In the United States we have a national administration whose program, though far from socialist, is more progressive than any since Franklin Roosevelt’s. But in Europe, where citizens have had substantial experience with constructive social democracy, the democratic left is all but dead. Somehow, the U.S. and Europe have reversed roles. What happened?
We in Europe have substantial recent experience of social democracy and Americans have forgotten how Franklin Delano fucked so many things up. So, the reason we’re against and you’re for is that we have recent empirical knowledge.
What truly worries though is how any sentient adult could have written that first paragraph without predicting the answer of the second. But then Robert Kuttner, you know…..
They’re using “progressive” to mean “socialist” again, instead of its true meaning, in small incremental and sustainable steps.
Mentioning the 1930s, they seem to have forgotten that back then “progressive” parties were anti-socialist groupings.
Hmmm 1930s.
Didn’t Europe have an unfortunate experience with “Socialist” parties soon after?
May have dulled our ardour for the whole Socialist thing, just a leeeetle bit mebbe?
Or perhaps the Germans just weren’t doing it right, not real Socialism?
I expect Robert Kuttner knows the difference between a paragraph and a sentence, though.
Cvnts.
We in Australia had a brief booster dose of left-wing government between 2007 and 2011. It’s proved an effective inoculation against the desire to do it again any time soon.
Jon Jeremy–the evil shower of shite Aus has at present suggests ALL your choices are bad ones.
Ecks beat me to it. Zero sniffles LOL
Sorry JJ, that was humour, wasn’t it. But slow there.
But in Europe, where citizens have had substantial experience with constructive social democracy, the democratic left is all but dead.
That’s because the citizens of Europe have realised that ‘ Social Democrats ‘ hate them and wish to replace them with third-worlders. Not that most ‘conservative’ parties are any better, mind.
Americans either haven’t caught on yet, or actively want to be replaced.
Interesting term ‘social democracy’. Since democracy requires a demos, how can it be anything other than social? It is like ‘liberal democracy’, any society which is not liberal (true sense) will not have democracy. And we don’t have democracy at all: democracy disperses power to avoid tyranny whereas our ‘democracy’ concentrates power to ensure tyranny.
These weasel words, together with ‘social justice’ and ‘equality’ (now conflated with ‘equity’), are cover words for Socialism or maybe Fascism, the latter being referred to these days as Crony Capitalism but Government + Big Business + organised labour = Fascism.
@JohnB
Newspeak
Not so much. “Social democracy” as a political economics term means broadly capitalist and market based with high taxes, large welfare state and lots of redistribution. As opposed to socialism – planning and state ownership – or neoliberalism etc.
That’s because the citizens of Europe have realised that ‘ Social Democrats ‘ hate them and wish to replace them with third-worlders. Not that most ‘conservative’ parties are any better, mind.
Most ‘conservative parties’ are exactly the same, eg the Tories. New Labour with a blue tie. The pattern is the same in the UK, US and Western Europe. The establishment sees the indigenous population as its greatest threat, as it can still deliver upsets (Trump, Brexit). Therefore they seek to dilute, disrupt and degrade this demographic.
Racial balkanisation takes quite a while, but intersectional ideology allows them to divide and rule much more quickly.