1982
DSA Founded as
Marxist Organization
92K+
Current Members
Nationwide
7
DSA Members
in U.S. Congress
100%
Socialism Failure
Rate — Globally
// Their Own Words — DSA National Platform 2021
What DSA Actually Believes

// Anti-Capitalism
DSA Rejects Capitalism — Entirely
This is not a fringe interpretation. It is the opening position of DSA's national platform, published on DSA.org and ratified by the national convention.
"We are socialists because we reject an international economic order sustained by private profit, alienated labor, brutal force, and the elevation of property rights over human rights."
DSA National Platform 2021 — Published on DSA.org — Ratified by National Convention
// Abolish Police
DSA Calls for Abolishing Police, Prisons, and ICE
DSA's official platform calls for abolishing ICE, defunding police, and closing prisons. This is not a moderate reform position — it is the elimination of federal immigration enforcement and the dismantling of the criminal justice system. Avila Chevalier: "All deportations are wrong" — including for convicted criminals. AOC voted NO on additional Capitol Police funding after January 6.
"We call for the abolition of ICE and all detention facilities, and the decriminalization of all immigration status offenses."
DSA National Platform 2021 — Immigration Section — DSA.org
// Housing Seizure
Mamdani's Plan: Strip Buildings from Landlords
Mamdani's NYC housing platform includes stripping rental buildings from landlords and transferring them to tenant ownership. DSA's national platform calls for universal rent control and social housing — government ownership of residential real estate. This is not rent stabilization. It is property seizure.
"Social housing — publicly owned, community controlled, permanently affordable — must replace the speculative housing market."
DSA National Platform 2021 — Housing Section · Mamdani Campaign Platform 2025
// Medicare for All
Eliminate Private Health Insurance
DSA's Medicare for All platform calls for the complete elimination of private health insurance in the United States. Not a public option. Not expanded Medicare eligibility. Total elimination of the private market covering 180 million Americans. All seven DSA members of Congress have co-sponsored Medicare for All legislation.
"DSA demands the elimination of private health insurance and the establishment of a single-payer system covering all residents."
DSA National Platform 2021 — Healthcare Section — DSA.org
// Green New Deal
Government Control of Energy Production
DSA's climate platform calls for government ownership of energy production — not regulation of private energy companies, but the direct replacement of the private energy sector with government-run utilities. The estimated cost of the DSA-backed Green New Deal is $93 trillion over ten years.
"Public ownership of energy production is not optional — it is the only path to a just and sustainable economy."
DSA Green New Deal Resolution 2019 — National Convention
// Where Socialism Has Been Tried
The Track Record

Venezuela — DSA's Praised Model

DSA members praised Hugo Chavez's socialist government as recently as 2019. The result: 7.7 million refugees — the largest refugee crisis in the Western Hemisphere — from what was once the richest country in South America. Oil-rich Venezuela now has a 76% poverty rate under Maduro's socialist government. Food rationing is standard. Basic medicine is unavailable.

7.7M
Refugees — Largest in Western Hemisphere
76%
Poverty Rate Under Socialism
#1
Oil Reserves — Couldn't Feed Its People

Cuba — 65 Years of Socialism

Cuba's socialist system has produced food rationing since 1962, political imprisonment, internet shutdowns, and a mass exodus. Over 1.5 million Cubans fled to the U.S. in 2022-2023 alone — the largest migration wave in Cuban history. The average Cuban earns $30/month. Basic goods are rationed. Dissidents are imprisoned.

1962
Food Rationing Began — Never Ended
1.5M
Cubans Fled to U.S. — 2022-2023
$30
Average Monthly Wage

North Korea — Communism's Logical End

North Korean defector Yeonmi Park has testified that American universities now teach the same collectivist ideology she fled. Kim Jong-Un's communist dictatorship produces mass starvation, prison camps for political dissidents, and total information control. An estimated 100,000-200,000 people are held in political prison camps. The state controls every aspect of life.

200K
Political Prisoners — Estimated
42%
Population Undernourished
0
Free Elections — Ever
// They Lived It
Survivor Testimony

// North Korea Defector
Yeonmi Park
NK DefectorColumbia University
North Korean defector and human rights activist. Testified before Congress. Studied at Columbia University — where Avila Chevalier co-founded Columbia Apartheid Divest — and was shocked to find the same collectivist ideology being taught in American classrooms that she had fled in North Korea.
Source: TED Talk 2019 · Fox News Interview 2021 · Congressional Testimony · Verified
// Venezuelan Refugee
"We Voted for This. Don't."
Venezuela RefugeeSocialism Survivor
Venezuelan refugees who fled Maduro's socialist government — the system DSA members praised as recently as 2019 — have become some of the most vocal opponents of DSA's platform. "We had elections too. We voted for socialism. We lost everything." Their testimony is documented and verified.
Source: PragerU · Venezuelan Refugee Testimony · Verified
// Cuban Refugee
"I Fled Socialism. Now I See It Here."
Cuba RefugeeSocialism Survivor
Cuban refugees who survived 65 years of socialist government describe in detail the progression from promise to rationing to imprisonment. Their accounts of the initial popular support for Fidel Castro's revolution and its aftermath are a direct parallel to the DSA's current electoral trajectory.
Source: PragerU · Cuban Refugee Testimony · Verified
Watch Their Testimony in the Media Library →

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