The Alternative to Capitalism - Adam Buick and John Crump

8/9/2019 The Alternative to Capitalism - Adam Buick and John Crump

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The Alternativeto Capitalism

Adam Buick and John Crump



© Adam Buick and John Crump

2013 Theory and Practice

www theoryandpractice or! uk

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This -ook contains material .irst pu-lished in the -ooks%

State Capitalism: The Wages System Under New Management (1986)and

Non Mar!et So"ialism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Cent#ries (198$)



Contents

Pre.ace1 /hat is Capitalism

eneralised commodity production"nvestment o. capital in production with a view to pro.it ,

ploitation o. wa!e la-ourProduction re!ulated -y the competitive stru!!le .or pro.its

The accumulation o. capital out o. pro.its A world economy#tate capitalism

/ho are the capitalist class

2 The Alternative to Capitalism$o classes4 no state4 no .rontiers$o e chan!e4 no economyCalculation in kindPlannin! and industrial or!anisation"mpossi-ility o. !radualismConclusion

3 The Thin 5ed 6ine% $on*7arket #ocialism in the Twentieth Century#ocial democracy and leninism

The thin red line The principles o. socialism #tate capitalism 9i..erences -etween the non*market socialists

5e:ection o. the ;transitional society< Bi-lio!raphy



Preface Accordin! to conventional wisdom4 in the ,0 or so years

.ollowin! the 5ussian 5evolution o. 1+1, the !lo-e wasdivided into two ;worlds< = the ;capitalist< or ;.ree< worldand the ;socialist< or ;communist< world The principalcharacteristic o. the ;capitalist< or ;.ree< world is that .reemarket .orces are supposed to shape its economies4 whilein the ;socialist< or ;communist< world the economies o.

the various countries were said to -e planned These articles challen!e this conventional wisdom They ar!ue that4 !iven the nature o. -oth capitalism andsocialism4 their coe istence is an impossi-ility "n today<sconditions4 what -oth capitalism and socialism have incommon is their all*or*nothin! >uality "n other words4modern capitalism is necessarily a worldwide system o.commodity production -ased on wa!e la-our4 and thelevel o. production in all parts o. the world is ultimatelydetermined -y the need o. productive enterprises ?nomatter whether they are owned -y individualentrepreneurs4 are :oint*stock companies or are state*mana!ed concerns@ to compete with rivals on the world

market Conversely4 socialism could only come intoe istence -y replacin! capitalism throu!hout the world4 soas to a-olish the world market and institute a !lo-al systemo. production .or use and not .or sale

$o matter how sweepin! the political chan!es which

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ADAM BUICK AND JOHN CRUMP

occur within national .rontiers4 as lon! as world capitalismand nation*states persist4 those who make decisions a-out

production are compelled to respond to the .orces o.competition which are inte!ral to the world market Thisapplies even in a country where all individualentrepreneurs have -een eliminated and where all themeans o. production have -een taken over -y the state

/hatever the political coloration o. the leadership in such

a country4 the state still has to act as a capitalist4 owin! tothe pressures e erted -y the world market system on thatcountry<s productive .orces "ndeed4 even in countries suchas Britain4 where private enterprise still operates4 thosesame pressures e erted -y the world market system have.orced the state to take an active role in decisions whicha..ect production Thus even in avowedly ;capitalist<countries4 the state has increasin!ly come to the .ore4 whilein the supposedly ;socialist< countries the state actually-ecame the capitalist .or which the most accuratedescription is ;state capitalism<

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THE ALTERNATIVE TO CAPITALISM

1. What is Capitalism? To say that state capitalism is a variety o. capitalism may-e a tautolo!y4 -ut it -rin!s out the need to -e clear a-out

what capitalism is -e.ore em-arkin! on any discussion o. what state capitalism may -e "n this chapter we shallidenti.y the essential .eatures o. capitalism and then !o onto discuss state capitalism and the nature o. the capitalistclass /e shall -e descri-in! in 7ar ian terms4 concisely-ut thorou!hly4 the economic mechanism and set o. social

relationships that constitute capitalism /e -elieve 7ar <sanalysis to -e in !eneral still valid even i.4 the institutional.orms o. capitalism have chan!ed .rom those o. Britain inthe nineteenth century which 7ar studied /e can assurereaders who may initially .ind parts o. this chapter di..icultthat i. they persevere they will ac>uire a -asicunderstandin! o. the key concepts in 7ar ian economics

which will not only allow them to .ollow -etter the other4less theoretical chapters -ut will also e>uip them to tacklethe many other -ooks and articles written these days .roma !eneral 7ar ist theoretical standpoint

/e shall su!!est that4 apart .rom -ein! a classsociety4 capitalism has the .ollowin! si essentialcharacteristics%

1 eneralised commodity production4 nearly all wealth -ein! produced .or sale on a market

2 The investment o. capital in production with a

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view to o-tainin! a monetary pro.it3 The e ploitation o. wa!e la-our4 the source o.

pro.it -ein! the unpaid la-our o. theproducers

& The re!ulation o. production -y the market via a competitive stru!!le .or pro.its

( The accumulation o. capital out o. pro.its4leadin! to the e pansion and development o.

the .orces o. production8 A sin!le world economy

Generalised commodity productionCapitalism is an e chan!e economy in which most wealth4.rom ordinary consumer !oods to vast industrial plantsand other producer !oods4 takes the .orm o. commodities4or items o. wealth that have -een produced with a view tosale on a market

Commodity production e isted -e.ore capitalism -utin previous societies was mar!inal to the predominant.orm o. wealth production "n previous societies4 such as.eudalism4 wealth was principally produced .or direct use

and not .or sale on a market /ealth was used -y those who produced that wealth4 or else -y the privile!ed classes who lived o.. the producers and ac>uired wealth .romthem -y the actual or threatened use o. .orce "n capitalismthe roles o. production .or sale and production .or use arereversed it is now production .or use that is mar!inal4

while the !reat -ulk o. wealth is produced .or sale "nparticular4 the elements needed .or producin! wealth ?rawmaterials4 machines and human mental and physicalener!y@ -ecome commodities

"n an e chan!e economy4 wealth is not produced .orits own sake /ealth4 or use.ul thin!s .ashioned or

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re.ashioned -y human -ein!s .rom materials .ound innature4 is not produced to -e directly availa-le .or some

individual or social use4 -ut is produced to -e e chan!ed To -e e chan!ea-le an item o. wealth has to -e o. someuse4 otherwise no one would want to -uy it4 -ut it is not.or this use value that it is produced "t is produced to -ee chan!ed .or other items o. wealth4 .or its e chan!e

value

This distinction -etween use value and e chan!e value4 -etween wealth and %al#e&is a key concept .orunderstandin! how capitalism works alue is notsomethin! completely distinct .rom wealth since it is thesame la-our which .ashions or re.ashions the material.ound in nature into an o-:ect o. use to human -ein!s

which4 in an e chan!e economy4 !ives that o-:ect itse chan!e value alue is a characteristic o. wealth in ane chan!e economy4 the .orm assumed -y wealth in suchan economy

To say that it is la-our that !ives wealth e chan!e value is merely to say that this is how the la-our involvedin producin! use.ul thin!s e presses itsel. in a society

where wealth is produced .or sale rather than .or use "tproduces e chan!e value as well as use value The la-ourtheory o. value can -e seen as a corollary to what mi!ht -ecalled a la-our theory o. wealth 7ost wealth4 assomethin! use.ul that satis.ies a human want4 is produced-y human -ein!s trans.ormin! nature -y their la-our

Certain thin!s4 it is true4 are use.ul to human -ein!s without -ein! the product o. their la-our * the sunli!htand the air we -reathe4 .or instance * -ut these ;!i.ts o.nature< are precisely the only items o. wealth which haveno e chan!e value4 are ;.ree !oods< in an e chan!e

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economy The la-our theory o. value is not so much a theory o.

price as a theory o. the nature o. wealth in an e chan!eeconomy ven so4 it is possi-le to construct a theoreticalmodel o. an e chan!e economy in which commodities

would e chan!e in proportion to the amount o. avera!esocial la-our*time needed to produce them "n such amodel4 commodities would -e produced -y independent

producers ownin! their own means and instruments o.production and e chan!in! their products .or those o.other producers in order to ac>uire the thin!s they neededto live This model is not4 o. course4 capitalism4 -ut it -earsa resem-lance to the type o. e chan!e which took place onthe mar!in o. pre*capitalist societies

"n capitalism4 on the other hand4 where most o. thoseen!a!ed in production do not own means and instrumentso. production and where e chan!e takes place not simplyto ac>uire use values -ut with a view to pro.it4commodities do not in .act e chan!e at their la-our*time

values 5ather they tend to sell at a price calculated -yaddin! to their avera!e social cost o. production a

percenta!e mark*up representin! the !oin! rate o. pro.itowever4 the sum total o. the prices o. all the

commodities is still e>ual to their total value4 those sellin!a-ove their value compensatin!4 as it were4 .or those whichsell -elow it "n other words4 in capitalism4 the value pricee>uation posited -y the la-our theory o. value has validity

only at the level o. the whole economy alue is not measured directly in units o. la-our*time-ut in units o. money This is -ecause the e chan!e valueo. a commodity is not the actual amount o. la-our*timeem-odied in it4 -ut only that which is on avera!e necessary

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to produce it4 an avera!e which can only -e esta-lishedthrou!h e chan!e4 on the market 7oney ori!inated .rom

-arter4 the simplest .orm o. e chan!e4 as the onecommodity in which the e chan!e value o. all the othercommodities could -e e pressed and measured Toper.orm this role money itsel. had to have e chan!e valuederived .rom -ein! a product o. la-our which ena-led themoney*commodity to act also as a store o. value 7oney

still per.orms -oth these roles today4 althou!h this isheavily o-scured -y the su-se>uent evolution o. moneyaway .rom its ori!inal terms ?principally !old and silver@ tosym-olic coins and paper notes

"n capitalism money comes to -e the universal unit o.economic calculation "t is4 in .act4 the only possi-le suchunit4 since there is no other way o. comparin! the endless

variety o. di..erent kinds o. wealth Dse values cannot -ecompared as such only e chan!e values can and it is thesethat in the end money is measurin!

Investment of capital in production with a view to profit

/e are now in a position to attempt a preliminaryde.inition o. "apital&clearly a key concept .or understandin!the system to which it has !iven its name

Capital4 as a .eature o. an e chan!e economy4 is asum o. e chan!e values4 a stock not o. wealth as such -uto. commodities4 o. wealth that has -een produced .or sale

istorically4 capital has -een re!arded as -ein! a stock o.the money*commodity and it is easy to see why% capital is asum and a stock o. value o. which money is -oth themeasure and a store But capital can also -e4 and !enerallyis under capitalism4 a stock or collection o. othercommodities whose e chan!e value is merely measured in

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monetary unitsCapital is no more simply a collection o. e chan!e

values than it is simply a stock o. wealth it is a collectiono. e chan!e values that is used to yield a monetary incomeCapital is money which !enerates more money4 or rather

value which !enerates more valueCapital4 as money invested .or pro.it4 e isted -e.ore

the development o. capitalism 7oney lent .or interest

?usurer<s capital@ yielded its owner an income #imilarly4money invested in the sort o. tradin! which involved-uyin! in cheap markets or simply plunderin! and thensellin! in dear markets ?the early .orm o. merchant<scapital@ also -rou!ht in an income But neither this interestnor this pro.it came .rom the capital havin! -een investedin production Certainly4 ultimately4 their source could onlyhave -een the la-our o. some producers4 -ut this was nottheir direct source

These two .orms o. capital played an important rolein creatin! one o. the historical preconditions .or thedevelopment o. capitalism as a system wherein capital isinvested in production% the concentration into the hands

o. a small minority o. sums o. money lookin! .or apro.ita-le investment outlet /hen the otherpreconditions were met * the .ormation o. an internationalmarket4 a certain development o. the techni>ues o.production permittin! production on a lar!er scale thanpreviously4 -ut a-ove all the separation o. the producers

.rom the means o. production and the creation o. alandless proletariat * this money was a-le to .ind thepro.ita-le outlet it was seekin! -y -ein! invested in theactual production o. wealth

Thus4 once capitalism has developed4 capital can -e

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de.ined either as money invested in production .or pro.itor as wealth used to produce other wealth with a view to

pro.it4 -oth o. which e press the same idea .rom adi..erent an!le A more ri!orous4 i. more di..icult4de.inition4 whose .ull si!ni.icance we will see later4 would-e that capital is value invested in production with a viewto increasin! itsel.4 or sel.*e pandin! value

Exploitation of wage la our /hat is the source o. the pro.it which accrues to capitalinvested in the production o. wealth ow does thisincrease in e chan!e value4 this e tra or surplus value4come a-out

The usurer o-tained his pro.it out o. the revenue o.the persons he had lent his money to4 and the merchantadventurer ac>uired his pro.it -y cheatin! or plunderin!direct producers or other traders4 -ut pro.it arises in acompletely di..erent way when capital is invested in theproduction o. wealth "t is created within the process o.production itsel.

