Fascist politics poses a major challenge in the years ahead. “How do we maintain a sense of common humanity,” asks Jason Stanley in his brilliant How Fascism Works , “when fear and insecurity will lead us to flee into the comforting arms of mythic superiority in vain pursuit of a sense of dignity?” We may know the danger exists, but at what point do we take it seriously? Continue reading
“What is socialism?” Continue reading
Unchecked climate change will, almost inevitably, galvanize fascism and bring an end to capitalism as we know it. Continue reading
Recently, I had occasion to ponder the important role of activism, especially today under conditions of impending disaster. Continue reading
“They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind.” Neoliberalism as an ideology and a movement demonstrates the truth of this biblical adage. Neofascism is the whirlwind. Continue reading
“Life is man’s missed opportunity.” Although Karl Polanyi used these words to sum up Hamlet, they also encapsulate his sense after 1947 that capitalist society had forfeited a promising future – a liberating freedom in community. Yet perhaps the opportunity has not been forfeited but delayed. Polanyi’s insight into the connection among freedom, community and personal responsibility can still guide us. Continue reading
Internationalism has been the default position of the left. Suspicion of nationalism stems from its long association with a single ethnic or religious group, excluding the ‘other’ and defusing class solidarity. But is the default position valid any longer? Continue reading
Both Karl Polanyi and Friedrich Hayek addressed the ‘big’ question of how we can attain freedom in a complex society. Despite sharing similar backgrounds and experiences, they famously arrived at divergent conclusions. Who is right? Continue reading
Many progressives reading this post are, like me, privileged members of highly unequal societies. Although precarious employment with limited benefits afflicts many others, we are in secure jobs with secure futures. We can look forward to retirement. We do not need to worry that one bad illness will drive us into bankruptcy. The economies from which we benefit and our daily activities and pleasures also spew out prodigious volumes of carbon dioxide. Yet we are fairly well insulated from global warming, whereas the poorest and most carbon-frugal people, at home and abroad, are not. Most of us would welcome a drastic leap to a more egalitarian, secure, just and sustainable world, but that leap isn’t likely to happen soon. Continue reading
Since Margaret Thatcher made her famous pronouncement about the lack of an alternative to free-market capitalism, many on the left have seemed to agree. Continue reading