We are in a conjuncture--the Social Democratic parties have brought us here--where: If you want social democracy, you have to fight for full-on socialism.
But, hey, if you succeed so well as to threaten a socialist victory, why stop short? If you again leave the capitalist class with their control of the capital wealth of society, they will again use it relentlessly to erode whatever social democracy they concede, and you'll repeat the same cycle. That's what a class analysis tells you.
Of course, the Yellow Vest movement, though it may be in that conjuncture, is nowhere near that choice. And I do not know, and have serious doubts about, whether it ever will be. This percolating crisis of European neo-liberalism has been throwing up a lot of disappointing false-hope movements, like Syriza (which I critiqued sharply at the time here and here ). As the song goes: "What it is ain't exactly clear."
But what's happening here, with the Yellow Vests, is a self-actuated working-class movement against austerity, inequality, and the neo-liberal uber-State. It's a hell of a start, and deserves the support of the left.
It's the classic scene, where the detached American decides to take the risk of siding with a movement that's not what he asked for.
Play the Marseillaise.
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