Third Way (centrism)

[pjotr]

Guys,


Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, adherents of the "Third Way".

For a long time I was a supporter of the third way ideology of Bill Clinton (New Democrats), Tony Blair (New Labour) and our own Dutch Labour leader Wim Kok in the Ninetees. You could say that it was the centre-left wing of the global Neo-liberalism, which was an social-economical, financial, monetarian and political ideology, which dominated in the Western world in the eightees and ninetees.


President Bill Clinton


Former British prime-minister Tony Blair


Dutch former Labour prime-minister Wim Kok.

Neo-liberalism is a confusing term, because it can be confused with the American liberalism, or progressivism, the left of America. In fact it was the centrist- and right wing of the democrats who embraced Neoliberalism, while the leftwing of the Democrats criticized it as market fundamentalism and rightwing conservative Laissez faire (Let the free market powers do the job) economical thinking. Like the classical European social-democrats ([Old] Labour) they favored Etatism (=statism). Neoliberalism is a label for the market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that stresses the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the political and economic priorities of the state. The term is typically used by opponents of the policy and rarely by supporters.

I was more liberal back then then I am now, you could say liberal in the American perspective, and really was a proponent of the radical centre. But then in my opinion back then (1998), the Dutch Labour and the British New Labour moved to far to the left, and their economical policies were the same as the right in the Netherlands and Great-Britain. Bill Clinton was fiscal conservative and continued Bush senoirs economical policies. I believe he was hijacked in congress by the Republicans and followed a Bipartisan financial-economical course. During the past 13 years I moved to the centre or the rightwing corner of the left (centre-left) myself. I saw a combination of good ideas of rightwing conservatives and realistic progressive liberals. I became independant and due to my job as radio journalist had to analyse the statements, programs and policies of all the rightwing, centrist and leftwing parties in my region. In the same time I kept following the national and International politics as good as I could. As a European by heart and soul, European continental and Transatlantic (the negociations, treaties and alliances between Europe and Northern-America) issues and subjects were and are important.
I kept my interest and fascination for the centrist Third Way ideology and movement.

The Third Way

The Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as representing a centrist reconciliation between capitalism and state socialist command economy. Less often, the phrase "Third Way" is used to refer to Distributism. Democratic socialism would be an example of a Third Way. This claim is embodied in the alternative description of the Third Way as the Radical center.
Third Way policies were enacted in the 1980s in Australia by the Hawke/Keating Labor governments. The most recent prominent examples are the Clinton administrations in the United States as well as 2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the Labour Party (New Labour) governments of the United Kingdom under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Gerhard Schröder's "Neue Mitte" in Germany the Liberal Party government of Canada under Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, the Australian Labor Party under Kevin Rudd, the Polder Model under Wim Kok in the Netherlands, the Democratic Party - demokraci.pl in Poland and the previous Labour government in New Zealand, led by current UNDP Administrator Helen Clark.
The Third Way rejects both laissez-faire and socialist approaches to economic governance, but chiefly stresses technological development, education, and competitive mechanisms to pursue economic ends according to the Democratic Leadership Council. One of its central aims is to protect the modern welfare state through reforms that maintain its economic integrity.
The third way has been criticized by some conservatives and libertarians who advocate laissez-faire capitalism. It has also been heavily criticized by many social democrats, democratic socialists and communists in particular as a betrayal of left-wing values. Specific definitions of third way policies may differ between Europe and America.
Past invocations of a political 'third way' or a 'middle way' have included the Fabian Socialism, Distributism, Technocracy (bureaucratic), Keynesian economics, Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, Italian Fascism under Benito Mussolini, Harold Macmillan's 1950s One Nation Conservatism and Phillip Blond's Red Toryism.


Bob Hawke and Paul Keating as prime minister and treasurer in May 1991, just months before Keating unseated Hawke.


Gerhard Schröder's Neue Mitte (New Middle), the former German prime-minister.

How do you look upon the Third Way from your Polish centre-right opinion (Bo/Tufta) and American Independant conservative views (UncleTim and Mike)?

Does the Radical centre or Third Way exists in Poland today? Tufta, you mentioned one Polish politician.

