I highly recommend a recent and very revealing article by Patrice Mersault in his Substack, “Open Letter by Mersault.”* He shares with us what transpired in a day-long meeting of young leftists who identify as Democratic Socialists of America.
Part of his motivation for attending was to see the diversity in thinking in the American Left. For that reason, he tells us that he stopped his theorizing and chose to attend a meeting of young leftist organizers instead.
The subtitle to his report is telling in itself: “The System is Working Perfectly. That’s Why They Want to End it.” Here I share some of his findings and observations.
He reports how a new CNBC poll found that more voters are now open to candidates who identify as democratic socialists than “to candidates aligned with MAGA or endorsed by Trump.” And the shift is “largely driven by younger voters.”
The meeting place surprised him. They gathered in “an unremarkable suburban industrial park” that resembles a place you would go “to refinance your mortgage” rather than, say, a rundown Lower East Side storefront. About 25 people gathered around a horseshoe table, and another dozen were on Zoom. Most were in their 20s and 30s, with a few white-haired ones as well. More attendees showed up during the day.
First came the news that DSA membership has surpassed 125,000 members, making it “the largest socialist organization in American history.” Recently DSA unveiled a new national platform called “Workers Deserve More” and it was derived from a serious effort at a democratic consensus.
Anna, the main speaker, a sort of young “revival preacher,” told of her conversion story out of liberalism into the DSA. She centered more on the Democratic Party as the villain than the Republican Party. Why? Because it is an institution that has become incapable of reforming itself.
“Internal democracy” is missing in the Party, she maintains. Democracy needs to be applied to how an organization writes its platform, chooses its candidates, and governs itself. Because DSA can succeed where the Democratic party has failed, it’s time to go beyond the Democratic party as such, they are saying. The bottom line is this: Concentrated wealth has captured American democracy in both parties.
The word “worker” was constantly invoked but did not just apply to factory workers or union workers but to everyone “who earns a living by selling their labor rather than owning their business.” Their effort is to gather people “to see themselves first not by race, religion, gender, or profession, but by their shared relationship to work and wealth.” Thus, a Starbucks barista and a software engineer as well as a factory worker “belong to the same political category” called worker.
This entire topic hits very near to home for me because, as laid out in my book, The Reinvention of Work, I too emphasize the common values that a spirituality of work and the mystical traditions around the world agree on no matter what the nature of the work we do.
Our work and vocations are where we make our footprints in history and our impact on our culture and communities (along with parenting and partnering which are, of course, work in the fullest spiritual sense of the word).
In that book I emphasize the primary value agreed on by mystics from Thomas Aquinas to the Tao te Ching: to do work that brings joy to oneself and others. And justice and balance in building community and society are integral to sharing the joy. Service, compassion, relief of pain, providing of needs, and celebrating life together. Now that is work at its best.
To be continued.
*Patrice Mersault, “PART 2: I Went to a Meeting of Young Leftists,” Open Letters By Mersault, July 19, 2026.
Banner Image: Honoring the workers: “Progress of Industry”(1934) by Charles W. Ward, at the Clarkson S. Fisher Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Trenton, New Jersey. Wikimedia Commons
Queries for Contemplation
Do you believe that concentrated wealth has captured American democracy in both parties? How to best remedy the situation? How does your work bring joy to others?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
The Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood for Our Time
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision For a New Generation
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson and Jen Listug: Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
Religion USA: Religion & Culture by way of Time Magazine
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
Charles Burack, ed., Matthew Fox: Essential Writings in Creation Spirituality
1 thought on “Politics From a New Generation: A Democratic Socialist Gathering”
YES! Thank you for today’s beautiful and informative DM on the importance and sacredness of Social Justice in work and our politics, especially the information about the new political party of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and Matthew’s book, “The Reinvention of Work: À New Vision of Livelihood for Our Time.”