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On June 24, some 250 socialists, overwhelmingly young, gathered in the offices of the nurses’ union in Oakland CA. They gathered to elect new officers and delegates from the East Bay chapter of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). From a group that claimed about 6,000 members just one year ago, and from meetings of about 30 in this area, DSA has mushroomed to over 20,000 members nationally, and a turnout of over 100 at meetings in the East Bay is routine. Clearly, something is happening, DSA is being transformed as thousands of mainly young former Sanders supporters, turned on to struggle and to socialism, are swelling the ranks of DSA. This transformation of DSA mirrors the transformation that has been wrought in the lives of millions across the United States – from the unemployed coal miners in <https://oaklandsocialist.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/homeless-oakland.jpg> *One of Oakland’s many, many tent cities.* *Working class people are being driven out of Oakland. If this continues, Oakland will lose its working class base.* Appalachia to the college graduates working low wage wait-person’s and barista jobs in Oakland (where average rent for a one bedroom apartment is $2,424/month while median income is $4,413/month, making rent unaffordable for over half the population). This transformation, however, also means that the program and policies of DSA should be reevaluated. *Socialist Planning or “Market Mechanisms”?*Presently, DSA calls for <http://www.dsausa.org/about_dsa> a brand of socialism based on “democratic planning and market mechanisms.” What, though, does this mean? Does it mean something like what they have in Sweden and other Western European countries? If so, people should be aware that in every single one of these countries the social benefits are being reduced. In Britain, for example, one publicly owned industry after another has been privatized and even the National Health Service (socialized medicine) is under attack. The fact is that we can no more mix a planned economy with “market mechanisms” than we can mix two different and competing lion prides. Something has to give, and surely the last ten years have proven the disaster of these “market mechanisms”! It is understandable how somebody might have had illusions in these “market mechanisms” 25 years ago, but today they have been exposed for what they are: A disaster for the human species and, in fact, for all life on this planet. Read entire article: https://oaklandsocialist.com/2017/06/27/democratic-socialists-of-america-its-transformation-and-transformation-of-america/ -- "No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them." Asata Shakur Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com and // www.facebook.com/WorkersIntlNetwork?ref=stream _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
