# Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 14, 2024, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264 "2024-11-14T22:30:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/1 "2024-11-14T22:30:38Z")
Would joining the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) make me one of Trump’s “enemies within”, a target of harassment by Trump’s jackbooted thugs? What harm could there be in joining the DSA? Does the DSA allow Veterans to join? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/2 "2024-11-14T22:37:55Z")
Go ahead and join. They don’t care if you’re a veteran and Trump equally doesn’t care if you’re a member. There is zero harm in joining. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/3 "2024-11-14T22:50:37Z")
> [@rippingtons\_fan](#): > > Would joining the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) make me one of Trump’s “enemies within”, Trump’s unspecified “enemies within” is a broad umbrella encompassing political opponents, civil servants and military officers who object to his illegal orders, ‘the media’ except for maybe _Fox & Friends_, any woman who have ever said “No” to him in any context, Samuel L. Jackson for publicly accusing him of cheating at golf, all _Daily Show_ correspondents and hosts (past and present), at least two of his children (reader’s choice), and former supplicants and hangers-on who are no longer of any use to him. We are _all_ Trump’s “enemies within”. Joining the DSA isn’t even going to ding the bell. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![songsoflovetrouble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@songsoflovetrouble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/songsoflovetrouble)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/4 "2024-11-14T22:58:33Z")
The DSA is basically the left wing of Trumpism. The only thing of importance that they disagree with him about is Israel. Otherwise they’re lock-step on all their priority issues - keep building housing illegal, support for Russia and Syria, America and constitutional government suck, the Democratic Party is the source of all the evil in the world, etc. Eventually, Juan Peron turned on his leftist supporters, and eventually Trump will do the same, but for now, no, you’re way down the list of potential “enemies.” ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/5 "2024-11-14T23:15:52Z")
I don’t want in any way to be associated with Trumpism. Would the Socialist Party USA be an anti-Trump alternative? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/6 "2024-11-14T23:37:26Z")
> [@rippingtons\_fan](#): > > Would joining the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) make me one of Trump’s “enemies within”, a target of harassment by Trump’s jackbooted thugs? No, he’d probably send you a MAGA coffee mug and a note of thanks for helping him own the libs and get elected. If you really want to get on his enemies list, become a librarian or a schoolteacher, or Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2024, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/7 "2024-11-15T00:01:41Z")
> [@songsoflovetrouble](#): > > The DSA is basically the left wing of Trumpism. Yes, this snippet from their home page indicates how much they have in common: “The Democratic Socialists of America are fighting to win a world organized and governed by and for the vast majority, the working class. We are _socialist_ because we share a vision of a humane social order based on popular control of resources and production, economic planning, equitable distribution, feminism, racial equality and non-oppressive relationships. We are _democratic_ because we know that this transformation cannot be won from the top down, by a small group of elites who claim to have all the answers, or by even well-meaning politicians. This transformation can only come from the bottom up, when millions of working-class people stand together. DSA organizes to realize our working-class collective power, which stems from the reliance of the capitalist economy on our labor. Democracy is necessary to win a socialist society. Socialism is the complete realization of democracy.” Notwithstanding the above, I expect Stranger’s observation, that “Joining the DSA isn’t even going to ding the bell,” is likely correct. At the same time, blaming the DSA for Trump is progressive orthodoxy and militant centrism at their worst. ---
**Author:** ![songsoflovetrouble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@songsoflovetrouble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/songsoflovetrouble)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/8 "2024-11-15T00:06:56Z")
I’ll continue judging both the DSA and Trump on their actions, not their press releases. I put as much stock in the DSA’s mission statement as I do in the notion that what Trump wants is to “make America great.” ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2024, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/9 "2024-11-15T06:11:30Z")
> [@rippingtons\_fan](#): > > I don’t want in any way to be associated with Trumpism. Would the Socialist Party USA be an anti-Trump alternative? Trump has no politics beyond individual personal grievance. He doesn’t care what you believe, unless you insult him specifically and personally, because he has no beliefs of his own beyond “greed and power are everything” and “I am the bestest boy ever, yes I am, yes I am.” You can join every organization in the world with Socialist in its name and he won’t even notice, but if you wear a shirt reading “Trump is a diaper-wearing loser,” he will dedicate part of his tiny shriveled lizard brain to hating you forever. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2024, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/10 "2024-11-15T14:48:39Z")
