What Is Democratic Socialism? Part I: Reclaiming Freedom July 15, 2020
What Is Democratic Socialism? Part II: The Immanent Critique of Capitalism
What Is Democratic Socialism? Part III: Life After Capitalism
Marx, Hegel, and the Critique of Religion: A Response March 15, 2021
Martin Hägglund
July 15, 2020
As I make clear, to be free is not to be free from obligations but to be free to recognize our obligations as ones to which we have bound ourselves and to which we hold ourselves. Thus, under democratic socialism there will be formal ways to establish the work that is demanded of us both as citizens and in terms of our professions as doctors, engineers, teachers, and so on. The crucial point, however, is that we will be compelled to work by virtue of our commitments — and the obligations they entail — rather than because we fear material deprivation. We will get up in the morning not because we are forced to labor to survive but because we can see that our work is meaningful and of vital importance to others.