From the Boston Political Education Editorial Committee
Hello Comrades, The Political Education Working Group (PEWG) is re-committing itself to its mission of continued political education, both for the members of the working group and for the chapter as a whole. We’ve been incorporating reading sessions into our monthly meetings for a while now and would like to take the opportunity to share …
- Boston DSA Prison Abolition Working Group A socialist society cannot coexist with the prison system. This is a system that actively suppresses marginalized peoples, commits atrocities under the falsehood of justice, and fundamentally perpetuates capitalism through the prison-industrial complex. As socialists, we must dedicate ourselves to the destruction of the carceral state and the …
Continue reading "Why We’re Relaunching the Prison Abolition Working Group"
A world of hurt You may already know by now that Bernie Sanders has suspended his presidential candidate campaign. It feels like a lifetime ago that a glorious moment had appeared in the American political sphere when we felt unstoppable; a moment where the bright light of liberation and justice had shown into this dark, …
by Andy Hyatt While the state of the healthcare system in the United States is poor all around, our mental health system is its own particular brand of horrible. Even in a city like Boston, a supposed healthcare mecca where we have more therapists and psychiatrists per capita than almost anywhere in the country, it …
Continue reading "A Socialist Approach to Mental Health and Well-being: Medicare for All and Beyond"
By Ben S. In Brief In this essay I define base-building as political work done in such a way that it either results in creating or strengthening existing mass democratic organizations (independent of any other political organization or NGO) of the working class and that develops individuals not previously engaged in political work as organizers …
Continue reading "Losing Politics: A Proposed Definition of Base-building"
by Ben M As we pass the 10th anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the subsequent descent of the world economy into the Great Recession, the horizon is once again darkening for capitalism. While economic forecasts often resort to little more than reading tea leaves, e.g.- the regular predictions of a “double dip” …
Continue reading "The Coming Capitalist Crisis and the Tasks for Socialists"
by Cam W. According to the online Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit organization that tracks all gun-related activity in the United States, there has been 37,000 shootings and deaths in America thus far in 2018 alone. While this number in itself is absurdly high, gun violence is only a culturally relevant discussion topic after mass …
On Thursday, September 6th, 2018, the Boston DSA Housing Working Group (HWG) and the Political Education Working Group (PEWG) held a discussion about housing strategy in Boston DSA at the Democracy Center in Cambridge. Events like this are important to developing any kind of program. As socialists, we have to engage in constant experimentation and revaluation of our methods on the road to finding a practice that moves the balance of power toward working people.
“And there’s hope because we are going to save ourselves.” That was the message Sarah — a member of Boston Feminists for Liberation (BFL) — delivered as part of a panel discussion and town hall on anti-fascism in Boston on August 15th, in the lead up to the rally to counter-protest fascists in Boston on August 18th.
On August 11, I wandered downtown Charlottesville with my medic buddy and his partner. Police had turned it into an armed camp with security checkpoints. I wandered through the stretch of the road, looking at spots where I had kneeled to provide first aid to the wounded, and standing for a time on the precise spot where Heather had been given CPR.