The Economist - USA (2019-11-30)

72 TheEconomistNovember 30th 2019

1

T

hefalloftheBerlinWallin 1989 sup-

posedly consigned socialism to history.

Now, after a decade of slow growth in living

standards, and amid widespread belief that

inequality is soaring, the radical left is

back. “Millennial socialists”, as The Econo-

mist described them earlier this year, are

fizzing with ideas. They soon hope to put

them into practice—whether under Presi-

dent Bernie Sanders or Prime Minister Je-

remy Corbyn, whose Labour Party aims to

triumph in Britain’s general election on De-

cember 12th. A wave of new books shows

what millennial socialists really want, and

how they plan to get it.

SocialistsfromKarlMarxonwardshave

deployedbothethicalandempiricalargu-

mentstobuttresstheirsystem.In“TheSo-

cialistManifesto”BhaskarSunkaraofJaco-

bin, a radicalmagazine,proceedsfromfirst

principles,maintainingthat“tobea social-

ististoassertthemoralworthofeveryper-

son,nomatterwhotheyare,wherethey’re

from,orwhattheydid”.Bycontrast,in“The

99 PercentEconomy”PaulAdleroftheUni-

versityofSouthernCaliforniasprayssta-

tisticstoprovethatmoderncapitalismis

brokenandsocialismisthefix.

Manyreaderswillfindbothapproaches

unconvincing. A dyed-in-the-wool liber-

tarian might use Mr Sunkara’s nostrum as a

justification for an individualist world-

view instead. Mr Adler’s methodology feels

sketchy. Can all the problems he identifies,

from stress to racism to underpaid teach-

ers, truly be attributed to the capitalist

mode of production? Fortunately, however,

both books are better at explaining what

21st-century socialism might look like.

Fortunately, because millennial social-

ists’ objectives are often misunderstood.

One common mistake is to assume that

they want to build a society in the image of

social democracies such as the Nordic

states,whereprogressivetaxationof light-

ly regulatedmarkets funds high-quality

public services. ButMessrs Sunkara and

Adlerinsisttheyarenosocialdemocrats.

Rather,theyaredemocraticsocialists.

Thatmaysoundlikea meaningless fac-

tionaldistinction.Infactit pointstoan en-

tirelydifferentsystemofeconomic man-

agement. Thomas Piketty explores the

contrastinhispolemicalnewbook,“Capi-

talandIdeology”(currentlyonlyavailable

inFrench).Thougheveryoneonthe left

seessocialdemocracyasanimprovement

onred-bloodedcapitalism,itnonetheless

strugglestobreakfreefromwhatMr Pi-

kettycalls“proprietarianism”,defined as

“thepoliticalideologyfoundedonthe ab-

soluterespectforprivateproperty”.

Since, under social democracy, true

powercontinuestoresidewiththecapital-

ists,itscommitmenttoegalitarianism is

necessarily fragile. A social-democratic

governmentmighttaxthericha bit more

and redistribute the proceeds to the poor,

which is all well and good. But such re-

forms are easy to undo. Look at the ease

with which the Conservative government

elected in Britain in 2010 reversed New La-

bour’s munificence in the previous decade.

Down with social democracy

And the tools which social democrats typi-

cally use to advance their goals are ill-

suited to the modern economy, as Branko

Milanovic, a left-leaning scholar formerly

at the World Bank, convincingly argues in

“Capitalism, Alone”. Heavy industry, the

Politicaleconomy

Thefirenexttime

Whatwouldmillennialsocialistsdowithpower?

The Socialist Manifesto. By Bhaskar

Sunkara. Basic Books; 288 pages; $28. Verso;

£16.99

The 99 Percent Economy.By Paul Adler.

Oxford University Press; 240 pages; $24.95

and £16.99

Capitalism, Alone.By Branko Milanovic.

Belknap Press; 304 pages; $29.95 and £23.95

People Get Ready! Preparing for a Corbyn

Government.By Christine Berry and Joe

Guinan. OR Books; 240 pages; £12

Books & arts

73 TheDresdenjewellery heist

74 Canadianfiction

74 WalterRaleigh’slife

75 Johnson: How to talk to aliens

Also in this section