R&R YDSA Convention 2023 Voting Guide

Resolution

Recommendation 

R&R comment

R1 

For The Inclusion, Accommodation, and Recognition of Socialist Disability Action

Yes

We find these requests to be reasonable and helpful for a well-functioning and accessible YDSA convention.

R1A1

Yes

We do not take a strong position on this amendment, but feel it strengthens the original resolution.

R2

Building a Strong National Administration

Yes 

While there are things to be criticized about the overabundance of bureaucratic resolutions at this year's convention, the idea of getting chapters to hop on a call and discuss strategy seems good and useful. Hopefully, it gets put on the consent agenda.

R3

Building YDSA for the Future: Establishing the YDSA Growth and Development Committee

Yes

YDSA’s growth is one of the most positive signs in DSA. We feel the role of YDSA is to connect DSA to the student struggle, bring Generation Z into socialist politics, and develop the next generation of socialist cadre. While we have concerns about the number of proposals designed to increase the bureaucracy of YDSA at this convention, and dislike the linking of chapter grants to attendance at trainings, we support this resolution and hope it will be implemented with priority placed on recruitment and political education.  

We call for a balance sheet on this project to be presented at the next convention. 

R4

Reestablishing the Youth Political Education Committee

Yes

We feel this resolution is a further example of the unfortunate focus on primarily bureaucratic changes at this convention, and wish it was clearer about the content and goals of political education. Nevertheless, we feel a political education committee is necessary for our task of developing the next generation of DSA leaders.  

R5

Recommitting to the Campaign Organizing Committee

Yes

This is a significant improvement to the previous year's cohorts, which were primarily focused on issues and ended up having a "show and tell" dynamic, rather than really bringing together chapters to discuss strategy or tactics.

We believe there are issues with housing all campaigns under the COC, rather than a temporary campaign committee, and are unsure about how this resolution will actually facilitate such work, but it is better than the current model.

R6

Platform Amendment: The Struggle for Free Expression and Inquiry

Yes

We feel this resolution gives YDSA a measure of welcome clarity on an important issue, and support the political stance. While it's tempting to take on an approach that is opposed to free speech due to our odious opponents, it is exactly the freedom of expression which lets us drown out their hate with solidarity without campus police stopping us.

R7

Building a Youth International Through Chapter-to-Chapter Partnerships

Yes

We appreciate this ambitious proposal and its clear goals. We feel YDSA’s international work has unfortunately been characterized by an unclear approach. We think this provides a long-term vision for international work, and is a step toward what should be DSA’s ultimate goal: working to form an international alliance of Marxists. If the resolution fails, we hope the authors work on this through the existing structures in a more limited capacity.

R8

Recommitting to Building an Independent Working-Class Socialist Party

Yes

We strongly support and co-endorsed this resolution. We believe YDSA’s engagement with electoral work should be designed to promote independence from the Democratic party, and a dirty break. This resolution carries on the work of R&R’s dirty break resolution from 2021. 

R9

Fighting the Right through Mass Action

Yes

We have also endorsed this resolution, and support it. The 2024 election calls for DSA to present “an emphasis on the need for political independence from capitalist forces and the inability of the centrist Democratic Party to defeat the far right.” YDSA is particularly well positioned to grow the socialist movement by talking to students about the failures of the Biden administration.

R10

Committing to Housing Organizing

Yes

Housing organizing is an important site of struggle that is often undertheorized, in our view. We need a broad strategy that combines tenant organizing with a political program that can fight to solve the housing crisis. We believe the comrades should be empowered to present their proposal after a year of research, and we can continue the discussion from there.

R11

YDSA Public Universities & Community Colleges Focus/Priority Resolution

Yes

We are skeptical this resolution will actually promote the growth of YDSA in public universities and community colleges, but consider it an admirable goal. We call for a balance sheet on this project to be presented at the next convention. 

R12

Recommitting YDSA to the Rank-and-File Strategy

Yes

YDSA's rank and file strategy, manifested through work on campus organizing, has been extremely important to our successes in the last year. We strongly support the actual content in the resolution which focuses on the work.

However, this resolution is plagued by an inexplicable litigating of a debate within SWA/SWAN, which is not easily understood by delegates and has us take a position on another organization's internal debates.

