Socialism: An Idea That Will Live on Beyond 2020

Make sure Jacobin can keep carrying its torch.

May Day parade, New York, 1914. Library of Congress.

This is an unusual issue for us. Many of its articles are focused on electoral politics and the constraints and possibilities that await socialists in office.

For much of the next two years, those of us in the United States will be looking at the 2020 elections. We’ll likely see a Bernie Sanders run; in fact, for the sake of this issue’s longevity we better see one. He’ll do battle with establishment Democrats and President Trump. There will also be both congressional and local efforts to elect socialists. These confrontations present an opening to discuss politics with millions of people, and our daily online coverage will surely be up for the task.

But Jacobin operates on a longer time horizon than other publications. We think in terms of continents and epochs, not campaign gossip and primary dates.

Our task is to keep alive — though renovating as necessary — a set of socialist ideas committed to not just the administration of a capitalist state, but its replacement with an order free of exploitation and oppression.

We also know that working-class struggles should transcend borders. Jacobin reading groups are already all over the world, and now we have franchises in Italy and Brazil, with more to follow. We’ve been providing our expertise, making our material available for translation, and hoping that the tremendous success of Jacobin in the Anglophone sphere can be replicated elsewhere.

And here comes the pitch: elections will come and go, but socialist ideas must persist. It’s important that we have electeds committed to the welfare of working people. But movements need intellectual sustenance, and it’s vital that Jacobin continues getting your donations and lifetime subscriptions.

Socialism isn’t a campaign, it’s our destiny. Please support our effort to spread its gospel to millions.

Donate by mail:

Jacobin Foundation

388 Atlantic Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11217

Or online:

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