[W]orking only for the rich, as [Donald] Trump does, and working only for the poor and wage earners, as [Kshama] Sawant does, is not at all the same thing. To think so is to assume that political power is evenly spread out in our society. The needs of those at the top must receive as much attention as those who are at the bottom? The problem with this assumption is money itself. Money is not just paper in a purse or information in a mainframe; in short, it’s not neutral, something mainstream economists believe and teach, year in and year out. The abstract measure of wealth is also the greatest form of social power in our society, and the only institution that challenges or checks this power is democracy.

To require that a leftist or socialist work for everyone in a community is to ignore the mammoth in the room, namely, that money primarily works for a small group and ignores the rest of the population. Sawant is hated because she fully understands that democracy is one of the few weapons that’s available to those at the bottom.

Charles Mudede, “Seattle’s Elite Hate Kshama Sawant Because She Only Represents the Poor and Wage Earners”