海角大神

聽The 鈥渟鈥� word 鈥� socialism, that is 鈥� has returned to American politics, with President Trump signaling in his recent State of the Union address that he sees it as a key weapon against the growing list of Democratic Party candidates for the White House.

But while the label of 鈥渟ocialist鈥� has long been seen as toxic in US politics, that could be changing. Some of Mr. Trump鈥檚 rivals are indeed advancing radical proposals for taxation and regulation on the very richest. Yet they鈥檙e part of a wider, growing trend affecting many Western democracies.

It鈥檚 not a drive for socialism in the classic definition of the term: replacing market economies with state ownership and control. It鈥檚 a search for answers to a problem even mainstream politicians increasingly acknowledge: Free market capitalism has ceased to work the way it used to, or ought to.

The policy debate differs from country to country. But the core issue is the same: the huge economic power residing in a very few individuals and corporations at the top, while others 鈥� not just at the bottom but also in the middle 鈥� struggle to get ahead of just stay even in a world economy that鈥檚 changing beyond recognition.

Until the market crash of 2008, the West鈥檚 governing consensus favored broadly business-friendly policies over explicit efforts to tackle wealth disparity. Today鈥檚 climate is different. A well of economic resentment has helped fuel the rise of populist politicians, Trump among them. In Italy, a populist coalition won power by promising, among other things, a guaranteed minimum income. In Britain, Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May took office vowing to address the plight of working-class families. The opposition Labour Party wants a tax increase on the wealthy and new worker protections, especially for those in the so-called gig economy.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron has responded to a wave of street protests by approving $12 billion in new support for pensioners and the least well-off. He also plans to use this summer鈥檚 annual meeting of the Group of Seven of major industrialized nations to press for an internationally agreed-upon minimum tax on the largest companies 鈥� including the technology giants 鈥� to keep them from finding low-tax countries that shield them from paying.

What we鈥檙e seeing is not the first major challenge to capitalism, a system whose roots go back 250 years to the writings of Scottish philosopher Adam Smith. In his 鈥淲ealth of Nations,鈥� first published in 1776, he argued that through the 鈥渋nvisible hand鈥� of a free market, the pursuit of self-interest would lead to prosperity for all. But he also posited an underlying strain of human empathy, presumably tempering excesses by some individuals at the expense of others. That鈥檚 where the strains emerged, especially with the Industrial Revolution and during the Depression of the 1930s. Over time, they led to a range of corrective measures, including antitrust and labor-union laws, and the growth of the modern welfare state.

The latest challenge has been building since the 1970s due to a web of factors: deregulation, corporate takeovers, the rise of increasingly complex forms of investment banking, and the focus of individual companies almost exclusively on profit for their own shareholders. But the seismic jolt came with the emergence of a truly global and increasingly high-tech economy that, while yielding undeniable benefits, left a huge proportion of national and international wealth and influence in the hands of a very few. The 2008 crash 鈥� and the bailout of banks and businesses needed to keep it from becoming even worse 鈥� dramatized this.

Trump鈥檚 speech earlier this month took aim at proposals from such presidential hopefuls as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) of Massachusetts and Sen. Bernie Sanders (Ind.) of Vermont for new taxes on the very richest Americans and regulatory action against what they see as corporate or banking excesses. Trump鈥檚 calculation seems to be that branding his rivals as 鈥渟ocialist鈥� will conjure up powerful visions of Soviet Communism or the collapse of Venezuelan socialism in voters鈥� minds.

He may yet prove right. But the changing political climate seems to have had an effect in the United States as well. A recent Fox News , for instance, found that even a majority of registered Republicans now favors higher taxes on the
very rich.