Goodbye Maggie

Beyond Capitalism

I have been asked for a short essay for a book that will appear at the ESF, this October. I have to rush it...and here is a draft. Anyone who wants to send me any suggestions, please feel free. But the commenting system is down.

Soc Student…Last

> I can’t help but wonder whether any system can survive if it is too complex for the general public to understand.

Soc student…

> In his model, Albert argues for balanced job complexes instead of a labor market.

Soc Student…fifth

> 1. Ease of Communicating the Parecon Model to Others – Personally, I find that a major obstacle to many reforms is the inability to plainly summarize the proposed reform and the rationale for implementing it (i.e. as if one is organizing behind the proposal and has to persuade others of its’ importance, since most people won’t read the book).

Soc – Fourth Student

The fourth student likes the ideas that, First, “participatory consumers must weigh the benefits of consumption requests against the sacrifices required to produce them.” Second, “participatory consumers must distinguish reasonable consumption requests from ones that are excessive or overly modest” (Albert 123). The first is what really caught my attention, so given that preferences are neither fixed nor entirely internal to the individual—“real people’s preferences arise in social interaction” (Albert 125)—my question is, what would be an effective institutional design to achieve this end.

Fair enough… But then the student adds…

Soc 292 - The Third Student

Hmmmmm…these student comments are a bit longer than I anticipated…also a bit less in touch with the actual characteristics of parecon…but I started so I guess I will continue, though a bit more summarily than I had hoped, given these attributes.

The Third Student writes…

Soc 292 - The Second Student

The second student worries about parecon's method of allocation.

Reply to Parecon in One Country

Justin...The posts were fascinating...I have to use some of that content.
But as to the international/national issue, I don't think I understand.

Soc 292: Parecon Comments

In perusing the internet I found a pdf of comments by students, I think, of a sociology course (292) that used parecon for a reading. I thought I might briefly react to its contents in a few blog posts.

An argument for parecon, from 1936

One of the most respected leaders in Indian history is B.R. Ambedkar. He was the leader of the Untouchable caste (today called Dalits). He was brilliant, principled, and completely dedicated. Reading his writing today is still very illuminating and refreshing.

In 1936 Ambedkar wrote a speech, called 'The Annihilation of Caste', where he outlined a vision and a strategy for abolishing the caste system. He prepared it for presentation to a Hindu society, which rejected it at the last minute. He published it as a pamphlet instead. One part is of particular interest to those who like participatory economics' argument for remuneration according to effort. Ambedkar says: "I would not be surprised if some of you have grown weary listening to this tiresome tale of the sad effects which caste has produced. There is nothing new to it. I will therefore turn to the constructive side of the problem. What is your ideal society if you do not want caste is a question that is bound to be asked. If you ask me, my ideal would be a society based on liberty, equality, and fraternity. And why not?" He goes on to argue for fraternity (the way we'd argue for solidarity), for liberty (the way we'd argue or self-management), and then for equality -- which is quite interesting indeed:

An argument for parecon, from 1919

Here's a story of how an opportunity to change history was missed by labour leaders who had more power than they knew what to do with.

I was told this story by John Clarke of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and thought it was something advocates of having vision, strategy, and some prefigurative politics would be interested in.

I looked it up in a book called "In Place of Fear", which is an argument for 'democratic socialism'. I have a photocopied page from the book in front of me, but I can't remember the author -- I think it's Anatole Bevan. But not 100%. So here's the quote:

Parecon in one country?

Something I have always disagreed with Michael Albert on about parecon (and believe me, this is not an easy thing to do) is the nature of the international economy itself. This difference comes out in the interview we did when the latest book first came out:

JP: Parecon offers answers to the problems created by markets, private property, and hierarchical work organization. But there are other problems with capitalism. What about the global division of power and wealth? What about the division between the rich and poor countries, in which the rich countries plunder the poor ones? The on-going colonization of indigenous lands in the Americas? The on-going exploitation of immigrant labor and control of immigrants by borders? The capitalist economic relations that Parecon rejects were founded on these divisions. And yet Parecon has no analysis or answers for these problems: no talk of nation states, no talk of borders, no talk of the global distribution of wealth, the distribution of wealth between communities or nations. These go to the heart of capitalism, and "life after capitalism." Why is there no discussion of them?

Michael's answer:

The World and the US

Recently on a number of occasions I have told people asking about how parecon the book and of course the model was doing, that it was an odd situation.

Parecon and Society -- chapters

This is a list of possible chapters for a book on p[arecon and society. What others topics might be of interest? Supposing you could read anyone writing on any of these or other topics, whose views would you be interested in?

Parecon and Society: Education

This is a draft of a possible chapter, giving a broad idea of what they might be like...again, only a draft.

Parecon and Society: Parecon Overview

This would be an opening chapter of this possible new book, summarizing parecon itself. Remember, these are merely drafts I am sharing in the blog...looking for some reactions.

Parecon and Society: Possible Intro

I am thinking about the possibility of a new book perhaps entitled Parecon and Society. It would be about what having a parecon would mean for the rest of society, beyond the economy. I am curious if people think such a book would be useful. I am also curious who might best write its various chapters.

This post is a draft introduction. The next post is a draft first chapter. The third post is a draft list of possible subsequent chapters. The last in the sequence is a draft of the possible education chapter. ANy reactions welcome.

Replying to a Review

Recently I got an email telling me about a review of a book of mine, Looking Forward (SEP 1991) linked on the theory page of Anarcho-Syndicalist Review (http://www.syndicalist.org/theory/parecon1.shtml) I read it and was rather surprised by some of the content, and so I thought I would write some reactions here, even though I think it is over a decade old. The author of the review was Jeff Stein.

Economics and Parecon

A second interview for Polish publication...

Market Madness

I was asked to do an email interview by a friend from Poland, for publication there, dealing with a rising tide of market ideology among Polish economists. Since it bears on issues of parecon, I thought I might as well convey it here, as well...

Answering a Comment

In general, I cannot pledge I will relate to all comments, even all questions, posted to the blogs. There is only so much time available. However....

Commenting

I have turned on commenting, and added it for past posts, as well.

It is for Sustainers only to comment -- but everyone can read all comments. I look forward to your reactions!