Democratic socialism

2009-06-21T05:05:00.000-07:00

Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements, tendencies, and organizations, to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation. The term is sometimes used synonymously with 'social democracy', but many self-identified[citation needed] democratic socialists oppose social democracy, seeing it as capitalist.

Definition
Democratic socialism is difficult to define, and groups of scholars have radically different definitions for the term. Some definitions simply refer to all forms of socialism that follow an electoral, reformist or evolutionary path to socialism, rather than a revolutionary one. Often, this definition is invoked to distinguish democratic socialism from communism, as in Donald Busky's Democratic Socialism: A Global Survey, Jim Tomlinson's Democratic Socialism and Economic Policy: The Attlee Years, 1945-1951, Norman Thomas Democratic Socialism: a new appraisal or Roy Hattersley's Choose Freedom: The Future of Democratic Socialism.
But for those who use the term in this way, the scope of the term "socialism" itself can be very vague, and include forms of socialism compatible with capitalism. For example, Robert M. Page, a Reader in Democratic Socialism and Social Policy at the University of Birmingham, writes about "transformative democratic socialism" to refer to the politics of the Clement Attlee government (a strong welfare state, fiscal redistribution, some nationalisation) and "revisionist democratic socialism", as developed by Anthony Crosland and Harold Wilson:

The most influential revisionist Labour thinker, Anthony Crosland..., contended that a more 'benevolent' form of capitalism had emerged since the [Second World War]... According to Crosland, it was now possible to achieve greater equality in society without the need for 'fundamental' economic transformation. For Crosland, a more meaningful form of equality could be achieved if the growth dividend derived from effective management of the economy was invested in 'pro-poor' public services rather than through fiscal redistribution.
Indeed, some proponents of market socialism see the latter as a form of democratic socialism.

A variant of this set of definitions is Joseph Schumpeter’s argument, set out in Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1941), that liberal democracies were evolving from "liberal capitalism" into democratic socialism, with the growth of workers' self-management, industrial democracy and regulatory institutions.
In contrast, other definitions of democratic socialism sharply distinguish it from social democracy. For example, Peter Hain classifies democratic socialism, along with libertarian socialism, as a form of anti-authoritarian "socialism from below" (using the term popularised by Hal Draper), in contrast to Stalinism and social democracy, variants of authoritarian state socialism. For Hain, this democratic/authoritarian divide is more important than the revolutionary/reformist divide. In this definition, it is the active participation of the population as a whole, and workers in particular, in the management of economy that characterises democratic socialism, while nationalisation and economic planning (whether controlled by an elected government or not) are characteristic of state socialism. A similar, but more complex, argument is made by Nicos Poulantzas.
Other definitions fall between the first and second set, seeing democratic socialism as a specific political tradition closely related to and overlapping with social democracy. For example, Bogdan Denitch, in Democratic Socialism, defines it as proposing a radical reorganization of the socio-economic order through public ownership, workers' control of the labour process and redistributive tax policies.Robert G. Picard similarly describes a democratic socialist tradition of thought including Eduard Bernstein, Karl Kautsky, Evan Durbin and Michael Harrington.

The term democratic socialism can be used in a third way, to refer to a version of the Soviet model that was reformed in a democratic way. For example, Mikhail Gorbachev described perestroika as building a "new, humane and democratic socialism". Consequently, some former Communist parties have rebranded themselves as democratic socialist, as with the Party of Democratic Socialism in Germany.
Hal Draper uses the term "revolutionary-democratic socialism" as a type of socialism from below in his The Two Souls of Socialism. He writes: 'the leading spokesman in the Second International of a revolutionary-democratic Socialism-from-Below [was] Rosa Luxemburg, who so emphatically put her faith and hope in the spontaneous struggle of a free working class that the myth-makers invented for her a "theory of spontaneity"'. Similarly, about Eugene Debs, he writes: '"Debsian socialism" evoked a tremendous response from the heart of the people, but Debs had no successor as a tribune of revolutionary-democratic socialism'.