Dnder capitalism4 as we saw4 the elements needed .or

producin! wealth -ecome commodities not only the rawmaterials and the machines -ut also the la-our power o.the producers 6a-our power4 or the mental and physicalener!y o. human -ein!s4 has the particular property o.-ein! a-le to produce wealth when applied to nature*!ivenmaterials This property o. la-our power e presses itsel. in

an e chan!e economy in the capacity to create newe chan!e value6a-our power is not to -e con.used with la-our4 as is

.re>uently done in everyday parlance when we talk a-outthe ;la-our market< and ;sellin! our la-our< Actually4 At isnot la-our which is -ou!ht and sold on the la-our market

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-ut la-our power4 the capacity to work "n .act la-our4 or work4 cannot -e sold since it cannot e ist separately .rom

the product in which it is em-odied 6a-our power is notthe same thin! as the product o. la-our "ndeed4 it isprecisely the di..erence -etween the values o. these twoseparate commodities that is the key to the ori!in o.surplus value

The e chan!e value o. la-our power is rou!hly the

cost o. trainin!4 .or their own purpose and -ene.it Theproduct and value which la-our power produces -elon! tothe purchaser o. the la-our power in >uestion

The e ploitation o. wa!e la-our -y capital is ade.inin! .eature o. capitalism4 re.lectin! the .act thatcapitalism is a class*divided society in which one classmonopolises the means o. production while the other4 the

vast ma:ority4 is .orced to sell its mental and physicalener!ies .or wa!es in order to live Capitalism is ane chan!e economy involvin! the -uyin! and sellin! o.la-our power4 a social system in which productive activitytakes the .orm o. wa!e la-our /a!e la-our and capital aretwo sides o. one and the same social relationship /a!e

la-our4 under conditions o. !eneralised commodityproduction4 inevita-ly produces capital as a sum o. valuesaccumulated out o. surplus value4 while the means o.production can only .unction as capital -y e ploitin! wa!ela-our 1 "n this sense4 capitalism could :ust as easily have

1 ;Ethe relation -etween wa!e la-our and capital determines theentire character o. the mode o. production The principlea!ents o. this mode o. production itsel.4 the capitalist and the

wa!e worker4 are to that e tent merely personi.ications o.capital and wa!e la-our< ?7ar 4 1+1+ ?vol """@ p 102(@ ;Capitaland wa!e*la-our ?it is thus we desi!nate the la-our o. the

worker who sells his own la-our power@ only represents aspects

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come to -e called ;the wa!es system< as ;the capitalistsystem<

Production regulated y the competitive struggle for profits An e chan!e economy such as capitalism implies not onlythat the various di..erent kinds o. wealth are produced -ydi..erent producers in di..erent places o. work ?a technicaldivision o. la-our@ -ut also4 more importantly4 thatdecisions a-out production are made -y a num-er o.autonomous economic units actin! without re.erence toeach other Be.ore !oods can -e e chan!ed they have to-e re!arded as -elon!in! to some person4 !roup o.persons4 or other su-division o. society chan!ethere.ore implies the non*e istence o. the commonownership o. the means and instruments o. productionthat is the only -asis on which decisions a-out productioncould -e made in a conscious coordinated manner

"n capitalism the ;autonomous economic units< whichmake decisions a-out production are pro.it*seekin!e chan!e institutions which we shall call enterprises' An

enterprise is an institution ownin! and controllin! aseparate capital An enterprise may -e a sin!le individual orit may -e a :oint*stock company4 a nationalised industry oreven a workers< cooperative "t is not its internal structurethat is important .or understandin! the role o. theenterprise in capitalism hut rather the .act that it represents

= incarnates4 i. you like = a separate capital4 a separate sumo. values seekin! to e pand itsel. throu!h -ein! investedin production

All enterprises4 whatever their le!al status or internal

o. the sel.*same relationship< ?7ar 4 1+,+4 p 1008@

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structure4 aim to increase the value o. the capital theyincarnate This search .or pro.it -rin!s them into con.lict

with other enterprises4 not :ust those en!a!ed in producin!the same or similar products -ut with every otherenterprise4 or rather with every other capital seekin! toincrease its value

The ori!in o. pro.its is4 as we have seen4 the unpaidla-our o. wa!e workers -ut this is not how it appears to

enterprises To them4 pro.its are the di..erence -etweentheir production costs and their sales receipts and soappear to -e made not in production -ut on the market

There is a sense in which this is true The e>uation surplus value F pro.it is only valid .or the economy as a whole4and it is the operation o. the market which determines theshare o. surplus value !oin! to the various competin!enterprises as pro.its #urplus value4 in other words4 iscreated in production -ut is won on the market as pro.its

The total amount o. pro.its that can -e made -y allenterprises is thus limited -y the total amount o. surplus

value that has -een produced4 -ut it is not the case thateach enterprise makes pro.its e>ual to the amount o.

surplus value created -y the workers it employs ". this were so4 then4 since la-our alone is the source o. newe chan!e value4 la-our*intensive industries would makethe most pro.its capital would there.ore tend towardssuch industries and there would -e no incentive tointroduce la-our*savin! machines which is patently

contrary to what is o-serva-le under capitalism /hat happens in .act is that the competition -etweencapitals tends to lead to each capital makin! a pro.it inproportion to its siGe there is a tendency .or the rate o.pro.it * the ratio o. the increase in value to the value o. the

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ori!inal capital * to -e the same in whatever line o.production it is invested "t is as i. the total amount o.

surplus value produced in all enterprises were pooled-e.ore -ein! distri-uted to the individual capitals and as i.enterprises4 as incarnations o. these capitals4 competed todraw .rom this pool as much pro.it as they could "t is inthis sense that the stru!!le -etween enterprises to makepro.its is in the end a stru!!le a!ainst every other

enterprise% the more pro.its one enterprise makes the lessthere is le.t .or the others". this competition -etween enterprises were

completely unrestricted * i. capitals could move rapidly and.reely .rom one line o. -usiness to another * then eachenterprise would make the same rate o. pro.it on itscapital the amount o. its pro.its would -e directly relatedto the siGe o. its capital #uch completely .ree competitionand movement o. capital has4 o. course4 never e isted4 .orpolitical reasons ?intervention o. states@ as well as .ortechnical ?minimum siGe o. certain industrial plants@ andeconomic ?price*.i in! and other monopolistic practices@ones But it is still a tendency under capitalism as a system

o. competin! capitals producin! .or sale on a chan!in!market too lar!e .or any o. them to control Capitals4there.ore4 only tend to make the same rate o. pro.it

This tendency towards the avera!in! o. the rate o.pro.it e plains why under capitalism commodities do notsell at their la-our*time values -ut rather at a price e>ual to

their cost o. production plus a mar!in su..icient to allowthe avera!e rate o. pro.it to -e made on the total capitalinvested in their production

"n capitalism4 then4 decisions a-out production are inthe hands o. separate4 competin! capitals4 -e they lar!e or

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small4 privately owned or state controlled owever4 thisdoes not mean that production is completely unre!ulated

"n any society there has to -e some mechanism whichre!ulates and coordinates decisions a-out production4otherwise it could not survive "n capitalism this re!ulatin!and coordinatin! mechanism is the market throu!h whichall enterprises are linked in a network o. -uyin! and sellin!transactions This is the case -ecause all enterprises enter

the market not only as sellers o. what their workers haveproduced4 -ut e>ually as -uyers o. the elements .orproducin! wealth ?raw materials4 machines4 la-our power@"t is throu!h prices4 and particularly throu!h chan!es inprices4 that the market in.luences the decisions o.enterprises concernin! production The worldwide marketunder capitalism is not .i ed and sta-le ven i. it tends toe pand in the lon! run4 its condition at any particular timeis unpredicta-le and lia-le to .luctuate

ach enterprise makes its decisions a-out what4 howmuch and where to produce4 how many workers toemploy4 the stocks o. raw materials and .inished productsit should hold4 what kinds o. ener!y to use4 whether or not

to e pand productive activity and so on4 in the 6i!ht o. themarket prices o. the commodities it has to -uy or sell andon the -asis o. uncertain predictions as to how these mi!htchan!e ". the sellin! price o. a commodity increases4 thenthe enterprises en!a!ed in producin! that commodity willinitially make -i!!er pro.its and so will -e induced to

increase their output new enterprises may even enter theindustry Hn the other hand4 i. prices * and hence pro.its *are .allin!4 then output will -e curtailed

The e>uili-rium position which the operation o. themarket tends to -rin! a-out ?-ut which4 o. course4 is never

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reached since the market is always chan!in!@ would -e onein which the productive resources o. society would -e

distri-uted in such a way that the enterprises en!a!ed inproducin! the multitude o. di..erent items o. wealth eachmade the same rate o. pro.it on their capital

/e are not sayin! that the market is entirelyindependent o. the actions o. men and women4 even i. itdoes con.ront them as an e ternal .orce The market itsel.

is in the end only the sum o. the decisions to -uy and sellmade -y enterprises and other actors in the capitaliste chan!e economy ?wa!e*earners4 states@ /hat we aresayin!4 however4 is that individual decisions o. this sort-rin! a-out results which no one has consciously willedand which narrowly limit the .reedom o. choice o.enterprises I and indeed states I when makin!su-se>uent decisions a-out production

Adam #mith spoke o. this unplanned re!ulatin! andcoordinatin! mechanism as -ein! the work o. an ;invisi-lehand< arl 7ar called it ;the law o. value< popularlan!ua!e simply speaks o. ;market .orces< All threee pressions -rin! out the same idea% that production under

capitalism is not consciously coordinated4 -ut isdetermined -y .orces operatin! independently o. people<s

will ven thou!h market .orces are ultimately the result o.a multitude o. individual human decisions4 neverthelessthey con.ront people as e ternal and coercive economiclaws

!he accumulation of capital out of profits The -attle o. competition -etween enterprises is .ou!ht -ycheapenin! commodities4 -y enterprises tryin! to increasetheir share o. the market -y undersellin! their competitors

"t is true that4 i. they !et the chance4 enterprises will

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increase their pro.its -y raisin! their prices4 -ut they arenot normally in a position to do this and4 even when they

are4 it is not a lastin! situation ?unless supported -y astate@ $or can enterprises increase their pro.its -ypermanently depressin! the prices o. the elements o.production they -uy ?raw materials4 wa!es4 etc @4 thou!ha!ain they will do so i.4 and .or as lon! as4 they !et thechance

iven4 then4 that enterprises normally have to acceptthe prices esta-lished -y the market4 the only way that theycan compete a!ainst their rivals is to reduce their costs o.production throu!h improvin! the productivity o. their

work.orce Productivity is a measure o. the num-er o.articles o. wealth as use values that can -e produced in a!iven period o. time An increase in productivity meansthat more can -e produced in the same period so that thecost per individual article4 or unit*cost4 .alls "n valueterms4 the price o. the commodity .alls -ecause lessavera!e social la-our*time is re>uired to produce it

Productivity can -e improved in a num-er o. ways%-y !ettin! the workers to work more intensively4 -y a

-etter or!anisation o. the process o. production4 -uta-ove all -y employin! more and -etter machines andtechni>ues o. production

#o the -attle o. competition comes to -e .ou!ht -yenterprises increasin! their productivity so as to -e a-le tosell more cheaply than their rivals /hether an enterprise

adopts an a!!ressive or a de.ensive approach in this -attle4the result is the same% all enterprises are .orced to invest innew and -etter machines Hnce one enterprise has putitsel. in a position to undersell its competitors throu!hhavin! adopted some new cost*reducin! techni>ue4 then

