David B. Shemano wrote:
Agreed that the strength of the New Left is the environmental movement. The proponents
have been very successful in attacking the very idea of "growth," and claiming
that capitalism sacrifices all to growth. A very different argument than the argument
that socialism can produce more growth than capitalism.
David Shemano
I think that this misrepresents the old/new left position. The centre
of left criticism of capitalism has always been not the level and growth
of production, but rather the issue of distribution. The left in the
post-depression, post-war period accepted the Keynesian (or at least the
growth version of it) version that downplayed the distribution issue
in favour of increasing the size of the pie (a rising tide lifts all
boats etc.) However, it was only after the 1970s that the realization
came that growth had environmental externalities that threatened the
planet. As a result, the newest left has been forced to go back to
focus on distribution.
Paul Phillips
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