[P2P-F] Fukuyama on the absent left

Sun Dec 25 18:04:20 CET 2011

Even if you agreed with Buchanan's politics (God forbid), you should be
wary of his "facts." He lies in a very discrete way, citing as "sources"
sources that his real sources have egregiously and maliciously misquoted.
In plain terms that is plagiarism. Lying plagiarism.

On Sun, Dec 25, 2011 at 6:46 AM, Natalie Golovin <10natalie at cox.net> wrote:

>   Suggest “The Origins of Political Order” by Fukuyama & “Currency Wars”
> for p2p’s New Years Reading List. Buchanan’s “Suicide of a Superpower” is
> full of facts-but not ones that would please the majority of readers.
>
>  *From:* Michel Bauwens <michel at p2pfoundation.net>
> *Sent:* Sunday, December 25, 2011 6:02 AM
> *To:* P2P Foundation mailing list <p2p-foundation at lists.ourproject.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [P2P-F] Fukuyama on the absent left
>
> a nice displacement <g>
>
> On Sun, Dec 25, 2011 at 8:24 PM, Apostolis Xekoukoulotakis <
> xekoukou at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> The end of history guy talks about the future of history.
>>
>>
>> 2011/12/25 Michel Bauwens <michel at p2pfoundation.net>
>>
>>> thanks, a very nice summary of the neoliberal agenda!
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, Dec 25, 2011 at 6:44 AM, Peter Mazsa <
>>> peter.mazsa at theunitedpersons.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> FYI:
>>>>
>>>> "[...] It has been several decades since anyone on the left has been
>>>> able to articulate, first, a coherent analysis of what happens to the
>>>> structure of advanced societies as they undergo economic change and,
>>>> second, a realistic agenda that has any hope of protecting a
>>>> middle-class society.
>>>>
>>>> The main trends in left-wing thought in the last two generations have
>>>> been, frankly, disastrous as either conceptual frameworks or tools for
>>>> mobilization. Marxism died many years ago, and the few old believers
>>>> still around are ready for nursing homes. The academic left replaced
>>>> it with postmodernism, multiculturalism, feminism, critical theory,
>>>> and a host of other fragmented intellectual trends that are more
>>>> cultural than economic in focus. Postmodernism begins with a denial of
>>>> the possibility of any master narrative of history or society,
>>>> undercutting its own authority as a voice for the majority of citizens
>>>> who feel betrayed by their elites. Multiculturalism validates the
>>>> victimhood of virtually every out-group. It is impossible to generate
>>>> a mass progressive movement on the basis of such a motley coalition:
>>>> most of the working- and lower-middle-class citizens victimized by the
>>>> system are culturally conservative and would be embarrassed to be seen
>>>> in the presence of allies like this.
>>>>
>>>> Whatever the theoretical justifications underlying the left’s agenda,
>>>> its biggest problem is a lack of credibility. Over the past two
>>>> generations, the mainstream left has followed a social democratic
>>>> program that centers on the state provision of a variety of services,
>>>> such as pensions, health care, and education. That model is now
>>>> exhausted: welfare states have become big, bureaucratic, and
>>>> inflexible; they are often captured by the very organizations that
>>>> administer them, through public-sector unions; and, most important,
>>>> they are fiscally unsustainable given the aging of populations
>>>> virtually everywhere in the developed world. Thus, when existing
>>>> social democratic parties come to power, they no longer aspire to be
>>>> more than custodians of a welfare state that was created decades ago;
>>>> none has a new, exciting agenda around which to rally the masses.
>>>>
>>>> AN IDEOLOGY OF THE FUTURE
>>>>
>>>> Imagine, for a moment, an obscure scribbler today in a garret
>>>> somewhere trying to outline an ideology of the future that could
>>>> provide a realistic path toward a world with healthy middle-class
>>>> societies and robust democracies. What would that ideology look like?
>>>>
>>>> [...] the agenda it put forward to protect middle-class life could not
>>>> simply rely on the existing mechanisms of the welfare state. The
>>>> ideology would need to somehow redesign the public sector, freeing it
>>>> from its dependence on existing stakeholders and using new,
>>>> technology-empowered approaches to delivering services. It would have
>>>> to argue forthrightly for more redistribution and present a realistic
>>>> route to ending interest groups’ domination of politics. [...]"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136782/francis-fukuyama/the-future-of-history
>>>>
>>>> P.
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> Sincerely yours,
>>
>>      Apostolis Xekoukoulotakis
>>
>>
>>
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