How to Start A Neighborhood Association

Neighborhood Associations bring the community together in order to improve the quality of life for all its residents. If you're looking at this article, there must already be something about your neighborhood that you want to change or you're concerned about, or you may just want to maintain and protect all that is good about it. To accomplish these goals, and build a sense of unity in your community, starting a neighborhood association is a positive step in the right direction.
The goal of a neighborhood association is to help enhance the quality of life in a neighborhood , and help make it a safer and more enriching place to live. If your neighborhood is already in great shape, an active neighborhood group can help it to stay that way, raising the residents' feleing of partnership with those living around them, and giving the community an effective communications link and a voice to speak to government officials, staff , developers and other influential groups.

Getting Your Neighbors Together

A well-organized group of neighbors can be a powerful and influential force coming together to address common problems in their community. Convince them that in unity there is strength! Survey the residents in your neighborhood, then with the solicited data, develop a draft of the platform and take it back out to the community to solicit feedback. The draft platform will take into account the needs, demands and concerns expressed by your neighbors through the survey and molds the association into a vehicle to address those concerns.

Business Plan / Neighborhood Plan

Once you've gotten your neighbors interested in forming a neighborhood association, decide when you will hold your first meeting. The first order of business for individuals attending the meeting should be to ratify the "Neighborhood Plan". The plan should be reviewed from time to time to assess what goals have been accomplished and what needs to be re-evaluated or removed from the plan. New goals can be included as they arise.

The following elements should be included in your "Neighborhood Plan":

• Mission Statement
• Goals
• By-Laws
• Road Map for the First Year
• Gathering Neighbors and Business Owners
• Support Committees
• Fund-raising
• Effective Communication Methods
• Place a Public Notice in the newspaper indicating time and place of your first community meeting
  

Tips to Remember

• Attract, Maintain, Recruit new members
• Involve all residents regardless of race, religion, age and socio-economic status
• Provide Success and status reports to your community
• Identity and form partnerships with schools, businesses, centers of worship, local government, hospital, realty companies, libraries, and communiaty centers
• Constantly reassess the neighborhood plan to insure that it is still working for the neighborhood!

Cheers.

Putting Reparations on the Socialist Agenda

According to the International Monetary Fund(IMF), in 2006 the United States of America had a GDP of more than $13 trillion and thus ranking it as the largest national GDP in the world. GDP, or gross domestic product, is the value of all final goods and services from a nation in a given time period. Yet, this wealth is becoming gradually concentrated as yearly statistics show. According to State of Working America, in 2004, 12.7% of the population, 37 million persons, were considered poor. Not only is wealth in America unequally distributed, but poverty is as well also, with 30 percent of Blacks being poor, 20 percent of all Hispanics, but only 9 percent of Whites. How did America generate and continue to generate this vast amount of wealth and is there a connection between that process and it's disproportionate allocation?

Slavery and Primitive Accumulation of Capital

Primitive, or "original accumulation", refers to the initial process that led to a 'critical mass' of accumulation that enabled capital to be set in motion. It's a concept developed by Karl Marx to explain how the capitalist mode of production came into fruition. Marx says we must envision an accumulation of capital that was not a consequence of capitalist production but was the starting point of capitalist production. He called this "primitive accumulation of capital".

So what is this primitive or original/previous accumulation of capital? According to Marx it was the,

discovery of gold and silver in America, the extirpation, enslavement and entombment in mines of the indigenous population of that continent, the beginnings of the conquest and plunder of India, and the conversion of Africa into a preserve for the commercial hunting of blackskins, are all things which characterize the dawn of the era of capitalist production. These idyllic proceedings are the chief moments of primitive accumulation. [Marx 1977, p. 915]

Capitalist development was due to the brutal exploitation of Blacks and indigenous people as consumers and workers. African slaves were forced to perform free labor for almost 250 years. Karl Marx notes,

Direct slavery is just as much the pivot of bourgeois industry as machinery, credits, etc. Without slavery you have no cotton; without cotton you have no modern industry. It is slavery that has given the colonies their value; it is the colonies that have created world trade, and it is world trade that is the pre-condition of large-scale industry.
-The Poverty of Philosophy: A Reply to M. Proudhon’s Philosophy of Poverty, New York, International Publishers, n.d., pages 94-5.

This constant expropriation of surplus value, at a high rate of exploitation, was the driving force behind capitalist development, as well as the underdevelopment of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Where did the reproduction and growth needed for capital investment come from after the abolishment of slavery?

