I'm a sucker for quizzes like this one, even if they have nothing to do with politics, religion or Catholic Social Teaching. But this one, as it happens, does. My conclusion is that Catholic Social Teaching is the Democratic Socialist platform. What do you think?
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/22/us/politics/what-is-democratic-socialism.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_up_20180924&nl=upshot&nl_art=3&nlid=87407961emc%3Dedit_up_20180924&ref=headline&te=1
I scored almost 100% on the quiz. My shortfall was single payer versus totally socialized medicine though I could go that next step. Truth be told, I am a member of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). I want worker owned enterprises like Mondragon in Spain, founded by a Catholic priest. There's also the Scott-Bader chemical company in Britain. Karl Zeiss was a "Stiftung", converted into an institute for the benefit of the employees by my personal hero Ernst Abbe.
ReplyDeleteI rate as a sort-of Social Democrat. Which seems to approximately add up to a regular Democrat before the party's brain scan flat-lined. If elected, as is likely, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will comprise exactly 1/435th of the House. Not even in the world of advertising does 0.2% suggest a trend.
ReplyDeleteIs the SD platform Catholic social thinking? Yes and no. I think Obama's program (not what he was able to enact) was closer. But we know he was a failed, Kenyan anticolonialist.
Tom - there seems to be a distinction, the details of which are not completely clear, between Democratic Socialists (Ocasio-Cortez) and Social Democrats (as in Europe)? E.g. seems DS's support worker ownership of firms, whereas SDs support the traditional investor-owned model. (Actually, there is nothing I know of in the US that would prohibit worker-owned companies - believe it's been tried - although it's not a model that laws and regulations particularly support or favor).
DeleteSorta-maybe-kinda. I fit in it about like I fit in any party, which is not ever 100%.
ReplyDelete100 percent for me. Like any of this is ever gonna happen ...
ReplyDeleteIn a century, we may have a resurgence of socialism. You know, small groups of hunter gatherers roaming the landscape of what is left after various climate catastrophes. "Hey, I found a root. Let's divvy it up."
DeleteHere's a follow up to Jim Pauwels' comment on Monday at 3:40 PM. It's something I found online: "I've recently been reading After Capitalism by philosopher/mathematician David Schweickart. It's a pretty interesting idea. He basically argues for a kind of market socialism, where companies are run as cooperatives, capital investment is organized by public banks, and goods and services are distributed in a market. He argues that such a system would be less economically volatile, more egalitarian, and more democratic."
ReplyDeleteHere's the link for Schweickart's book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/After-Capitalism-New-Critical-Theory/dp/0742513009/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294462571&sr=8-1
Here's the link for an article by Schweickart in Tikkun:
http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/may_jun_09_schweickart
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