PinnedThe American left is larger than the Tea Party ever was!Some optimism. The American left is larger than the Tea Party ever was. This advantage is not by a little, but by a lot. The major American left-wing organizations had a total of 116,394 members in 2021: Democratic Socialists: 94,915 Communists: 12,985 Industrial Workers of the World (US only): 8,494 …Left2 min read
PinnedIs social democracy imperialist? The stance of the Finnish Social Democrats’ on foreign policy and imperialism (1969)This is the 1969 foreign policy manifesto of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. I suggest people study this document before people creating assumptions about what social democracy’s stance on imperialism and foreign policy is. SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FOREIGN POLICY I. THE WORLD OF CRISES AND CONFLICTS There have been both…Imperialism30 min read
Jan 18The political-economy of hospitalsWhat interests are represented in hospitals? What interests do conservatives represent in healthcare debates? This is often shrouded by rhetoric, so we should look at the main thrusts of conservative political advocacy in healthcare. The main conservative political positions so far have been opposing the Affordable Care Act, opposing the…2 min read
Sep 3, 2021In defense of Karl KautskyThe ‘’pope of Marxism’’ and his reputation was unfairly tarnished because of a single Leninist fluff piece. Was Karl Kautsky really a renegade and was he lying, as Vladimir Lenin said? I think not. …Karl Kautsky20 min read
Aug 22, 2021The Nordic model, socialism and exploitationWhat is it? The purpose of this article is to dispel many strange, invalid or restrictive arguments about the Nordics, social democracy and socialism generally. Is the ‘’Nordic model’’ capitalist? It depends what is actually meant by ‘’capitalist’’ or the ‘’Nordic model.’’ If the Nordic model simply refers to all…Socialism6 min read
Mar 22, 2021The basic goals of socialismAnd some arguments for it To what ends does socialism work? Socialism has basic several basic goals. Democratize the workplace, industry and the state. This is perhaps the central goal of socialism. The core criticism of capitalism by the left has always been that it is undemocratic. …Socialism12 min read
Mar 16, 2021Clearing up the confusion about the Nordic countries and socialismYes, socialism had and has a role to play in countries such as Sweden, Norway and Finland. Are the Nordic countries socialist? What is their relation to socialism? There often seems to be a great deal of confusion around this issue, so therefore it is time to clean this up…Socialism10 min read
Feb 8, 2021In defense of Eduard BernsteinThe philosopher of social democracy and a great Marxist Was Eduard Bernstein a revisionist, and were his reasonings a fundamental rupture with Marxism? Were his economic predictions correct? He is often labeled as a revisor. I think this not very true and it misses some details. Was Eduard Bernstein against…Social Democracy11 min read
Oct 27, 2020Equality of opportunity requires equality of distributionI will be responding to this tweet by Prager University. This is the perfect occasion to finally put this dichotomy to rest. There is an argument from the right and center that they favor ‘’equality of opportunity’’ whereas it is the naive left that favors a malignant concept known as…Opportunity12 min read
Oct 20, 2020How Sweden built up its public wealth: socialization in SwedenMatthew Bruenig has written an excellent piece in People’s Policy Project that I want to expand upon. Sweden had large-scale public ownership in a variety of sectors and was a highly socialized economy during the golden age of social democracy. ‘’In 1950, the Swedish state owned just 14 percent of…Sweden8 min read