Socialism's rise in America threatens both its system, Democrats

Socialisms rise in America threatens both its system and Democratic Party — Photo: Democratic Socialists of America/dsausa.org

With the rise of socialism in America, is this the end of the U.S. system or the death of the Democratic Party?

Serwan Zangana | Exclusive to iKurd.net

The rise of the socialist movement is becoming widespread in the U.S., as, in the recent primary election in the State of New York, the socialist candidates claimed the victory, a year after socialist Zohran Mamdani won the NY City mayoral seat, and vowed to stand against American billionaires. The surge of the far left with reviving socialist ideology can be seen to a certain degree as the result of the far right’s strong rise, as both are discouraging signs for America.

The economic hardship, including the increase in rent and the housing market in the U.S., has been pressuring and limiting the American people into a narrow living space. According to the Harvard University-Joint Center for Housing Studies, 43.5 million households are burdened by the cost and spend more than 30% of their income every month on housing costs. Most Americans are alienated from the current elected officials and in a state of distrust toward authority.

Various studies and polls show the percentage of Americans who do not have confidence in the U.S. government, which slightly can be different. However, the number of Americans who do not trust the government is always higher. According to the Marquette Law School Poll national survey, 63% of Americans do not trust the government all the time. And according to Gallup, 52% of Americans have a minuscule amount of confidence in Congress.

The socialist group wisely snatched the opportunity in NY as they were able to appeal to the majority of people who are struggling on a daily basis.

However, when the German philosopher Karl Marx, who developed the socialism theory and predicted socialism as the next economic system that would replace capitalism in Europe, had his views circulating among European philosophers at that time, they all lived under an economic system that subjected the workers to economic constraints.

And now, the American people, specifically, the New Yorkers, are under a heavy burden of such an economic difficulty, which was seemingly caused by the billionaires. Therefore, the voters in NY City turned the channel to listen to the melody of socialism as it was softer to their ears than capitalism.

Despite Marx’s intention in his theory, which was to evolve the lives of millions of workers in Europe, his theory did not survive on the ground of reality. Many people dreamed of perfection and believed that socialism would end the workers’ struggle. This dream did not last forever, as the socialist system proved its failure through the collapse of the socialist bloc in the world, and after all, it did not bring fairness and economic justice to human beings.

Now, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is extending its ladder and ascending to reach the peak and become the power that impacts the political scale in the U.S. The Democratic establishment and the Republican Party feel the early impact and threat that the DSA poses to their political power and policy. The DSA will change America’s direction and rewrite the U.S.’s domestic and international policy. It will be a fundamental change of the U.S. direction in the world.

The voters in the Democratic primary election earlier this month generated the power to advance the socialist candidates to claim victory in many states across the nation. It was indeed a hit to both the Democratic and the Republican parties as the DSA’s agenda regarding many critical issues is radically different from the two major parties’ agenda.

“These victories prove that democratic socialists are building a winning coalition. While the Democratic establishment and MAGA fascists ignore the needs of working people,…” Grace Mausser, the Co-Chair of NY City’s DSA, said.

The socialists have aimed at a clear target, which is the struggling people in the most crowded and expensive states and cities in America. Under both administrations of Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Americans were, and are, ignored while the economic pressure is increasing. The American stress level is significantly high as the U.S. system is one of the main sources of such stress.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), 76% of Americans reported concern about the U.S.’s future and its direction. However, the political conflict in the U.S., the economic struggle, and the foreign policy created an environment for the socialists to rise. The latest socialist sweep in the Democratic primary election in America was a consequence of the insufficiency of the Democratic establishment, as well.

Also, the Republican Party and the MAGA movement were unable to fulfill the promises after their major win in the 2024 presidential election. In fact, many MAGA supporters were disappointed after President Trump changed his direction to focus on the international issues instead of the domestic issues to achieve a different goal. However, the rise of the extreme right wing in the Republican Party was countered by the rise of the extreme left wing in the Democratic Party.

Bernie Sanders, senior United States senator from Vermont, a seat he has held since 2007. February 2026. Photo: Creative Commons/Wikimedia.

Over 30 socialist candidates won the Democratic primary in August 2026, a record; in the past, the only socialist in the Democratic Party was Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sen. Sanders has been a socialist since the 1960s and was elected as an Independent to become a senator in 2007. However, the other two socialists in the Democratic Party, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019.

The socialist agenda, if implemented in the U.S., will radically change the entire system, and indeed it will flip America upside-down. In recent years, America has lost its modern and commonsense politics in running the system, and as a result, the two radicals of the right and left have become the voters’ choice. Apparently, neither one of the two has been able to solve American issues.

Furthermore, anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism in the U.S. have been rising with more Arabs and Muslims entering the public offices and becoming members of the government. Obviously, the left and the DSA have embraced the Arabs and Muslims in America to emerge into the public as they are actively working to shift the American view from supporting Israel.

The U.S. politics in some highly populated Arab and Muslim states, such as Michigan, New York, and Illinois, has been Arabized with Palestine being the center of their elections. The anti-Israel rhetoric is magnetizing the voters and empowering the socialist candidates. The focus of the politicians has been on Israel, and while the far right is deeply pro-Israel, conversely, the far left is completely preaching an end to Israel.

The mainstream American politicians should review their calculation and realize that the anti-war, anti-Israel, and anti-capitalism that formed into a political organization of the DSA is unlike the 1960s social movement that organized under the Peace Movement. Americans joined this social movement to peacefully protest the Vietnam War and oppose the U.S.’s military involvement.

The DSA is a political movement with an agenda, and its members are indeed entering the U.S. government and occupying the public offices through elections, and hence, they will hold their firm grip on power and implant their agenda.

Undoubtedly, the DSA’s agenda is to radically change the U.S. system through abolishing the U.S. Senate and replacing the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress, replacing the two-party system with multi-party democracy, establishing the public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries, which seems to be a direction toward Communism, and free Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. (DSA Program).

All in all, while the Republicans are considering the DSA’s political advancement a threat to America, the establishment Democrats are either ignoring such a threat, opposing the movement, or bending the knees for it. But with the rise of socialism in America, the question that arises is: Is it the end of the U.S. system or is it the end of the Democratic Party?

Serwan Zangana, a contributing writer for iKurd.net, lives in Virginia, U.S. He serves as a correction officer.

The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of iKurd.net or its editorial team.