Democratic Socialists of America - Southern NH Chapter
Contact: hello@snhdsa.org
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Southern NH Chapter is a local of the largest socialist organization in the United States. We believe that working people should run both the economy and society democratically to meet human needs, not to make profits for a few. We are a political and activist organization, not a party; through campus and community-based chapters, DSA members use a variety of tactics, from legislative to direct action, to fight for reforms that empower working people.
We're currently organizing in Southern NH around these priorities:
Green New Deal
The climate crisis is an emergency. The world’s top scientists are saying we have little time to get off fossil fuels. Meanwhile, inequality is already out of control — and rising. We fight for a Green New Deal because it’s the only plan that meets the scale of the crisis, one that puts people and planet over profit to build a more just and sustainable economy. We’re organizing in our workplaces, communities and schools to build the working class movement it will take to win.
Housing For All
Everyone no matter how much money they make, should have a safe, accessible, and comfortable home. SNH DSA has a plan to turn housing into a human right for all, not just an investment for the wealthy. Developers treat housing as a tool for profit and speculation, making money from displacing people from their homes. The U.S. housing crisis is a ticking time bomb. Rising rents, massive evictions, increasing homelessness, and an ongoing wave of foreclosures are exploding into a political movement for housing justice. As with the healthcare crisis, the profit motive is at the root of the problem. The culprits are banks, developers, and landlords. Like the health crisis, too, the shortage of affordable housing is bad for the economy. People who spend more than one-third of their income just to keep a roof over their heads don’t have much discretionary income to spend in local businesses. People forced to move frequently or live far from their jobs are often late to work and exacerbate the pollution crisis due to long commutes.
Electoral Strategy
Bernie Sanders launched a political revolution and DSA continues to build it, training our chapters to effectively support democratic socialist candidates running for local and state office while lifting up our key issues. We’re also grappling with how to build independent political power to hold elected officials accountable to their constituents rather than the donor class.
Strong Labor Movement
Capitalism pits us against each other and workplaces are fundamentally authoritarian unless workers can self-organize and build collective power. This is why people build unions, and why employers undermine them. It is also why the capitalists as a class constantly promote narratives about unions that frame them as unnecessary, undemocratic, or ineffective. We know better, and we’re building worker power in every region of the country.
Medicare for All
Health care is a huge segment of our economy and health care access is a deeply and widely felt need. In the capitalist system, you have to pay to get care or go without, but doesn’t have to be this way. In a democratic socialist system, we would collectively provide care as a society. M4A is a stepping stone towards that vision and we’re using this campaign to build a working class base of people fighting for state and national power.