Down with war!
Down with imperialism!
The United States is currently experiencing a Leftist resurgence. Membership in the Democratic Socialists of America has exploded and there is a tentative yet prevailing optimism amongst people from all walks of life that we can achieve something better. From the inspiring presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders to the ongoing teachers strikes across the country, socialism is slowly but surely inserting itself back into the national zeitgeist. This moment is not lost on the veterans of America’s military.
The Democratic Socialists of America Veterans Working Group seeks to provide a forum for those who have experienced the military industrial complex first hand. As socialists, and as human beings, we must fight against America’s ongoing imperialist wars, our culture of hero worship, and our obsession with violence and superiority. The military exploits the young, the working class, the oppressed, providing employment for those in need when they often have no alternative. Men and women are sent to kill and be killed for the profit of America’s 1%. It is important to humanize the U.S. military, both to strip it of its power and to break the stereotype of the American service member as jingoistic, gun-toting, and ignorant.
Among the many important goals of the DSA, the Veterans Working Group aims to focus on a socialist, veteran-backed resistance to American imperialism and war and to provide a support network for those who have served under the American war machine.
what is the Veterans Working Group?
The Democratic Socialists of America Veterans Working Group seeks to raise awareness and actively campaign against United States imperialism and seeks to end our foreign wars through a viable leftist foreign policy.
Democratic governance. Democratic governance is of, by, and for the people. The Veterans Working Group recognizes the importance of this democratic control and strives to give a voice to the oppressed as a result of US foreign policy, who often had “democratic governance” enforced by the barrel of a gun.
Resistance to capitalism. America’s war machine is the engine of capitalism at home and abroad, a capitalism that coerces other societies into compliance out of fear of retribution. The Veterans Working Group aspires to end reliance on capitalism as an economic structure because of its exploitative effects at home and abroad.
Stop imperialism. The rest of the world suffers when the US engages militarily in the affairs of other nations and sets up military bases around the world for the sole purpose of waging endless war.
Viable leftist foreign policy. The Veterans Working Group endeavors to contribute to a viable leftist foreign policy that proposes policy solutions to counter centrist, corporate media, and think tank dogma on the role of the US in foreign affairs.
Veterans issues. The Veterans Working Group draws attention to the issues affecting all veterans and highlights solutions from a socialist perspective. Veteran medical care, housing, homelessness, and labor also relate directly to the important work being done by other local and national working groups in those issues.