Why We’re Here
For the past two years, we have seen the DSA grow in size but develop in lopsided ways. Its rapid growth across the country has created chapters of our socialist organization in places where few if any leftist organizations had a presence for decades, if ever. This has greatly expanded the left, which as a self-conscious movement has long been concentrated in large cities and university towns. However, there is a great deal more work to do, as this phenomenon is not well understood even within DSA itself. Many of these new chapters have only managed to survive because of extraordinary efforts from their members, who found that the national organization’s priorities do not reflect their concerns and issues. The national organization’s perspective is based on the organizing experiences of members in large urban areas. Organizers in rural, suburban, and small city areas are set by the wayside and told to wait, talked down to, or disregarded altogether. This cedes these areas to right-wing forces. The narratives that RSSC areas are “backwaters” or “fly over states” perpetuates this in many harmful ways. To build a democratic and socialist society, we must invest in RSSC areas in ways other organizations haven’t.
American history and present demonstrates repeatedly that these areas are sites of great class struggle. From the miner unions in Copper Country and the hills of Appalachia to the struggles for human rights in the South, these areas are not idle; they are alive with radicals. Rural areas are the heart of agriculture and (in many places) industry, and so they are key to the development of sustainable resource systems that we’ll rely on in a post-carbon, post-capitalist future. Suburban areas are where many workers with urban jobs live and the infrastructure of the suburban/urban system is critical to capitalism and drives climate change. Small cities and towns are pockets of population density in sparsely populated areas and so present unique organizing challenges and opportunities. Communities of color in rural, suburban, and small city areas are also a focal point in the intersectional class struggle, from the fight against threats to undocumented workers to campaigns to close carceral institutions which are often built away from large urban areas. The system of U.S. government, furthermore, gives out-sized weight to sparsely populated areas, and so strategies for influencing our government can only be enhanced by winning these areas for socialism.
Although our caucus advocates for members of DSA in rural, suburban, and small city areas, and our ideas are based on this experience, our platform is for everyone in DSA. Our proposals, while responding to needs from the areas in which we organize, can be useful for DSA members from all over. This is because we truly believe that our priorities can make all of DSA stronger, because we are more powerful when we work together.
⬅️ Introduction — Points of Unity ➡️
