Grass roots - unite! During the late 1960s, when the Social Democrats were at their strongest, they instituted an economics prize in his memory against Alfred Nobel's wishes. Soon a bloody coup d'état was carried out in Chile by the right. The Nobel committee immediately chose to award the prize to neoliberals such as Milton Friedman. This marked one transfer on incorrect grounds from Keynesianism to neoliberalism to combat inflation in a counterproductive way. In fact, the authorities only wanted to save the profits of big capital.
This led to the public abandoning the planning elementsthe public sector abandoned the planning elements in society. At the same time, the big companies continued to benefit from the economies of scale of the planned economy, including five-year plans.
Grass roots - unite!
Since then, the gaps in society have increased dramatically. Stress and unemployment have increased, while low-wage jobs have become more common. Many suffer from low pensions and high rents, especially in new construction. Rents are exploding to get people to take out loans and buy houses. This creates money despite the state's austerity policy, but increases inequality, the risk of financial crises and that people in these become debt slaves for decades. Gang crime increases when more people find it difficult to support themselves legally.
In order to maintain this system, the Social Democrats and the Tenants' Association attract active parties within the parties with flattery or well-paid assignments to curtail the people's welfare and rights. Grass roots - unite!
We need strong grassroots movements within the red-green parties to hold the leaders within the parties accountable and prevent them from becoming too allied with power and forgetting about the needs and rights of ordinary people.
People's movements can play a decisive role in building a more democratic future.
A first step is to regularly share posts from progressive leftist blogs like this one.
If you can bear it, form cooperation and study circles to get the people elected in your associations to work for the grassroots, peace, democracy, equality and nature.
Grass roots - unite!
One shift that has really weakened us, I think, is all the blogs and social media, which have made us think that we don't need to meet. Sure, they could be good additions, but when they become the only thing there is, it's a disaster.
Way back in prehistory, says Emile Durkheim (The Elementary Forms of Religious Life), it is collective meetings and rites that make people feel that they are part of a collective. Alone, you are weak and unable to do anything at all. In a collective you become strong. When the collective meetings and rites disappear, one becomes alone.
So what would be needed is organization, as they said when the labor movement was built 130 years ago. It won't work with less. Hopefully we can do better than then, because we've seen what works and what doesn't.
But what is especially needed is a physical grassroots movement that forces the chancellery right at the top to release elected officials who defend freedom under responsibility and welfare for the people.
Very physical, and grounded in interests. Not least trade union ones. And since the trade unions have other things to do, it should be possible.
Just
I call that a very sensible reasoning! Would be quite liberating. Personally starting to get tired of being called "Sweden Democrat", "Fake boss", "You only spread discontent and worsen the situation" and variations on "Sit still in the boat", every time criticism is made against our sickly person-fixated leadership culture and the equally unhealthy top management which reached one of its high points when we - members - were to farcically bless the party's U-turn on the NATO issue a couple of months after the party's highest body, the Congress, said no.
Time for us Social Democrats to clear the air and start speaking plainly.
Lasse Taube, after all, still a paying member of SAP
You are as always very wise.