Why Christmas should make you think of socialism

By John S

Santa Claus, A Christmas Carol, the Christmas work holiday, and so many more things that we think of when we think about Christmas are rooted in a capitalist versus socialist ethos, yet only capitalism is celebrated. In truth, the values we celebrate in our Christmas traditions and lore rebuke capitalism when given critical review.

Today, Santa Claus gives toys to all the children of the world once a year — provided they respected authority. Originally, the real Saint Nick was a patron saint of the poor, and used to give oranges to every child regardless of behavior. In A Christmas Carol, we see the extreme poverty and opulence that a capitalist society leads to, which is only marginally alleviated by the charity of the wealthy — once the state of their mortal soul is threatened by a series of ghosts. In reality, time off for the holiday season came from labor unions resisting unfair and unsafe working hours and conditions.

Read the rest here.

Festivus, it's for the rest of us...

A time honored tradition of yore, Festivus originated in a time long past known as the "90s". Festivus is centered around 3 traditions:

The Festivus Pole (Poll)

But seriously, please take the time to fill out this survey on how you think we can improve our organization's culture. Put the democracy in democratic socialists and make your voice heard.

The Airing of Grievances

• Amazon made $96.1 billion in Q3 2020 and paid no taxes. Amazon could afford to pay every Amazon employee $70k a year and Jeff Bezos would still be a billionaire. As could Google, Facebook, and most of the largest corporations in the US.
• The DNC is a constant disappointment. Harris is “the most progressive Senator”, Bernie can’t win the big ticket and Yang can’t even get on the debate stage? To quote the Father of Festivus Frank Costanza, “I gotta lot of problems with you people!” (Todd… you know what you did Todd.)

Feats of Strength

Georgia turned blue in the Presidential election. Andrew Yang moved to Georgia to help the Senate and House campaigns, and Bernie Sanders' impact on the national stage revitalized the youth movement for leftist causes and made socialist democracy mainstream.

January 5 Runoff Voter Guide

On January 5th, Georgia will be at the center of national attention for runoff races that will decide the party leadership of the United States Senate.

In addition to the US Senate, there is also a closely contested election for Public Service Commission, an agency which oversees utility rates, power company regulations, and access to broadband across the state.

Metro Atlanta DSA members have worked put together a helpful voter guide that discusses the races on the ballot, the significance of the offices being decided, and provides information about how to reliably and safely vote in this election.

Special thanks to our canvass crew for the runoffs - and more to come!

After a successful canvass last weekend in Washington Park, there's more work to do this weekend. The Decatur Block will do a lit drop on Saturday (email [email protected] to help out) and the East Atlanta Block will meet Saturday at noon at Coan Park, and the Midtown Block will meet at 11am Saturday at 914 Collier Rd NW for a lit drop.

Sunday: New Member Intro Session!

Are you a new member? Welcome to Metro Atlanta DSA! We’re thrilled to have you on board, but you may be wondering where to get started. RSVP here for our next new member intro session! This remote call and Q&A will be a chance for new members to learn more about socialism and DSA and to get an overview of our chapter. Join us to learn how you can get involved with fighting capitalism and building socialism in Metro Atlanta and beyond!

Take the Labor survey

As socialists, it's imperative that we organize as workers, whether we currently belong to unions or not. Please take a couple of minutes to fill out this form and answer a few questions about your employment, even if you are currently unemployed or perform unpaid work. Doing so will help our chapter better organize and support our members at and across our workplaces.

Join us on Slack

Not finding what you're looking for here? If you’re a member, you’ve got access to the Slack channel. (Email [email protected] if you have questions about your access to the Slack.) There’s no faster way to get plugged in to committees, working groups, and find answers to your questions.