Organizing committee on rise
American Leftists must unite, socialist says
By MIKE RUST
Of Hm Emerald
"The only way the Left will
survive the 80s is through
coalition,” says Ray Levitt of the
Eugene chapter of the
Democratic Socialist Organiz
ing Committee
With a nationwide member
ship of approximately 4,000,
DSOC (pronounced deesock) is
considered to be the largest
organization on the American
democratic Left.
Formed out of a split in the
Socialist Party in the early ’70s,
DSOC includes such prominent
Americans as author Michael
Harrington, labor leaders Victor
Reuther and William Winip
singer, feminist Gloria Steinem
and U S. Rep. Ron Dellums (D
Calif.).
The local DSOC chapter,
which held an organizational
meeting earlier this week, is
currently small in numbers, but
Levitt, a graduate student in the
University’s Labor Education
and Research Center, hopes
the group will grow to the point
where it can provide a body of
activists for service in progres
sive causes.
“The myth that shrouds
DSOC is that it’s a paper organ
ization,” Levitt says. "There’s a
lot of energy there.”
In the past, the local chapter
has been involved with other
activist groups in such events as
Big Business Day and Big Oil
Day. Levitt has also worked with
the Lane Coalition to Save Jobs.
One aspect of DSOC that has
distinguished it from other Left
leaning groups on the national
level has been its activity within
the Democratic Party. The or
ganization was the chief spon
sor of the Democratic Agenda —
a coalition within the Democrat
ic Party that fought at the 1978
Democratic midterm conven
tion and last summer’s national
convention for platform planks
supporting national health in
surance and full employment
and opposing federal budget
cutbacks in public service pro
grams.
DSOC supported Sen. Ed
ward Kennedy (D-Mass.) for the
Democratic presidential nomin
ation despite ideological differ
ences. Levitt says that while
most DSOC members probably
agree with the positions taken
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by Barry Commoner, last year's
Citizens party nominee, it's
“pretty unfeasible" for a third
party to succeed in America.
DSOC was one of two rival
groups to form after the col
lapse of the old Socialist party in
1972. DSOC attracted most of
the anti-war element within the
party while the smaller, more
hawkish Social Democrats
gathered some members of the
AFL-CIO.
However, Levitt says DSOC
has attracted a number of
members of the labor
movement, including Winip
singer, the president of the
United Auto Workers Machinists
Union, and Jerry Wurf of
AFSCME. The group has also
participated in the Progressive
Alliance, which was formed in
1978 by the UAW and consists
of 85 minority, consumer,
women's, liberal and labor
groups.
The Alliance has been active
in lobbying for passage of
plant-closure legislation and the
"Corporate Democracy Act,"
which called for more corporate
disclosure, representation of
workers on boards of directors
and tougher sanctions against
white-collar crime.
On both the local and national
levels, DSOC has worked with
the New American Movement
(NAM), another democratic
socialist group. The possibility
of merger between the two
groups is a much-discussed is
sue within DSOC, Levitt says.
DSOC does not work with
Communists, Levitt says.
While socialism is linked with
bureaucracy and big govern
ment in the minds of many,
DSOC members disagree.
“I see socialism working on a
local level more than anything
else," says local DSOC member
Rose Beachy. "DSOC is no ad
vocate of big government,”
Levitt agrees.
Democratic Socialist logo
Levitt doesn't see a backlash
against socialism in social
democratic countries such as
the United Kingdom and
Sweden which have turned out
socialist-oriented governments
in recent years.
"A lot of it has to do with the
fact that those socialist policies
were never implemented to the
extent to which they were
meant," he says.
Good theory doesn’t neces
sarily lead to good administra
tion, Levitt says, and without
competent administration, the
theory cannot be carried
through.
"Anything that's half-baked is
going to fail,” he says.
"Michael Harrington says that
history is very sloppy,” Levitt
says. "You never really know
what you're going to end up
with, but you try to move in the
right direction. I think moving to
the Left is the right direction.”
Idaho game officer shot;
partner, killer hunted
MURPHY, Idaho (AP - The
body of a state conservation
officer was found Wednesday
by police who combed a remote
area of southwestern Idaho
after a witness said he saw two
officers gunned down while in
vestigating alleged illegal deer
hunting.
The body of state Fish and
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Game Department conservation
officer Wilson Elms, 34, appar
ently shot to death Monday, was
found in the Owyhee River, the
Idaho State Police said.
A search continued in the
rugged area for the second of
ficer and for a Owyhee County
trapper charged with killing the
two.
A two-count, first-degree
murder warrant against Claude
Lafayette Dallas, 30, was issued
Wednesday by Third District
Magistrate Charles Jurries.
Owyhee County Deputy Sheriff
Jim Bish said the FBI obtained a
warrant charging Dallas with
unlawful flight to avoid pro
secution.
Department of Fish and Game
spokesman Hugh Wilson iden
tified the officer still missing as
William Pogue, 50. Both officers
were from Boise.
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