over the summer, i joined DSA
*laugh track*
the new members meeting was thoroughly inaccessible, so i got nothing out of it.
i assumed this was just an oversight so i texted the person who had texted me the reminder before the meeting - his name was Josh. i explained what the problem was and asked him if it was possible to access the transcript. he did not respond.
weeks later, i RSVP’d for a webinar and to my utter shock, it was inaccessible to iphone users. i attempted to contact them through the email address that they emailed the reminder from - but no one replied. ever.
i posted about these problems on twitter at least three times. yes, i tagged them. no, no one ever replied or even acknowledged that they saw my posts.
the DSA has a discussion forum where no one ever responds to such questions or concerns in any meaningful or thoughtful way. “don’t give up” they say. someone in there should probably know what they’re talking about, but they don’t, and they don’t particularly give a shit either. no one ever says, “let me find out for you.”
people are working hard at trying to organize their local communities, but they are getting no support when they need it. they’re trying to start new chapters, doing everything they are supposed to do, submitting all the required documentation and forms - only to be ignored. some of these questions about when they could expect to hear back are OVER A YEAR OLD. they’re being told “don’t give up. maybe start over again.”
a cursory search on both twitter and the DSA discussion forum shows that there are many of us disabled members who have attempted to be heard, and have attempted to join the DSA Disability Working Group, but we are ignored by the general membership, and the Disability Working Group, which appears to have been officially recognized in 2020, is currently just ignoring applications because their bylaws have not yet been approved by National DSA. i don’t understand this sloth-paced bureaucratic crap, and i’ll say this - i don’t have to. i know enough to understand that none of this actually necessary. there is no estimated wait time for these bylaws to be approved, so they are just ignoring applications. that is not fucking ok at all. none of this is ok.
and meanwhile, there are multiple highly embarrassing spats of DSA infighting breaking out all over twitter at all times. these people have no scruples, no sense of integrity - the social media conduct is reflective of the character of the organization itself, and it is thoroughly rotted.
DSA is a dangerously unserious organization. their carelessness and incompetence means death for many of us. and they will never have to even know about the consequences of their bullshit. that is how neoliberal fascism works. it appeals to the ego. people aspire to personal achievement and status at the expense of solidarity. and all the harm they cause is easily dismissed, ignored, attributed to any number of other possible causes - it’s nobody’s fault and nobody’s job to fix.
The DSA benefits by exploiting people’s legitimate fears under neoliberal fascism to raise membership numbers. and that is their only concern - the numbers, the metrics. when we each drop dead, they do not see a decrease in membership because those numbers are rounded up. when they lose someone’s $25 a month, their automated system will send them reminders to update their payment method. there is no confirmation of life. they do not give a rat’s ass about your life or mine. they are each, individually, competing to build their careers in power.
DSA 🤝 neoliberal fascism
#dsa #democraticsocialists #neoliberalfascism #disability #democraticsocialistsofamericadsa