With Zohren Mamdani’s success in being elected Mayor of New York City building on the popularity and prominence of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, it makes sense to officially announce the formation of the Democratic Socialist party aligned with those parties of similar names in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. This party does not need to become the proverbial “third party”; Like Bernie, an independent, it can be loosely associated with the Democratic party. In particular it should not act as a “spoiler” in actual elections as other third parties have done. It can do this by urging supporters to vote for the appropriate candidate until the voting system is changed to approval voting which automatically negates the spoiler effect.
The Democratic Socialist party should focus exclusively on economic issues, in particular the affordability crisis that Zohran, Bernie and AOC have made explicit. They should neutralize all cultural issues by just agreeing with the Trumpies on them. For instance, I’m all for sealing the border so that illegal people or contraband cannot gain access to the US by land, sea or air. In fact this would be a good issue for AI to deal with. If AI is such a great technology, let it prevent the entry of illegal persons or contraband into the US. Problem solved. Democratic Socialists or Social Democrats should make this a non-issue. Similarly with other cultural issues, just agree with the opposition thus neutralizing the issues. Focus on economic issues exclusively. Of course, they shouldn’t go to the extremes that Trump has gone to by snatching people off the streets and blowing up boats. Just don’t talk about it.
In the first quarter of 2025, the top 10% of earners owned almost two-thirds of the total wealth in the U.S., while the bottom 50% owned only 2.5%. In September 2024, Oxfam reported that the world’s richest 1% own more wealth than 95% of humanity. Elon Musk is set to become the world’s first trillionaire. This kind of economic concentration and democracy cannot coexist. While one in eight Americans are on food stamps, as of the second quarter of 2025, the richest 1% of Americans owned a record $52 trillion, which is about 31% of the total U.S. household wealth. This group’s wealth has grown significantly in recent years, largely driven by the stock market. Those Americans who own no stocks and don’t even own their own house (the other asset class) have basically zero wealth. In fact most of them have negative wealth, in other words, debt. Renters living paycheck to payheck are vulnerable to living one day on the street especially as they get older and as the safety net continues to fray.
During his 2020 presidential campaign, Sanders proposed an “extreme wealth tax” starting at a 1% rate on net worth over $32 million and increasing to 8% on wealth over $10 billion. He claimed this could raise over $4 trillion in a decade to fund programs like Medicare for All, housing, and childcare, while significantly reducing billionaire wealth over 15 years. Taxing the rich, both wealth and income, and redistributing the proceeds to the middle class and poor by means of strengthened safety net programs is the only hope for an America that doesn’t become a neo-feudalist, neo-fascist society by, of and for the billionaires. A financial transactions tax and lifting the cap on the social security tax are no brainers for raising the money to create a more equitable society. Also reducing the trillion dollar defense budget is possible now that Trump has got other countries to pay more.
This is from the Social Democrat website in Denmark:
For 150 years, the Social Democrats have fought to create the Denmark we have today. A country with freedom, equality, and solidarity. A country with social cohesion, where we trust one another. A country that provides a strong foundation for a happy life. In our opinion: the best country in the world. The Social Democrats focus on promoting democratic socialism, global equality, international solidarity, and security.
This is from the Norwegian Labour Party’s website:
The Norwegian Labour Party has a vision of a just world without poverty, in peace and ecological balance, where people are free and equal and have influence on the conditions affecting their lives. The Norwegian Labour Party is a social democratic party committed to liberty, democracy and social justice.It is a reformist party that believes in partnership and cooperation on national as well as international level. By acting together rather than just as individuals, we can make a better society for all. The Norwegian Labour Party is the largest political party in Norway, with 27.4 percent of the votes in the general election in 2017 and 49 out of 169 members of parliament.
The Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) is a major centre-left political party founded in 1889, historically dominant in Sweden and closely allied with trade unions. The party’s ideology centers on creating an egalitarian society through a comprehensive welfare state, which includes policies like free education, universal healthcare, and social allowances. Historically, it has been in power for much of the 20th century and has been instrumental in developing the “folkhemmet” or “people’s home” model for the Swedish welfare state.
So folks Democratic Socialist parties are nothing new. Unless the US is to become a society by, of and for the billionaire class, the rest of us need a Democratic Socialist party modeled after the welfare states of Europe and spoken for by the likes of Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohren Mamdani.
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