Once again, social democrat or socialist?

Harold Meyerson, a Harrington-ite ex-DSA member and a columnist for The American Prospect, refers ( https://prospect.org/2026/08/18/democrats-2028-primary-schedule-cold-shoulder-new-activist-base/ ) to "the polyglot big cities, which are also home to, and the base of, the [Democratic] party’s new and avowedly social democratic and socialist left."

The distinction should be simple. Social democrats advocate reforms within capitalism like a sturdy social safety net, strong support for education and child care, maybe some public ownership of so-called natural monopolies. Socialists claim to replace capitalism with some form of non-capitalist ownership.

But few of the self-described socialists in "polyglot big cities" know what socialism is, or they think they know but do not. Even the current DSA program is no more than social democratic. On the other hand, who in the "polyglot big cities" describes herself as social-democratic? Very few.

Sentiment for "socialism" is at a high not seen in decades. Next should be understanding of socialism and communism, but that will not happen spontaneously.


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