“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” — John Adams

“Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” — Winston Churchill

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” — Abraham Lincoln

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The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) was founded in 1982 primarily by author and political activist Edward Michael Harrington Jr.

Edward Michael Harrington Jr. (1928–1989) was an influential American political writer, public intellectual, and democratic socialist leader. He is best known for his ground-breaking 1962 book, The Other America, which exposed widespread poverty in the United States and served as a major catalyst for President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty initiatives.

• Political Leadership: He was a prominent figure in American leftist politics and served as a founder and the first chairman of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in 1982.

The organization was created through the merger of two left-wing groups:

• Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC): Founded in 1973 by Michael Harrington (who had split from the Socialist Party of America).
• New American Movement (NAM): Founded in 1971 by activists including Michael Lerner, emerging out of the New Left and feminist movements.

Harrington, famous for his influential 1962 book The Other America (which helped inspire President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty which created the Medicare, Medicaid, and Head Start programs), served as the DSA’s first chairman until his death in 1989.

Harrington rejected the notion that poverty was the result of individual laziness or moral failure.

The DSA Platform

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) outline their platform around replacing capitalism with a system based on collective ownership, worker democracy, and social equality. Their core policy priorities center on key social, political, and economic reforms:

Economic Democracy & Worker Power

• Public Ownership: Socializing and nationalizing key sectors of the economy—such as finance, energy, and major utilities—under public or worker-cooperative control.
• Union Protections: Passing legislation like the PRO Act, expanding collective bargaining rights to all workers (including gig and undocumented workers), and supporting union organizing.
• Wealth Redistribution: Enacting heavy wealth taxes on corporations and high earners to finance public goods, alongside capping working hours (e.g., a 32-hour workweek).

Universal Social Goods

• Healthcare for All: Establishing a single-payer, free universal healthcare system (Medicare for All) that covers full physical, mental, reproductive, and gender-affirming care.
• Housing as a Human Right: Expanding social and public housing, instituting universal rent control, prohibiting market evictions, and ending homelessness.
• Green New Deal: Transitioning the energy grid to 100% publicly owned renewables, decarbonizing the economy, and guaranteeing green jobs for displaced workers.

Political & Judicial Reforms

• Democratic Restructuring: Expanding the House of Representatives, abolishing the Senate, eliminating the Electoral College in favor of a national popular vote, and adding seats or term limits to the Supreme Court.
• Expanding Voting Rights: Granting voting rights to non-citizens, restoring voting rights to incarcerated individuals, and granting statehood to Washington, D.C. and U.S. territories.

Civil Rights & Social Justice

• Criminal Justice Reform: Demilitarizing and defunding police departments, abolishing mass incarceration, and redirecting resources toward social programs and mental health infrastructure.
• Immigration & Equity: Abolishing ICE, ending deportations, granting legal status and citizenship paths for all undocumented immigrants, and strengthening legal protections against discrimination.

Anti-Imperialist Foreign Policy

• Demilitarization: Reducing federal military spending, closing overseas bases, and ending U.S. military aid foreign interventions.
• International Solidarity: Ending economic sanctions/embargoes and supporting global movements, including explicit endorsement of Palestinian liberation and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

WATCH: Clips from the Democrat Socialists of America National Convention

The Bottom Line

Based on all of the above we find that the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America is:

1. Anti-The U.S. Constitution
2. Anti-The Bill of Rights
3. Anti-American
4. Anti-Christian
5. Anti-Semetic
6. Anti-Capitalism
7. Anti-Life
8. Anti-Liberty
9. Anti-Family
10. Anti-Freedom
11. Anti-Gun Rights
12. Anti-Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

If your disagee with our analysis please leave a comment below.

©2026 Dr. Richard M. Swier, LTC U.S.. All rights reserved.

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