Listen, nobody knows what to do. What we do know is that why Clinton lost has something to do with white people voting for Trump and big elements of the Democratic Party’s coalition just not turning out in past numbers (Latinos being the spectacular exception). This is basically the sum total of the raw data everybody’s going to be interpreting and basing their prescriptions on. So the path forward I’m about to suggest has to rely on more than just facts; it has to rely on what I believe on a gut level and what I think is also morally right.

What I think is that we need leave behind the politics of the possible. We are no longer the ruling party, so this is both a luxury we can afford and a vision we need in order to remind ourselves who we are. The exigencies of power and crisis these past eight years forced our hand into compromise and coalition building, and there are those today who still respond to the election of Donald Trump with calls to unify and build our Party even larger, eschewing radical and potentially divisive tactics or proposals.

I believe these people are wrong. The 2016 election disproved any political strategy that aims to win voters by agreeing with them. Americans will forgive almost anything apparently if they believe that fundamentally you are on their side and have bold ideas capable of disrupting the gridlock in Washington. Although the tent of the Democratic Party must be wide, we can’t sacrifice our principles for the sake of inclusivity. Rather, our Party must be a flag that among the din and smoke of our political culture people can follow.

So for me, a crucially important early step in the rebuilding of our party is defining what a Democrat is, both in terms of our values and in terms of specific policy proposals that will form the backbone of a smaller, bolder, and stronger platform. Concision is paramount, but we must also draw a clear line in the sand for every major political fault that separates Democrats from the forces of capital, racism, and sexism. Only by knowing who we are will we present a strong, united front at every level of political engagement, from school boards to Congress, and ensure that every added Democrat strengthens our cause rather than dilutes it.

This is my attempt to draw those lines.

You’re not a Democrat unless you can get behind the following broad ideas:

The Economy: Some industries are fundamentally ill-suited to market regulation, such as education, police, the military, transportation, healthcare, and housing. Also, massive personal wealth is both economically and morally indefensible and should be eradicated.

Social Injustice: The historical concentration of power in the hands of white, wealthy men has wrought systemic injustices that continue to this day. Redressing the injustices that manifest themselves along race, gender, and sexual identity will require more than the removal of obstacles but the concerted redistribution of wealth, power, and opportunity to these groups.

The Environment: This one’s simple. Man-made climate change presents a dire threat to our species and the natural world. Avoiding its consequences now being impossible, drastic action is still required to rebuild sustainable societies across the world.

Specifically, you’re not a Democrat if too many of the following policy proposals make you uncomfortable:

• Single payer healthcare
• Subsidized childcare
• Graduated income tax capped at 75%
• Tax breaks for union contracts and worker-owned cooperatives
• National rent control
• Racial and socioeconomic desegregation in schools and neighborhoods
• National carbon tax

You might find these ideas too radical, but in my political experience those who have balked at some or all of these ideas were not really Democrats, just Republicans who were socially liberal or moderates ignorant of the ravages that wealth, racism, and sexism have wrought in this country. We need these people in order to rebuild a stronger, fairer America, but they won’t follow us unless we have a bold vision of our own.

To everyone who’s mostly onboard with the above, let’s sketch this vision out. We got four years.