Toward a New

EDITED BY MICIT/\EL HARRINGTON Beginning March 1982 Vol. X, No. 3 $1 By Michael Harring_ton

BTR.OIT SYMBOLIZES WHAT'S wrong with the tightwing Reagan economic program: 20 percent unemployment ; elimination of job training programs ; cuts in education spending; reduction in such vital city services as road re­ pair and police protection; cutbacks in

Sten Cagan food stamps and health care at a rime simply by unemployment figures or crime when people arc most in need. statistics. Those are only representations INSIDE Detroit in 1982 is a monument to of the real human cost-the ruined lives, an economic system that puts corporate lost opportunities, broken spirits, and profits before the needs of people. broken homes. When to Coalesce, p. 3 Detroit is a symbol. Its visibility is Coalition poHtics arc becoming ever more one reason it was chosen as the site of important. Steve Max outlines criteria to the founding convention of the Demo­ help local DSAs pick the best electoral cratic Socialists of America (DSA). At ''We can show the American races. the March 20·21 unity convention, DSA will be born out of a merger of the Dem­ peo pie that there's a humane ocratic Socialist Organizing Committee Merging at the Base, p. 5 political alternative.,, The nationals may be merged by the time and the New American Movement. We you get this, but many locals still have are joining forces to present a demo­ to begin the process. Sandra Chclnov cratic socialist alternative-one that is looks at past experiences and offers sug­ positive, progressive, and possible. In a time when the .American people gestions for smoothing the path. arc hoping for direction and an alterna­ Are We Better 011? tive, we arc in Detroit to show that these During his campaign, Ronald Rea­ problems can be solved. They can be Leading from Strength, p. 8 gan asked the American people if we solved when people from all walks of Women's rights are under attack, but the were better off in 1980 than in 1976. We life work together-feminists, minorities, new right wouldn't be so worried if we ask now: Arc we better off today than trade unionists, community activists, pa­ hadn't come so far. Chris Riddiough ex­ we were a year ago? Ocarly, we arc not. rents, and all Americans who truly care amines gains and strategics. The failures of the new right arc about each other and our future. not new. They arc t.hc same failures as Through a democratic socialist coa­ On the Left, p. 15 those of Coolidsc and Hoover, but Rea­ lition we can show the American people gan and his advisers continue to cling to that there is a humane oolitical alterna­ Change the USA, their erroneous ideas of "the way the tive. DSOC and NAM grew from the world works," even when history has re­ dreams of dedicated women and men out­ Join the DSA peatedly proved those ideas wrong. raged by the inequities of this system. (see center fold) These failures can't be measured Now we arc joining those dreams. We come from different traditions. We have different strengths, different weaknesses. But what we have in common-a commit­ ment to justice, equality and changc­ IJID'ERS more than balances those differences. It has not been easy for us to reach To our readers: writers wilJ strengthen DEMOCRATIC this point. Through almost three years With this issue, DEMOCRATIC LEFT LEFT's ability to speak to the broad dem­ of negotiations we have come to know becomes the publication of the organiza­ ocratic left. We look forward to a con­ each other-to debate, argue, respect, and tion formed by the unification of the tinuing and expanded dialogue with our appreciate these differences. Our precon­ Democratic Socialist Organizing Com­ readers, both through the "Letters" col­ ceptions of each group have been chal­ mittee and the New American Move­ umn, contnbutions to the "On the Left" lenged. We go into unification with no ment. Readers who were once NAM and "Jimmy Higgins" columns, and illusions. We know that we are a small members, and subscribed to the NAM through articles. band of activists. W c know that we will publication, Moving On, may be seeing -The Editors not change the world tomorow, or even DEMOCRATIC LEFT for the first time. by the end of the decade. DEMOCRATIC LEFT readers will notice But we know that we will be strong­ new names among our contributors, and ull#rl lo 1h1 1Ji1or must b1 sign1J. we er now than we were before, that by unit­ a wider range of topics. We believe that r1s"'11 1h1 rithl lo 1Ji1 for brevity. ing our dreams, we can help change the this addition of creative and thoughtful Pl1t111 limit /11tn110 /1111han 250 words. nightmare around us. •

Michael Harrincton DEMOCRATIC LEFT is published ten times t. year E.Jilor (monthly except July and Au~) by Demo­ Maxine Phillipa cratic Socialists of Amcria, formerly DSOC/ M.tm11ging E.Jitor NAM, 853 Broadway, Suire 1, · ~· York, N.Y. 10003. Telephone: {:? I?) 260-:;r-:- Sub­ scriptions: $15 susuini:lg md WSUlctJU-:..:. $8 regular. Signed ar.x.les ap.."ess the · of the authors. ISS~ 0164-3.:?0- . Second Oass Pcrm.t Pud at.·~ Y ·.Y.

2 0EMOCllATIC LJIPT MAI.CE i 982 Choosing Our Partners

By Steve Max HERE IS STILL A GOOD LAUGH with capital formation that massive gov­ City Council member Ruth Messinger. to be gotten from the New ernment handouts are required. If capi­ More often, we are simply trying to elect York Times if you know what talism can create neither products, jobs, Democrats just to strike a blow at the to look for. Recently, I came nor capital, then what good is it and why right. Occasionally they are outstanding across this item. "Yesterday do we continue to have it? .Although this Democrats, but many look good only by the conservatives' frustrations becomes more obvious every day, we are comparison and some are clearly the and feelings of betrayal boiled further than ever from a popular rejec­ lesser evil. This approach makes sense, over into heated exchanges at tion of capitalism. but it is not a strategy. It is not a plan a White House meeting between Mr. to move the situation from A to B. It Reagan and representatives of rightist­ is, nonetheless, the start of a strategy. leaning groups." .Although I enjoy the far In the near future we will have to do right's discomfort, I wish we had their much of what we have been doing, but problems. If one is to complain about a with some important modifications. We president, then a chair in the Oval Office will not find new and amazing solutions is certainly the preferred place from that have been carelessly overlooked. which to do it. The fact is that over the last decade the far right has pulled ahead Center Has Not Held of us in the field where we on the left Our strategic problem is the organi­ once had the lead-that of political strat­ i:ational and ideological collapse of the egy. They learned to narrow and focus political center of the country, which, be­ their efforts on a small number of issues. cause it was housed in the Democratic They learned to use those issues to build party, has brought the party down with grass-roots organiiations and then to it. Both the Democrats and the moderate bring the organL?ations together in elec­ Republicans long ago ran out of answen toral coalitions. to the problems of stagnation, inflation, .As the right grows more proficient unemployment, and the fiscal crisis of in strategy, the left Rounders. Of course, ''Our strategic problem is the local government. It's no wonder that the right has one big advantage. Its so­ organizational and ideological they did. Conventional economic theory cial base is more narrow and homoge­ taught them that the combination of in­ neous. It can build unity around a com­ collapse of the political center of flation and stagnation was impossible and mon program more easily. We, on the that the present economic conditions other hand, are pulled in an ever increas­ the country. .. . '' could never occur. With nothing to offer, ing number of directions. the center was swept ,aside by the right­ When in recent history has it been ist advocates of supply-side economics, more frustratin .~ to be a socialist? At no Objective conditions, of course, are which, although crackpot, sounded new time in the last forty years has it been to blame. We tell each other that every and even progressive to many people. so clear that capitalism is floundering. week. While waiting for objective con­ As 1982 brings the downfall of Never mind that it is an evil and perni­ ditions to improve, we devote ourselves supply-side theory, we can expect that cious system : it simply doesn't work. to vanous activities, and indeed there are the Reagan bloc will start to cradc. Many Even in the heyday of the mass move­ more local issues requiring our attention voters will be drawn even further to the ments of the 1960s, the new left believed than we can hope to deal with. Academic right, crying that Reagan sold out the not only that it did work, but that it endeavors and our participation in unions true program. Other voters, drawn away might work forever. That is why there and organiiations of citizens, consumers, from the center, will start to drift back was so much emphasis on the moral qual­ students, tenants, women, or minorities to it, and this process will continue in ity of life, on dropping out and on the lay claim to the better part of our energy. 1984. It is likely that 1wvernment in counter culture. These activities a.re so diverse that it is manv cities and states, and perhaps even Today, capitalism has become the hard to piece them together into a pro­ the federal government, will return to the number one nonperformer. It doesn't cre­ gram, much less a strategy. Nowhere is hands of the center- not because the cen­ ate jobs ; 15 million is the true unemploy­ this more evident than in our work in the ter knows any better how to save the ment figure. It claims, though not with electoral arena. Sometimes we defend economy, but simply because the right total candor, to be having such problems progressive incumbents such as New York will have failed. Jn this there is both a

