On September 25th, the Regional Tenant Organizing Network is hosting an assembly to celebrate tenant power across the Bay Area. Tenants have been fighting hard and we must continue to connect, build, organize, and win!

Help grow the movement for housing justice, sign up today to attend the Bay Area Tenant Assembly

Who should attend: Bay Area Renters

Live entertainment, free food, childcare, and Spanish interpretation will be provided. Interpretation for other languages will be provided as needed. Please email james@urbanhabitat.org if you have any questions or concerns.

Join the East Bay DSA’s Labor Committee for our first Beer & Roses social in over a year and a half!

Meet, talk, and hang out with DSA members and fellow travelers who are interested in building worker power in the workplace and transforming the labor movement into a strong, militant, and democratic working-class force for change. Hear about what’s happening in the EBDSA Labor Committee and learn how you can get involved.

Some food and beverage will be provided, but feel free to bring something to drink and share with your friends. Also feel free to bring yard games and wear your union shirt (or if you aren’t in a union, a shirt that says something about what you do for work).

Close to BART and bus stops. Accessible restrooms.

***In an effort to be safe and responsible with Covid, we ask that all attendees bring a mask AND their vaccination card. We will be keeping a record of all in attendance in case we need to communicate with you afterward about anything Covid-related.***

Email strike.debt.bay.area@gmail.com a few days beforehand for the the online invite.

For September, 2021 we’re reading the first two sections of “The Origin of Wealth: The Radical Remaking of Economics and What it Means for Business and Society.” by Eric D. Beinhocker. (e.g. Amazon, Powell’s, possibly available in libraries.

For October, we’ll be finishing the book.

Over 6.4 billion people participate in a $36.5 trillion global economy, designed and overseen by no one. How did this marvel of self-organized complexity evolve? How is wealth created within this system? And how can wealth be increased for the benefit of individuals, businesses, and society? In The Origin of Wealth, Eric D. Beinhocker argues that modern science provides a radical perspective on these age-old questions, with far-reaching implications. According to Beinhocker, wealth creation is the product of a simple but profoundly powerful evolutionary formula: differentiate, select, and amplify. In this view, the economy is a “complex adaptive system” in which physical technologies, social technologies, and business designs continuously interact to create novel products, new ideas, and increasing wealth… A landmark book that shatters conventional economic theory, The Origin of Wealth will rewire our thinking about how we came to be here– 

Strike Debt Bay Area hosts this non-technical book group discussion monthly on new and radical economic thinking. Previous readings have included Doughnut Economics, Limits, Banking on the People, Capital and Its Discontents, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century, The Deficit Myth,  Revenge Capitalism, the Edge of Chaos blog symposium , Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons, The Optimist’s Telescope, Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, and Exploring Degrowth.

A young Fidel Castro and his July 26 Movement cadre faced critical questions immediately following their defeat of the Fulgenco Batista Army and Batista’s U.S.-backed dictatorship in 1958-59. Initially, Fidel, previously an attorney from a wealthy family, was characterized as a moderate reformer and past member of one of Cuba’s two main bourgeois parties, the Orthodox Party. Pledged to restoring Cuba’s 1941 constitution that dictator Batista abrogated, the Castro team appointed two bourgeois politicians to the top posts. Manual Urrutia became President and José Miró Cardona became Prime Minister. Both were prominent anti-Batista politicians and both were deeply committed to Cuban business interests and capitalism. The events that transpired in the following six months fundamentally transformed Cuban society, abolished capitalism, and established a revolutionary government dedicated to socialism. Understanding the Cuban road is critical to an understanding of the flawed course followed for decades and to this day in Nicaragua and Venezuela.

We have invited Jeff Mackler of Socialist Action to speak Jeff was the National Secretary of Socialist Action and its presidential candidate in 2016 and 2020. He was the coordinator of the 1999 “Dialogue With Cuba Conference” at UC Berkeley. Two thousand participated in this first institutionally-sponsored conference including a Cuban delegation of 30. Mackler, who has visited Cuba at the invitation of the Cuban government, is the author of several books and pamphlets on Cuba. He is the director of the Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, a founder/coordinator of the Bay Area End the Wars Coalition; an Administrative Committee member of the United National Antiwar Coalition, and on the Steering Committee of AssangeDrefense.org

LOGIN INFORMATION

We Intend to start the presentation as close to 10:30 am as possible, but the Zoom room will be opened up, as usual, at 10:15 for anyone to join and discuss technical matters, catch up with each other, say Hi, etc.. The program (and  

Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 259 108 2607
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Emergency Press Conference WEDNESDAY September 29 at 12pm (noon)PT.
Location: Intersection of 8th St. & Harrison, St. Berkeley, Ca.
Spread the word! Show up & show support for residents!#StopTheSweeps #NoMorePovertyTows #StopTheWarOnThePoor #HousingIsAHumanRight pic.twitter.com/8vIC7Iwlrd

— Berkeley Copwatch (@Copwatch411) September 29, 2021

The fossil fuel industry is successfully promoting a huge increase in the production of single-use plastics, adding GHG and toxic pollution at every step.

