My draft SDA March newsletter
Dear Comrades,
First of all, I would like to apologize for the confusion that occurred on the on-boarding listserve. It seems that after the No King event, about 400 new people decided to join the on-boarding Zoom.
The traditional “please introduce yourself” quickly turned into a confusing exchange of emails going in every direction. This newsletter is intended for everyone who is curious about socialism and the Social Democrats of America organization.
Sitting and raising your arm
It actually takes longer to explain what SDA does than to do it.
Moving the Democratic Party to the left is as simple as attending your local monthly Democratic Party meeting, sitting there, and letting people know you are a socialist.
It just so happened that I had a camera the first time I did it. The bar is pretty low, and as you can see, next to me were two men with prosthetic legs. If they can do it, you can do it.
The goal of the onboarding is to set expectations for what is required of every SDA member within the Democratic Party. Simply bring a chair and, from time to time, raise your hand and ask a pointed question.
The members in control of the Democratic Party are notorious for answering questions very candidly—as long as those questions do not jeopardize their leadership.
I raised my hand before the vote, but my question was asked after the vote had already taken place. Most of the time, they use this to claim they are being democratic.
Socialism Is the Critique of Inequality
The second issue that consumes our time in SDA is answering the question: “What is Socialism?” and how do we put it into practice in Democratic Party meetings?
Critiquing inequality does not make you a socialist.
What makes someone a socialist is membership in a socialist organization and agreement with socialist ideals.
That is what the onboarding Zoom is about: giving you the basic tools needed to sit in that chair and explain it to others without turning it into a fistfight.
Voting for a socialist candidate does not make you a socialist—it makes you a socialist voter. That argument is as old as the socialist movement, which is why Bernie Sanders is not a socialist, but rather socialist-adjacent.
Identifying as a socialist does not make you a socialist, as explained by Pedro Sánchez at the 2019 Socialist International Council meeting in the Dominican Republic.
Bernie has consistently refused to join any socialist organization.
Instead, he helped create a separate movement with individuals who left their socialist parties to form the Progressive International. A similar split occurred in 1920, when Vladimir Lenin sought to build what he considered a better form of “socialism” through the USSR.
The Democratic Socialists of America was the Socialist International–affiliated party in the United States until its membership voted to leave that movement in 2017.
That was the moment it ceased to be part of the Socialist International tradition.
Socialism Is Universal—and So Is the Struggle
Around the world, the struggles of the 1920s created a split between communism and socialism. Communists sought to create what they believed was a better form of socialism, leading to a lasting division within the broader movement.
When you explore SDA, you are stepping into a very rich history. However, fully understanding that history is not required to call yourself a socialist.
That said, you will feel the weight of that history when you begin working on ideas, as older socialists will often tell you how similar efforts were tried in the past—and failed.
The goal is to move forward today and take small, practical steps.
Do not worry—if you feel that SDA is not for you, you can continue your political exploration in other directions. You can move further to the left with Angela Davis and the Communist Party USA, or further to the right with Pete Buttigieg and the Center for New Liberalism. If neither socialist group fits, you can join the Global Greens, USA.
All of these groups benefit from your participation in your local Democratic Party meetings.
SDA’s range of views spans from the center-left, represented by Elizabeth Warren, to the center-right, represented by Bernie Sanders during the 2020 Democratic Party primary.
SDA Is a Support Organization
The first time you attend a Democratic Party meeting, it can go one of two ways: you are either welcomed with open arms, or you are pushed out and need to regroup before trying again.
One of the biggest arguments I have with socialists around the world is my insistence on using the plain word “socialism.”
Our comrades around the world need access to our politicians, so they can become uneasy when we push the envelope. We cannot let that affect us—we need to change our politicians.
As you can see, your involvement and your questions at your local city council or Democratic Party meetings can be disruptive, and they may sometimes use intimidation to block your efforts.
Do not worry—don’t force it. Let it go and try again in the next cycle the following year.
Presenting a Socialist Platform for the First Time
By meeting once a month at an SDA salon in your county, you can organize how to present the Socialist Manifesto to the broader audience.
The second role of an SDA comrade is to help define the next version of socialism.
