An Elastic View of Socialism

Zohran Mamdani, once an obscure member of the New York State Assembly, is now the Democratic nominee (2025) for mayor of New York City. In a keynote speech at the Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) national convention in Chicago, Mamdani emphasized the significance of being part of the DSA.

“We are special because of our organization,” said Mr. Mamdani, referring to himself and other DSA lawmakers. What makes the organization special is its “sincerity.” Unlike other political groups, he insisted, “We mean what we say.”

A Committed Socialist

Leaving little room for doubt, Mamdani assured listeners that DSA has a “socialist politics”, adding, “Socialism is our theory, and DSA is our practice.”

The DSA platform asserts that the war it wages would end exploitation. In “overcoming the old, barbaric order of capitalism, the working class will not only liberate itself from its own shackles, but all of humanity from the parasitic death-drive of capitalism.” To end exploitation and win liberation, here are DSA’s considerations:

• Nationalization of railroads, utilities, critical manufacturing, technology companies, institutions of monetary policy, insurance, real estate, and finance.
• Public ownership of hospitals and other healthcare providers.
• Government control of food production with a call to “socialize the agricultural system.”
• “Social ownership” of the media and internet providers.

Faltering under Mamdani

Controlling society doesn’t end with the aforementioned criteria. To liberate society, the DSA also demands that the U.S. work toward collapsing the criminal justice system, reports William A.  Gelston in the WSJ. Along with defunding the police, the DSA also would:

• free all prisoners and other incarcerated people from involuntary confinement
• end policing of black and brown neighborhoods
• disarm all law enforcement officers
• repeal local ordinances that criminalize people involved in the sex and drug “trades”

The DSA platform also weighs in on social and cultural issues, continues Mr. Galston.

• Its immigration plank calls for the demilitarization of the border, an end to all immigrant detention and deportation, and the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
• Immediate, unconditional amnesty for all immigrants, regardless of legal status.
• “Universal rent control” is DSA’s housing feature.
• On healthcare, it would allow minors to obtain “gender-affirming care” without parental consent. It also advocates such treatments, including hormone replacement therapy and surgery, for all prisoners who request it.

Not resting on its laurels, the DSA puts forth a comprehensive foreign and defense policy:

• Dramatic cuts in U.S. military spending
• Immediate withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• Ending U.S. military aid to all governments
• Closing all U.S. military bases in foreign countries.
• Israel gets special treatment: Not only should the U.S. end all aid to Israel, but it also must oppose the normalization of relations between Israel and any other government. The U.S. should normalize relations with Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, and other countries targeted for “resisting U.S. imperialism.”
• Unexpectedly agreeing with the Trump administration, the DSA platform calls for the abolition of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Voice of America, and the National Endowment for Democracy.

The DSA’s rationale, however, is decidedly non-MAGA—the claim that these organizations “cynically disguise capitalist control as aid and journalism.”

Zohran Mamdani is the leading mayoral Democrat candidate for NYC. His opponents equate his platform with that of DSA. Countering this warning, Mamdani argues that his platform is different from that of the national DSA. Mamdani says some of his views have changed, especially on criminal justice.

Under continuing pressure from opponent Andrew Cuomo, (Mamdani) has said that “if you cannot find a policy on my website, then that is not a policy that I am running on.”

A time-tested campaign tactic is repudiating unpopular positions, Mr. Galston reminds readers.  Doubts, however, linger.

What Mr. Mamdani is running on isn’t the totality of what he believes. If he’s elected mayor, as seems likely, he will become a leading voice in the Democratic Party and will shape public perceptions of the party’s identity.

Democrats who endorse his candidacy are sending a message: There’s room in the party for members of an organization many of whose policies the electorate rejected in 2024, and whose commitment to socialism is shared by only a minority of the American people.