Aug 3Radical Democracy as a Solution to Liberal Democratic FailuresMember Bryce Springfield Radical democracy is not a term that many of us are used to hearing in our political science courses. You might hear it in one of the few classes that cover social movements and extra-parliamentary politics, but in general students are exclusively exposed to a rather limited…12 min read12 min read
Aug 3An Analysis of Evidence for State Oppression in Xinjiang, ChinaMember Bryce Springfield During my first semester at Princeton, I, like many students, decided to look into student organizations that I could get involved with going forward. …14 min read14 min read
Apr 28The DSA and Organized LaborMember Bruce Nissen shares his thoughts on our work with the labor movement One of the more “foundational stances” of the DSA is support for organized labor. Both in written positions and (less consistently) in practice, the DSA positions itself as unequivocally a pro-labor organization. Some DSA chapters have no…Labor5 min readLabor5 min read
Feb 27Doing a Repair: Meditations on an Ordinary ExperienceMember Bruce Nissen shares a story about repairing his air fryer, and what it can teach us about capitalism and global exploitation. The other day our air fryer had a minor breakdown. The drawer that you pull out of the main body to put in food was becoming loose and…Exploitation6 min readExploitation6 min read
Feb 26Ron DeSantis’s Greatest AchievementMember J. Cooke shares their thoughts on the Florida Democratic Party’s Chair vote. As the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) chair race came to a conclusion yesterday, I was reminded of a story from the United Kingdom. Before she passed, the right wing British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was asked what…Florida4 min readFlorida4 min read
Feb 14Who Were the Yippies?Member Bruce Nissen shares his thoughts about a past political movement In conversations with my younger comrades in the Pinellas DSA, I have been astonished to discover that virtually none of them has any idea of who the Yippies were in the 1960s — 1980s period. As one who came…Yippies12 min readYippies12 min read
Jan 24What Makes Socialism Unappealing to So Many?Member Bruce Nissen details his thoughts on what hurdles must be overcome to build broad support for socialism. Polls show that socialism has a more positive image in the U.S. today than it did in the second half of the 20th Century. Nevertheless, support is still at only thirty six…6 min read6 min read
Apr 19, 2022The Continuing Saga: Increasing Inequality in the U.S.By Bruce Nissen It’s a pretty well-known story by now. The rich are getting richer, and poor are getting poorer, and the “middle” is hollowing out with the vast majority joining the poorer in losing ground while a small number of the so-called middle class join the ranks of the…3 min read3 min read
Mar 7, 2022Phil Ochs: The Radical Singer/Songwriter of the New LeftBy Pinellas DSA member Bruce Nissen Editors note: at the end of this post, you will find a link to a presentation by Bruce Nissen on this subject, as a supplement to this post. As a DSA member who is over 70 years old, I’m finding that a lot of…Music4 min readMusic4 min read
Dec 31, 2021Thoughts on the Use of the Word “Privilege”By Pinellas DSA Member Bruce Nissen Progressive and leftist discussions and memes these days commonly employ the word “privilege.” In fact, I’m hard pressed to think of another word more frequently used. The term is intended to educate those of us who do not face the types of discrimination or…Socialism10 min readSocialism10 min read
