Why America needs a socialist movement

The left can't fight Donald Trump without it

If the American left is to confront Donald Trump, it must have a movement with confidence and energy — one that will defend democracy with the same frantic urgency of conservatives trying to undermine it. In a word, it needs socialism.

To see the power of a hardcore movement, you only need to look to North Carolina, where Democrat Roy Cooper won the governorship in a close race and where conservatives are now trampling over democracy and precedent in protest. The GOP-dominated legislature is holding a special session to reduce the governor to all but a figurehead. They're slashing Cooper's ability to appoint state bureaucrats and the trustees of the state university system, cementing control over the state electoral machinery, and sharply restricting the power of the state Supreme Court (where a Democrat won control of a swing seat).

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.