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This fire season we’ve seen the largest known wildfire ever in California, bringing the climate crisis literally to our front doors. This is not an isolated event. Climate scientists have been warning that extreme weather would be coming if we continued to burn fossil fuels, and yet, because of capitalism, we’ve only seen the use of those fuels skyrocket. In the past month reports about this crisis have come out with dire warnings, letting us know that tipping points that mean an unavoidable cascade of the irreversible climate crisis, are approaching rapidly if they haven’t had already been reached. All of this means that our task is enormous and urgent. Climate change is a direct result of the capitalist system, and we will not be able to address the climate crisis without getting rid of it altogether.

Join the East Bay DSA Political Education Committee and Green New Deal Committee as we look at why capitalism is incapable of addressing the climate crisis, and why the fight for socialism is our only way out.

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Reading List

Part 1: THE CURRENT CLIMATE CRISIS
(very brief articles about the current state of the climate crisis)

‘Nobody’s Safe’: 10 Takeaways from New International Climate Change Report

Climate crisis: Scientists spot warning signs of Gulf Stream collapse: Article from The Guardian

Part 2: CAPITALISM AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(Don’t mourn organize! These are the main readings, start with the first one, or chose whichever you would prefer!)

What it Will Take: Ch.27 Beyond Capitalism by Carol Dansereau 

A good place to start: a general introduction to why socialism is the only answer to the climate crisis

Introduction and First Chapter of Red Green Revolution by Victor Wallis

A deeper dive into the concepts of ecosocialism

Part 3: ON THE GREEN NEW DEAL

Climate Change Is Class Struggle by Matt Huber

A review of On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal by Naomi Klein that highlights the need for class struggle in the fight for the Green New Deal

2021 DSA Convention: Decade of the Green New Deal: Planetary Crisis and Socialist Power

Register Here

What role does the immigration system have in upholding the prison industrial complex? What is a “direct transfer” & how have direct transfers impacted our communities? What is the Vision Act and how can you get involved? Learn this and more as we speak with directly impacted community members around these topics. General member meetings take place every 1st Wednesday of the month and are open to everyone!

*Due to concerns over the spread of COVD-19 variants, our monthly member meetings will remain virtual for the remainder of the calendar year.

Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85817209915

Interesting Agenda Items

4. Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – OPD – Body Worn Camera impact report and proposed use policy – review and take possible action

Join CCWP (CA Coalition for Women Prisoners) for a special event this coming Thursday featuring four amazing storytellers, two of which are formerly incarcerated CCWP members who will be sharing about Life Without Parole. You can read more about the Stories in Living Color series here.

*This event is free and will stream on YouTube, but you must register here to receive the link.

Raj Sahai is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2591082607?pwd=eFpBNHgwaU9Eem1vNitTclAzeWdKZz09

Marx and Engels left a legacy of social and economic theories which have influenced the world in numerous ways. However, there are some significant theoretical gaps for which they left little guidance. These gaps include the ‘withering away of the state’ and how exactly it occurs, the true nature of the ‘communist Party’ and its relationship to the state, the ‘dictatorship of the Proletariat’, the consciousness of the working class and therefore the very essence of communism itself. All are very lightly sketched. Blue Revolution seeks to understand where the 21st Century working class needs to go, to fulfil Classical Marxism’s aim of creating a socially and economically ‘just’ society.  Many people have ‘filled in’ these gaps in ways that have led ‘socialism’ to become characterised by the control of the people by the state. Blue Revolution seeks to escape this avoidable human tragedy by interpreting Marx and Engels within the context of 21st century political and economic reality. There is a way to liberate people, end the class system and create a fairer and ‘just’ society by way of ‘revolution’, whilst avoiding the top-down or totalitarian power of bourgeois and authoritarian single-party states. If this is achieved this revolution will, we believe, be true to the liberating aims of Karl Marx and Frederick  Engels.

Our speaker, Michael Gilbert, studied modern philosophy and political economy at the Polytechnic of North London, and social work law and social policy at The University of East Anglia in Norwich.

Before embarking on his studies and in his late teens Mike was affiliating himself with a branch of the International Communist Party. He was also involved with an Unemployed Workers Group and a group of libertarians. He saw no contradiction between Marxism and libertarianism.

Following his studies, Mike left political activism and married and had children. Following his second divorce in 2010 he had time to reflect on politics since his graduation and realised that western society needed a revolution. He was drawn back to radical politics, but with a characteristic ‘libertarian twist’.

Having been disillusioned with the British left for its sectarianism, elitism, and complete disregard for the working class (seeing the role of the state as controlling the working class as opposed to the working class controlling the state) he decided to put his past learning to some use and began to study classical Marxism again. His hope is to unite all working people. His efforts have resulted in the publication of four booklets aimed at introducing working people to Marxism as well as creating a political Group Called Blue Revolution.

For background, folks are urged to read the four booklets on the website. Www.ABlueRevolution.org (booklets)

Maybe you’ve been getting our emails for months or years but never come to a DSA event. Maybe you’re a veteran leftist with decades of battles under your belt. Maybe you’re a new member ready to take the next step and get organized.

Wherever you’re coming from, we want to hang out with you!

