Thank you for this excellent summary and the call for the centrality of labor in any post-capitalist transition! Given how social democracy as a path to socialism has been so easily derailed time and again, Piketty's version of evolutionary socialism deserves a healthy dose of skeptical support. When we compare the manifestos of Piketty (tdem.eu/en/manifesto/) and Yanis Varoufakis (https://diem25.org/manifesto-long/) we can discern important differences in the degree of structural reforms needed to prevent capitalist institutions from outflanking the working class. Income redistribution and worker participation on executive boards without underlying constitutional changes that socialize capital flows and create financial institutions controlled by workers are liable to be easily coopted or reversed. Corporate executives, bankers, and technocrats will fight tooth and nail to prevent the recomposition of the global working class after several decades of decomposition in the Global North. While the case of Cuba is distorted by the illegal US blockade, Cuba's efforts to bring about socialism should also serve as an importance standard against which we evaluate Piketty's conclusions and proposals.
Thank you for this excellent summary and the call for the centrality of labor in any post-capitalist transition! Given how social democracy as a path to socialism has been so easily derailed time and again, Piketty's version of evolutionary socialism deserves a healthy dose of skeptical support. When we compare the manifestos of Piketty (tdem.eu/en/manifesto/) and Yanis Varoufakis (https://diem25.org/manifesto-long/) we can discern important differences in the degree of structural reforms needed to prevent capitalist institutions from outflanking the working class. Income redistribution and worker participation on executive boards without underlying constitutional changes that socialize capital flows and create financial institutions controlled by workers are liable to be easily coopted or reversed. Corporate executives, bankers, and technocrats will fight tooth and nail to prevent the recomposition of the global working class after several decades of decomposition in the Global North. While the case of Cuba is distorted by the illegal US blockade, Cuba's efforts to bring about socialism should also serve as an importance standard against which we evaluate Piketty's conclusions and proposals.