MARCH 1982 DEMOCRATIC LBFT 3 danger and an opportunity. The danger pational Safety and Health Administra­ and citizen organizations of many kinds. is that the center is setting itself up for tion requirements or the right of states The barriers built up during the 1960s even greater losses later on when its total to tax national corporate profits. Other arc at last coming dQwn, and not a mo­ inability to deal with the situation once issues around which grass-roots organiza­ ment too soon. The biggest single ob­ again becomes apparent. In those places tions arc already mobilizing include op­ stacle to progressive politics is the frag­ where the right is dislodged from office, position to toxic waste dumping, dereg­ mention of social forces that should be it is free to go on the attack, while the ulation of energy prices, free enterprise allies. Although the current is moving center gets stuck with a nonfunctional zones, and the repeal of antidiscrimina­ toward the birth of coalitions and alli­ economy and all of the social problems tion laws. ances, a great deal if midwifery is still that creates. Incumbency will be under Congressional candidates can join needed on the local level. A major con­ attack everywhere and if the center re­ inCUlJ'J:cnt members of the House in ask­ sideration for OS.A participation in a turns to the White House in 1984, the ing exactly what the corporations have campaign, even above high minded pro­ next round of right wing resurgence will done with their tax cuts and how much gram, ought to be the potential for coali­ make Reagan look like a liberal. modernization and job creation have tion building. The opportunities created by the fail­ been accomplished ? Decisions about in- In some states formal electoral coa­ ure of the eight's economic program lie litions are now being formed. In other in the chance to change the terms of areas it will be sufficient if organizations the debate and to use the electoral arena build up working relations during a cam­ to strengthen the progressive organiza­ ' { A ma;or consideration for paign that they can use later on, as oc­ tional base. For the new Democratic DSA participation in a curred during the mayoral elections in Socialists of America, this means being New York City when progressive groups more particular about the criteria for campaign, even above a high­ backed Frank B.rbaro against the Demo­ working in local election campaigns. The minded program, 011gh1 cratic/ Republican candidate. This sugges­ campaigns that are more important than tion that OS.A members focus their efforts others are those with some form of anti­ to be the potential /or coalition on election campaigns that help to devel­ corporate focus and the potential for coa­ op coalitions on anticorporate issues may lition building. b11iJJing. '' not qualify as a full blown strategy, but it gives greater meaning to current action ChoosinA a CampaiAn addressing economic trends that are start· One thing for which we must, with vestment and the allocation of capital ing to move very large numbers of peo· some embarrassment, thank the right have become much too important to be pie. The point is not that economic issues wing, is that it has reintroduced the con­ left in private hands. America should arc the most important in some abstract cepts of ideology and economics into at last join the rest of the industrial world or theoretical sense, nor that anticorporate American politics. It is now generally rec­ in opening these matters to public de­ politics is just one step away from class ognized that something is wrong with bate and participation. consciousness. It is simply that the reces­ the economy and the question asked As the protest against cuts in public sion and the Reagan administration have everywhere is: What's wront.?, and whose services and government programs con­ put economics at the top of the national fault is it? The right supplies its well­ tinues, the question inevitably arises: a

4 DEMOCRA11C LEFT MARCH 1982 DSOC/NAM+Democratic Socialists of America

DEMOCRATIC NEW New York, N.Y. 10003 3244 North Clark Street 29 29th Street SOCIALIST I AMERICAN 853 Broadway Suite 801 Chicago, Ill. 60657 San Francisco, Cal. 94110 (212) 260-3270 (312) 371-7700 (415) 821-4168 ORGANIZING MOVEMENT Cable: SOCIALISTS COMMITTEE

