Hi there Tony and John, Again--thanks to both of you for helping the leaflet become possible--and for helping me to sharpen it up.
I wanted to tidy up some loose ends. (1) I added a two sentence intro to my leaflet to convert it into an article--which I then submitted to CounterPunch. For good measure--I also submitted the article to Tempest, Common Dreams and Jacobin. Counterpunch posted it on their website on Tuesday: https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/10/06/trumps-plan-to-hijack-the-mid-terms-and-other-news/ I expected the other three platforms to ignore it--which they did. (2) On Tuesday I got an email from the local chapter of Indivisible, which included this: > Be ready for Seattle > Strike<https://click.ngpvan.com/k/140878631/651815308/-1018283292?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9UU00vVFNNSVYvMS8xMTk0ODAiLA0KICAiRGlzdHJpYnV0aW9uVW5pcXVlSWQiOiAiNDAyNjcyZTMtNjJjMi1mMTExLWJmNWItMDAwZDNhNGZiZTgzIiwNCiAgIkVtYWlsQWRkcmVzcyI6ICJib3g0MDFAV2VhcG9uT2ZUcmFuc3BhcmVuY3kuY29tIg0KfQ%3D%3D&hmac=-aUj_inJkSQa8Wc1N-qBmyxyTb6cgdQH3HX-PGTtnsg=&emci=ebe698fa-b2c1-f111-a6a9-000d3a56d2f7&emdi=402672e3-62c2-f111-bf5b-000d3a4fbe83&ceid=3774447>. > Seattle Strike is a coalition > of Seattle area groups who will be ready with our most > potent tools - the overwhelming power of a strategic > general strike in conjunction with coordinated, peaceful, > mass civil disobedience. I live in the Seattle area--but am not familiar with this coalition, or what it will (or will not) be able to do. Hot air, unfortunately, is universal in the left. (3) No matter what happens in the next month--we cannot avoid dealing with the need to build an independent movement--and this includes understanding the fundamental principles which are essential to do so. (4) The areas of discussion we have covered on this and related threads are (roughly) these: (a) What is the attitude of the most powerful sections of our ruling class toward Trump? (b) what can we do to help encourage mass mobilization against Trump's various attacks on the mid-term elections (and related democratic rights) ? (c) what (if anything) can we do to pressure the DSA to lift its fingers to encourage mass mobilization? (d) Can the DSA be changed--such that it is less of a tool of the Democratic Party -- and more of a resource for the mobilization of the masses for their own interests? (5) It appears to me that our ruling class is split regarding Trump. One section supports Trump while the other has had enough of him. It appears to me that the section that supports Trump is the smaller and weaker section--while the section that will be happy to get rid of him represents the lion's share of influence and power. If this is true--then I would expect Trump's mid-term meddling efforts to (mainly) fall flat. But that it only a guess on my part. I was certain that Trump would lose in 2016. And I was confident that Trump would accept defeat in 2020. So my predictions, especially about the future, are not reliable. John said: > I don't agree with Ben that the capitalist class > is in support of this Actually, John, that is not what I said. I appreciate all the work you do, and know you are busy--but it is unhelpful to assign to me positions that I do not hold. Please exercise caution. (5) The most interesting question concerns the DSA. Tony appears to believe it can be changed to become more democratic, and has various ideas for how to make this happen. I believe he is dreaming. John also (at least it appears to me) believes the DSA can be changed. Are John's ideas on this more realistic than those of Tony? I am skeptical. John said: > Ben condemns DSA and he's right up to a point, > but let's not forget that some of the caucuses in DSA > call themselves "Marxist Leninist" and all sorts of other > rrreally rrrevolutionary terms. they are silent too. > So is the left outside of DSA, from Code Pink to the Green Party > to all manner of other proclaimed revolutionary socialists. There are lots of issues related to the DSA, of course. John's reference to "Marxist Leninists" is confusing, as it represents insider terminology. I believe John is referring to what is usually called "campism" (ie: prettification of Putin and/or China, as well as refusal to condemn the murder of civilians by Hamas on October 7, or the theocratic fascism of the Iranian regime). The DSA is a good example of social democracy. Social democracy is a difficult (but necessary) topic for many people to understand, because in some ways it serves the working class and oppressed, while in other ways it organizes the liquidation of their struggles. Here are the 3 most recent CounterPunch articles on the DSA: ** https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/09/28/dsas-leadership-is-ideologically-unrepresentative/ Jon Hochschartner<https://www.counterpunch.org/author/jon-hochschartner/> ** https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/10/02/the-false-framing-of-the-dsa-debate/ Jon Hochschartner<https://www.counterpunch.org/author/jon-hochschartner/> ** https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/10/05/the-socialist-cost-of-dsas-electoral-strategy/ Shamus Cooke<https://www.counterpunch.org/author/paxuma/> The articles by Jon Hochschartner argue (essentially) that the DSA should reduce the influence of the campist Red Star caucus. Hochschartner also uses the term "Marxist Leninists" to describe the campist caucus. Hochschartner, it appears to me, is in orbit around Democratic Party politics--and considers efforts to go beyond the "two-party system" (which appears to him to be eternal) to be doomed. In contrast, the October 5 article by Shamus Cooke is particularly good. Here are key quotes: > By investing in the Democrats the DSA is leading the movement > into a corporate-owned lion's den, where progressive politicians > are pressured into moving to the right more than the Democrat > party moves left. > The Democrats also pressure their DSA allies away from collective > mass action, which is a key reason the Democrats have rightfully > been called "the graveyard of social movements" - energy is > purposely sapped by channeling it away from the streets into > the legalistic electoral process. Political independence and > collective mass action cannot be separated, and without either > all roads to socialism are closed. > While [Tucker] Carlson denounces both parties, DSA leaders > are promoting false hopes in one of them, at a time where > the Democrats are deeply unpopular because they are > dominated by the same billionaires who rule the Republicans. > The Democratic Party is also equally culpable for the genocide > in Gaza: Trump and Biden should be sharing a cramped cell in > The Hague as they await trial. (6) The DSA maintains a digital discussion forum. Unfortunately, it is not public. There are also other restrictions on how it can be used. For example, Hochschartner notes that "non-binding polls" of the DSA membership are not allowed. If the DSA were to make its discussion forum public, and remove these kinds of absurd restrictions--this would go a long way toward helping the DSA evolve in the direction of becoming a genuinely democratic organization--which works to raise the consciousness of its members as well as the working class and oppressed. But the DSA is not inclined to do this--for the same reason that tigers do not eat grass. That is not what it is. Both Tony and John have, in various ways, dismissed the need for the left to create it own public information platform--which would represent a level playing field--where everyone has equal democratic rights. Such a platform would help bring transparency to our movement. The recovery of our movement requires transparency, and transparency requires an independent public information platform. Without these things--our ability to influence events is crippled, and we are reduced to spectators--fiddling while Rome burns. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#43679): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/43679 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/121494357/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
