Somehow in the past week I made time in my hectic American schedule to research and purchase a half-dozen Socialist-related books. Here they are, in no particular order:
--The Socialist Alternative: Real Human Development by Michael A. Lebowitz
--Envisioning Real Utopias by Erik Olin Wright
--The Meaning of Marxism by Paul D'Amato
--The Government and Politics of France (Fourth Edition) by Andrew Knapp and Vincent Wright
--Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals by Saul D. Alinsky
--Were You Born on the Wrong Continent? How the European Model Can Help You Get a Life by Thomas Geoghegan
The last book, Were You Born on the Wrong Continent, is my current read. It's about an American labor lawyer's travels in Europe (Germany, in particular) where he goes to great lengths to research the "German model" of socialism/capitalism to compare it to our arguably less successful version of capitalism in America. At first I was put off by the choppy writing in the opening chapters, but the more I get into it, the more compelling it becomes. It's a fascinating exposé of German Socialist Democracy that turns on its head the prevailing American wisdom about the supposed "collapse" of Europe in this decade.
In fact, the first thing Americans do to dispute my claim that Europe is not collapsing is to bring up Greece--as if Greece is the only country in Europe, and therefore, every socialist-leaning country is in total shambles. Obviously, nothing could be further from the truth, but try explaining that to Americans, even in San Francisco, and watch the fur fly!*
Just as an example, did you know that since 2003 it's been Germany (and not China) that has dominated world exports? They have their problems, to be sure, but it's Germany--and NOT China, as the conventional wisdom dictates--that's been the consistently rising superstar in the global export market. Both countries have around $1.2 trillion in export sales with the difference being that in Germany, they have skilled workers, fair wages, and a fraction of the population.
So what makes the German model so superior?
Well, for one thing, they don't compete based on labor costs. Instead of going for the cheapest labor (and therefore the cheapest products) they compete based on quality rather than quantity. I know that's difficult to understand in America because basically everyone that I talk to is convinced that it's our unions that have decimated our factories, regardless of the fact that labor is a comparatively tiny percentage of production costs. I grant you that there are unions in America that are unreasonable, and I am in no way advocating that workers who call in sick for two days should be able to collect overtime at the end of the week (See MUNI), but for all of their problems (because every country does have its problems), we could really, honestly, genuinely learn something from Germany.**
Then again, if only we could get over ourselves, we could learn a lot of things. It's just that, unfortunately, to learn anything, you generally have to begin by admitting that you don't already know everything. And who in America is willing to do that?
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*Just as a side note--while nothing should be oversimplified--a lot of Greece's problems can be traced back to our very American Goldman Sachs.
**As another side note, contrary to popular belief, it does not automatically follow that a Socialist country is an anti-Capitalist country. I am in no way arguing that Capitalism should be abolished. We do, however, need to protect ourselves from the excesses of Capitalism.
