Are Liberalism/Progressivism and Keynesian economics dead in America?

[k-onmmunist]

Statist progressivism isn't dead, but it is dying, and good riddance to it. The issue, then, becomes - what alternatives to it can we find, that pursue and promote human equality without conflicting with human liberty? And to the truly imaginative man, this opens the doorway to a thousand solutions which have not yet been thought of.

what about workplace democracy and having our government making it easier for unions to form and organize?

I would support this, for the record.

[opebo]

I'm not only talking in terms of fiscal liberalism/progressivism, but also in terms of social liberalism....

I don't hope for or agree with any of these things but it's what I see happening.

You've hit the nail on the head here, ModDem - and I must say its a sensible course to take: predicting things will get worse.   Things have only ever gotten worse during all of our lifetimes, so it seems reasonable to expect this to continue.

[Antonio the Sixth]

No. IMO, progressivism is facing a bad cycle since 30 years, but there's no reason to think that the conservative upsurge of the last 3 decades will last eternally. Obviously it's just a personal feeling, but your question seems to me the same as if someones in the sixties had asked if conservatism was dead. It looked like it was, but next years proved the contrary.

[SPC]

Unfortunately not.

[Sbane]

It may seem like progressivism is dead right now, but if companies keep on cutting jobs and healthcare costs keep rising, some sort of reaction will happen. The status quo certainly will not hold for long. Unfortunately it could be a reaction that moves us in an illiberal direction. The tea party movement could be the first signs of it.

The other result could be a return to a more Keynesian outlook at the economy and a surge in interest of creating more of a social safety net. I hope it is the latter.

[Scam of God]

It may seem like progressivism is dead right now, but if companies keep on cutting jobs and healthcare costs keep rising, some sort of reaction will happen. The status quo certainly will not hold for long. Unfortunately it could be a reaction that moves us in an illiberal direction. The tea party movement could be the first signs of it.

The other result could be a return to a more Keynesian outlook at the economy and a surge in interest of creating more of a social safety net. I hope it is the latter.

The minarchist wave is the wave of the future, this much is certain. The Left can either continue to cling to its tired dogmas - this itself in a very illiberal fashion - or it can try to meet the challenge by adapting its prerogatives to the new paradigm. This decision will determine the fate of humanity itself.

There is no need for the Left to go on the defensive unless it continues to hold to the tried-and-tired policies of 20th century social democracy.

[Sbane]

It may seem like progressivism is dead right now, but if companies keep on cutting jobs and healthcare costs keep rising, some sort of reaction will happen. The status quo certainly will not hold for long. Unfortunately it could be a reaction that moves us in an illiberal direction. The tea party movement could be the first signs of it.

The other result could be a return to a more Keynesian outlook at the economy and a surge in interest of creating more of a social safety net. I hope it is the latter.

The minarchist wave is the wave of the future, this much is certain. The Left can either continue to cling to its tired dogmas - this itself in a very illiberal fashion - or it can try to meet the challenge by adapting its prerogatives to the new paradigm. This decision will determine the fate of humanity itself.

There is no need for the Left to go on the defensive unless it continues to hold to the tried-and-tired policies of 20th century social democracy.

So you think the social safety net should be dismantled and new additions to it like Healthcare should not be implemented? What happens if you lose your job due to outsourcing or "productivity" increases? Don't you think there should be some protection for people in times such as these when even qualified individuals cannot get a job?

I for one do not want to constrain businesses by involving the government in their hiring/firing practices or stopping them from moving jobs to another location. But there needs to be some protection for those who are the casualties of it. That is the responsibility of society and I don't think charities and other voluntary organizations can keep up with the demand.

[Scam of God]

It may seem like progressivism is dead right now, but if companies keep on cutting jobs and healthcare costs keep rising, some sort of reaction will happen. The status quo certainly will not hold for long. Unfortunately it could be a reaction that moves us in an illiberal direction. The tea party movement could be the first signs of it.

The other result could be a return to a more Keynesian outlook at the economy and a surge in interest of creating more of a social safety net. I hope it is the latter.

The minarchist wave is the wave of the future, this much is certain. The Left can either continue to cling to its tired dogmas - this itself in a very illiberal fashion - or it can try to meet the challenge by adapting its prerogatives to the new paradigm. This decision will determine the fate of humanity itself.

There is no need for the Left to go on the defensive unless it continues to hold to the tried-and-tired policies of 20th century social democracy.

So you think the social safety net should be dismantled and new additions to it like Healhtcare should not be implemented? What happens if you lose your job due to outsourcing or "productivity" increases? Don't you think there should be some protection for people in times such as these when even qualified individuals cannot get a job?

I think you're not looking nearly hard enough at the long-term. Can Leftism adapt itself to an environment where a centralized State is virtually non-existent? I think it can, and I think it can do a better job of it than it ever could today. Catalonia proves it.

