Although Moore has been known for his political activism, he rejects the label as redundant in a democracy: "I and you and everyone else has to be a political activist. If we're not politically active, it ceases to be a democracy." According to John Flesher of the Associated Press, Moore is known for his "fiery left-wing populism", and publications such as the "Socialist Worker Online" have hailed him as the "new Tom Paine". In a speech, he said that socialism is democracy and Christianity. However, he later said that economic philosophies from the past were not apt enough to describe today's realities.