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the other enterprises are o-li!ed to de.end themselves -yadoptin! the same new techni>ue Competition o-li!es all

enterprises to run .ast :ust to stand still to remain in therace .or pro.its4 enterprises must stay competitive and tostay competitive they must continually increase theirproductivity4 continually invest in new e>uipment The

weaker enterprises are pushed out o. the market andeliminated .rom the stru!!le .or pro.its4 their capital

passin! into the hands o. other enterprises This -attle is .ou!ht throu!hout the worldwidecapitalist economy in all industries "nvestment in moreand -etter machines to improve productivity is imposedon all enterprises -y their competitive stru!!le .or pro.itsand as a price o. their survival as a separate capital Theend result is two.old% the concentration o. capitals intolar!er and lar!er units and a -uild*up o. the stock andproductive power o. the instruments o. production

"n capitalism this !rowth o. the stock o. instruments.or producin! wealth is at the same time an increase in thesum o. e chan!e values4 an accumulation o. capital Thecompetitive stru!!le -etween capitals leads not only to

capitals increasin! their value4 throu!h the enterprises in which they are incarnated makin! pro.its out o. producin! wealth4 -ut also to the reinvestment o. this surplus value inproduction This dynamic o. capitalism results not simplyin the e pansion o. production -ut also provides thestimulus .or technical development

Hnce a!ain4 this is not a matter o. choice4 -ut issomethin! which is imposed on economic decision*makersas an e ternal and coercive law nterprises are .orced toaccumulate the -ulk o. their pro.its as new capital -y thesame mechanism which re!ulates production under

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capitalism "ndeed4 the accumulation o. capital is part o.this mechanism4 since to accumulate capital is to allocate a

portion o. society<s productive resources to e pandin! thestock o. the means o. production This imperative toaccumulate is4 in .act4 the dynamic o. capitalism

"n re!ulatin! and coordinatin! production undercapitalism4 the competitive stru!!le -etween capitalsdecrees that priority shall -e !iven to the e pansion o. the

means o. production over the consumption not only o.the producers -ut also o. those who personi.y capitalCapitalism is not a system which !ives priority to theproduction o. pro.its .or the personal consumption o.those who monopolise the means o. wealth production itis a system where the -ulk o. the pro.its made .rominvestin! capital in production are reinvested inproduction The aim o. capitalist production is not somuch pro.its as the accumulation o. capital

/e can now see the lo!ic o. de.inin! capitalimpersonally as sel.* e pandin! value The e pansion o.

value and its accumulation as new capital is somethin! thatis imposed on men and women irrespective o. their will

Capital is a product o. people<s la-our which has escaped.rom their control and has come to dominate them in the.orm o. coercive economic laws which they have noalternative -ut to o-ey and apply

The accumulation o. capital does not proceed in asmooth and continuous way the !raph o. !rowth under

capitalism is not an un-roken upward line -ut a series o.alternatin! peaks and trou!hs in which each successivepeak is usually ?-ut not necessarily@ hi!her than theprevious one4 so that the overall trend is upward The!rowth o. production under capitalism is cyclical4 an ever*

18




repeatin! series o. periods o. -oom4 overproduction4slump and recovery This too is an inevita-le result o. the

competitive stru!!le .or pro.its and could -e included as a.eature o. capitalism

" world economyHne o. the preconditions .or the development o.capitalism as a mode o. production was the comin! into-ein! o. a world market4 or more accurately o. aninternational market4 since there was no need .or themarket system to have em-raced the whole world -e.orecapitalism could develop "t was only necessary that themarket should have em-raced a num-er o. countriesspecialisin! in the production o. di..erent kinds o. wealth

Capitalism came into -ein! in urope in the si teenthcentury and continued to spread !eo!raphically until -y theend o. the nineteenth century it had come to em-race the

whole world This meant that it had -ecome a worldsystem in the .ull sense o. the term4 not simply aninternational system em-racin! a part o. the !lo-e within asin!le division o. la-our and a sin!le e chan!e economy4

-ut a world system em-racin! virtually all areas and allstates

This re.lected the .act that the division o. la-our had-ecome worldwide and that .rom then on all parts o. the

world were linked to!ether in a sin!le economic system via world trade and the world market Capitalism had -ecome

a worldwide economic system "ndeed4 capitalism couldeven -e de.ined today as the world market economy This means that the economic laws o. capitalism

outlined in the previous sections operate on the worldscale Capitalism does not e ist within the political-oundaries o. sin!le countries world capitalism is not a

19




collection o. separately e istin! national capitalisms -ut asin!le economic unit Capitalism only e ists on the world

level4 as a world economic system There is no such thin!as a ;national capitalist economy< and there never was

/hat this term seeks to descri-e is in .act only a section o.the world economy that is su-:ect to the control o. oneparticular political unit4 or state "t is this political divisiono. the world into states4 each with the power to issue its

own currency4 impose tari..s4 raise ta es4 pay su-sidies andso on4 that has !iven rise to the illusion that4 rather thanthere -ein! one world economy4 there are as many;national economies< as there are states But this is only anillusion There is only one capitalist system and it is

worldwide A state can -e de.ined as a law*makin! and law*

en.orcin! institution havin! a monopoly o. the le!al use o..orce within a !iven !eo!raphical area "t is thus aninstrument o. political control4 -ut states use their powersto play an economic role within capitalism Dp till now wehave only mentioned this role in passin! even thou!h in.act states are :ust as much actors in the capitalist e chan!e

economy as enterprises This was deli-erate since it is notpossi-le to understand the economic role o. states4 even

within their own .rontiers4 without havin! .irst realisedthat capitalism is a sin!le international * now world *economic system em-racin! a num-er o. separate politicalunits

ver since capitalism came into e istence states haveintervened in the world market4 to try to distort it in .avouro. enterprises operatin! .rom within their -orders Theyhave used their political power to help their ;home<enterprises ac>uire a -i!!er share o. world pro.its at the

20




e pense o. enterprises operatin! .rom other countries They have4 .or instance4 imposed ta es on !oods enterin!

.rom outside their .rontiers4 in order to protect homeenterprises .rom ;.orei!n< competition They have4 -ydiplomatic and -y military means4 sou!ht to ac>uireprotected .orei!n markets .or home enterprises and4 onthe cost side4 they have -ar!ained and used .orce toac>uire cheap raw materials .or home industry These

interventions -y states have led to periodic wars which canthus -e included as another inevita-le .eature o.capitalism

ven so4 states can only distort the world market to alimited e tent "n makin! decisions that a..ect production

within their .rontiers they have to accept4 :ust like anyprivate enterprise4 the pressures o. the world market ase ternal4 coercive .orces to which they must su-mit4 i. thecapitals operatin! .rom within their .rontiers are to survivein the -attle o. competition Basically4 they too must !ivepriority to keepin! costs down4 in particular throu!hproductivity -ein! continuously improved to do this theymust encoura!e the reinvestment o. the !reater part o.

pro.its in new4 more productive machinery and plant4 andthey must limit the consumption o. the wa!e*workin! classto what is necessary to maintain an e..icient work.orce

The internal political structure o. a country makes nodi..erence in this respect /hether a country has a!overnment which is elected -y a ma:ority o. voters drawn

.rom the wa!e*workin! class or whether its !overnment isa -rutal dictatorship4 its state still has in the end to pursuepolicies dictated -y the economic laws o. capitalism

#tate capitalism Althou!h states have intervened in capitalism ever since it

21




came into e istence4 in so .ar as the aim was merely tointer.ere with the operation o. world market .orces4 their

intervention was only at the level o. the division4 not theproduction4 o. surplus value owever4 over the past 100or so years4 there has -een a de.inite trend in capitalism .orstates to !o -eyond merely tryin! to distort the worldmarket4 and to involve themselves in the actual productiono. wealth -y esta-lishin! and operatin! state enterprises "n

some countries4 indeed in a lar!e num-er outside what can-e called the core area o. world capitalism represented -y$orth America4 /estern urope and Japan4 stateownership and state enterprise have -ecome thepredominant .orm

"n de.inin! capitalism as a .orm o. socialor!anisation4 now worldwide4 in which production iscarried on -y wa!e la-our and orientated towards theaccumulation o. capital via pro.its realised on the market4

we deli-erately le.t open the >uestion o. the .orm o.ownership o. the means o. production I -y privateindividuals4 -y :oint*stock companies4 -y the state or even-y cooperatives I since this is not relevant to the

operation o. the economic mechanism o. capitalism Thesu-stitution o. state .or private ?individual or corporate@ownership does not mean the a-olition o. capitalism4 sinceit leaves unchan!ed commodity production and -oth wa!ela-our and the accumulation o. capital 2 "t merely means

2 ;/here the state is itsel. a capitalist producer4 as in e ploitationo. mines4 .orests4 etc 4 its product is a KcommodityL and hencepossesses the speci.ic character o. every other commodity<?7ar 4 1+,24 p (1@ "n volume "" o.Capital 7ar also re.ers inpassin! to ;state capital4 so .ar as !overnments employproductive wa!e*la-our in minin!4 railroadin!4 etc and per.ormthe .unction o. capitalists< ?7ar 4 1+1+ ?vol ""@4 p 110@

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that capital4 or a part o. the capital4 in the political area o.the world concerned has come to -e incarnated -y the

state4 or rather4 in practice4 -y a num-er o. di..erent stateenterprises

The most appropriate term .or descri-in! thissituation is state "apitalism' Those countries where the mostimportant means o. production are state owned can -edescri-ed as ;state capitalist countries< owever4 it must

-e clearly understood that state capitalism is merely aninstitutional arran!ement within world capitalism and thatit can no more e ist as a separate economic and socialsystem in sin!le countries than can any .orm o. capitalism

The state capitalist countries do not e ist apart .rom therest o. world capitalism they are an inte!ral part o. it4 one

where state ownership and state enterprise have -ecomethe predominant institutional .orm .or the operation o. theeconomic mechanism o. capitalism This point has -een

well -rou!ht out -y "mmanuel /allerstein%

The capitalist system is composed o. owners who sell .or pro.it The .act that an owner is a

!roup o. individuals rather than a sin!le personmakes no essential di..erence This has lon!-een reco!nised .or :oint*stock companies "tmust now also -e reco!nised .or soverei!nstates A state which collectively owns all themeans o. production is merely a collectivecapitalist .irm as lon! as it remains * as all suchstates are4 in .act4 presently compelled to remain* a participant in the market o. the capitalist

world*economy $o dou-t such a ;.irm< mayhave di..erent modalities o. internal division o.pro.it4 -ut this does not chan!e its essential

23




economic role %is %isothers operatin! in the world market ?/allerstein4 1+,+4 pp 8'I+ *

emphasis in ori!inal@

Thou!h it is possi-le to ima!ine a state capitalist countryor!anisin! itsel. as a sin!le ;collective capitalist .irm< tocompete on the world market4 in practice the statecapitalist countries which e ist today4 such as 5ussia andChina4 have chosen to set up4 to mana!e the accumulationo. capital in the political area they control4 not one4 -ut aconsidera-le num-er o. state enterprises4 each en:oyin! acertain amount o. autonomy

Who are the capitalist class?Previously we ar!ued that production is not carried on

under capitalism .or the -ene.it o. those people whomonopolise the means o. social wealth production Hn thecontrary4 we ar!ued that the economic laws o. capitalismensure that people in this position accumulate as newcapital the !reater part o. their pro.its $evertheless4 thesepeople still en:oy a privile!ed position with re!ard to

consumption conomically4 they personi.y capital and actas its a!ents in the economic process socially4 theyconstitute a privile!ed4 e ploitin! class /hile4 at the levelo. theoretical models4 it is possi-le to ima!ine a situationin which personi.yin! capital and en:oyin! a privile!edconsumption would not -e linked4 history has notproduced any lastin! e ample o. this "n practice4 the twohave always -een associated

"n those countries where capitalism .irst developed4those who have !enerally personi.ied capital have -eenindividual owners4 people with a le!al property title to allor part o. the capital o. an enterprise #uch people receive

24




concerned "n the end4 this control4 since it involves thee clusion -oth o. the producers and o. those who

personi.y other capitals4 can only rest on the sanction and-ackin! o. a state4 i e on physical .orce

6e!al property ri!hts involve such a -ackin!4 sincesuch ri!hts are en.orcea-le -y the courts4 the police andultimately -y the armed .orces o. a state But it is >uitepossi-le .or de a"to control over the use o. means o.

