Does socialism make sense in the 21st century?: Workers' Liberty 3/32

Does socialism make sense in the 21st century? A discussion

Published on: Wed, 12/01/2011 - 03:32

This pull-out has now been made into a book with other materials. You can buy the book online here.

This feature follows on from, and refers to, the “Socialism in disarray” series in previous issues of Solidarity. Click here for part two of the feature; and click here to download the whole feature as pdf.

Part One

A: Let me first outline the case for socialism as I see it. Then we will discuss it.

The world in which we live is wracked by terrible crises and now by protracted economic depression, by local wars, by famine and starvation in Africa and elsewhere, by ecological disasters now and

Does socialism make sense in the 21st century? A discussion. Part Two.

Published on: Wed, 12/01/2011 - 03:29

Click here for part one.

The subjective case for socialism

B: But why should I want socialism? Capitalism has, despite the terrible events of the 20th century, and not denying them either, learned a great deal.

We have been through a tremendous cycle of capitalist boom and expansion. Things have been getting better, progressively, for a lot of people, for a sizeable portion of humankind, over decades. And why should I want a social levelling-down, to a grey social uniformity and conformity?

Why should I pretend that people as people are equal, when they are not equal in capacity, propensity,