Social democracy - the path to happiness for all of humanity?

Universal welfare and social equality, observance of basic human rights and freedoms, mitigation of cyclical fluctuations in the economy and an increase in the pace of economic development are the main goal that Social Democracy has set itself as a model of socio-political development. Than not a dream for all mankind?

Of course, the Social Democrats throughout their history have experienced both ups and downs, becoming an increasingly less radical movement. However, initially this political trend arose in the 19th century in the West on the basis of Marxism, with the exception of the English Labor Party, whose sources of courses were originally Fabianism and Christian socialism.

Social-Democracy rejected the idea of a proletarian revolution as early as the beginning of the 20th century and embarked on a path of gradual social reforms. No one else declared a historical mission that was prepared for the proletariat, and the class struggle developed into a mutual partnership for the achievement of common goals.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Social Democrats were representatives of various sections of the population who advocated a social state, a Keynesian financial policy, and the freedom of private property. All of them are supporters of social partnership in solving all the difficulties that arise in the course of economic development.

However, already in the 1970s, the thesis of the welfare state was questioned in connection with the growing interdependence between countries. Social democracy as a political model in the context of globalization simply could not ensure the social guarantees that it proclaimed. Ensuring the necessary social programs required an increase in taxes, which reduced the competitiveness of the country's products on the world market. In addition, the collapse of the communist regime in the USSR dealt a sensational blow to the basic idea of all parties in this direction.

However, gradually the Labor Party of Great Britain and the Social Democratic Party Germany regained their confidence. Social Democracy began to seek ways to adapt to the interaction of national economies in the context of globalization and the internationalization of the economy. Now they even began to claim that globalization can promote the spread of democracy on a global scale, although earlier they spoke only of the conflicts and wars associated with this phenomenon.

The Labor Party stands for "progressive globalization," which involves the redistribution of wealth between poor and rich countries, as well as the regulation of world economic development. But the Social Democratic Party of Germany sees globalization as a chance, not as a threat, giving a big impact to the winnings that it promises to the united social Europe. The French Social Democracy looks at it somewhat differently. The main concern for the French is the fate of the country's cultural heritage, because in modern, unified (and, in fact, Americanized) world, he may simply not have a place.