production to assume other .orms than le!al propertyri!hts 6et us suppose that4 as a result o. some politicalupheaval4 individual property ri!hts in a country were to -esuppressed and that .ormal ownership o. all the means o.production was vested in the state /ho4 in thesecircumstances4 would personi.y capital The answer to this>uestion would -e4 as -e.ore4 those who had the ultimateresponsi-ility .or takin! decisions a-out the use o. themeans o. production These people would personi.ycapital even i. they happened to -e a !roup whiche ercised de a"to control collectively4 rather thanindividually as in the case o. le!al property title holders "tmi!ht -e the case that the identity o. these people could

only -e esta-lished -y an empirical study o. the precisestructure o. the state4 the institution in which capital would-e incarnated under the circumstances4 -ut they would -e

whichever !roup was .ound to control e..ectively the state$aturally4 in these circumstances4 the privile!ed

consumption associated with personi.yin! capital would -e

distri-uted in a di..erent way than in those countries whereit is individual property owners who personi.y capitalere a!ain4 discoverin! in what precise way this was done

would depend on an empirical study o. the social .acts -utit would no lon!er -e in the .orm o. a le!al property

26




income ?rent4 interest4 pro.it4 dividend@"n other words4 capital does not necessarily have to

-e personi.ied -y individually*ownin! le!al property titleholders "n .act4 even in countries where this is so4 thispersoni.ication is no lon!er strictly individual4 as itori!inally was "n the early days o. capitalism4 capital was

widely personi.ied -y an individual4 the privateentrepreneur4 who was certainly a le!al property owner -ut

.or whom there was no distinction -etween his personal wealth and that o. his enterprise is pro.its -elon!ed tohim personally4 :ust as he stood to lose all his personal

wealth i. his enterprise lost out in the -attle o.competition

owever4 in the middle o. the nineteenth century4the le!al concept o. limited lia-ility was introduced ?orrather was e tended .rom a .ew privile!ed corporations toall -usiness enterprises which claimed it@ By this meansenterprises ac>uired their own le!al identity separate .romthat o. the individual property owners who supplied theircapital This allowed the shareholders to keep the rest o.their personal wealth i. the enterprise .oundered4 -ut it

also meant that the enterprise had -ecome a separate le!alentity in its own ri!ht Capital4 in other words4 had -ecomepersoni.ied in an institution rather than in an individualCorporate capital had come into -ein! alon!side individualcapital

An institution is a !roup o. individuals or!anised in a

particular way4 so it is possi-le to discover who4 in anyinstitution4 has ultimate responsi-ility .or takin! decisions4-ut the important point is that the e istence o. enterprisesas separate le!al institutions shows that capital does nothave to -e personi.ied -y individuals as individuals Hnce

27




this is admitted4 then there can -e no di..iculty inacceptin! that capital can -e personi.ied -y a state4 or4

more accurately4 -y those who control it #tate capital is:ust as possi-le as corporate capital

The two most si!ni.icant types o. enterprise in the world today are the limited lia-ility company and thenationalised or state industry These are the two maininstitutional .orms in which the ma:or competin! capitals

are incarnated throu!hout the world Althou!h the internalstructure o. enterprises is irrelevant when it comes tounderstandin! how capitalism works as an economicsystem4 it is crucial .or identi.yin! those who personi.ycapital4 those who .ul.il the role o. capitalist class4 in anyparticular situation

A mem-er o. the capitalist class can -e de.ined assomeone who4 either as an individual or as a mem-er o.some collectivity4 has ultimate responsi-ility .or takin!decisions a-out the or!anisation o. production -y wa!ela-our .or sale with a view to pro.it and who4 a!ain eitherindividually or as part o. a collectivity4 en:oys a privile!edconsumption derived .rom surplus value "n short4 a

mem-er o. the capitalist class is someone who has ultimateresponsi-ility .or or!anisin! the accumulation o. capitalout o. surplus value and who pro.its .rom this process

This permits a wide ran!e o. institutional arran!ements4 o. which the private capitalist en:oyin! individual propertyri!hts vested in him as an individual is -ut one historical

e ample Capital can -e4 and has in .act -een4 personi.ied-y a wide variety o. individuals and !roups

28




$. !he "lternative to Capitalism". state capitalism is not socialism4 what is "n other words4i. state ownership and mana!ement o. production does

not amount to the a-olition o. capitalism -ut only to achan!e in the institutional .ramework within which itoperates4 what would -e the essential .eatures o. a societyin which capitalism had -een a-olished

Althou!h it is possi-le to ima!ine that capitalismcould -e replaced -y some new .orm o. class society in

which some other method o. e ploitation would replacethe wa!es system4 we shall concern ourselves here only

with the replacement o. capitalism -y a society .rom which4 to remain deli-erately va!ue .or the moment4e ploitation and privile!e would -e a-sent

#ince capitalism is a worldwide class society ande chan!e economy4 it is clear that the e ploitation*lessalternative to capitalism would have to -e a classless worldsociety without e chan!e

%o classes& no state& no frontiers The -asis o. any society is the way its mem-ers areor!anised .or the production o. wealth /here a section o.

society controls the use o. the means o. production4 wecan speak o. a class society Control o. the means o.production -y a class implies the e clusion o. the rest o.society .rom such control4 an e clusion which ultimatelydepends on the threatened or actual use o. physical .orce

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An institutionalised or!an o. coercion4 or state4 is thus a.eature o. all class societies and historically .irst made its

appearance with the division o. society into classes"n all class societies4 one section o. the population

controls the use o. the means o. production Another wayo. puttin! this is that the mem-ers o. this section or classown the means o. production4 since to -e in a position tocontrol the use o. somethin! is to own it4 whether or not

this is accompanied -y some le!al title deed"t .ollows that a classless society is one in which theuse o. the means o. production is controlled -y allmem-ers o. society on an e>ual -asis4 and not :ust -y asection o. them to the e clusion o. the rest As JamesBurnham put it%

Mor a society to -e ;classless< would mean that within society there would -e no !roup ?withthe e ception4 perhaps4 o. temporary dele!ate-odies4 .reely elected -y the community andsu-:ect always to recall@ which would e ercise4as a !roup4 any special control over access to the

instruments o. production and no !roupreceivin!4 as a !roup4 pre.erential treatment indistri-ution ?Burnham4 1+&(4 p ((@

"n a classless society every mem-er is in a position to takepart4 on e>ual terms with every other mem-er4 in decidin!how the means o. production should -e used verymem-er o. society is socially e>ual4 standin! in e actly thesame relationship to the means o. production as everyother mem-er #imilarly4 every mem-er o. society hasaccess to the .ruits o. production on an e>ual -asis

Hnce the use o. the means o. production is under the

30




democratic control o. all mem-ers o. society4 classownership has -een a-olished The means o. production

can still -e said to -elon! to those who control and -ene.it.rom their use4 in this case to the whole populationor!anised on a democratic -asis4 and so to -e commonlyowned -y them Common ownership can -e de.ined as%

A state o. a..airs in which no person is e cluded.rom the possi*ility o. controllin!4 usin! andmana!in! the means o. production4 distri-utionand consumption ach mem-er o. society canac>uire the "apa"ity 4 that is to say4 has theopportunity to realise a variety o. !oals4 .ore ample4 to consume what they want4 to usemeans o. production .or the purposes o.socially necessary or unnecessary work4 toadminister production and distri-ution4 to planto allocate resources4 and to make decisionsa-out short term and lon! term collective !oalsCommon ownership4 then4 re.ers to everyindividuals potential a-ility to -ene.it .rom the

wealth o. society and to participate in itsrunnin! ?Bra!ard4 1+'14 p 2(( emphasis in theori!inal@

ven so4 to use the word ownership can -e misleadin! inthat this does not .ully -rin! out the .act that the trans.erto all mem-ers o. society o. the power to control theproduction o. wealth makes the very concept o. propertyredundant /ith common ownership no one is e cluded.rom the possi-ility o. controllin! or -ene.itin! .rom theuse o. the means o. production4 so that the concept o.property in the sense o. e clusive possession is

31




meanin!less% no one is e cluded4 there are no non*owners /e could invent some new term such as no*

ownership and talk a-out the classless alternative society tocapitalism -ein! a no*ownership society4 -ut the same ideacan -e e pressed without neolo!ism i. common ownershipis understood as -ein! a social relationship and not a .ormo. property ownership This social relationship e>uality-etween human -ein!s with re!ard to the control o. the

use o. the means o. production can e>ually accurately -edescri-ed -y the terms classless society and democraticcontrol as -y common ownership since these three termsare only di..erent ways o. descri-in! it .rom di..erentan!les The use o. the term common ownership to re.er tothe -asic social relationship o. the alternative society tocapitalism is not to -e taken to imply there.ore thatcommon ownership o. the means o. production coulde ist without democratic control Common ownershipmeans democratic control means a classless society

/hen we re.er to the society -ased on commonownership4 !enerally we shall use the term socialism4thou!h we have no o-:ection to others usin! the term

communism since .or us these terms mean e actly thesame and are interchan!ea-le ". we have opted .or theterm socialism this is as a means o. showin! that wedecisively re:ect the 6eninist insertion o. some sort o.transitional society4 wron!ly called socialism4 -etweencapitalism and its classless alternative4 !enerally called

communism Mor us socialism is communism4 since -othterms descri-e the society which immediately .ollows thea-olition o. capitalism

Common ownership is not to -e con.used with stateownership4 since an or!an o. coercion4 or state4 has no

32




place in socialism A class society is a society with a state-ecause sectional control over the means o. production

and the e clusion o. the rest o. the population cannot -easserted without coercion4 and hence without a specialor!an to e ercise this coercion Hn the other hand4 aclassless society is a stateless society -ecause such an or!ano. coercion -ecomes unnecessary as soon as all mem-erso. society stand in the same relationship with re!ard to the

control o. the use o. the means o. production Thee istence o. a state as an instrument o. class politicalcontrol and coercion is >uite incompati-le with thee istence o. the social relationship o. common ownership#tate ownership is a .orm o. e clusive property ownership

which implies a social relationship which is totally di..erent.rom socialism

As we saw4 common ownership is a socialrelationship o. e>uality and democracy which makes theconcept o. property redundant -ecause there are no lon!erany e cluded non*owners #tate ownership4 on the otherhand4 presupposes the e istence o. a !overnment machine4a le!al system4 armed .orces and the other .eatures o. an

institutionalised or!an o. coercion #tate*owned means o.production -elon! to an institution which con.ronts themem-ers o. society4 coerces them and dominates them4-oth as individuals and as a collectivity Dnder stateownership the answer to the >uestion who owns themeans o. production "s not every-ody or no-ody as with

common ownership it is the state "n other words4 when astate owns the means o. production4 the mem-ers o.society remain non*owners4 e cluded .rom control Bothle!ally and socially4 the means o. production -elon! not tothem4 -ut to the state4 which stands as an independent

33




power -etween them and the means o. production The state4 however4 is not an a-straction .loatin!

a-ove society and its mem-ers it is a social institution4and4 as such4 a !roup o. human -ein!s4 a section o.society4 or!anised in a particular way This is why4 strictlyspeakin!4 we should have written a-ove that the statecon.ronts most mem-ers o. society and e cludes most o.them .rom control o. the means o. production Mor

wherever there is a state4 there is always a !roup o. human-ein!s who stand in a di..erent relationship to it .rommost mem-ers o. society% not as the dominated4 nor as thee cluded4 -ut as the dominators and the e cluders Dnderstate ownership4 this !roup controls the use o. the meanso. production to the e clusion o. the other mem-ers o.society "n this sense4 it owns the means o. production4

whether or not this is .ormally and le!ally reco!nised Another reason why state ownership and socialism

are incompati-le is that the state is a national institution which e ercises political control over a limited!eo!raphical area #ince capitalism is a world system4 thecomplete state ownership o. the means o. production

within a !iven political area cannot represent the a-olitiono. capitalism4 even within that area /hat it does mean4and this has -een one o. the ma:or themes o. this -ook4 isthe esta-lishment o. some .orm o. state capitalism whoseinternal mode o. operation is conditioned -y the .act thatit has to compete in a world market conte t a!ainst other

capitals#ince today capitalism is worldwide4 the society whichreplaces capitalism can only -e worldwide The onlysocialism possi-le today is world socialism $o more thancapitalism can socialism e ist in one country #o the

