Third Ways

[James Farmelant]

As someone has noted talk of "third ways" has existed for
nearly a century, ever since Eduard Bernstein proposed his
revisionism.  Ever since then the rhetoric of a "third way"
has periodically reappeared to be exploited by social democrats
and sometimes by fascists.  (i.e. Nazi Germany was supposed to
represent a "third way' between the capitalism of the US and
the Bolshevism of the USSR).  If we  analyze the audience to
which such rhetoric is aimed at, we find almost invariably that
"third way" rhetoric is aimed at the so-called middle classes,
that is the petty bourgeoisie which is caught between capital
on the one hand and the working class on the other hand.

In the past when social democrats used "third way" rhetoric
it was usually when they were attempting to create alliances
between the working class and the petty bourgeoisie.  When
fascists used it was to create alliances between the
bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeoisie.  Now we are hearing
"third way" rhetoric again from ruling class politicians
like Blair and Clinton who this time are trying to appeal to
middle class constituencies that are distressed by recent
capitalist turbulence.

		Jim Farmelant

On Thu, 24 Sep 1998 08:41:43 +0200 Hinrich Kuhls
<kls at mail.online-club.de> writes:
>Regarding Blair's programmatic pamphlet "The Third Way - New Politics 
>for
>the New Century" - it is available at Downing Street No. 10, London, 
>UK:
>http://www.number-10.gov.uk/uploads/31.ZIP (25k).
>
>Regarding 3rd ways generally I would like to add this snippet:
>
>There are at least three different "third ways" and goals 
>respectively:
>
>- the third way within capitalism: whether it is called a defeat or
>set-back of neoliberal politics - the current state of a large number 
>of
>national capitals provides the terrain for a new round [Blair, 
>Schroeder,
>Prodi, Gore (?) - Jospin hesitantly changing his political course (?)] 
>of
>mixed *monetarist* and *innovative* attempts to (not successfully) 
>solve
>the structural crisis of capitalism (over-accumulation). It remains to 
>be
>seen whether this approach is a *new* version of a third way between 
>the
>free market option and the more etaistic (the social democratic 
>variant of
>a Keynesian welfare state) option which dominated the political agenda 
>of
>the 60ies and 70ies.
>
>- the third way between capitalism and socialism - the supporters of
>convergence theories have almost disappeared.
>
>- the third way to socialism between the social democratic and
>Marxist-Leninist way: the option of left socialism: Sure, the 
>supporters of
>this option are still in a desperate defensive - even in that 
>countries
>where left socialists did develop an alternative programm of economic 
>and
>social politics.
>
>Hinrich Kuhls
>

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