Socialism for Today

Capitalism is failing us. Instead of bringing a decent life for the majority, it generates an outrageous gap between the rich and the rest, unaffordable housing, a profit-driven healthcare system, skyrocketing educational debt, racial and gender inequality, and the threat of climate disaster. Economist David Kotz argues that it’s time we built a new socialism for the unique challenges of the twenty-first century.

The problems of capitalism are too profound for reform, Kotz writes. Reform can help, but only temporarily, and not for all. Nor can we turn back to the socialist experiments of the twentieth century. But we can learn from those experiments, both their successes and failures, to build a democratic and participatory economic and political system. The result would be a sustainable future of economic justice, equality, material comfort, human development, and meaningful freedom. The journey towards a new socialism may be difficult. But Kotz combines a clear and rigorous account of how socialism can be made to work with a realistic strategy for how to get there. This is the book we need to help us escape the cruelties of our capitalist present. Preface
Acknowledgments

1 Introduction
2 Capitalism
3 Reform of Capitalism
4 Lessons from the Past for a Socialist Future
5 Socialism
6 From Capitalism to Socialism

Notes
References

“David Kotz offers a visionary analysis posing to all progressives the necessity of putting the struggle for socialism on our agenda. He is clear that capitalism offers no solutions to the economic and environmental crises facing humanity.”
Bill Fletcher, Jr., author of “They’re Bankrupting Us!” And 20 Other Myths about Unions

“You don’t need a degree in economics or political science to read David Kotz’s accessible and comprehensive book. You do have to care deeply about the unconscionable inequality of capitalism and be open to the liberatory potential of democratic socialism.”
Maxine Phillips, former editor of Democratic Left

David M. Kotz is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Senior Research Fellow at the Political Economy Research Institute.