[Sbane]

It may seem like progressivism is dead right now, but if companies keep on cutting jobs and healthcare costs keep rising, some sort of reaction will happen. The status quo certainly will not hold for long. Unfortunately it could be a reaction that moves us in an illiberal direction. The tea party movement could be the first signs of it.

The other result could be a return to a more Keynesian outlook at the economy and a surge in interest of creating more of a social safety net. I hope it is the latter.

The minarchist wave is the wave of the future, this much is certain. The Left can either continue to cling to its tired dogmas - this itself in a very illiberal fashion - or it can try to meet the challenge by adapting its prerogatives to the new paradigm. This decision will determine the fate of humanity itself.

There is no need for the Left to go on the defensive unless it continues to hold to the tried-and-tired policies of 20th century social democracy.

So you think the social safety net should be dismantled and new additions to it like Healhtcare should not be implemented? What happens if you lose your job due to outsourcing or "productivity" increases? Don't you think there should be some protection for people in times such as these when even qualified individuals cannot get a job?

I think you're not looking nearly hard enough at the long-term. Can Leftism adapt itself to an environment where a centralized State is virtually non-existent? I think it can, and I think it can do a better job of it than it ever could today. Catalonia proves it.

And without a centralized state, how are we to protect ourselves from the abuses of the wealthy? Just look at the robber barons of the 19th century, a time when the federal government was near invisible in the day to day lives of most Americans. Without a centralized state, how can we protect the welfare of the people who get left behind by the economy or just help them temporarily during downturns?

[Scam of God]

It may seem like progressivism is dead right now, but if companies keep on cutting jobs and healthcare costs keep rising, some sort of reaction will happen. The status quo certainly will not hold for long. Unfortunately it could be a reaction that moves us in an illiberal direction. The tea party movement could be the first signs of it.

The other result could be a return to a more Keynesian outlook at the economy and a surge in interest of creating more of a social safety net. I hope it is the latter.

The minarchist wave is the wave of the future, this much is certain. The Left can either continue to cling to its tired dogmas - this itself in a very illiberal fashion - or it can try to meet the challenge by adapting its prerogatives to the new paradigm. This decision will determine the fate of humanity itself.

There is no need for the Left to go on the defensive unless it continues to hold to the tried-and-tired policies of 20th century social democracy.

So you think the social safety net should be dismantled and new additions to it like Healhtcare should not be implemented? What happens if you lose your job due to outsourcing or "productivity" increases? Don't you think there should be some protection for people in times such as these when even qualified individuals cannot get a job?

I think you're not looking nearly hard enough at the long-term. Can Leftism adapt itself to an environment where a centralized State is virtually non-existent? I think it can, and I think it can do a better job of it than it ever could today. Catalonia proves it.

And without a centralized state, how are we to protect ourselves from the abuses of the wealthy? Just look at the robber barons of the 19th century, a time when the federal government was near invisible in the day to day lives of most Americans. Without a centralized state, how can we protect the welfare of the people who get left behind by the economy or just help them temporarily during downturns?

By organizing the workers themselves, by having them enjoin institutions utterly divorced from what has long since been a rich man's State, by encouraging volunteerism to solidify a sense of class-consciousness and do away with the obscurantism that conservatives employ through appeal against "the gub'mint". More tax-free syndicates, less bureaucracy.

[rebeltarian]

I'm not only talking in terms of fiscal liberalism/progressivism, but also in terms of social liberalism. I think we're going to see within the next fifty years the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the end or dismantling of many New Deal/Great Society programs, and no future Liberal/Progressive programs, along with a death of environmentalism and trend towards theocracy and Randian self interest. I also believe that the acceptance of the theory of evolution is dying in favor of creationism.

I see a general death/decline of Social and Economic Progressivism in America, essentially. We already see unions are dying--I believe we'll also begin to see the end of worker protections and the like, winding up at the point we were at circa 1910. That is the goal of many conservatives, and I believe they are winning, slowly but surely.

I don't hope for or agree with any of these things but it's what I see happening.

I agree.  In addition to what you mentioned, I think we'll also see the following:

-Amtrak getting dismantled and evil corporate mafia tycoons will rule the railway system. 

-McDonalds will close all of its restaurants and outsource its workforce to phone banks in India, delivery robots will bring the 20-piece gargantuous nuggets meal to our doors in 15 minutes. 

-Union workers will quit their jobs, go back to school, learn 3 different languages, start drinking lattes and get a well-paying computer/office job. 

-Psychology majors and other people with useless Arts degrees will take the union workers jobs to increase their "street cred" and "awareness".

-The President will go on national TV every Sunday afternoon, shouting "gimme an A-men brotha'!" after every sentence.

-In addition to the rejection of global warming and evolutionism, young people are going to start joining celibacy groups.  Roe v Wade may or may not get overturned, but it wont matter since every girl in America will have a strong, anti-dick attitude and every guy will have an obsessive virginity fettish.  They'll all eat at Applebee's on Saturday nights, down a bunch of non-alcholic wine coolers and then drive their SUVs to Walmart to look for the latest bargains on cutting-edge Chinese-made crap.