I am a self-declared "Social Democrat"

I have always considered myself to be a "liberal democrat" where I strongly believe in the values of "political liberalism" including freedoms, human rights, civil society, the rule of law and all kinds of equality. I have also embraced the values of "secular humanism" as I have explained in one of my posts in this blog.

Two things have always made me restless regarding political liberalism. The first one is the attempt of the USA and Bush Administration to "hijack" the terms of political liberalism in its pursuit to re-shape the Middle East in a manner that suits American and Israeli interests by crushing down all kinds of national resistance to the dual American-Israeli occupation in the region. It was very obvious that Arab liberalism is just like an endangered species that cannot survive or compete in this region unless it is freed completely from American identity crises. Unfortunately, a new breed of "Arab neo-liberal" intellectuals and writers have devastated the credibility of the Arab liberal movement by publicly supporting USA policies in Iraq, producing an attack on religious movements without differentiating between terrorists groups like Al-Qaeda and ligitimate resistance movements like Hizbullah and Hamas. This trend of some Arab pro-American liberlas has been increasingly damaging to the credible case of political liberalism in the Arab World.

The other problem that made me restless is the interlinkages between political and economic liberalism. Political liberalism is pro-social in its call for freedoms and equality, while economic liberalism is absolutely anti-social, depriving poor and middle classes from economic chances and calling for a wild, uncontrolled market-based capitalism that is sweeping many areas in the Arab world with Jordan as a front runner in harmful economic liberalism. It is really difficult for the Arab political liberal to advocate values of liberalism without confronting such problems.

Recently I have been fascinated with the "Social democracy" movement, which is trying to generate an ideal hybrid between Political liberalism and social justice, developing a new vibrant and democratic form of "socialism".

Here are some excrepts about Social Democracy from Wikipedia.

Social democracyis a political ideologythat emerged in the late 19thand early 20th century. Modern social democracy emphasises a program of gradual legislative reform of the capitalistsystem in order to make it more equitable and humane.

The term social democracy can also refer to the particular kind of society that social democrats advocate. The Socialist International(SI) - the worldwide organisation of social democratic and democratic socialistparties - defines social democracy as an ideal form of liberal democracy, that may solve the problems found in unregulated capitalism. The SI emphasizes the following principles: Firstly, freedom - not only individual liberties, but also freedom from discrimination and freedom from dependence on either the owners of the means of production or the holders of abusive political power. Secondly, equality and social justice - not only before the law but also economic and socio-cultural equality as well, and equal opportunities for all including those with physical, mental, or social disabilities. Finally, solidarity - unity and a sense of compassion for the victims of injustice and inequality. See The SI's Declaration of Principles.

It is important to identify the distinction between Social democracy and Democratic Socialism, here it goes.

Democratic socialismforms a distinct current of thought from social democracy, in that self-described democratic socialists still see themselves as working towards the establishment of a socialist society with a socialist economic system. Many separate parties calling themselves "social democrats" have sought to distance themselves from their democratic socialist counterparts. Naturally, there is some degree of overlap, and some self-professed democratic socialists remain associated with social democratic parties in an effort to render them more avowedly socialist.

In most cases, social democrats would settle for a medium between capitalism and socialism, while democratic socialists advocate absolute socialism and want to abolish capitalism through democratic means.

In general, contemporary social democrats support:

Regulatory systems over private enterprisein the interests of workers, consumers and small enterprise.
A social market economyover a free market, if not, in some cases and to some extent, planned economy.
Advocacy of fair tradeover free trade.
An extensive system of social security (though usually not to the extent advocated by democratic socialistsor other socialist groups), notably to counteract the effects of poverty and to insure the citizens against loss of income following illness or unemployment. (see welfare state)
Government-owned or subsidised programs of education, healthcare, child care, etc. for all citizens.
Moderate to high levels of taxationto fund government expenditure and a progressive taxationsystem.
A system of industrial regulation (statutory or union-established minimum wages, working conditions, protection against arbitrary dismissal).
Environmental protection laws (although not to the extent advocated by Greens).
Immigration and multiculturalism.
A secularand progressive socialpolicy, although this varies markedly in degree. Most social democrats support gay marriage, abortionand a liberal drugpolicy, while others are either non-committed or openly opposed strongly to these policies, although feigned opposition may be employed for political expediency.
A foreign policysupporting the promotion of democracy, the protection of human rights and, where possible, effective multilateralism.
Dissimilar to many liberals, social democrats advocate social rights, rather than just human rights.

One thing that I see negative about Social Democracy is the fact that the advocates of Social Democracy consider the Labour Party in the UK and Tony Blair as social democrats. Well, we in the Arab World can never accept Tony Blair as true social democrat but a follower of the agressive Bush Administration which has caused horrible death and destruction in the region. If some Arabs are going to embrace 'Social democracy" it has to be devoid of Tony Blair!

For me I consider my self to be a self-declared Social Democrat now and I will be posting more articles on how social democracy can be linked to Jordan and the Arab World.