I want to make it clear that I believe that discussion of how a future economic and political system will function in a society without a ruling class or class divisions--can be much more than fantasy or science fiction. More than that, I believe that such discussion is essential for the creation of a movement powerful enough to mobilize millions of workers and aim for the overthrow of bourgeois rule. It is actually very simple: if we cannot have at least a rudimentary grasp of the principles by which the masses can run society *without* the bourgeoisie--then a genuinely mass movement directed at this aim will never be possible.
Unfortunately, I do not have the time to participate much on this thread. But I thought I should inform those readers interested in the work by Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel that they may find "The Self-Organizing Moneyless Economy" (a.k.a. "The S.O.M.E. Hypothesis") to be of interest. It is posted on my site.
I come from a tradition very different from that of Albert and Hahnel--one much more oriented towards the class struggle. What I have in common with Albert and Hahnel is that I have been writing about how an economic and political system will function in the future without relying on either market mechanisms or all-powerful central planners. The "Self-Organizing Moneyless Economy" is, as far as I am aware, the first scientific speculation concerning how a genuinely communist economic and political system will likely function in the mid or late 21st century.
Ben Seattle 18.Jul.98 ----//-// www.Leninism.org