While those who love America spent the Fourth of July weekend celebrating the country’s freedom and independence, those who hate America spent that same weekend in Chicago (where else?) decrying that freedom and wishing everyone was more dependent — on government handouts, socialized medicine, environmental mandates and price controls.
Welcome to the Socialism 2025 annual conference.
The only thing missing was a keynote speech by New York City’s Democratic candidate for mayor, Zohran Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Maybe he’ll do it next year, when he’s mayor and the event might even be in the socialist paradise of New York.
The unofficial theme of this year’s conference was probably best stated by University of Minnesota professor Melanie Yazzie, who told the conferees, “I hope to dismantle the United States. I hope you seek to dismantle the United States.” The audience applauded.
Gotta say, the socialists have made significant gains dismantling the country over the last decade or two. But they hit a wall last November.
Even so, socialism is having a moment. A recent survey conducted by YouGov for the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute found 62 percent of Americans under the age of 30 have a “favorable” view of socialism, and 34 percent have a favorable view of communism.
An estimated 2,000 participants attended the conference at the Haytt Regency McCormick Place hotel — even socialists like to plan their revolution in style. And there was no shortage of issues to discuss at the conference. By my count there were about 160 sessions over the four-day event (full list here). Had you been there you might have attended:
“From the River to the World” — For the past few years we’ve heard protesters chanting “From the River to the Sea,” described by the American Jewish Committee as “a phrase that can be used to call for the elimination of the State of Israel and/or ethnic cleansing of Jews living there, to be replaced with Palestinian control over the entire territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.”
Apparently by substituting the word “world,” the socialists think many pro-Palestinian protesters need to be more ambitious.
“Marxism Education Series” — The agenda described this session as “a cluster of courses on Marxist theory and history designed to introduce and deepen the understanding of Marxism for activists and organizers.”
“Defeating the End Times Triad: Christian Zionists, Christian Nationalists, and Technofacists” — Five panelists discussed how “our dystopian conjuncture [of] Christian Zionism, Christian nationalism and End-Times technofascism work together to further genocidal aggression in Palestine alongside the entrenchment of authoritarian repression in the US and worldwide.” I probably would have attended just to find out what “End-Times technofacism” is.
“Deny, Defend, Depose: Health Struggle After Luigi” — Most people were horrified when UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot, allegedly by Luigi Mangione. But some Americans, especially younger adults, cheered Mangione as a hero. The Cato Institute survey mentioned above also reported, “Notably, a majority (54 percent) of strong liberals believe that violence against the rich is sometimes justified, compared to 9 percent of strong conservatives.”
In this session a three-person panel described “what the fight for health communism may look like under this new [Trump] regime.” Apparently, the speakers weren’t renouncing Mangione-type violence as part of their “fight.”
“DIY Abortion” — and if that sounds dangerous, it is.
Interestingly, the conference had a code of conduct where organizers pleaded with conference attendees to behave themselves better than they do during street protests. There would be no “Intimidating, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, derogatory or demeaning speech,” or “Real or implied threat of physical harm,” and no “Sustained disruption of talks or other events.” That last one is odd, since disrupting talks is one of the left’s standard practices.
And just to make sure everyone is safe, there’s this: “Attendees are required to wear a mask (N95 or K95) over their mouth and nose while indoors at the conference.”
While much of what went on at the Socialism 2025 conference would strike most Americans as extreme, even fringe, socialist sympathizers in Congress — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Pamala Jayapal (D-Wash.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — are the real energy and drive behind today’s Democratic Party. And now add Zohran Mamdani.
If you’re sorry you missed this year’s Socialism 2025 conference, take heart. You’ll have another chance to sip fine wine with the socialists. The Democratic Socialists of America, boasting 90,000 members, will have their biennial convention Aug. 8-10 in Chicago (where else?).
Merrill Matthews is a public policy and political analyst and the co-author of “On the Edge: America Faces the Entitlements Cliff.”.