Regardless of the (de-)merits of DSA, anyone such as the OP who is worried about getting on some shit list needs to read this post: > [@Surprises coming for voters for the Leopards-Eating-Faces Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprises-coming-for-voters-for-the-leopards-eating-faces-party/1010166/177): > > Josh Marshall, gifted link: During harrowing times some people become overwhelmed and even lose hope. It’s not a one-way progress. Almost everyone has their moments. But there’s a particular kind of militant doomerism afoot at the moment. Any discussions of next steps in the battle against Trumpism or the preservation of civic democracy, any suggestions or strategies, are met with a chorus of, “don’t you get how it worked under Hitler and Stalin!!?!” Or “don’t you know rules don’t matter to Do… The moment you find yourself worrying about getting on a shit list is the moment the terrorists have won. Or at least won their battle to own _you_. Don’t let them do that. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2024, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/11 "2024-11-16T04:14:13Z")
The DSA doesn’t run candidates that spoil elections, unlike the Green Party. They grew in size following the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign. Membership peaked and plateaued in 2021 and declined thereafter. As normies drifted away, strident members gained greater power within the organization: in 2023 a greater share of Marxists and revolutionary socialists were appointed to the National Political Committee. I am personally unthrilled with the DSA’s foreign policy following the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. Noah Smith argued a year ago that [Western Leftists have Lost the Plot](https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/western-leftists-have-lost-the-plot). The views of Noah Smith are not dispositive, but they deserve consideration. Which wing of the left of center is best positioned to oppose fascism and support America’s 240 year experiment with democracy? Hard to say, but in this context a related question might be, “Which publications are worth supporting with a subscription”? If you are somewhat dubious about _Jacobin_ or think that it compares poorly to _The Nation_, _The New Republic_, _The American Prospect_, or the _Washington Monthly_, then you might want to vear away from the DSA. If you like the _Jacobin_ and oppose spoilers like the Green Party, then perhaps your voice inside the DSA might be a constructive one. ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/12 "2024-12-18T22:55:39Z")
Would joining the Socialist Party just be painting a target on my back for Trump? Would I be subject to harassment and persecution (or prosecution) from Trump and his goons? I also support organizations like Black Lives Matter, Color of Change and the NAACP. Is that also going to bring me unwanted attention from fascist Trump? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/13 "2024-12-18T23:07:23Z")
You started the same thread 4 weeks ago. See > [@Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264): > > Would joining the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) make me one of Trump’s “enemies within”, a target of harassment by Trump’s jackbooted thugs? What harm could there be in joining the DSA? Does the DSA allow Veterans to join? I doubt the actual answer has changed since then. I’m sure our knowledge of the future hasn’t ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/14 "2024-12-18T23:28:24Z")
You’ll be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/15 "2024-12-18T23:31:51Z")
During the First World War, the Industrial Workers of the World, or IWW, was put on the Attorney-General’s list of subversive organizations. If you were a member of an organization on that list, you were very unlikely to be drafted, because, well, subversive. Rumour or perhaps urban legend has it that the IWW remained on the list well into the Vietnam war, and so for the nominal initiation fee of $2 and monthly dues of $2, one could avoid being drafted. So joining the DSA might bring an advantage in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-socialists-of-america-dsa/1010264/16 "2024-12-19T01:07:36Z")
Ninety percent of Trumpism is the reality that nobody cares about you. “You” meaning most individuals in the county. People have resented that reality for a long time. Somehow Trump, in classic con man style, manged to convey a sense that he cared, even though to outsiders he obviously cares less about you than any human being ever has. Trump manifests this lack of caring in virtually every act he takes and every word he speaks, and this lack has been especially apparent since the election. Today’s scrapping of a bipartisan budget bill and the threat of closing down the government over Christmas is proof. Socialists? Trump doesn’t even know the word. Go join any organization with socialist in the title. **Trump doesn’t care about you.** Since we live in an upside-down world, doing so might please him. Remember that USSR stood for Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Trump is a Russian asset, so he may buddy up to you if you explain the connection. Sad to say, you can’t get even get arrested any more for being a socialist.