Bernie canvassing, branch meeting, and more

MoCo DSA members:

Bernie Sanders' win in New Hampshire this week is a HUGE win for our movement that values people over profits, and the right to healthcare and education and housing for all - not tax breaks for the ruling class.

But the powerful few in America will not easily concede defeat. That's why victories in Nevada, South Carolina, and Virginia and other states on Super Tuesday are even MORE important now. This is a pivotal moment in U.S. politics, and our democratic socialist movement has a real chance to win with the candidate of a lifetime. Showing support for and solidarity with Bernie's campaign is a way to win power for and improve the lives of the U.S. working class.

How can you help? Canvassing in key states (see below), calling voters and texting voters are all extremely important - as is donating to the campaign.

Upcoming events:

Saturday, Feb. 15 at 12:30 pm: Canvass for Bernie in Falls Church, VA
Virginia is a Super Tuesday state, so canvassing there is high priority right now. Last weekend, 80 DSA members came out to canvass! This week we will canvass in Falls Church, meeting at the E. Falls Church metro. Details and RSVP here.

Every Saturday in February: Bernie events in Virginia
Every Saturday in February, DSA will be canvassing for Bernie in Northern VA - the full calendar with details is here.

Sunday, Feb. 16 at 12:30 pm: Bystander intervention training by the Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition
This is a free training to learn how to support any community member who is being harassed. The training is grounded in nonviolence, de-escalation, and compassion for others. More details are here.

Sunday, March 1: MoCo DSA branch meeting in Silver Spring
Our next monthly meeting is Sunday, March 1 at the Silver Spring library at 2 pm. We'll discuss rent control, public banking, the Bernie campaign, and more. Details and RSVP here.

Good Reads

In Counterpunch: "Ten Best Messages for Waging Peace" by Richard Moser. "If we want to grow from a radical movement of thousands to a disruptive movement of millions, our job is to help people discover their own economic and political interests for opposing war and empire. In other words, we have to help people see war not simply as a morality play, or electoral politics, or as a separate 'foreign policy' issue but as a power struggle — their struggle."

Michael Hudson: "Front Running: 2020" - "Rich people don’t pay taxes, only the poor people pay taxes. Rich people will declare all of this cash is really in Liberia or Panama, or the Cayman Islands and it’s not really in America at all, so it can’t be taxed. The only thing to do is to wipe out the debts, and by wiping out the debts you wipe out this excess wealth. Taxes are not going to do it. You have to go right to the root of things. It’s assets and debts at the balance sheet."

In Teen Vogue: "Schools are using apps to collect student data, track attendance" by Zach Schermele. "VCU isn’t the only school planning to monitor student attendance with controversial technology (or already doing so). Over 30 schools also use SpotterEDU, an 'automated attendance' app that uses Bluetooth technology to record students’ attendance and notify their professors of their class habits."

In solidarity,