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Organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) continue to gain prominence, growing from 24,000 members in 2017 to 92,000 members today. So, what is Democratic Socialism? Democratic socialism is fairly easy to define based on the two components of its name: democratic, meaning rule by the people, and socialism, meaning that the workers own the means of production.

The first principle seeks to mend the source of many criticisms of forms of socialism, putting the direct will of the people above all else andfullysubjecting any structures of power to the desires of the people not those holding office. This focus on democracyis enshrinedin the national DSA Constitution and the constitutions of every local DSA chapter.

The second workers owning the means of production is the central end goal of the labor movement, which democratic socialists wholeheartedly support.Whether fromin-depth economic analyses like Capital or through observing historical and modern material conditions, socialists agree on one central principle: theliberation of the masses at large the working masses can only come from those masses owning the means of production. These two principles are agreed upon by all members of DSA, even those who do not consider themselves democratic socialists.

As an organization, DSA does not form an ideological hegemony; a wide variety of political views are represented throughout chapters around the country. Instead, members are committed to one shared goal: to progress society however they can. Thanks to their popularity as members of Congress, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezare commonly cited as examples of democratic socialists. Most socialists would not consider them such. Instead, they are considered social democrats a capitalist designation developing out of a regression from the principles of prior socialist organizations like the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Likewise, countries often regarded as socialist, like Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland, are also social democracies; they arestill capitalist states but have a greater focus on providing services to the people than more laissez-faire capitalist nations like the United States.

Due to its organizations diversity and the desire to recruit all who want to change the world, regardless of age, DSA involves high school and college students through the Young Democratic Socialists of America or YDSA. Here in Fullerton, a YDSA chapter is currently being organized at CSUF toorganize the citys youth and work to improve Fullerton and CSUF. So far, this has included advocacy against crippling tuition hikes, calls for the demilitarization of Fullerton PD, and efforts to protect free speech on campus.

If you have any questions about democratic socialism or want to makechange happen, contact Titan YDSA at csufydsa@gmail.com. If you want to join DSA but are not a current student, contact Orange County DSA at https://ocdsa.org to learn more.

(Note for transparency/clarification: while this post generally conveys the original ideas as submitted, it has been edited to some degree)

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Understanding what Democratic Socialists of America are and how they differ from social Democrats - Fullerton Observer