Word: socialism
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...goes industry, so goes social democracy. Merkel is winning in Germany because support for the SPD, once in the mid-forties at the polls, is now down to less than 25%. With its base cracking, the left does what comes naturally; it splinters. In Germany, the first to bolt were the Greens in the 1970s, with a policy mix of anarchy, culture wars, environmentalism and pacifism. They are now safely on the road to embourgeoisement, and no wonder: the bulk of their supporters - teachers, social workers, the "caring classes" - are employed by the state. Next to go was the hard...
...there's the rub. When Marxism was transformed in the 20th century from a social theory to a set of guidelines for the conduct of state action, it became an evil, responsible for the deaths of millions and an intolerance that reduced the intellectual life of much of the world to a frozen stubble. With the pages of that narrative fresh in the memory, it is easy to read history backwards, and conclude that Marxism came into being with a livid birthmark that would disfigure it for ever. (Read: "Marxism: The Persistent Vision...
Angela Merkel will be re-elected as Chancellor of Germany on Sept. 27. That's one of the safest bets around. The only question is whether she will be in a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD), as in the last four years, or with the Free Democrats (FDP), a center-right party out of power for 11. In Merkel's success hangs a tale of significance beyond Germany...
...what is happening? First, all over the map, Conservative or Christian Democratic parties have been moving to the left. They have given us social democracy without the Social Democrats. They have gone environmentalist and welfarist; they are slowly but purposefully appropriating even the cultural issues of the left, like gay rights and feminism. Why should voters shop on the left if they can get what they want from the likes of Cameron or Merkel? When did you last hear of radical pro-market reforms from Sarkozy and Berlusconi? (See pictures of Sarkozy...
...threw up reformist parties of the left everywhere. Their natural clientele was a rising industrial proletariat; their natural program was the welfare state and income redistribution. But those days in Europe are gone. The milieu of such parties is evaporating, and that is why even in this economic crisis, social democratic parties are not scoring with more spending, taxes and goodies. Where is the working class in Britain, the first industrialized nation, where manufacturing contributes only 16% to GDP? Or even in Germany...