nothing is more fun than pounding on a dude when he's down, so more on tony judt.

Social democrats, on the other hand, are something of a hybrid. They share with liberals a commitment to cultural and religious tolerance. But in public policy social democrats believe in the possibility and virtue of collective action for the collective good. Like most liberals, social democrats favor progressive taxation in order to pay for public services and other social goods that individuals cannot provide themselves; but whereas many liberals might see such taxation or public provision as a necessary evil, a social democratic vision of the good society entails from the outset a greater role for the state and the public sector.

if you read me, even occasionally, you've got a notion of what i'm going to say. if the state is the agent of collective action - all of us, together, shaping our collective future - then put down the fucking guns. these folks are still social contract theorists. i don't know, go read hume's of the original contract, etc. 

also i must say that judt's picture of a lost generation - at sea, basically because of the loss of marxism (sadly discredited by right-wing propaganda that quibbled with the tens of millions of corpses) - doesn't corrspond with the knots of preppies and excellent golfers that i, personally, teach. there doesn't seem to be any angst at all.