Hi Wim:
> By the way, Platt, Dutch government is not socialist and even if I promote
> more global governance (not a global government that monopolizes certain
> kinds of power), it should not dominate national (and regional and local)
> self-governance. The Dutch social-democratic party has lost ideological
> 'feathers' like nationalization of means of production and drastic
> redistribution of income and property more than half a century ago.
Many of today's socialist parties have, as you say, cast off previously
held ideological 'feathers,' especially since the downfall of communism
which proved to the world that such ideas as government ownership of
the means of production only leads to disaster. But I wonder how many
of the Principles of International Socialism as presented on their web
site the Dutch social-democratic party would reject. Here, for example,
are three of the principles which, if I'm not mistaken, many if not most in
the party would agree with:
57. Human rights include economic and social rights; the right to form
trade unions and to strike; the right to social security and welfare for all,
including the protection of mothers and children; the right to education,
training and leisure; the right to decent housing in a liveable
environment, and the right to economic security. Crucially, there is the
right to both full and useful employment in an adequately rewarded job.
Unemployment undermines human dignity, threatens social stability
and wastes the world's most valuable resource.
58. Economic rights must not be considered as benefits paid to passive
individuals lacking in initiative, but as a necessary base from which to
secure the active participation of all citizens in a project for society. This
is not a matter of subsidizing those on the fringe of society, but of
creating the conditions for an integrated society with social welfare for
all people.
63. The concentration of economic power in few private hands must be
replaced by a different order in which each person is entitled - as
citizen, consumer or wage-earner - to influence the direction and
distribution of production, the shaping of the means of production, and
the conditions of working life. This will come about by involvement of the
citizen in economic policies, by guaranteeing wage earners an influence
in their workplace, by fostering open and accountable competition both
domestically and internationally and by strengthening the position of
consumers relative to producers.
Please correct me if I'm wrong. But if the party faithful do agree for the
most part with these and the other principles of International Socialism,
then I think to call them socialists would be valid.
Platt
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