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<DIV>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.</DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=michel@p2pfoundation.net
href="mailto:michel@p2pfoundation.net">Michel Bauwens</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, December 25, 2011 6:02 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=p2p-foundation@lists.ourproject.org
href="mailto:p2p-foundation@lists.ourproject.org">P2P Foundation mailing
list</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [P2P-F] Fukuyama on the absent left</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
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style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">a
nice displacement <g><BR><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Sun, Dec 25, 2011 at 8:24 PM, Apostolis
Xekoukoulotakis <SPAN dir=ltr><<A
href="mailto:xekoukou@gmail.com">xekoukou@gmail.com</A>></SPAN> wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote>The end of history guy talks about the future of history.
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<DIV class=gmail_quote>2011/12/25 Michel Bauwens <SPAN dir=ltr><<A
href="mailto:michel@p2pfoundation.net"
target=_blank>michel@p2pfoundation.net</A>></SPAN><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote>thanks, a very nice summary of the neoliberal agenda!
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<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Sun, Dec 25, 2011 at 6:44 AM, Peter Mazsa <SPAN
dir=ltr><<A href="mailto:peter.mazsa@theunitedpersons.org"
target=_blank>peter.mazsa@theunitedpersons.org</A>></SPAN> wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote>FYI:<BR><BR>"[...] It has been several decades since
anyone on the left has been<BR>able to articulate, first, a coherent
analysis of what happens to the<BR>structure of advanced societies as they
undergo economic change and,<BR>second, a realistic agenda that has any
hope of protecting a<BR>middle-class society.<BR><BR>The main trends in
left-wing thought in the last two generations have<BR>been, frankly,
disastrous as either conceptual frameworks or tools for<BR>mobilization.
Marxism died many years ago, and the few old believers<BR>still around are
ready for nursing homes. The academic left replaced<BR>it with
postmodernism, multiculturalism, feminism, critical theory,<BR>and a host
of other fragmented intellectual trends that are more<BR>cultural than
economic in focus. Postmodernism begins with a denial of<BR>the
possibility of any master narrative of history or society,<BR>undercutting
its own authority as a voice for the majority of citizens<BR>who feel
betrayed by their elites. Multiculturalism validates the<BR>victimhood of
virtually every out-group. It is impossible to generate<BR>a mass
progressive movement on the basis of such a motley coalition:<BR>most of
the working- and lower-middle-class citizens victimized by the<BR>system
are culturally conservative and would be embarrassed to be seen<BR>in the
presence of allies like this.<BR><BR>Whatever the theoretical
justifications underlying the left’s agenda,<BR>its biggest problem is a
lack of credibility. Over the past two<BR>generations, the mainstream left
has followed a social democratic<BR>program that centers on the state
provision of a variety of services,<BR>such as pensions, health care, and
education. That model is now<BR>exhausted: welfare states have become big,
bureaucratic, and<BR>inflexible; they are often captured by the very
organizations that<BR>administer them, through public-sector unions; and,
most important,<BR>they are fiscally unsustainable given the aging of
populations<BR>virtually everywhere in the developed world. Thus, when
existing<BR>social democratic parties come to power, they no longer aspire
to be<BR>more than custodians of a welfare state that was created decades
ago;<BR>none has a new, exciting agenda around which to rally the
masses.<BR><BR>AN IDEOLOGY OF THE FUTURE<BR><BR>Imagine, for a moment, an
obscure scribbler today in a garret<BR>somewhere trying to outline an
ideology of the future that could<BR>provide a realistic path toward a
world with healthy middle-class<BR>societies and robust democracies. What
would that ideology look like?<BR><BR>[...] the agenda it put forward to
protect middle-class life could not<BR>simply rely on the existing
mechanisms of the welfare state. The<BR>ideology would need to somehow
redesign the public sector, freeing it<BR>from its dependence on existing
stakeholders and using new,<BR>technology-empowered approaches to
delivering services. It would have<BR>to argue forthrightly for more
redistribution and present a realistic<BR>route to ending interest groups’
domination of politics. [...]"<BR><BR><A
href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136782/francis-fukuyama/the-future-of-history"
target=_blank>http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136782/francis-fukuyama/the-future-of-history</A><BR><BR>P.<BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>P2P
Foundation - Mailing list<BR><A href="http://www.p2pfoundation.net"
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target=_blank>https://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation</A><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><BR
clear=all><BR></DIV></DIV><SPAN><FONT color=#888888>-- <BR>P2P Foundation:
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<DIV> </DIV>-- <BR></DIV></DIV><SPAN
style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; FONT-FAMILY: arial,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 13px"><PRE style="WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap"><BR></PRE><PRE style="WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap">Sincerely yours, </PRE><PRE style="WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap"> Apostolis Xekoukoulotakis</PRE></SPAN><FONT
color=#888888><BR></FONT><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>P2P
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