By Sandra Chelnov T LAST! ON MARCH 20-21, ment, on campuses, and within the re­ (women, labor, blacks, Latinos) branches 1982 DSOC and NAM dele­ ligious community; NAM, a product of and perhaps project-oriented branches gates from aJI over the country the new left, has emphasized work :\o 1thin (health care) . The merged local is also will come to Detroit to ratify the women's movement, community or­ planning to hire staff and to produce a the merger of their organiza­ ganizing, and organizing around specific local newsletter. Significantly, despite tions and give birth to the issues such as energy. Perhaps most sig­ very different approaches to structure in Democratic Socialists of Amer­ nificantly for our discussion here, DSOC the past, differences of opinion over these ica (OS.A). It will be a his­ has placed more emphasis on strong na­ questions have not broken down along toric event that testifies to the determi­ tional coalition work and national out­ organizational lines. The local negotia­ nation of these two democratic socialist reach conferences than has NAM, which tions by and large are being viewed with organizations to put behind them the long focused first on building strong local excitement as providing an opportunity sectarian history of the U.S. left. In and chapters with influence in their cities. to experiment with new structures, since of itself this event is worthy of celebra­ Because of our different priorities, it turns out that neither organization was tion-and celebrate we shall. Yet there is local activists in one group have some­ satisfied with its original structure. more to this merger than its ratification. times express~d doubts about the other Throughout the long merger proc­ Now comes the hard work of making organization's commitment to a combined ess (almost three years) , many NAM and unification meaningful throughout our agen h. Another basis for misunderstand­ DSOC locals began to work together. new organization. Our success or failure ing ha; been our tendency to often use, Joint work on electoral campaigns, fo. will be judged on how we build strong as a result of our different traditions and rums, conferences, or the building of lo­ local organizations with grass-roots sup­ generations, different language to say the cal coalitions pr< ~ed to be the most effec­ port and on how we create the basis for same thing. tive cure for m 1~~onceptions that one or­ a new, much largei- democratic socialist Rather than being stumbling blocks, ganization may 11ave had about the other. organization with national influence not these differences allow us to complement In particular, activists in both organiza­ only on the left but in the major political each other to establish the foundations of tions have come to grasp how in so many arenas and constituencies. an organization that can attract an even cases the different strengths can be com- We are setting ou .;o build some­ thing much greater tha11 • '1e sum of two parts. ''These dilferences allow us to complement each other, to establish the foundations of an organization that can attract an even more MerAins at the Base numerous and diverse membership. '' What problems do local organiza­ tions face in implementing such an ambi­ tious project? The merger of NAM and more numerous and diverse membership. plementary in practice. For instance, DSOC brings together two national or­ This is what merger at the local level is NAM activists often have good contacts ganizations representing different radical all about. First there are the negotiations in local community organizations, while traditions and different generations. Al­ over a local structure that will allow for DSOC usually has them in the labor though DSOC and NAM were both flexibility and growth. A case in point is movement and in the Democratic party. founded in the early seventies, the lead­ Chicago, where NAM and DSOC acti­ Coming together creates new political ers and members of the groups were po­ vists are trying to devise a structure of opportunities, for these are some of the liticized under different circumstances. sub-branches for a local with a sizable constituencies we seek to bring together DSOC, heir to the radical socialist combined membership (now dose to behind a progressive platform. tradition of Eugene Debs, has empha­ 300) and a high percentage of activists. In some cases, such as in Berkeley/ sized work within the left wing of the Negotiations continue. There is talk Oakland, California, a year ago, and Democratic party, within the labor move- of geographical branches, constituency Madison, Wisconsin two years ago, joint

MARCH 1982 DEMOCRATIC LBFT 5 work led naturally to the formation of HANGING TOGETHER Democratic Socialist Alliances, united lo­ Unity-a seductive word for everyone, particularly for those on the left. All too cals in which all activity was carried out many ti.mes, however, the promises of unity and a. bright future have been belied together. These two "premature" DSAs by the grim realities of post-union history. But some unions ha.ve succeeded, bring­ were important because they took a leap ing in their wake great triumphs for the groups that united. Two of the most in faith that the national merger would positive cases in this century were the union of the American left in 1901 that happen eventually and provided the two created the Socialist Party of America, and the union of the French left in 1969 separate organizations with successful ex­ that created the P•li Soe-ialis1,. amples that encouraged joint work else­ On July 29, 1901, 125 delegates, representing 6,500 socialists, met in In­ where. These early local mergers demon­ dianapolis. Most of them were from Morris Hillquit's so-called "Kangaroo" fac­ strated that merger would work. Mem­ tion of the Socialist Labor party, which had left the party because of its rigid bership and activism increased. These adherence to positions taken by party leader Daniel De Leon. Some were indtpcn· DSAs emerged as an important left pres­ dent socialists, but the majority of the other delegates represented the Social Demo­ ence in their communities. cratic party, whose best known leaders were former Populist Eugene Debs and However, members of the East Bay Milwaukee socialist Victor Berger. and Madison OS.As arc also the first to Within a decade of this convention, the unified group, the Socialist Party of point out that joining forces is just the America, had attracted 100,000 members. In 1912, Debs received a higher per· beginning. Growth brings with it new centage of the presidential vote than did the British Labor party in the elections opportunities and new difficulties . . . of 1910. Despite the crises of the World War I era, which split and destroyed the among them the ever increasing need to old Socialist party, that party remains the most successful expression of American serve, educate, and involve a growing socialism to date. membership in further outreach to the In 1969, delegates representing various factions of the French left came to­ constituencies with which we work. Each gether to create the Pttrti SocialiJl6. The old French Socialist party, the SPIO, had new success and level of growth brings rana.ined the largest left party even after the break-off of the French Communists, new crises and most of these crises m•tSt but in the years after World War II the SFIO's share of the vote steadily declined be resolved by local activists usually with­ from about one-quarter to an eighth. The Communists were the dominant force out the aid of any paid staff. It is at these in the post-war French left. During the 1960s, the SFIO's decline continued apace, crisis points that a strong national or­ culminating in a disastrous 5 pc~cnt showing in the presidential election of 1969. ganization and leadership arc necessary The 1969 unity brought together the SFIO, Fran~ois Mitterrand's CJR (Con· to provide new insights and facilitate vention of Republican Institutions), elements of the old French Radical party, and communication among locals. most of the independent socialist "dubs" tha.t had sprung up during the decade. A condition that many mcr~in~ lo­ A few years later, Michel Rocard brought his faction of the PSU (the Unified cals will face is that of P.eo~raphical dis­ Socialist party) into the new PS. Within a dozen years of its founding, the PS tribution of the membership: DSOC elected the first left president of the French Fifth Republic, as well as an absolute has a higher percentage of members on parliamentary majority. the East Coast, NAM on the West Coast What distinguished these successful mergers from the many unsuccessful ones and Midwest. Although from a national that litter left history? The rnost important fld:or wa.s an agreement on a strategy. perspective this distribution is comple­ The American Socialists of 1901 agreed on the concept of an independent, elec­ mentary and provides the new organiza­ torally oriented party which would combine a program of immediate demands tion with a more equal presence across with a long-run socialist goal, and would work with the existing labor movement. the country. the local variations in mem­ It was the collapse of this strategic agreement in later years that led to a collapse berships present a challcnRc. of the party. The French Socia.lists of 1969 agreed on the Mitterrand strategy of In many cases, DSOC locals have a a broa.d electoral coalition with the French Communists, but a coalition in which significantly larger membership than the the Socialists would keep their identity distinct from that of the Communists. It NAM local _Rroup or vice versa. This was the continued prosecution of this strategy for a d02cn years that finally led situation may leave the larger group per­ Mitterrand to the president's chair. plexed as to how to "merge with" a much The DSOC and NAM delegates meeting in Detroit represent u many so­ smaller group wondering how to avoid cialists as were represented in the Indianapolis meeting in 1901. They represent being engulfed by the larger. In some people who have come from all the main intellectual and organizational currents instances, DSOC has a larger member­ in the American left of this century: Socialists, Communists, Trotskyists, new ship, but a smaller number of members leftists, liberals, labor, the women's movement, a.nd the civil rights movement. active in the local. In San Francisco, for The future lies before us, and only time and what we do will determine example, DSOC has over a hundred whether Detroit in 1982 will have the historical resonance of Indi.aAapolis in 1901. members and, although many of these members arc active and/or have contacts -Jim Chapin in the labor movement and the Demo­ cratic party (in particular through the gay not be a local chapter from the other be more important than ever for the new Democratic Clubs) , few of them arc able organization to merge with! In New national organization to provide leader­ to be also active in the local itself. In York City and Washington D.C., DSOC's ship for making the most of the oppor­ still other locations, merger at the local largest locals, NAM has little or no or­ tunities for outreach. level is even more problematic: there may ganized presence. In these cases it will Providing this leadership for locals