Abolition and Permanent Accumulation of Capital

After the abolishment of the slavery mode of production in the South, the United states still continued to generate wealth. Rosa Luxemburg proposes that the cause of this continual generation of wealth is due to what is called, permanent accumulation of capital. The difference between Marx and Luxemburg is that, for Marx, primitive accumulation is the starting point for capitalism proper, whereas for Luxemburg it is an ongoing process. Even after Black Americans were "freed", they still were subject to economic exploitation and political disenfranchisement. This was accomplished by the racist/capitalist state through, but not limited to, Black Codes, convict lease, peonage, Jim Crow laws as well as institutional racism. The rate of exploitation was higher for black workers than white workers, allowing capitalists to accrue higher profits from black workers than their white counter-parts. This discrepancy still occurs today, according to State of Workign America, "For every dollar of whites’ income, minorities receive only 56 cents. For every dollar of networth that whites control, minorities control only 27 cents."

A Call for Reparations

The National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America(NCOBRA) views reparations as a "process of repairing, healing and restoring a people injured because of their group identity and in violation of their fundamental human rights by governments or corporations. Those groups that have been injured have the right to obtain from the government or corporation responsible for the injuries that which they need to repair and heal themselves. In addition to being a demand for justice, it is a principle of international human rights law. As a remedy, it is similar to the remedy for damages in domestic law that holds a person responsible for injuries suffered by another when the infliction of the injury violates domestic law". Economist Larry Neal, estimates that unpaid net wages to blacks before emancipation amount to $1.4 trillion today. While, University of California at Berkeley calculated the gains of whites from labor market discrimination from 1929 to 1969 to total $1.6 trillion. In total, there are estimates that blacks are owed up to 10 trillion by the US government. Yet, through all of NCOBRA's legal routes and tribunals , blacks have yet to receive any compensation. Nor, is it for certain that the government ever will.

Revolution is the Solution

There is a direct correlation between the development of capitalism and the underdevelopment of Black America. The exploitation of blacks if the motor for the United States rapid accumulation of capital. The high rate of exploitation, combined with the expropriation of surplus value from black labor is not only the cause of America's vast amount of wealth, but also the reason why that wealth is disproportionately allocated. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the capitalist class to continue to accumulate profit through division of labor according to race. The legal route for reparations and the development of Black America is a dead end. The only solution is a socialist revolution.

In that sense, reparations for Africans and indigenous people must be included on the socialist agenda. The only way compensation and development will be achieved is through the destruction of the vary economic system and state apparatus that is the cause of the underdevelopment of Black America. One of the first tasks of a socialist society would not only to meet the basic needs of the people, but to develop historically oppressed communities. The socialist society will give preference to developing these areas not to recreate inequality, but to raise the standards of life for everyone in society. This task cannot be completed in a capitalist society, but only a post-revolutionary socialist one.

Cheers.

"Four hundred years the white man has had his foot-long knife in the black man's back - and now the white man starts to wiggle the knife out, maybe six inches! The black man's supposed to be grateful? Why, if the white man jerked the knife out, it's still going to leave a scar!"
-Malcolm X

Meeting the Demands of the People

In the late 1960s a group of black militants burst onto the scene to capture the hearts and minds of inner city youth with fiery rhetoric and words as slick as their black leather jackets. Through armed police brutality patrols and calls for "power to the people", the Black Panther Party embodied the radicalization of the Black Struggle and inspired a generation of young people to become politically active. The Party however, was not just a Self-Defense organization. Early on, founders Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, articulated their immediate demands and political positions into a ten point program. In the autobiography of Bobby Seale, Seize the Time, explains the importance of the ten point program.


Huey said, "We need a program. We have to have a program for the people. A program that relates to the people. A program that the people can understand. A program that the people can read and see, and which expresses their desires and needs at the same time. It's got to relate to the philosophical meaning of where in the world we are going, but the philosophical meaning will also have to relate to something specific."

Point 10 on the Panther's ten point program proclaimed, "We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace." However, as Marxists, the Panthers recognized that their interests conflicted with the interests of the bourgeoisie. Newton states, "The Black Panther Party is a revolutionary Nationalist group and we see a major contradiction between capitalism and our interests". So, just how would these demands be met? Newton goes on by saying, "We realize this country became very rich upon slavery and that capitalism is slavery in the extreme. We have two evils to fight, capitalism and racism.We must destroy racism and capitalism." Their interests therefore, could only be realized through the destruction of capitalism through a socialist revolution.

