What's a Fabian?

[elshiva]

[petronius]

1. A type of British socialist?

A guy's name? In what context are you asking?

[elshiva]

5. There was a poem by Rod McKuen: What is a Fabian?

[Skittles]

2. a fabulous Ian

yes INDEED

[Blue-Jay]

This.

[u4ic]

3. An over the hill heartthrob?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. The Fabian Socialists, one of whom was George Bernard Shaw,

believed in establishing socialism through gradual evolution instead of through revolution.

Otherwise, it can be either a first or last name. :shrug:

[The Magistrate]

6. A Reasonable Bunch, Ma'am

They actually got a good deal accomplished in England down the years....

"A man born on forged papers can prove hard to trace."

[elshiva]

7. Thank You, The Magistrate

[The Magistrate]

8. You Are Most Welcome, Ma'am

The name comes from the Roman Consul Fabius of the Second Punic War, who is renowned for a strategy of delaying battle and harrassment he employed to great strategic affect against Hannibal after the disasterous Roman defeat at Cannae. The choice reflected the basic difference between the Society's strategic program and that of the revolutionists who dominated Socialist circles in the fin de siecle era of its formation. Fabians were deeply involved in the formation of the Labor Party in England at the start of the twentieth century, and the group, to use a modern phrase, has served as that Party's "think tank" down to the present. Besides Mr. Shaw, whom Ms. Leftcoast mentioned, and who is, as you might expect, a favorite author of mine, luminaries such as Mr. John Maynard Keynes and Mr. Harry Dexter White were members, and these men went far in defining post-Depression economic and political life in the last century. It is fair to say that the group has had an influence all out of proportion to its number, that owes both to the caliber of its membership and the sound sense of strategy that has marked its actions. It is a far better model for a 'vanguard party' than the Bolsheviks, in my view.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

9. Me

I'm a member of the Fabian Society.