[lbo-talk] Fwd: Socialist modelling (Was: Louis Proyect...)

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Wed Dec 28 16:53:22 PST 2011


I can hold an alt key a bit

Lenin -- liberals say workers are strong whrn propoe respect them

Bolsrviksk say propoe respect when workers are strong

W as usual has things on therir head

cbc

-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] On Behalf Of Marv Gandall Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2011 10:39 AM To: LBO Subject: [lbo-talk] Fwd: Socialist modelling (Was: Louis Proyect...)

Sorry. Poorly proofread again. The first sentence should read: "But that's the point, isn't it? The reality is that the capitalist state would not permit a social economy to encroach on private ownership, so it cannot be a viable political strategy, as you earlier contended."

Begin forwarded message:


> From: Marv Gandall <marvgand at gmail.com>
> Date: December 28, 2011 11:35:41 AM EST
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Socialist modelling (Was: Louis Proyect...)
>
>
> On 2011-12-28, at 11:10 AM, Wojtek S wrote:
>
>> So to sum it up, the function of this 'social economy' would be
>> three-fold. First, it would employment opportunities in a
>> labor-friendly democratically governed environment. Second, it would
>> generate economic resources that are derived from market rather than
>> charity and that can be used to gain leverage in the political process
>> i.e. by funding labor friendly political parties, labor friendly
>> media, and labor friendly knowledge production. Third, is what can be
>> termed the "legitimation function" - that providing pro-labor
>> socialization experience for employees and customers, and also
>> demonstration of an alternative economic model.
>>
>> [.]
>
>> But this is just a general idea rather than a blueprint for a
>> political strategy which obviously depends on the reality on the
>> ground.
>
> But that's the point, isn't it? The reality is that the capitalist state
would not permit a social economy to encroach on social ownership, so it cannot be a viable political strategy, as you earlier contended.
>
> Worker-owned coops are an expedient sometimes used to rescue companies
from bankruptcy and are conditional on the workers accepting deep cuts in wages and benefits in return for the promise of future dividends. The rare companies which return to profitability are invariably reprivatized. It's akin to the process through which insolvent banks are temporarily nationalized and then returned to the private sector after being restructured. The kibbutz movement founded by utopian Labour Zionists is a large-scale example of the limitations of producers' coops under capitalism. They were inexorably transformed into profit-maximizing enterprises employing immigrant labour by the logic of expanding Israeli capitalism.
>
>
>
>

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