Jonathan Chait Doesn’t Understand the Socialists He’s Attacking
Jonathan Chait’s Atlantic essay claims the Democratic Socialists of America has betrayed the legacy of its founder, Michael Harrington. It gets DSA’s history, and what the organization is today, wrong.
Jonathan Chait thinks the Democratic Socialists of America has become the thing founders like Michael Harrington built it to oppose. He has the history totally wrong. The thread from Harrington’s DSA to this one isn’t hard to find. (Adam Gray / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Jonathan Chait has an essay in the Atlantic warning that the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has become the very thing it was founded to oppose. There is nothing wrong with a liberal writer in a liberal publication taking aim at the socialist left. If anything, it is a good sign.
The socialist movement in the United States is growing. Its ranks again include mayors and members of Congress, and I would be more confused if liberals were happy about this development.
The problem is the grounds on which Chait criticizes DSA.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.