My draft SDA November newsletter
Dear Comrades,
I feel that this December is the first month that SDA is SDA, meaning that we exist as a Socialist entity separate from everyone else who claims to be Socialist. We have established ourselves as a Socialist organization with a clear vision inside the Democratic Party.
This newsletter differs from the previous one because it’s about growing the Socialist Faction in the United States and helping the Liberals grow in the Republican Party.
We need to bring back discourse in the United States based on discussions and not this “All against Trump” debate we are having.
I sincerely hope you donate a few hours every month to create a successful salon next year.
The goal of assembly together each month is to conquer the power to accomplish something good for society.
If you spend more than 50 hours as an activist and less on your family and friends, we have a problem.
The content of this newsletter
- The national Zoom meeting is on December 6th at 9 p.m. East / 6 p.m. West
- We call it a salon
- What we are doing is working.
- Fahim Hamid documentary on PBS
- Conny Reuter’s visit to the United States
- The 2023 European Socialist Congress
- The Socialist International
- “Draft AOC 2028” or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for President
- Running for Party Offices in the United States
The national Zoom meeting is on December 6th at 9 p.m. East / 6 p.m. West
We call it a salon
A branch or chapter SDA meeting is call a Salon. Many detractors will say it sounds “bougie,” and the answer might be “yes.” The Socialist movement has always been a combination of members from the Bourgeoisie and the Working Class working together against the 1%.
The American party system is very convoluted between the various groups that meet to discuss politics at the county, precinct, and club levels. All those meetings are codified using agendas, writing minutes, and majority votes.
The salon is different because it’s more of a brainstorming discussion around varied topics affecting people. The finality of the meeting is not to fortify an already accepted belief by creating group thinking but instead to challenge an accepted idea.
A salon’s goal is to work on ideas by consensus, acknowledging that both the majority and the minority can disagree and yet put forward statements that conform to a shared Socialist ideal.
In a salon, we seldom vote (or try to impose ideas by voting) on the acceptance of an idea, and typically, people walk away from a monthly meeting in disagreement.
In a formal club meeting, the discussion would be tabled. Salon does end their meeting by unanimous agreement or by tabling the discussion. That is the reason there is no chair in socialist organizations by secretaries. The Supreme Leader is the Secretary.
Being a salon member without participating in a Democratic Party club or county is pretty useless. Being a member of SDA and participating without participating in the salon is also meaningless.
The role of the secretary is to organize and make a concise paragraph of the ideas that were discussed in a salon and move it up the chain so it can inspire other SDA members in other salons to give their opinions.
The goal of the members of the salon is to conquer the exercise of power at the ballot box to implement ideas defined by every SDA member.
What we are doing is working
What we are doing is working; many people know who I was and what we are building, but unfortunately, they are not used to the French version of the bylaws.
To be part of the leadership of SDA, one must run for party positions inside the Democratic or Republican party. We are a faction of the two major parties that control how the Board of Elections functions.
We know that what we are doing is working because when I gave my name to the Governor of New York, without missing a beat, she said: “I am the most progressive Governor New York ever had.” I replied: “We want more, Governor.”
But to get more, we need to convince our neighbors on our block that we are the best governing and that our vision can be trusted to have the most ROI.
Next year, we need to rally all progressives to run for Democratic Party positions wherever they are available, and that is where Fahim’s movie comes up.
Fahim Hamid documentary on PBS
I made a whole speech about not donating to politicians, and here I am asking that you contribute to Fahim’s documentary so he can show it on PBS in February/March 2024.
You can watch the documentary on our website at https://socialists.us/pbs but we need to show to the mass media and help get all the necessary rights.
If you feel like donating, go to the https://socialists.us/pbs website and donate anything.
Conny Reuter’s visit to the United States
I was privileged to show the outgoing Progressive Alliance global coordinator, Conny Reuter, around New York so he could feel how the state political apparatus works.
The problem in bilateral relations is that world leaders, activists themselves, only get the opportunity to connect directly with their American counterparts through a lobbying organization.
Conny had the opportunity to exchange with Jay Jacobs, the leader of the New York State Democratic Party, Kathy Hochul, the New York State Governor, and many Democratic State Committee members without hiding that he is a German SPD member.
Every Democrat was very welcoming of Conny, and the fact that he was a German Type II Socialist as a non-issue.
Conny has been involved in progressive networking at the European and global levels, representing civil society organizations and, most recently, as global coordinator of the Progressive Alliance.
His visit was part of his project to promote global progressive networking based on a better understanding of how progressive parties work. He greatly appreciated the experience and thanked us for facilitating the connections with elected NY Democrats.
Conny got to witness the Four Freedom Democratic Club meeting. Everything is posted on his Twitter account at Conny_Reuter.
The 2023 European Socialist Congress
The European Socialist Congress just took place in Málaga, Spain, where all the leaders of the European socialist parties gathered to discuss a Socialist Europe in the world.
This congress was to prepare for the European Union Parliament election that will take place from June 6, 2024, to June 9, 2024.
As Type II Socialists, we will be trying to get the information on our SDA website on how European citizens from the United States can vote and participate: https://www.socialists.us/elections.
In closing, EU President Pedro Sanchez explains in a few words what Type II Socialism is.
Green and Socialist Dutch candidate Frans Timmermans explained why we can do deals with the extreme right and used our own United States GOP as an example. His Socialist coalition came 2nd in Netherlands elections.
Hana Jalloul compared the differences between regions governed by Socialists and those by the Far-Right.
We see the same global problem here in the United States and hope that by educating our fellow Americans, we will one day get the same protections Europeans fought hard to get.
The Socialist International
We have shown the Socialist International leadership that SDA is the natural replacement for the DSA 2017 vote to leave the Socialist International.
DSA instead decided to join Bernie’s Progressive International movement.
Many worldwide leaders need to understand how the United States political system is structured. If our American mainstream media obscures to our fellow Americans our political system, imagine what it must be like for everyone else who does not have a direct link to us.
SDA’s goal next year is to use every opportunity that appears in New York City through its worldwide diaspora.
Every world leader knows some family member in America who can participate in representing their block in New York.
We started with the New York City Council event in Puerto Rico and Albania.
In February 2024, we expect events for the Dominican Republic and Kosovo and we hope to bring a Type II Socialist delegation.
“Draft AOC 2028” or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for President
We could not get the attention of AOC for 2024, so we have continue to build to find the perfect Socialist candidate for 2028.
AOC is the personification of that candidate but it doesn’t mean that SDA members will choose her but it’s a way to get the word out there.
We fear that if we do not learn how the electoral process works in the 3600 counties that make up the United States, we will get stabbed by Corporate America’s lawyers.
Our goal is to ensure we, as Socialists, document everything across the 3600 counties and that we will represent our candidate, whoever the Socialist candidate is.
Running for Party Offices in the United States
If you live in New York States, you are welcome to register directly on the Rep My Block website at https://www.repmyblock.org/socialist/brand/index
If you live in another state, please send me an email at theo@socialists.us.
If you are a citizen of another country, email me as well so we can connect you with a member of the Socialists party of that country.
