Social Butterflys
We are a Social Democrat. No, wait, make that We are a Democratic Socialist. Er, what? What’s the diff?
Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. It emphasizes a program of gradual legislative reform of the capitalist system in order to make it more equitable, usually with the goal of a socialist society as a theoretical endpoint.
Democratic socialism is an broad political movement propagating the ideals of socialism within the context of a democratic system. In many cases, its adherents promote the ideal of socialism as an evolutionary process within the framework of a parliamentary democracy. Other democratic socialists favor a revolutionary approach that seeks to establish socialism within a non-parliamentary system, usually based on workers councils or similar organizations.
Wait a minute, we’re still chewing…
Penn Kemble labeled himself a democratic socialist first only to evolve into a social democrat later in life. Supposedly that evolutionary route is rightward and follows many a neoconservative. Egads! (Do you want the red pill or the blue pill Neo?) Yet another stop in the idealogical roulette wheel. All Aboard!
My oh my aren’t we just having the week then? Anarchists. Nilhists. Peristroika. Neoconservatives. And now Social democracy. We are feeling just about as Leftist as possible. Anyone up for a trip to Paris?
(Ok, so we admit it: we’re not really sure that peristroika is a leftist thing, rightist thing or just a thing thing invented by the KGB to fool the West into thinking the Cold War was over. But just go with us, ok?)
If you’re ridin’ ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it’s still there. ~ Will Rogers
