Co-Chair

My name is Cameron Crombie, I am a Co-Chair of Lakefront DSA and I am a Socialist. I wasn’t indoctrinated into Socialism through my parents or “the Marxist school system” as is the favorite refrain of so many on the Right. In fact, growing up I was taught that Socialism would never work because it “went against human nature” and that good ‘ol American Capitalism was the “natural” way of things to be structured. I was taught in school that every socialist country failed, with no mention that it was American Empire that facilitated the fall of almost every socialist administration.

I was turned into a socialist not through some Marxist college professor but by the facts of life that I saw around me. America has been at near continuous war my entire life, yet we never seemed to have the resources to take care of our Vets. We have the largest GDP in the entire world, yet my friends and family avoid going to the doctor because it costs too much (even AFTER the federal democrats turned their back on actual Medicare for All and settled for Obama Care instead). I lived through 2008 where Americans got gaslit into believing that it was our fault that we lost our jobs and struggled to put food on our tables when at the same time the banks that actually caused the crash got bailouts and not a SINGLE person was held accountable. I watched as we destabilized the global south and criminalized the people who fled that destabilization, villainizing children as terrorists and gang members and holding the ever present threat of deportation over the heads of the people who grow our food and take care of our children all for the crime of escaping American terror. This has all happened because  America is a Capitalist country that puts the wellbeing of the elites ahead of the wellbeing of the people.

I am a socialist because we live in a world of abundance but in a Nation that puts that abundance behind a paywall so that only a small percentage of people can actually access it and the rest of us must fight for the scraps that are dropped for us. I believe that the only way to free ourselves from that paywall is to come together, to aid your fellow workers and to cast off a system that would rather see children starve than to tax a Billionaire. Socialism combines labor and social activism under democratic political principles and is the only tool that the working class can wield to fight back against the Oligarchs currently crushing us under the weight of their oppression.

Treasurer

Just as the earth spins and birds sing, humans love. Just as easily as we breathe, we are meant to   spread joy and wonder. First to stay alive and then to live, humanity has relied on collaboration and reciprocity to accomplish what could not be done alone. The yearn for freedom and self expression are so innate to our being that they can only be quieted through the hard and continuous effort from those that desire control. Socialism is a term invented less than two hundred years ago but is something that has been inherent to the human spirit for nearly two million. 

Unfortunately, all things must change and then die. From this, different fears come forth tugging at our pant legs like lost children. Fear makes us want to protect ourselves and provide for those around us, but it also clouds our judgement giving rise to individualist, anti-social tendencies. Today, we live in a world of the fully realized anti-social scaredy cat, a hoarder’s paradise.

Today in America, most eat better than the kings of old and access more information than their greatest scholars. But much like those old kings, our pleasures are brought to us from far away lands by workers made invisible. Millions elevated to global nobility while barely getting by. Those who have been granted the access to the american dream are made richer through selling these superficial freedoms. Capitalism tells us we have reached the end of history and that the only progress we need in society is to make our phones thinner. The liberal machine has smoothed over all as equal. Equality not uniformity says the optimistic capitalist, but don’t you dare not buy store-brand or catch judgement from your peers. 

Humanity’s path forward is rooted in the well treated paths we’re already familiar with. We don’t need, and we can no longer afford, to isolate ourselves from our neighbors, from the world, in an effort to build our own Personal Pan-Xanadu. We weren’t put on this earth just to grow the vaults of money of those who long ago lost count. 

I’m a socialist because capitalism does work, and fuck that.

Secretary

I was raised in the south suburbs of Chicago with relatively apolitical parents. Like most kids, I had no idea how the world worked. Luckily, I knew that learning paved the path to “success”. My relentless efforts placed me near the top of my high school class, qualified me for the UIUC school of engineering, graduated with a bachelor’s degree, and was somehow on my way to “success”. 

After all the STEM learning I could possibly absorb, I realized I had lost my subjectivity, my soul, and my passion for engineering. The most important things we learn are typically learned the hard way. Once I began my career in engineering it became alarmingly clear to me that the wealthy use engineering as a tool to extract value rather than progress in any meaningful direction as a society. 

Throughout my journey I had always dreamed of designing new things that helped make the world a better place. This dream is exceedingly difficult to produce in real life, because everyone is making money for themselves rather than helping anyone else. 

My name is Dominic Tascone, and this is why I am a socialist. I want to connect, discuss, and act in ways that help more people than just myself. If you want to do that too, please join the cause and volunteer some of your time to support the Lakefront DSA.

Social Media Coordinator

I am a socialist because I believe that all human beings, regardless of circumstance deserve to live a full life. My background in shaping visual narratives . I hope to use my skills to connect with our community.

I am relatively new to becoming immersed in action in the face of facism, but am inspired daily to fight against oppression in the face of facisim.

My name is Scott, and while I am many things - engineer, game designer, author - I am first and foremost a person trying to make the world a better place. Throughout my education, I was focusing on the ‘standard’ path laid out for many of us: get a degree, get a job, become independent. But upon entering the workforce, the cracks in our society quickly began to show, both in my own life in the form of incompetently managed companies and in politics with the rapid rise of fascist talking points and policies among the republican party.

It is abundantly clear to me now that if we want to move forward into a bright future, one with a livable planet, fundamental rights for everyone, and any semblance of joy in our communities, we all need to do our utmost to push back against the tide of capital. At first that may seem an impossible task. But the wealth of billionaires comes from our work, and if we come together, we can build that world.

My hope is that the Lakefront Free Press can reach the hearts of Lake County residents with this message and spur them to action. If even as small a number as two of you reading this are inspired, then I’ll be content. Because I believe that you won’t stay silent either. Two becomes four becomes eight, more and more until we the people again stand united against tyranny. May kindness spread where greed reigns.