I owe Joel Rogers an apology on the fact that I have referred to him as a “Socialist”, whereas in his own writings he refers to himself as a “Post Socialist”. I suppose a post socialist comes into existence when the failure of the socialist experiment forces a review of what went wrong so that the subsequent experiment works better. This is how the scientific methods works, hypothesize, experiment, analyze and try again.
If I understand Joel’s writings correctly, the socialist experiment failed because “State Socialism” became corrupt and did not produce the goal of a more even distribution of resources. In other words, State Socialism failed to create an egalitarian and participatory culture. Since the autopsy concludes the cause of death was found in the central government institutions, there is still the possibility a truly just and fair society may emerge from the “Radical Democratic” concepts of traditional socialism. Since imposing utopia top down didn’t work, the lesson to be learned is that utopia needs to be developed from the local level. Experiments with “Empowered Participatory Governance” in towns and cities still have the potential to home grow a workers paradise. Of course, all gardens require a gardener.
After Howard Dean and Arianna Huffington open the Tuesday June 2 session of the Take Back America Conference 2005 , Joel Rogers wraps up they day teaching how to build a Progressive Movement. At some point in the conference there will be a photo opportunity where Joel and Senator John Edwards share a few words. The only question is if someone snaps the shutter to capture the moment.
