- Capitalism and Alternatives -

Your own, of course.

Posted by: Simon Kongshoj ( CIA's most wanted #8 - and dropping!, Denmark ) on December 12, 1997 at 18:16:06:

In Reply to: Production for Need? By Whose Measure? posted by nat_turner on December 09, 1997 at 18:48:10:

Socialism is philosophically speaking, humanist. The centre of socialism is the human being, not the capital.

Therefore, the logical answer to your question is that you decide.

The planned economy system makes sure that everyone receives approximately the same amount of money. When you have received your money, it is very much up to you whether you use them to buy steak, rice or McDonaldskij food. Of course, you probably couldn't afford to have a steak every day, but many people in the current society also can't (myself for instance). If you need a TV set, you save up your money for one, but if you only need an AM radio, you buy one of those and save the money for something else you need.

If the planned economy system is decentralist and planned and managed collectively by the workers, functionaries etc. but state-owned, it becomes possible for the people to decide on what society needs. If they tell the demand, then the State will be able to attempt to construct facilities to meet them. Again, Yugoslavia was a fine example of how this system could function (which it pretty much did, until Tito died and the US cut their economic support - Yugoslavia's problem was in part that it was poor even before they became socialist).

You will notice that the self-management ideas I just proposed actually requires money or at least some form of currency. You see, while most socialists find money an 'evil' invention, I am of the opinion that money, like all other human inventions, is not necessarily good or evil. Money can be used to alienate and oppress, or can be used to allow people power over their own lives - just like nuclear fission can be used for bombs or power generation.


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