A Party Fighting for Socialism Has to Put Workers Front and Center – Interview with the president of the Worker’s Party of Belgium, which is a marxist party that has been in a steady rise over the past few years.

2 comments

1. > The problem is that in Belgium you have to form coalitions, and that often involves the traditional parties thwarting the policy you’d want to implement.

   Good ol’ democracy and actually having to think about the impact of your policies on people other than your own electorate getting in the way of one party rule. [Tfw](https://i.pinimg.com/474x/22/e4/08/22e408ffd9f176d1b884721165900658.jpg)

   > In Europe, we have taken a step backward: on the one hand, because of the old social democratic parties aligning themselves with capitalism and completely absorbing neoliberal discourse, and also, obviously, with the weakening of the communist camp with the fall of the Berlin Wall and all that followed.

   Somehow implying the weakening of communism and the fall of the Berlin Wall were bad things?

   > Capitalism needed five hundred years to impose its domination, whereas socialism is much younger, so it’s normal that mistakes are made, and conclusions need to be drawn from that.

   Yes, the conclusion is that free market capitalism combined with strong government oversight and a strong and well-functioning welfare state actually works, and your grand visions of socialist utopia are fantasy. Comparing an existing and functioning (but flawed and with room for improvement) system to the utopia you have in your mind’s eye will always work in favour of the latter.

2. I’ve never quite understood why it’s still ok to cheer for a Marxist party.

   Go working class go, sure. I’m all for it.

   But communist parties have caused more poverty, horror and death than any other political ideology. Maybe even more than all other ideologies combined?

   I don’t get it.