Washington Socialist Cover, July 2017

July 2017

It's some measure of where we are in 2017 that for the first time in years we are publishing a July issue. Our practice in previous summers - when the level of political activity, even in here the Metro DC area, ebbed considerably -was to publish a Midsummer issue on Bastille Day, the only one between June and Labor Day.

Not in the era of Trump. Not with a quadrupled DSA membership.

We'll have an August issue following this one. More to the point, we'll publish our Weekly Update every Friday throughout the summer, and there will be plenty of thought and action to report, and report on. We won't have a customary lazy, hazy Midsummer issue on Bastille Day, July 14, but as it happens that iconic anniversary falls on a Friday this year so you can expect socialism in your inbox on that jour de revolution anyway.

Metro DC DSA's brand-new, restyled and enhanced website itself will be a much more dynamic source for socialist activists and socialist analysis - and for our increasing work with our allies on the broad left.

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In this issue

Pushback comes quickly to Trump's exit from Paris climate accord

Woody Woodruff
Every level of economic and political society in the US -- except the GOP's federal monopoly -- expressed immediate and constructive pushback to Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord.

DSA surge in Charlottesville primary battle had impact

Michael Payne
A report on DSA's activism in the Virginia primary election, from a Charlottesville DSA comrade.

Corbyn's surge shows inequality an issue on both side of the Atlantic

Dylan Shelton
This new Labour party is a social democratic party that believes in something beyond the dreary inevitability of fear and despair proposed by Tories.

Good Reads for Socialists - July 2017

Editorial Crew
This month, don't miss Bob Roman's compilation, "DSA in the News"...

How to get the Real Straight News in the Alternative Fact Era

Cecilio Morales
Four tips for identifying honest info from salacious misinformation.

Michael Harrington's "The Vast Majority" -- Forty Years On

Louis F. Cooper
Harrington's book is notable for its candor: it admitted the complexities of the problems, their resistance to easy solutions, and insisted nonetheless that steps toward a more just global order were both possible and morally necessary.

A Free Concert Meditation: Will Socialism Look and Sound Like This?

Andy Feeney
A Free Concert Of Thelonious Monk's Work brings the thought: If we ever achieve socialism here in the United States, will the revolution provide equal access for everyone to see performances like this?

For a mutually supportive self-care culture

Editorial Crew
How could we build a caring, mutually supportive socialist society if we cannot build that environment within our own movement?

NOVA, MoCo branches extend diversity and reach of DSA

Wm. Hunter Tammaro
The local branches, while still under the umbrella of the Metro DC chapter, give current members opportunities bring the socialist vision to bear on a wider range of issues.

Notes from the People's Summit

Editorial Crew
A roundup of the 2017 People's Summit in Chicago.

Single payer popularity poses problems for Democrats

Margaret Flowers
Polls have consistently shown that Democratic Party voters want single payer, but the Party keeps telling them they can't have it.

Trump's FAA privatization scheme: one more attack on the public sector

Bill Mosley
ATC privatization has been prevented for now, but privatization has powerful backers who aren't ready to quit after 30 years of trying, and it is likely to be resuscitated in the near future.

Progressive Values vs. New Realities: A Report

Chris Riddiough
Though we saw populism in both the Trump and Sanders campaigns, it is right-wing populism that represents a threat in American politics.