016: DSA-Curious? #TrySocialism

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On this episode, Matt & Jesse have a discussion with Kelsey Goldberg (@KelseyFGold) and Jack Suria Linares (@SuriaLinares213) from DSA-Los Angeles chapter about the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Kelsey and Jack explore their childhood and later political awakening by describing the moment (or moments) that led to not only their transcendent belief in socialism, but how they went beyond mere beliefs by deciding to take action and become activists and organizers via their self-discovery process. We will also learn about DSA’s history and contributions, as well as its future aims as a consequence of its recent National Convention. Additionally, our visitors to the show will talk about what DSA-LA has in the revolutionary pot that’s about to boil over into a Mario-Brothers pasta of comrade-goodness. By the very end of this podcast episode, Kelsey, Jesse and Jack get our ‘DSA-Curious’ Comrade, Matthew, to break down his resistance and finally #TrySocialism.

Mentioned In This Episode:

The National Website for Democratic Socialists of America

The Facebook Page for Democratic Socialists of America

The Twitter Page for Democratic Socialists of America

The Official Homepage for the Los Angeles Chapter of DSA

The Facebook Page for DSA-LA

The Twitter Page for DSA-LA

Jeff Stein in Vox: “Nine Questions About the Democratic Socialists of America You Were Too Embarrassed to Ask”

A Slacker-Ode as a Comic-Meme: Split Photo Abbott & Costello Vs. Jesse & Matt

New Democratic Party (NDP) of Canada: A Historical Guide of Its Policies and Aims

A List of Official (& Past) Political Parties in Canada

The Guardian: “Thomas Piketty on the Rise of Bernie Sanders: The U.S. Enters a New Political Era” (Translated from Its Original Publication Source: Le Monde - 14 February 2016)

The Entrepreneurial Myth Meets the Diseased Myth of the Star System: A Recent Propaganda Ad from IKEA

The Service Employee International Union (SEIU): A Wikipedia History

The Official Website for SEIU

Richard Berman in The Washington Times: “A Story of Union Waste: The Service Union Squanders Millions on a Losing Cause”

Rudolf Rocker: A Biography

The Anarchist Library: Articles and Books by Rudolf Rocker

GoFundMe Accounts for Boston Massacre (the record for GoFundMe, in 2013, was for Jeff Baumen, who raised $805,000.00 from donations)

O THE IRONY: Free Healthcare for American Prisoners! (But No Deductibles or Copays?)

PBS’s 25th Anniversary Special: Looking Back at the LA Riots After the Beating of Rodney King

Anna Deavere Smith’s Stunning ‘Documentary Theater’ Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent - The Documentary (1992)

Noam Chomsky Admits He’s Not Charismatic But Folks Follow Him Instead for the Ideas He Offers . . .

Chris Hedges in Truthdig:
“Noam Chomsky is America’s greatest intellectual. His massive body of work, which includes nearly 100 books, has for decades deflated and exposed the lies of the power elite and the myths they perpetrate. Chomsky has done this despite being blacklisted by the commercial media, turned into a pariah by the academy and, by his own admission, being a pedantic and at times slightly boring speaker. He combines moral autonomy with rigorous scholarship, a remarkable grasp of detail and a searing intellect. He curtly dismisses our two-party system as a mirage orchestrated by the corporate state, excoriates the liberal intelligentsia for being fops and courtiers and describes the drivel of the commercial media as a form of ‘brainwashing.’”

Al Jazeera: “More Americans Joining Socialist Groups Under Trump”

The New Republic: “Are the Democratic Socialists of America For Real?”

Sarah Silverman at the DNC Convention in 2016: “Can I just say, to the Bernie or Bust People, You’re Being Ridiculous.”

Matthew Snyder’s Co-Organizing for the First Fundraiser in the I.E. for Sanders’ Presidential Run: “Our Barn-Storming-for-Bernie Fundraiser in the I.E.” {July 18th, 2015}

Why People Support Bernie Sanders from Such a Broad Spectrum of American Society? James Walsh and Guardian Readers: “10 Reasons Why Voters Are Turning to Bernie Sanders”

DSA’s Official Endorsement for Bernie Sanders’ Candidacy for President in 2016

Daniel Denvir’s The Dig (Podcast): “The Democratic Socialists of America and the Fight Against Trump”

Did Labour Really Gain 150,00 New Members After the General Election?

The Guardian: “Heather Heyer, Victim of Charlottesville Car Attack, Was a Civil Rights Activist”

The Guardian: “Mother of Charlottesville Victim Heather Heyer: They Tried to Kill My Child to Shut Her Up.”

Michael Tomasky in The Guardian: “Should Obama Have Accepted the Nobel Prize?”

