Twitter is very good at seriously overestimating the size and scope of the organized Left in America, while also seriously underestimating how far the Democratic Party has been pushed toward social democracy by left-wing led labor and civil rights movements.

It was the Civil Rights Movement, heavily influenced by anti-capitalism, Christian leftism, and a variety of class-conscious alliances across Black, Latino, Asian lines which helped make the Democratic Party the big tent party it is, for example.

It was the labor movement, which was dominated and influenced for decades by socialists and communists, which ultimately got the Wagner Act passed, and achieved some semblance of a national protection of workers. That work is still ongoing.

Also, some of the youngest and highest profile members of Congress are Black and Brown leftists, who are a part of the future of the Party and of the American Left. This is just a fact.

However, we by no means control the Party, and we should continue to grow outside of it.

The DSA is at 90,000 members or so, which is impressive given where it was in 2010 with like 3,000 members. However, the Socialists won 913,000 votes in 1920, and the Industrial Workers of the World had 150,000 members in 1917. There is work to do to create a generational Left.

A generational Left entails two things

1) The dedication of a moral ethos passed down from mentor-to-student, akin to parent-to-child. "My father was a Wobbly, and so am I" type beat.

2) Rooting a diverse and healthy Marxist and non-Marxist intelligentsia in the University,

The first one is easier to do now than it has been in years. More members of the Millennials cohort are dissatisfied with their financial status than ever, and are conscious of the unfairness of this class divide. They pass this on to their children. Gen Z is experiencing similar

conditions. We tend to scoff at young children who rail against the systems they deem unfair, but the latter is a genuine expression, and as these people grow up, they'll have opportunities to refine, focus, and hone their frustrations into action, and teach others to do the same

Anyway, the not-so-hot-take here is that the American Left has a lot of opportunities here, and we should be l proactive but also patient and focused with our goals. Continue building strong local systems of support [unions committees, party apparatuses], and keep the eye on ball