With USSR dismantling into fragments at the instance of Gorbachev, the communist Frankenstein, socialism made an exit. This was sponsored by capitalist USA who busted the socialist USSR in the name of holy democracy, and the USA found a Trojan horse in Gorbachev whose doctrine of glasnost and perestroika found an easy market. As an aftermath, Yugoslavia, Chekoslovia, Poland and East Germany rejected socialism for the sake of market economy. By all indications, the countries do not enjoy today the glory that they did. The economic equilibrium is lost, and poverty has crept in. These countries lag behind in scientific researches and simply doze in Un sessions. The world is unipolar with the USA dictating terms for the whole mankind. Communist China is an exception, but the country has also embraced market economy, though with social control. In this context, can we suppose that socialism is extinct forever?
It depends on what you mean by "socialism." As I understand it from Adam Hochschild's To End All Wars, socialism fought to stop World War I, but was undone by nationalism, and then what occurred in the Soviet Union actually went contrary to socialism. Many terms evolve, or are given different meanings. I currently have a note being considered by a statistics magazine pointing out the jargon that can be confusing in statistics. This is also true of politics. Is Bernie Sanders a socialist? Are Scandinavian governments socialist? (Socialism seems to have helped people, in general, immensely there. I hope they stick with it.) But labels are often misleading. Much of the world seems to think of Reagan and Thatcher as "neoliberals," though that term is very foreign to the US, where they are "conservative" icons for the ultra-conservative conservatives of today.
The world has become far too capitalistic, and Wall Street, to my thinking, is guilty of much of the world's troubles, but the situation is more complicated than that. In my estimation, I'd say that "greed makes you stupid." Enron showed that too. But it isn't just people in the US who are guilty of sloppy risk taking. People are much the same everywhere.
Rambling on here, I have to express my admiration for Mr. Gorbachev, who was really responsible for bringing down the Berlin Wall. He, and leaders like Lech Wałęsa were responsible for ending the Cold War, not so much Ronald Reagan. Whenever there is a big upheaval, confusion will follow, and economic turmoil, but I don't think that continuing the way things were going would have been good for anyone.
It is true, in my opinion, that capitalism unchecked is a huge problem. In the US, the difference between "haves" and "have nots" has become worse, and Paul Krugman (Nobel Prize winner in economics) has compared it to the end of the 19th century. This has to change, but attitudes are too often manipulated by well-financed political machines. It is my opinion that the Tea Party is like Frankenstein's Monster, built by capitalists (Dr. Frankenstein), and gotten out of control of its creators. People who need help from the government have been convinced that is a bad idea, yet realize they don't want Social Security to go away, even though that is very socialist in its intent and success. More people need to stop thinking about every little thing in terms of "What is in it for me?" and start thinking "What is in it for all of us, everywhere?" But political think tanks of the conservative variety seem very good at bringing out the worst in human nature.
So, Is socialism doomed forever? As easy as it is to bring out greed and prejudice in people, well, Abraham Lincoln reportedly said something about not being able to fool all of the people all of the time, and I think that applies to ethical attitudes as well. (The Republican party of his day, and the Democratic party have completely switched places between then and today, if you are considering labels.) And I think redemption, to a degree, to be entirely possible. Look at Canada. After a decade of succumbing to The Dark Side, they have seemed to turn back on a better path.
But the path is delicate, and uncertain. I mean, Clinton/Sanders versus Trump and Ryan as leaders?! What a contrast. I mean, Trump! Really?
God save the United States of America ... from itself. (But as I said, don't just blame the Ugly American. People are the same mix of ethics the world over.)
Dear Dipankar,
Does a man who has two cows give one to a person who does not have one? The issue I raised is not as simple as that.
Sibaprasad
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