The collapse of Communism and the retreat from, in theory as
well as practice, even moderate forms of collectivism have left
even the non-Marxist forms of socialism in disarray. While it
is true that forms of collectivism have remarketed themselves
under meretricious, insubstantial doctrinal headings such as
the “Third Way,” an unstable amalgam of capitalism,
communitarianism, and welfarism, there has been little original
work on how an economy and society might organize itself so as to
have neither the superficially objectionable features of modern
capitalism nor the economically untenable and morally odious properties
of full-blooded socialism. The former might include vast inequality
in resource ownership, the unequal political power such inequality
might generate, the increasing alienation produced by the soulless
possessive individualism that is allegedly engulfing the world,
and a myriad of other complaints that are regularly leveled
at capitalism.
Basic Services for All in an Urbanizing World: GOLD III
