View source for Danton's politics

__NOTOC__
I'm a moderate socialist, with leanings towards anarchism. But my socialism and anarchism are both tempered by an appreciation of the critical importance of liberal democracy as the indispensable framework for political freedom.

==Moderate socialism==
By moderate socialism I mean limited socialism under a democratic political regime with a free market economy.

All Western democracies are in fact social-democratic. The Keynesian welfare state, introduced in the United States during the great depression of the 1930s, as a response to one of the cyclic crises inherent in capitalism, is a form of minimal social-democracy. The difference between the welfare state and socialism proper is only a matter of degree. As a moderate socialist I advocate a greater degree of socialism, but within the same framework of liberal democracy.

The ''theory'' of moderate socialism was developed by Eduard Bernstein, who invented the term "social-democracy." Bernstein thought that the transition to socialism could be gradual, rather than requiring a revolutionary rupture. More recently, John Rawls developed a theory of social justice which has affinities with a moderate socialist perspective. But who has clearly updated this theory for the contemporary context? (See my project [[Danton's political theory]].)

The ''practice'' of moderate socialism was developed in particular in France by Leon Blum. His Popular Front government illustrated how a leftist coalition could exercise power within the framework of liberal democracy, and then yield the power when overturned in the elections.

==Failure of Marxist governments==
Marx provided a useful diagnosis of the problems of capitalism, and a terrible prescription for their remedy. The Marxist model of the dictatorship of the proletariat, inherited from the Terror of the French revolution, led inevitably to the totalitarian regime of Stalin. Marxist states around the world have all systematically denied basic human rights such as freedom of speech and right to political representation.

Marxist states also generally demonstrate the failure of central planning. Economic collapse was the main cause of the fall of the URSS, and China only avoided a similar fate by liberalizing their economy (while maintaining the repressive one-party state).

==The importance of liberal democracy and a free market==
The formal mechanisms of liberal democracy, including free speech, universal suffrage with multiple parties, and a "state of law," are necessary to protect human rights and freedoms, whatever the economic system.

Liberal democracy also recognizes the individual's right to ownership of private property, as well as the related right to hire the labor of others and operate as a "capitalist." State-enforced communism denies these rights in a misguided attempt to promote economic justice, but at a terrible price for both individual freedom and economic efficiency. The best way to work towards the ideals of economic justice and cooperative endeavor is to promote them within the framework of liberal democracy.

==The autonomous collective unit==
Like the Marxists, the leftist anarchist movements made the mistakes of rejecting liberal democracy and of advocating compulsory collectivism. But the anarchists developed a model of the autonomous collective unit which maintains its relevance today as a decentralized form of political or economic organization. Note that, contrary to the compulsory collectivization of Marxist socialism, membership in an autonomous collective unit is entirely ''voluntary'', and an unsatisfied individual can withdraw from the group at any time.

In the economic context, the autonomous collective unit is the workers cooperative. As a complement to top-down social reform carried out at state level, the working class movement should focus on building economic democracy from the bottom up, through the creation of cooperatives. A decentralized movement of voluntary association will in the long run allow us to bypass the type of companies that mistreat their employees, rather than having to keep struggling with their owners.

==The liberation of the individual==
After the small group, we reach the individual. Traditional social movements have focused on collective welfare, to the point of asking individuals to sacrifice themselves for the group. But as Max Stirner put it: "What is not supposed to be my concern! ... Only my cause is never to be my concern." (In other words, I am supposed to support all of the good causes - but when will I look after my own interests?) If individuals are of value in and for themselves, we should help them to realize their individual goals.

Thus the promotion of [[convivial tools]] for the individual becomes a political issue. Convivial tools are designed to help the users to act with independent efficiency, making them less dependent on specialists, and more empowered to realize their own goals.

Just as we can help the smaller group to gain autonomy within society by fostering workers coops, so we can help individuals to improve their position within the group by democratizing group process and promoting individual autonomy. The strengthening of all individuals within the group makes them more equal in power, thereby reducing the weight of elitism and facilitating an [[inclusion culture]]. One aspect of democratization of group process is what French historian Pierre Rosenvallon called [[counter-democracy]], which denotes political activists challenging the lack of democracy within their own groups.

==See also==
*[[Convivial tools]]
*[[Inclusion culture]]
*[[Poverty consciousness]]


[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Danton's Stuff]]