34




common ownership o. socialism is the commonownership o. the world4 o. its natural and industrial

resources4 -y the whole o. humanity #ocialism can only -ea universal society in which all that is in and on the earthhas -ecome the common herita!e o. all humankind4 and in

which the division o. the world into states has !iven wayto a world without .rontiers -ut with a democratic worldadministration

%o exchange& no economy#ocialism4 -ein! -ased on the common ownership o. themeans o. production -y all mem-ers o. society4 is not ane chan!e economy Production would no lon!er -e carriedon .or sale with a view to pro.it as under capitalism "n.act4 production would not -e carried on .or sale at allProduction .or sale would -e a nonsense since commonownership o. the means o. production means that what isproduced is commonly owned -y society as soon as it isproduced The >uestion o. sellin! :ust cannot arise-ecause4 as an act o. e chan!e4 this could only take place-etween separate owners Net separate owners o. parts o.

the social product are precisely what would not4 and couldnot e ist in a society where the means o. production wereowned in common

owever4 socialism is more than :ust not an e chan!eeconomy it is not an economy at all4 not even a plannedeconomy conomics4 or political economy as it was

ori!inally called4 !rew up as the study o. the .orces whichcame into operation when capitalism4 as a system o.!eneralised commodity production4 -e!an to -ecome thepredominant mode o. producin! and distri-utin! wealth

The production o. wealth under capitalism4 instead o.-ein! a direct interaction -etween human -ein!s and

35




nature4 in which humans chan!e nature to providethemselves with the use.ul thin!s they need to live4

-ecomes a process o. production o. wealth in the .orm o.e chan!e value Dnder this system4 production is !overned-y .orces which operate independently o. human will and

which impose themselves as e ternal4 coercive laws whenmen and women make decisions a-out the production anddistri-ution o. wealth "n other words4 the social process

o. the production and the distri-ution o. wealth -ecomesunder capitalism an e"onomy !overned -y e"onomi" laws andstudied -y a special discipline4e"onomi"s

#ocialism is not an economy4 -ecause4 in re*esta-lishin! conscious human control over production4 it

would restore to the social process o. wealth productionits ori!inal character o. simply -ein! a direct interaction-etween human -ein!s and nature /ealth in socialism

would -e produced directly as such4 i e as use.ul articlesneeded .or human survival and en:oyment resources andla-our would -e allocated .or this purpose -y consciousdecisions4 not throu!h the operation o. economic lawsactin! with the same coercive .orce as laws o. nature

Althou!h their e..ect is similar4 the economic laws whichcome into operation in an e chan!e economy such ascapitalism are not natural laws4 since they arise out o. aspeci.ic set o. social relationships e istin! -etween human-ein!s By chan!in! these social relationships throu!h-rin!in! production under conscious human control4

socialism would a-olish these laws and so also theeconomy as the .ield o. human activity !overned -y theiroperation ence socialism would make economicsredundant

/hat we are sayin!4 in e..ect4 is that the term

36




e chan!e economy is a tautolo!y in that an economy onlycomes into e istence when wealth is produced .or

e chan!e "t is now clear why the term planned economy isunaccepta-le as a de.inition o. socialism #ocialism is notthe planned production o. wealth as e chan!e value4 northe planned production o. commodities4 nor the plannedaccumulation o. capital That is what state capitalism aimsto -e Plannin! is indeed central to the idea o. socialism4

-ut socialism is the planned ?consciously coordinated@production o. use.ul thin!s to satis.y human needsprecisely instead o. the production4 planned or otherwise4o. wealth as e chan!e value4 commodities and capital "nsocialism wealth would have simply a speci.ic use value?which would -e di..erent under di..erent conditions and.or di..erent individuals and !roups o. individuals@ -ut it

would not have any e chan!e4 or economic4 valueConventional academic economics in the /est re:ects

the de.inition o. economics as the study o. the .orces which comes into operation when wealth is produced to-e e chan!ed But even on the alternative de.inition ito..ers that economics is the study o. the allocation o.

scarce resources to meet some human needs 1 * socialism would not -e an economy Mor socialism presupposes thatproductive resources ?materials4 instruments o.production4 sources o. ener!y@ and technolo!ical

1 This leads to the -asic assumption which economic analysis makesa-out the physical world "t is assumed that the .undamental .eature

o. the economic world4 the .eature which !ives rise to economicpro-lems at all4 is that !oods are s"ar"e ery .ew thin!s in the world4 with the e ception o. air4 water and ?in some countries@ sunshine4are availa-le in unlimited amounts "t is -ecause o. scarcity that!oods have to -e shared out amon! individuals ". scarcity did note ist4 then there would -e no economic system and no economics?#tonier and a!ue4 1+'04 p 3 emphasis in ori!inal@

37




knowled!e are su..icient to allow the population o. the world to produce enou!h .ood4 clothin!4 shelter and other

use.ul thin!s4 to satis.y all their material needsConventional economics4 while denyin! that the

potential .or such a state o. a-undance e ists4 neverthelessadmits that i. it did this would mean the end4 not only o.;the economy< as a system o. allocatin! scarce resources-ut also o. !oods havin! an economic value and price

!oods would simply -ecome use.ul thin!s produced .orhuman -ein!s to take and use4 while economics as thestudy o. the most rational way to employ scarce resources

would !ive way to the study o. how -est to use a-undantresources to produce .ree !oods in the amounts re>uiredto satis.y human needs 2 #i!ni.icantly4 the ideolo!ists o.state capitalism take up a -asically similar position% i.a-undance e isted4 value4 prices4 money4 markets and

wa!es could -e a-olished -ut4 since a-undance does notyet e ist and could not -e -rou!ht into e istence .or someconsidera-le time4 all these cate!ories o. capitalism mustcontinue 3

As .ar as academic economics in the /est is

2 A-undance removes con.lict over resource allocation since -yde.inition there is enou!h .or everyone4 and so there are nomutually e clusive choices4 no opportunity is .or!one and there isno opportunity*cost The !olden a!e4 a communist steady*statee>uili-rium4 will have -een reached radual chan!e4 !rowth4 will-e simple and painless The task o. plannin! -ecomes one o. simpleroutine the role o. economics is virtually eliminated There is then

no reason .or various individuals and !roups to compete4 to takepossession .or their own use o. what is .reely availa-le to all ?$ove41+'34 p 1(@ There would then -e noe"onomi" goods 4 i e 4 no !oodsthat are relatively scarce and there would hardly -e any need .or astudy o. economics or economiGin! All !oods would -e ree goods 4like pure air used to -e ?#amuelson4 1+'04 p 1, emphases inori!inal@

38




concerned4 this >uestion is not really one o. .act -ut o.de.inition #carcity is -uilt into to its theoretical system in

that it re!ards a .actor o. production as -ein! scarce solon! as it is not availa-le in unlimited supply Thus .or ita-undance can only -e a theoretical limitin! case asituation where land4 capital and la-our were all availa-le4>uite literally4 .or the takin! which could never e ist inpractice4 so that -y de.inition scarcity would always e ist

But this is a >uite unreasona-le de.inition -oth o. scarcityand o. a-undance A-undance is not a situation where anin.inite amount o. every !ood could -e produced?#amuelson4 1+'04 p 1,@ #imilarly4 scarcity is not thesituation which e ists in the a-sence o. this impossi-letotal or sheer a-undance A-undance is a situation whereproductive resources are su..icient to produce enou!h

wealth to satis.y human needs4 while scarcity is a situation where productive resources are insu..icient .or thispurpose

"n any event4 value and its cate!ories do not arise.rom scarcity as a supposed natural condition they arise4 as

we saw4 .rom the social .act that !oods are produced as

commodities #imilarly4 socialism is not a mere state o.

3 Present productive .orces are >uite inade>uate to provide the whole o. mankind with up*to*date com.ort ?7andel4 1+8'4 p 810@ The necessity o. a transition period .ollows precisely .rom the .actthat on the morrow o. the a-olition o. capitalism4 so"iety is still li%ingin a sit#ation o relati%e shortage o "ons#mer goods The allocation o.

consumer !oods durin! the epoch o. transition .rom capitalism tosocialism must there.ore -e e..ected essentially throu!h e chan!e4that is4 throu!h -uyin! and sellin! Consumer !oods continue to -ecommodities 6eavin! aside the social wa!e4 the la-our .orce isessentially paid in money A hu!e monetary sector there.orecontinues to e ist in the economy ?i-id 4 p 832 emphasis inori!inal@

39




a-undance it is a social rather than a physical or technicalcondition "t is the set o. social relationships

correspondin! to a classless society4 i e to a society in which every mem-er stands in the same position withre!ard to controllin! and -ene.itin! .rom the use o. themeans o. wealth production The esta-lishment o. aclassless society means an end to the wa!e la-ourOcapitalrelationship which is the -asic social relationship o.

capitalist society The wa!e ?or employment@ relationshipe presses the .act that control over the use o. the meanso. production is e ercised -y a section only o. society "t isa relationship -etween two social classes4 presupposin! adivision o. society into those who control access to themeans o. production and those who are e cluded .romsuch control and are o-li!ed to live -y sellin! their a-ilityto work #ince the very e istence o. wa!e la-our?employment@ implies a class o. owners and a class o. non*owners o. the means o. production4 no society in whichthe predominant .orm o. productive activity continues to-e wa!e la-our can -e re!arded as -ein! socialist

"n socialist society productive activity would take the

.orm o. .reely chosen activity undertaken -y human -ein!s with a view to producin! the thin!s they needed to liveand en:oy li.e The necessary productive work o. society

would not -e done -y a class o. hired wa!e workers -ut -yall mem-ers o. society4 each accordin! to their particularskills and a-ilities4 cooperatin! to produce the thin!s

re>uired to satis.y their needs -oth as individuals and ascommunities /ork in socialist society could only -e voluntary since there would -e no !roup or or!an in aposition to .orce people to work a!ainst their will

#ocialist production would -e production solely .or

40




use The products would -e .reely availa-le to people4 who would take them and use them to satis.y their needs "n

socialism people would o-tain the .ood4 clothes and otherarticles they needed .or their personal consumption -y!oin! into a distri-ution centre and takin! what theyneeded without havin! to hand over either money orconsumption vouchers ouses and .lats would -e rent*.ree4 with heatin!4 li!htin! and water supplied .ree o.

char!e Transport4 communications4 health care4 education4restaurants and laundries would -e or!anised as .ree pu-licservices There would -e no admission char!e to theatres4cinemas4 museums4 parks4 li-raries and other places o.entertainment and recreation The -est term to descri-ethis key social relationship o. socialist society is ree a""ess 4as it emphasises the .act that in socialism it would -e theindividual who would decide what his or her individualneeds were As to collective needs ?schools4 hospitals4theatres4 li-raries and the like@4 these could -e decided -ythe !roups o. individuals concerned4 usin! the variousdemocratic representative -odies which they would createat di..erent levels in socialist society Thus production in

socialism would -e the production o. .ree !oods to meetsel.*de.ined needs4 -oth individual and collective

Calculation in 'indDnder capitalism wealth is produced .or sale4 so thatparticular items o. wealth ?!oods produced -y human

la-our4 use.ul thin!s@ -ecome commodities which have ane chan!e value "ndeed4 it is only as e chan!e value that wealth has si!ni.icance .or the operation o. capitalism allthe millions o. di..erent kinds o. use.ul thin!s produced -yhuman la-our are reduced to a common denominator theireconomic value -ased ultimately on the avera!e workin!

41




time needed to produce them .rom start to .inish4 o. which money is the measure This ena-les them to -e

compared and e chan!ed with re.erence to a commono-:ective standard and also allows the calculationsnecessary to an e chan!e economy to -e made in acommon unit

/ith the replacement o. e chan!e -y commonownership what -asically would happen is that wealth

would cease to take the .orm o. e chan!e value4 so that allthe e pressions o. this social relationship peculiar to ane chan!e economy4 such as money and prices4 wouldautomatically disappear "n other words4 !oods wouldcease to have an economic value and would -ecomesimply physical o-:ects which human -ein!s could use tosatis.y some want or other This does not mean that !oods

would come to have no value in any sense on thecontrary4 they would continue to have the physical capacityto satis.y human wants The so*called economic value

which !oods ac>uire in an e chan!e economy has nothin!to do with their real use value as a means o. satis.yin!

wants4 since the value o. a !ood to human -ein!s4 i e its

capacity to satis.y some want4 has never -orne any relationto the time taken to produce it "n socialism !oods wouldcease to -e commodities -ut they would remain use valuesindeed4 with the sheddin! o. their useless economic valuetheir importance as use values would -e enhanced4 as this

would -e the sole reason why they were produced

The disappearance o. economic value would meanthe end o. economic calculation in the sense o. calculationin units o. value whether measured -y money or directly insome unit o. la-our*time "t would mean that there was nolon!er any common unit o. calculation .or makin!

