Michael Newman (1) (1946–)

Even more than with the Fascism book of this series, I needed an introduction to this introduction. With long chapters and elevated language, this book doesn’t easily elucidate a whole lot of overarching concepts about socialism and/or social democracy, but instead drowns its victim in fascinating yet minute details and statistics. Nevertheless, socialism crops up within our current society, and that fact alone kept the book readable. The utopian societies he mentions as the foundations of the movement remain relevant today; Newman says of the three main players in early socialism, “If Saint-Simon’s critique of existing society was based on a kind of class analysis, and Fourier’s on the stifling of passions, Owen’s owed far more to a condemnation of irrationalism (377-78).” Throughout the book, those proclaiming socialism had an optimistic opinion of mankind, and I imagine that individuals living in communities today may have less optimism after their experiences.

In describing at length Sweden’s social democracy and Cuba’s communism, the evidence clearly proves their relative initial successes in educating, feeding, and employing their citizens more equally and more productively. He follows the Cuban case right up to 2005, when the book was published; obviously, the state of Cuba’s relationship with communism remains in our headlines. Newman takes great care to explain what unique factors contributed to the success of socialism in the specific places it made great advances. In Sweden, their “political culture has been characterized by values rooted in pre-industrial society: practical moderation, public spirit, equity, respect for individual autonomy, and a Lutheran attachment to the work ethic (979-81).” In discussing why Americans have always resisted socialism, Newman points out, “It also runs counter to the appeal to individual self-interest that has been cultivated by neo-liberal ideology… The notion of social solidarity remains far stronger in most European countries – and particularly in Scandinavia – than in the US, but it has been increasingly challenged in recent years (2202-5).” The Green movement and the feminist movement both developed more quickly outside of the US, Newman writes, making great strides as part of their greater progressive reform (1202-1204).

(Citations refer to Kindle locations.)… (altro)