>decommodification of basic needs? Say I want to acquire a bag of
>apples in our future ideal society. Do I go to a store where Fujis,
>Galas, and Granny Smiths are on display, I choose what I want, and I
>have some kind of transaction with a clerk before leaving the
>establishment involving a settling of accounts? Or do I just pick
>them up and leave because, de-alienated beings that we will be, I
>haven't shirked my responsibilities to my co-humans (as Martin Lukes
>liked to say) and I won't take more than I need? What if it requires
>more labor to produce the Granny Smiths than the Galas? Do I just
>take 2 Granny Smiths or 3 Galas and leave it at that? Or is there
>some sort of social accounting that would have to be recognized, for
>which money is our familiar and convenient shorthand?
People will just take what they need. Granny smiths for cooking, the others for eating raw. Why would they take more than they need? At the moment I have heaps of apples on my trees, far more than I can eat or give away. I don't do any accounting when I give some away. And people don't take more than they think they need.
I can't grow lemons, the soil is clay here, so its nice when I can pick some lemons off someone else's tree when I visit them.
Socialism is more than that of course, it has to be organised and sorry Chuck, things have to be *governed*. There is no need for the sort of accounting Doug is worried about though. Yes, the government of production will require information on what is produced and what is used, when and where, so figures will have to be kept. Unlike my apple production, where I have no idea what is produced and what is used. But there's no need under socialism for any nonsense accounting to make sure individuals don't consume more than they produce. No need for a wages system under socialism in other words.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas