Meet Hannah Shvets, a 20-year-old Cornell University sophomore and one of the newest members of New York’s Ithaca Common Council.
Shvets is also a member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA).
She additionally has membership in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), as does New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, whom she admires.
Joining her on the Council is newly elected Jorge DeFendini. He’s not a member of the CPUSA — just the DSA. But both are part of a new old-style “red” wave:
More than 250 DSA members now hold office across the U.S.
And, reportedly, 90 percent of them have been elected just since 2019.
(Note: Traditionally, red was the color of socialists/communists; “the reds” had a negative connotation. During the 2000 election, the media for the first time made red the universally used color for the GOP.)
And if “all politics is local,” as is said, the DSA is doing it right. That is, they’re focusing on and capturing city councils. They’re laying foundations — helping members become established “names” in politics — that can serve as springboards to higher office.
Of course, one of them, Mamdani, has now made this transition, becoming the Big Apple’s head. But DSA’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (aka “AOC,” D-N.Y.) may be next. If she runs for Senator Chuck Schumer’s Senate seat in 2028, which seems a given, she will almost assuredly win.
The Socialist Wave
The Washington Examiner reported on the story Monday in an article titled “Democratic socialists quietly capture city councils across America.” What follows is a Grok AI summary of that piece:
The DSA are rapidly expanding influence in local U.S. governments, electing scores of candidates who promise government-run grocery stores, free childcare, fareless transit, and rent freezes. In Portland, four DSA members now form a third of the 12-person City Council, meeting monthly with the chapter’s Socialists in Office committee to align with organizational values. Co-chair Olivia Katbi asserts, “Our councilors are DSA … until further notice.”
This off-year election cycle saw over a dozen DSA victories nationwide. Minneapolis now has four DSA councilors, including newcomer Soren Stevenson; Atlanta gained its first with Kelsea Bond; Detroit added Denzel McCampbell; and Milwaukee’s Alex Browser retained his seat. Even smaller towns like Carrboro and Poughkeepsie elected DSA members.
DSA strategy views the Democratic Party as the key arena for building anti-corporate coalitions, though tensions arise when socialists defeat establishment Democrats. Membership surged from 6,200 in 2015 to 95,000 in 2021, fueled by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. A 2025 Cato/YouGov poll shows 62% of under-30s view socialism favorably, signaling growing mainstream acceptance of once-radical ideas.
“We Learn From History That We Do Not Learn From History” — Paraphrase of Georg Hegel
So what’s going on here? How is it that people are again embracing an old mistake as a new idea? Commentator Eric Utter has some thoughts. As he colorfully writes:
It is easy to see why the ignorant, indigent — and [value]-signaling power-hungry — profess to favor socialism.
On the other hand, it is very difficult to campaign as a conservative. The socialist promises free busing, rent freezes, free education and health care, and government-run grocery stores with low prices that are staffed by members of the LGBTQ community and other marginalized groups.
Yay! A free chicken in every pot, as it were. And free pot in every chicken!
… They will also promise that unicorns will attend your gender-neutral offspring’s birthday party, and that a non-binary, non-Christian Santa will bring you everything else you need this “holiday” season. Understand that the non-binary, non-Christian Santa is actually the government, of course. Meaning themselves. Meanwhile, true conservatives can promise nothing but to attempt to make sure governments respect the individual rights granted to us by our Creator, including the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
And that is so “meh,” so yesterday, right?
The first step towards addressing this budding takeover of the most prosperous and generous nation the planet has ever known is to recognize that Marxists and Muslims are now an existential threat to that nation. Period. Once that admission is granted, we also need to get involved in local politics, communicate with our congressmen, monitor our schoolboards, never miss voting in our elections, and never stand down in conversations with those who disagree with us. For starters.
“I Never Knew Anyone Who Loved Virtue as Much as Sex” — Confucius
While Utter makes good points, the problem is deep and intractable. As with cars or homes left sitting alone without maintenance, civilization moves toward disorder without continual application of energy.
We have descended into disorder, too — and millions of Americans exhibit disordered thinking.
How’d this happen? Thomas Sowell once noted, “Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late.” This is why, mind you, freedom is ever just one generation from extinguishment. But there’s an oft-unmentioned reason for this.
Aligning with Sowell’s observation, it’s because virtue is always one generation from extinguishment.
Or, more precisely, virtue has been diminishing quickly in America with each succeeding generation.
Now, late satirist P.J. O’Rourke once noted:
At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child — miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosophy of sniveling brats.
This can be said of socialism, too, of course: It appeals to the spoiled child within. “You don’t have to pay for what you get,” the pitch goes. “You’re not responsible for what you do.”
A citizenry susceptible to this largely results from permissive, low-virtue modern parenting along with exposure to vice-imbued popular culture. (This, not to mention importation of low-virtue people — i.e., the socialist-minded — by the millions.) And little spoiled brats can grow into big spoiled brats.
Put simply, virtue is always tough to market, and insofar as conservatism reflects it, it will also be. So I suspect ancient Chinese sage Confucius would well understand why demagogues today peddle the “LGBTQ+” agenda. In fact, its elevation epitomizes the matter.
That is, regarding civilization’s preservation, no, leftists don’t know what works. But they sure do know what sells — and how to breed maniacally hungry buyers.
