This group seeks to educate, organize, plan and implement a radical intentional evolution of the human species to Homa Ecologica Cooperativo.
The mission is ecologically socio-economic and seeks fundamental reform of the resource planning and allocation system to accomplish human progress in the form of ecological economic redevelopment based on human needs and the recognition of resource scarcity, and inculcated on the principles of inclusion, humanity, equity, altruism, health and well-being, quality of life, economic democracy, peace, and sustainability.
It recognizes the concept of self-interest and extended self-interest and comprehends the organization of status quo establishments and institutions, but seeks to reconcile, reorganize, and reallocate the employment of natural resources/human labor based on the concept of neighborhood/community, inter-community, regional, inter-regional, world around solidarity, cooperation, and organization.
Suggested eventual outcomes include the formulation of a World Congress for Community Economic Development.
In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity.
Mike Morin
Eugene-Springfield
Showing posts with label Economic Reorganization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economic Reorganization. Show all posts
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Presidential Commission, Council of Elders
Folks,
It is time for us to consider forming a Provisional Revolutionary Council (An Alternative Presidential Council, A Council of Elders, which would soon replace "the Administration" and "the Congress" gain hold of the Treasury, abolish the Federal Reserve, and allocate money directly to the people/communities while working within our local communities to foster and facilitate a comprehensive ecological economic redevelopment plan and implementation plan while organizing inter-community cooperation and solidarity within a World Congress for Community Economic Development (WCCED).
I am looking for nominees, you may self-nominate, for such a Council.
In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
It is time for us to consider forming a Provisional Revolutionary Council (An Alternative Presidential Council, A Council of Elders, which would soon replace "the Administration" and "the Congress" gain hold of the Treasury, abolish the Federal Reserve, and allocate money directly to the people/communities while working within our local communities to foster and facilitate a comprehensive ecological economic redevelopment plan and implementation plan while organizing inter-community cooperation and solidarity within a World Congress for Community Economic Development (WCCED).
I am looking for nominees, you may self-nominate, for such a Council.
In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Sunday, July 11, 2010
A Succinct Comprehensive Essay Regarding the Economic/Political System
A Succinct Comprehensive Essay Regarding the Economic/Political System
Dr. Kin was the greatest...
Rather than Liberal Reform of an obsolete political system, we need to focus on supplanting it. Obama is a child. He is a talented and smart kid, but very much like Bill Clinton, he is surrounded by the wrong elements and is very much a politician trying to target messages, with "help" from the Capitalist media in attempt to sound like he cares, to try to please the most people most of the time based on public opinion polls or perceptions of the Capitalist elites that pull the puppet strings.
Obama is a jelly fish like Clinton. There is a serious lack of ethics within these men. The focus on one man is wrong and I think more and more of the populace understand to some extent the sick games that the Capitalists "on both sides of the aisle" play.
The focus needs to be on the fact that the political system is obsolete and fundamentally corrupt. More importantly, the economic system is obsolete, defunct, and fundamentally correct.
We, as a nation, as a world need to regroup. We have to focus first on our local/regional economic politics, with the recognition that the hegemonic chains of an overarching Capitalist elite must be cast off...
We need to identify our local leaders, our regional leaders, our world leaders, yet work with the existing status quo to transition to a new economic/political paradigm based on cooperative communitarian/socialist principles of inclusion, humanity, equity, altruism, wellness and quality of life, sustainability and hopefully a resulting peace. It requires a strategy of ecological economic redevelopment that fundamentally understands that we have already passed the peak of fossil fuel resources and that there is impending disaster in not recognizing the historical perspective relative to the finitude of such and other resources fundamental to a viable future.
From where I sit, the biggest danger that we as the people of the world face is the complacency of the cruise control consumer culture and a terrible arrogance that seems to have no conscience about the consequences of continuing such genocidal, ecocidal, suicidal behavior.
It is time for all potential leaders to step forward and step forward boldly.
I am very tired and frustrated by the lack of response to my outreach. It is something that I have been able to envision, yet thus far been unable to touch, to make real.
Work with me.
Time is of the essence.
In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Dr. Kin was the greatest...
Rather than Liberal Reform of an obsolete political system, we need to focus on supplanting it. Obama is a child. He is a talented and smart kid, but very much like Bill Clinton, he is surrounded by the wrong elements and is very much a politician trying to target messages, with "help" from the Capitalist media in attempt to sound like he cares, to try to please the most people most of the time based on public opinion polls or perceptions of the Capitalist elites that pull the puppet strings.
Obama is a jelly fish like Clinton. There is a serious lack of ethics within these men. The focus on one man is wrong and I think more and more of the populace understand to some extent the sick games that the Capitalists "on both sides of the aisle" play.
The focus needs to be on the fact that the political system is obsolete and fundamentally corrupt. More importantly, the economic system is obsolete, defunct, and fundamentally correct.
We, as a nation, as a world need to regroup. We have to focus first on our local/regional economic politics, with the recognition that the hegemonic chains of an overarching Capitalist elite must be cast off...
We need to identify our local leaders, our regional leaders, our world leaders, yet work with the existing status quo to transition to a new economic/political paradigm based on cooperative communitarian/socialist principles of inclusion, humanity, equity, altruism, wellness and quality of life, sustainability and hopefully a resulting peace. It requires a strategy of ecological economic redevelopment that fundamentally understands that we have already passed the peak of fossil fuel resources and that there is impending disaster in not recognizing the historical perspective relative to the finitude of such and other resources fundamental to a viable future.
From where I sit, the biggest danger that we as the people of the world face is the complacency of the cruise control consumer culture and a terrible arrogance that seems to have no conscience about the consequences of continuing such genocidal, ecocidal, suicidal behavior.
It is time for all potential leaders to step forward and step forward boldly.
I am very tired and frustrated by the lack of response to my outreach. It is something that I have been able to envision, yet thus far been unable to touch, to make real.
Work with me.
Time is of the essence.
In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Transition?
By "The Coordinator Class", I'm guessing that you mean the Management and Staff Workers of the Capitalist System that may or may not have ownership holdings in Capitalist Enterprises.
To whatever extent their ownership holdings are tied up in their expected income or their "good consumer" participation in the Capitalist economy have placed them at odds with an imagined Participatory Economy based on inclusion, equity, voluntary simplicity, wellness, peace, and sustainability there must be a vehicle of transition for these relatively skilled potential members of the working class.
A radical overhaul of the current Capitalist equity trading, equity return, credit system to one of sharing equity (an Equity Union) for purposes of ecological economic redevelopment/community betterment organizaions (CBOs) would be a possible transition vehicle in that Institutional Investors of all sorts could become altruistic and self-help contributors and participants in community/worker hybrid cooperatives forming inter-community alliances with the purpose of eventually transforming to an all inclusive cooperating system of sustainable, equilibrious, participatory economy, worker-owned and managed, entities.
