The person who wrote this is a member of the socialist Left. This is a critique of the style among establishment Liberals (who support right-of-center Neolibera

The person who wrote this is a member of the socialist Left. This is a critique of the style among establishment Liberals (who support right-of-center Neoliberal economics / very weak social democracy and social liberalism), not the Left (who support the spectrum of leftist policy from strong social democracy to socialism to communism as well as social liberalism): Mother Jones and Slate, not Jacobin and Dissent. The distinction is extremely important now that the rift between the two is as large as it is. If you're disgusted with the smugness and support Nordic or Euro style taxation and proper redistribution, then it'd be toward, not away from the Left (not to say there are no smug Actual Leftists, just that they have no voice in our current media.)