Sunday, March 14, 2010

Beyond Capitalism and Socialism

Allan Carlson published the following article at Front Porch Republic: http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2010/03/beyond-capitalism-and-socialism-rebuilding-an-american-economy-focused-on-family-and-community/.  Essentially, it says very cogently many things that I have felt for some time -- namely, that the ideologies of capitalism and socialism are essentially two sides of the same ideological coin, part of a process that embodies Joseph Schumpeter's notion of "creative destruction," and that neither of them gives a passing thought to the value of what is being destroyed (family and community).

Carlson's essay is significant not only because it waxes philosophical about different modes of organizing ourselves to create a more humane society, but also because it provides a way forward in a world that is rapidly approaching limits of fossil fuels, climate disruption, population, and so forth.  Also, it represents something that transcends old ideological divisions of right and left -- it is embraced by people from as divergent backgrounds as Carlson and Rod Dreiher (on the right) and Sharon Astyk and myself (from the left). 

Perhaps this strange new political re-alignment has the capacity to help us more adequately deal with the social, economic and ecological predicaments we face over the next twenty years as compared to the increasingly ineffective "solutions" offered by the traditional right and left.  We shall see....