You might think this strange, but I yearn for a return to the days of the pre-1950’s Socialist movement. That time when Socialists possessed the indispensable characteristic of intellectual honesty. You may not know it given today’s political discourse, but Socialists were at one time, quite candid about their views and their prescription(s) for societal transition.
Professor Harold J Laski was one such individual. A well-regarded Socialist intellectual and member of the British Fabian Society, Laski holds his place among the most powerful figures in the movement during the early 20th century. In “Labour and the Constitution” (10, Sep 1932) Laski questions “whether in a period of transition to socialism, a Labour Government can risk the overthrow of its measures as a result of the next general election.” He leaves the question unanswered at least affirmatively. In reading the essay in its entirety, one is left with no doubts as to his feelings on the matter.
Then in Democracy in Crisis (1933) he elaborated these ideas even further. Laski concludes that parliamentary democracy must not be allowed to form an obstacle to the realization of Socialism. For in his view, not only would a Socialist government “take vast powers and legislate under them by ordinance and decree” and “suspend the classic formulae of normal opposition” but the “continuance of parliamentary government would depend on its (i.e. the Labour government’s) possession of guarantees from the Conservative Party that its work of transformation would not be disrupted by repeal in the event of its defeat at the polls.”
This, of course, was the plan for Great Britain. Yet it would appear that the American Socialists of the Democrat Party have with considerable élan, taken up the Laski formulae.
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