This webinar will explore how this strategy is increasing fossil-fuel production and worsening the climate crisis.

Judith Enck, President of Beyond Plastics and former Regional Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will discuss the nexus between plastic production and climate change, including the immense environmental justice impacts.

Graham Forbes, Global Project Leader of the Plastic-Free Future campaign at Greenpeace, will discuss Greenpeace USA’s new report, The Climate Emergency Unpacked: How Consumer Goods Companies are Fueling Big Oil’s Plastic Expansion.

Register here.

Register or audit

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfYwKCKZvC270piELHNDhnJ5zaxQ1-SoVcIlGihiAZF1f53gQ/viewform

The Struggle for People’s Park is a 2-unit student-led class offered to UC Berkeley Students during the Fall 2021 semester under the Democratic Education at Cal (DeCal) program.

You may apply by clicking the “take my class” button above.

Note: Grading will be based on a pass/fail framework depending on the participation and development designs regarding People’s Park.

For more information and updates, please contact our student facilitator, Aidan Hill at hillae@berkeley.edu

Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library

Over the past three decades, environmentalism has emerged as a consistent area of work and organizing in the Communist Party of Canada. In general, this mirrors the development of a large body of scientific analysis that has highlighted environmental destruction as an issue of mass public concern and, presently, as an existential crisis. This is an area of political work that has seen a tremendous change in terms of the science around it and how Communist Party policy has developed in line with that.

Our speaker, Dave McKee, has been a political activist for over 30 years with experience in the labour movement, the peace movement, the anti-poverty movement and international solidarity. Presently, Dave is a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Canada and editor of People’s Voice, Canada’s leading socialist publication.

LOGIN INFORMATION

We Intend to start the presentation as close to 10:30 am as possible, but the Zoom room will be opened up, as usual, at 10:15 for anyone to join and discuss technical matters, catch up with each other, say Hi, etc.. The program (and recording) will end at 12:30, but the Waiting Room will remain open until about 1 pm for informal discussion.

THIS ZOOM LINK IS GOOD FOR

SUNDAY, Oct 3, 2021 ONLY

Raj Sahai is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2591082607?pwd=akFoQThadktKcGNuaXMyWWd2bDVjZz09

Meeting ID: 259 108 2607
Passcode: ICSS926rs
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,2591082607#,,,,*826670766# US (San Jose)
+13462487799,,2591082607#,,,,*826670766# US (Houston)

Dial by your location
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
Meeting ID: 259 108 2607
Passcode: 826670766
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kc4RrpvAiQ

TOMORROW! Join us at 9:30 AM at City hall for a press conference and rally to get #Justice4JonathanCortez!!! Jonathan should still be with his family today. A father of 3 & youngest of all his siblings, he was 31 when he was murdered by the FBI in Oakland on September, 13 2021.

Register here: https://bit.ly/3o9gAjD

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The Berkeley Anarchist Study Group (aka BASTARD: Berkeley Anarchist Students [of] Attack, Revolt, & Destruction) is one of the longest running (if not the longest running) anarchist reading groups in North America. We meet every Tuesday night from 7:30-9:30pm PST (note the new time!) at The Long Haul (3124 Shattuck Ave in Berkeley).

New participants are always encouraged to stop by regardless of your familiarity with anarchist ideas or practices. We warmly welcome newcomers and encourage them to make the group their own in the same manner we all do. To this effect, we endeavor to cultivate a convivial and gregarious atmosphere where everyone can contribute in whatever ways and to whatever degree they each desire. We do not, however, incorporate fixed practices aimed at creating an artificial “safe space” or prioritize the voices of certain participants as a way of ostensibly bringing about contrived parity amongst ourselves. We have no membership, no responsibilities, and no codes of behavior. In lieu of spurious standards for relating to each other, we look to every participant to find a balance between making their voice heard and hearing those of the rest of the group, between disagreeing passionately with each other and accepting our divergences without necessarily needing to resolve them. In summary, we eschew inflexible precepts for interaction and instead embrace spontaneous and honest dialogue, while leaving it up to each individual to make their voice heard and utilize the group as they see fit.

The study group organizes an annual gathering called the BASTARD Conference. This DIY event consists of informal, autodidactic presentations on anarchy and anarchists, presented by participants in the study group along with friends, guests, and accomplices from around the world.

In addition, this group has acted as a launching point for many texts, projects, and actions in its three decades of existence. Many attendees have been and continue to be integrally involved in projects which have left enduring impacts on international anarchist milieus over the years.

We pick readings for the coming week at the end of each session, after which they will be posted here. If you have a text you’d like to suggest, come pitch it to the group, but please be ready to kick off the following week’s conversation by introducing & sharing your reasons for choosing it.

If any of this sparks your interest or curiosity, then come join us every Tuesday evening from 7:30-9:30pm at The Long Haul (3124 Shattuck Ave in Berkeley). Email birdsoffire [at] riseup [dot] net with any questions. We hope to see you soon!

Walk expropriating and igniting!
Always leaving behind me howls of moral offenses
and smoking trunks of old things.

For the annihilation of all authority!
For the refusal of all submission!
Toward the beautiful idea of anarchy!