Socialist Progressives
In reply to the discussion: Did Marx underestimate the power of the middle class ? [View all]socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)Scandinavian countries are somehow "extra" resistant to the neo-liberalism that has taken over everywhere else. It is true that there are some mitigating factors involved in this sector of the world that might make them slightly more resistant, like a more homogenous population (less chance of floating the "others are gaming the system" meme), a little bit more history of social democracy, elections that are based less on who has the most money to buy ads and votes, and, most importantly IMO, the fact that neo-liberalism has had several decades to FAIL in other parts of the globe before it's begun to be tried in Scandinavia on a more serious basis. But NONE of these factors will guarantee that Scandinavia will not be the next domino to fall to the perils of privatization, austerity, and all of the other neo-liberal claptrap. I don't see them being ultimately resistant because, under ANY sort of capitalist system, MONEY and ownership is power and that power will ALWAYS win out in the end. Sometimes it takes longer than other times, but without organized working class resistance, money will win out.
There are many different tendencies of communist and Marxist thought. Some are based more on the classic readings of Marx and Engels than others. In any system there will be people who will try to gain advantage. Trots call them opportunists. A bottom up representative system of one person, one vote using delegates that are IMMEDIATELY recallable and making an wage equivalent to the average of the workers they represent, with provisions for legal punishment for taking more than this, SHOULD take care of MOST of the opportunists. The rest of them will have to be outvoted. Capitalism hasn't worked or, more properly, I should say that capitalism no LONGER works. It's time to take the next step. Even if it's wrong, it needs to be tried because the alternative is barbarism.
Oh and don't EVEN go there with the Chinese. They are no longer even in the BALLPARK of socialism.