Have you ever wondered what presidents like Barak Obama, Angela Merkel, and Emanuel Macron have in common? Despite the fact that the last two are currently governing, all these presidents have opted for a third way in the political spectrum of the right and the left. This phenomenon is known as: Social Democracy. Social democracy has its origin in the branch of Marxism and dates back to the 19th century, something that many people are unaware of. What makes social democracy different from conventional socialism is that it differs in the method of transition from a capitalist to a socialist society. Thus rejecting the most orthodox policies of Marxism, which is the revolution. Social democracy was proposed as a third way that would bring prosperity in the economic sphere with a great degree of social development, that is to say, social capitalism, starting from the redistribution of wealth through a diversity of taxes in order to finance social plans and programs such as widowhood, unemployment, public health, and integration through multicultural plans. All under the same socialist parameters of justice and social equality.

This social-democratic doctrine is heard as a paradise in which the best way to accumulate capital and the supposedly best way to generate social development coexist, but the truth is that it rests more on one side than the other. While this system once worked, it is now no longer working at today’s present.

The failure that the Social Democrats are suffering today is evident throughout Europe, last year they had already lost in France, in April, when the Socialist Party only got 6.3% and in Britain, in June, when the Conservatives beat them again despite the constant political mistakes of their leaders. But the defeat in Germany in September was undoubtedly the most painful. The Germans are well known for their affinity for centrism, moving as far away from extremes as they can, of course, because of the feelings of guilt they have carried with them since the Second World War. But since the beginning of the 21st century, Germans have begun to have tendencies that keep them away from social democratic parties. And as if it were no worse for the Social Democrats, the seats in the European Parliament are increasingly filled with conservatives.

What is the reason for these consecutive defeats of the social democratic parties throughout Europe?

Many of its detractors today claim that the problem is the decision making, the lack of leadership and ideas, coupled with the gradualism that this system proposes for the transition to a purely socialist system. The truth is that the popularity of social democracy in Europe is coming to an end for two reasons, the welfare state and the refugee crisis. With the economic crisis of 2008, European states were forced to make economic adjustments in their welfare state, especially in countries with deficits, debts and excess public spending, all this had repercussions on politics with the Social Democrats, who were the most affected, being the creators of these plans. The refugee crisis, on the other hand, ended up being the determining factor for the decline in the popularity of social democracy throughout Europe, many of the social democratic governments decided to open their doors to immigrants whose value and principle systems were not compatible with theirs. And it was these two reasons that caused Europeans' confidence in their social democratic governments to collapse: Only 1 of 3 people in Europe, the 36%, believe that their country is heading in the right direction today, according to a 2017_study_.

It is precisely for this reason that we see the rebirth of conservative and anti-European parties, such as the latest victory of the Italian right-wing coalition led by Berlusconi; the case of the increase in the popularity of the alternative party for Germany, which 10 years ago was not part of German politics and was labelled as radical; or the countries that make up the Visegrad, which lead the fight against social democracy in the European Parliament and its immigration policy, such as the establishment of refugee quotas, among other actions.

But... hasn't social democracy brought the Scandinavian countries to the top of the world rankings? How can there be anything wrong with the system?

Let's take the example of a country like Denmark, Denmark is a country that has been praised countless times by people like Berny Sanders or Jeremy Corbyn, for its high human and social development rates, its public education and its many other social plans. The truth is that Denmark is a place where the middle class cannot even afford a car because of the latest tax rate of 100%. In Sweden the founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, had to move all his businesses from there because of the huge tax rates. And the terrible thing about these countries is their laws against people who don't pay taxes. Don't get me wrong, I am a person who believes that taxes are necessary, as long as they are used for projects such as maintaining infrastructure and financing education up to the second level. But supporting totally irrational tax systems, I am not at all a supporter.

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Another major problem of social democracy is its paternalistic character, which does not allow the emancipation of the individual and does not allow him to take responsibility for himself, like any good doctrine coming from socialism. In recent years the policies of the Swedish state have been inspired by the social democratic philosophy and materialised by the Swedish social democratic party itself. There is a documentary that speaks very well about this subject called The Swedish Theory of Love'. The implementation of this system of left-wing social engineering resulted in the destruction of the society, destroying the family and thus ending in the destruction of the individual and his relationships with his peers, thus endangering reproduction and the species. Zygmunt Bauman in the documentary states that the Swedes have lost the ability to socialize. And this is precisely why Swedes have the highest suicide rate in the world. It is due to the low degree of self-esteem and deep sadness that its inhabitants experience when they are unable to socialize.

It is absolutely true that social democracy was born as a response to the problems that the world faced after the Second World War, but today the answers offered by social democracy are not good enough for the social and economic paradigms of the 21st century. Therefore remember that any system based on or influenced by socialist doctrines must always face the greatest of its enemies: Reality. Socialist ideas such as social democracy take individual progress and the success of people and turn it into mediocrity and collectivism. In order to finance social programs, it is necessary to have a progressive system of taxes on the higher income and contributions of employers, employees and self-employed persons.

The moral character and good intentions of this type of socialist system, which seeks equality and the distribution of wealth for all, are always highlighted, but what is moral in a system that takes away what a person has done with so much effort and give it to people, who do not make an effort and who do not deserve it?

For a nation, taxing itself for prosperity is like a man inside a bucket trying to lift himself up by the handle.

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Who you are reading right now is currently a young student of modern languages at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). Who considers himself to be an ideologist, pragmatist, and a lover of truth and knowledge.

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