What political stance does Hasan technically identify with? I see democratic socialist on his wikipedia page, is that it? I love daddy hasan and just wanna know what i can reference when friends and republican family members are wondering. 

Edit: Ty for all the jokes :) and for the honest takes. I’m trying to get people to watch him so these comments were helpful in describing his platform
user
Assuming you're serious and not a troll, there's no benefit to telling them what he actually is, so I'd leave it at "leftist/progressive". You'll just get people derailing if you tell them he's a Socialist. They'll immediately force you to pivot to Venezuela and talk about how the Soviet Union killed millions blah blah blah. You'll be stuck in that trap. 

If you want to explain his world view to them it's pretty easy. He uses a materialist analysis as a lens to view political issues through the world: i.e. who has power, who controls the resources, who controls the means of production.  Gaza for example, his viewpoint would be that the IDF and Israeli government control the resources and territory, have military superiority and wield it to control the lives of those with less access to those resources and power. They have less rights than Jewish Israelis under the state's control and have their homes destroyed/taken away regularly in an oppressive fashion. Using that analysis, you don't need to consider religion or historical context, you can see who's oppressed and who's not simply from the division of resources and power. This can be applied to any conflict, any subgroup, any issue as long as you apply materialist analysis to find a moral stance that corrects for inequality. Every single policy take he has can be viewed through that lens and predicted.

  
Other than that, he's a self-admitted hedonist, which just means he enjoys pleasurable things. A nice meal, a cool car, a house that his family can live in, friendships, video games. 

  
It's important not to fall into the pitfall of having to explain socialism though, because you'll just get frustrated. Americans in particular don't know what it is, and assume it means everyone's poor except one rich guy (except they're describing authoritarian capitalist regimes with that). You can be a rich socialist, own nice things, go on expensive trips etc. Socialism is mostly about labor, and effective government policy that serves the people rather than corporations and wealthy people.
assistant
I agree with this. However we should avoid using the label ‘progressive’. That is the *real* useless label.

He *is* a Marxist and a Socialist. DemSoc is a way of ‘softening the blow’ for *some* people (liberals &amp; reformists). Personally I disagree that ‘softening the blow’ actually works. I much prefer to straight up tell people I’m a Socialist or a Marxist, unless I feel unsafe. We need to start de-stigmatising these ideologies somehow, hiding behind other labels is exactly what N*zis and Fascists do. We should be proud of what we believe. 

BUT I do completely understand the position of someone under scrutiny of the public eye and how it can be very different, and thus I don’t really think Hasan is wrong by doing so.

Of course I don’t go shouting “I’m a Socialist!!!!” to the world, it’s more of if I’m asked what I am I will answer. Otherwise as you said, it’s much better to talk about standings and opinions on specific issues than just Red vs Blue.
user
&gt; We should be proud of what we believe. 

I don't really think saying "DemSoc" is "softing the blow", it's just more accurate.

It's still socialism, but not the authoritarian kind.
assistant