The brain death of social democracy

In the Swiss regional paper Tribune de Génève Jean-Noël Cuénod analyses the weaknesses of the social democratic parties following their poor showing in the European elections: "The victory of the Greek socialists … was the exception that confirms the rule: the Left has suffered a heavy defeat. The social democracy of our continent is falling into a coma that will mean brain death. And indeed the weakness of this political current has its root in the place where thoughts are formed. … Firstly, it has clung to its traditional creed: regulation of the economy through state intervention, but without taking ecological requirements or the consequences of globalisation into consideration. … When the present crisis began the social democrats gave the impression of wanting to use state influence when it was important to be liberal and being liberal when more state would have been necessary! … Does the future of social democracy not lie in social ecology?"

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