LETTER: Joining DSA can help one achieve resistance against Trump

January 29, 2017 8:47pm | By Matthew Schmieder

In the months following President Donald J. Trump’s election, pundits and personalities from across the political spectrum have suggested various strategies for “resisting Trump” and his administration’s policies. I’m going to assume you already disagree with Trump’s policies. Starting there, let’s go over which of these strategies work and which don’t work.

Making fun of Trump’s hair and calling him “Donald Drumpf” will not work. Ignoring the economic plight that Americans of all backgrounds face will not work. Forming an unholy alliance with moderate Republicans will not work. A surface level, symbolic co-opting of identity politics will not work. Election results, if not common sense, should be proof enough that the approaches pursued by the Democratic establishment are doomed to failure. Only political organizing based on substantive issues that trouble American people can constitute effective resistance, and bring real change.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has continued to embody substantive resistance since Trump’s election. He has held town halls, grilled Trump’s Cabinet appointments and participated in the Women’s March on Washington this past weekend (unlike his primary opponent) all in the past month. But we Rutgers students are not U.S. senators. Individually, we lack the power or platform to do what Sanders does. But Sanders's vision itself demands that we come together and form a popular movement to cause real progressive change. If you support Sanders's politics but are lacking an avenue and community to fight for them, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a political organization that does precisely this.

Through their local chapters, DSA fights for reforms and supports candidates that empower working people and weaken the power of corporations. For example, the Central New Jersey chapter is currently focused on the "Fight for $15" minimum wage battle and the "sanctuary movement" to encourage municipalities and campuses to resist the deportation of undocumented immigrants. But these by no means have to be the only issues because DSA is committed to hearing what the most urgent battles are and how they should be fought.

If you were at the Bernie Sanders rally last May, you know how many of us are willing to come together for this cause. Joining DSA is an opportunity to harness our community’s latent collective outrage toward Trump, and one our country can’t afford for you to miss.

Matthew Schmieder is a School of Arts and Sciences junior.

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