Welcome to the February issue of Rochester Red Star. In this issue, read remarks on ICE violence, protest, and our chapter’s recent 2025 Convention. You’ll also find details on upcoming events, and coverage of chapter activities over the past month.
Interested in contributing? Send submissions to bit.ly/SubmitRedStar, or get involved with our Communications Committee. Reach out to steering@rocdsa.org and join DSA today!
by Gregory Lebens-Higgins
The violence now exacted by ICE is a continuity of systems of policing and dehumanization that have been permitted for far too long. The Trump Administration may have removed the final restraints, but the structures had already been built in the preceding decades by both parties.
by Rosa
As any millennial will tell you, owning our own house one day is becoming more and more a dream than an achievable goal. You can put in an offer at full asking price, waive inspections, and still lose to a higher bidder. It’s not just housing prices that have skyrocketed, rent has also increased drastically. The average rent for a 1 bedroom in Rochester has almost doubled since I started renting: I can assure you my salary has certainly not doubled.
We cannot limit ourselves to a partial revolution against systems of oppression. The time for “reasonable” demands is over. Those who transformed the world in preceding decades did not ask nicely, but demanded radical change.
by Gregory Lebens-Higgins
The experience of living under late stage capitalism is one of perpetual exhaustion. The profit motive has saturated all aspects of life, and every interaction now comes with a cost. The enshitificationof products and services leaves the unnerving sensation that everything is broken. And we, as consumers – constantly plugged into technology that commodifies our free time and personal information – are unable to find peace of mind. It is only the compulsion of the utility bill and an empty stomach that keeps us clocking in.
by Ambrosia
Under the yoke of capital, many among us struggle to see a way out. We become disaffected, believing this to be our only place in life, or we lash out at our comrades, blaming ourselves for being unable to solve the problems which we confront. Indeed our struggle feels, at times, insurmountable. We fight against a globe-spanning hegemony of a system, and many who have come before us have seemingly failed in doing exactly that which we seek to do now. How do we hold hope in a situation like this?
We need to bombard our elected officials with phone calls and other messages insisting they defend their constituents and abolish ICE. We need to be ready to respond when our neighbors are attacked or abducted. And we need to harness our greatest weapon – the labor power of the working class on which the capitalist system depends for its existence – in opposing ICE and their puppeteers.
ROC DSA condemns war on Venezuela and we call on our elected leaders in Congress to hold Trump and his cabinet accountable to the fullest extent possible.
Welcome to the January issue of Rochester Red Star. In this issue, read about the proceedings of ROC DSA’s 2025 Chapter Convention, remarks on the County Legislature’s decision to opt out of the short-term rental registry, and words of hope for the coming year. You’ll also find details on upcoming events, and coverage of chapter activities over the past month.