42




decisions re!ardin! the production o. !oods This haso.ten -een re!arded as a power.ul ar!ument a!ainst

socialism as a moneyless society4 so power.ul in .act that when it was .irst e pressed in a systematic way -y 6udwi! von 7ises in 1+20 ? ayek et al 4 1+3(4 pp ',*130@ it ledmany sel.*proclaimed 7ar ists4 includin! arl autsky4 toa-andon .inally the de.inition o. socialism as a value*lesssociety ?and thus4 in e..ect4 to reco!nise that they had

always stood .or state capitalism rather than socialism@&

and others to ela-orate complicated schemes .or usin!la-our*time as a common unit o. account in socialism? "C4 1+30 Pannekoek4 1+,04 pp 23*+@ Hnly oneparticipant in the discussion4 Htto $eurath4 an academicon the mar!in o. the erman #ocial 9emocraticmovement4 pointed out that socialism4 as a moneylesssociety in which use values would -e produced .rom otheruse values4 would need no universal unit o. account -utcould calculate e clusively in kind(

Calculation in kind is an essential aspect o. theproduction o. !oods in any society4 includin! capitalism Acommodity is4 as we saw4 a !ood which -y virtue o. -ein!

produced .or sale has ac>uired in addition to its physicaluse value a socially*determined e chan!e value

& "n the same way4 even i. people were to limit themselves strictly tothe e chan!e o. natural produce4 the e istence o. money wouldcontinue to -e indispensa-le in a socialist society as a measure o.

value .or accountin! purposes and .or calculatin! e chan!e ratios

? autsky4 1+224 p 31'@

( the economic analysis4 which starts o.. with >uantities4 whichare measured di..erently4 and which ends up with >uantities4 whichare measured di..erently4 can never -e reduced to a sin!le commondenominator4 especially not to the common denominator la-our?$eurath4 1+2(4 p ,&@

43




Correspondin!ly4 the process o. production undercapitalism is -oth a process o. production o. e chan!e

values and a process o. production o. use values4 involvin!two di..erent kinds o. calculation Mor the .ormer4 the unito. calculation is money4 -ut .or the latter there is no sin!leunit -ut a whole series o. di..erent units .or measurin! the>uantity and >uality o. speci.ic !oods used in the processo. producin! other speci.ic !oods ?tonnes o. steel4

kilowatt*hours o. electricity4 person*hours o. work and soon@ The disappearance o. economic or value calculation insocialism would -y no means involve the disappearance o.all rational calculation4 since the calculations in kindconnected with producin! speci.ic >uantities o. !oods asphysical use values would continue

/hat it would involve would -e the end o. thesu-ordination o. the choice o. which use values toproduce and which technical methods to employ toe chan!e value considerations "n particular4 the aim o.production would cease to -e to ma imise the di..erence-etween the e chan!e value o. the !oods used up in theprocess o. production and the e chan!e value o. the .inal

productHne critic o. socialism as a moneyless society4 the

9utch academic and .ormer minister4 $ Pierson4 writin! in 1+02 in reply to autskys talk Hn the 9ay A.terthe #ocial 5evolution ? autsky4 1+02@4 ar!ued that4 withoutthe common unit o. account represented -y value as

measured -y money4 socialist society would -e una-le tocalculate its net income%

/e will now discuss the division o. income and we will assume that this is e..ected accordin! tothe most advanced method4 that o.

44




over that period To check this there would -e no need toreduce ?to continue with Piersons e amples@ cotton4 coal4

machines4 yarns4 te tiles4 .odder and -easts4 to somecommon unit on the contrary4 it is precisely in theirconcrete physical .orms o. cotton4 coal and so on thatsocialist society would -e interested in these !oods and

would want to count them#ocialist society has no need .or value computations

such as net income4 national income4 !ross nationalproduct and other such a-stractions o-tained -y i!norin!the concrete use values o. the speci.ic !oods produceddurin! a !iven period "ndeed4 socialism involves preciselythe .reein! o. production .rom its su-ordination to thesee chan!e value considerations The aim o. production insocialism is not to ma imise national income or $P or!rowth ?o. e chan!e values@4 which are meanin!lessconcepts .or it4 -ut to produce the speci.ic amounts andkinds o. use values which people had indicated they

wanted to satis.y their needs The calculations involved inor!anisin! and checkin! this would -e calculations in kindand would not re>uire any universal unit o. measurement

#imilarly4 at the level o. the individual productive unitor industry4 the only calculations that would -e necessaryin socialism would -e calculations in kind Hn the one side

would -e recorded the resources ?materials4 ener!y4e>uipment4 la-our@ used up in production and on the otherside the amount o. the !ood produced4 to!ether with any

-y*products This4 o. course4 is done under capitalism -utit is dou-led -y an e chan!e value calculation% thee chan!e value o. the resources used up is recorded as thecost o. production while the e chan!e value o. the output?a.ter it has -een realised on the market@ is recorded as

46




sales receipts ". the latter is !reater than the .ormer4 then apro.it has -een made i. it is less4 then a loss is recorded

#uch pro.it*and*loss accountin! has no place in socialismand would4 once a!ain4 -e >uite meanin!less #ocialistproduction is simply the production o. use values .rom use

values4 and nothin! moreven thou!h the e istence o. socialism presupposes

conditions o. a-undance ?i e where resources e ceed

needs@ socialist society still has to -e concerned with usin!resources e..iciently and rationally4 -ut the criteria o.e..iciency and rationality are not the same as they areunder capitalism

Dnder capitalism there is4 in the end4 only onecriterion% monetary cost4 which4 as a measure o. economic

value4 is ultimately a re.lection o. the avera!e time taken toproduce a !ood .rom start to .inish The mana!ers o.capitalist enterprises are o-li!ed -y the workin! o. themarket to choose the technical methods o. production

which are the cheapest4 i e which minimise productiontime and there.ore monetary cost All other considerationsare su-ordinate4 in particular the health and wel.are o. the

producers and the e..ects on the natural environment7any commentators have lon! pointed out the harm.ule..ects which production methods !eared to minimisin!production time have on the producers ?speed*up4 pain4stress4 accidents4 -oredom4 overwork4 lon! hours4shi.twork4 ni!htwork4 etc 4 all o. which harm their health

and reduce their wel.are@4 while more recently scientistshave documented the dama!e such production methodscause to nature ?pollution4 destruction o. the environmentand wildli.e4 e haustion o. non*renewa-le resources@

#ocialism4 as a society !eared to producin! only uses

47




values and not e chan!e value4 would take these otherconsiderations into account and su-ordinate the choice o.

production methods to the wel.are o. human -ein!s andthe protection o. their natural environment $o dou-t this

would lead in many cases to the adoption o. productionmethods which4 -y capitalist standards4 would -eine..icient and irrational in the sense that were they to -eadopted under capitalism they would cost more and so -e

unpro.ita-le This is why such methods are not adoptedunder capitalism4 where it is e chan!e value and not use value that counts4 and why capitalism would have to -ereplaced -y socialism i. the ori!inal aim o. production as ameans to serve and enhance human wel.are were to -erestored

"n socialism4 men and women in the variousindustries and individual productive units would have theresponsi-ility .or producin! !iven amounts o. a particular!ood to a particular standard4 would seek to minimise?ideally eliminate@ the harm done to the health and wel.areo. human -ein!s and to the environment As there wouldthus -e a clear o-:ect and clearly de.ined constraints4

industries and productive units could use mathematicalaids to decision*makin! such as operational research andlinear pro!rammin! to .ind the most appropriate technicalmethod o. production to employ As neutral techni>uesthese can still -e used where the o-:ect is somethin! otherthan pro.it ma imisation or the minimisation o. monetary

costs As to decisions involvin! choices o. a !eneral nature4such as what .orms o. ener!y to use4 which o. two or morematerials to employ to produce a particular !ood4 whetherand where to -uild a new .actory4 there is another

48




techni>ue already in use under capitalism that could -eadapted .or use in socialism% so*called cost*-ene.it analysis

and its variants $aturally4 under capitalism the -alancesheet o. the relevant -ene.its and costs advanta!es anddisadvanta!es o. a particular scheme or rival schemes isdrawn up in money terms4 -ut in socialism a points system.or attri-utin! relative importance to the various relevantconsiderations could -e used instead The points attri-uted

to these considerations would -e su-:ective4 in the sensethat this would depend on a deli-erate social decisionrather than on some o-:ective standard4 -ut this is the caseeven under capitalism when a monetary value has to -eattri-uted to some such cost or -ene.it as noise oraccidents Murthermore4 in so .ar as money is an o-:ectivemeasure4 what it measures is production time to thee clusion o. all other .actors "n the sense that one o. theaims o. socialism is precisely to rescue humankind .romthe capitalist .i ation with production timeOmoney4 cost*-ene.it type analyses4 as a means o. takin! into accountother .actors4 could there.ore -e said to -e moreappropriate .or use in socialism than under capitalism

Dsin! points systems to attri-ute relative importance inthis way would not -e to recreate some universal unit o.evaluation and calculation4 -ut simply to employ atechni>ue to .acilitate decision*makin! in particularconcrete cases The advanta!es Odisadvanta!es and eventhe points attri-uted to them can4 and normally would4

di..er .rom case to case #o what we are talkin! a-out isnot a new a-stract universal unit o. measurement toreplace money and economic value -ut one techni>ueamon! others .or reachin! rational decisions in a society

where the criterion o. rationality is human wel.are

49




Planning and industrial organisation#ocialism would inherit .rom capitalism the e istin!

material -asis% a comple worldwide productive networklinkin! all the millions o. individual productive units in the

world ?.arms4 mines4 .actories4 railways4 ships4 etc@ into asin!le system The links we are talkin! a-out are physical inthe sense that one unit is linked to another either as thephysical user o. the others product or as the physical

supplier o. its materials4 ener!y or e>uipment Dndercapitalism such links are esta-lished in two ways%or!anisationally ?as -etween di..erent productive units.ormin! part o. the same private or state enterprise@ and4a-ove all4 commercially ?as when one enterprise contractsto -uy somethin! .rom4 or to sell somethin! to4 anotherenterprise@ "n socialism the links would -e e clusivelyor!anisational

Plannin! in socialism is essentially a >uestion o.industrial or!anisation4 o. or!anisin! productive units intoa productive system .unctionin! smoothly to supply theuse.ul thin!s which people had indicated they needed4-oth .or their individual and .or their collective

consumption /hat socialism would esta-lish would -e arationalised network o. planned links -etween users andsuppliers -etween .inal users and their immediatesuppliers4 -etween these latter and their suppliers4 and soon down the line to those who e tract the raw materials.rom nature

By industrial or!anisation we mean the structure .oror!anisin! the actual production and distri-ution o. wealth #ome activities4 such as intercontinental transportand communications4 the e traction o. oil and o. certainother key raw materials4 developin! the resources o. the

50




oceans4 and space research4 are clearly -est treated at worldlevel4 and we can ima!ine them -ein! or!anised -y a

/orld Transport Hr!anisation4 a /orld 5aw 7aterialsBoard4 a /orld Hceanic 5e!ime and so on To -e!in with4and assumin! ?as seems likely@ that socialism would inherita pro-lem o. world hun!er .rom capitalism4 theproduction o. certain key .oodstu..s and animal .eedstu..smi!ht also need to -e or!anised on a world level there

already e ists in the Mood and A!riculture Hr!anisation?MAH@ a world -ody that could easily -e adapted .or thispurpose

