As the primary has narrowed and we’ve seen the rise and fall of Warren and the loss of Booker and Castro, it’s become apparent that the democrats are going to be exactly where we thought we would be: choosing between Biden and Sanders.

The conventional wisdom has been that Biden is the safe choice, the one we know can defeat Trump. If we consider the defeat of Trump our one and only goal, sure Biden is a great pic. But that isn’t, or at least shouldn’t be. our goal.

We need to not only retake the White House, but the entire nation. Make no mistake, Trump is not the disease, or even McConnell and the senate- they are both symptoms. We are facing a deep, systematic despair. As our worst fears over the negative side effects of capitalism are being realized, people are being deprived of identity and happiness.

The turn to authoritarianism and the promise of ‘draining the swamp’ was inevitable, and simply kicking out Trump will do little to fix the issue. As long as the conditions that created him remain, we will continue to see Trumps. Just imagine if someone charismatic and politically savvy was put in the same position as Trump with the same goals. Our only saving grace keeping Trump from becoming some kind of American Hitler is his incompetence.

This is all to say that in the coming election we need more from a president than just a stop gap until the next authoritarian comes. We need a president who will actually attempt to change the underlying social ills producing the toxic political climate we see worsening every day. We need to stop climate change, break the corporate stranglehold over society, ensure healthcare and education for all, and work towards a peaceful and prosperous society based around the inherent good of humans- not the inherent greed and fear.

Biden will not do this. Biden’s methods are from the past. He has the institutional support, but those institutions are corrupt- we saw this recently with the senate’s vote not to call witnesses to the president’s egregious crimes. Biden cannot pass medicare for all, progressive climate policy, or student loan debt forgiveness. Biden will not take on capitalism itself. This is because he doesn’t believe in most of these things. In a time demanding radical and effective action, we cannot have another moderate.

Nominating Biden would be incredibly irresponsible. The only candidate who has even a hope of making the changes we require is Sanders. An okay president instead of an awful one isn’t good enough for our party, our nation, and our world.