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GET INVOLVED I ORGANIZE I EDUCATE
Join the Socialist
Movement!
Youth
for Socialist Action is a national network of young revolutionaries.
We are committed to the emancipation of working and oppressed people
everywhere. We are active in the student, labor, anti-war, human rights,
youth rights, feminist, Black and Chicano liberation, queer and all other
social movements that challenge the injustices of capitalism and organize
people to stand up and fight in their own interests.
We seek to build progressive social movements, and to build them in a manner
in which workers and young people gain the experience and political
direction that will enable them to successfully challenge the status quo
without relying on the misleaders of the Republican and Democratic parties.
We have the goal of recruiting and educating young revolutionaries. We
don't feel it's enough to simply be an activist, any more than we feel it's
enough to read a lot of books and to study political theory. You need both - and being both educated
about political theory and active in the struggles against capitalism is
what being a revolutionary is all about!
What does all of this translate into on a day-to-day basis? It means we do
a lot of coalition work with various group. It means we try to organize
mass action demonstrations to lead people towards collective, instead of
individual types of activism. It means we organize forums and study groups
where we talk about Marxism and the lessons of past social movements.
And it means that we try to build a group that in many other ways facilitates
our members gaining the confidence, experience & support they need to
become revolutionary leaders.
Contacting
& Joining YSA
Membership is Youth for
Socialist Action is open to any young person in their teens or twenties who
is in general agreement with our 10 Point Program, and who commits
to being active in the organization.
YSA members receive an
introductory literature package and a membership card. Members are also signed up for our
internal email discussion list, can vote and hold office, and fully
participate in all the workings of the group.
YSA Membership Application
YSA’s National
Office is located at P.O. Box 16853, Duluth MN 55816. You can also reach us via email at youth4sa@gmail.com.
YSA
Documents
Below are several documents of
interest to YSA members, or potential members.
YSA Constitution
YSA Manifesto
History of Youth for Socialist Action
YSA and
Socialist Action
Youth
for Socialist Action is an independent organization. We do not stand alone though in the
struggle for a better world. We are
proud to be part of a rich and long socialist tradition. That is why we are in fraternal
political solidarity with Socialist Action and the Fourth International.
Socialist
Action is a revolutionary socialist party that traces its roots back to the
founding of the socialist movement in this country. Politically it also stands on shoulders
of American and international revolutionaries like Karl Marx, Mother Jones,
Frederick Engels, Rosa Luxemburg, Eugene Debs, Clara Zetkin, V.I. Lenin,
Leon Trotsky, Malcolm X and James Cannon.
The
Fourth International is a network of revolutionary socialists with sections
in 50 countries around the world. Reactionary
U.S. legislation prevents Socialist Action and Youth for Socialist Action
from formally affiliating to the Fourth International, but we stand in
political solidarity with it and maintain fraternal relations with its
members.
YSA’s
Political Manifesto
[1] We
stand for workers' democracy and socialism. We are active partisans in the
class struggle!
As
stated by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels in the Communist Manifesto of
1848, “[t]he history of all hitherto existing society is the history of
class struggle.” Our revolutionary youth organization stands on this
maxim. Therefore, YSA represents
the collective memory of lessons of these past struggles between classes
with irreconcilable interests. On that basis, our program rests on the
foundation that the potential for change today lies within the conflict
between the interests of the capitalist class and working class. The
conflict’s logical conclusion is the working class seizing state
power. However, workers lack the
socialist vision necessary to achieve that end. Only conscious,
revolutionary leadership that has won the hearts and minds of the working
class can make that revolutionary perspective possible.
In
order to win the respect and trust of the working class it is essential
that YSA champion the working class’s struggle on all levels including
immediate, democratic, and transitional demands. Thus, when the class
struggle sharpens, YSA will have proven its mettle in the eyes of the
working class, standing out among all contending socialists as a capable
leadership component of the international socialist revolution, based on
the social and political power of the working class. That revolution will,
for first time in history, establish a society democratically run by the
toiling billions world-wide.
[2] We
fight against racism in all its forms. We are supporters of Black and
Chicano liberation, full sovereignty for American Indians, and we defend
the right of self-determination of all oppressed nationalities.
Racism
is an ideology and practice that reflects the political, social, and
economic needs of the capitalist class, based on their exploitation of
workers for profits. It has historically served to rationalize treating
oppressed nationalities as third class citizens, with the result being the
justification of relegating these groups to the worst living conditions,
the worst health care, the worst jobs, the worst schools, and the lowest
wages.
Because
Blacks and Chicanos are overwhelmingly working class, their oppression has
a dual character: it is racially and class based. Thus, the democratic and
national aspirations of oppressed nationalities in the United States
(Blacks and Chicanos) have a profoundly revolutionary dynamic. By
supporting their right to self-determination we unconditionally support
their own solutions to national oppression, including the formation of an
independent Black or Chicano political party, the democratic right of
control by oppressed nationalities of all institutions in their own
communities, and even a separate Black or Chicano state.
