Dear comrades,

As we have been ramping up our rent control campaign, we've discussed how rent control is one of several key policy changes needed to help solve the housing crisis. But then we read this interview with Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor, author of the book Race for Profit. She states: "There is no housing crisis." This obviously got our attention. We highly recommend reading what she meant by that, and how she talks about housing in America.

A recent article in the New York Times, "Employer Health Insurance Is Increasingly Unaffordable, Study Finds", outlines about what we all know to be true - that rising premiums and deductibles are making health insurance even more inaccessible than before. A system that relies on private health insurance - and is unaffordable to many - is immoral and should be completely dismantled. Please join the Maryland Progressive Healthcare Coalition (which includes DSA) at a Medicare for All Town Hall on Oct. 20 - details are below.

MoCo DSA is looking to organize more political education events like the Socialist Night School on police and prison abolition, and we want your ideas. Please fill out this survey to give input on or help with future events!

Please help us extend congratulations to comrade David Reed, who has been serving as our branch treasurer. He ran unopposed for the open seat on our steering committee. The steering committee voted to waive the general branch vote and seat him on the steering committee. David is a very active member who is also leading our rent control campaign - we're happy to have him as a voting member of the steering committee!

Upcoming DSA events:

 Sunday, October 6 from 2 pm-4:30 pm at Bethesda library: MoCo DSA Branch meeting
Please join us at our monthly branch meeting to continue planning our rent control fight and hear updates about other DSA initiatives and events! Details and RSVP here.

 Tuesday, October 8 from 7 pm-8 pm: Conference Call with Mckayla Wilkes, candidate for MD-5 congressional district
Mckayla Wilkes is running against Steny Hoyer in MD-5. Like AOC, she's a first-time candidate who's been endorsed by Brand New Congress and has a very progressive platform. Now she's seeking our chapter's endorsement! Join the call to hear from her directly and learn more about her! More here.

 Check out the Metro DC DSA Meetup page to find many DSA events throughout the Washington Metro region!

Upcoming community events:

 Saturday, October 5 from 12-3 pm in DC: Right to Housing Freedom School
Join a group discussion and breakouts about the structural causes of displacement, and about community-controlled models of land stewardship and housing. Details can be found here.

 Sunday, October 20 from 2-4 pm at Gaithersburg Library: Medicare for All Town Hall
Join a number of panelists, including DSA member and state delegate Gabe Acevero, to discuss the fight for Medicare for All, in Maryland and nationwide! Details can be found here.

 Sunday, October 24 from 6-8 pm in DC: ICE Out of DMV Teach-In
Join this teach-in to learn more about the criminalization of immigrants and how to fight back. This year, ICE proposes to build migrant detention centers in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Plug into the campaigns against these ICE jails and against local cooperation with ICE. Details can be found here.

Good Reads:
 From Adi Magazine: "Everything Worthwhile is Done With Other People: An Interview with Mariame Kaba" by Eve Ewing. "I’m so uninterested in narratives. That word that gets used often. People that want to be all about narrative-shifting, narrative-building. I believe that when we are in relationship with each other, we influence each other. What matters to me, as the unit of interest, is relationships. The second thing that matters to me as a unit of impact is harm. I want to figure out how to transform harm in every possible context because I have been harmed, and I have harmed other people. My political commitments are to developing stronger relationships with people, and to transforming harm."

 From Huffington Post: "The Trump Whistleblower Scandal is Proving Edward Snowden Right" by Nick Baumann. "'Snowden should’ve gone through official channels,' his critics yelped - including Barack Obama. Here’s what happens when you do."

 From the Washington Post: "Income inequality is the highest it's been since Census Bureau started tracking it, data show" by Taylor Telford. "Inequality will go up as long as the people at the top of the tail are seeing their wealth increase. Recent economic gains by lower-income workers who have found jobs and benefited from minimum-wage increases haven’t made up for the long-running trend of the wealthy seeing far larger income growth than middle- or lower-income earners."

In solidarity,