Given that it is at best a longshot, and highly utopian, a grave concern is the ridiculously inflated cost of real and capital assets, and the collective holding of liabilities within the Capitalist system, that make it impossible for workers to employ capital in the pursuit of a right livelihood.
We need the vision of long range planning in a post-peak resource constrained world and we need to maximze participation among ALL PEOPLE, or at least among the current and past workers of the Capitalist System, including the "Coordinator Class".
The Ownership Class may fall into our safety-net system and the transition for them will seem unbearable and the support onerous to what is now a shell of productive capacity.
In Peace, Friendwalkin', Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR, USA
To whatever extent their ownership holdings are tied up in their expected income or their "good consumer" participation in the Capitalist economy have placed them at odds with an imagined Participatory Economy based on inclusion, equity, voluntary simplicity, wellness, peace, and sustainability there must be a vehicle of transition for these relatively skilled potential members of the working class.
A radical overhaul of the current Capitalist equity trading, equity return, credit system to one of sharing equity (an Equity Union) for purposes of ecological economic redevelopment/community betterment organizaions (CBOs) would be a possible transition vehicle in that Institutional Investors of all sorts could become altruistic and self-help contributors and participants in community/worker hybrid cooperatives forming inter-community alliances with the purpose of eventually transforming to an all inclusive cooperating system of sustainable, equilibrious, participatory economy, worker-owned and managed, entities.
Given that it is at best a longshot, and highly utopian, a grave concern is the ridiculously inflated cost of real and capital assets, and the collective holding of liabilities within the Capitalist system, that make it impossible for workers to employ capital in the pursuit of a right livelihood.
We need the vision of long range planning in a post-peak resource constrained world and we need to maximze participation among ALL PEOPLE, or at least among the current and past workers of the Capitalist System, including the "Coordinator Class".
The Ownership Class may fall into our safety-net system and the transition for them will seem unbearable and the support onerous to what is now a shell of productive capacity.
In Peace, Friendwalkin', Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR, USA
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Response to AFL-CIO
Washington politicos lack not only courage, but along with Labor “Leaders”, lack historical perspective.
We are in the decline phase of the Capitalist system. It is not cyclical phenomonon, it is dying, almost dead. So it is also that we have long passed, overshot, the limits of growth on a finite planet with finite resources.
If we have any hope to adjust, we must recognize these realities and overthrow the paper shackles of the puppets in DC. Labor leaders may be able to fill the void if they would adopt the radical perspective that challenges every given of the Divine Right of Kings/Divine Right of Corporations, Investment Banks, Banks, Bourgeoise Landlords and all the lackey politicians and media that follow in cue.
We need something completely different. A Peoples Equity Union dedicated to community betterment, meeting the needs of people in an inclusive, affordable, humane, equitable, artisan, sustainable, and peaceful manner.
We need a fundamental overhaul and reorganization of the economic system.
But without leadership, the idiots will get up tomorrow and do something all too similar to what they did today. Is it approaching nothing?
Get real, Trumka. Face the Dead Air, and get Radical, like REAL LABOR LEADERS OF THE PAST. It is our only hope.
In Peace, Friendwalkin’, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR
Peoples’ Equity Union
We are in the decline phase of the Capitalist system. It is not cyclical phenomonon, it is dying, almost dead. So it is also that we have long passed, overshot, the limits of growth on a finite planet with finite resources.
If we have any hope to adjust, we must recognize these realities and overthrow the paper shackles of the puppets in DC. Labor leaders may be able to fill the void if they would adopt the radical perspective that challenges every given of the Divine Right of Kings/Divine Right of Corporations, Investment Banks, Banks, Bourgeoise Landlords and all the lackey politicians and media that follow in cue.
We need something completely different. A Peoples Equity Union dedicated to community betterment, meeting the needs of people in an inclusive, affordable, humane, equitable, artisan, sustainable, and peaceful manner.
We need a fundamental overhaul and reorganization of the economic system.
But without leadership, the idiots will get up tomorrow and do something all too similar to what they did today. Is it approaching nothing?
Get real, Trumka. Face the Dead Air, and get Radical, like REAL LABOR LEADERS OF THE PAST. It is our only hope.
In Peace, Friendwalkin’, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR
Peoples’ Equity Union
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Green Jobs, Equity, and Carbon
Green Jobs, Equity, and Carbon
Friends of the Earth (FOE?) of which I am one, I am also a Friend of the People (FOP?)
??
no, no.
I am equally Friend, equally Socialist (that's why I go by the names Mohandos Mao and Mohandos Lenino).
These Friends have it half correct. Cap and trade is a sham, a racket, an invention of Wall Street types.
We should implement carbon taxes and maybe caps, but we need to consider a workable transition so that we do not have power outages and freezing and starving people.
Wind and PVs are an illusion. Neither supplies the voltage and amperage needed to do the great amount of work that our society has grown accustomed to.
The key to a bountiful green (building) economy is the reversal of the thirty, fifty, one hundred year trend of sprawl development, particularly in the United States (that's what I know).
By rebuilding neighborhoods and reallocating goods and services to those renovated neighborhoods (made walkable, meaning that the great majority of people will be able to get what they need and reasonably want within walking distance to their homes).
Such a tremendous commitment and dedication of resources will be a boom for the building trades and will create the effect of reducing automobile usage by 80% in the next 20 to 40 years. Neighborhood, commercial, community and work/telecommute centers will be centrally placed in what are now alienating, automobile dependent, strictly residential areas, alleviating the problems associated with post-peak oil and climate change and bringing with it the neighborly qualities of life associated with communities and neighborhoods, that most individuals and families currently lack.
If we do this, we can take the opportunity to retrofit for weatherization, passive solar design (heating and cooling), electronic environmental controls, solar assisted hot water and drying systems, limited wind and PVs.
Also if done correctly, we can make changes in ownership arrangements that are much more fair and just, and work towards an equitable distribution of wealth among neighborhoods/villages.
Concerning FOEs suggestion of a publicly financed economy, we would optimally transition the "private sector" to a quasi-public one working in cooperation with public funding programs. The ideal would really be to phase out the government programs as much as possible.
In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR, USA
Friends of the Earth (FOE?) of which I am one, I am also a Friend of the People (FOP?)
??
no, no.
I am equally Friend, equally Socialist (that's why I go by the names Mohandos Mao and Mohandos Lenino).
These Friends have it half correct. Cap and trade is a sham, a racket, an invention of Wall Street types.
We should implement carbon taxes and maybe caps, but we need to consider a workable transition so that we do not have power outages and freezing and starving people.
Wind and PVs are an illusion. Neither supplies the voltage and amperage needed to do the great amount of work that our society has grown accustomed to.
The key to a bountiful green (building) economy is the reversal of the thirty, fifty, one hundred year trend of sprawl development, particularly in the United States (that's what I know).
By rebuilding neighborhoods and reallocating goods and services to those renovated neighborhoods (made walkable, meaning that the great majority of people will be able to get what they need and reasonably want within walking distance to their homes).