6 DEMOCMTIC l.l!PT MARCH 1982 won't be easy. The national organizations coordinated with the National Office in er celebration in late spring: an afternoon will be trying to provide assistance to the New York and the scheduled tours of conference and a "gala extravaganza" in merging locals while the national offices national DSA notables. the evening to include speeches and a. themselves undergo the unavoidable con­ fundraising auction. All this is to be co­ fusions of transition. Southern Strateu ordinated with an outreach and mem­ The National Youth Section of In the South, where locals are small bership drive by a systematic phone and DSOC plans to publish an organizing but growing, the major merger celebra­ mail campaign using local contact lists manual that should be applicable to many tion will take place on May 29-30 in as well as subscription lists of progressive locals. Regional offices are on the agenda, Nashville, Tennessee, at the second an­ publications such as In These Times and along with the National Office in New nual jointly sponsored southern regional The ProgreJJifle. York. conference. Issues such as labor organiz­ To establish a socialist organization The DSOC and NAM Feminist ing and progressive electoral strategies that is national means establishing a Commissions, while still undergoing their in the South will be major topics of dis­ force both in politics affecting the whole own merger discussions, have in general cussion. After turning people away last nation and also in local politics in all agreed to put out two publications: one year when more than 100 turned up, or­ parts of the nation. If the DSOCfNAM for outreach will be along the lines of ganizers expect at least 200 this year. The merger takes us a giant step closer to NAM's Women Organizing, and the South's example is not lost on the rest these goals, socialists may eventually be other, more for DSA members and Com­ of the country, where plans are well able to go beyond current efforts to de­ mission supporters, will be similar to under way in a number of locals to cele­ velop "progressive" politics and coali­ DSOC's current Feminist Commission brate the merger by a new commitment to tions to the creation and leadership of Newsletter, Not Far Enough. There arc creating an active socialist presence in an openly socialist mass movement in the also plans in the works for a nation­ local communities. In Chicago, activists United States for the first time in decades. al "Recruit-a-Feminist" campaign. The plan to anounce the local merger with Taking some liberties with NAM's DSOC Hispanic Commission and the a. public fundraising bash, a special Dcbs­ motto from Antonio Gramsci, that goal NAM Anti-racism Commission arc dis­ Thoma.s Dinner, honoring longtime ac­ is worth not only a little skepticism of cussing appropriate structure, along with tivist Carl Shier, with some 500 expected the mind, but a. lot of optimism of the national leadership, and how to take ad­ guests and Machinist President William will. • vantage of the merger to significantly Winpisinger as the keynote speaker. The increase the involvement of minorities dinner will follow a more down-to-earth in the new organization. The merger will conference strategy in the afternoon. Sandra Chelno11 ir acli11e in the Ea.st Bay be a time of major local outreach events Boston has similar plans for a merg- DSA and editM of Not Far Enough.

ELECTORAL STRATEGY, from pqe 4 Independent campaigns have come issues. The real aiterion is an estimate of under serious reconsideration in recent the potential vote. For a third-party can- ycars and arc being discussed by many didate, 15 percent of the vote is the least people who have always thought the to try for and even that is so low that' it Democratic party to be the only arena raises grave doubts. Twenty-five percent in which to work. I don't think that the would be worthwhile for a campaign in- issue is an ideological one, and I dis- tended to educate and raise issues. In a a.grec with friends in the Citizens party primary, 30 percent to 40 percent makes that it is even a strategic one. It is too sense for a long-shot insurgent. early in the process of the decay of the New social forces are now in mo- political center to have a plan for the tion. Embers of discontent thought dead realignment of political forces. That re- since the 1930s are showing sparks of alignment could take place within or life. People who always considered them- outside of the Democratic party. Prob- selves to be the contented middle class ably it will be both. We don't yet know. appear by the thousands at dcmonstra- Independent campaigns arc, therefore, a ''Embers of discontent thought tions and protest meetings. Reagan is local tactkal question. dead since the 1930s are picketed in the heartland of his support. If there is no Democrat worth sup- If, as it now appears, the main battles porting one year, and if for some reason showing sparks of /ife. '' of the 1980s will be fought in the elcc- a primary is not possible or the election toral arena, then the biggest contribution is nonpartisan, then independence is an the merged organization can make is the open question. The first points to con- lican wins, the independent will be development of its electoral strategy. • sider are the importance of the office and blamed no matter what the true situation who will be offended by an independent is. If important allies back the Dcmo­ DSA mtmber Ste11e Max is co-chair of campaign. If the race will determine crat, again stay away. Stay away if the ~JI Side Citizen Action in New York which party controls the lc~islaturc or campaign will attract only a grab bag of City and on the Jtaff of the Midwest the city council, stay away. If the Repub- marginal groups with incomprehensible Acatiem1.

