Comments on: Time for a twenty-first Century Social Democracy

By: Christian Kleineidam

Christian Kleineidam — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:07:36 +0000

I don’t really think that the problem of social democracy is it’s approach to economics.
The problems rather lie with left parties rejecting values such as peace and going to war.
Schröder won the 2002 election with his opposition to the Iraq war.

A left government attacked with Blair Iraq based on a bunch of lies and the war now killed more human beings than died in the genocide in Rwanda.
That’s just not the way moral capital is build.

There also a complete ignorances of the values of young people who join pirate parties to secure their civil liberties.

There too much focus on realpolitik, defending the status quo and the not enough fight for values that transcend. Values that people can get inspired about.

By: Colin Bartie

Colin Bartie — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:45:52 +0000

I agree with Dominic. Denis seems to accept the tradition of the right and of Adam Smith and the invisible hand. But it is that hand that has taken from the people. We , on the Left, have traditions too and it is to those traditions we should be looking:

Don’t let it fade – the dream our parents dreamt and made

There was a time when we were only slaves,
Who worked and ate and slept, with nothing more
Than lives of toil that led to paupers graves.
Each year no better than the one before
Until we cried ‘enough of exploitation’,
And organised against the greedy few
Who robbed the poor and plundered every nation.
Our strength in unity was something new,
That grew in Unions and in time.
The result of struggle has been increased wealth,
Security for those who pass their prime,
And the guarantee of all our children’s health.
This is our tradition – don’t let it fade,
It is the dream our parents dreamt and made.
Don’t let it fade!

By: Dominic

Dominic — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:12:42 +0000

“So why is social democracy currently in crisis? Firstly, it has always been an error to assume that economic crisis is good for the left.”

Oh good, that means you have nothing to do with, right? No wrong policies, no wrong choices, it’s just the way it is, right?

“When citizens are scared for their jobs and salaries, or the future of their children, they vote defensively and stay with conservatives. So the left must have a more sophisticated analysis of the new economy. Denunciation of neoliberalism or the rich or capitalism sounds good on a platform but does not offer a way forward. Without a deep understanding of the new materiality which people experience in many different ways, the left simply repeats the slogans of the last century, which are not relevant today.”

Your way forward turned out to be a way backwards! A Labour MP after this crisis (which still isn’t over in the UK) still says denouncing neoliberalism does not offer a way forward? Haven’t you learned anything or do you just close your eyes and mind and refuse to accept reality?

By: Tolk

Tolk — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:35:14 +0000

Network thinking and network praxis can be useful for this kind of social democracy. A recent article uses the idea of tracing networks and goes one step further. It suggests that this could also develop collective reflexivity, help to reconfigure these networks and give a political alternative more suited to our entangled world. See : http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a916116619