Such a tremendous commitment and dedication of resources will be a boom for the building trades and will create the effect of reducing automobile usage by 80% in the next 20 to 40 years. Neighborhood, commercial, community and work/telecommute centers will be centrally placed in what are now alienating, automobile dependent, strictly residential areas, alleviating the problems associated with post-peak oil and climate change and bringing with it the neighborly qualities of life associated with communities and neighborhoods, that most individuals and families currently lack.
If we do this, we can take the opportunity to retrofit for weatherization, passive solar design (heating and cooling), electronic environmental controls, solar assisted hot water and drying systems, limited wind and PVs.
Also if done correctly, we can make changes in ownership arrangements that are much more fair and just, and work towards an equitable distribution of wealth among neighborhoods/villages.
Concerning FOEs suggestion of a publicly financed economy, we would optimally transition the "private sector" to a quasi-public one working in cooperation with public funding programs. The ideal would really be to phase out the government programs as much as possible.
In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR, USA
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The Federal Reserve?
What do we need the Federal Reserve for? It seems to me that, under a reformed financial/economic system, the Treasury could issue funds directly to people, communities, productive endeavors (via their local equity unions) rather than issuing money to speculative, usurious private corporations (the banks).
Equity Union: A New Idea for Practical Socialism
To make a sustainable economy, an equitable environment, towards a permanent culture, we need to evolve away from an investor/lender class with their inflationary and unrealistic aggravated growth programs and policies and evolve to an equity-sharing paradigm.
We need a financial/economic system that is motivated by the drive to meet peoples' needs, both in the short and long term, quite different from the speculative, profit-taking system that is extant.
Locally based equity unions, with inter-community, inter-regional unity and cooperation focused on community betterment projects, programs and policies would be the ideal world economic/financial system.
A mission of peace, world unity and cooperation based on the fundamental principles of inclusion, equity, humanity, altruism, quality of life in lieu of the maximization of consumption and waste, environmental/public health and wellness, and sustainability would underlie a "plan and implement" modus operandi in lieu of the selfish, unprincipled slash-and-burn speculations and profit-takings of the so-called "free market"
Village/neighborhood sovereignty, economic democracy, and environmental equity would be inculcated in such a system. A more fair and just balance between competitive advantage and comparative advantage would be sought, and the community/environmental improvement for all, starting with those most in need, would be paramount.
Can I submit this as a proposal to the UN General Assembly?
In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR, USA
www.peoplesequityunion.blogspot.com
wiserunion@earthlink.net
(541) 343-3808
We need a financial/economic system that is motivated by the drive to meet peoples' needs, both in the short and long term, quite different from the speculative, profit-taking system that is extant.
Locally based equity unions, with inter-community, inter-regional unity and cooperation focused on community betterment projects, programs and policies would be the ideal world economic/financial system.
A mission of peace, world unity and cooperation based on the fundamental principles of inclusion, equity, humanity, altruism, quality of life in lieu of the maximization of consumption and waste, environmental/public health and wellness, and sustainability would underlie a "plan and implement" modus operandi in lieu of the selfish, unprincipled slash-and-burn speculations and profit-takings of the so-called "free market"
Village/neighborhood sovereignty, economic democracy, and environmental equity would be inculcated in such a system. A more fair and just balance between competitive advantage and comparative advantage would be sought, and the community/environmental improvement for all, starting with those most in need, would be paramount.
Can I submit this as a proposal to the UN General Assembly?
In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR, USA
www.peoplesequityunion.blogspot.com
wiserunion@earthlink.net
(541) 343-3808
Friday, October 16, 2009
To AFL-CIO Regarding “Regulation” of the Financial Sector
Deregulation/Regulation is a false issue.
Regulation, is in some ways well intentioned, but in other ways a scheme of self-perpetuation of bureaucrats, some directly associated with the remaining strongholds of the AFL-CIO, AFSCME and SEIU.
That was not meant as an attack on those Unions, I invite their leaders and constituents to participate in the progress that I have in mind.
The issue of financial regulation is similar to the private (and quasi-public) sector health insurance practice of Utilization Management. It may serve a necessary "sentinel effect" on industries that are rife with greed, but at what bureaucratic costs?
Implementation of regulatory processes also qualify under the banner of futility, as do well meaning initiatives such as "truth in labeling", OSHA, and organic certification.
We don't need regulation, we need true fundamental economic/financial reform.
With regards to "nationalizing" Banks and other "investor owned" Institutions, we must be realistic concerning the inter-national composition of the investing institutions, corporations, and individuals.
Writing from a libertarian socialist point of view, I think it is necessary to clarify the objectives of any comprehensive program to re-dedicate private resources to a quasi-public mission and to consolidate equity and assets for the purposes of sharing the former and writing off the economically paralytic inflationary cost aspects of the latter.
In lieu of an economic system based on credit and equity trading, whose motivation is the underwriting of speculative ventures, and profit-taking, we need to transform our fundamentally inflationary financial/economic system to one that is based on equity sharing and meeting the needs of people in the form of community betterment.
Such a financial system would be the right hand, the resource allocation facilitating function and services of an ambidextrous ecological, democratic, economic "plan and implement" economy that would respect and favor the sovereignty of villages/neighborhoods, educate-foster-facilitate-inculcate inter-community and inter-regional equality, unity and cooperation based on the basic principles of inclusion, equity, humanity, mutualism, altruism, quality of life (in lieu of standard of living), environmental/public health and wellness, sustainability, and peace.
Such a system would seek to establish a more just balance between competitive advantage and comparative advantage with the concerns of those indigenous to all communities being paramount.
Such an economic system would recognize the necessity to embrace and implement conservation ethics for shorter term programs and projects of ecological economic redevelopment dedicated to survival pursuits and skills and its concomitant ubiquitous environmental improvement activities, and to the longer term programs and policies related to the legacy of the human race and its dominion (i.e. the recognition and respect of the resource limits imposed by a finite planet).
I call such a proposal an equity union and believe it to be a prudent and practical alternative to the extant economic/financial system. I believe such an economic rearrangement based on the fundamental mission of world unity and cooperation is the best hope for the purpose of entering an unprecedented era of peace and human progress and success.
Please respond.
Be not afraid of losing with respect to your personal private interest. There is more than a plethora of work to be done in fostering and facilitating the transition to a new financial/economic era and the avoiding the repercussions for letting the death of empire just run its course.
The first thing we must do is clarify our mission and principles. I hope that I have been clear at doing this here and among the other posts of which I have been trying to maximize circulation.
If the mission and principles are clear and desirable, then we need to form "union" with respect to their purposes, their education, their inculcation, their meaning to one and all, and the actions that we can all take to make such a purposeful, desirable world a reality.
We are in perilous times, and facing challenges that although having precedent, are unprecedented in the enormity of the fundamental change that is required. Fortunately, we have communications technology like we have never had before.
