SOCIALISM IS BACK, AND THE KIDS ARE LOVING IT

FOR DECADES, DEMOCRATIC socialism was an old man’s ideology. Its adherents were aging hippies, old-time union organizers, and folks who fondly remembered the pre-’60s left. As recently as 2013, the average member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) was 68 years old. Even today, the ideology’s best-known spokesperson, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.), is 77.

But Sanders is suddenly an outlier. Today, most DSAers are young: The average member is 33. The ideology’s second-best known spokesperson, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.), is just 29. And the DSA’s ranks have grown larger as well as younger. Socialist gatherings buzz with youthful energy, and they are taking place all over the country.

This movement is flexing its political muscles, having helped elect a number of candidates to office—most famously Ocasio-Cortez, who has quickly