The 4th direction seems to describe the US 2017-2020 and the UK 2019-now quite well, don't you think?
I think you're much too ready to fold on the 1st direction - social democracy. Your acceptance that because social democracy got trashed in the 1970s it has to be wrong is not just deeply pessimistic but not well-enough reasoned, imo. T…
The 4th direction seems to describe the US 2017-2020 and the UK 2019-now quite well, don't you think?
I think you're much too ready to fold on the 1st direction - social democracy. Your acceptance that because social democracy got trashed in the 1970s it has to be wrong is not just deeply pessimistic but not well-enough reasoned, imo. The reality is that Arab oil producers kneecapped the West's economy in the 70s and - as we saw again, though mercifully less, last year - response to a massive terms of trade loss is very messy. So everyone's pissed off at being made poorer and there's inflation and in the US the Japanese start making Detroit look stupid. So a few opportunists jump at the chance that they've been preparing for for years - to sell neoliberal snake oil. Because of course lower taxes on the rich and less regulation to protect society against what capitalism will do when left to its own devices is hugely valuable to potential oligarchs. They were surely the real driver behind neoliberalism's ascent - and clearly who kept neoliberalism going. By the 80s, decision-makers were no longer of the war generation - Ike, Mac, LBJ-ish, Healey - who recognized the moral imperative of a political economy that serves everyone's interest, not just the few. But now we've had 40+ years of seeing that this really leads to option 4. And the only people who like it are Trump, Putin, Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg, maybe Dimon. Surely the rest of us can string 4 of them up on metaphorical lamp-posts and have a political economy that serves the many? If the trustbusters could overcome the immense power of the robber barons, are we too pusillanimous to pull off similar? Especially when we managed to elect a president who is making many moves in the direction of Option 1?
The 4th direction seems to describe the US 2017-2020 and the UK 2019-now quite well, don't you think?
I think you're much too ready to fold on the 1st direction - social democracy. Your acceptance that because social democracy got trashed in the 1970s it has to be wrong is not just deeply pessimistic but not well-enough reasoned, imo. The reality is that Arab oil producers kneecapped the West's economy in the 70s and - as we saw again, though mercifully less, last year - response to a massive terms of trade loss is very messy. So everyone's pissed off at being made poorer and there's inflation and in the US the Japanese start making Detroit look stupid. So a few opportunists jump at the chance that they've been preparing for for years - to sell neoliberal snake oil. Because of course lower taxes on the rich and less regulation to protect society against what capitalism will do when left to its own devices is hugely valuable to potential oligarchs. They were surely the real driver behind neoliberalism's ascent - and clearly who kept neoliberalism going. By the 80s, decision-makers were no longer of the war generation - Ike, Mac, LBJ-ish, Healey - who recognized the moral imperative of a political economy that serves everyone's interest, not just the few. But now we've had 40+ years of seeing that this really leads to option 4. And the only people who like it are Trump, Putin, Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg, maybe Dimon. Surely the rest of us can string 4 of them up on metaphorical lamp-posts and have a political economy that serves the many? If the trustbusters could overcome the immense power of the robber barons, are we too pusillanimous to pull off similar? Especially when we managed to elect a president who is making many moves in the direction of Option 1?