<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#3333FF" vlink="#551A8B" alink="#00CC00">   Carrol Cox wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE>"Joe R. Golowka" wrote: > Socialism can only work if it is democratic.  Socialism is a system in > which the means of production are controlled by the people.  Socialism > = economic democracy. This is true. There is still no evidence that we no what the devices are which will provide democracy under socialism. We do know that the devices of capitalist democracy will not work because they all not only allow but very nearly guarantee that the results will be manipulated by an elite -- perhaps under socialism an elite of charisma, but an elite of charisma is not intrinsically superior to an elite on other grounds.</blockquote> Howabout this:  Have each workplace be put under the direct control of those working there, via direct democracy.  If someone is needed to coordinate work among different parts of the workplace then that person should be elected from those working and be easily recallable but without any real power.  These workplaces can be coordinated by worker's councils.  Each council would consist of elected respresentatives from the individual workplaces and/or the community.  All representatives would be mandated and easily recallable.  These worker councils would track the economy and determine what is needed to be produced.  They would then tell the workplaces what needs to be produced.  If an individual workplace thinks that the worker's councils are making bad decisions they would be free to disregard their advice.  Ultimately, I think we'll evolve beyond such a system, but it will work in the meantime.   <blockquote TYPE=CITE>So Joe's argument is about as illuminating as the news that all black cats are cats and that Albany is the capital of New York. Big Deal. And of course this is the trouble of anarchism. It works beautifully -- inside people's heads.</blockquote> It worked during the Spanish Revolution and the Paris Commune.  That's more then you can say about State Socialism.  The only other alternative is Capitalism and I don't see why anyone would want that. -- Joe R. Golowka joegolowka@earthlink.net Anarchist FAQ - <A HREF="http://www.infoshop.org/faq">http://www.infoshop.org/faq</A> "The function of the Libertarian Party is so that crusty conservatives can pretend that they're radicals."  -  The Lorax </body> </html>