Why Fidel Castro’s
norm for transactions in a group out for camping, the experience can be pretty harrowing. Cohen is cautious not to extrapolate the desirability of socialism in a camping trip to build a case for feasibility of socialism in society in general. However, Cohen does indeed put up a stellar intellectual resistance against fellow political philosopher and the libertarian Robert Nozick who argued for primacy of individual rights above the quest for equality.
Cohen believed that individual freedom is not bestowed equally upon all on top of unequal distribution of resources. Rather, for him, the exercise of freedom is a function of the distribution of resources itself. Nozick was looking at this from a different angle. To Nozick, any effort to bridge inequality could not be effected without infringing on individual rights. Another contemporary political philosopher, John Rawls, strikes a balance some did not denounce inequality as long as the worst-off was better in the unequal society as compared to a strictly equal one. Rawlsian “difference principle” advocated for talented individuals receiving higher rewards as long as a part of the higher produce they generate can be used for the worst-off.
Even if he could grudgingly accept that some talented individuals can generate higher productive performance, Cohen was not sure of the precise magnitude of extra rewards that must be allowed without compromising the basic premise of just society.
But these frameworks are a far cry from what came to be practised under communist regimes. The historian Archie Brown notes: “The idea of building communism, a society in which the state would have withered away, turned out to be a dangerous illusion. What was built instead was Communism, an oppressive party-state which was authoritarian at best and ruthlessly totalitarian at worst.” Besides political centralization, the failed ideas of 20th century socialism like public ownership of the means of production and planned economy failed to realize the promise of collective abundance. When markets took over, resulting in sub-optimal economic returns and widespread discontent.
As the communist movement started losing its revolutionary edge, 21st century socialism embraced elitist post-nation state projects quite distant from by xenophobic, anti-immigrant elements from the far right. A new crop of socialists—political parties like Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain and leaders like Bernie Sanders in the US and Jeremy Corbyn in the UK—are now rethinking the utility of elitist club projects. But for their thrust to make a meaningful impact, the left should also move away from the failed ideas of the previous century and strike a new deal with markets, democracy, individual freedom and rule of law. To begin with, they can do away with the practice of hailing tyrants like Castro and Stalin.