MARCH 1982 DEMoaAnc LIFT 7 New Allies for Feminism By Christine R. Riddiough

S WB READ, AD N.AUSEUM, about the Reagan administra­ tion, the National Right-to­ Lifc Committee, the Moral Majority, the threatened "Hu­ man Life Amendment" to the U.S. Constitution, the Family Protection Act, the possible end of affirmative action, we might de­ spair for the feminist movement. Push­ ing through the eighties, socialist-fcmi­ nists must be realistic about the forces against us, but ready to build on the sub­ stantial gains made in the seventies. For, despite the publicity given to anti-femi­ nist forces, the truth is that the women's movement has had an impact on every aspect of our lives-from our jobs to our relationships with friends and lovers, to elections and political movements. ' ' This changing view of ·women as workers has meant ihat Some of the most visible changes ..Jdt-S once noJ of concern Jo labor, such as child care, are becoming are quantifiable. Today, many more wom­ en, both married and single, are part of more important. '' the paid labor force than just a decade ago. This change is, of course, due in part to economic necessity, but it is also tionships. Although at times a matter of As voters, women arc taking a close related to the rise of feminism. Although controversy, feminist support for gay and look at the stance politicians take on fem­ women arc still not paid the same wages lesbian rights is now a given. Gay and inist issues. The Democratic party has as men, equal pay for equal work has lesbian rights are seen as another aspect become a major arena for feminist acti­ the support of a broad spectrum of peo- . of the general issue that feminists address vists. In 1980 hundreds of delegates to pie. More than that, equal pay for work -that of sex and gender equality. There the Democratic National Convention of comparable value has become a major have been major changes in the status of were feminists from the National Organ­ focus for many women's and labor or­ gay people over the last 20 years. In 1961 ization for Women (NOW), the Na­ ganizations. Women arc more of a sig­ Illinois was the first state to repeal its tional Abortion Rights Action League nificant force in the labor movement. sodomy laws, which were primarily en­ (NARAL) and the National Women's Not only in the workplace have forced against gay people. Since then, Political Caucus. This led to the convcn­ women's lives changed. The status of almost half the states have followed Illi­ tion' s adopting profcminist planks on a reproductive rights in the U.S. has altered nois in such repeal. About 40 communi­ variety of issues. In the 1980 elections, dramatically since the sixties. In 1973 the ties have passed laws protecting the rights women voted very differently from men. U.S. Supreme Court, in effect, legalized of gay people in jobs, housing, and public Exit polls suggested that both fear about abortion, virtually eliminating the back­ accommodations. Recently, gay men and war and concern about women's rights room coat hanger abortions that had cost lesbians have entered the electoral arena lost Reagan support among women. so many women their lives. through groups such as the Gay Demo­ Women were evenly divided between Despite efforts of the so-called cratic Oubs. In 1980 there were 76 Reagan and Carter, while men supported "right-to-life" movement, three-fourths openly gay delegates at the Democratic Reagan by a 54 to 3 7 percent margin. of the American people oppose a consti­ National Convention and that convention tutional amendment to ban abortions and passed a plank supporting gay ri~hts . Changing Consciousness almost 60 percent believe that any woman Other feminist concerns have been More striking than some of the quan­ who wants an abortion should be able brought to the electoral arena. More tifiable changes has been the qualititativc to have one. women are entering and winning political way the women's movement has changed Feminists have forced society to take races and politicians are being forced to people's consciousness-made us question a new look at sexuality and sexual rcla- deal with women's new role. Continued on page 13

8 DllMOCllATIC LEFT MARCH 1982 DSA the New Socialists

Democratic Socialists of America*

·alists •• . . . fighting the cruel, unworkable policies of Ronald Reagan ~by working to build a new American left that will go far be­ yond traditional liberalism. << We have to go beyond the The American economy is in the deepest trouble it has New Deal in order lo fight known since the Great Depression. We face a structural crisis Reagan' .I Raw Deal.)' of the system in which corporate decision makers in such in­ MICHAEL HARRINGTON dustries as rail, auto, and steel maximized their private profits Chair, Democratic Socialists of and helped wreck the heartland of American capitalism, de­ America stroying entire communities as well as individual jobs. Rcagan­ omics is the latest manifestation of this crisis. It is on the way to self-destruction, but traditional Democratic party liberalism is clearly inadequate to oppose it or offer anything new in its place. There are signs of the beginning of a response-the Alter­ native Budget presented by the Congressional Black Caucus (

•Formerly the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee/New American Movement «DSA is an important part of the movement to guarantee everyone, not ;usl a pri11ileged few, the full benefits of our sodety.')

RONALD DELLUMS U.S. Representative, California

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STELLA NOWICKI union activist, CIO organizer ( t.By working to build a national motJement for .rociali.rm in the ''1'm proud to be a member of U.S., the DSA will help us build DSA because it has been on an economic and social the front lines of working people's context for ca"ying out our JtruggleJ. DSA members hatJe progressitJe program locally. >> earned my respect became they don't ;ust raiJe issues- MIKE R OTKIN they act on them!>> Mayor, Santa Cruz, California

LILLIAN ROBERTS New York State Commissioner of Industrial Relations, formerly associate director, ing the planet earth itself. Our best defense is in unilateral District Council 37, AFSCME initiatives toward multilateral disarmament, both nuclear and conventional. Real defense lies in a truly democratic foreign policy that identifies America with the freedom movements of Salvador, South Africa, and Argentina as well as with the magnificent struggles of the working people of Poland.

('Here I hatJe fo1md an organi­ zation deep!] committed to both We Are the New Socialists ... ;11stice and freedom and willing to engage in the slmggle for tho1e ... living in a society fundamentally marred by a racism that ideals in an atmosphere of has become ingrained in our institutions, social patterns, and ideological pluralism.>> consciousness. . .. a racism that perpetuates divisions among MICHAEL G. RIVAS us that undermine collective action .. . . As socialists, respecting theologian, activist the goals of blacks, Hispanics, Native Americ>ns, and other minorities, we seek a socialist society that values cultural di­ versity, that places a high priority on economic justice in order to eradicate the sources of inequality and on Jocial justice to '«:We need an organization that change the behavior, attitudes, and ideas that foster racism. can promote rmity while welcoming ditJersity, that can speak 0111 against the crimes of 011r We Are the New Socialists ... times and that can work actitJe/y for a more democratic and . . . with a vision of a society that has at its core a feminist ;mt society. DSA can be that conception that insists on full equality for women. Socialism organization. >> is more than a transformation of economic structures. It en­

ROBERTA LYNCH comyasses a transformation of social relations. We seek a feminist writer, activist world without sex roles that channel women into subordinate ~------Past NAM national secretary positions at home and at work. We seek a world that no longer oppresses women through violence, through lack of reproduc­ tive choices, through denial of their sexuality and through undervaluation of their work. The socialist society we seek would value sexual relationships based on mutual respect and the enhancement of human dignity, be they gay, lesbian, or heterosexual.

''DSA will he the largest motJe­ ment of democratic .rociali.rts since the thirties.>> t. t. Trade unions need a new STANLEY ARONOWITZ philosophy, a new strategy and a author, professor renewed fightin~ .rpirit to mi.rt attacks on workmg people and their unions. Being a socialist makes you a better trade unionist. >>

WILLIAM WINPISINGER President, International Association of Machinists '(DSA is prindpled but undogmaJic. I'm proud to be a member of an organization invofoed in the day-to-day political struggles of this country.''

RUTH MESSINGER City Council member, ' '1 am a DSA member bect111se New York City I find its idealism contagious, its atmosphere tolerant, its thought undogmaJic, and its future hopeful.''

IRVING HOWE We Are the New Socialists ... author, critic ... leaving behind the suicidal divisions of the American left, building upon the strengths and traditions, not only of the left, but of religious, labor, civil rights, community, and feminist movements. Democratic Socialists of .America was born of the merger between the Democratic Socialist Organizing Commit­ tee and the New .American Movement. Each group brings with it a commitment to democracy and socialism, a willingness to put aside political quarrels, to be greater than the sum of its ''1 appredaJe the way DSA brings parts. together different generations, We are working to build every mass movement where with respect for different cultures working people, minorities, feminists, and other progressive and traditions." forces are organizing for their rights. We are committed to DOROTHY HEALEY working at all levels of the labor movement, the most potent radio commentator, activist force for progressive change in the U.S. We join with the liberal-labor wing of the Democratic party, that unstable alli­ ance of some of the worst and most of the best people in the land. We see this reaching out as the road toward the creation of a new first party of the .American left.

