Seizing the means of production requires control of not only private businesses, natural resources, and factories, but human bodies and minds.

Democratic Socialism, at least recently, is a growth brand. According to The Nation, between 2016 and 2020 membership in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) grew from 6,000 to over 90,000. And an article at reformandrevolution.org — the website of a “revolutionary Marxist caucus” of the DSA — claimed that after the 2024 presidential election the DSA experienced “a 5-6 times increase in new recruits.”

The group’s political success also impresses. Nationally prominent politicians such as Rashida Tlaib and Zohran Mamdani are formal members. Others, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, self-identify as democratic socialists.

Hoping to understand the brand’s cachet, and how long its growth may last, one night I dropped down the DSA rabbit hole to experience it for myself. Several videos from the 2025 national convention, which took place in Chicago in early August, are available on YouTube.

A roundtable discussion titled “The Left and The Family” first caught my eye. Onstage, four women wearing facemasks led the discussion. They seemed despondent at the state of the US under Trump.

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