Democratic Socialism

Democratic Socialists falsely assert that their goal to replace capitalism with socialism is merely democratic “reform”.  But Megan Romer, National Co-Chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, and Gustavo Gordillo, Co-Chair of the New York City Chapter of the Democratic Socialists, freely acknowledge the following goals of the movement [1][2][3][4[][5]:

• Eliminate the US Senate.  This is mischaracterized as an attempt to equalize the vote, although the Founding Fathers (who greatly feared mob rule) created the Senate for the very purpose of giving citizens residing in smaller states an equal voice with those in larger, more populous ones. 
• Replace the President and the Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to the Congress.  This proposal would do away with the system of checks and balances put in place by the Founding Fathers to prevent any one branch of government from becoming too powerful, and would politicize the federal judiciary (something the Founding Fathers expressly sought to avoid).
• Pass aggressive wealth taxes on the richest individuals and corporations to spend on public goods and infrastructure.  This is a vague promise to benefit the population at large, but would likely distress the 1.4 – 1.7 million African-American and 1.57 million Hispanic millionaires whose families worked for generations so that they could achieve that status [8][[9][10].  It ignores the fact that taxes on the ordinary worker would have to increase substantially to support the welfare state socialism proposes to establish. Meanwhile, the public ownership which characterizes communism is clearly part of the plan, something likely to replace small businesses with government monopolies [19].  Never mind that state run economies like this failed massively in the Soviet Union, China, East Germany, and elsewhere [11][12][13][17A].
• Abolish ICE. Provide amnesty for all immigrants with the long-term goal of eliminating national borders.  The possibility that even the vast resources of the United States might not be sufficient to sustain all those desiring to come here is casually brushed aside.  Who would prevent drug gangs and terrorists from entering the country is not addressed. Instead, the United States is labeled “imperialistic”.  Once it has made reparations to all those nations over which it has supposedly exercised unjust control, they will flourish to such an extent no one will want or need to emigrate to the United States.  So goes the theory. Of course, decimating the economy through public ownership may have the same effect.
• Defund the Department of War.  Enact reparations; recognize all treaties and tribal sovereignty.  This would immediately make the United States vulnerable to its enemies on the promise of slavery reparations and the return of tribal lands.  Presumably, ownership of all or most of the United States would have to be returned to Native Americans without regard to the millions of others who have lived and died here since 1492 AD. Those immigrants apparently do not warrant amnesty.
• Demilitarize police departments, disempower police unions, and redirect funding to public services as steps toward fully abolishing the police and prison system.  That bears repeating:  fully abolishing the police and prison system.  When pressed about this, Romer puts forward the specious argument that most crime is the result of poverty and poverty would be abolished, thereby eliminating crime and the need to imprison anyone.  Indeed, according to her, even the worst criminals – the serial killers, murderers, rapists, child molesters – could be peaceably housed away from the rest of society…presumably where they could prey upon one another.  While studies have found that poverty does increase the risk of criminal behavior, there are multiple factors at play, and many more of the poor are victimized by crime than involved with it [6][7].  Billions in poverty worldwide lead law abiding lives.  Nor would the elimination of poverty prevent crime.  The corrupt Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, and the corrupt New Orleans mayors Ray Nagin and LaToya Cantrell were not living in poverty. Bernie Madoff, the architect of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, was never a destitute child.  Nor, for that matter, were the wealthy young thrill killers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, or the serial killer and real estate heir Robert Durst. Osama bin Laden was the son of a billionaire.
• Until police can be abolished, empower civilian oversight bodies with real authority over the police.  This, of course, suggests that civilian oversight bodies have no such authority currently.  That is simply not the case.  While the authority of civilian review boards varies from one jurisdiction to another, police themselves are subject to the law.  They do not operate with impunity outside it.  Internal Affairs Divisions exist within police departments across the country for the specific purpose of investigating civilian complaints and alleged corruption.
• Prosecute US and Israeli leaders responsible for the “genocide” in Gaza.  There has been no genocide in Gaza, despite propaganda to the contrary.  This caters directly, therefore, to antisemitism.

Promises are liberally made by Democratic Socialists of a universal income, universal healthcare, free education, and free childcare.  The emphasis, however, is always on class and racial conflict.

