117 lines
5.0 KiB
Markdown
117 lines
5.0 KiB
Markdown
**Social Democracy** (commonly called **Democratic Socialism**, also
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known as **Welfare Capitalism**, **Welfare Statism** or **Liberal
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Socialism**) is the idea that society should still be organized
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according to the following principles:
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- [Representative democracy](Representative_Democracy "wikilink")
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- [Liberal](Liberalism "wikilink") notions of
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[freedom](freedom "wikilink") (ie [freedom of
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speech](Free_Speech "wikilink"), assembly, press, movement, work and
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so on)
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- [Capitalist](Capitalism "wikilink") economics
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- Heavy [taxes](Taxation "wikilink") and limited
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[nationalization](nationalization "wikilink") of industry to pay for
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a large [welfare state](Welfare_State "wikilink")
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- Regulations and [laws](Law "wikilink") that protect [trade
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unions](Trade_Unions "wikilink"), [individual
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workers](Working_Class "wikilink"), consumers and [the
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environment](Environmentalism "wikilink")
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Although Social Democracy's support for the state and capitalism will
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cause an obvious conflict with libertarian socialists, there is a great
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deal of division over whether or not to support it. Figures like [Noam
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Chomsky](Noam_Chomsky "wikilink") have argued for limited support in
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order to win temporary gains in [class
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struggle.](Class_Struggle "wikilink") Whilst others (like [Peter
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Gelderloos](Peter_Gelderloos "wikilink") and [Colin
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Ward](Colin_Ward "wikilink")) have argued that it only harms the working
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class and takes the energy out of class struggle and only sets the stage
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for further repression of the working class.
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## History
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### Origins
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Social Democracy began in the early 1860s as a tendency within the
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[International Workingmen's
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Association](International_Workingmen's_Association "wikilink") led by
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theorists who rejected [Marx](Karl_Marx "wikilink") and
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[Bakunin's](Mikhail_Bakunin "wikilink") idea of a violent
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[revolution](revolution "wikilink") and instead advocating for the
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formation of [political parties](Political_Party "wikilink") and the
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winning of reforms to improve the standing of the [working
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class](Working_Class "wikilink").
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### Split from Socialism
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### Gaining Power
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### Dominance in the First World
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Following World War II and until the 1970s,
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### Repression in the Third World
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### Decline
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Beginning in the 1970s, the [ruling class](Ruling_Class "wikilink")
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became increasingly anxious about a '[crisis of
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democracy](Crisis_of_Democracy "wikilink")' within much of the first
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world, as
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The major exception to this has been Latin America, where in response to
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numerous social upheavels and revolutions (the [Zapatista
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Revolution](Zapatista_Revolution "wikilink"), [Bolivian Water
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War](Bolivian_Water_War "wikilink") and
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[Argentinazo](Argentinazo "wikilink"), just to name a few) led to a
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string of social democrats and socialists being elected to lead
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[states](State_\(Polity\) "wikilink") in an event known as the [Pink
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Tide](Pink_Tide "wikilink") throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.
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These governments successfully reduced poverty in massive waves, had
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secured greater rights for minorities and By the mid-2010s, most of
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these states had been hit by major [economic
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crashes](Capitalist_Crisis "wikilink") or its politicians had become
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seduced by corruption, leading to a surge in support for right-wing and
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fascist candidates across Latin America known as the [blue or brown
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tide](Blue_Tide "wikilink").\[1\]
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### Collapse
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### Potential Resurgence
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Support for social democracy is growing across most of the population
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within first world countries.
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## Criticisms
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According to socialists ([libertarian](Libertarian_Socialism "wikilink")
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and [authoritarian](Authoritarian_Socialism "wikilink")), social
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democracy can be criticised on numerous grounds:
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- Social democracy creates a narrative where support for political
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parties in the most practical method to achieve change in the world,
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despite social democracy historically depending on the existence of
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large and strong [trade unions](Trade_Unions "wikilink") willing to
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carry out [strikes](Strike "wikilink").
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- Social democracy is simply a new method to strengthen capitalism and
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neutralize working class resistance, upon sufficient neutralization
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of the [working class](Working_Class "wikilink"), social democracy
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will be [destroyed](Austerity "wikilink") in order to increase
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profits for the [ruling class](Ruling_Class "wikilink")
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- Attempts to reduce [unemployment](unemployment "wikilink") without
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providing [workers'
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self-management](Workers'_Self-Management "wikilink") will result in
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increased inflation and [prices](Price "wikilink") on commodities
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(which is what happened in the 1970s economic crisis which justified
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[neoliberalism](neoliberalism "wikilink"))
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- Social democracy cannot resolve the fundamental problems of
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capitalism, such as [environmental destruction](Ecocide "wikilink"),
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economic crashes, [alienation](alienation "wikilink") and
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inefficiency.
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## References
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<references />
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1. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_tide> |