Let's not trivialize the fulcramatic shift needed in the financial/economic sector (i.e. resource allocation) by bickering about regulation, an ineffectual solution to the very real problems that we as people must address and act upon.
In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR, USA
wiserunion@earthlink.net
(541) 343-3808
Regulation, is in some ways well intentioned, but in other ways a scheme of self-perpetuation of bureaucrats, some directly associated with the remaining strongholds of the AFL-CIO, AFSCME and SEIU.
That was not meant as an attack on those Unions, I invite their leaders and constituents to participate in the progress that I have in mind.
The issue of financial regulation is similar to the private (and quasi-public) sector health insurance practice of Utilization Management. It may serve a necessary "sentinel effect" on industries that are rife with greed, but at what bureaucratic costs?
Implementation of regulatory processes also qualify under the banner of futility, as do well meaning initiatives such as "truth in labeling", OSHA, and organic certification.
We don't need regulation, we need true fundamental economic/financial reform.
With regards to "nationalizing" Banks and other "investor owned" Institutions, we must be realistic concerning the inter-national composition of the investing institutions, corporations, and individuals.
Writing from a libertarian socialist point of view, I think it is necessary to clarify the objectives of any comprehensive program to re-dedicate private resources to a quasi-public mission and to consolidate equity and assets for the purposes of sharing the former and writing off the economically paralytic inflationary cost aspects of the latter.
In lieu of an economic system based on credit and equity trading, whose motivation is the underwriting of speculative ventures, and profit-taking, we need to transform our fundamentally inflationary financial/economic system to one that is based on equity sharing and meeting the needs of people in the form of community betterment.
Such a financial system would be the right hand, the resource allocation facilitating function and services of an ambidextrous ecological, democratic, economic "plan and implement" economy that would respect and favor the sovereignty of villages/neighborhoods, educate-foster-facilitate-inculcate inter-community and inter-regional equality, unity and cooperation based on the basic principles of inclusion, equity, humanity, mutualism, altruism, quality of life (in lieu of standard of living), environmental/public health and wellness, sustainability, and peace.
Such a system would seek to establish a more just balance between competitive advantage and comparative advantage with the concerns of those indigenous to all communities being paramount.
Such an economic system would recognize the necessity to embrace and implement conservation ethics for shorter term programs and projects of ecological economic redevelopment dedicated to survival pursuits and skills and its concomitant ubiquitous environmental improvement activities, and to the longer term programs and policies related to the legacy of the human race and its dominion (i.e. the recognition and respect of the resource limits imposed by a finite planet).
I call such a proposal an equity union and believe it to be a prudent and practical alternative to the extant economic/financial system. I believe such an economic rearrangement based on the fundamental mission of world unity and cooperation is the best hope for the purpose of entering an unprecedented era of peace and human progress and success.
Please respond.
Be not afraid of losing with respect to your personal private interest. There is more than a plethora of work to be done in fostering and facilitating the transition to a new financial/economic era and the avoiding the repercussions for letting the death of empire just run its course.
The first thing we must do is clarify our mission and principles. I hope that I have been clear at doing this here and among the other posts of which I have been trying to maximize circulation.
If the mission and principles are clear and desirable, then we need to form "union" with respect to their purposes, their education, their inculcation, their meaning to one and all, and the actions that we can all take to make such a purposeful, desirable world a reality.
We are in perilous times, and facing challenges that although having precedent, are unprecedented in the enormity of the fundamental change that is required. Fortunately, we have communications technology like we have never had before.
Let's not trivialize the fulcramatic shift needed in the financial/economic sector (i.e. resource allocation) by bickering about regulation, an ineffectual solution to the very real problems that we as people must address and act upon.
In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR, USA
wiserunion@earthlink.net
(541) 343-3808
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Concerning the Restructuring of the Global Financial/Economic System and Recent Discussion of Nationalizing “Banking” Interests
With regards to "nationalizing" Banks and other "investor owned" Institutions, we must be realistic concerning the inter-national composition of the investing institutions, corporations, and individuals.
Writing from a libertarian socialist point of view, I think it is necessary to clarify the objectives of any comprehensive program to re-dedicate private resources to a quasi-public mission and to consolidate equity and assets for the purposes of sharing the former and writing off the economically paralytic inflationary cost aspects of the latter.
In lieu of an economic system based on credit and equity trading, whose motivation is the underwriting of speculative ventures, we need to transform our fundamentally inflationary financial/economic system to one that is based on equity sharing and meeting the needs of people in the form of community betterment.
Such a financial system would be the right hand, the resource allocation facilitating function and services of an ambidextrous ecological, democratic, economic "plan and implement" economy that would respect and favor the sovereignty of villages/neighborhoods, educate-foster-facilitate-inculcate inter-community and inter-regional equality, unity and cooperation based on the basic principles of inclusion, equity, humanity, mutualism, altruism, quality of life (in lieu of standard of living), environmental/public health and wellness, sustainability, and peace.
Such a system would seek to establish a more just balance between competitive advantage and comparative advantage with the concerns of those indigenous to a community being paramount.
Such an economic system would recognize the necessity to embrace and implement conservation ethics for shorter term programs and projects of ecological economic redevelopment dedicated to survival pursuits and skills and its concomitant ubiquitous environmental improvement activities, and to the longer term programs and policies related to the legacy of the human race and its dominion (i.e. the recognition and respect of the resource limits imposed by a finite planet).
I call such a proposal an equity union and believe it to be a prudent and practical alternative to the extant economic/financial system. I believe such an economic rearrangement based on the fundamental mission of world unity and cooperation is the best hope for the purpose of entering an unprecedented era of peace and human progress and success.
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR, USA
wiserunion@earthlink.net
(541) 343-3808
Writing from a libertarian socialist point of view, I think it is necessary to clarify the objectives of any comprehensive program to re-dedicate private resources to a quasi-public mission and to consolidate equity and assets for the purposes of sharing the former and writing off the economically paralytic inflationary cost aspects of the latter.
In lieu of an economic system based on credit and equity trading, whose motivation is the underwriting of speculative ventures, we need to transform our fundamentally inflationary financial/economic system to one that is based on equity sharing and meeting the needs of people in the form of community betterment.
Such a financial system would be the right hand, the resource allocation facilitating function and services of an ambidextrous ecological, democratic, economic "plan and implement" economy that would respect and favor the sovereignty of villages/neighborhoods, educate-foster-facilitate-inculcate inter-community and inter-regional equality, unity and cooperation based on the basic principles of inclusion, equity, humanity, mutualism, altruism, quality of life (in lieu of standard of living), environmental/public health and wellness, sustainability, and peace.
Such a system would seek to establish a more just balance between competitive advantage and comparative advantage with the concerns of those indigenous to a community being paramount.
Such an economic system would recognize the necessity to embrace and implement conservation ethics for shorter term programs and projects of ecological economic redevelopment dedicated to survival pursuits and skills and its concomitant ubiquitous environmental improvement activities, and to the longer term programs and policies related to the legacy of the human race and its dominion (i.e. the recognition and respect of the resource limits imposed by a finite planet).
