My draft SDA November newsletter
Dear Comrades,
Our National Online On-Boarding for Socialists takes place on the first Wednesday of every month at 9 PM Eastern / 6 PM Pacific. Please share the Mobilize link: https://www.mobilize.us/socialists/event/773488.
I understand that not everyone is a Socialist, and that working inside the Democratic Party can be very difficult.
The goal of SDA is to organize Socialists—based on our definition of Socialism, which is Social Democracy. We don’t concern ourselves with how others choose to define it.
To support people who use different definitions of “Socialism,” we created a series of webpages under the Left Caucus umbrella so they can organize without having to argue with us over terminology.
Most of you first heard about the Social Democrats of America through Mobilize. Mobilize is a tool we use to track activity and measure national engagement.
Our approach is simple: we wait until five people from a similar geographic area sign up on Mobilize. Since they already share our values, we connect them so they can meet monthly and begin organizing their community.
Right now, New York City is the only fully functional group. We meet monthly in what we call the “Salon.” (Yes—the November Salon took place inside Trump Tower.)
We had hoped to form groups in Houston and Miami-Dade, but the conversation around using the Ben Franklin Circle methodology—and its deliberate, slower pace—proved challenging.
It is difficult for many activists to accept that we may decline membership based on their different definition of Socialism.
Over the past five years, in New York City, about 200 leftists have identified as Socialists, but we cannot change our principles just to meet an arbitrary membership target. People will join our Ben Franklin Circles when they are genuinely ready.
The New York City chapter also has three members with the required three years of active, dues-paying membership, which automatically grants them access to SDA assets for their campaigns—namely, the Fist and the Rose.
Automated Recruitment & Data Hygiene
At SDA, we do not inflate our numbers. Over 146 years, we have learned how to remain small yet highly influential.
Many of you who subscribed through Mobilize received an email saying you were removed from the mailing list. That’s because after 40 days of inactivity, our system automatically deletes inactive emails. We follow strict European GDPR-style rules, which keeps our lists clean and accurate.
Many left-wing activists like to click a button and declare themselves “members.”
SDA does not work that way. We reject the idea of paper members.
Politics is not a spectator sport. It’s about being active—but “active” does not mean marching at every protest. It can be as simple as suggesting the movement of a comma in a resolution.
Politics should not be a full-time job; it is simply participating in issues that matter to you personally.
Most activists try to force you to care about what they care about. SDA is about empowering you to advance the issues you care about.
That’s why everything is divided into topical groups—because we know activism happens in the margins of everyday life.
For leftists working inside the Democratic Party who feel politically homeless, we are building a home in the Left Caucus. This includes: the Anarchist Caucus, the Green Caucus, the Communist Caucus and our own Socialist Caucus.
The Socialist International Newszine
Local political news has nearly disappeared. The old model—where you could quickly see what debates and meetings were happening in your area—is gone.
The same problem exists worldwide.
In response, I’ve begun creating a local news outlet called The Socialist International, a combination of Patch.com, USA Today, and The New York Times, all through a leftist lens.
You can see a prototype here: https://socialist.international.
Part of the website will eventually be printed and mailed to subscribers.
We plan to use AI concepts to organize stories by county, and when a county has enough interest to justify a print edition, we will try to distribute it at local gas stations.
This project is intentionally ambitious. We want to cover: local sports, politics, daily life, and the deliberations of local SDA Salons.
This Newszine will become the backbone of our movement.
COPPPAL in New York City
Last month I spoke about the launch of the COPPPAL observer mission in NYC: https://socialists.substack.com/i/177403671/observer-mission-by-copppal-to-the-nyc-mayoral-election.
COPPPAL—the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean—visited 13 random poll sites across New York City. SDA laid out a small red carpet to welcome the observers.
Diaspora press from the observers’ home countries widely covered the mission.
The observers experienced firsthand the pressures faced by non-endorsed candidates. Our team was asked to observe the opening of the polls by Lulu Friesdat, co-founder of Smart Elections.
We were unable to meet with her in person, but she reported that the issues she experienced during early voting did not appear on Election Day.
During early voting, there were problems accessing numbers and confusion about what is permitted under election law.
During this period, our team visited various events, but only the Curtis Sliwa press team responded to our request for access.
During early voting, we team visited various events, but only Curtis Sliwa’s pres team answered our request to be added so we could observe.
Zohran Mamdani’s team and Cuomo’s team treated us like pariahs, so we were never informed of their events.
At one Working Families event, we ran into one of the Team AOC leader and I introduced him to the COPPPAL leader and since the communication did not really take hold, reminded them about the ghosting.
Our day began at 5 AM on Billionaires’ Row and ended at my own polling site at 9 PM, when I voted.
Overall, the observers saw that the American voting process is transparent in theory—but poll workers often lack training in transparency rules, which creates problems for the press, observers, and candidates.
The Socialist International Meeting
The Socialist International meeting is currently taking place in Malta. Highlights will be posted on Facebook upon the return of SI Vice President Khagendra Chhetry, a member of the Nepali Congress Party and a resident of the New York Tri-State area.
You can follow updates from SI members in our SDA Facebook group dedicated to the Socialist International: https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialistinternational.
In solidarity,
Hasta la victoria, ¡siempre!
Theo