'' DSA can chart the We Are the New Socialists ... path toward a more fundamental ... struggling to bring democracy to every aspect of .American democratic transformaJion of life. We believe that critical investment decisions have to be American sodety for the future.)' taken out of the board rooms and made democratically. New MANNING MARABLE industries have to be created by planned, public initiatives­ syndicated columnist, a new rail system under regional ownership, a solar energy professor of political economy industry-and any subsidy to corporations must be made con­ ditional on performing within the framework of that plan. We have to take the rich off of welfare and restore the cuts in social programs, achieving fiscal responsibility by full em­ ployment and tax justice, Our vision is of a society in which people have a voice <

RICHARD HEALEY ''Where else are people willing to move from complaining Past national secretary, NAM about Ronald Reagan Jo really offering America a better alternative?' ' HARRY BRITT Supervisor, City of San Francisco, gay activist in the programs that allcct the entirety of their lives. We Live within a. system that has done more than impoverish us ma­ terially. It impoverishes the human spirit and human interac­ tion. We are committed to a society in which people are free to develop to their fullest potential, assured of individual lib­ erties that safeguard against the dangers of an intrusive state. We new socialists-opposed to all dictatorships, no matter what name they choose to give themselves-thus sec democracy, not simply as a critical political value, but as a means of re­ structuring the American society. We Are the New Socialsts ...... because, like democratic socialists all over the world, we have learned that socialism is not simply economic planning but democratic, bottom-up planning-new forms of sociaJ ownership. We arc not a religion, even if deeply religious people arc a part of our movement. But all of us see a moral dimen­ sion in our politics . . . the search for a society and a world that will encourage people to rediscover their own spiritual and cultural values. We Are the New Socialsts ...... starting out with a combined membership of 6,500, whidt makes us the largest democratic socialist organization in this country since the 1930s. But we can be more. We believe that the merger of OSOC and N AM presents a historic opening for the American left. At last toerc is an organization in which thousands of unaffiliated socialists can find root. Not because we have the solution to the problems facing our society. But because this combination of people offers hope that solutions can be found. Because we arc ready to start anew. Photo credits: Scott Cagan, Gretchen Donart, Marshall Mayer, Wester Dick Photography, Scott Von 03dol JOIN US!

__ Yes, I want to join the new socialists. Enclosed are my dues (includes subscription to DEMOCRATIC LEFT) of: __ $50 sustaining __ $30 regular __ $15 limited income -- $500 life I also want to subscribe to Socialiat Forum, the DSA Discussion Bulletin: -- $10 regular __ $5 limitedincome Please send me more information about DSA and democratic socialism. I want to subscribe to the DSA monthly, DEMOCRATIC LEFT. Enclosed find: -- $15 sustaining/institutional subscription -- $8 regular ( 10 issues per year) I would like to be active in the local in my area. Please send information. My special interest area is ------

Organization/union/school/ affiliatio .• .______

Mail to: Democratic Socialists of America, Suite 801, 853 Broadway, NYC 10003 ~412 FEMINISM, from p. 8 what we once thought of us as common­ George Meany declared, "I am a femi­ Today the women's movement has sense ideas, made us expand our view of nist." That decade of change and move­ changed drastically. whM is political. ment by women made Meany's statement In its early years, NOW was also When we think back to the expec­ possible and even necessary. Today every­ small and primarily white. Today, with tations we had of women in the fifties­ one from labor to politicians to the right 150,000 members, it is a powerful po­ as portrayed in the women's magazines, wing takes seriously the women's move­ litical organization and one of the pri­ on "Father Knci .vs Best" or in the advice ment that brought about these changes. mary focal points of feminist activities of high sch0o1 guidance counselors, But the process has also changed the in the United States. At this time it is clergy, parents, and friends, we can begin women's movement itself. the best organized and most effective to grasp the extent of the change. Then force for progressive political change in we expected women to be wives and the U.S. It, and with it, the women's mothers, or, if that failed, to be old maid movement as a whole has moved out of schoolteachers. its isolation and into coalition with We no longer expect women to other groups, no longer viewing "wom­ go to school only to find a suitable hus­ Becoming en's issues" as narrowly as in the past. band or that mothers will not work. This fall NOW president Eleanor Smeal Growing numbers of women identify a Parent~ was a major speaker at both Solidarity themselves primarily as workers outside Day and the biennial AFL-CIO Conven­ the home. Issues of wages, job conditions ' Should '!' tion. She said, in part, "We stand in and so on arc now of more direct con­ solidarity with the trade unionists, de­ cern to women and thus women arc and termined 'l protect the victories of the will be a more significant part of the ~, Remain a last 50 ye ...cs for workers' rights, minor­ labor movement than in the past. This ity rights and women's rights. Had this changing view of women as workers has . Cfr~@IlCL~ statement been made ten years ago, it also meant that issues once not of con­ would have been met with incredulity. cern to labor, such as child care, arc be­ Today it shows the direction NOW has coming more important. taken in allying with labor. Although women remain primarily NOW's minority membership is responsible for maintaining the home, more diverse than at its founding. At increasingly, men arc expected to take the same time minority women's and gay some part in child care and homemaking organizations such as the National Alli­ tasks. The husband is no longer the clear ance of Black Feminists and the National patriarchal he-ad of the household. Coalition of Black Gays, as well as many Some of the most signiJicant chanJl.CS local groups, are playing a major role have come in regards to homosexuality in political efforts. This in turn has broad­ and lesbianism. Only a few years ago the ened the concerns of the women's move­ isolation and invisibility of gay people ment about issues and approaches to is­ were taken for granted. Today, Jl.ay issues sues that arc relevant to minority women. receive regular coverage in the news­ Gretchen Donart For example, affirmative action has be­ papers and on television. More people come a concern for women as attacks on arc willing to at least tolerate the exist­ ChanAinA the ChanJlemakers it have grown; it is also an issue for mi­ ence of p.,ay people and there is an open­ NOW was formed in 1967. At nority people and labor. The intersection ness to the idea that ~y men and lesbians about the same time hundreds of con­ between feminist and minority concerns deserve at least basic human rights. What sciousness raising (er) groups were also on this issue has begun to bring together was once thou.P.ht of as unnatural and un­ forming. For the first part of its life, the activists from these two movements. mentionable, "the love that dared not women's movement was primarily organ­ Another important organization is speak its name," is now a topic of con­ ized on a local levcl-smaJI groups that the National Abortion Rights Action versation and debate. met and talked, that initiated projects on League. With its 125,000 members, In asscssin.ct these kinds of chan~ abortion, child care, rape. From these NARAL is central to t.1c prochoice move­ we have to understand clearly their im­ groups grew the concept that "the per­ ment. NARAL's focus is on blocking mense nature. It is not merely that there sonal is political"-issucs of day-to-day ratification of any anti-abortion amend­ arc different images of women on tele­ life were not simply personal problems ment that comes out of Congress. It uses vision, that women's magazines now dis­ for individual women to deal with, but a grass-roots electoral strategy to line up cuss issues such as jobs and child care, political issues to be addressed by the state legislators to oppose such amend­ that women arc entering a variety of women's (and aJI political) movements. ments. Other prochoice formations, in­ workplaces and political forums : but tfat For the most part, these groups were cluding the Reproductive Rights Nation­ all of this represents a drastic chanctc made up of young, white, college-educat­ al Network (a coalition of local and na­ from commonly held ideas of just a few ed women. For the most part, too, these tional groups) are also working on block­ years ap.o. In 1968 feminists were derided groups were isolated from one another ing anti-abortion measures. National gay as bra-burners; some ten years later and from other political movements. organizations, especially the National Gay