I call such a proposal an equity union and believe it to be a prudent and practical alternative to the extant economic/financial system. I believe such an economic rearrangement based on the fundamental mission of world unity and cooperation is the best hope for the purpose of entering an unprecedented era of peace and human progress and success.
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR, USA
wiserunion@earthlink.net
(541) 343-3808
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Restructuring Financial/Economic Systems
With respect to the "nature of wealth", I think that the "quality of life" paradigm in lieu of the "standard of living" paradigm needs to be stressed.
"Quality of life" includes personal happiness for self, family, friends, neighbors, and all others. It includes ownership opportunities for all and everybuddy having the things they need, including health, healthy and loving relations with family, friends, neighbors, and all the people of the world. It includes peace on earth, and it includes a future for all the children of the world.
"Standard of living" implies maximizing the consumption of things.
The current Capitalist dominated system is dysfunctional both from an equity/fairness and economic and natural resource sustainability perspective.
The dominant paradigm in Capitalist financial business operations uses something called the discount rate which assumes that money will be worth less (eventually worthless) in the future, thus creating a necessity to extract profits exceeding a "hurdle" rate leading to unfair and unwise exploitation of workers, borrowers, and natural resources, and to rampant inflation.
The use of credit is not a good business or personal practice. In business, it should be discouraged because creditors have first claims on net revenues and hold liens on real property and capital assets. For "consumers", the use of credit is unwise because the system is set up to extract profits from interest thus assuring that when consumers use credit that they are losing money relative to inflation. Certainly the current foreclosure crisis in the USA is ample evidence of the inflation and the unfairness and unhealthiness of the mortgage lien process.
Credit Unions and Mutual Insurance companies are in theory attempts to institute non-profit economic democracies for their respective industries. However, because of the need to compete for customers, both of these relatively progressive financial service organization types are forced to play the same game that is basically destructive to individuals, families, communities, and the natural environment. Ideally, credit should only be used as a last resort, much more preferably not at all. We should replace all aspects of the extant financial system with an Equity Union. In some ways, a mutual insurance company is similar to an equity union. However, because such companies are required to realize profits in order to compete for "policy holders" (really investors), the companies that comprise the portfolios of the mutual insurance firms cannot be not-for-profit, can not be mutual organizations themselves.
In a not-for profit Equity Union financial services system based on principles of mutuality working in concert with ethical, wise, knowledgeable, and intelligent community, inter-community, inter-regional, and worldwide planning there would certainly be an important role for financial service workers.
A major impediment to such an Equity Union would be the competitive advantage of the current financial sector and the fear of the friction of change to those individuals and organizations. Dealing with this sector of "the" economy, it would be more feasible with regards to Capitalist resistance and more humane, to orderly and peacefully transition to an Equity Union, coordinated with ecologically sound economic planning.
I am writing and talking about transitioning slowly, methodically, and with the minimum amount of friction and hardship from a dysfunctional financial system, based on self-interest, to one designed to benefit everybuddy.
At risk of understatement, it will take a huge amount of work to educate folks to the need and benefits of such change and to communicate the basic Plan. Transition Planning will also be a very difficult process, but I see no alternative to the current, impending and worsening global economic, political, social, and natural environmental collapse.
The Peoples' Equity Union concept is designed to be a grass roots, popular choice "movement". I am organizing with individuals, workers, and shopkeepers in my neighborhood, adjoining neighborhoods, and through the inter-net to whomever I can attract an interest in the concept.
The focus is primarily local, yet global at the same time. It is my dream, not a hope yet, to encourage a critical mass of people to organize locally around a unifying mission, unifying principles, unifying strategies, and unifying tactics in order to minimize the amount of executive administration at the regional and global levels.
The theory is that neighborhood locales, the neighborhood community/worker hybrid association will have maximum autonomy and will be guided only, in their inter-community and inter-economic sector relationships by regional Planning Boards and a Global Policy Committee.
We must replace the current equity trading systems, corporate conglomerate corporations, insurance companies, and usurious banking systems of the Capitalist status quo with a worldwide Peoples' Equity Union with branches in every community/neighborhood.
The goal is to be a true economic democracy: of, for, and by the people.
Housing and Property Ownership
Concurrent with financial systems reform, where equity sharing and not-for-profit equity collaboration would replace the current financial paradigm of for-profit equity investing, equity trading, and usurious credit arrangements, we need to evolve to a different system with respect to residential and other real property occupation arrangements.
In lieu of rent or leases, people should be allowed to acquire equity in their abodes and business properties. For example, in the case of an apartment, if one paid $500 per month to a property management firm, let's say $50 per month would go to property maintenance, and another $40 to administration fees, insurance, etc. This would leave the resident with $410 of accumulated equity added to their account each month. If we had a large cooperative housing organization (preferably world-wide, and preferably the only form of property ownership) then when someone had to move or wanted to move, they could take their equity with them to the new property.
With regards to mortgages, they are horribly usurious and should be banned. The scenario related above would also replace the current system of financing "home ownership loans".
A huge problem that we are facing now is the terrible inflation in the market values of real property (and capital assets, for that matter). If we pooled our equity, pooled our assets, and collectively wrote off our liabilities, then we could significantly write down the market values of real and capital assets.
More on Equity Union(s)
In a not-for profit Equity Union financial services system based on principles of mutuality working in concert with ethical, wise, knowledgeable, and intelligent community, inter-community, inter-regional, and worldwide planning would serve the needs of the people.
In local and inter-community equity unions, equity sharing would be the modus operandi. People with funds being held in equity unions would have the option of sharing in primarily worker owned community betterment projects based on the principles of quality of life, equity (which means ownership, and also means equality), humanity, and sustainability (which means there will be an economy and natural resources for the youth and the children, and for generations to come).
If the inflation spiral can be removed (and the cost of real and capital assets brought back to earth), then indigent and poor workers could hope to increase their equity holdings and quality of life assets and equity investors could hope to get their money back. Some endeavors, beyond poor workers enrichment, would be not-for-profit. That is, profits made beyond a pre-determined return to the poor workers, would be re-invested in more such worker/community betterment hybrid businesses (preferably cooperatives).
Equity investments in community businesses could not be sold to others, but could be bought back at par value (the price of the share of the stock when it was invested). Such would be discouraged, and disallowed if it was a qualified low-income/low wealth equity investor, who may, or may not if they were allowed to collect (limited) personal dividends.
Equity Union branches in low income/low wealth neighborhoods would be allowed to set up a (501)(c)(3) to receive donations to an equity fund for their neighborhoods, to be kept in a local Equity Union and the funds allocated (equity grants) by a Board committed to community betterment and the likely success of the endeavor(s).