I share my definition—after comparing it with those of members of the Socialist International and the Progressive International—because, as a leader, other groups will try to discredit it and may use your youthfulness in the movement to create doubt about this information.
In the same way that Democrats and other socialists sometimes use allegations of sexual impropriety to undermine a candidate, SDA is here to provide a support network to help withstand anything that liberals or communists may throw at us.
The power of the Socialist manifesto
This is my definition, which I am sharing with you as a starting point. Over time, you will develop your own.
The definition is mine because one of the first things the Democratic Socialists of America may use to discredit me is their community agreement, arguing that I am narcissistic and cannot speak for or represent all socialists: https://www.dsausa.org/organize/respectful_discussion.
1) Assume good faith in your fellow comrades
Assume good faith in each other. Please try to speak from experience, speak for yourself, and actively listen to each other. When someone makes a point, repeat what you heard, summarize, and ask clarifying questions like “did you mean X” or “what makes you say that” to get more information. Encourage yourself and others to maintain a positive attitude, honor the work of others, avoid defensiveness, be open to legitimate critique and challenge oppressive behaviors in ways that help people grow. We want to “call each other in” rather than calling each other out — in other words, if you are challenging someone’s ideas or behavior, do it respectfully, and if you are being challenged, receive it respectfully. Remember, mistakes will be made, nobody is perfect.
To avoid that, as you can read below, many people are still trying to defame me to this day—but I ignore them. I share this in the newsletter because I find it somewhat amusing, but I do not let it affect me.
This is my definition, and I am inviting you to adopt it, with the hope that it will become ours.
That is why those who have joined after February 15 must agree to these ground rules:
We are Socialists, which means that, in our view, Socialism IS NOT the road to Communism.
We are Socialists; therefore, WE collectively define what Socialism means for the world.
We refer to each other as Comrades, but you are not required to do so if you prefer not to.
Our platform is called a Manifesto, but you may refer to it as a platform if you prefer.
Socialism is not an economic system designed to replace Capitalism. The idea that it is comes from a Communist framework often promoted by the right wing.
We are not Communists. You may refer to our group as Socialists, Social Democrats, or Democratic Socialists. Some people who are not part of our group may also use those labels; the only litmus test is whether they apply the Socialist Manifesto listed on our website.
Because we are American, we are Democrats — members of the Democratic Party — while also committed to the small-“r” republican values of civic participation and representative government.
I did not come up with these rules in a vacuum. I shared them with socialists from around the world to get their perspective; many of them have lived through the Cold War and periods of dictatorship.
Those who joined us earlier and have not yet agreed to them—now is the time to do so. These rules have been reviewed by members of the Socialist International.
Furthermore, those who disagree with this definition are free to join other “socialist” political groups across the country. I created a website to help people better understand where they stand politically. It is called Political Center, and the URL is https://politicscenter.us.
If comrades are not willing to promote the Socialist Manifesto within the Democratic Party and instead want to argue endlessly about the word “socialism,” I invite them to create their own organization—not to come to SDA and rehash debates that were settled 100 years ago.
I am personally not interested in those debates, and neither are many socialists around the world.
The French Tradition
It also means that we carry, in our history, the legacy of French political struggles—from the Paris Commune, to the origins of left Zionism that emerged from the debates surrounding the Dreyfus Affair, and the 1920 split that led to the creation of communist parties.
These three major events are reflected in socialist parties around the world, including in the United States. The 1920 split can still be seen in the Communist Party USA, which has maintained organizational continuity—for example, through assets like its building in New York City. However, unlike many communist parties elsewhere, it continues to describe its policies as socialism, whereas most others use the term communism.
Organizations such as the Social Democrats USA, the Socialist Party USA, and the Working Families Party represent American expressions of the historical split that, in other parts of the world, is typically described as the divide within socialism. Their growth, however, was hindered by the various Red Scares in the United States.
During that time, the term “socialism” was carried forward in part by Black American intellectual and political traditions, including those associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Meanwhile, parts of academia and the labor movement were influenced by external pressures and internal conflicts, which weakened rank-and-file labor organizing and, in some cases, encouraged patronage systems.
