How Socialist Is the D.S.A.? Megan Romer Explains
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The New Yorker Radio Hour is a co-production of WNYC and The New Yorker.
Welcome to the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. One of the biggest stories in American politics right now is the emergence of democratic socialism as a force on the national stage. That surge really began with Bernie Sanders' run for president in 2016.
The forty hour work week, collective bargaining, the rights of workers to engage in negotiations were all described in one way or another as socialist.
Then Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her seat in Congress as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and she really put the DSA on the map for a lot of Americans, particularly younger people. Zorin Mamdani is also a DSA member, and his election has had a galvanizing effect on young voters well beyond New York City. As of now, the DSA lists seven candidates for Congress who have won primaries against more establishment Democrats. Now that is hardly a sweep of the Democratic Party. But these candidates are commanding outsized attention. But when I talk to individual members of the DSA.
How did democratic socialism become a national political force?
It's not always easy to tell what the group stands for or where those members stand within the DSA. When I talked to Nithia Raman last week, or Mayor Mam Dani, or to EOC a while back. They often sound, at least to my ear, more like FDR Democrats than followers of Karl Marx. Abdul El Said, the Michigan Senate candidate, shares some policy goals with DSA. But he's not part of the group at all. In fact, he told me on this show the other day that he's a capitalist. So, how socialist is democratic socialism in America these days? That's just been one of my many questions about the group and what it stands for. To get more of a purchase on the subject. I sat down to talk with the co chair of the DSA, Meghan Romer.
Now you may have seen a clip of Roma recently on Fox News. Where she seemed happy to do a lightning round on the group's more radical positions.
Abolish the Senate. True. Okay, replace the presidency and supreme court as we now know them. Abolish ICE. Absolutely.
Abolish borders and give amnesty to anyone currently Now I should note that Romer stressed to me that she doesn't make policy for the DSA. Her job is to represent and implement the agenda that the members themselves vote on. I spoke with Megan Romer this past week. Megan, let's start with first principles. What to your mind is democratic socialism?
So uh just very simply, it is people having a democratic say so in all of the things that they need to survive. So democratic control of their workplace, democratic control of their housing, and democracy in w what we already know as democracy in the political process.
Okay. So that's that proposes about a million questions. What does democracy in the workplace mean? Does everybody get a vote on what we're gonna do today, tomorrow, and the next day?
But the way we look at it is mostly um probably pretty similar to how a unionized workplace would work today. Um, you get to collectively decide with your coworkers what uh demands you wanna make of your boss, what what your schedule looks like, what your working environment looks like, and negotiate collectively with with whoever the boss is.
Okay, but that sounds like simple unionization, which we already have, even though unions are not in the best spot they've ever been in this country.
That's true. Um, so we'd like to see everybody have a union. Right now I I it's it's quite low. It's it's in the in the teens, I think, uh, percentage of of unionized workplaces. We think everybody should have a union of some sort.
And what does it mean for the larger economics of of a country, uh for example, you know, Google or Apple or you know, the biggest corporations in the country? Are th are they no longer privately owned under democratic socialism?
Well, that's a good question. And and uh we specifically say that the industries that you need power. Um, I would say that the internet is is a necessity at this point. You can't really function without it. Um Water, things things like this.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–1:18
2
How did democratic socialism become a national political force?
1:18–10:49
3
What does Megan Romer define as democratic socialism?
10:49–12:56
4
How does the DSA envision workers’ control of the workplace and housing?
12:56–17:37
5
Does the DSA support public ownership of major industries?
17:37–33:58
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The New Yorker Radio Hour
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