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR, USA
mlarosramorin@earthlink.net
wiserunion@earthlink.net
peoplesequityunion@earthlink.net
(541) 343-3808
Equity Union – An Example
Getting Started
Hi Mike,
(rest of letter deleted)
[By the way, I presently have more income than is best for my
lifestyle, and now have recently gotten my hands on some extra money.
I'm not used to this situation. Do you have any suggestions about
where to 'invest' for the greater good, keeping in mind that my main
concerns remain first 'global heating', and then generally shorter
paths to possible eutopias vs. possible extreme dystopias?]
Dan
**********************************************************
Hi Dan,
(rest of letter deleted)
I, too, have some discretionary funds that I would like to put into trust
for public service and altruistic endeavors. Perhaps, you and I (and others if we can find them) should investigate creating a local Peoples' Equity fund. My idea on that is to see if we can open a group trust account in a Credit Union, where each trustee would have an individual account, yet allocations to community betterment projects could be done collectively, with each individual signing off on the amount that they want to dedicate to the project.
The idea would be that we would "invest" in community betterment projects with the care that we would expect to only get the par value of our "investment" back or we could choose to make individual and/or collective tax-deductible or maybe tax credit eligible contributions to "qualified" 501(c)(3) community betterment organizations (CBOs)
CBOs could be not-for-profit, non-profit or both.
That's enough for now.
What think?
Mike
"Quality of life" includes personal happiness for self, family, friends, neighbors, and all others. It includes ownership opportunities for all and everybuddy having the things they need, including health, healthy and loving relations with family, friends, neighbors, and all the people of the world. It includes peace on earth, and it includes a future for all the children of the world.
"Standard of living" implies maximizing the consumption of things.
The current Capitalist dominated system is dysfunctional both from an equity/fairness and economic and natural resource sustainability perspective.
The dominant paradigm in Capitalist financial business operations uses something called the discount rate which assumes that money will be worth less (eventually worthless) in the future, thus creating a necessity to extract profits exceeding a "hurdle" rate leading to unfair and unwise exploitation of workers, borrowers, and natural resources, and to rampant inflation.
The use of credit is not a good business or personal practice. In business, it should be discouraged because creditors have first claims on net revenues and hold liens on real property and capital assets. For "consumers", the use of credit is unwise because the system is set up to extract profits from interest thus assuring that when consumers use credit that they are losing money relative to inflation. Certainly the current foreclosure crisis in the USA is ample evidence of the inflation and the unfairness and unhealthiness of the mortgage lien process.
Credit Unions and Mutual Insurance companies are in theory attempts to institute non-profit economic democracies for their respective industries. However, because of the need to compete for customers, both of these relatively progressive financial service organization types are forced to play the same game that is basically destructive to individuals, families, communities, and the natural environment. Ideally, credit should only be used as a last resort, much more preferably not at all. We should replace all aspects of the extant financial system with an Equity Union. In some ways, a mutual insurance company is similar to an equity union. However, because such companies are required to realize profits in order to compete for "policy holders" (really investors), the companies that comprise the portfolios of the mutual insurance firms cannot be not-for-profit, can not be mutual organizations themselves.
In a not-for profit Equity Union financial services system based on principles of mutuality working in concert with ethical, wise, knowledgeable, and intelligent community, inter-community, inter-regional, and worldwide planning there would certainly be an important role for financial service workers.
A major impediment to such an Equity Union would be the competitive advantage of the current financial sector and the fear of the friction of change to those individuals and organizations. Dealing with this sector of "the" economy, it would be more feasible with regards to Capitalist resistance and more humane, to orderly and peacefully transition to an Equity Union, coordinated with ecologically sound economic planning.
I am writing and talking about transitioning slowly, methodically, and with the minimum amount of friction and hardship from a dysfunctional financial system, based on self-interest, to one designed to benefit everybuddy.
At risk of understatement, it will take a huge amount of work to educate folks to the need and benefits of such change and to communicate the basic Plan. Transition Planning will also be a very difficult process, but I see no alternative to the current, impending and worsening global economic, political, social, and natural environmental collapse.
The Peoples' Equity Union concept is designed to be a grass roots, popular choice "movement". I am organizing with individuals, workers, and shopkeepers in my neighborhood, adjoining neighborhoods, and through the inter-net to whomever I can attract an interest in the concept.
The focus is primarily local, yet global at the same time. It is my dream, not a hope yet, to encourage a critical mass of people to organize locally around a unifying mission, unifying principles, unifying strategies, and unifying tactics in order to minimize the amount of executive administration at the regional and global levels.
The theory is that neighborhood locales, the neighborhood community/worker hybrid association will have maximum autonomy and will be guided only, in their inter-community and inter-economic sector relationships by regional Planning Boards and a Global Policy Committee.
We must replace the current equity trading systems, corporate conglomerate corporations, insurance companies, and usurious banking systems of the Capitalist status quo with a worldwide Peoples' Equity Union with branches in every community/neighborhood.
The goal is to be a true economic democracy: of, for, and by the people.
Housing and Property Ownership
Concurrent with financial systems reform, where equity sharing and not-for-profit equity collaboration would replace the current financial paradigm of for-profit equity investing, equity trading, and usurious credit arrangements, we need to evolve to a different system with respect to residential and other real property occupation arrangements.
In lieu of rent or leases, people should be allowed to acquire equity in their abodes and business properties. For example, in the case of an apartment, if one paid $500 per month to a property management firm, let's say $50 per month would go to property maintenance, and another $40 to administration fees, insurance, etc. This would leave the resident with $410 of accumulated equity added to their account each month. If we had a large cooperative housing organization (preferably world-wide, and preferably the only form of property ownership) then when someone had to move or wanted to move, they could take their equity with them to the new property.
With regards to mortgages, they are horribly usurious and should be banned. The scenario related above would also replace the current system of financing "home ownership loans".
A huge problem that we are facing now is the terrible inflation in the market values of real property (and capital assets, for that matter). If we pooled our equity, pooled our assets, and collectively wrote off our liabilities, then we could significantly write down the market values of real and capital assets.
More on Equity Union(s)
In a not-for profit Equity Union financial services system based on principles of mutuality working in concert with ethical, wise, knowledgeable, and intelligent community, inter-community, inter-regional, and worldwide planning would serve the needs of the people.
In local and inter-community equity unions, equity sharing would be the modus operandi. People with funds being held in equity unions would have the option of sharing in primarily worker owned community betterment projects based on the principles of quality of life, equity (which means ownership, and also means equality), humanity, and sustainability (which means there will be an economy and natural resources for the youth and the children, and for generations to come).
If the inflation spiral can be removed (and the cost of real and capital assets brought back to earth), then indigent and poor workers could hope to increase their equity holdings and quality of life assets and equity investors could hope to get their money back. Some endeavors, beyond poor workers enrichment, would be not-for-profit. That is, profits made beyond a pre-determined return to the poor workers, would be re-invested in more such worker/community betterment hybrid businesses (preferably cooperatives).
