Welcome Back - Fall ISO Plans

Welcome back to fall quarter at UW!

The UW Socialists are affiliated nationally with the International Socialist Organization (ISO) the largest revolutionary organization in the US with branches and members in more than 65 cities across the country. Check out our About Us page for more info on our politics and the national organization. We hope you'll check out the ISO and get involved in our organizing.

The UW ISO Branch hopes to engage in political discussion and debate to educate people about socialism and the real Marxist tradition, as well as participate in struggles for social justice today. This Fall we are part of the UW for 1098 Coalition to tax the rich in WA and raise $2 billion for Education and Health care. We have been part of the ongoing battle against budget cuts at UW, we’ve participated in S.O.L.E. in the struggle for LGBT rights, helped with immigrant rights actions, we support Palestinian rights & the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions of Israel, contribute to Ruckus, as well as fight city-wide against teacher layoffs and school closures. But what we do each quarter depends on our members’ interests—so Join and Bring your Passion!


 
The UW ISO meets every Wed. at 7pm in Savery Hall (room TBA)

This Fall we will rotate educational and organizing meetings every other week. We've planed an educational series: The Revolutionary Ideas of Karl Marx to address key questions for socialists (see list below), and on the Wednesdays between those meeting we'll have organizing meetings to work on our campaigns & events and discuss news and political issues of the day.
 

Fall Schedule:

10/6 - Why You Should Be a Socialist: What is Socialism and How do we get there?

Are you fed up with endless war? Racism? Homophobia? Environmental destruction? Islamophobia? Corporate greed? All of the above? Come to a meeting on Why You Should Be a Socialist! We live in a world of poverty, war and environmental devastation. A world where living standards for working people plummet while an elite few enjoy lives of unbelievable wealth and power. An alternative to capitalism is desperately needed. The word "socialism" has returned to the mainstream of American political debate. But there are widespread misconceptions about what socialism is—and what it isn't. Socialism is really about the struggle to oppose discrimination in all its forms and to put the needs of working people before corporate profits. Come discuss the idea of socialism—and socialist strategies for changing the world.

10/13 - Intro to the ISO Organizing Meeting 
Come find out more about the ISO--the politics of the national organization, as well as what we're up to at UW.  Meet members of our group and hear about our campaigns on campus and how you can get involved. There will be a short presentation and lots of time for questions -- so if you want to know more about us, what we think about political issues, how we organize, why we organize the way we do, and how to get involved come check this meeting out!


10/20 - The Right Turn in U.S. Politics: How it Happened and What We Can Do About It

A year and a half ago, when Barack Obama was moving into the Oval Office, it seemed like the demoralized Republican Party would face years as an ineffectual minority party in Washington. Not anymore. Now the Republicans are setting the agenda in U.S. politics, and their right-wing attack machine—from Fox News to the crusaders of the Christian Right—is on the warpath, supremely confident that they can get away with anything, from blocking the construction of a religious center in New York City to appropriating the iconic image of Martin Luther King speaking at the Lincoln Memorial for a right-wing circus presided over by Glenn Beck. Come discuss how we can fight the right and build a real left-wing alternative with Special Guest speaker Jennifer Roesch, a longtime activist and member of the ISO in New York City. She is on the editorial board of the International Socialist Review. Her articles have been featured in the ISR as well as CounterPunch and Socialist Worker.


10/27 - ISO Organizing Meeting 

11/3 - How Capitalism Works & How it Doesn’t: A Marxist Primer on the Great Recession

We are facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. But while billions of our tax dollars have been used to bail out the same Wall Street bankers who caused the crisis in the first place, funding for schools and badly needed social services is on the chopping block, while millions are losing their jobs and homes. Capitalism–our current economic and political system–looks out for the profits of the few at the expense of the needs of the many. How does capitalism work (or rather why does it NOT work)? Join the ISO for a discussion on Marxist economics, which explains why exploitation, greed, competition, and economic crisis are at the heart of a system that devastates our lives, and why socialism is the only humane and viable alternative.

11/10 - ISO Organizing Meeting 


11/17 - Reform or Revolution: Can Capitalism be Fixed?


11/20 - Saturday Teach In: The Case for Socialist Revolution
A special teach in on the topic of mass democratic revolution featuring special guest speakers for three meetings: Why the Working Class Can Change Society, State and Revolution, and What kind of Organization Do We Need: The Theory of the Revolutionary Party

11/24- ISO Organizing Meeting 

12/1 - From Jim Crow to Juan Crow: A Marxist Case for Fighting Racism