Dissent | T Arnold
There are plenty of voters—including refugees from authoritarian countries that call themselves socialist—for whom the term is permanently sullied. But there are many people who identify socialism with Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Mamdani. For them, it offers an organizing identity outside of mainstream liberalism—even as democratic socialists accept and seek to improve liberal political institutions—which matters because liberalism is often perceived as an establishment ideology. Philosophically, a liberal should be committed to the “dignity of all people,” which is what makes them our coalition partners. But liberals in power often have not been.