by Diane Webber
Last Tuesday the Democratic Socialists of America (“DSA”) introduced their new program. These are the people who describe themselves as the “largest socialist organization in the United States, with over 100,000 members and chapters in all 50 states.” This organization has been in existence since the 1970s.They are not a political party but they are an increasingly vocal and influential group within the Democratic Party. Prominent members include Zohran Mamdani, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (“AOC”) and Rashida Tlaib.150 DSA members have been backed to stand for election in all levels of the US government. As of today, 38 have been elected, 38 have failed to be elected and 74 are still actively running for election.
The new DSA program, entitled “Workers Deserve More” demands that all candidates currently standing for election must endorse the new program, which can be read via the link http://https//program.dsausa.org In the section entitled perspective, the first sentence is a rant against the ‘bosses’: ”The world is in chaos, but for the bosses, it’s all going to plan. We can see their plan in the countless heartbreaking images coming out of war zones like Beirut, Gaza and Tehran.” So it is not a great surprise that the program demands the end of the U.S. war machine, the end of blockades, embargoes and sanctions. And of course there is the inevitable and ubiquitous antisemitic demand made with the usual ignorance of history to “Free Palestine”.
As for domestic policy, DSA demands the end of bosses and landlords, it wants to work towards abolishing the police and prison system, as well as he abolishing the Presidency and the Senate. They call themselves Socialists. Not only is this more like Communism, it is anti-American.
Surprisingly this has not caused the uproar this deserves. It has not been particularly widely written about. AOC was asked by Fox News what she thought about the DSA plan to abolish the Senate. She fluffed her way through that with no proper answer.
The biggest question is: what are the mainstream Democrats doing about this? There has been very little comment. If not this, what will propel them into action? If not now, when?
