Renegade Paradise

This episode provides additional analysis on ICE at the organizational level, discussing what role they play in US imperialism and white supremacy here at home. We also spend some time taking a broad view of border imperialism, and how it restricts and marginalizes people while capital is free to cross borders with relative ease.

It's important to understand that if the working class is seeking the abolition of capitalism and a permanent transition to a socialist society, all national borders must ultimately be eliminated. We touch on that too towards the end of the episode.

- A link to reports of abuse and trauma suffered by people imprisoned in ICE concntration camps: https://theintercept.com/2018/04/11/immigration-detention-sexual-abuse-ice-dhs/

Not long ago, the Coastal Conservation League hosted a forum with several mayoral candidates here in Charleston. The candidates discussed the massive problem this city has with flooding, and proposed some technocratic, mediocre solutions for moving forward. We were able to score an interview with a real bonafide, flesh-and-blood candidate, Ricky Teckwhite, who is definitely not someone we just made up for laughs. We also propose some very brief solutions of our own that we'll come back to in future episodes.

The Charleston Immigrant Coalition is hosting an Immigrant Forum on the same day at the Circular Congregational Church. Make sure you get your ticket over at Eventbrite!

CHS DSA comrades plan to attend both. If you wanna learn more about what we do, let's chat!

Music by Yung Kartz and John Phillips Sousa. Bet you didn't expect that combination, did ya?

In this episode, we interview Fernando Soto, founder of Recursos Estatales, an online news portal for Spanish-speaking readers. Recursos Estatales' mission is to close the gap in local communities where Spanish resources are not offered to the Hispanic community. Recursos Estatales also provides news coverage in the state of South Carolina. Likewise, it is working on expansion to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, broadening their reach to a regional audience.

Fernando recently spoke at the Lights For Liberty rally in North Charleston discussing the struggles of local immigrant communities under attack from a newly-empowered and increasingly fascist Immigrations & Customs Enforcement department, also known as ICE. Fernando also shares some observations about ICE both on a local and national level, as well as some suggestions on how we can fight for the rights of immigrants here in the Lowcountry.

Earlier this month, delegates from our chapter hit the road for the 2019 National DSA Convention. In this episode, we discuss some of the experiences we had at the convention, a broad view of how the voting process worked, and a deeper dive on a few interesting resolutions and proposed bylaw changes.

In this episode, we interview local comrades Alex and Sam who are stalwart supporters of the local Food Not Bombs chapter. Food Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independent anarchist collectives around the world who share free meals in an ongoing effort to build solidarity with local folks struggling with food insecurity.

To learn more about the Charleston chapter, or to make a food or cash donation, find them on Facebook, Instagram, or visit their website at http://charlestonfoodnotbombs.org

Please note: The interview mentions a serving location that is no longer active due to construction. Please visit Charleston Food Not Bombs' social media accounts for updated serving info.

Democrats have had their first primary debates of the election cycle, and it's definitely a crowded field at this point, but one candidate in particular has caught our attention: Silicon Valley entrepreneur and former corporate attorney Andrew Yang.

Over the past few months, Yang has rose to prominence promoting a Universal Basic Income plan that he calls the "Freedom Dividend", which guarantees every American a monthly stipend of $1000. But what are the drawbacks of this plan, and how does it compare to the vastly superior Green New Deal put forward recently by Senator Edward Markey and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Will it help workers gain back control of their economy and their workplaces, or is it a simple bait-and-switch tactic?

The Lowcountry is on the front lines of both climate change and a shifting economy in favor of predatory capitalists. Understanding how these two very different approaches tackle these issues is critical.

2. "The Case Against a Basic Income" by Daniel Zamora: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/12/universal-basic-income-inequality-work

3. "Universal Basic Income: Ruling class scam or step toward socialism?" by Tim Libretti: https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/universal-basic-income-ruling-class-scam-or-step-toward-socialism/

4. "On The Politics of Basic Income" by Peter Frase: http://www.peterfrase.com/2018/07/on-the-politics-of-basic-income/

Music by: Peg & The Rejected, Defy The Mall, KIRK, The Dubbstyle, and Regular Gonzalez

Recently, a series of so-called "fetal heartbeat" bills have been circulating in various state legislatures. These bills are a extreme form of abortion restriction legislation which makes abortions illegal as soon as the so-called "embryonic or fetal heartbeat" can be detected, which is typically six weeks into the pregnancy and before most folks are certain that they're pregnant.

This episode was recorded when the state legislature was still in session. Since then, South Carolina's so-called "fetal heartbeat" bill has passed the house and moved on to the Senate. We have updated the list of resources to include contact information for South Carolina state senators.

Contact your state senator: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/member.php?chamber=S

If you need an abortion here in the southeast, there are many groups across dedicated to raising funds or providing resources to help you.

Music by David Rovics, Peg & The Rejected, Neil Cross, and 27 Hearts Beats

In the spirit of May Day, this episode discusses the recent #AllOutMay1 statewide teacher walkout from a socialist perspective. We also suggest some ways in which comrades might support our teachers and fellow workers, as well as how to encourage a culture of vigorously defending the right to a free, high-quality public education via direct action.

The debut episode of Renegade Paradise, in which we discuss how capitalism and socialism are talked about in popular political discourse, and why this popular discourse is inaccurate and problematic. We also present a brief summary of Charleston DSA’s interpretation and definition of socialism.