🌹  Hear what we’re currently working on

💪  Get more involved in critical fights right here in the East Bay

🍪 Eat some snacks

Right now, we’re grappling with raging fires, looming climate catastrophe, and a Democratic establishment eager to yank the housing and unemployment checks away from regular people in the middle of a pandemic. Meanwhile, billionaires are hoarding workers’ money to fly to space.

➡️➡️➡️There’s never been a more pressing time to make the jump from socialist to *organized* socialist. ⬅️⬅️⬅️ And that starts with meeting your comrades and taking action. Plus, it’ll be fun, we promise. Join us!

Invite all your union friends and the socialism-curious!

Look for us at Snow Park (the corner of Harrison St and 19th Street next to Lake Merritt).

This Wednesday!! #BuildAbolition101 session 4 is on #CareNotCops with @CART_SF @TheCoalitionSF speaking, alongside Fabian Fernandez from @dphmustdivest @DoNoHarmUCSF. The Zoom is FREE, BIPOC-centered, and open to all: https://t.co/DfoCUIlhNM pic.twitter.com/azGlRgTjaj

— CCSF Collective (@CCSFCollective) September 6, 2021

BAY AREAAAAA! Support me and a mighty team fighting to end all ICE collaborations in Alameda County! You can support by
1) sending an email to public protection committee
2) joining via zoom Thursday at 10am
Check out more info in https://t.co/t8nHhTOQZl #StopICETransfers pic.twitter.com/3yIBbpLL0F

— SV (@arreenitta) September 8, 2021

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/97811379848

Police in #BerkeleyCA have taken up 40% of meeting time for "Re-Imagining Public Safety". Tonight we want to hear from the PEOPLE. #GiveEmHell #BlackLivesMatter #PublicCommenthttps://t.co/XWkN6f6q89 pic.twitter.com/8mB3aq6Pll

— Berkeley Copwatch (@Copwatch411) September 9, 2021

Please attend the RIPSTF meeting and make a public comment!

1) Copwatch member, Andrea, will be the first presenter who will be critical of the BPD…finally! Andrea will explain why many in Berkeley don’t trust the police, how the BPD continues to erode the community’s trust and then will provide suggestions for how to actually create safety in our city. According to the agenda, Andrea’s presentation should be around 7:15 or so.

2) Zoom in with us on Thursday at 6pm and MAKE A PUBLIC COMMENT — specifically, let’s empower the task force to take control of the process from here on out. Comments are right after roll call on the agenda, so be there at 6pm!

3) For some info on the Reimagining process thus far, read “Is the Reimagining a Farce?”, from the Berkeley Times

In solidarity and with love,
Berkeley Copwatch

*Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81983354907

*Meeting agenda: https://www.cityofberkeley.info/uploadedFiles/Clerk/Level_3_-_Commissions/Reimagining-Public-Safety-Task-Force%209-9%20Meeting%20Packet.pdf

*Comment inspiration: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10daG-nz4lVUbCII3ZI9BISEMf1bgI78X6xCyGnt4_MI/edit?usp=sharing

*”Is the Reimagining a Farce?”: https://reimaginingberkeley.medium.com/is-the-reimagining-a-farce-a31f1d86d7f0

In partnership with Freedom Archives, the NLG-SFBA will host a series of outdoor film screenings and discussions on Saturday, August 28 and Saturday, September 11. Topics will include COINTELPRO, the life of George Jackson, the Attica uprising, and “We Know Our Rights,” a multimedia toolkit produced by the chapter for people dealing with law enforcement.

August 28th – Screening of COINTELPRO 101 and George Jackson Commemoration
September 11th – Screening of Attica (1974) and We Know Our Rights

These events commemorate the 50th anniversary of George Jackson’s assassination in San Quentin State Prison, the 50th anniversary of the Attica Uprising, and the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and ongoing resistance against state targetting in the wake of 9/11.

Tickets for both in-person and virtual attendance will be available. The panels, guided discussions, and films will be livestreamed. While we are optimistic about hosting this event outdoors and in-person, we are prepared to fully transition this event as virtual-only in case of circumstances beyond our control.

Sunday Morning at the Marxist Library

This talk will examine the two Koreas in the context of the US military empire in East Asia and tie the discussion to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Many reporters have called Afghanistan America’s longest war, but they forget that the US has been at war in Korea for over 70 years. Yet in the wake of the US collapse in the Middle East, President Biden has said that “there’s a fundamental difference” between Afghanistan and South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. What does that mean?  Tim sees that statement as an indication that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan enhances the strategic value of the US allies in the Asia region. As a Korean analyst recently noted, “The Korean Peninsula and the Asian region consist of the core of American national interests.” Our speaker agrees, and will explain why.

Our speaker, Tim Shorrock, is a Washington-based journalist and the author of the 2008 book Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing. He grew up in Japan and South Korea, where his parents worked as Christian relief workers after World War II and the Korean War. He is well-known in Korea for revealing, in 1996, the secret background role played by the Carter administration in the Korean military’s suppression of the Gwangju Citizens Uprising in 1980. For the past 38 years, he has been a correspondent for The Nation, one of America’s oldest political magazines, and over the past four years has been closely covering the Korea peace and denuclearization process involving the US and the two Koreas. In 2015, he was named an honorary citizen of the city of Gwangju in recognition of his stories about the 1980 uprising.

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.

Raj Sahai is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 259 108 2607
Passcode: ICSS912rs
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