MARCH 1982 0BMOCRATIC LEFT 13 Task Force and the Gay Rights National 101sm touches issues that relate to the ical. Feminists and others have already Lobby, are working to pass gay rights deepest fears and hopes that people have recognized that coalitions must address legislation and to oppose anti-gay meas­ for their lives ; feminism also gets at the feminist issues. In linking concerns, we ures such as the Family Protection Act. very structure of the capitalist system. It must recognize that we are not taking a The women's movement has grown demonstrates the interconnectedness of chance. Feminist issues have the support in other ways as well. Traditional wom­ social, economic, and ideological issues. of the majority of the American people, en's organizations ranging from the Girl As socialists, our concern for a new eco­ more so than many of the other issues Scouts, to the YWCA to the League of nomic order cannot be fulfilled until that that socialists advocate. Women Voters must be seen as part of order includes women. And that means Along with including feminism in the women's movement. The "Y" is at the very least beginning to deal with our coalition work, we must also put a home to many women's services programs issues such as equal pay, child care, the priority on participation in feminist or­ such as rape support groups and women's connections between home life and work ganizations and activities. NOW is a vi­ advocates. The Girl Scouts and others life in ways that we have not in the past. tally important part of the progressive have endorsed the ERA and have started As feminists, our concerns for a new so­ movement, and support for NOW and programs encouraging young women to cial order for women, for new ways of other feminist organizations is the second go into nontraditional activities. In many living, cannot be addressed outside of the aspect of our feminist work. We must community groups women are organizing context of economic issues. work with them in their arenas-legisla­ similar support services. The National tive, electoral, etc. Local work for equal Congress of Neighborhood Women is a rights for women and gay people, for national forum for women involved in reproductive rights, comparable worth, community activities. are vital projects for democratic socialists. The agreement between NAM and Finally, just as we want to devlop DSOC to place a high priority on femi­ a presence nationally and locally for nist organizing and to strengthen the democratic socialism as a political idea Feminist Commission of the DSA reflects and movement for our time, so too must these strategic priorities. Work in NOW, we develop a presence for socialist femi­ on reproductive and gay rights, and on nism. Through our educational worlc, women and labor issues are concrete ex­ our public presence, we must make the amples of what the commission and the connections between these ideas. We organization as a whole will be under­ must show that the movement we repre­ taking over the next year. sent does not aim at a simple change of economic structure but rather at a re­ A Feminist StrateAY structuring of society so that every per­ These changes, in women's lives, in son-women and men, gay and non gay, society, in people's consciousness anlfin everyone-can lead a life of human dig­ the women's movement, must form the ni~ • basis for the development of a strategy for socialist feminists in the ei~hties. We Chri1tine R. RiddiouKh 1erved on the must recognize the threat of the right We must therefore be concerned Political Committee of the New Ameri­ wing, certainly, but in the context of the with program and strategy on several can Movement. She iJ co-chair of the progress made by women in the last dec­ levels. We must enter coalitions with an lllinoiJ Gay and Le1bian Task Force and ade. If abortion were still illega;l, a "hu­ agenda that includes, as a central part, ha1 been active in the femini1t move­ man life" amendment would not be nec­ feminist issues. We cannot segregate ment for over a decade. She would like essary; if "women's place" were in the feminist concerns from our other con­ to thank Holly Graff for political and home, Hatch's efforts to prevent affirma­ cerns. This concept is not really very rad- editorial 111gge1tion1. tive action would not be needed (at least as far as women's jobs were concerned) ; if gay people were still invisible, the Moral Majority would not be viable in the way it is now. Thus our program and strategy for .. ASNER - AN ACTOR WHO MAKES UNION-MADE BUTTONS AND BUMPER­ responding to the right, for effecting SENSE, .. "FREEZE NUCLEAR WEAPONS" STICKERS custom·printed for your local feminist changes in society must be based "BEWARE THE ACTOR (Reagan Graphic):" group. Sen·ing the Left sine~ 1961 ! Write or "U.S. OUT OF EL SALVADOR," "LET call for custom·printing price list and/or list­ on the reality of these changes as much THE EAT JELLYBEANS,.. "SOLIDARilY as on the reality of the ascendancy of the (Polish or English), .. POLITICALLY COR­ ing of stock items available for fund-raising. right. We cannot relegate feminist issues RECT," "QUESTION AUTHORilY," LARRY FOX, BOX M-17, VALLEY to the fringes of the political spectrum. "TAKE THE TOYS A WAY FROM THE STREAM, NY 1082 (516) 791-7929 They are central to the political debate BOYS - DISARM," 'TM PRO·CHOICE AND I VOTE, .. MONEY FOR JOBS, NOT Classified rates "" $2 per line ( 40 'h11r11,ter1 going on in this country; they touch the WAR." Buttons: 2/$1.00; I0/$4.00; 100/ per line), $JO per