Justification of democratic socialism can be found in the works of social philosophers like Charles Taylor and Axel Honneth, among others. Honneth has put forward the view that political and economic ideologies have a social basis, that is, they originate from intersubjective communication between members of a society. Honneth criticises the liberal state because it assumes that principles of individual liberty and private property are ahistorical and abstract, when, in fact, they evolved from a specific social discourse on human activity. Contra liberal individualism, Honneth has emphasised the inter-subjective dependence between humans; that is, our well-being depends on recognising others and being recognised by them. Democratic socialism, with its emphasis on social collectivism, could be seen as a way of safeguarding this dependency.
History

Forerunners and formative influences
Fenner Brockway, a leading British democratic socialist of the Independent Labour Party, wrote in his book Britain's First Socialists:
The Levellers were pioneers of political democracy and the sovereignty of the people; the Agitators were the pioneers of participatory control by the ranks at their workplace; and the Diggers were pioneers of communal ownership, cooperation and egalitarianism. All three equate to democratic socialism.
The tradition of the Diggers and the Levellers was continued in the period described by EP Thompson in The Making of the English Working Class by Jacobin groups like the London Corresponding Society and by polemicists such as Thomas Paine. Their concern for both democracy and social justice marks them out as key precursors of democratic socialism.
The term "socialist" was first used in English in the British Cooperative Magazine in 1827 and came to be associated with the followers of Robert Owen, such as the Rochdale Pioneers who founded the co-operative movement. Owen's followers again stressed both participatory democracy and economic socialisation, in the form of consumer co-operatives, credit unions and mutual aid societies. The Chartists similarly combined a working class politics with a call for greater democracy.
The British moral philosopher John Stuart Mill also came to advocate a form of economic socialism within a liberal context. In later editions of his Principles of Political Economy (1848), Mill would argue that "as far as economic theory was concerned, there is nothing in principle in economic theory that precludes an economic order based on socialist policies".
In North America, Henry George promoted the Single Tax Movement, which sought a form of democratic socialism via progressive taxation, with tax only on natural resources. George remained an advocate of the free market for the allocation of all other goods and services.
Modern democratic socialism
James Keir Hardie was an early democratic socialist, who founded the Independent Labour Party in the United KingdomDemocratic socialism became a prominent movement at the end of the 19th century. In the US, Eugene Debs, one of the most famous American socialists, led a movement centered around democratic socialism and made five bids for President, once in 1900 under the Social Democratic Party and then four more times under the Socialist Party of America. The socialist industrial unionism of Daniel DeLeon in the United States represented another strain of early democratic socialism in this period. It favored a form of government based on industrial unions, but which also sought to establish this government after winning at the ballot box.
In Britain, the democratic socialist tradition was represented in particular by the William Morris' Socialist League in the 1880s and by the Independent Labour Party (ILP) founded by Keir Hardie in the 1890s, of which George Orwell would later be a prominent member.
In other parts of Europe, many democratic socialist parties were united in the International Working Union of Socialist Parties (the "Two and a Half International") in the early 1920s and in the London Bureau (the "Three and a Half International") in the 1930s. These internationals sought to steer a course between the social democrats of the Second International, who were seen as insufficiently socialist (and had been compromised by their support for World War I), and the perceived anti-democratic Third International. The key movements within the Two and a Half International were the ILP and the Austromarxists, and the main forces in the Three and a Half International were the ILP and the POUM of Spain.
In America, a similar tradition continued to flourish in Debs' Socialist Party of America, especially under the leadership of Norman Thomas.[26] Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont is a self-described democratic socialist, and is the only socialist to ever be elected to the United States Senate.
In the early 1920s, the guild socialism of G. D. H. Cole attempted to envision a socialist alternative to Soviet-style authoritarianism, while council communism articulated democratic socialist positions in several respects, notably through renouncing the vanguard role of the revolutionary party and holding that the system of the Soviet Union was not authentically socialist.
During India's freedom movement, many figures on the left of the Indian National Congress organized themselves as the Congress Socialist Party. Their politics, and those of the early and intermediate periods of JP Narayan's career, combined a commitment to the socialist transformation of society with a principled opposition to the one-party authoritarianism they perceived in the Stalinist revolutionary model. This political current continued in the Praja Socialist Party, the later Janata Party and the current Samajwadi Party.
In the Middle East, the biggest democratic socialist party is the Organization of Iranian People's Fedaian (Majority).
The folkesocialisme or people's socialism that emerged as a vital current of the left in Scandinavia beginning in the 1950s could be characterized as a democratic socialism in the same vein.

