Democratic socialism is everywhere it seems — on the lips of leading politicians, in New York Times columns, on the set of The View. (We could use some more buzz in workplaces, though.)

When Jacobin was founded in 2010, I couldn’t have imagined socialism penetrating this far into the political mainstream. The plan was to have the magazine keep the flame of socialism alive in dark times — to win converts to it, help make it more relevant, but ultimately pass it off to a future generation.

Eight years later, “socialism in our time” better captures our demand. But Jacobin and the Democratic Socialists of America’s outsized role in this political moment is proof that we need to have institutions at the ready before political shifts happen.