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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.

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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

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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.

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Either way, my (idiosyncratic) view is that a centrist party is one that can be satiated by some kind of status quo. SocDem, non-neoliberal liberals and some modest conservatives fit the bill. You go further left or right, and just toggling a few switches won't suffice.

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I guess that would mean variation.. SocDem appeared more capable of holding a status quo in Scandinavia, but in the US and UK, it only lasted a generation or so before neoliberalism starting rotting it away. Too many capitalists here.

Cinder

@Triquetrea

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@Grimeandreason

Those are just case studies. Who knows? My point is, you can satiate moderates. The rest will always want more. It's a decent (not complete) argument for moderate positions. It's just funny that the neolibs appropriated it when they literally can't have enough deregulation.

2:01 PM · Jun 30, 2018Twitter Web App

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They had to rely on euphemisms, because by the early 90's "neoliberalism" was already dogged with negative connotations globally.