--- Charles Brown <cbrown at michiganlegal.org> wrote:
>> CB: You have a system by which you keep track of
> costs of production. That
> will require symbols, writing, markers , counting
> and accounting, numbers,
> but not private ownership of finance companies that
> make loans ,collect
> interest and make profits. You keep accounts and
> measure population so that
> all 6 billion plus people have food, housing, soap,
> fun, clothing, air,
> water, half have cotexes, etc.
>
So basically what you are arguing is abolish the bourgeois state whose main purpose it to protect capitalist property rights, and replace it with a socialist one whose function is to coordinate the operation of a compex publicly owned economy. That is a different argument than that the state will disappear altogether. The latter strikes me as an absurd proposition - how on earth can one seriously believe that 6+ bn people can live and interact without institutionalized norms of behavior, laws, institutionalized means of communication, etc. is beyond me.
I think it would be quite useful if people on this list started seriously thinking about alternatives to the existing states. I mean, serious alternatives, not pie in the sky pipe dreams. The way I would organize such a discussion is to first identify key functions performed by the state, then describe how different actually existing states perform these functions, and then identify strenghts and weaknesses of of each of these performances, and finally come up with a proposal which of the these models is th ebest , what imporvements can be made, etc.
For example: functions may include: Jurisdirction - who is under the jurisdiction of the state and who is not Internal organization - by region, by type of population, by function Inter-state collaboration - world government? Law making - how criminal and civil laws are promulgated Law enforcement - how these laws are enforced, and how non-compliance is sactioned Conflict resolution - how conflicting claims among individuals or groups are resolved Information gathering - what information about indviduals and groups is to be collected, by what means, how that is information is used and distributed, etc. Planning - which social activities are subject to planning, what is the range of planning, whose interest are taken inco account ho wthey are weighted, who is included in the process, in what capacity and with what powers Property rights - what kind of property is to be held in common, what can be individually owned Individual responsibilities - what contributions and what behavior are expected of individuals, how these expectations are determined and sanctioned Individual rights - same as above etc.
These are just a few most obvious functions performed by modern state, but the list is much longer. So to have a serious alternative to the status quo and to the neo-liberal blue-prints - it is imperative to consider all these functions one by one, and come up with a socialist blue-print. Perhaps the most important aspect about that socialist blue print is that it does not re-invent the wheel but takes advantages of the "best practices" around the world (yes, that also includes some "capitalist" practices), perhaps improves them a bit here and there, and puts them together into a coherent and compelling vision.
To organize such a discussion one can use the UN model - start with defining specific subject groups composed of experts and stakeholders in the respective subject areas, experts report on the state of knowledge in their areas, followed by a discussion, then the 'rapporteur' for that group summarizes what was said into a concise statement, which is discussed and approved by the group and made public. This can be done electronically, if someone would want to establish a forum and coordinate it.
Wojtek
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