October 27, 2022
Young Socialists Are Sick of the 2-Party System
By Lisa Herforth-Hebbert
YDSA, the youth section of the largest socialist organization in the country, is tired of working within the Democratic Party. Can they create an alternative?
By Zurie Pope
During the 2020 election, young voters were an integral part of President Biden’s winning coalition, initially supporting him more than any other age group. But in April, a Gallup poll showed President Biden’s approval rating at its lowest level among Generation Z, down to only 39 percent. After almost two years, many feel they have not seen the changes they were promised. In response and mindful of the midterm elections, Biden has recently proposed reforms favored by young activists, including targeted student loan forgiveness, clemency for marijuana convictions, and the inclusion of climate provisions into the Inflation Reduction Act.
Of course, the young left was already largely dissatisfied with the Democratic Party before Biden, but it took activists and organizers across the country to make these initial accomplishments possible. Much of this work started during Senator Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaigns, when many groups used the senator’s outsider status and platform to advance their own—such as the Democratic Socialists of America, which has seen record growth to 90,000 members strong. The organization’s youth section, Young Democratic Socialists of America, is no exception. Now, without a national candidate to rally around and with the midterms approaching, many YDSA members feel like the organization must clarify its role. Rather than hitching its wagon to Democratic candidates, YDSA has emphasized building its own infrastructure.
This past summer, YDSA held its annual convention for its 131 chapters nationwide. The resolutions on the meeting agenda ranged from dues sharing and travel equity to labor strategy and abortion rights. But Resolution 15, “For An Independent Working Class Socialist Party,” stood out. Offered by the Reform and Revolution Caucus, the proposal called for severing ties with the Democratic machine to formulate an independent socialist party, called the “dirty break” strategy. “Despite the short-term strategic advantage of running candidates within the Democratic Party, it is not enough for us to be satisfied with such an orientation for the indefinite future,” the document read.