Rob Wile in The Business Insider: “12 People Who Should Not Have Won The Nobel Peace Prize”

Politifact: “Pants on Fire Claim that George Soros Money Went to Women's March Protesters”

Antimedia: “That Awkward Moment When One Nobel Peace Prize Winner Bombs Another”

President ‘Bomb-Bomb’ Obama: This Map Shows Where President Barack Obama Dropped His 26,171 Bombs for 2016 (3,000 More Than 2015)

A History of Democratic Socialists of America: 1971-2017 - A Merger of Two Different Groups

Occupy Los Angeles: A History

Old Memories, Old Photos: Soapbox: Jesse’s Anarchist Book & Infoshop in Bellingham, Washington

Fugitive Pieces: Matt’s Son & Daughter at Occupy Riverside

Amy Pleasant in The Huffington Post: “Artists as Activists: Pursuing Social Justice”

About DSA-LA, which Started in 2011 & Now Has 1083 Members

UCLA’s Campus Facilities to Be Used as Athlete’s Village for LA’s 2028 Olympics

The Los Angeles Times Gives Out Letter Grades for Public Officials: Why Eric Garcetti Is Mediocre or Even Awful

The Chicago Reader’s Article on the DSA Convention for August 2017: “Beyond the ‘Bernie bro’: Socialism’s Diverse New Youth Brigade”

Jack L. Suria-Linares – 2017 NPC Candidate – Local Chapter: Los Angeles

To Show Solidarity with Teamster Workers, LA Dock Workers Refused to Unload Any Non-Union Trucks

Jia Tolentino: “The Gig Economy Celebrates Working Yourself to Death”

Catherine Baab-Muguira in Quartz: “GENERATION 1099: Millennials Are Obsessed with Side Hustles Because They’re All We’ve Got”

This Lousy Day in Bullshit Mythologies: For Example, The YFS Magazine as Delusional Self-Pandering: “The Age of the Millennial Entrepreneur Is Upon Us”

The Huffington Post: Xennials: The Microgeneration Between Gen X and Millennials

Indigenous Action Media: “Accomplices Not Allies: Abolishing The Ally Industrial Complex”

Denise Cummins in Psychology Today: “Why Gen-X Doesn’t Get Millennial . . . or Boomers”

John Scalzi’s Blog Whatever: “Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is”

Briahna Joy Gray in Current Affairs: “How Identity Became a Weapon Against the Left”

East Bay DSA Support for SB-562 (Single Payer) Versus Multi-Platform Tendencies for DSA-LA with Nolympics, the Campaign for Making LA a Sanctuary City and Work on LA’s Tragic Lack of Solutions for Skid Row.

How to Become a Supporting Member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)

Childcare & Activism: “Caring for Rosie the Riveter’s Kids”

The DSA’s Structure

Oscar Wilde: “Socialism is great but it takes up too many evenings.”

David Graeber’s TEDxWhitechapel talk: “The Possibility of Political Pleasure” {Where He Fully and Sheepishly Admits That He Enjoys Political Meetings}

Sophia A. McClennen in Salon Magazine: “10 Reasons Why #DemExit Is Serious: Getting Rid of Debbie Wasserman Schultz Is Not Enough”

A Reddit Discussion on the History of the Rose in Revolutionary Socialist Movements

The Worker’s Song--Both Poignant & Powerful: “Bread and Roses”

Joan Baez Sings “Bread and Roses”

The Rose Emoji Revolution for DSA: It’s Not Just for Valentine’s or Mother’s Day

DSA-LA Videos, which includes the series 30 in 30, and profiles 30 Leftists in 30 days leading up to the May Day in 2017.

Vice News (Sports): “Meet Los Angeles's New Anti-Olympics Movement”

The Real News (YouTube): Michael Payne from the Charlottesville Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America Retells Harrowing Account of Car-Attack

The Deceptively Brilliant and Charming YouTube Video Thanks, Capitalism! Created in Collaboration with DSA-Los Angeles & the DSA National Design Committee (Kelsey Goldberg Narrates the Video)

DSA-LA Crashes Garcetti’s Re-Election Bash

IndieWire’s Bullshit (Neoliberal) Article Celebrating Patty Jenkins “Breaking the Glass Ceiling on Director Pay”

Snap Election - Thor Ragnarok parody with Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn

Jack Suria Linares in New Politics: “DSA Convention: Mapping a Strategy, Avoiding Dead-Ends”

Matt’s Mention with the Problems with Folk Politics is Explored in Detail with Alex Williams and Nick Srnicek’s Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work {And Discussed in Episode 15 of The Future Is A Mixtape}

Nick Falkvinges’s “3-Pirate Party Rule” in Swarmwise: A Tactical Manual to Changing the World

Kelsey Goldberg in Left Side of History: “Do Not Merely Eat Cake”

The Socialist Alternative Versus the Green Party Versus the DSA: Organizing Outside of Elections and What Should Count as Success?

Mayor-elect Lumumba: Jackson 'to Be the Most Radical City on the Planet'

Winning Mayoral Candidate in Jackson, Mississippi: Chokwe Antar Lumumba

Cathy Woolard for Atlanta Mayor

Cathy Woolard’s Competitors for Mayor of Atlanta

Bernie Sanders on Democratic Socialism FULL Speech - Georgetown University - Given on November 19, 2015