Young Democratic Socialists of SDSU
Template:TOCnestleft Young Democratic Socialists of SDSU is a San Diego State University affiliate of Young Democratic Socialists of America.
Beginnings
The Young Democratic Socialists of SDSU were organized Jan. 20, 2017 in response to the inauguration of Donald Trump, group co-chair Willow Lark said.
“We saw an immediate need to fill an existing leftist void on our campus,” she said, “to channel a lot of the student voices and concerns that really did not have a platform against the oppressive nature they saw Donald Trump bringing to office.”
She said she believes that a socialist system of workers owning the means of production, as opposed to capitalist privatized ownership, should exist within a democracy.
First-year doctorate student Charles Marks said educating people about socialism and dispelling long-standing myths is a critical step in growing their movement.
“Unfortunately, the way that mainstream culture thinks about socialism is this very demonized concept that goes back to McCarthyism,” he said. “Socialism is concerned with making sure that all folks have their basic human rights met. I think it’s a question of basic human decency.”
Computer science senior Joseph Tinglof agreed that the stigmatized term of socialism can be a burden.
“A lot of what socialism is, you come to on your own, “ he said. “It’s the natural way of thinking about things. If you describe to someone universal health care, they would probably think it’s a great idea. But you label it with socialism and they are like, ‘Wait, I didn’t know that was socialism.'”[1]
References
- ↑ [http://thedailyaztec.com/84262/news/sdsus-young-democratic-socialists-spread-their-message/ The Daily Aztec, SDSU’s Young Democratic Socialists spread their message From+left+to+right%3A+Young+Democratic+Socialists+members+Willow+Lark%2C+Charles+Marks+and+Joseph+Tinglof. Mike McDonaldby Mike McDonald, Contributor September 21, 2017]