Bombard the Headquarters: Liberation NYC's Statement on the Recent Chapter Meeting
At the highest level there is very little knowledge; they do not understand the opinion of the masses; they do not investigate and study; they do not grasp specific policies; they do not conduct political and ideological work; they are divorced from reality, from the masses, and from the leadership of the party; they always issue orders, and the orders are usually wrong, they certainly mislead the country and the people; at the least they obstruct the consistent adherence to the party line and policies; and they cannot meet with the people. - Mao, Twenty Manifestations of Bureaucracy
On Tuesday, October 14th, 2025, the Steering Committee (SC) of NYC-DSA organized a chapter-wide meeting to discuss two proposals. Chapter members across caucuses have rightfully criticized both the proposals’ content and the discussion process. In our opinion, the proposals’ backwards ideas and undemocratic development are not separate problems. Rather, these failures are inextricably linked together and to underlying issues in the chapter leadership’s politics.
First, let’s be clear that the proposals are absurd on their face. They seek to turn an ostensibly socialist organization into an electoral cheerleading and fundraising machine. Ignoring the breadth of urgent work already ongoing within our chapter to focus on Zohran’s economist platform and dedicating one third of our annual budget to merchandising and social media campaigns is not socialist organizing. It is NGO foolishness. Our chapter’s time, labor, and money should serve the workers of NYC and the world. What worker would donate to NYC-DSA if all we do is run electoral campaigns? The people know the system is rigged against them, which is why so many refuse to vote. And why should we, as socialists, look at Trump’s actions against leftists and assume that social media and payment processors will remain available to our movement much longer? Our chapter’s orientation and strategy must be based on the world as it is. These proposals ignore reality and can only lead to failure.
Second, the manner in which the proposals were developed and discussed was deeply undemocratic. The proposals were drafted privately and revealed six days before the meeting. No amendments were permitted, except at the discretion of the SC. Discussion of the proposals was limited to 90-second bursts from members who got in line early at the microphone. The meeting was not governed under any type of parliamentary procedure. There was no online option, no interpretation for comrades who speak a language other than English or ASL, no masks encouraged or provided. And the ongoing chapter-wide “vote” is not a real, binding vote, but rather a straw poll that can be ignored if chapter leadership sees fit. From start to finish, these processes make a mockery of the idea of “democracy.”
Which brings us to our core point. These proposals should be voted down, and either their content or their development would be, on its own, sufficient grounds to do so. But for the chapter to truly advance, we must recognize that content and process are linked. They both emerge from shoddy politics. Whatever may be in their hearts, the SC is currently engaged in blatant chauvinism and elitism. If you trusted the masses of your own chapter, you would not draft key proposals in private and limit debate. You would develop ideas openly, from the ground up. And if you trusted the masses of this city and the world, you would not call the genocide in Palestine a “wedge issue” to be “moved past.” You would see the struggle against Zionism, surging and growing and lunging towards victory, as one of our movement’s brightest guiding lights. If you do not trust the people around you, the people you are ostensibly fighting for, you will refuse to listen to their voices and observe their actions. The workers blocking arms shipments to Israel, the neighbors chasing ICE off their block, the unemployed and the unhoused hounded by the cops, these are the leading edge of our movement. They might not have $20 a month to give to Zohran. They might not vote. But their labor and knowledge are the root of socialism, here in NYC and around the world. We will either listen to them, or we will fail.
Until Victory,
Liberation Caucus, NYC
