The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have become a major force to contend with in U.S. politics, as seen in Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York and in a series of congressional electoral successes. However, while many see the DSA as an idealistic alternative to the status quo, their ideals are deeply rooted in dogmas held on faith, such as their faith in “economic democracy,” in the future promise of socialism, in the evil of Israel, and in the view of capitalism as inherently exploitative.

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Tristan de Liège and Ben Bayer expose the DSA’s agenda as a series of articles of faith, one based especially on a religious approach to morality.

Topics include:

• How democratic socialists conceive of exploitation

• Socialists’ obsession with democracy

• Evading socialism’s failures in the 20th century

• Why democratic socialists defend dictatorships like Iran and Venezuela

• How altruism sustains the belief in socialism

Resources:

• Ayn Rand Lexicon entry on “socialism”

• ARI Podcast, “What Democratic Socialists Truly Want,” Aug. 27, 2026

• ARI Podcast, “The Marxists’ Exploitation Myth,” Feb. 26, 2025

• Ben Bayer, “The Dishonesty of ‘Real Socialism Has Never Been Tried’,” New Ideal, Aug. 9, 2020

• Ben Bayer, “Meet the New Socialism, Same as the Old,” New Ideal, Sept. 2, 2019

• Ben Bayer, “One God Further: Preface to Breaking Free from Faith-Based Morality,” New Ideal, Oct. 6, 2026

This episode was recorded on October 28, 2026.