OK, so I need to point at the red balloon I carry wherever I go? Even here where people know that I am a socialist, or anyway what I call a socialist? Sheesh. But actually I think it's much more important for socialists to mention all the time that they are liberals (or cognate word in the political context -- it doesn't translate universally). Unless they aren't and don't want free elections, etc.
I am out of patience with people who say that liberalism is a Bad Thing because of Ted Sorenson, who, Jesus Christ, not one in ten thousand Americans could identify.
And for that matter, if we could get people to be passionate about liberalism a la FDR, never mind socialism, we'd be ten thousand miles ahead of where we are. As all of you remind me when I say that Nixon looks great today.
Times were different -- better! -- when liberalism was hegemonic. Then, aside from the fact that conservatives could bed strong-armed into making good social and economic policy, they could also be impeached when they stomped on constitutional liberties.
Doug, btw, wasn't your beloved Keynes a liberal?
--- Charles Brown <cbrown at michiganlegal.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> Andie:
> I thought the issue was about substance. The critics
> of liberalism (Carl, Carrol, Doug maybe?, certainly
> Charles and Yoshiem others) were saying that the
> political institutions and practices I called
> liberal
> were exhausted or inextricably bound up with
> something
> bad. I was challenging them to explain what they had
> that was better. If you want to call it "radical
> democracy" or "political freedom" or something else,
> I
> don't care, just as long as we are clear what we are
> talking about.
>
>
> ^^^^^
> CB: What you have to do is mention the following
> caveat everytime you
> proclaim your list of liberal/democratic ideals:
> History has demonstrated
> that democratic liberal ideals cannot be achieved
> under a capitalist mode of
> production, for the bourgeoisie have become past
> masters at totally
> corrupting democratic forms; or in some cases
> instituting out and out
> fascism. This is true even though democratic
> liberal ideals originated in
> the capitalist mode of production.
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