The left has split into a social democratic majority and an infantile leftist minority. The former has been able to abandon full-blooded socialism, while the latter, no longer obliged to defend actual anticapitalist societies, feels free to indulge in its traditional blend of fantasy and fury. As Scandinavians have shown, social democracy is a viable way of governing a modern country, provided people want to be cradled by a maternal state from birth to death. Shorn of the facile rhetoric of the Third Way, Tony Blair's new Labour is a social democratic party. So are the Liberal Democrats.
Social democrats believe in private enterprise and the benevolent state.
Business should be allowed to generate wealth but pro-active government needs to impose regulation, offer security and redistribute incomes. Social democracy has been in tune with history. In Sweden, it rose six-fold. The European governments of the early 20th century provided the classic public goods of defence, criminal justice and basic infrastructure. Today, half of all spending is on subsidies and transfers, while just over a quarter is for health and education.