The Democratic Socialists of America

Since the original thread is locked, i open this one 

http://www.dw.com/en/under-donald-trump-socialism-seeps-into-us-mainstream/a-42297787

Today the DSA claims to have around 32,000 card-carrying members, having quadrupled in size in just over one year. This would make it the largest socialist membership organization in the US since the Second World War.  The International Socialist Organization which is significantly smaller and also further left than DSA, grew about 40 percent in the past year. Two thousand people attended their annual socialist conference in Chicago in July, 2017 

For some analysts, the popularity of Bernie Sanders and the recent growth of the DSA represent a new era of acceptance of socialism in the US. "I came of age in the 1980s when there was no dirtier word in American politics than 'socialism'," Dr. Jason Martinek, professor of history at New Jersey City University, told DW. "Now that is not the case…"

 Eric Foner of Columbia University told DW that "there is definitely a greater interest in socialism today among young people." But Bernie Sanders’s brand of socialism, said Foner, is more closely related to European social democracy than historical socialism. "Generally today when people talk about socialism they have in mind an enhanced version of the New Deal," said Foner.

Which explains 51 percent of Americans aged 18 to 29 said they would prefer to live in a socialist or communist society than a capitalist or fascist one.

Yet our own WSPUS appears to be unaffected by this renewed interest. Perhaps this is why.

"DSA is not a political party but an organization of dues-paying members, most of whom volunteer their time to support left-wing politicians, labor unions, or single-issue campaigns like the push for a single-payer, state-run healthcare system…DSA considers itself a "big tent" socialist organization, meaning their members range on the political spectrum from left-leaning Democrats to further left Leninists."

I wonder if we should accept the reality of our presence and no longer call ourselves political parties but study and educational groups, advocacy and propaganda organisations. I know the enforced name change on Socialist Studies failed to increase their membership but isn't it a more honest description of themselves?

I think also our discussion groups have never really taken off either, equally ineffective in recruiting as our formal branches. 

As part of blog duties, i trawl American left progressive websites and scour their comments. There does appear to exist a small element that we should target more. Finding them is the difficulty and it can only be done through the web.