Red Star

How Red Star Works

Caucuses and ideological currents within and around DSA take many forms. They include tight cadres or loose affiliations of members based on various ideological poles, as well as independent or “inside-outside” formations that seek to direct DSA while also maintaining some remove from it. Many formations within DSA advocate for

Red Start: A Rational Reading Retrospective

IntroductionBackgroundIt was a dark and unprecedented time -- the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. In San Francisco, waves of shelter-in-place directives forced the “non-essential” of us to avoid all contact with others, while “essential” workers were shoved into unsafe, unrewarding working conditions. Several of my Red Star comrades, involved

DSA as a Placeholder

By Michael S. Red Star has previously written on the need for a party of, by, and for the entire working class to house and democratically facilitate the movement towards socialist transition. In our 2020 strategy zine we wrote “we’re not sure if DSA can become a real workers’

A Brief History of Red Star

For members of DSA San Francisco who have been in the chapter for several years, Red Star is probably a familiar name. However, there are many members of DSA, or people who are part of the broader socialist or communist left, who are not members of DSA San Francisco, so

Sectarians, Sheepdogs, and the Center

By Nate W. Something is changing in this country. Millions of Americans, for the first time, have found themselves drawn away from the liberal mainstream ideologies that dominate the Republican and Democratic parties and are looking towards socialism for answers to the problems that plague the United States. From online

zenith volume 1

Organization Is Our Principal Task! On Socialist Electoral Work

By Sam H-L DSA caucuses have spent endless time squabbling at the national level about “the break” from the Democrats: when this break should happen, and how clean it should be. Regardless of where you stand, the question remains the same: what should our relationship to the Democratic Party be?

zenith

The Future of Work looks a lot like the Past and Present of Work

By Joseph H. The creation of the proletariat, the wage-laboring working class, is the definitive characteristic of Capitalism. As capital is accumulated, the working class grows, a mutually reinforcing process that powers the dynamo of Capitalism. The number of people exploited in this manner, and the extent of the exploitation,

zenith

Failed Techno-Utopias

By Cara H. Living in the Bay Area means constantly being promised a better world by tech CEOs and venture capitalists, while simultaneously being constantly confronted by the failings of capitalism via astronomical rents, massive homelessness, and the failure of public institutions. If this better world is coming, heralded by

zenith

The Coming Rupture and Our Tasks

I am told that there is no danger because there are no riots; I am told that, because there is no visible disorder on the surface of society, there is no revolution at hand… This, gentlemen, is my profound conviction: I believe that we are at this moment sleeping on

zenith

Burning Questions in a Burning World

Making the Most of the Revolutionary Situation That Isn’tBy Eugene Violet We must not turn away from the truth: we do not yet possess the capacity for revolution, otherwise we would have seen a unified mass movement come out of the remarkable revolutionary energy of the past decade. And

announcements

Announcing Zenith, a Journal from Red Star

Late last year, Red Star decided to solicit pieces from our membership to compile into a journal. Today, we are excited to announce Zenith, an occasional journal from Red Star.

caucus statements

Fight the War Machine at Home!

In the past weeks, a lengthy escalation of tensions between Russia and Ukraine devolved into armed conflict as Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. DSA and socialists in the US must maintain an anti-imperialist stance to prevent further catastrophe.

Jamaal Bowman and DSA’s Crisis of Leadership

This past December 2, DSA’s National Political Committee released a statement in response to growing calls from membership to discipline Rep. Jamaal Bowman for a recent string of votes to provide over $4B in military aid to Israel. In the statement, the NPC stated that they “have seen considerable

Red Star San Francisco: 2021 DSA SF Convention Guide

On June 12th and 13th, DSA SF will hold a chapter convention where we will vote on our first-ever chapter priorities, consider bylaw changes, and elect National Convention delegates and new chapter leadership. We believe DSA SF needs a political program that improves its organization and commits to specific courses

Statement on the National Rage Against the Killing of George Floyd:

March from the Port of Oakland with the ILWU Longshore Union for Juneteenth, in Oakland CA. June 19th, 2020. Photo by Mícheál Madden.The murder of George Floyd on May 25th by Minneapolis PD was an intolerable act that is still having repercussions across the nation, and is setting the

In Defense of "Zombie Marx"

“There is no royal road to science, and only those who do not dread the fatiguing climb of its steep paths have a chance of gaining its luminous summits.” -Karl Marx, Preface to French Edition of Capital Volume I Fellow DSASF member Alex Biancardi recently posted an article on Medium

labor theory of value

Labor Theory of Value Part 2

labor theory of value

The Labor Theory of Value and Surplus Value

The key to understanding the nature of the capitalist economy, according to Marx, lies in understanding the nature of the commodity.

Revolution in the Time of COVID-19

COVID-19 has thrown the capitalist order into crisis. The Sanders campaign has been defeated. Once the quarantine lifts, where do we fight?

Statement on Bernie Sanders' Endorsement of Joe Biden

Bernie Sanders’ endorsement of Joe Biden is a disappointing but predictable outcome of an insurgent left-wing campaign conducted within the auspices of the Democratic Party. Bernie’s candidacy was a once-in-a-lifetime, near-perfect alignment of factors that turned the unthinkable into the immediately possible. However, even with so many aspects of

dsa

A People's Recovery From COVID-19

One of the best-known bits of apocrypha in the Marxist canon, attributed to Lenin (and likely paraphrased from The Chief Task of Our Day), came alive this week: “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” A flurry of rapid developments in the COVID-19 pandemic

Onward to a Workers' Party

As it now seems that each passing Tuesday may bring further confirmation that Bernie Sanders will not be the Democratic nominee for the 2020 presidential race, a particular era of left organizing is coming to a close. Bernie’s 2016 presidential run, which sparked new life in the US left,

dsa

Toward the Red Horizon: Charting a Course for the Year Ahead

ReintroductionThis document marks the beginning of a new chapter for Red Star. When Red Star formed from the remains of the San Francisco local of the Refoundation caucus, we were a group with ostensibly shared political views, but without a shared political strategy. While the points of unity we started

Statement of Solidarity with the People of Bolivia

Photo: FlickrRed Star San Francisco stands unequivocally in support of reinstating Bolivian President Evo Morales, who was ousted by a right-wing coup on November 10, 2019, and we stand in support of the Indigenous and working-class Bolivian people who now face reprisals in its wake. Under the Morales administration, Bolivia

afrosocialist-and-socialists-of-color

Statement of Solidarity With DSA AfroSocialist and Socialists of Color Caucus

Red Star San Francisco stands in solidarity with the DSA AfroSocialist and Socialists of Color Caucus and endorses its demands of DSA leadership and staff: No white person in formal leadership or staff ever post white nationalist, white supremacist or fascist symbols or advocate that the path to building a