Democratic socialists are making strides in elections, from local councils and legislatures to congress. Now we may even be in a position to contest the 2028 Presidential race. But to make change through electoral means, we have to deal with a government that wasn’t made for us. While many of us grow up learning the US Constitution lays out the ideal political system and we need to only understand it to appreciate it and the founders' genius, in reality it is a system built by the ruling class of a long ago era.  This two hour political education session, held online via Zoom, will cover some of the basics of how the US government works, and why it matters to us on the Left.

We are living in a time of political turmoil and our opaque political system can seem overwhelming, a mess of fillibusters, gerrymandering and federal reserves.  This session will help you understand how it works and what we can do to change it. 

• Why do we have three branches of government and what do they do? 

• What are Checks and Balances?

• Why does DSA want to abolish the Senate and make the President and Courts subordinate to the Legislative branch?

We will take everything you vaguely remember from schoolhouse rock and help you understand it as an adult, giving you the tools to approach government effectively from a socialist perspective. The Constitution is not a sacred unchanging document handed down by God, it was made by flawed men with their own political agenda. So where did this system come from, who made it and why and how is meant to work? And most importantly, what can we do to fight back against the mistakes made by New Jersey in 1787?

Join us to:

• Celebrate the United States’ 250th birthday by learning how to fix our fundamentally broken system 

• How our system grew out of the British Parliamentary system

• The anti-democratic issues inherent in the system

• Learn new and exciting ways to dislike Alexander Hamilton 

• Better argue with your centrist friends about why the Senate is  awful and we should  abolish it

• Have a good time learning and discussing with comrades

Come to Socialists Civics, Sunday August 30th from 2 to 4 PM, led by Elijah Zane, an MHVDSA member and high school civics teacher eager to teach a course where he doesn’t have to pretend that the Constitution is perfect.