There Are Two Possible Futures | 20 comments (20 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: There Are Two Possible Futures (4.00 / 11)

Obviously there are important differences between US domestic politics and European domestic politics, but I wonder to what degree the European future will be characterized by a similar contest between a regressive corporatism and a renewed and reinvigorated social democracy.

Ultimately, I believe that the progressive, socially democratic American future lies in creating a strong working relationship with the rest of the world. And I believe that has political dimensions - we need to build a global political movement that links domestic political movements together to advance common causes to solve common problems. A crucial fight in the USA in the first half of the 21st century will be about whether we embrace this internationalist politics or shun it.

And the world will live as one

by Montereyan (robert at calitics dot com) on Sun Dec 2nd, 2007 at 05:02:26 PM EST

Re: There Are Two Possible Futures (4.00 / 6)

A Europe moving to the Right is very possible. In fact at this point it's the default outcome.

The problem is that there's no organised progressive movement in Europe. There are plenty of issue-based factions and interest groups promoting their own special interests. And plenty of oppositional protest.

But there's no single-point progressive focus for the whole of Europe.

The Right, meanwhile, has been trying to prepare and organise, and it has plenty of support on issues like immigration (i.e. xenophobia) and tax cuts (i.e. 'I've got mine - fuck you.')

Plurality is always a progressive weakness. No matter how correct we are, practical politics demands strong and charismatic leadership, or - at worst - capable and tough not-so charismatic leadership.

Policies don't just happen because they're the right choice, they have to be sold. And the Right is always much better at selling than progressives seem to be.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon Dec 3rd, 2007 at 07:29:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: There Are Two Possible Futures (4.00 / 4)

Your moto is my moto.

Want to do soemthing for progessive policies? "buy media."

Your words. my words.

A pleasure

I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude

by kcurie on Mon Dec 3rd, 2007 at 08:07:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: There Are Two Possible Futures (4.00 / 2)

The problem is that there's no organised progressive movement in Europe.

But there is, in fact a number of them. Most notably the Altermondialists, itself an amalgam including previous networks. Problem is, their reach is still too narrow.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Dec 4th, 2007 at 02:44:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

the problem is largely linguistic (none / 1)

to build up support for this kind of movement, you need strong local backing and numbers.

to go supernational, communication defaults to english, and a glitch occurs between leaders and the grassroots they sprang from...

(this one of the best things about ET, imo, the common use of english to a surprisingly high level by so many to whom english is not mothertongue.)

my compliments (and appreciation) to all of you...

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sat Dec 8th, 2007 at 06:47:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

There Are Two Possible Futures | 20 comments (20 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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