We disagree with red unionism – it is a sectarian approach to labor struggles that isolates socialists. YDSA is best positioned to be the force which brings together young socialist labor organizers, not SWA/N, but we do not understand why the resolution has us take such a position in their organization, despite the close relationship between the two.

We are concerned that without amendments, this resolution might fail and leave our labor work stranded. Therefore, we will be voting Yes on this resolution no matter what, but would support amendments to it.

R12A1

Yes 

This amendment removes the language on SWA/N, and while we believe it is fine to be against red unionism and would disagree with that aspect of the amendment, it overall fixes the troubling part of the resolution.

YDSA members would still be able to take positions as members of SWA/N, but we would avoid a fiasco where we're seen as engaging in a controlling manner.

R12A2

No

This amendment unnecessarily bends the stick, outright supporting SWA/N as an organization which is explicitly for socialists. That organization does need to be built, no doubt about it, but why can't it be YDSA? It is better for SWA/N  to connect young militant labor organizers in campuses, and from there recruit people into YDSA.

R13

Reaffirming and Expanding YDSA's National Grievance Infrastructure

Yes 

We are no experts in the important work of grievances, but we believe this is even-handed and reasonable.

R14

Establishing a Chapter Grant System

Yes

This is a productive and useful resolution which would give money to chapters putting on events, and frankly seems better for giving funds to chapters than the dues-sharing model. For example: smaller chapters would benefit more from a one-time infusion of $100 for a specific event than from 25% of ten dues-paying members.

R15

Semesterly “State of YDSA” Calls for Committee Check-in and Direction

Yes

This would help to promote political education and political discussion in YDSA. We're not fans of more calls, but three times a year is a simple ask, and we believe this will provide a way to have a balance sheet on the work of individual campaigns or committees

R16

The Campus and Beyond: A Resolution for Coordinated YDSA Organizing

Yes

We wrote this resolution!

This resolution allows for YDSA chapters to create channels of communication (chats, Discords, etc.) on the basis of statewide or regional formations. We believe this is the first step to becoming the youth section of a socialist party, and naturally builds on the work we do on campus outwards.

This is already happening in Florida YDSA, where UCF, UF, and FIU were able to host a Discord server and a meeting that allowed for free-ranging political discussion and debate. There is a NYC YDSA Organizing Committee which no doubt began in such a fashion, as a meeting-place of YDSA's in an area. Let's expand this for the whole organization!

R16A1

No

Attempts to remove regional references, which fundamentally weakens the proposal.

Consider: If comrades are organizing a YDSA organization in Metro DC, are they stuck in the District of Columbia, Maryland, or Virginia? Obviously, you'd just organize a Metro DC YDSA. There is an NYC YDSA organization forming right now which operates on a regional, not state-wide, boundary.

R17

For Building the Youth Wing of a Socialist Party

Yes

We also wrote this resolution! 

The goal of this resolution is to facilitate YDSA members, collectively, coming up with a plan for the future of YDSA, not for just one year, or two, but for the next half decade. 

This proposal aims to set out straightforward, manageable steps to help us come up with a plan to turn YDSA into the youth wing of a socialist party. The proposal calls for us to take the next 6 years to seek to develop YDSA into a broader youth formation, with influence beyond just the campus. Instead of prescriptively outlining the exact process for this, it calls for a series of discussions, debates and forums to be held every year until this goal is accomplished. This will allow YDSA members to debate and develop a long term strategy, and work together to adjust to changing events, while working towards a shared goal.

R18

Support for a Growing YDSA

Abstain

This resolution has YDSA support the YDSA consensus resolution at this year's DSA Convention. The consensus resolution is fine in some senses – more funding for YDSA, more staff, etc. But we believe the consensus resolution does not go nearly far enough in charting a political vision for this task.

R19

For a Mass Socialist Campaign for Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy

Yes

This resolution aims to establish a national day of action for trans rights. We authored this resolution, aiming to learn from last year’s action to take more time to plan an event, message around YDSA, and integrate leaders after the action. Trans rights organizing is one of the most important issues facing the student movement right now, and YDSA should meet the challenge with a clear socialist message!

R20

Recommitment to our Digital Platforms

Yes

This resolution would give YDSA much clearer bounds for our digital and press communication. This is extremely important for making campaigns work for us and bring in people. However, YDSA has historically had serious issues with connecting to DSA's Comms, which has hurt our ability to generate press releases and earned media. This much clearer policy should help us move towards a more mature YDSA, and is going to be very vital if our national campaign resolution passes.