There would -e a need .or an administrative anddecision*makin! centre at world level4 democraticallycontrolled -y dele!ates .rom the various re!ions o. thesocialist world ?we say nothin! o. the siGe and limits o.these re!ions since such details must -e le.t to themem-ers o. socialist society to settle@4 whose -asic task

would -e to coordinate relations -etween the worldindustrial or!anisations4 -etween these and the world*re!ions4 and -etween the various world*re!ions Thiscentre would not -e a world !overnment since4 as we have

already e plained4 there would -e no state and no!overnment4 not even at world level4 in socialism "t would-e an administrative and coordinatin! -ody and would not-e e>uipped with means o. coercion

Hther industries4 and in particular manu.acturin! andprocessin!4 could -e or!anised at world*re!ional level

There is no point in drawin! up in advance the sort o.detailed -lueprint o. industrial or!anisation that the old"// and the #yndicalists used to ?despite the promisin!name o. "ndustrial /orkers o. the /orld4 these were in.act -lueprints .or industrial or!anisations within a national

51




.ramework@4 -ut it is still reasona-le to assume thatproductive activity would -e divided into -ranches and

that production in these -ranches would -e or!anised -y adele!ate -ody The responsi-ility o. these industries would-e to ensure the supply o. a particular kind o. producteither4 in the case o. consumer !oods4 to distri-utioncentres or4 in the case o. !oods used to produce other!oods4 to productive units or other industries

#ince the needs o. consumers are always needs .or aspeci.ic product at a speci.ic time in a speci.ic locality4 we will assume that socialist society would leave the initialassessment o. likely needs to a dele!ate -ody under thecontrol o. the local community ?althou!h4 once a!ain4other arran!ements are possi-le i. that were what themem-ers o. socialist society wanted@ "n a sta-le societysuch as socialism4 needs would chan!e relatively slowly

ence it is reasona-le to surmise that an e..icient systemo. stock control4 recordin! what individuals actually choseto take under conditions o. .ree access .rom localdistri-ution centres over a !iven period4 would ena-le thelocal distri-ution committee ?.or want o. a name@ to

estimate what the need .or .ood4 drink4 clothes andhousehold !oods would -e over a similar .uture period#ome needs would -e a-le to -e met locally% localtransport4 restaurants4 -uilders4 repairs and some .ood aree amples as well as services such as street*li!htin!4 li-rariesand re.use collection The local distri-ution committee

would then communicate needs that could not -e metlocally to the -ody ?or -odies@ char!ed with coordinatin!supplies to local communities

Hnce such an inte!rated structure o. circuits o.production and distri-ution had -een esta-lished at local4

52




re!ional and world levels4 the .low o. wealth to the .inalconsumer could take place on the -asis o. each unit in the

structure havin! .ree access to what is needed to .ul.il itsrole The individual would have .ree access to the !oodson the shelves o. the local distri-ution centres the localdistri-ution centres .ree access to the !oods they re>uiredto -e always ade>uately stocked with what people neededtheir suppliers .ree access to the !oods they re>uired .rom

the .actories which supplied them industries and .actories.ree access to the materials4 e>uipment and ener!y theyneeded to produce their products and so on

Production and distri-ution in socialism would thus-e a >uestion o. or!anisin! a coordinated and more or lesssel.*re!ulatin! system o. linka!es -etween users andsuppliers4 ena-lin! resources and materials to .lowsmoothly .rom one productive unit to another4 andultimately to the .inal user4 in response to in.ormation.lowin! in the opposite direction ori!inatin! .rom .inalusers The productive system would thus -e set in motion.rom the consumer end4 as individuals and communitiestook steps to satis.y their sel.*de.ined needs #ocialist

production is sel.*re!ulatin! production .or use To ensure the smooth .unctionin! o. the system4 a

central statistical o..ice would -e needed to provideestimates o. what would have to -e produced to meetpeoples likely individual and collective needs These could-e calculated in the li!ht o. consumer wants as indicated

-y returns .rom local distri-ution committees and o.technical data ?productive capacity4 production methods4productivity4 etc@ incorporated in input*output ta-les Mor4at any !iven level o. technolo!y ?re.lected in the input*output ta-les@4 a !iven mi o. .inal !oods ?consumer

53




wants@ re>uires .or its production a !iven mi o.intermediate !oods and raw materials it is this latter mi

that the central statistical o..ice would -e calculatin! in-road terms #uch calculations would also indicate whetheror not productive capacity would need to -e e panded andin what -ranches The centre ?or rather centres .or each

world*re!ion@ would thus -e essentially an in.ormationclearin! house4 processin! in.ormation communicated to it

a-out production and distri-ution and passin! on theresults to industries .or them to draw up their productionplans so as to -e in a position to meet the re>uests .ortheir products comin! .rom other industries and .romlocal communities

Impossi ility of gradualism The !overnments o. some o. the state capitalist countries4in particular those which had 6eninism as their o..icialideolo!y4 used to proclaim as their lon!*term !oal theesta-lishment o. a society which they call communism and

which at .irst si!ht -ears a resem-lance to the society wehave outlined as the alternative to capitalism Mor instance4

at its 22nd Con!ress in 1+814 the Communist Party o. the#oviet Dnion ?CP#D@ adopted a pro!ramme .or theconstruction o. communism Hne o. the many -ooks andpamphlets produced to popularise this pro!ramme tells us%

Communist distri-ution is a system o. supplyin!mem-ers o. society with all they need .ree o.char!e "n this society money will -esuper.luous Dnder communism4 consumer!oods to say nothin! o. capital !oods cease to-e commodities Trade and money will outlivethemselves Mlats4 cultural4 communication and

54




transport .acilities4 meals4 laundries4 clothes4 etc 4 will all -e .ree #tores and shops will -e turned

into pu-lic warehouses where mem-ers o.communist society will -e supplied withcommodities .or personal use The need .or

wa!es and other .orms o. remuneration willdisappear ?7ans 9reams4 1+884 pp 1,2 and22&@

The society here descri-ed as communism is thus to -e amoneyless society4 -ut there is an implication that theremi!ht still -e a -ody separate .rom the mem-ers o. society

which would -e handin! out !oods to them at its initiative"n other words4 it is implied that the means o. productionmi!ht still -e controlled -y a minority !roup which woulddistri-ute products .ree to the e cluded4 non*controllin!ma:ority That this is to -e the case is con.irmed -y otherpassa!es in which we are told that communism can -eesta-lished in one country or !roup o. countries and thatthe party will continue to e ist .or a lon! time even a.terthe esta-lishment o. communism on a world scale 8 A-ove

all4 there is the incon!ruity that this system o. .ree

8 "t is not impossi-le that communism will have -een esta-lished inthe socialist countries -e.ore the capitalist countries take thesocialist path ?7ans 9reams4 1+884 p 22,@ The Party will hold theleadin! position in communist society .or a lon! time4 althou!h its

workin! methods and .orms and its structure will naturally alter

su-stantially The Party4 the very em-odiment o. all that ispro!ressive and or!anised4 will still e ist even in the .irst sta!es o.communism4 a.ter its victory on a world scale "t will takecommunist society many years and even decades -e.ore the newmechanisms are .ully developed and -ecome ma imally e..ective4-e.ore conditions are created .or the witherin! away o. the Party

This will -e a lon! and !radual process ?i-id 4 p 233@

55




distri-ution is seen as !radually evolvin! .rom the presentstate capitalist system in 5ussia /hat is envisa!ed is a

!radual evolution4 under the direction o. the party4 .rom a.orm o. state capitalism in which workers are paid money

wa!es with which they -uy the thin!s they need to a .ormo. state capitalism in which they would -e supplied .ree o.char!e with the necessities o. li.e4 i e would in e..ect -epaid entirely in kind

This perspective o. a !radual witherin! away o.commodity production and the money economy was notheld -y the CP#D alone -ut is the !eneral 6eninist view o.how the so*called transition .rom socialism to communism

will take place 7andel4 .or instance4 has !one into !reatdetail to show how decommoditiGation would -eeconomically possi-le as a series o. administrativemeasures introduced on the -asis o. state ownership4 inresponse to increases in productivity and inelasticities o.market demand ?7andel4 1+8'4 pp 8(&*'8@ #uch a !radualtransition to .ull payment in kind is perhaps theoreticallyconceiva-le ?althou!h in our view hi!hly unlikely@4 -ut inany event the end result would not -e socialism4 since

socialism is not payment in kind on the -asis o. stateownership nor could socialism -e introducedadministratively -y a state capitalist !overnment

The de.inition o. communism as state ownershipplus payment in kind is shared -y nearly all those whohave participated in academic de-ates on so*called pure

communism and its .easi-ility ?/iles4 1+82 #herman41+,0@ As a result4 most o. the discussion which hasensued is irrelevant to socialismOcommunism consideredas a social relationship in which all mem-ers o. societystand in an e>ual position with re!ard to the control o. the

56




use o. the means o. wealth production /e have alreadyseen that a system in which the means o. production are

owned -y a state is not a classless society where allmem-ers stand in the same relationship to the means o.production4 -ut a class society in which those who controlthe state stand in a privile!ed position with re!ard to themeans o. production4 since they control their use to thee clusion o. the rest o. society This is the case even i.4 as

in 6eninist theory4 this controllin! !roup is to -e a van!uard party conceived as -ein! dedicated to servin! theinterests o. the e cluded ma:ority As lon! as a section o.society is e cluded .rom controllin! the means o.production4 a class society e ists4 no matter how !enerousor well*meanin! the rulin! class is considered as -ein!

This is one reason why a !radual evolution .rom stateownership ?state capitalism@ to common ownership?socialism@ is impossi-le #uch a !radual evolution .rom aclass society to a classless society is impossi-le -ecause atsome sta!e there would have to -e a rupture which woulddeprive the state capitalist rulin! class -e they well*meanin! or4 more likely4 otherwise o. their e clusive

control over the means o. production There would haveto -e4 in other words4 a political and social revolution in

which the power to control the use o. the means o.production would -e consciously trans.erred -y thee cluded ma:ority .rom the minority state capitalist class toall mem-ers o. society

An e>ually .undamental reason why a !radualevolution .rom state capitalism to socialism is impossi-le isthe di..erence in the .orm which wealth takes in the twosocieties "n socialism wealth appears simply in its natural.orm ?as various use values capa-le o. satis.yin! human

57




wants@4 while under state capitalism wealth takes the .ormo. value ?!oods havin! ac>uired an e chan!e value in

addition to their natural use value@ As the totality o. wealth produced today is a sin!le

product produced -y the whole work.orce actin! as acollective la-ourer ?7ar 4 1+1+ ?vol "@ pp 3'3*&@4 some!oods cannot -e produced in the one .orm and some inthe other The social product that is wealth today can only

-e produced either wholly as value or wholly as simple use value Certainly some !oods can -e directly distri-uted inkind while others remain o-taina-le only a!ainst paymentin money4 -ut this is not the same thin! "n this case the!oods produced .or distri-ution in kind would still -e

value in that their production costs4 i e the e chan!e valueused up in producin! them4 would have to -e paid .or outo. the surplus value realised in the priced !oods sectorPro.it*and*loss accountin! in units o. value would still -enecessary This is why all schemes such as 7andels .or a!radual witherin! away o. commodity production insist onthe need to retain some universal unit o. account ?whetherthis -e monetary units as in the various schemes .or

shadow prices or units o. la-our*time as an attempt tomeasure economic value directly@ in -oth the price and the.ree !oods sector

The chan!eover .rom commodity production toproduction solely .or use can only take place as a rupture4not as a !radual transition #ince classless society and

common ownership are synonyms4 and since commodityproduction is a nonsense on the -asis o. commonownership4 this rupture ?revolution@ is in .act the same asthe one needed to move .rom class society to classlesssociety $either classes nor the state nor commodity

58




production nor money can !radually wither away "t is nomore reasona-le to assume that state capitalism could

chan!e -y de!rees into socialism than was the assumptiono. the classical re.ormists that private capitalism could -eso trans.ormed

Conclusion The alternative to capitalism as a society already e istin!on a world scale is4 to de.ine it somewhat ne!atively4 a.rontierless4 classless4 stateless4 wa!eless4 moneyless worldHr4 more positively%

The new system must -e world*wide +t m#st *ea world "ommonwealth The world must -ere!arded as one country and humanity as one

people All the people will co*operate to produce

and distri-ute all the !oods and services whichare needed -y mankind4 each person4 willin!lyand .reely4 takin! part in the way he .eels he cando -est

All !oods and services will -e produced.or use only4 and havin! -een produced4 will -edistri-uted4 ree 4 directly to the people so thateach persons needs are .ully satis.ied

