Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Social democratic delusions
Sheri Berman's "The Primacy of Politics" is fervently debated right now. The recent debate at Crooked Timber proves it deals with a hot potato issue - the Social Democratic Ideology and its impact on Europe during the last decade.
There's also another twitch to the whole debate, a notion which goes against all traditional Polanyi or Hayek ideas (that social democracy equals national socialism) about how socially progressive politics lead us onto the road to serfdom. Some libertarian/Austrian economists show strong emotional ties or irrational disdain for countries like Sweden. Not because they like the ideological/financial combinate of ideas. Not because Sweden has been a economic success story for the past thirty years. And not because they feel Sweden has strong potentials for the future. No, the reason is simply that they like Sweden. For no apparent reason, other than blonde women picturesque towns and nature scenes and so forth... Like if they had their own little play-house at a safe distance.
By taking this stand, Tyler Cowen has brought down a fierce debate on this issue on his own blog, where he explains why he loves Sweden.
I've covered issues about US Libertarians inflicted with Sweden-nausea before, when I explained why hating Sweden is good for you, and why the Swedish model has come to an end (something the libertarians don't seem too concerned with when they point out that tax evasion is the one reason why the Swedish model is still up and running).
As a social experiment I guess Sweden is quite fascinating, just like North Korea might be fascinating from a safe distance. But a person who enjoys watching other people being treated as guinea pigs is not the kind of character I would like to praise. Libertarian or not.
There's also another twitch to the whole debate, a notion which goes against all traditional Polanyi or Hayek ideas (that social democracy equals national socialism) about how socially progressive politics lead us onto the road to serfdom. Some libertarian/Austrian economists show strong emotional ties or irrational disdain for countries like Sweden. Not because they like the ideological/financial combinate of ideas. Not because Sweden has been a economic success story for the past thirty years. And not because they feel Sweden has strong potentials for the future. No, the reason is simply that they like Sweden. For no apparent reason, other than blonde women picturesque towns and nature scenes and so forth... Like if they had their own little play-house at a safe distance.
By taking this stand, Tyler Cowen has brought down a fierce debate on this issue on his own blog, where he explains why he loves Sweden.
I've covered issues about US Libertarians inflicted with Sweden-nausea before, when I explained why hating Sweden is good for you, and why the Swedish model has come to an end (something the libertarians don't seem too concerned with when they point out that tax evasion is the one reason why the Swedish model is still up and running).
As a social experiment I guess Sweden is quite fascinating, just like North Korea might be fascinating from a safe distance. But a person who enjoys watching other people being treated as guinea pigs is not the kind of character I would like to praise. Libertarian or not.