Spiritualism: - Judgment on the basis of science

2009-06-04T00:03:00.000-07:00

The origin of the universe was done by the supernatural power. The universe has no own its existence. Each and everything in the universe are created by the supernatural power and they are here to fulfill his willing. These above statements are the main theme of spiritualism. Spiritualism is that philosophy that seeks information of any object outside of it rather than on it. We will simply describe origin of spiritualism its development and its effect on society.

Spiritualism claims that the origin of the universe was done by supernatural power. They claim that once there was such an era that was totally fulfilled with each and every pleasure. Spiritualism says that era as golden era (Satya Yuga). Nowadays we are seeing development of science in such a way that no one can imagine that. When he is child the thing which he thinks as impossible, he is old it become simple to him. So if some says there was an golden era before thousands of years ago then it is not other thing more ridiculous then it.
But we can consider scientific fact that claims us that human being are developed from monkey but not by god. It seems more reliable. Man in primary stage could not understand even the normal thing on nature also. The birth and die of human, the sun, moon, rainfall, mountain, river, natural disaster all things see anonymous to him. So he considers all of thing in nature as supernatural power. If the man in primary stage have knowledge equal as the human being in nowadays then he mustn’t think such type of power but in that stage where there is no technology no any research his consider about supernatural power is obvious. This is the start of spiritualism.
But when the society goes developing the spiritualism become worse and worse. When class division starts, dominant class starts to explain this philosophy on favor of his own. Enjoy and pleasure comes from heaven. Hell and heaven were created. They say we do better in our previous birth so we are happy. Do your job better even you get nothing for that so will be happy in next birth. So this becomes main weapon of dominant class.
Still this kind of philosophy exists in the world. Science is getting over spiritualism but the spiritualism still claiming their belief. So every youth in the world must fight for the truth. This is the main need of today’s world.

Small Aim is also a crime

2009-06-03T01:26:00.000-07:00

APJ Abdul Kalam former president of India and a well known scientist especially a missile man from India, But this is not enough introduction of him. He is also an author. His book “Indomitable spirit” which is very interesting and encouraging book written in very simple language so useful to people from each and every level.
He is a great mind. His thinking level is also very great. Such a mind can only see the vision of developed India in 20201.He mostly inspires with his speech. His main focus is to encourage the youth with his voice because youth are the power of the nation who can build their great and developed. He says that the ignited minds of youth are the most powerful resource on the earth above the earth and under the earth.
He also encourage teacher to give good education to youth. He says “the aim of the teacher and should be should be build character and incalculate values that enhance the learning to be innovative and creative which in turn will make them competitive to force the future. Teachers are normally attracted towards the few best students and constantly encourage them to succeed further. However a very important role of teacher is to facillate better understanding and learning in those students who are weak in studies. Such a teacher is the real Guru
But the main themes of his all speech are towards fulfilling his dream to make India developed in 2020. It is not a small plan because India still in a category of developing and India is still facing so many problems like poverty. So it will be great project. So he tells that small aim is also a crime.

voice of nepalese youth

Democratic socialism

Spiritualism: - Judgment on the basis of science

Small Aim is also a crime