R21

Winning the Battle for Democracy

Yes

Socialists should be opponents of the American Constitution, of that there is no doubt. This is an important programmatic resolution that gives us a clear opposition to the current order of things.

The previous version of this resolution went a tad too far, calling the creation of a new Constitution our "central task". The issue here is that while the political, or de jure order of things is based on the Constitution, the de facto power is held by the capitalist  class, regardless of the document our country is based on. However, this language was amended, and the point is moot.

R22

Anti-Militarism on Campus

Yes

Oftentimes our international work is very propagandistic and not couched in a clear goal, but opposing US recruitment and militarism seems to us to be a very clear, actionable, and worthy goal.

R22A1

Yes

The language around "abolition of the standing military" is based on a historical line from Marx's time. It's fine in some ways, but it mistakes the key focus: on the weakening of the world-spanning US empire. This is a broader call which will bring many more people into struggle – to bring the troops home, to end wars, versus the clunky language here.

R23

Class-Struggle Internationalism

Yes

Reform & Revolution opposes campism and would like to see a principled orientation to our solidarity abroad. This means engaging with other left projects on a critical basis, encouraging open debate and discussion about the state of the international socialist movement. However, these extant disagreements are not good cause to dissolve a committee. Here’s why we support this resolution:

It would put our international work under the independent purview of YDSA, rather than as a subcommittee of the existing DSA IC. We agree with this structural change, and think it will allow YDSA to focus on organizing with other youth groups. We encourage collaboration between YDSA and DSA on internationalism while recognizing that each should be allowed to take on independent projects and take their own political positions.

R23A1

No

Unnecessarily obscures YDSA’s approach to internationalism.

R24

Developing Lifelong Socialist Organizers

Yes

While taking a primarily organizational approach to membership retention and the transition from YDSA to DSA, we see no reason to oppose the mechanisms introduced here. Creating life-long socialist leaders should be a priority for the organization, and we believe this is done first and foremost through active participation in struggle.

R25

Recommitting to the Activist

Yes

Reform & Revolution believes that the creation of exciting materials including published analysis and debate is crucial to a healthy organization. We hold that this resolution should be much stronger, presenting a bold plan for YDSA’s publications. Nonetheless, we support the work of The Activist and encourage comrades to pass it.

R26

Recommitting to Youth Internationalism

No

We supported putting this on the consensus resolution because it has almost no substance whatsoever. This resolution is an attempt to support the politics of the International Committee's Youth Subcommittee, rather than actually discussing the politics of the work and its general strategy.

We believe the work done on opposing US bases in Okinawa and our meeting with the Labor Left is fine, but we believe the task of YDSA's international work is to connect us to the struggles of youth sections all over the world. We feel our current work is prioritizing supporting the work of the IC generally, rather than orienting to youth sections specifically. 

A1

YDSA National Committee and Working Group Reform Amendment

Yes 

We see no reason for objection here. 

A2

Amendment to YDSA Membership Provisions

Yes

The ban on democratic centralism is an unfortunate holdover of our organization’s earlier days and should be struck from our constitution. While Reform & Revolution is not a democratic centralist caucus, we affirm the right of democratic centralist caucuses to organize within DSA.

By affirming the right of factions to exist, this amendment also recognizes an essential democratic process which clarifies political disagreement and allows members to organize freely based on those differences.

A3

Responsibilities of the NCC

Yes

This seems like a reasonable change. 

A4

One Member One Vote for YDSA

no

One member one vote is usually positioned as a way to democratize our electoral structures. In practice, we believe that it leads to undemocratic outcomes. Many members and chapters are not sufficiently engaged in our national structures to participate. As such, the outcome of elections will be defined by vote-whipping in key areas, rather than bringing out the full scope of our membership’s participation.

Furthermore, we believe that it’s incredibly important for YDSA members to attend the national convention and represent their chapters. This gives valuable insight into the state of socialist politics, and the experience cannot be replicated elsewhere. It also ensures that delegates are properly exposed to candidates and can make informed decisions on the basis of their democratic convention participation. Dissociating the important work of electing national leadership from the powers of the convention goes against the spirit of building a cohesive national organization, and for this reason we encourage comrades to vote NO.

A5

Programmatic Unity for YDSA

Yes

We agree with the principle of programmatic unity and believe it to be a positive development for the organization.