An Elucidation in Song and Print

A commenter asked me yesterday "What is a democratic socialist?" I offered a two or three sentence summary and later responded to a follow up question. Within the limited context, I thought my responses fairly respresented a very personal set or political and economic principles. Fixing dinner later in the day, I put on Billy Bragg's William Bloke cd. The second cut "Upfield" is a good, rousing statement of the ideals I had been writing about earlier.

I'm going upfield, way up on the hillside
I'm going higher than I've ever been before
That's where you'll find me, over the horizon
Wading in the river, reaching for that other shore

I dreamed I saw a tree full of angels, up on Primrose Hill
And I flew with them over the Great Wen till I had seen my fill
Of such poverty and misery sure to tear my soul apart
I've got a socialism of the heart, I've got a socialism of the heart

I'm going upfield...

The angels asked me how I felt about all I'd seen and heard
That they spoke to me, a pagan, gave me cause to doubt their word
But they laughed and said: "I doesn't matter if you'll help us in our art
You've got a socialism of the heart, you've got a socialism of the heart"

I'm going upfield...

Their faces shone and they were gone and I was left alone
I walked these ancient empire streets till I came tearful to my home
And when I woke next morning, I vowed to play my part
I've got a socialism of the heart, I've got a socialism of the heart

I'm going upfield...

All sung in a stirring voice that trades with a brassy horn arrangement in a stirring anthem, a call to action. It's romantic and idealistic, certainly, but it has great empathy and concern, which is why I call myself a democratic socialist.

To further remind me of my values, today's Washington Post reports on a year long investigation of illegal logging in Asia to feed Chinese sawmills to build furniture for First World markets. The story reports on immense wealth, corruption and environmental degredation that occurs in the space between environmental concerns and the reality of life and politics in the Third World. Greedy, efficient, rapacious capitalism at full speed.