Social Democracy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OOOKTq1P1G8

The above link is for a video you should watch

This video is of a Canadian politician, Corky Evans’ speech on social democracy.  In it he spoke of the ideals of communism. “ Socialism...honestly achieved that citizens actually vote for it… people have pride that they own it, but have someone managing it” social democracy may have citizens paying more taxes (the government is “managing it”) but the citizens see those benefits through social programs, pensions, insurance etc. Unlike a right winged government that has a Darwinian view; that through “natural selection” some people need to have a lower quality life in order for society to function.(Hawkins, 1997) Social Democracy sees society more holistically, that the role of the state is to promote the collective good. (Mullaly, 2007)

Social democracy has a strong policy of inclusion, seeing the citizens as individuals who need state aid in their lives rather than associating people with a dollar value. Corky Evans argued that social democracy was eroding from Canada, that corporate monopolies, globalization and capitalism have brought Canada further and further to the Right wing.  

The right winged value of competition has become prominent in Canadian society and has helped marginalize those who may not conform to a certain prototype. A study of history would show that the incarceration and segregation of the disabled often reflected the trends in the political economy. People with a disability remain among the most marginal of citizens in the Western industrialized countries. (Malhotra, 2001) People who have a physical disability may not be able to contribute to the same extent as an able bodied individual, and as a result become part of the undervalued minorities.  

Though Canada has established a liberal social welfare program, (Mullaly, 2007) it is not a socially democratic country. During the Cold War there was a fear of the spread of socialism, however Canada’s form of socialism is not like Communism or Marxism because we have an established democratically elected government, not a individual totalitarian power.  The Cold War is over. North America needs to reflect that by instating more socially democratic policies.  Putting a stronger focus on the average citizens needs and less on the wealthy and corporations, by employing larger taxes based on net profits.  We need to minimize the divide between the classes, so that every citizen can obtain their maximum quality of life.

Holly L

Hawkins, M. (1997) Social Darwinism in European and American thought, 1860-1945: nature as model and nature as threat. Cambridge University Press.

Malhotra, R.(2001) The Politics of the Disability Rights Movement. ZNet. The Spirit of Resistance Lives

Mullaly, B. (2007). The New Structural Social Work (3^rd ed.). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press.