Statement on Racist Violence in Pittsburgh
This past Saturday, October 27th, a fascist murdered 11 Jews at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. The fallen were the elders of the community, its backbone. TCDSA is sickened and angered by the terrorist attack at Tree of Life synagogue this past Shabbat.
Many have described the attack as senseless or as the product of a deranged mind. It wasn’t. According to the evil logic of antisemitism, white supremacy, and fascism, the slaughter made perfect sense.
The killer sought to punish Jews for the work done by HIAS, a Jewish-American refugee support organization, in helping central American refugees find security in the United states. He aimed to shatter the bonds of solidarity which unite Jews to others. He wanted to terrorize us into silence, to frighten us into accepting his sick, sectarian worldview. But the murderer and his ideology are bound to lose.
TCDSA knows that the fight against antisemitism is a pillar of the battle against all forms of domination and oppression. We will continue this struggle for as long as it takes.
Solidarity forever.
— TCDSA Steering Committee
Please take time to reach out to those affected by this heinous act, there are many who need to feel humanity at this time, and we can help provide this at the very least. If you are able, please also consider making a donation to Tree of Life synagogue.
‘Democracy is the road to socialism’
— Marx
Time to Vote!
Our society is ravaged with the cancer of free-market capitalism. It has metastasized to every part of society, spreading across healthcare, housing, and elections resulting in the unsustainable world we live in. During the 2018 midterm elections, meaningful treatment of this cancer is not on the ballot. Instead, we have a doctor who’s only going to prescribe mild painkillers, at best.
The choice is ours: we can assuage the pain by voting for left-leaning candidates and causes, or we can opt out of voting altogether and continue our painful demise.
We vote to ease the pain of capitalism. If this is something you vote for as well, the TCDSA Electoral Branch has compiled an Election Guide to help you assess this year’s candidates and referendum questions from across the Twin Cities. This Election Guide is a list of personal recommendations for candidates and causes that your TCDSA comrades believe in, and describes how each aligns with various democratic socialist values.
Make no mistake that the outcome of this election will have a material impact not only on ourselves but also on the lives of our friends and neighbors. This is most acutely true of the races for Governor and Minnesota Attorney General. Reactionary, racist, fundamentalist candidates are within reach of both of offices.
Whoever wins will have the power to continue the disenfranchisement of non-white Minnesotans—or to reverse it. They will choose to enact Trump’s erasure of trans people through proposed changes to Title IX—or to fight it. They will further decimate public sector labor unions at worst—and expand them at best. In short, they will further drive capitalism into our lives–or they will ease the pain of living within it.
Please vote and help others to vote in this election and help make society a little less painful.
How to vote
You still have time to register to vote: Just show up to your polling place with an ID and a proof of residence or one of five other means of voter verification. You can even bring a fellow registered voter to vouch for you!
There are free rides to the polls available: Both Lyft and Uber are providing free rides to the polls on Election Day (tip your driver handsomely, if you can), and political parties will often give you a ride, too.
Vote early if you can’t vote on Election Day: Through November 5, you can cast your ballot at your county election office or another designated early voting place during normal business hours and also on the last Saturday before Election Day (10 a.m. — 3 p.m.).
— Your Comrades in the Electoral Branch
On November 4th, anti-abortion zealots will rally outside Planned Parenthood St. Paul Health Center Vandalia to celebrate their “40 Days of Life” harassment and intimidation of womxn seeking healthcare. Join Twin Cities Clinic Defense as we defend reproductive freedom!
Bundle up and meet us at the corner of University Ave. W and Vandalia St. with your signs, banners and voices to fight for reproductive rights Unlawful Assembly Marching Band will provide radical tunes.
For Further Review
With so many great podcasts, articles, books and videos coming out, it’s easy to miss something great. Here’s a few things we’ve found and loved recently:
Doubling Down After Pittsburgh
The residents of Squirrel Hill refuse to become debilitated in their grief. The world beyond them should do the same. Alex N. Press
A Test Case for Public Banking
Josh Androsky talks with Chapo about Measure B in Los Angeles and how its passing would be a start of an escape from banks.
Once swept by a ‘pink tide’, the continent is now seeing the rise of authoritarian politics. What lessons are to be learnt from the varied left experiences? By Jenny Pearce
Amber A’Lee Frost on the soul of dad in socialism