Op-Ed: The Quiet Coup: How Socialism Is Hijacking Chicago Through Aldermanic Power
Alice Bacon/DSA
Chicago is being slowly but unmistakably transformed. Not by violent revolution or sweeping federal policy, but by something far more insidious: a city government increasingly run by socialists, embedded quietly within our aldermanic leadership.
What once were neighborhood representatives focused on constituent services and local issues have now morphed into ideological warriors, using the Chicago City Council as a vehicle to impose anti-capitalist, anti-business, and anti-police agendas on every block of this city.
This is not fearmongering. It is already happening.
From Public Servants to Political Operatives
In years past, aldermen worked closely with residents to tackle potholes, trash collection, zoning concerns, and public safety. Today, several members of the council, most notably aligned with the Chicago chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), have openly prioritized national progressive dogma over neighborhood realities.
Their mission? Redesign society from the bottom up. Their playbook? Redistribution over development, state control over private enterprise, and ideological purity over practical governance.
Instead of asking, “What does my ward need?”, too many now ask, “What would the movement approve?”
That shift in motive is hurting our city.
Policies That Punish the Working Class
You do not have to dig far to see the damage.
“Treatment Not Trauma” is a well-meaning phrase masking a radical push to strip funding from police departments in favor of ideologically approved mental health interventions, many of which are untested and underresourced.
Rent control proposals and “anti-displacement zones” sound helpful but actually deter development, reduce housing stock, and ultimately raise costs for the very residents they claim to protect.
Opposition to charter schools and school choice, not because of performance, but because they do not fit the “public only” collectivist narrative.
Hostile rhetoric toward small businesses, particularly in immigrant and working class neighborhoods, where regulation and taxation have made it nearly impossible to survive.
These are not isolated issues. They are coordinated.
The Ideological Rot Runs Deep
DSA-aligned aldermen do not just push socialist policies. They also promote a deeply revisionist worldview: one in which capitalism is the root of all social ills, meritocracy is oppressive, and law enforcement is a colonial force to be dismantled.
They celebrate economic collapse as “justice,” demonize property ownership as “greed,” and encourage dependency on the very state systems that fail our communities time and time again.
Worse, they are often unwilling to compromise or work with colleagues outside their ideology. They believe their vision is not just preferable. It is morally superior. That is not democracy. That is authoritarianism dressed in grassroots clothing.
Why This Should Alarm Everyone
What happens when entire wards are run by ideologues who view your paycheck, your home, and your opinion as threats to their revolution?
Public safety plummets
Investment dries up
Families leave
And Chicago becomes a cautionary tale rather than a comeback story
This is not a fight between left and right. This is a fight between radicalism and reason. Between government that works for the people and government that uses the people.
Why This Should Alarm Everyone
What happens when entire wards are run by ideologues who view your paycheck, your home, and your opinion as threats to their revolution?
Public safety plummets
Investment dries up
Families leave
And Chicago becomes a cautionary tale rather than a comeback story
This is not a fight between left and right. This is a fight between radicalism and reason. Between government that works for the people and government that uses the people.
