There are two enduring images of Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign. First, the only slightly ironic MATH label pasted to his tie-less suit on debate night. Second, the hilarious spectacle of Yang celebrating the opening of his New Hampshire office by spraying whip cream into the mouths of kneeling supporters, a ritual so bizarre that his panicked campaign manager was forced to intervene.

But it would be a mistake to dismiss Yang’s run as a novelty performance. Because Yang had a very important message not only for the Democratic Party but — despite his avowed capitalism — the socialist left. And I don’t just mean his guarantee of $1,000 a month to every American. What he brought to the primary was much more than that.

I’m not entirely sold on Yang’s Freedom Dividend — I’d prefer a massive jobs program — but Yang was correct to form his campaign around a single materialist program of redistribution. He knew he wouldn’t win. He simply believed so strongly in that prescription that he wanted to do for universal basic income (UBI) what Sanders did for Medicare for All.