Participatory Planning

In a post-revolutionary society the means of production are owned by everyone in equal share and not by one particular production group. The bourgeoisie and petite bourgeoisie will no longer have a monopoly on the decision making process. Each actor in society would influence decisions in proportion in which they are affected by them. Society will thus be participatory and egalitarian.

Participatory planning allows participants to exercise direct democracy and allows ordinary citizens to control their own lives. Citizens of a post-revolutionary society will be organized into federations of workers and consumer councils. Workers in worker councils need to articulate proposals on what and how much they want to produce, as well as the resources needed for production. Consumers, on the other hand, will need to express through proposals what and how much they intend to consume. Both production and consumption proposals will be sent to the facilitation board where through a system of proposals, amendments, and rejections, a social plan articulated to cover the entire economy is hashed out.

Personal Consumption Proposals

How can demands for "land, bread, housing, education, clothing,justice and peace" be achieved in a socialist society? The answer to this question lies in participatory planning.

For example, Omar, an African-American living with his girlfriend in a co-housing community in Detroit, Michigan, is working on his personal consumption proposal. His neighborhood already negotiated it's collective proposals, which have consequently, been summed up with county, state, regional and national collective consumption proposals.

Omar, like most able bodied individuals, works at a roughly average job complex and requests a roughly average consumption bundle. He knows that everyone has a finite share of the total social product. So all citizens can request things up to the limit of their budget allocated to them. Logging on to his computer, he begins to draft a consumption proposal based on combinations of different goods he desires and their indicative prices.

Omar is unfortunately a very picky eater, so his choice of foods are very limited. He bases his food consumption proposal on his old grocery store lists in pre-revolutionary and capitalist days. His computer program manipulates the input to articulate it for the whole year. Of course, he may change his mind, so fortunately for him, the iteration processes of participatory economics introduces "slack" in the social plan to allow for spontaneous "purchases". Omar is really a simple man and doesn't need a roomful of clothes, so he is modest when it comes to his clothing requests. A dozen or so new shirts and pants, a trench coat, boots for the winter, more socks( they continue to disappear in drying machine post-revolution too!), and other items will do him fine.

Even though, Omar enjoys living in the co-housing community, he and is girlfriend decided they wanted a bit more privacy and want to relocate into a household in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Housing Facilitation Board is a group of workers that assists people wishing to change their residence. Likewise, the Employment Facilitation Board is a group of workers whom assists people who wish to change their workplace. These two boards help Omar and his girlfriend relocate to an available household in Kalamazoo, as well, as get him quickly situated in a new workplace.

One of the other main reasons, why Omar wanted to move to Kalamazoo, was because it houses a brand new college specifically centered on African And African American Studies. Before the revolution, such places didn't exist and it was senseless to major in African studies at a college because that degree was useless on the job market . Now, part of his job complex is teaching Egyptian History in a local community Center, as well as smelter in a local steel plant.

In capitalism, Omar was subject to police brutality and racial profiling. Being born in a poor neighborhood in Detroit, he had little chance to pursue higher education or escape the vicious circle of poverty. His mother lived off of paycheck to paycheck and some nights all he had to eat was his hatred for being born black and poor.

However, after the socialist revolution, Omar has more opportunities and more freedoms than ever before. All basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, medical care, etc are easily met now. There is no more police brutality, black on black crime has gone down from the Crips and Gangster Disciples having been disbanded, he has enrolled in college which is provided free to all citizens and he goes to bed each night with his hunger satisfied.

In conclusion, post-revolutionary society will be participatory and egalitarian. The social plan for society will be reached upon by a series of proposals from workers' and consumers' (neighborhood) councils and meetings of regional delegates. This makes sure that every citizen's demand for "land, bread, housing, education, clothing,justice and peace" is met and that the Panther legacy continues to live on.


Cheers
-blackstone

New Housing in a Post-Revolutionary Society

In this blog post, I want to discuss a possible solution on how a community can request new housing for it's citizens. This discussion include ideas of private property, socialized means of production and participatory planning. In a post-revolutionary society the means of production are owned by everyone and not by one particular production group. Therefore, each actor should influence decisions in proportion in which they are affected by them.

