and reads 25-50 pages per session. 

Promotion of CalCare Campaign

NNU/CNA has been ramping up the CalCare campaign as the bill for California state-level single-payer will return in January. They are focusing on priority districts, including AD 17 and AD 19 in San Francisco. For those areas, they are looking for District Leaders to lead locally.

They’ll provide extensive training and support to these leaders. If you are interested, you can sign up here. If you want to participate in the campaign but not be a District Leader, please reach out to DSA SF member Ellen Y (by emailing healthcare@dsasf.org) who is a District Leader for AD 19 – she can get you set up on text-banking voters!

Fill out the survey about our future office garden!

The DSA SF Ecosocialist Committee is working with two awesome high school seniors who are dedicating their senior project to setting up our office’s *brand new garden space.* Your opinions will be the basis of how this project will be structured and how it will operate. Please provide input here!