Forging a genuine third way

A genuine third way however, will involve much more than just a shift to the left in global politics, and we will need to be informed by much more than just a vague discontent with the excesses of neo-liberalism. What we are looking for is something qualitatively different from the existing left/right dynamic.

Considering the challenges with which our global society is faced - a rapidly shrinking world due to an increasing population and technological capacity, and the necessity of transitioning to a post-carbon future to name a couple - advocates of a qualitatively different approach are indeed finding an increasingly receptive audience.

Economic growth for example, may still be spoken about as the panacea of all ills by the treasurers of the world, but the list of authors and other thinkers is already long who are asking the apparently simple question: How can we have continuing growth on a finite planet? Aren’t we already using 1.4 times the Earth’s regenerative capacity?

And then there is the growing focus on localisation, embodied in the permaculture and transition movements among others. These are driven in part by concerns about global warming and peak oil, as well as a belief in the importance of community. The focus here is away from globalisation and towards creating diverse, interactive and interdependent local economies.

In short, in the aftermath of the cold war, with the battle between capitalism and communism melting into history, a great reassessment is taking place concerning the institutions of governance and economics, and the appropriate shape and direction that they should take.

With this reassessment, outside of the capitalist/communist dichotomy, a number of difficult questions will need to be answered:

• How do we use fewer resources/pollute less?
• How do we maintain employment without economic growth?
• To what extent should we protect local economies and to what extent should we be open to trade?
• How do we assert local democracy and maintain control of local assets?
• What are the appropriate forums/democratic mechanisms for working out issues of global and geo-regional politics?

The traditional answers will no longer suffice. While there are those among us who would continue to rock the boat one way or the other, most of us are oriented towards stability and balance. We are moderates, and we do not wish to see ongoing conflict between the left and the right.

For this reason, it is those political parties that can remove themselves from the left/right splice, and look for genuine, structural solutions to the upcoming challenges to our socio-economic system, that will be best positioned to lead us into the future.