The Blessing of Worthy Adversaries

Steve Erlanger writes about social democracy’s funk on the Continent:

Europe’s center-right parties have embraced many ideas of the left: generous welfare benefits, nationalized health care, sharp restrictions on carbon emissions, the ceding of some sovereignty to the European Union. But they have won votes by promising to deliver more efficiently than the left, while working to lower taxes, improve financial regulation, and grapple with aging populations.

Europe’s conservatives, says Michel Winock, a historian at the Paris Institut d’Études Politiques, “have adapted themselves to modernity.” When Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Germany’s Angela Merkel condemn the excesses of the “Anglo-Saxon model” of capitalism while praising the protective power of the state, they are using Socialist ideas that have become mainstream, he said.

What’s more, not only has the European right shifted left, but the European left has tended to be divided by the rise of far-left movements. The result is a nearly impossible tactical situation for center-left parties in countries like France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Add to that the fact that the UK is very dependent on the financial industry and people are naturally weary of Labour after 12 years in office, and things are looking bleak.

But viewed from the United States of America, I think American progressives ought to count ourselves as lucky if we’re ever faced with such problems. At the end of the day it’s rare to see big-time progressive change happen simply because left-of-center parties constantly win elections. Instead you win by redefining the center and making commitment to the Civil Rights Act or the National Health Service a shared commitment of all major parties.