Equity investments in community businesses could not be sold to others, but could be bought back at par value (the price of the share of the stock when it was invested). Such would be discouraged, and disallowed if it was a qualified low-income/low wealth equity investor, who may, or may not if they were allowed to collect (limited) personal dividends.
Equity Union branches in low income/low wealth neighborhoods would be allowed to set up a (501)(c)(3) to receive donations to an equity fund for their neighborhoods, to be kept in a local Equity Union and the funds allocated (equity grants) by a Board committed to community betterment and the likely success of the endeavor(s).
Mike Morin
Eugene, OR, USA
mlarosramorin@earthlink.net
wiserunion@earthlink.net
peoplesequityunion@earthlink.net
(541) 343-3808
Equity Union – An Example
Getting Started
Hi Mike,
(rest of letter deleted)
[By the way, I presently have more income than is best for my
lifestyle, and now have recently gotten my hands on some extra money.
I'm not used to this situation. Do you have any suggestions about
where to 'invest' for the greater good, keeping in mind that my main
concerns remain first 'global heating', and then generally shorter
paths to possible eutopias vs. possible extreme dystopias?]
Dan
**********************************************************
Hi Dan,
(rest of letter deleted)
I, too, have some discretionary funds that I would like to put into trust
for public service and altruistic endeavors. Perhaps, you and I (and others if we can find them) should investigate creating a local Peoples' Equity fund. My idea on that is to see if we can open a group trust account in a Credit Union, where each trustee would have an individual account, yet allocations to community betterment projects could be done collectively, with each individual signing off on the amount that they want to dedicate to the project.
The idea would be that we would "invest" in community betterment projects with the care that we would expect to only get the par value of our "investment" back or we could choose to make individual and/or collective tax-deductible or maybe tax credit eligible contributions to "qualified" 501(c)(3) community betterment organizations (CBOs)
CBOs could be not-for-profit, non-profit or both.
That's enough for now.
What think?
Mike
Thursday, August 13, 2009
In Response to Recent EU Elections
Don't be discouraged.
The Capitalist Parties bought the elections with their money and distortions of truth, and propaganda.
The biggest number is the 48% non-participation.
The "left" is not a party of political sham democracy, remember that. It is a movement of economic democracy. Education of the abstenders and your voting supporters, and the ignorant, about the liberatian/syndicalist/mutualist aspects of ecosocialism is your calling.
Remember, the environment is each and every individual and her/his relationship to their environment. The environment is not an issue, it is THE issue.
Reorganize the economy and a new political order will manifest itself. We don't need their damn puppet parliaments, we don't need their puppet adminstrations, we don't need their Fascist military and police states, we need each other, all of us, working together to build world unity and cooperation on the principles of inclusion, humanity, equity, quality of life, sustainability, and peace.
We offer hope for the youth and children of the world. The Capitalist and their sham democracies, and their sham economic indicators, do not.
Keep working at it.
In Peace, Friendship, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
The Capitalist Parties bought the elections with their money and distortions of truth, and propaganda.
The biggest number is the 48% non-participation.
The "left" is not a party of political sham democracy, remember that. It is a movement of economic democracy. Education of the abstenders and your voting supporters, and the ignorant, about the liberatian/syndicalist/mutualist aspects of ecosocialism is your calling.
Remember, the environment is each and every individual and her/his relationship to their environment. The environment is not an issue, it is THE issue.
Reorganize the economy and a new political order will manifest itself. We don't need their damn puppet parliaments, we don't need their puppet adminstrations, we don't need their Fascist military and police states, we need each other, all of us, working together to build world unity and cooperation on the principles of inclusion, humanity, equity, quality of life, sustainability, and peace.
We offer hope for the youth and children of the world. The Capitalist and their sham democracies, and their sham economic indicators, do not.
Keep working at it.
In Peace, Friendship, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Ecosocialist Plan Available
By now, some of you may have received the 25 page document regarding the Ecological Economic Redevelopment Plan that I have been forwarding to interested parties within the last month.
If you have not taken the time to request the document, or have not yet read it, please try to find the time and do so. It is important.
The plan deals with matters of utmost importance, especially to our youth and children. It is a mission of that elusive world peace, which with mans' grace could be achieved in a time that we can communicate like never before. Yet, at the same time we are on a precarious precipice or downslope in human civilization with respect to scare natural and economic resources and building tensions because of such.
A Plan that puts inclusion, equity, humanity, quality of life, and sustainability as the basic pillars of a plan and implement modus operandi, a plan that addresses the needs of people, not profits for the few, a plan that presents a fundamental and solid alternative to the current failed Capitalist Financial system, is the remedy that we need.
Such is the document that you should consider.
I am asking you all to participate. I am asking for your feedback. Let's all try to work together to make a new era possible. Of course, some will have disagreements. For those of us that ascribe to the fundamental mission and principles, let's work those out. Let's discuss how we can become the dominant paradigm, and how we can implement the changes that would benefit everyone, especially the youth and children.
The fossil fuel age is winding down, yet we have become so tragically dependent upon those resources. Conservation and demand side management is the key. If we don't commit to such and begin very soon to plan and implement an alternative economy, then there is little hope for the progeny of the planet. But, we still may have time.
What can we do?
What do you suggest?
Please don't delay in joining the discourse.
Thank you.
In Peace, Friendship, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
If you have not taken the time to request the document, or have not yet read it, please try to find the time and do so. It is important.
The plan deals with matters of utmost importance, especially to our youth and children. It is a mission of that elusive world peace, which with mans' grace could be achieved in a time that we can communicate like never before. Yet, at the same time we are on a precarious precipice or downslope in human civilization with respect to scare natural and economic resources and building tensions because of such.
A Plan that puts inclusion, equity, humanity, quality of life, and sustainability as the basic pillars of a plan and implement modus operandi, a plan that addresses the needs of people, not profits for the few, a plan that presents a fundamental and solid alternative to the current failed Capitalist Financial system, is the remedy that we need.
Such is the document that you should consider.
I am asking you all to participate. I am asking for your feedback. Let's all try to work together to make a new era possible. Of course, some will have disagreements. For those of us that ascribe to the fundamental mission and principles, let's work those out. Let's discuss how we can become the dominant paradigm, and how we can implement the changes that would benefit everyone, especially the youth and children.
The fossil fuel age is winding down, yet we have become so tragically dependent upon those resources. Conservation and demand side management is the key. If we don't commit to such and begin very soon to plan and implement an alternative economy, then there is little hope for the progeny of the planet. But, we still may have time.
What can we do?
What do you suggest?
Please don't delay in joining the discourse.
Thank you.
In Peace, Friendship, Cooperation, and Solidarity,
Mike Morin
Monday, April 27, 2009
Discussing "Classes"
>Julian Vein wrote:
>What sort of strata are you talking about?
You know, sedimentary rock...
My prediction that the human RACE, as long as it keeps RACING, will exhaust all fossil, mineral, and vegetative matter billions of years before it has the opportunity to destroy ALL such strata on the planet.
