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Neo-SocialistA Neosocialist seeks to reform the socialist tradition, going back to fundamentals and refreshing it so that it can do the job it needs to do today.Socialism is an ideology based around the idea of 'alliance'. The idea is that when the good order of life is disturbed by abusive predators then people must band together to push away the abusers and tyrants and restore a good life. Socialists values every person as an end in themselves. They think the well-being of everybody is important - and in principle - equally important. Socialists are also sceptical of social traditions - ie. of ways of thinking and acting that are seen as the normal ways, but which have come about through the influence of the predatory elite in order to discourage people from challenging their power. This does not mean that all traditions must be discarded, but existing norms and assumptions should be looked at critically to judge whether they are really serving the people, or not. A good socialist, especially the intellectual, the one who is thinking creatively about how to order society has to meet demanding requirements. They need to be able to think creatively, to be able to reason. Yet, importantly they also need to be in touch with the wisdom of their instincts, of the lived experiences of others and of the people of the past carried to us in tradition. A socialist needs a degree of humility to accept they may not have the perfect answer to every question, and to keep working to improve their understanding and beliefs about what makes for good action. |
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