Nothing 'Democratic' About Socialists

The Threat Posed by The Democratic Socialists of America

For decades many of us were warning that socialism (a.k.a., communism lite) was slowly creeping onto the American stage, largely due to an organization called the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Now, following Zohran Mamdani's win in New York City’s Nov. 5, 2025 mayoral election, things have become crystal clear.

Overt socialism now a major foothold in the largest and most iconic city in America.

The time to take a more in-depth look at the DSA, couldn't be more ripe than now.

With over 80,000 dues-paying members, including 11 sitting members of Congress and over 200 state and local officials, DSA has been able to wrestle control of the levers of power in a number of key places in the United States.

In New York City, the group controls key committees, and in Chicago, six DSA members have a seat at the city council’s table.

DSA presents itself as a champion of compassion.

However, beneath rhetoric such as "Medicare for All" and "Affordable Housing" lies a radical agenda rooted in Marxist ideology.

The organization has been following the communist playbook to a T, seeking to obtain power through infiltration. It has made insidious steady progress toward this goal.

Unfortunately, it is currently the central focal point of energy for the Democratic Party, a party that appears to have so lost its way it is difficult to imagine any kind of return to sensibility.

Now let’s look at DSA’s core ideology.

Founded in 1982, its ideology is firmly rooted in Marxism, advocating for the end to all capitalism in favor of governmental control of industry.

The organization explicitly calls for the abolition of private property, the nationalization of enterprise, and the replacement of the free market system.

Most of the sustained attempts at the implementation of its ideology have ultimately arrived at communism’s doorstep.

Communism's legacy is one of economic decay, governmental ruin, and social collapse, a distinct pattern that is historically consistent across time, place, and events.

DSA’s own platform, updated in 2023, demands “public ownership of utilities, housing, and finance," "decommodifying healthcare and education," and "seizing the means of production," all prequels to the imposition of totalitarianism and freedom’s ultimate demise.

The reality is DSA is a political insurgency with a proven playbook: Infiltrate, normalize, and dismantle.

Its youth wing, Young Democratic Socialists, is in favor of "abolishing prisons," a prescription for crime and chaos that disproportionately harms the very vulnerable communities the group professes that it is seeking to protect.

DSA’s 2024 platform calls for nationalizing key sectors of the economy, such as energy and housing.

Its working group, "Ecosocialism," advocates for "planned degrowth," deliberately working to shrink the economy in order to meet specified climate goals.

The organization's 2024 convention passed a resolution that called for "expropriating fossil fuel companies" and "banning private real estate development," resolutions that translate into a form of national self-destruction.

DSA's policies reflect a visceral hatred for the free market, and conversely, a worship of government. This inevitably leads to food shortages, black markets, and Soviet-style oppression.

The tenets of its foreign policy are equally atrocious. DSA's "International Committee" has called for cutting all aid to Israel. It has hosted events with activists that are linked to terrorist groups. And it has refused to condemn Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

A document from the NYC-DSA's Anti-War Working Group (AWWG), which was recently obtained by the Just The News website, shows AWWG has been plotting ways to pressure newly-elected New York mayor Mamdani to comply with its "demands."

Demands include arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and active IDF soldiers, divesting city pension funds from Israeli securities, withdrawing city funds from banks that do business with Israel.

Additionally demands include, ending city contracts with companies that do business with Israel, operating city-run grocery stores free from Israeli products, and evicting weapons manufacturers and transporters from New York City.

Mamdani is a longtime DSA member and leader.

He is listed as one of the group's "New York State Socialists in Office."

When DSA-aligned officials are in power, "defund the police" efforts are typically underway as well, leading to skyrocketing crime rates.

Homicides were already up 30% in NYC post-2020, according to FBI data.

Now with Mamdani's victory secured, the trend is unlikely to be NYC’s friend.

Those who are DSA-aligned have also pushed for open borders and sanctuary policies, which have fueled a host of crises, including fentanyl overdoses, human trafficking, surging crime rates, and wage suppression for working-class Americans.

DSA's own rhetoric betrays itself. Co-chairperson Ari Rabin-Havt recently tweeted about "seizing the means of production" as essential to combating climate change, ignoring how such seizures in Cuba and Nicaragua have led to corruption and poverty.

The communism that DSA is peddling has a 100% failure rate.

This is because, among other irrefutable things, it violates human nature and defies economic realities.

We ignore this group at our peril.

It may be that many who subscribe to socialist ideology have never had to work to protect their rights. Someone else has always done that for them.

As one who with wholehearted rejection of communism and its socialism offspring has battled across decades to preserve our God-given rights, I speak for those of us who are still willing to continue to do so.

Just praying that it's not too late.

James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read James Hirsen's Reports — More Here.