A SYSTEM THAT HAS NEVER WORKED
They Won’t Say It
Loudly Here.
The Democratic Socialists of America is the largest socialist organization in the U.S. — and it says so, in its own words, on its own website. [1] This site quotes DSA directly, lays out specific positions its own chapters and leadership have advocated, and then shows what socialism has produced everywhere it has been tried at full scale. No regime in history that centralized the economy this way has delivered on its promises.
Every claim below is footnoted. Check the sources yourself — that’s the point.
#NEVERDSAWhat DSA Actually Says About Itself
Not a caricature. Not a rumor. These are direct statements pulled from the Democratic Socialists of America’s own national website, dsausa.org.
“We are socialists because we reject an international economic order sustained by private profit, alienated labor, race and gender discrimination, environmental destruction, and brutality and violence in defense of the status quo.” [1]
— DSA, “About Us”
“DSA’s members are building progressive movements for social change while establishing an openly democratic socialist presence in American communities and politics... over 95,000 members.” [1]
— DSA, “About Us”
“On September 15, 2017, DSA endorsed Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All Act... a single-payer system, eliminating the healthcare insurance industry, funded in part by a wealth tax.” [2]
— DSA, official statement
“Solidarity with Palestinian civil society... a call to support BDS [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions].” [4]
— DSA National Convention resolution, 2017
CONTEXT — NOT DSA’s OWN WORDS
Independent watchdogs and journalists have documented DSA’s internal fights over anti-Zionism as an organizational litmus test, and its embrace of positions that critics — including the Anti-Defamation League — describe as crossing from criticism of Israeli policy into antisemitism. [5] [6] Reasonable people disagree on where that line is. Read the primary sources and decide for yourself.
Beyond the Slogans
“Democratic socialism” is a friendly label. Here is what specific DSA bodies, working groups, and DSA-published writers have actually put in writing, on DSA’s own platforms, about the machinery of the state.
Abolish ICE
DSA runs a standing “AbolishICE” organizing page and an official Abolish ICE Commission that coordinates rallies, lobbying, and direct action nationwide to eliminate Immigration and Customs Enforcement entirely and close detention centers, [13] [14] a position DSA says it has held “for over a decade.”
Defund the Police
DSA maintains a National Abolition Working Group whose stated mission includes “reducing the state’s carceral forces” and implementing demands to defund police departments, distributing toolkits to local chapters to run defund campaigns. [15] DSA’s own blog has debated turning that slogan into concrete policy — annual, mandatory cuts to police budgets and scope of enforcement. [16]
Replace the Constitution & Abolish the Senate
DSA’s national platform, “Workers Deserve More,” calls for drafting a new U.S. constitution, abolishing the Senate, and extending voting rights to all permanent residents — reporting confirmed by national press coverage of the proposal. [17] A DSA co-chair has separately and publicly defended abolishing the Senate, ICE, and prisons, and eliminating national borders over time. [21] DSA’s formal internal constitution and bylaws — a separate document governing the organization itself — are public and linked below for reference. [18]
Repeal the Right to Bear Arms
DSA has published pieces on its own national site arguing there is “no Second Amendment right to a gun” and calling for firearms to be restricted to organized militias like the National Guard, [19] and a separate DSA-published piece explicitly calling the Second Amendment “a threat to us all” and advocating for its repeal. [20] These ran as bylined opinion pieces on dsausa.org, not adopted convention resolutions — but DSA chose to publish and host them as its own editorial content.
Fairness note: DSA is a large, decentralized membership organization, and not every local chapter or every member holds every position above. But these are not fringe rumors — they are official working groups, national platform planks, and pieces DSA itself chose to publish under its own name. Judge the organization by what it puts in writing.
Their Platform, Plank by Plank
“Workers Deserve More” is DSA’s current official national program, published on its own site. [22] These are direct quotes, not summaries written by critics — though a widely-shared independent breakdown flagged many of these same planks as the platform’s most radical. [23]
Abolish the Senate & Electoral College
“Expand the House of Representatives, implement proportional representation and ranked choice voting in all elections, and abolish the Senate... Abolish the Electoral College.” [22]
Subordinate the President & Supreme Court to Congress
“Replace the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.” [22]
Draft an Entirely New Constitution
“We are workers fighting to transform society: to win the battle for democracy, draft a new constitution, and create a democratic socialist republic.” [22]
Abolish ICE & Grant Amnesty to All, Regardless of Status
“End ICE detention and deportations... Legalize migration, grant amnesty for all immigrants regardless of status, provide a path to citizenship for all permanent residents, and end visa caps and quotas.” [22]
Fully Abolish the Police and Prison System
“Demilitarize police departments, disempower police unions, and redirect funding to public services as steps towards fully abolishing the police and prison system which protects the rich and jails the poor.” [22]
Nationalize the Largest Corporations
“Establish public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries to ensure democratic control and accountability to the people.” [22]
Defund the Military & End Aid to Israel
“Defund the Department of War... End all military and economic aid to Israel. Prosecute U.S. and Israeli leaders responsible for the genocide in Gaza.” [22]
Voting Rights for Non-Citizens & Incarcerated Felons
“Extend full voting rights to all permanent U.S. residents and restore the right to vote for incarcerated people and people with criminal convictions.” [22]
Cancel All Student Debt, Free College for All
“Provide free, quality public education from pre-K to college and cancel all student debt.” [22]
Aggressive Wealth Taxes to Fund the Program
“Enact aggressive wealth taxes on the richest individuals and corporations to spend on public goods and infrastructure.” [22]
“We are workers fighting to transform society: to win the battle for democracy... not just this or that cop, judge, or president, but the entire anti-democratic structure of our society.”
