Conversation

Social democracy is a centrist ideology. Neoliberalism is the start of the right, lacking only comprehensive social conservatism. It's not centrist at all. Some liberals are more centrist, tho. Definitive left starts at socialism and gradually slides through communism & others.

Quote Tweet

Ian Welsh

@iwelsh

Jun 30, 2018

Yes, Dem-Socialism has a lot in common post-war or New Deal liberalism. But I gave up the fight to call it liberalism a while ago. Just a lost fight, imo. Corbyn is basically the same, more left than Sanders, but not very left in 50s/60s terms. twitter.com/matthewstoller

11:38 AM · Jun 30, 2018Twitter Web App

Replying to

This will probably seem ludicrous to many readers. The political mainstream is so overwhelmingly right-wing, some people think neoliberals are leftists.

Cinder

@Triquetrea

Jun 30, 2018

So as of just recently, the US has one famous left-wing politician. One. Singular. It's been, what, decades? Interesting times.

Replying to

Objectively, I would agree. But the Overton window has shifted so far, social democracy is seen as a threat to capitalists. Granted, it isn't much of one, but many of them don't see it that way. I'd regard SocDem as the beginning of the left, especially in western context.

Replying to

I may be a bit blinkered. In Norway, Labour goes whichever way they think the wind is blowing, over a socdem baseline.