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I’ve been in YDSA for four years now from 12 chapters to our current 130 and served as co-chair twice, and all I have to say is that in every instance where new people come in yelling about the change we need, most times they haven’t talked to those of us w/2+ years of experience
It doesn’t bother me bc I understand campus politics naturally gives rise to these attitudes and perspectives, nor do I have nostalgia for my time as co-chair, but it comes across as condescending and arrogant to dismiss the history of our org while having little experience in it
Choosing to ignore the history of our org is choosing to not understand it, I specifically find it very offputting that a group like RevPower has seemingly airdropped in and is doing exactly that- advancing political ideas w/o that knowledge & a shared common interest for the org
I have differences and stark disagreements with TPYDSA/CPN that have developed into what seems to be gulfs at times, but I can at least hold respect because their members have shown a shared interest in building the organization with ideas *born out of experience*
I think delegates for our convention this weekend should really take time to reflect on this and the arguments being made, and especially ones that are moralizing/meant to shame people rather than ones based on strategy and politics and I’ll be honest and give a clear ex-
Nate running as co-chair claiming their tweet was deleted on the YDSA twitter bc it would upset our “bureaucracy” is false when it was bc they published an unapproved political line as a volunteer with zero democratic input from our elected NCC on our attitude towards AOC+Bernie
Democracy is king in our organization, and it’s disturbing that we’re seeing attempts at subverting it w/arguments mean to stifle debate. W/o democracy, socialism is meaningless- our debates, even if imperfect, create a healthy and dynamic org, and ppl should always defend it
Another is asking about the credibility of people speaking. Have they done their job properly? What do their chapters look like- is there an onboarding process for new members, strategic campaign work to plug people into, robust poli ed? Listen to leaders that have shown such
As delegates go into convention this weekend, I hope we all focus on building our org to become a true fighting machine for socialism, and recognize what must be done strategically to get there, with arguments driven by politics and not moralizing issues
