Unlike the populist right, whose appeal is limited by extreme positions such as xenophobia, the new left can offer a big tent. Its ideology is not universally identified with the failed Soviet experiment, which is seen, correctly, as more totalitarian than socialist. The younger generation sees the left as excitingly modern and intellectually advanced.
Socialism is undergoing a revolution. Although Labour in the U.K. appears doomed under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, it may emerge stronger from the turmoil. The same is true of the U.S. Democrats post-Sanders. These ideological shifts are probably not a deadly virus, as Trump's brand of nativism is to the Republicans: They may well be a much-needed inoculation.…The ideological shift is following the demographic shift. This trend is only get stronger as the older generations — the silent generation and the boomers — die off. The Overton window appears to be moving left after having shifted far to the right since Reagan.
Bloomberg View
The Political Center Is Shifting to the Left
Leonid Bershidsky