On another level, though, this talk of class is silly. How does one measure, by wealth (net assets), income, the particular positional niche in the Capitalist/State structure? These are not characteristics that can be defined in discrete categories. It would be closer to continuous than stratified. I've heard it said that "one man's ceiling is another man's floor" as a relative concept, but the extremes relative to such are not defensible, even if you accepted the notion of any such stratified description of human relations, which I don't.
When we talk or write about reorganizing the ownership of the means of assets, production and distribution, we are beginning to talk in a less cliche-like and a more meaningful manner. This needs to be our focus.
This is why I inculcate the term equity (which means ownership and equality).
>What sort of strata are you talking about?
You know, sedimentary rock...
My prediction that the human RACE, as long as it keeps RACING, will exhaust all fossil, mineral, and vegetative matter billions of years before it has the opportunity to destroy ALL such strata on the planet.
On another level, though, this talk of class is silly. How does one measure, by wealth (net assets), income, the particular positional niche in the Capitalist/State structure? These are not characteristics that can be defined in discrete categories. It would be closer to continuous than stratified. I've heard it said that "one man's ceiling is another man's floor" as a relative concept, but the extremes relative to such are not defensible, even if you accepted the notion of any such stratified description of human relations, which I don't.
When we talk or write about reorganizing the ownership of the means of assets, production and distribution, we are beginning to talk in a less cliche-like and a more meaningful manner. This needs to be our focus.
This is why I inculcate the term equity (which means ownership and equality).
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Economic and Political Reorganization
As Socialism/Communism and Capitalism are terms that address the the way that economies are organized, I believe that too much emphasis is placed on political organization and not anywhere near enough on economic reorganization.
As an anarcho-syndacalist of sorts, I believe, in theory, that we should focus primarily on economic restructuring and let the political organization evolve concomitantly on an ad hoc basis. The basic problem related to the necessary reallocation of resources for acheiving socialism is that Capitalists hold a oligopolistic virtual monopoly with respect to the ownership of assets, and are not very likely to do an about face and decide to share ownership with workers, the indigent, and the oppressed.
Whereas, current Capitalist dominated States stand as major obstacles to forming a socialist economy in that the States have Capitalist supporting financial resources whose representative democracies and executive administrations are bought by Capitalist interests. States control military resources (or does the Military/Police/Prison/Security Industrial Complexes control the States?). Capitalists control the press, the media, educational institutions both private and "public" both directly and through the effectiveness of their generations of propaganda. The only positive development relative to the past is that States have very little prestige left, though "socially liberal" Capitalists and, in America the Democratic Capitalist Statists work diligently to recapture that prestige at least with a ruling plurality.
So, socialist economic reform, restructuring, will not occur without a concomitant change in the political composition of the states. It has been pointed out that the objective of Socialists (I guess of the anarcho-syndicalist sort) is to gain control of the States "in order to dismantle them". I would modify this statement to read "in order to minimize them". I believe that States can play a minimal role of government to help foster and facilitate the evolution to a socialist economy, BUT in the meantime we need to have a well developed plan as to how that economic democracy is going to evolve. We need guiding values, principles, a mission, a methodology for formulating, inculcating, and assuring policy. We need strategies and tactics for implementing the planned economy of a local/inter-community/inter-regional/worldwide organized economic democracy. We need to change the way in which resources are allocated to and within communities and we need to change the way that resources are allocated among and within economic sectors.
But if that seems impossible, think about the concomitant need to change the leviathan corrupt Capitalist states, through the "democratic" political process.
As a lover of life, and a believer that modus operandi persists, I do not advocate violent revolution. Besides, even if worldwide violent revolution could work politically, it would not change the economic system, at least in a manner that would be consistent with a smoothly functioning economic democracy. It would be economic anarchy also.
Mass strikes are not likely at this time in the United States. Safety net programs, desperate stimulus programs and their accompanying promises of recovery, and deeply ingrained propagandized and misinformationed mentalities all are working sufficiently to provide a situation for which there is not even a spark of such.
In the longer run, education about economic democracy and its potential for a better life and the role of the States in inhibiting such progress is the first order of business. Maybe somewhere down the road, mass strikes, and bloodless coups (or a peaceful cooperative transition) of both the means of allocation, production, and distribution and the obstructionist states could occur.
Keep hope alive!
Mike Morin
As an anarcho-syndacalist of sorts, I believe, in theory, that we should focus primarily on economic restructuring and let the political organization evolve concomitantly on an ad hoc basis. The basic problem related to the necessary reallocation of resources for acheiving socialism is that Capitalists hold a oligopolistic virtual monopoly with respect to the ownership of assets, and are not very likely to do an about face and decide to share ownership with workers, the indigent, and the oppressed.
Whereas, current Capitalist dominated States stand as major obstacles to forming a socialist economy in that the States have Capitalist supporting financial resources whose representative democracies and executive administrations are bought by Capitalist interests. States control military resources (or does the Military/Police/Prison/Security Industrial Complexes control the States?). Capitalists control the press, the media, educational institutions both private and "public" both directly and through the effectiveness of their generations of propaganda. The only positive development relative to the past is that States have very little prestige left, though "socially liberal" Capitalists and, in America the Democratic Capitalist Statists work diligently to recapture that prestige at least with a ruling plurality.
So, socialist economic reform, restructuring, will not occur without a concomitant change in the political composition of the states. It has been pointed out that the objective of Socialists (I guess of the anarcho-syndicalist sort) is to gain control of the States "in order to dismantle them". I would modify this statement to read "in order to minimize them". I believe that States can play a minimal role of government to help foster and facilitate the evolution to a socialist economy, BUT in the meantime we need to have a well developed plan as to how that economic democracy is going to evolve. We need guiding values, principles, a mission, a methodology for formulating, inculcating, and assuring policy. We need strategies and tactics for implementing the planned economy of a local/inter-community/inter-regional/worldwide organized economic democracy. We need to change the way in which resources are allocated to and within communities and we need to change the way that resources are allocated among and within economic sectors.
But if that seems impossible, think about the concomitant need to change the leviathan corrupt Capitalist states, through the "democratic" political process.
As a lover of life, and a believer that modus operandi persists, I do not advocate violent revolution. Besides, even if worldwide violent revolution could work politically, it would not change the economic system, at least in a manner that would be consistent with a smoothly functioning economic democracy. It would be economic anarchy also.
Mass strikes are not likely at this time in the United States. Safety net programs, desperate stimulus programs and their accompanying promises of recovery, and deeply ingrained propagandized and misinformationed mentalities all are working sufficiently to provide a situation for which there is not even a spark of such.
In the longer run, education about economic democracy and its potential for a better life and the role of the States in inhibiting such progress is the first order of business. Maybe somewhere down the road, mass strikes, and bloodless coups (or a peaceful cooperative transition) of both the means of allocation, production, and distribution and the obstructionist states could occur.
Keep hope alive!
Mike Morin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
