Part Three: The Democratic Socialists of America’s Official Program
By this point, a fair-minded reader may still raise an entirely reasonable objection.
“All you’ve shown is that revolutionary caucuses exist inside the DSA.”
That is true.
Large organizations often contain ideological minorities.
The relevant question is whether those revolutionary aspirations remain confined to internal caucuses—or whether they increasingly shape the official direction of the organization itself.
Fortunately, we do not have to speculate.
The Democratic Socialists of America has published its own national political program.
Anyone can read it.
I encourage readers to do exactly that.
Because once again, the most persuasive witness is the organization itself.
Beyond Reform
One of the striking features of the DSA’s current program is that it does not read like a collection of isolated policy proposals.
It presents a comprehensive vision for restructuring American political life.
Some proposals will sound familiar.
- Expanded labor protections.
- Universal healthcare.
- Housing reform.
- Greater public investment.
Those have long been debated within American politics.
But woven throughout the platform is something much larger.
It repeatedly envisions replacing—not merely reforming—major features of America’s constitutional order.
Among its proposals are calls for:
- a new democratic constitution;
- proportional representation replacing the current electoral structure;
- fundamental restructuring of national political institutions;
- public ownership of major sectors of the economy;
- abolition of what the platform describes as the “carceral forces of the capitalist state”;
- broad immigration amnesty;
- dramatically reduced American military commitments;
- and a democratic socialist republic organized around an entirely different understanding of political power.
My point is simple.
This is not Scandinavian social democracy. This is constitutional transformation.
The Language of Abolition
Even more revealing is a word that appears repeatedly throughout DSA literature.
Abolition.
Over the last several years we have heard repeated calls to abolish:
- police.
- ICE.
- prisons.
- gender.
- the nuclear family.
- capitalism.
- Western civilization.
Increasingly, abolition has become one of the defining instincts of revolutionary politics.
The DSA has not been immune to that instinct.
Earlier convention documents, particularly the 2021 platform drafts, openly embraced the “8 to Abolition” framework.
Among its commitments were:
- cutting police budgets annually toward zero;
- the long-term abolition of police;
- abolition of prisons;
- abolishing ICE;
- ending deportations;
- dismantling major components of federal immigration enforcement.
To be fair, the current 2026 program moderates some of that language.
The rhetoric is more measured.
The presentation is more polished.
But the trajectory remains unmistakable.
The organization increasingly imagines justice not primarily through reform, but through replacement.
That observation extends well beyond policing.
It appears repeatedly throughout the movement’s understanding of economics, constitutional government, criminal justice, immigration, education, and foreign policy.
As an example, in the area of constitution government, proposals to get rid of the electoral college, the Senate and the Supreme Court are frequently expressed.
The instinct is consistently revolutionary rather than restorative.
“Our Goal Is Communism.”
By this point we can finally return to the quotation that opened this essay.
David Jenkins’ statement:
“Our goal is communism.”
When I first encountered those words, they sounded almost unbelievable.
Now they sound considerably less surprising.
Notice what I am not saying.
I am not saying that every DSA member shares David Jenkins’ objective.
I am not saying that tomorrow’s America will resemble Stalin’s Soviet Union.
Nor am I suggesting that every progressive Christian secretly longs for communist revolution.
Those would be irresponsible claims.
What I am saying is this.
When:
- revolutionary Marxist caucuses increasingly shape leadership;
- internal documents speak openly of party-building and Bolshevik traditions;
- communist caucuses hold significant influence on the National Political Committee;
- official platforms call for sweeping constitutional transformation;
- and a national leader publicly declares,
- “Our goal is communism,”
Christians should stop dismissing that statement as merely an unfortunate slip of the tongue.
It is consistent with the direction of the movement itself.
That does not prove where the Democratic Socialists of America will ultimately arrive.
History remains unwritten.
But it does tell us something important about the aspirations of many of those who increasingly lead it.
And aspirations matter.
Especially when they concern the reconstruction of an entire political order.
A Better Question
By now, I suspect some readers remain unconvinced.
Perhaps they should.
Healthy skepticism is a virtue.
But I would simply ask them to consider a different question.
Suppose another political movement openly described itself using the language of ethnic nationalism, authoritarianism, or theocracy.
Would Christians be content simply to dismiss those statements as rhetorical excess?
Or would we rightly insist on taking people seriously when they tell us what they believe?
Consistency requires that we apply the same standard here.
My purpose has not been to frighten.
Nor to score partisan points.
It has been to encourage Christians to do something surprisingly simple.
Read.
- Read the platforms.
- Read the convention proceedings.
- Read the caucuses.
- Read the publications.
- Read the leadership debates.
- Read the movement in its own words.
Only then are we in a position to decide whether today’s Democratic Socialists of America is best understood as a slightly more generous version of Scandinavian social democracy—or as something considerably more ambitious.
I have reached my own conclusion.
I invite you to reach yours.
DSA Documents
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