Welcome to the new version of European Tribune. It's just a new layout, so everything should work as before - please report bugs here.
Display:
Well - we do rather seem to have completely lost social progressivism already, don't we?

Depending on what you mean by 'economic progressivism' we may well have lost that too.

But here is a thing - social progressivism isn't particularly about cash. It's about having a vision for the future.

Economic progressivism has no vision at all. It's about the next quarter, or occasionally about the next year.

If you limit your politics to economics, you have a car with an overheated engine, no brakes, and no steering wheel.

Perhaps this isn't an entirely good thing.

I'd suggest that the tragedy of Thatcher, Sarkozy, Merkel, Cameron, Blair and the rest, isn't just that they're clearly lying little shits and unpleasant people.

It's that they have no vision beyond strictly limited self-interest. They have no ability to plan for a more creative and enjoyable future.

Getting rid of the banks isn't going to be nearly enough. We need to find people with passion, imagination and intellect and put them in charge of things - not just to make things happen, but to make it possible for better things to happen.

At a guess we're not going to find those people among the usual suspects.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed Jul 18th, 2012 at 06:00:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
ThatBritGuy:
At a guess we're not going to find those people among the usual suspects.

hardey ha..

if those 'unpleasant little shits' would move out of the middle of the road, we would be able to get somewhere better.

they're fifth columnists who open the town gates to the robbers without.

The power of knowledge is in mortal combat with the knowledge of power. It really is that simple... That's the Edenic apple we are all munching on.

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Wed Jul 18th, 2012 at 06:34:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The middle of the road is the best place to be hit by a bus or a hit-and-run driver.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Wed Jul 18th, 2012 at 09:24:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Agreed. Squatting in the middle of their own side is understandable, straddling the centre line facing each other brings total stasis.

The power of knowledge is in mortal combat with the knowledge of power. It really is that simple... That's the Edenic apple we are all munching on.
by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Fri Jul 20th, 2012 at 08:23:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes? Bill Clinton is quite the charmer, as far as we know. That doesn't change anything about his New Democrats policies.
by IM on Thu Jul 19th, 2012 at 04:05:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Display:

Top Diaries

Pentecost steam

by DoDo - May 23
40 comments

A Nomad's Life (A Farewell)

by Nomad - May 10
14 comments

Simple Solar Principles

by gmoke - May 17
2 comments

Rail News Blogging #24

by DoDo - May 12
11 comments

Ferguson hates on Keynes

by Migeru - May 6
100 comments

Occasional Series