We recognize and oppose the
physical and cultural genocide that has been waged against American Indians
in this country. We support
reparations, full sovereignty and the honoring of all treaty rights with
Native nations.
Should
oppressed nationalities find substantial allies among white workers who
support their full liberation, they may decide that a common struggle best
meets their objectives. The choice is theirs.
Nationalist
aspirations are not counter-posed to the struggle for socialist revolution;
rather, they are an integral component of it. A consistent struggle against
national oppression leads to the struggle for socialism because the source
of both national and class oppression is the capitalist system. Therefore,
the coming American revolution will have a combined character: oppressed
nationalities will fight for full democratic rights while the working class
as a whole, including the oppressed nationalities, will fight for state power.
[3] We
are opposed to any and all discrimination based on gender or sexual
orientation. We support equal rights for all!
Sexism
is an ideology that reflects the political, social, and economic needs of
the capitalist class. It rationalizes second-class citizenship and lower
wages for women. Furthermore, it serves as an ideological wedge dividing
the working class.
Like
other unnatural phenomena in society, sexism did not exist until the advent
of private property. Under the profit system, women of all classes are
valued almost solely for their reproductive capabilities, unpaid domestic
labor, and servitude to men.
The
sexual division of labor helps to serve the ruling minority by binding
women to oppressive social roles while justifying the inequality of pay
between the sexes.
We
support the women’s movement through mass action. To loosen the
stranglehold of the profit system on women, we are involved in every
struggle to win needed reforms, while still pointing out that women will
not be entirely liberated until capitalism has been abolished.
We are
in the frontlines of the struggle to regain the right to reproductive
freedom and choice. We demand a
healthcare system based on science not religion, and we struggle to gain
access to affordable reproductive and contraceptive services.
We
support the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and the full
abolition of unfair criminal law based on gender.
We
fight to eliminate the wage gap between men and women. We demand equal and
affordable education and childcare centers at low or no cost.
We are
involved in the struggle to end the special oppression of women of color
and we support the right to self-determination of minority women.
We
understand that women need to organize and work within women’s groups
before the socialist revolution so that they can be leaders in the
revolutionary movement and assure that their needs will no longer be denied
by society.
Discrimination
of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and trans under capitalism expresses itself in
both ideological and economic forms. However, the ruling class has not
historically used sexual-orientation based discrimination like that of
sexism, to justify paying the G/L/B/T community lower wages or relegating
them to inferior working conditions. Though, when class based repression
converges with sexual orientation discrimination toward working-class
queers and trans, the result is a special situation. It is one in which the
former strengthens the latter and vice-versa.
For
example, limitations of material conditions keep one from coming out at the
work place for fear of reprisals, on the one hand, from the boss, and on
the other hand, from co-workers. In the case of homophobic bosses it may
lead to a firing. In the case of homophobic co-workers it can result in
ridicule and potentially violence which can force one to quit.
Therefore,
we fight against discrimination based on sexual orientation in all its
forms including anti-gay referendums and constitutional amendments as well
as limited access to medical care, housing, and jobs.
We
support the struggle for the full democratic right of marriage to queer and
trans couples and demand the economic benefits and protections of marriages
that cannot be realized through civil unions.
We
work to create a society in which women and the G/L/B/T community live free
from the fear of violence, abuse and discrimination.
Only
within a socialist society can all forms of sexual orientation be able to develop
fully, freely and openly. Likewise, only under socialism can the full
democratic rights of women, queers and trans be met.
[4] We
fight to protect the environment from the ravages of capitalism.
The
unplanned and rapacious nature of the capitalist mode of production has
resulted in a myriad of dire consequences for our life-giving planet.
Vast
tracts of forests have been cut. Aquatic diversity has been greatly reduced
by the over-harvesting (in both oceans and freshwater) of commercial
fisheries. Farmlands are increasingly sapped of nutrients by
monoculture-based factory farms. Genetically modified foods threaten
biodiversity. Regular oil spills and other types of pollution have created
“dead zones” in oceans and the Great Lakes, which are devoid of life.
Non-point and direct pollution sources further add to both oceanic and
freshwater pollution. The unplanned use of water has rapidly lowered the
water table. Environmental racism has resulted in impoverished and working
people having to bear the brunt of environmental pollution and degradation.
Capitalist
production’s reliance on fossil fuels has led to rapid deterioration in air
quality and the increase in greenhouse gases that cause global warming. In
order to gain a competitive edge on their rivals in world market,
capitalist corporations have introduced nearly 70,000 carcinogens in their
daily production.
We
place no faith in a handful of “green corporations,” organic farms or
individual consumer solutions to stop further environmental deterioration.
The real solutions are social and political. Thus, we seek to mobilize mass
numbers to demand broad incorporation of clean, renewable energy sources
and implementation of farmer controlled, sustainable agriculture. While we
oppose every deadly insult to the environment engineered to maximize
profits, our ultimate goal is a planned, socialist economy, the only system
that can stop further environmental destruction.
[5] We
fight to empower young people -- on campus, in the community, and in the
workplace.
