It’s common (and normal) for adults to shed the ill-conceived utopian ideals commonly heard in the freshman dorm after midnight. Independent adulthood demands an honest engagement with reality as it is, as opposed to what we’d prefer it to be, and that begins with a hard look at ourselves. The inability to wake up on time or manage a video game addiction, for instance, reveals the frivolity, and even arrogance, of being preoccupied with abstractions such as “humanity” and “the world.”

But it’s quite another thing to adopt principles that flatly contradict everything you once stood for. Like many once-young liberals , I’ve come to see the wisdom of various conservative positions (though certainly not all of them). I’ve even voted for a few Republicans at the local level in recent elections, though I’ve still never voted for a Republican for president (I voted third party in 2020 after regretting my vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016).

But like many elder millennials and Generation Xers, I’ve come to regard the Democratic Party and the cultural monolith it represents as the last place I’d look to find representation for my values. That’s not because I’ve changed all that much but because I haven’t. My core beliefs — particularly as related to free speech, antimilitarism, and anti-corporatism — have remained essentially unchanged over the years. The Democratic Party, which at least pretended to champion these ideals in my youth, and the mainstream liberal order it represents, has become singularly hostile to these values.

It is remarkable to consider the shift in the Democratic Party on free speech in the course of my lifetime. Its working partnership with Big Tech and the legacy media to censor the speech of political opponents is well documented . But the propensity to suppress speech has permeated throughout the Left, including even the ACLU, which once held speech protection as its central mission. The ACLU of my childhood proudly defended the speech of the least savory social groups, including neo-Nazis and the Westboro Baptist Church, because of its righteous commitment to a deeply held principle: that free speech must be free for all if it is to be free for any. Today, the ACLU uses its considerable clout and resources to suppress speech that it finds “harmful, ” cherry-picks its cases to placate progressive donors, and no longer works to protect citizens from government overreach, as demonstrated by its support for vaccine mandates .

On matters of war and peace, too, the Democratic Party and its allies, particularly in the news media, have become utterly devoted to militarism. Now the political home of the neocons, who are arguably the most loathsome warmongers in American history, this faction is eager to arm, invade, and commit troops to battle at every turn. Only 16 short years ago, Barack Obama made opposition to the Iraq War the central theme of his 2008 election campaign. (He then became the first president to target and kill U.S. citizens abroad illegally with drone strikes). And now, leaders within the Democratic Party appear eager to engage in a direct military conflict with a nation that possesses the largest nuclear arsenal on Earth. Just last week, a Democratic president sent cluster munitions to Ukraine, which, if used, would arguably be a war crime because of the threat they pose to civilians. Like many my age who once marched to protest the Iraq War, I find this to be a repulsive betrayal of my long-held values.

The Democratic machine has also fully embraced corporate America, a fact that would have caused my college self to vomit. This relationship has been consummated in myriad ways. Corporate money has begun to flow in the Democrats' direction for years now, and Democrats have been delighted by corporate America’s adoption of liberal social causes. Corporations are not exclusively loyal to Democrats since they will always have a soft spot for the low taxation and deregulation offered by the GOP. But only Democrats can offer moral cover for their exploitative behavior at home and in the developing world — all in exchange for a few measly rainbow flags and raised fists in their advertising. Not since the Catholic Church sold indulgences to aristocrats in the Middle Ages has absolution been so easily attained.

And yet, there are indications the Democratic machine is losing control of its minions. The unexpected level of support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in early primary polling and the palpable fear among Democrats regarding professor Cornel West’s third-party bid both indicate a real hunger among voters for the Democratic Party of old. These figures, who are arguably more dangerous to Biden’s reelection prospects than any single Republican, represent the Democratic values of my youth on free speech, antimilitarism, and anti-corporatism.

It’s true: Neither of these men is likely to end up as president. But it's good to see them wield some influence in this unsettling political moment. It’s like seeing an old friend after a long estrangement.

The Democratic Party has become the party of power, the status quo, the censors, the warmongers, the profiteers, and the establishment. They are not the rebels but the machine. It’s high time the people rose to rage against it.

Peter Laffin is a contributor at the Washington Examiner and the founder of Crush the College Essay. His work has also appeared in RealClearPolitics, the Catholic Thing, the National Catholic Register, and the American Spectator.