Some self-described Socialist candidates running within the Democratic Party "advocate more extreme changes, such as abolishing the prison system," The New York Times reports.

Sure enough, the Boston Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America has a "Prison Abolition Working Group" that meets monthly. The national DSA Twitter account has tweeted "we need to abolish the prison system." A resolution favoring the abolition of Prisons reportedly passed last year at the DSA's annual convention.

The Times report, which came in the form of a news article about increasing numbers of Democratic candidates embracing the socialist label, made me chuckle.

How can one imagine a socialist state without prisons? Socialist countries without prisons turn out to be scarce verging on nonexistent—as rare as a McDonald's without arches, writes Ira Stoll.

Read the whole thing.