Cheers,
Pieter

* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Consensus
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Leadership_Council
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Democrats
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributism
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics

[Bonobo]

Aug 13, 2011 20:17:55 GMT 1 pjotr said:

How do you look upon the Third Way from your Polish centre-right opinion (Bo/Tufta) and American Independant conservative views (UncleTim and Mike)?
Does the Radical centre or Third Way exists in Poland today? Tufta, you mentioned one Polish politician.

Cheers,
Pieter

Peter, I see the third way in Poland everyday. It is a heritage of the former system. E.g., most political parties have messy programs which are a mixture of capitalism and socialism.
Or, another example, at universities, you can enroll at day studies which are free and weekend studies which are paid.
Etc etc

However, there are certain disadvantages of the Third Way.

www.pafere.org/artykuly,n92,pawel_sztaberek_third_way_third_world.html

[...]
Many people yield to the third way myth. Among them, there is no scarcity of politicians, and even of clergymen.. Leaders of Western social democracies, such as Tony Blair and Gerhard Schroeder, have been vigorously propagating that invention. They once wrote together that, while planning a further development, one should take from the market economy that what contributes to the increase in affluence of societies, and, at the same time, one should protect the “fair distribution of wealth”. Of course, it is the state that is supposed to look after such distribution. In the West, it is accepted that what contributes to the increase in affluence, that is, private property, is protected, yet the growing fiscalization and the state control of economic activity cause that those who work for their own profit must give larger and larger sums to the state, rather than invest and create jobs. It has not been without an impact on the present weak economic condition of the West European states. The proof is the unemployment, growing year after year, and a gap that divides European states from, for instance, the United States. The Western Europe entered the “third way” a long time ago, yet, instead of developing itself, it has been rather stagnating. [...]

[pjotr]

Aug 14, 2011 21:02:06 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

Aug 13, 2011 20:17:55 GMT 1 pjotr said:

How do you look upon the Third Way from your Polish centre-right opinion (Bo/Tufta) and American Independant conservative views (UncleTim and Mike)?
Does the Radical centre or Third Way exists in Poland today? Tufta, you mentioned one Polish politician.

Cheers,
Pieter

Peter, I see the third way in Poland everyday. It is a heritage of the former system. E.g., most political parties have messy programs which are a mixture of capitalism and socialism.
Or, another example, at universities, you can enroll at day studies which are free and weekend studies which are paid.
Etc etc

However, there are certain disadvantages of the Third Way.

www.pafere.org/artykuly,n92,pawel_sztaberek_third_way_third_world.html

[...]
Many people yield to the third way myth. Among them, there is no scarcity of politicians, and even of clergymen.. Leaders of Western social democracies, such as Tony Blair and Gerhard Schroeder, have been vigorously propagating that invention. They once wrote together that, while planning a further development, one should take from the market economy that what contributes to the increase in affluence of societies, and, at the same time, one should protect the “fair distribution of wealth”. Of course, it is the state that is supposed to look after such distribution. In the West, it is accepted that what contributes to the increase in affluence, that is, private property, is protected, yet the growing fiscalization and the state control of economic activity cause that those who work for their own profit must give larger and larger sums to the state, rather than invest and create jobs. It has not been without an impact on the present weak economic condition of the West European states. The proof is the unemployment, growing year after year, and a gap that divides European states from, for instance, the United States. The Western Europe entered the “third way” a long time ago, yet, instead of developing itself, it has been rather stagnating. [...]

Interesting reply Bonobo, you and Paweł Sztąberek say some truth there. I hope that Central- and Eastern Europe on the long term will not follow the West-European Third way course. Okay, you have the Polish political parties and Clergymen who believe in the Third Way, a mixture of capitalism and socialism, but you have also Polish entrepreneurs, a new Post-communist generation and sensable Poles who think differantly. The Polish Libertarians, free market conservative liberals and pragmatists who know that the Polish economy isn't helped by high taxes, to much focus on social security and a welfare state. You must have good Polish economists, marketeers, financial-economical and fiscal experts too. Bankers, businessmen- and women, people with their own company (who do not want to much state influence, etatism and socialist planeconomy). In Communist central-Europe you had the communist (Comecon) plan economy, dominated by the party state. In Western Europe you had a long dominant position of very powerful, well trained Social Democratic government and opposition parties (who had large influence via the parlaiment, provincial councils and city councils -the muncipalities-), their Unions, at the universities, the leftwing intelligentsia and supporters amongst the public servants, state organs, press & media, management world and society.

Cheers,
Pieter