debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
Thanks very much for inviting me here this evening; not least because it allows me to talk about philosophy, society and socialism. Believe me as a Labour MP this does not happen very often. I have been a MP for ten years. I went with Tony Blair into Downing St in 1997 and spent three [...]
The official American establishment’s reaction to the Iranian youth venting briefly on the streets of Tehran their protest against fraudulent elections of June 2009 bore striking resemblance to a commercial campaign on behalf of the likes of Facebook, Google or Twitter. I suppose that some gallant investigative journalist, to whose company alas I do not [...]
Joseph S. Nye Jr. has turned upside down Machiavelli’s infamous recommendation to the Prince: it is safer when people fear you than when they love you… Whether or not that recommendation was right for the Princes, remains a moot question; but it no longer makes sense for presidents and prime ministers. Nye would agree that [...]
Following the result of the first round of the French Presidential elections, it seems that – at last – a new wind is blowing in the European sky. The much sidestepped “growth agenda” is slowly gaining currency in the European political discourse and calls for pro-growth measures, for a European growth strategy and for a reconsideration of [...]
There has been much talk about the crisis of social democracy and the shortcomings of the progressive agenda as the key explanation. Without disputing the priority of designing the right programme, I’d like to stress another important factor: the collapse of communities. Our societies are increasingly fragmented. Once large-scale communities make place for smaller groups [...]
We have entered an age of fear. Insecurity is once again an active ingredient of political life in Western democracies. Insecurity born of terrorism, but also, and more insidiously, fear of the uncontrollable speed of change, fear of the loss of employment, fear of losing ground to others in an increasingly unequal distribution of resources, [...]
This is the second generation of people who can’t imagine change except in their own lives, who have no sense of social collective public goods or services, who are just isolated individuals desperately striving to better themselves above everybody else.” [Tony Judt, quoted in Ed Pilkington, ‘A bunch of dead muscles, thinking’ The Guardian, 9 [...]
As politicians debate public spending cuts, the matter of whether the State should continue to fund the Church in Poland has been raised. This issue is an extremely controversial one and brings in a number of wider issues, not least the fundamental question of whether there should exist an independent and secular State in Poland. [...]
Greg Smith, a Goldman Sachs vice president, resigned his post Wednesday with a stinging public rebuke of the firm on the oped page of the New York Times — accusing it of no longer putting its clients before its own pecuniary goals. But if Mr. Smith believes his experience at Goldman is something new, he doesn’t know history. In [...]
It’s time to stop perpetuating perceived practical constraints, insists Matthias Machnig. New progress calls for political initiative, debates about the future direction of policy, and a passionate commitment. At stake here is nothing less than a more just society. The hope was that technical advances would also enable us to achieve social progress for people [...]
The endless EU vs US debate rolls on, but now with an odd twist. Although the objective facts about economic inequality, immobility and so on are far worse in the US than the EU, the political situation seems more promising. (I’m not talking primarily about electoral politics but about the nature of public debate.) In [...]
The year 2011 will be remembered as the time when many ever-optimistic Americans began to give up hope. President John F. Kennedy once said that a rising tide lifts all boats. But now, in the receding tide, Americans are beginning to see not only that those with taller masts had been lifted far higher, but [...]
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