— DSA, “Workers Deserve More,” Our Perspective [22]The Historical Record
DSA calls itself “democratic” socialism, distinct from 20th-century authoritarian regimes. Fair — the label is different. But the underlying economics — state control of production, price controls, hostility to private profit — have been run as real-world experiments. Here is what happened.
Venezuela
4th richest nation on Earth (1950s) → 76% extreme poverty
Under Hugo Chávez’s “Bolivarian Revolution” and Nicolás Maduro, the government nationalized industry, imposed strict price and currency controls, and funded expansive social programs off oil revenue. When oil prices fell, the model collapsed: inflation hit roughly 700% by 2016 and spiraled into hyperinflation after, [7] nearly 76% of the population now lives in extreme poverty, and an estimated 8 million people have fled the country. [9] [8]
Cuba
Once on par with Southern Europe → chronic shortages, ~40-45% poverty
A synthetic-control economic study estimates Cuba is roughly 55% poorer today than a version of itself without decades of socialist central planning — attributing only about 10% of that gap to the U.S. embargo Havana points to. [11] Researchers estimate 40–45% of Cubans currently live in poverty amid inflation and wage decline, [12] and the state still directly employs about 65% of the labor force. [10]
Every regime above began with promises of fairness, dignity, and an end to exploitation. The economics of central control over price, profit, and property produced the same failure mode each time, regardless of the intentions of the people who started it.
What You Can Actually Do
Check Your Registration
Confirm you're registered and know your precinct before every election, local and national.
Know Who's Endorsed
Look up whether a local candidate is DSA-endorsed before you vote. Their chapters publish endorsement lists publicly.
Read Primary Sources
Don't take this site's word for it either — read DSA's platform and the case studies below yourself.
Spread the Word
Share this page and tag it #NeverDSA so more people see what's actually in the platform.
Freedom is not the default setting.
Someone has to defend it.
Get In Touch
Spotted a source that needs updating? Have a local DSA-related tip? Just want to say something? Send us a message.
FOOTNOTES & SOURCES
- [1]DSA, "About Us" (official platform statement)
- [2]DSA, "DSA Endorses the Medicare for All Act of 2017"
- [3]DSA, "On the Struggle for Universal Health Care"
- [4]DSA National Convention, BDS Resolution (2017)
- [5]Anti-Defamation League, "Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)" backgrounder
- [6]The Nation, "The DSA Is at a Crossroads Over Palestine"
- [7]American Institute for Economic Research, "Venezuela: Socialism, Hyperinflation, and Economic Collapse"
- [8]Wikipedia, "Crisis in Venezuela"
- [9]The Policy Circle, "Socialism: A Case Study on Venezuela"
- [10]Wikipedia, "Economy of Cuba"
- [11]The Daily Economy (AIER), "Socialism, Not the Embargo, Explains Nearly All of Cuba's Poverty"
- [12]Columbia Law, Cuba Capacity Building Project, "An Approach to Poverty in Cuba"
- [13]DSA, "AbolishICE Resources" (official organizing page)
- [14]DSA, "Delaney Hall Statement of the DSA Abolish ICE Commission"
- [15]DSA, "Abolition Working Group" — official page (defund the police)
- [16]DSA, "Defund the Police? Turning a Slogan into Policy"
- [17]PBS NewsHour, "Republicans decry a new Democratic Socialists of America platform..."
- [18]DSA, "DSA Constitution & Bylaws" (official)
- [19]DSA, "There Is No Second Amendment Right To A Gun" (dsausa.org blog)
- [20]DSA, "The Second Amendment is a Threat to us All" (dsausa.org blog)
- [21]Yahoo News, "DSA co-chair embraces abolishing Senate, ICE, borders..."
- [22]DSA, "Workers Deserve More" — official national program (program.dsausa.org)
- [23]Michael Brodkorb, "The 10 Most Extreme Ideas in the DSA Platform"