We
struggle to establish democratic decision-making bodies of young people to
give them some control over the functioning of the campuses, the community,
the workplace and their own lives. Youth are the victims of capitalist
cutbacks in the schools and at the jobsite. They are made to bear the costs
of increased tuition and decreased quality of education, of two-tier wage
systems and of an economic draft that targets the poor and oppressed.
History
has demonstrated that youth are among the first to challenge the
fundamental injustices of society. They have been the driving force of new
social movements that seek to empower the oppressed and exploited and
challenge the policies of the war makers. On the campus, in the community
and at the workplace youth will stand at the forefront of the coming
struggles that challenge the boss class's ideologies and practice.
[6] We
fight against police brutality and any measures by the state power to take
away or restrict our democratic rights.
Police
are the armed guards of capitalism, who work to uphold the social and
political dominance of the capitalist class. Police and their political
counterparts in the FBI and CIA exist to suppress the expression of
democratic rights, especially of youth, workers, and oppressed
nationalities. We support mass actions in the streets to defend and
organize against police attacks on our democratic rights. These are qualitatively
more effective than lawsuits in the capitalist courts or reliance on
capitalist politicians (both organs of the state).
In
communities of oppressed nationalities we support efforts to organize
defense guards or patrols controlled by residents of that community aimed
at thwarting police violence and all other forms of violence. We demand no police presence in schools
and on campuses.
[7] We
stand for free quality education for all, from pre-school to graduate
school.
Education
is not a privilege, but a fundamental democratic right. We demand a massive
overhaul of the United States education system, fully funded by the federal
government. This would include replacing dilapidated school buildings with
the most modern facilities, raising teachers’ pay, bilingual education
programs in schools where students don’t speak English as their primary
language, day-care facilities for students with children, free breakfast
and lunch programs, job placement programs, the banning from schools of
military recruiters and ROTC programs, and all other reforms deemed
necessary by students, teachers and the community. Billions for education not war!
[8] We
denounce imperialism and oppose all U.S. interventions, regardless of the
justification.
We
stand against all wars waged by the capitalist/imperialist system. These
are organized for profit and domination and have nothing to do with the
needs or aspirations of the U.S. or the world's people. We say, “U.S. Out
Now!” from Iraq to Afghanistan to Yugoslavia to Latin America. We are
opposed to the ongoing threats of war against people anywhere. We are
opposed to the U.S. backed Israeli occupation of Palestine.
The
U.S. war drive is a product of a failing social system, incapable of
functioning without exploitation and war. We demand money for social
programs, not war!
Furthermore,
as a matter of principle, we denounce imperialist military aggression under
the guise of any international imperialist agency including the United
Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (N.A.T.O.). Self determination of all peoples!
[9] We
denounce the U.S. embargo/blockade and threats of war against Cuba and
stand in solidarity with the Cuban people and their socialist revolution.
We
stand in solidarity with the 1959 and ongoing Cuban Revolution that toppled
capitalism and embarked on the road to socialism. The revolution's
replacement of private ownership of the means of production with a
collectively owned and planned economy organized for the satisfaction of
human needs serves as an example to the people of the world. We denounce
the 1961 U.S.-organized invasion of Cuba, the 43-year old U.S. instituted
embargo/blockade and the illegal economic, commercial, travel and trade
measures instituted by U.S. imperialism to defeat the revolution and
reinstate capitalist exploitation.
We
reject any characterization of Cuba as a Stalinist degenerated worker’s
state or state capitalist society. The leaders of the revolution are
revolutionists of action, dedicated to socialism and advancing the
interests of the Cuban and world's people. We are nevertheless critical of
Cuba’s lack of formal institutions of democratic proletarian rule, without
which the revolution's strength and capacity to endure is undermined.
We
demand an end to the U.S. embargo/blockade and all other U.S. actions to
crush the revolution including terrorist attacks and military intervention.
We
support the courageous actions of the Cuban Five to ensure the safety of
their country from future U.S. led terrorist attacks. We demand their
immediate release from U.S. federal prisons.
We
demand the immediate release of all U.S. prisoners from Guantanamo Bay and
the withdrawal of all U.S. military forces from Cuba.
[10]
We advocate independent working class political action. Break from
pro-business politics!
YSA
supports all forms of progressive working class political and economic
action, from the formation of a labor party based on reinvigorated and
fighting unions allied with the oppressed, to political and economic
strikes to advance the cause of working people.
We
reject support to the capitalist Democratic and Republican Parties and to
any other capitalist electoral formation. We support and seek to participate
in building independent mass actions in the streets to advance all social
movements that challenge capitalist plunder, cutbacks, oppression, racism
and war. Only the independent mobilization of workers and their allies can fight the scourges
of unemployment, poverty, homelessness and related capitalist horrors. We
support independent mobilizations demanding and fighting for jobs for all
and a 30-hour work week for 40 hours pay to spread out all available work
to those who need it.
We
reject support to middle class, pro-capitalist "third parties"
like the Greens as well as to so-called independent pro-capitalist
candidates like Ralph Nader and Peter Camejo.
For
socialism! For worker's power! For working
class internationalism! Youth to the vanguard of all struggles! Build YSA!
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