An Appeal to Emotion

It is difficult to understand how anyone could seriously believe these promises or find an agenda like this attractive.  But the promises and the agenda are not put forward for thoughtful consideration.  They are intended to evoke feelings of jealousy and resentment:  The world is unfair.  I deserve better. Someone must be to blame.  The system has to be rigged. Destroy the system.

This smacks of entitlement more than reform.

Why Socialism Fails

Unfortunately, socialism conflicts with self-interest, undermines incentive, and centralizes economic decision making [14].  That leads not only to inefficiency, but economic stagnation [15A][16A].  Worse yet, it leads to corruption, censorship, repression, and authoritarian rule as in the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela [15B][16B][17B].

Biblical View

While the Bible does not speak of capitalism as such, it does speak at length about personal responsibility, work, property rights, and wealth.  The principles laid out in the Bible are consistent with fair free-market practices [18]. The importance of hard work is emphasized ((Prov. 12: 11; Prov. 21: 20; 2 Thess. 3: 10).  The rightful ownership of property is recognized; theft is forbidden (Ex. 20: 15). Wealth is coupled with an obligation to care for the less fortunate (Lev. 19: 9-10; Deut. 15: 7-8; Luke 3: 11).

No economic system is untainted by greed, dishonesty, and exploitation. These are evidence of the “sin nature” of mankind. A socialist state may eliminate private property, and enforce conformity. It will not change human nature, reward merit, increase prosperity, or inspire virtue.

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[1]  Social Democrats of America, https://socialists.us/.

[2]  Democratic Socialists of America, https://www.dsausa.org/.

[3]  Wikipedia, “Social Democrats, USA”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Democrats,_USA

[4]  Wikipedia, “Democratic Socialists of America”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Socialists_of_America.

[5]  YouTube, “EXPOSED:  Democratic Socialist leaders GRILLED on radical new agenda”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYjvRM5kuvQ&t=55s.

[6]  Independent Institute, “Does Poverty Cause Crime – Or Does Crime Cause Poverty?” by Scott Beyer, 5/18/26, https://www.independent.org/article/2026/05/18/does-poverty-cause-crime-or-does-crime-cause-poverty/.

[7]  City Journal, “Poverty and Violent Crime Don’t Go Hand in Hand” by Barry Latzer, 5/25/22, https://www.city-journal.org/article/poverty-and-violent-crime-dont-go-hand-in-hand.

[8]  Expert Beacon, “How Many Black Millionaires Are There in America Today?” by Iyanuoluwa Taiwo, 3/19/24, https://expertbeacon.com/how-many-black-millionaires-in-america/.

[9]  Balancing Everything, “Millionaire Statistics”, 2/16/24, https://balancingeverything.com/millionaire-statistics/.

[10]  The Global Statistics, “Number of American Millionaires Statistics 2026 – Millionaires by Race, Age, City & Year”,https://www.theglobalstatistics.com/number-of-american-millionaires-statistics/.

[11]  Investopia, “USSR Economic Collapse:  Key Events and Causes” by Matthew Johnston, 2/19/26, https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/021716/why-ussr-collapsed-economically.asp.

[12]  Social Studies Help, “The Fall of the Soviet Union and Its Economic Aftermath”, https://socialstudieshelp.com/economics/the-fall-of-the-soviet-union-and-its-economic-aftermath/.

[13]  Wikipedia, “Great Chinese Famine”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chinese_Famine.

[14]  Psychology Today, “Why Socialism Fails” by Gary Bernard and Kalman Glantz PhD, 1/15/20, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolution-in-daily-life/202001/why-socialism-fails.

[15A and 15B]  Adam Smith Institute, “Why socialism doesn’t work” by Madsen Pirie, https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/why-socialism-doesnt-work.

[16A and 16B] Frederick R. Smith, “Why Socialism Still Fails”, 12/12/25, https://frederickrsmith.substack.com/p/why-socialism-still-fails.

[17A and 17B] Cornell Review, “Yes, Real Socialism Has Been Tried — And It Has Failed Every Time” by Matthew Xiao, 2/17/22, https://www.thecornellreview.org/yes-real-socialism-has-been-tried-and-it-has-failed-every-time/.

[18]  BibleHub, “Bible’s View on Capitalism?”, https://biblehub.com/q/bible’s_view_on_capitalism.htm.

[19] Yahoo!, “Bodega owners sue Mamdani over city-run grocery stores plan” by Chris Wade, 8/25/26, https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/bodega-owners-sue-mamdani-over-135900237.html.

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