Dear Editor,

One can only wonder if the misrepresentation of Opposition Leader Mark Golding’s comments as saying he and the People’s National Party (PNP) are readopting democratic socialism is deliberate. He said no such thing, but since he referred to the concept in his speech, he could have made it clear that he and the PNP are better described as social democrats, leaning towards the Nordic model.

In expelling the 4Hs — Ken Hill, Frank Hill, Richard Hart, and Arthur Henry — from the party in 1952, the PNP confirmed that it wasn’t into socialism in the proper meaning of the word — widespread State ownership and control — yet alone either theoretical or ‘’actually-existing’’ communism. Both parties support a mixed capitalist economy, even though, as Jalil Dabdoub wrote in his
Gleaner article on August 30, “The JLP [Jamaica Labour Party] has traditionally placed greater emphasis on private enterprise, investment, and market forces. The PNP has generally placed greater emphasis on social justice, redistribution, and the role of the State.”

The PNP could, however, call for a return to a more compassionate capitalism, as Lloyd B Smith effectively suggests in his Jamaica Observer article on August 28, resurrecting the notion of corporate responsibility as opposed to the current financialisation and shareholder dominance.

It was, after all, no less a person than former US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan who, following the subprime mortgage meltdown and the collapse of major financial institutions in 2008, testified to Congress that he was in a state of “shocked disbelief” because his foundational world view — rooted in laissez-faire capitalism and free-market self-regulation — had failed.

Paul Ward

Oracabessa, St Mary

pgward72@gmail.com