Articles with tag “Socialism”
The Implications of Portugal for a Renewal of Social Democracy
For some time I’ve been curious about what’s been happening with of the Left-supported social democratic government in Portugal. It struck me as the best argument against my suspicion that a classical social democratic government are not possible within capitalism today. I recently read two reports on the experience of government there: an enthusiastic one written by a social democratic think-tank, and a more critical one from an activist with the radical left Bloco de Esquerda which is supporting the minority government there.
Greeks Bearing Debts
Just over five months ago, Greece elected a new government lead by left-wing party SYRIZA. SYRIZA comes out of a radical tradition rejecting both reformist social democracy and authoritarian communism and was swept to power on a wave of anti-austerity sentiment. Austerity refers to the massive cuts to public spending (tending to hurt particularly those on lower incomes) which Greece has endured over the past five years, along with the associated policies of deregulation, cuts to the minimum wage, an end to collective bargaining, and the privatization of anything which actually makes a profit for the government.
Fixing Pharmaceuticals
A while back I read a story about how Canada is facing recurring drug shortages. More recently I read about how difficult it is to get the pharmaceutical companies interested in developing new antibiotics. It is clear to me that the private sector is now longer performing adequately in providing medications. It seems to me that radical ideas are becoming pragmatic.
10 Reasons I Sometimes Hate Being a Socialist
As you might have gathered from my blog posts here, I am pretty left wing. You know you’re pretty radical when you have to preface any explanation of your beliefs with “Well, I would not consider myself a communist.” And, while I am quite confidant in the validity of my beliefs, there are days when I really wish that I didn’t have them. So, without further ado, here are the top 10 reasons I wish I wasn’t a socialist.
On Europe, the Left, and the Future
For those of you who weren’t aware, there are currently elections going on for the European Parliament. What is interesting about this election, in particular, is that the more radical parties are expected to do well. This includes the socialist parties to the left of social democracy. In this post, in addition to some general comments on the European Parliament, I discuss the policies of these parties and my thoughts on their future.
On Socialists and Scotsmen
Us socialists are often accused of preaching a failed ideology; one which has been shown to inevitably result in totalitarianism and impoverishment. I tend to respond by saying that I don’t see how socialism can have failed when the world has yet to see a socialist society. The inevitable objection that is given, not only by the right but also by the centre-left, is that this is an example of the “No True Scotsman Fallacy.” However, I feel that they are misunderstanding my point.
Why Social Democracy Was Great and Why It Isn’t the Answer
Yesterday I happened to read two very interesting articles, which at first glance would appear to be entirely unrelated. One was in New Scientist magazine and explained that, although GDP has risen fairly steadily in the west for the past several decades, the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), which attempts to adjust GDP for social and environmental health, has slowly been declining since 1978. The other article was an opinion piece in The Guardian by Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin. Here they explained why that without a threat of something more radical (ie: all-out socialism), the ruling classes see no need to engage in progressive economic policies.
Was There No Alternative?
I made the mistake today of making a distinctly anti-Thatcher comment. To this I received a (fairly typical) response that Thatcher saved Britain for anarchy and bankruptcy and that while her policies were unpleasant at the time, they were necessary. There are even plenty of people on the centre-left who say things like this. It irritates me to no end, but I figured that it was best to avoid getting dragged into a political debate in public. Of course, this being me, it continued to bother me through the day, so I’ve written some of my thoughts on the matter here.
