dji_mimo_20250614_143842_20250614143326_1750875331554_video

Spencer: [00:00:00] Hey, I'm

Spencer: spencer. We're here at No Kings Detroit. And you are? I

Jonathan: am Jonathan Mus. Jonathan, who are you with today? I am with, uh, Metro Detroit, DSA. We are the Democratic socialist of America. Uh, we believe in a democratic structure of society from the bottom up. Um, we do a lot of organizing with labor unions.

Jonathan: Are striking. We do a lot of organizing. Uh, if you guys remember the UAW protest, we had a big part in that. Um, we are in coalition with several other groups. We're working on getting ice out of our neighborhoods. It's a very big, big tense, uh, leftist organizations, the largest leftist organization in America.

Jonathan: And, um, yeah, we're here, uh, passing out flyers, trying to, uh, get the word out, protesting Trump and, uh, protesting ice.

Spencer: And if my grandmother

Spencer: was watching this right now, what would, how would you explain the Democratic Socialist of America to my grandmother

Jonathan: if I were to explain? The Democratic Socialists of America to your grandmother?

Jonathan: I would say that we are an organization that works to try to make sure the material needs of the working class are met. We try to organize [00:01:00] around making sure that everyone is, you know, well fed, well, kept making sure that their community is, uh, is building power, making sure your community is organized, fighting back against fascism, and resisting all forms of authoritarianism wherever we can.

Spencer: I think that when I look around the world today, a lot of political groups. Share the same goal of living in a good world. Yes. And the question is, how do we structure our world so that it is good? What would you say the Democratic Socialist of America would like to do to restructure things from a, like a pragmatic, practical perspective?

Jonathan: From a practical perspective, we want to try to, uh, make sure that the power is in the hands of the workers, right? One of the things that DSA really focuses on is, uh, labor rights, labor protections, and labor unions. If you guys remember the u aaw strikes, uh, that were monumental in Michigan, DSA had a huge.

Jonathan: Hand in supporting that strike and helping organize in that strike. Um, we want to build a, a society from the ground up. We want to restructure society so that a, the profit motive doesn't exist at all. We want to completely remove that [00:02:00] so that, um, you know, the, the, the, the strive for short term profits, that it's destroying our economy, that it's destroying our environments, that destroying marginalized communities.

Jonathan: That incentive will no longer be there.

Spencer: It sounds. Like that you really embrace the idea of socialism and when I walk around the world or I engage with people, they go, oh my God, he is a socialist. And that is the end of the conversation. There's no ability to have any nuance. If you were had the opportunity to talk to somebody who has that reaction, you'd say, hold on, take a big breath.

Spencer: Socialism might not be what you think it is. How would you define socialism? Just. Somebody who's about to freak out about that term.

Jonathan: Well, here's the thing,

Jonathan: right? The first thing I would say is that, um, that person, that person freaking out, they actually do like socialism. If I were to describe socialism without using the word or I were to talk about, let's do that.

Jonathan: Let's do that. Sure. Okay. Um, you, like, if you were to look at the economy and you were to be a struggling America, as American as so many of us are, why is, why are you struggling, right? Because your landlord is raising your rent because your boss is making you [00:03:00] work more hours. We want to structure a society so the position of landlord doesn't exist.

Jonathan: We believe that housing is a fundamental human right? Everyone should be able to live in the house or own the house that they live in, right? Your boss is telling you what to do as opposed to the workers telling the boss what to do. Right? In that, in that sense, we wanna restructure society from the ground up.

Jonathan: Terms of that person having that negative reaction. One of my favorite things to say is that Martin Luther King Jr. Was a socialist.

Spencer: When you're thinking about this idea of socialists engaging with people, it sounds like everybody wants a similar world. And the way that you think we can get there most effectively is by removing the idea of ownership or transitioning it,

Jonathan: not necessarily all ownership, but specifically ownership of like privatization, right?

Jonathan: Privatization is the big problem. It's what capitalism ultimately depends on in order to function, right? That profit generation through privatization, and it's that, it's that. Specific ownership that we have a problem with, right? It's, that's why we fought in every single war that America has been in, that's why, you know, the exploitation of, uh, of marginalized people like ICE coming through.

Jonathan: Where are some of these people [00:04:00] getting deported to, to a concentration camp in El Salvador where they are, you know, doing work? Are we even in America? Right? Our prison industrial complex. We have prisoners who are doing work generating profit for these for-profit corporations, right? Like that is the problem.

Jonathan: Those, that is ultimately the big problem that is driving our society in the direction. In its tongue,

Spencer: it sounds like what you'd like to see is a structural removal and replacement of the systems, and that by changing some of the structural elements, we might be able to change the outcomes.

Jonathan: Absolutely. We

Jonathan: want to completely restructure so that, um, instead of our economy moving in a direction that is for profit, we move in a direction that's for people, right?

Jonathan: We want to address the social needs that people actually have, as opposed to making sure some comically evil dude sitting in a chair doesn't make more money. Good.

Spencer: People wanna learn more about the organization, where can they go?

Jonathan: Absolutely. There's, uh, Metro Detroit, USA. We have a website, uh, but also we have a national website that's, I believe it's just dsa.org.

Jonathan: Um, we have m dsa.org as well as [00:05:00] here. Um, that is kind of where our local chapter is, but it's a part of a bigger national org. So if you're watching this and you're not in Metro Detroit, please just go to dsa.org, sign up, contribute as much as you can, and let's, uh, let's fight fascist.

Spencer: Great. Thank you,

Spencer: Jonathan.

Spencer: Awesome. Thank you so much.

1. "Exploring Democratic Socialism in America"
2. "Democratic Socialism: An American Perspective"
3. "Understanding American Democratic Socialism"
4. "The Rise of Democratic Socialism in the U.S."
5. "Jonathan Talks Democratic Socialism in America at No Kings event in Detroit Michigan 2025

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Understanding the Democratic Socialists of America

This discussion provides an introduction to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), a political organization in the United States. It explores the key principles and goals of the DSA, covering what distinguishes it from other political groups. Additionally, the script examines the DSA's approach to societal and governmental change, and how it envisions impacting issues like economic inequality, healthcare, and workers' rights. This insightful overview helps to clarify the mission and activities of the DSA and its role in American politics.

00:00 Introduction to Democratic Socialism