DSA, Who are they?
For most of American history, the word socialist conjured Marx, Lenin, Mao, and Castro, which is why calling yourself one was considered political suicide in this country. Then Bernie Sanders rebranded it as something gentler and more Scandinavian in variety, not to be feared. But now, August 2026, the word Socialist has taken on a much-expanded meaning embracing the words Authoritarian, Progressive, Statist, Communist and an ill-defined “Democratic Socialists of America” (DSA). Who are these DSA proponents and what do they believe in?
The DSA now includes a large and ever-increasing number of members and followers. Many are current members of government – state and federal. A large number are currently running for office and have captured their Democratic primaries. Here is a partial list of recognizable names – names which are in the news:
Zohran Mamdani, Mayor of NYC
Elizabeth Warren, US Senator
Bernie Sanders, US Senator
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, US Representative, New York's 14th District
Rashida Tlaib, US Representative, Michigan’s 12th District
Ilhan Omar, Minnesota
Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts
Francesca Hong, Wisconsin
Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan
Will Lawrence, Michigan
James Talarico, Texas
Melat Kiros, Congressional Candidate, Colorado's 1st District — Primary
Nithya Raman, Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles
Janeese Lewis George, Candidate for Mayor of Washington D.C.
Claire Valdez, Congressional Candidate, New York's 7th District
Darializa Avila Chevalier, Congressional Candidate, New York's 13th District
Chris Rabb, Congressional Candidate, Pennsylvania's 3rd District
Aber Kawas, State Senate Candidate, New York Senate District 12
Oliver Larkin, Congressional Candidate, Florida’s 23rd District
Brittany Kubicek, Candidate for Rhode Island House District 5
What do these people believe in? What inspires them to cast aside the marvelous and successful history of our country and replace it with promises of equity, justice and a shrink-wrapped happiness for all? One common characteristic is a narcistic and prideful conviction that they know more than the unwashed masses, that they are among a small group of elitists who will lead the masses to an earthly Utopia, that they live in the moment and that lessons from the past are dated and calcified, and that people should serve an all-wise government.
It’s easy to dismiss these claims and promises as either a lust for power or the naïve and juvenile goals of a high school sophomore. But in many cases these people are idealists and true believers in their attempts to improve the state of our country and it’s downtrodden. That’s the problem. We are dealing with good people, ideologues, who are driven by a religious fervor to correct society’s problems that plague us here on earth. Logic takes a distant second place to their emotion and a zealot’s fervor.
Even a cursory review of history shows that socialism – and its Marxian and Communist derivatives - fails in every large and diverse society. Human nature rebels at attempts to be grouped into an identity class and follow the rules of an elitist hierarchy. Socialism has only one place. That is in a young family where the parents rule the roost – and have the right and the responsibility to strictly guide their children into adulthood.
DSA, Democratic Socialists, is a contradiction in terms. “Democratic” assumes that the people dominate. “Socialist” assumes that the government dominates. Which is it? You decide.