Events | 2009.04.16
Jon Cruddas and Andrea Nahles: A new path for Europe
Society led by markets and profits has failed. We are offering an alternative for the democratic left
The economic wreckage of market failure is spreading across Europe. The G20 summit has begun a global effort to repair the system, but there must be no going back to business as usual. Neoliberal capitalism is destructive and unsustainable - we must create a new economy that is secure, green and fair. To this end, we are launching our declaration for a social Europe: Building the Good Society: The Project of the Democratic Left.
Ten years ago, Tony Blair and Gerhard Schröder, the then German chancellor, published their declaration for a European Third Way. Social democrats were in government in almost all the EU countries. Economies were booming, and neoliberal capitalism was uncritically embraced. Today, social democrats are out of government almost everywhere and the neoliberal model is in crisis. The era of the Third Way is over, and class inequality remains the defining structure of society.
People have lost confidence in politicians and political parties. Many are pessimistic about our future. For 30 years our democracies have offered only one vision: a society governed by markets and profit. We are making a new politics of the democratic left in Europe.
This politics is democratic because only the active interest and participation of individuals can guarantee liberty and progress. It is grounded in the interdependency of individuals and the need for a just society, free of class, race and gender inequalities. It is ecologically sustainable and pursues economic development within the constraints placed on us by the earth. And it is pluralist, because we need a diverse range of political institutions, and a variety of forms of economic ownership and cultural identities, to create a good society.
Capitalism must be made accountable to democracy, and democracy needs to be renewed and deepened so it is fit for the task. We do not want to substitute monopoly capitalism for state monopoly. And we need a democratic state. The market state can be transformed into a civic state responsive to individual citizens and small businesses. Power needs to be devolved, for example by strengthening the advocacy roles of civil society organisations and the trade unions.
A good society cannot be built from the top down. It can only grow from a movement made by and for the people. Nor can it be made in one country alone, because the power of capital is global. We need global alliances for social justice. In Europe, countries must work together to tackle the economic crisis.
A co-ordinated, European fiscal stimulus will create a multiplier effect that will far outweigh national efforts. Alongside it we must introduce fair policies on taxation. The European Monetary Union needs reform and the mandate of the European Central Bank must be broadened to include social objectives and the prevention of unemployment. A more social Europe will improve the prospects of Britain joining the euro.
A new industrial policy will map out Europe\'s priorities and needs. When public services and utilities are failing, we should consider the option of public ownership or placing them under public control. A secure Europe means a European minimum wage, corresponding to the national average income. It means restoring collective bargaining and workers\' rights to strike, and we must establish equality for migrant workers. Transnational corporations must be made subject to democratic oversight. We need to aid the economic development of the global south, which will mean using capital controls, closing down tax havens, taxing global financial transactions, and creating fair-trade policies.
Framing these policies is ecological sustainability. Climate change, peak oil and the need for energy and food security demand large-scale economic transformations. Only governments co-operating together on a European level can achieve the necessary reconstruction.
Despite the disillusionment with political parties, there are extraordinary levels of political, cultural and community activism in our societies. The ideal of the good society resonates among millions of people who are searching for new ways to live together. It is a hope expressed in social movements, trade unions, single-issue campaigns, community actions, and by a multitude of individuals. Today we invite them and members of our political parties and those in other European nations to discuss and develop the ideas in the declaration. Creating the good society will be the greatest challenge of our time and it will shape the lives of generations to come.
• Andrea Nahles is vice-president of Germany\'s Social Democratic party (SPD) Jon Cruddas is MP for Dagenham goodsociety.eu
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/[...]ism-john-cruddas-andrea-nahles
Instagram is adding automatic in-app text translation - The Verge views: 1523
Here’s a ‘Brand-New’ Massive Multilingual Dataset for Machine Translation views: 1509