Ask Antonio (Almost) Anything

[DC Al Fine]

How has studying pol. science changed your political beliefs/priorities/worldview?

I'm honestly not sure. I certainly wouldn't say it's made me more left-wing or more right-wing per se. That said, some classes I took in the past (on social democracy and the welfare state, especially) have definitely helped me a great deal in defining what kind of a leftist I am. I like to think that I've learned which redistributive strategies simply don't work (or worked in the past but won't work anymore because circumstances have changed), and which ones actually might work. Some of the latter being, of course, strategies that VSPs and the mass media think are "pipe dreams", but would in fact be perfectly doable. The work of Gøsta Esping-Andersen, in particular, is what led me to think so highly of social democracy. I've also learned a bit not only about what works in terms of policy, but also about what's possible to sell to the public and how we can ensure that the progress we achieve will last. Finally, I think I have a much firmer grasp now on what neoliberalism actually is, which is something that even many leftists get wrong and leads to many serious mistakes.

Could you elaborate? Both on what it actually is, and how leftists incorrect definitions lead them astray?

[DC Al Fine]

I have a few different questions all around the same theme: the Western centre left.

1) What do you think are the Western centre left's best and worst decisions are in the past couple decades in terms of what issues to pursue, what demographics to target etc?

2) People often talk about stopping the departure of working class voters from labour parties. Let's flip that around. What can centre left parties do to stop turning into bobo parties?

3) Do you see the religious left having much of a future in Western politics?

4) Are there any circumstances (or hypothetical futures) where you can see yourself voting for a conservative party that don't involve keeping out the far right or massive scandals by the labour/socialist candidate?

[DC Al Fine]

If I had to choose between a right-wing candidate critical of neoliberalism and supportive of measures for social inclusion and an ostensibly "left-wing" candidate who actually embraces neoliberal hegemony, I would most certainly choose the former (unless they're also a xenophobe or a sexist). To take a forum example, I'd definitely vote for you over Scarlet or NSV. However, it's very hard to see this kind of candidate emerging on the right in the near future.

Sadly you are right

Thanks for the answers Tony.