WATCH: ‘Not necessarily concerned about labels’: DSA leader isn’t too worried about being called a communist

Andrew Thompson, a member of the National Political Committee for the Democratic Socialists of America, told Heartlander News that he is more concerned with building a better world than debating whether the group is socialist or communist.

“I’m not necessarily concerned about labels,” he said, speaking on behalf of himself. Thompson added that DSA members are resolved to build that better world “regardless of the label that’s attached to us.” DSA “is a big tent organization,” he said in an exclusive interview, noting that members identify with a variety of political traditions and may answer differently.

Thompson said opponents will brand the group no matter what it calls itself, comparing it to Republicans calling Democrats socialists regardless of the facts. It’s “just a rhetorical strategy.”

When asked about critics who say socialism inevitably leads to communism, Thompson responded, “I to some degree welcome it.” In a written follow-up he wrote, “I welcome the conversation. Capitalism has neither the capacity, nor the morality, nor the ethics to solve the problems of poverty.”

The DSA’s new platform, titled Workers Deserve More, calls for abolishing the Senate and replacing the presidency and the Supreme Court with an executive and a judiciary created by and subordinate to Congress.

Thompson answered more questions on communism and DSA’s beliefs in the full interview with Heartlander News.

(Image credit: Heartlander News’ Audrey Streb interviews Andrew Thompson)

(This is part of a series on the rise of the DSA, Democratic Socialists of America)