14 DEMOCRATIC LEFT MARCH 1982 ON1HELEFf By Harry Fleischman ERRY WURF, THE Pl.ESIDE.'-1 OF ships. You learn the business of dealing the .American Federation of State, with groups and individuals, developing County and .Municipal Employ­ and holding the confidence of large num­ ees, wlio died la.st December, was bers of people." a socialist from 1935 until his When Jerry attended his first meet­ death. He was a member of ing of the AFL-CIO Executive Council DSOC and on its Natiooal .Ad- and took on George Meany on the ques­ visory Council. In 1974, I met tion of American bombing of C..ambo­ with him as part of a series of oral his· dia, "I did it with respect and concern, tory interviews with people active in the feeling perhaps a little shaky, but I could Socialist party in the thirties and forties. do that, and I don't think that without Celebrated as labor"s last angry man, Jerry my Socialist experience or my Yipsel showed some of the same characteristics ''We built a tremendous union background, I would have done credit in the party. But when I asked him what to what was perhaps the most important the Socialist party meant to him and did because of the pedestrian obvious cause of the unrest and difficulty for him, he was more of a pussycat than things you had to do in a party of our times, perhaps as important as the a tiger. True, he said, when he worked rise of Fascism in pre-World War II." fulltime for the party, "There was no like the Socialist party . . ·'' What did being a socialist mean to money involved. It was just the pleasure Jerry? "I consider it the ultimate experi­ of driving your colleagues crazy." But, get a small group going. (We once had ence in my life. . . . It was where I was he added, "They were good days. They four people in New York in DC 37.) awakened to what the role of a trade union were useful, on a selfish basis, in terms We literally built a tremendous union be- movement is, what it's capable of achiev­ of stretching my mind and making me cause of the pedestrian things you had to ing.... Much that I have done that was think reasonably about the world we were do in a party like the Socialist party or useful, the it'tdependence, the unwilling­ in, developing a sensitivity to social dy­ the Young People's Socialist League, ness to become a hack .. . springs from namics of the society we are in. when there were no resources other than the kind of personal independence, the Had party membership helped him our own resources. The thinkers and the willingness to stand up and be counted in becoming a union leader? "You learn writers were also the mimeograph ma- (and there have been times when I was to deal in group situations, you learn how chine operators and leaflet distributors, a fink, too, I don't want you to mis­ to give leadership, you learn how to and then when you got to .the meeting, understand), but when I'm decent, in a mount a demonstration. You learn how you made the speech too. You know, with very substantial measure, it was the Young to write a press release, you learn how to that kind of background, obviously, you People's Socialist League and the Socialist write a leaflet. You learn how to use a learn things . .Also, you subtly learn the party that implanted in me those things." mimeograph machine. You learn how to way people react, inter-personal relation- 8 Policy, 2588 Mission St., San Francisco, California 94410. WELCOME, NAM. .As THJS• •COLUMN • GOES TO PRESS, DELE- The .Alert reports both on Nicaragua's efforts to build a more gates are assembling in Detroit for the unification convention just food system and on U.S. efforts to destabilize the country. of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and the It can be used to mobilize Americans against U.S. intervention N~ .American Movement. The merger into the new group, there.... The first issue of the NAM/ DSOC Human Serv­ to be known as DemomzJic SocialiJls of America (OS.A), will ices Newsletter has been published. create the largest democratic socialist organization in the Unit­ ed States since the thirties. Future columns will reflect activities AT THE ALL-DAY TEACH-IN• AGAINST• • REAGANOMICS at Har- of chapters of the merged organization. Send items for the vard University organized by Working Paper1 magazine and column to me at: OS.A, Suite 801, 853 Broadway.NYC 10003. Harvard-Radcliffe DSOC, folksinger Mary Travers, formerly VER.MO~'TERS OVERWHELMINGLY• • BACKED• A NUCLEAR FREEZE of the Peter, Paul, and Mary group, was asked by young peo­ this month in votes at town meetings in D5 of the state's cities ple "What was it like in the sixties?" According to the New and tov.'llS. The proposal for a mutual nuclear freeze by the York Times, she replied, "If you get involved today, you'll U.S. and the Soviet Union was rejected in 22 towns. Voters find out. You'll make your own movement. When I read in Burlington, the state's largest city, gave Mayor Bernard Upton Sinclair as a girl, I thought I had missed all the excite­ Sanders, a self-proclaimed socialist, a major victory by electing ment. But it was just around the corner." three of his supporters to the Board of Aldermen. • • • • BUFFALO NAM HELD ITS FOURTH ANNUAL "LIZARD BALL" ROSA P.AitKS NAM IN MOBILE,• • ALABAMA WAS PART OF THE in January, mocking the upper class social event, the " Blizzard citywide coalition celebrating International Women's Day in Ball." ... Chapel Hill, N.C. DSOC joined the February 27 March .• .. .A Food First .Action Alert on Nicaragua has just coalition, composed of groups and individuals in the state been produced by the the Institute for Food and Development protesting the training of Salvadoran soldiers at Fort Bragg.

MARCH 1982 DEMOCRATIC LEFT 15 IIlGGINS REPORfS

FROM TIME TO TIME a curious reader asks, down and carry it back to headquarters, and got subscribers who is Jimmy Higgins, anyway? Thia col­ for Socialist papers. umn has been a part of DEMOCRATIC LBPT The next day the same, and so on all through the cam­ since its founding in March 1973. But Hig­ paign, and one campaign after another. When he had a job, gins, whose "portrait" appears at left. baa which was none too often, for Jimmie was not an extra good been around longer. He's the archetypical workman and was always one of the 6rst to be laid off, he socialist and trade union rank-and-filer. In would distribute Socialist papers among his fellows during 1904, Ben Hanford, Eugene Debi's running the noon hour, or take a run down to the gate of some factory mate, began his existence. Many party faith· 111'7il•• fut were convinced that a Socialist party and give out Socialist leaflets to the employees who came out victory was at hand. They credited success to lunch. to the leadership of those like Debs and Hanford. But What did he do? Jimmie Higgins did everything, any­ Hanford knew better, as the portions of hia eaay on thing. Whatever was to be done, THAT was Jimmie's job. Higgins printed below reveal. Since then, Hiuina baa First to do his own work ; then the work of those who stood as a symbol for the rank-and-file. Upton Sinclair had become wearied or negligent. Jimmie Hig~ins couldn't wrote a novel about him. Hia name on this column indi· sing, nor dance, nor tell a story-but he could DO the thing catea our interest in reporting on the struggles of all the to be done. movements we're involved in on the democratic left. Be you, reader, ever so great, you nor any other shall ever Our hope ia to present some new, or little-known infor­ mation in a lively and provocative manner. Several read­ do more than that. Jimmie Higgins had no riches, but out ers have also raised the charge of sexism, noting that the of his poverty he always gave something, his all ; be you, read­ name might well be Janie Higgins. We agree, and assure er, ever so wealthy and likewise generous, you shall never give our readers that Janie, too, will report on interesting more than that. items. For a historical perspective, thia is what Hanford Jimmie Higgins never had a front seat on the platform; had to say about the first Higgins. he never knew the tonic of applause nor the inspiration of opposition; he never was seen in the foreground of the picture. But he had erected the platform and painted the picture; JIMMIE HIGGINS is neither broad-shouldered nor thick­ through his hard, disagreeable and thankless toil it had come chcsted. He is neither pretty nor strong. A little, thin, weak, to pass that liberty was brewing and things were doing. pale-faced. . . . What did he do? Everything. He has made Jimmie Higgins. How shall we pay, how reward this more Socialist speeches than any man in America. Not that man? What gold, what laurels shall be his? he did the talking; but he carried the platform on his bent There's just one way, reader, that you and I can "make shoulders when the platform committee failed to be on hand. good" with Jimmie Higgins and the likes of him. That way Then he hustled around to another branch and got their plat­ is to be like him. form out. Then he got a glass of water for "the speaker." That Take a fresh start and never let go. same evening or the day before he had distributed hand-bills Think how great his work, and he has so little to do with. advertising the meeting. How little ours in proportion to our strength ! Previously he had informed his branch as to "the best I know some grand men and women in the Socialist corner" in the district for drawing a crowd. Then he distrib­ movement. But in high self-sacrifice, in matchless fidelity to uted leaflets at the meeting, and helped to take the platform 'truth, I shall never meet a greater man than Jimmie Higgins.

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