QUOTE (spartan @ October 02, 2007 06:42 pm)

blackstone: QUOTE I don't see a 50-50 split happening in your situation. The factory can either have the abundance to supply the wood to the commune or not. (And who are willing to give some of there Yes but what if C2 does not want to supply C1 with wood which is needed by C2? A solution to this problem could be for C1 to look elsewhere to another commune for wood away) but what if the next nearest commune is too far away too suit C1's demand for the wood?This could create a supply problem! Especially if C1 needs the wood desperately and gets impatient for the wood.This could lead to C1 getting violent!

Well, in that case the wood factory of commune 2(from here on out referred to as Che Commune) has a workers council which is part of a larger federation of wood factory workers' council, which could be regional, national or international. If someone can supply it, it wouldn't take long for the commune to receive it.

Again, i think we have to think about rules of order.

In an post-revolutionary society there will be stages of planning before voting takes place.

If your part of a group, do you vote you all go to Egypt without first checking the traveling expenses and seeing whether it's in your budget?

Wouldn't be too clever. And you'll be in for a surprise..


Say the Eastside neighborhood council makes part of Che Commune, a commune which is made up of various neighborhood councils and workers councils. The neighborhood council received requests to build more houses and raised the issue in the next commune meeting and submitted the idea of new housing as a collective consumption project. The commune then submits this proposal to a facilitation board which calculates how much wood and other supplies would be needed for the project.


Workers also make proposals for what they intend to produce and the inputs needed for production. These production proposals would have also been sent to the facilation board where through a system of proposals, amendments, and rejections, a social plan articulated to cover the entire economy is hashed out.

The worker organizations that would do the work of construction and provide the materials, including the wood workers organization that provides the lumber, etc. would need to also indicate what they require in order to meet these requests. The facilitation board will relay this new information to Che commune and the Eastside neighborhood council. Where if needed they can make the proper "adjustments" to their proposals. The households of Eastside commune given back 4 different revised proposals which they rank in order of preference. After each round, a proposal is dropped until the neighborhood has settled on it's collective consumption proposal(which includes new housing requests).

This is all part of the process of negotiating of a plan on how scarce resources will be allocated. Che commune, ore more precisely, the Eastside neighborhood council can either re-adjust their collective consumption plans or put the project on hold. If through this process of adjustments, they can reach an "agreement", the community votes to settle the collective consumption proposals in order to begin prouduction on the new houses.

As always emphasized, this is just one particular way to pursue a collective consumption decision making process.

Cheers

Train Services in a Decentralised Economy

I'd like to discuss a bit on how train services would work in a socialist society with a decentralized and participatory economics and social planning. I hope to show just how it is possible to generate train schedules and other functions without central planning or a central authority. It begins with a question made by a advocate of central planning..

If you don't believe in a centally planned economy, how would train timetables be drawn up? I mean, you can't have decentralised train services can you? Someone has to have the authority to plan the way that a nation's train service operates.

I think you have a misconception of what it means to be decentralized and the absence of authority.

Here's what Bakunin had to say,

Does it follow that I reject all authority? Far from me such a thought. In the matter of boots, I refer to the authority of the bootmaker; concerning houses, canals, or railroads, I consult that of the architect or engineer.

I bow before the authority of special men because it is imposed upon me by my own reason. I am conscious of my inability to grasp, in all its details and positive developments, any very large portion of human knowledge.

-God and the State (1876)

The train federation, which consists of delegates from various train stations will adjust to each other through a system of requests and proposals. These proposals not only have to be ratified by the train federation, but also by the communities that it directly effects. This is obviously because any changes in the timetables may have a ripple effect. If you want to change the schedule for the train heading from Newark to Irvington, this will effect the schedule for the train heading from Orange to Cherry Hill and so on. Which may cause an inconvenience to workers.

So what would need to happen is community councils and regional meetings of the delegates of the communities, need to develop their plans for transportation (as well as other consumptions), and likewise, train station councils and federation would need to put forward their initial proposals terms of what they propose to do. Again, through a democratic and participatory process of proposals, requests, rejections, amendments, a time table that benefits the majority of people will be developed.

Through these proposals and by analyzing the data, facilitators note how there is a increase in the percentage of people who need to travel to Cherry Hill to Newark at a specific time range and a decrease of a need to travel to Cherry Hill to Passaic. Once the effects are examined and ratified by all parties, the new timetables are updated to adjust to these changes.

Again, this is just my conception of how decentralized planning of timetables will take place. Others may have other options and that's fine. This is just an abstract framework.

Cheers