This video from 2017 comes from my first County Committee meeting, where we had to select the candidate who would represent the Democratic Party in a State Assembly special election. At the time, I was taken aback by a labor leader’s comparison to a “Brooklyn dog,” but I later came to better understand the underlying issues being expressed.
The American left is fragmented largely because, as left movements around the world split, people in the United States were deeply shaped by the trauma of the First and Second Red Scares—effects that are still felt today.
There are also ongoing questions about whether affiliation with a communist party abroad, particularly outside the former Iron Curtain, could affect entry into the United States.
Fast forward to 2026
The Democratic Socialists of America is a member of the Progressive International, while the French Socialist Party is affiliated with both the Socialist International and the Progressive Alliance.
Bernie Sanders helped launch the Progressive International alongside Yanis Varoufakis of MeRA25 and Jeremy Corbyn in 2021. The Socialist International traces its origins to July 14, 1889, when it was founded by an international collective. The Progressive Alliance was created in 2013 following internal governance disputes within the Socialist International.
Leaders across these organizations often claim to represent socialism on a global scale, but in reality, they represent the positions of their respective parties within these international networks.
If you ask members of parties associated with the Progressive International, many will reject the label of “socialist” outright. Their answer is often a clear “no”—not because of any association with the United States, but because they do not identify with those policies.
Elections in Paris
Our faction in Paris won the election. If we are to compare apples to apples, I will present the Paris elections using American faction names.
New York City is run by the Zohranist faction of the Democratic Socialists of America, while Paris is run by us—the SDA Social Democratic Socialists.
This will allow us to study, over the next six years, how two “socialist” factions manage a major city.
The French group aligned with the American DSA has decided to set itself apart and not work with the left coalition of communists and greens led by the French Socialist Party.
Why aren’t we members of the Socialist International?
The simple answer is that, as the leader of the Social Democrats of America, I fall short. Like Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani, I am a New Yorker—and the same animosity that can exist across the United States toward New Yorkers is reflected internationally. In the eyes of parties within the Socialist International, I represent a United States that has often bullied the rest of the world.
That makes our relationship with international partners difficult. As Americans, we are not inclined to accept a watered-down version of socialism, but at the same time, we are not willing to participate in corrupt practices.
Many admire the large-scale support that figures like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are able to generate, while also wanting to distance themselves from the policies we advocate.
There is also some resentment around how the organization was built. I established the Social Democrats of America by registering it as a corporate entity with the state, opening a credit union bank account, filing for 501(c)(4) status with the IRS, launching a website, and beginning to recruit socialists.
The leadership of the Democratic Socialists of America was not pleased. Members of the Bronx/Uptown DSA leadership even went on a podcast to outline their criticisms of me.
I gave up the fight with the other leftist factions
At this point, I stepped back, and with the help of socialist scholars from around the world, we developed the definitions we use today.
Based on those definitions, can socialists be elected in the United States?
The answer is clearly yes: Bernie Sanders has been elected since 1981, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez since 2018, Julia Salazar since 2019, and Zohran Mamdani in 2026.
I do not know what happened between Bernie Sanders and Michael Harrington, and I wish Bernie would speak more openly about it.
Bernie has since been influenced by Yanis Varoufakis, Jeremy Corbyn, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, moving his positions further left than traditional social democracy.
At the same time, the rank-and-file members of the Democratic Socialists of America are not unified on this direction, and elements within the Socialist International—some of which DSA itself has criticized—are now seeking closer ties with them.
I am not willing to compromise what I see as the grassroots ideals of socialism.
That, in a nutshell, is why I believe the leadership of the Socialist International is reluctant to include us.
Ultimately, it will be up to us—as a collective—to define socialism in the United States through ongoing debate in our listserve.
The SDA mailing list is just shy of 1,000 members, with about 40 non-voting members.
See you at the next On-Boarding meeting
Socialism Monthly On-Boarding
I have split the on-boarding sessions between the first and third Wednesdays of the month:
First Wednesday – 7:30 PM Pacific: https://www.mobilize.us/socialists/event/773488
Third Wednesday – 7:30 PM Eastern: https://www.mobilize.us/socialists/event/897754
Welcome dear Comrade!
In solidarity,
Hasta la victoria, ¡siempre!
Theo