The land4 .actories4 machines4 mines4roads4 railways4 ships4 and all those thin!s whichmankind needs to carry on producin! the meanso. li.e4 will -elon! to the whole o. the people?Philoren4 1+&3 emphases in ori!inal@

Hpinions may le!itimately di..er as to whether or not sucha society is .easi-le That is a separate >uestion owever4

59




in the interests o. clarity4 we su!!est that those who poseas critics o. capitalism4 -ut who consider that the society

outlined a-ove is not .easi-le in the immediate .uture4should re.rain .rom usin! the term socialism to re.er toany society in which money4 wa!es and the state e ist

There already e ists a per.ectly ade>uate term to re.er tosuch a society capitalism or4 as the case may -e4 statecapitalism "t merely con.uses the issue to talk o. socialism

-ein! anythin! other than a moneyless4 wa!eless4 stateless world commonwealth

60



T A6T 5$AT" TH CAP"TA6"#7

(. !he !hin )ed *ine+ %on,-ar'et#ocialism in the !wentieth CenturyMrom a socialist standpoint4 what is the most crucialdi..erence -etween the nineteenth century and thetwentieth century

Althou!h one could point to numerous di..erences which are si!ni.icant .or socialists4 surely the most crucialdi..erence o. all is that in the nineteenth century there

were no states which claimed to -e socialist 9espite the well*known distinction which 7ar 4 n!els and othersmade -etween ;scienti.ic socialism< and ;utopian socialism<4even nineteenth*century ;scienti.ic socialism< was utopianin the etymolo!ical sense o. re.errin! to nowhere * to noe istin! state By way o. contrast4 .or most o. thetwentieth century4 states have e isted which have -een

popularly re!arded as ;socialist< or ;communist< The e..ecto. this popular identi.ication o. ;socialism< with certainstates has -een disastrous 7illions o. wa!e*earners havedrawn the conclusion that socialism has -een tried in thetwentieth century and .ound to .ail ven many sterncritics o. the ;socialist states< have -een reduced to

descri-in! such countries as e amples o. ;actually e istin!socialism<1 Capitalism has -een !iven a new lease o. li.e-ecause4 compared with the -rutality o. state capitalistre!imes or the cynicism o. #ocial 9emocratic1 5udolph Bahro4 The ,lternati%e in -astern -#rope ?6ondon% $ew 6e.t

Books4 1+,'@

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ADAM BUICK JOHN CRUMP

administrations4 !overnment -y even avowedly capitalistparties has seemed pre.era-le to many

#ocial democracy and leninism9urin! the twentieth century4 ;socialism< has come tomean .or most people either #ocial 9emocracy or6eninism #ocial 9emocracy has -een stron!est in thecountries o. /estern and $orthern urope4 where #ocial9emocratic Parties have held power .or varyin! len!thso. time 7ost #ocial 9emocratic !overnments havepractised a policy o. selective nationalisation4 -rin!in!key ?and o.ten pro-lem*ridden@ industries under statecontrol "mplicit in such a policy has -een -oth thepreservation o. the state4 which is o-viouslystren!thened as sectors o. the economy are -rou!htunder its control4 and the preservation o. capitalism#ocial 9emocracy has had the e..ect o. preservin!capitalism -ecause the #ocial 9emocratic ;mi edeconomy< is a mi ture o. private capitalism and statecapitalism Private companies in the ;mi ed economy<remain pro.it*makin! enterprises Part o. their pro.its is

reinvested in production4 while the residue is partlyconsumed -y capitalists who own shares in thecompanies and partly ac>uired -y the state in the .ormo. ta es The nationalised sectors o. the ;mi edeconomy< con.orm to this pattern o. pro.it distri-utionno less than private companies #tate enterprises are

intended to make pro.its4 althou!h lack o. commercial via-ility has o.ten -een a reason .or declinin! industries-ein! nationalised /here pro.its are realised -ynationalised concerns4 there is the same three*waydivision o. the pro.its as in private industry4 -etweenthe reinvestment .und4 the state4 and capitalists who

62




own shares or -onds Throu!hout the ;mi ed economy<4 in private and

nationalised concerns alike4 !oods and services areproduced .or sale on the market Production is !earedto market re>uirements rather than to human needs4and distri-ution o. !oods and services is handled -y-uyin! and sellin! operations4 achieved -y the use o.money #imilarly4 throu!hout the ;mi ed economy<4

production is undertaken -y workin! men and women who sell their la-our power .or wa!es ?or salaries@ /hether the ;mi ed economy< is considered .rom the viewpoint o. consumers4 whose level o. consumption isdetermined -y the money at their disposal4 or .rom the

viewpoint o. wa!e*earners4 who must sell their la-ourpower to an enterprise which is prepared to employthem4 the di..erences -etween the private capitalist andstate capitalist sectors o. the economy are insi!ni.icant 2

At its most well*meanin!4 #ocial 9emocracy hasrepresented an attempt to humanise and re.ormcapitalism -y means o. state intervention Hne reason

why #ocial 9emocrats have .ailed in their attempts to

trans.orm capitalism into a humane system is thatinvaria-ly they have attempted to carry out their re.orms

within the narrow con.ines o. a sin!le nation* state4 which has necessarily remained an inte!ral part o. the world market "n the end4 the world market has had amore decisive in.luence on the production o. wealth and

the intensity o. la-our than the however*well*intentioned re.orms le!islated -y #ocial 9emocrats#ocial 9emocrats inevita-ly have -een driven to

2 Adam Buick and John Crump4 State Capitalism: the Wages System#nder New Management ?6ondon% 7acmillan4 1+'8@

63




administer capitalism in the only way it can -eadministered * a!ainst the interests o. the wa!e*earnin!

ma:ority #ocial 9emocracy has su..ered this .ate o.continuin! to oppress wa!e*earners not -ecause o. the.ailure o. its leaders4 -ecause they lacked will and nerve4-ut -ecause o. the very nature o. capitalism$evertheless4 it is .air to say that once most #ocial9emocrats have tasted state power4 and have .ound

themselves respondin! to the dictates o. the worldmarket4 so their !ood intentions have rapidly -eeneroded -y political cynicism The record o. #ocial9emocracy in the twentieth century has not only -eenone o. su-mission to capitalism4 -ut also one o. support.or wars4 apolo!y .or privile!e and compromise with thespurious democracy o. parliamentarism The result o.advocatin! a ;mi ed economy< is that the achievemento. ;socialism< has -een endlessly postponed The #ocial9emocrats< ;socialism< continually has receded into the.uture4 in a similar .ashion4 as we shall see4 to the;communism< o. the 6eninists

"n contrast to #ocial 9emocracy4 most o. the

countries where 6eninist Parties have taken power have-een located in astern urope and ast Asia Thedi..erent !eo!raphical locations o. #ocial 9emocracyand 6eninism re.lect the .act that these two politicalmovements have developed in response to the needs o.countries at di..erent sta!es o. economic development

/hereas #ocial 9emocracy has made little headway inother than advanced countries4 6eninism has lar!ely-een con.ined to -ackward countries cept in the caseo. certain ast uropean countries4 where theimposition o. the 6eninist political model has resulted

64




.rom the e tension o. 5ussian military in.luence46eninist Parties have !enerally captured power a!ainst a

-ackcloth o. revolutionary upheaval arisin! .rom the.ailure o. the pre*revolutionary re!imes to achievesustained economic !rowth and industrialisation

Mollowin! the revolutionary seiGure o. power46eninism proceeds with an attempt to achieve .orcedeconomic development -y means o. restrictin!

workers< and peasants< consumption in the interest o.rapid capital accumulation Dnder these circumstances4in 6eninist voca-ulary4 ;socialism< means a policy o.!eneralised nationalisation ?at least within the industrialsectors o. the economy@ and a vast increase in wa!ela-our4 since newly created enterprises re>uire .reshdra.ts o. wa!e*earners to operate them Thestren!thenin! o. the state -y virtue o. its role as the!eneral employer4 and the e tension o. wa!e la-our4clearly contradict the nineteenth*century socialistprescriptions that the state should wither away and thatthe wa!es system should -e a-olished 6eninism has;solved< this pro-lem ideolo!ically -y rele!atin! the

witherin! away o. the state and the a-olition o. wa!esto a continually recedin! ;communist< .uture7eanwhile4 the term ;socialism< is retained as adescriptive la-el .or a situation where the state hasunparalleled power and where workers have noalternative -ut to work .or wa!es in order to !ain the

means o. li.e "n other words4 6eninism uses a ;socialist<la-el to hide the real nature o. an economy which

di..ers .rom private capitalism only in the .act that thestate has replaced the privately ownin! capitalist class asthe owner o. the means o. production #ince the

65




countries where 6eninist Parties hold power e hi-it allthe key .eatures o. capitalism ?production .or pro.it4

monetary distri-ution4 wa!e la-our4 accumulation o.capital@ and are .orced to attune their production in line

with international competition as it re!isters on the world market4 they are -est understood as statecapitalist countries "-id 3

". state capitalism e presses the e"onomi"reality o.

6eninism4 politi"ally the hallmark o. 6eninism is thee treme concentration o. power $o political .ormationis tolerated outside the um-rella o. the rulin!triumvirate4 made up o. the party4 the state and thearmed .orces The van!uard party operates in the nameo. the workin! class -ut in .act looks a.ter the interestso. the de )a"tostate capitalist class4 which is composed o.the upper echelons o. the party4 state and militaryhierarchies $ationalism and militarism are otherimportant in!redients in the political cocktail o.6eninism4 and the prominent role which they playre.lects the economic -ackwardness o. most countries

where 6eninist Parties have taken power "n the cut*

throat world o. capitalist competition4 economic-ackwardness is !enerally accompanied -ysu-ordination to imperialism4 so that revolutions aimedat developin! a -ackward country on a state capitalist-asis are also e pressions o. national independence

ence4 .lyin! in the .ace o. the socialist common sense

o. the nineteenth century that ;the workin! men haveno country<4&& 6eninist Parties that have come to power

3 "-id

& arl 7ar and Mrederick n!els4Colle"ted Wor!s 4 vol " ?6ondon%6awrence /ishart4 1+,8@ p (02

66




have attempted to hitch the workin! class to the charioto. military de.ence o. national interests

Mor the reasons outlined a-ove4 our contention isthat #ocial 9emocracy and 6eninism are -ankrupt inso.aras the interests o. the wa!e*earnin! workin! class areconcerned Anyone who has preserved the criticalconsciousness o. nineteenth century non*market socialismcan see that4 in the twentieth century4 #ocial 9emocracy

and 6eninism have -olstered4 rather than su-verted4capitalism The -ankruptcy o. #ocial 9emocracy and6eninism should -e particularly clear in the li!ht o. thepresent economic crisis The crisis has arisen -ecause thechaotic nature o. capitalism has led to capital<s ina-ility torealise su..icient pro.it in production4 and hence to acontractin! world market "t has -een a worldwide crisis4a..ectin! private capitalist4 ;mi ed economy< and statecapitalist countries alike #ocial 9emocracy and 6eninismhave -een una-le to o..er any credi-le solutions to thecrisis ?and are una-le to solve the hardships whichcapitalism imposes on wa!e*earners even outside o. crisissituations@ -ecause the alternatives to private capitalism

which they represent are no more than alternative methodso. or!anisin! capitalism They have no alternative toproduction .or the world market4 even thou!h it is the

world market which has produced the crisis

!he thin red line

To .ind a coherent set o. ideas which are su-versive o.capitalism4 and which do o..er an alternative toproduction .or the world market4 one must turn to the;thin red line< represented -y the .ive currents which aree amined in the .ollowin! chapters "n rou!hlychronolo!ical order o. appearance4 these .ive currents

67




are% anarcho*communism impossi-ilism councilcommunism Bordi!ism situationism A thorou!h

consideration o. each current will -e le.t until therelevant chapter4 -ut there are -rie. pro.iles o. thesecurrents in the "ntroduction .or the -ene.it o. readers

who may -e un.amiliar with themven a per.unctory ac>uaintance with the .ive

currents which :ointly represent the ;thin red line< o. non*

market socialism in the twentieth century leads to therealisation that their importance does not lie in the num-ero. their adherents4 or in their in.luence on the course o.

world history Althou!h some o. these currents haveen:oyed moments o. transitory !loryOnotoriety4throu!hout most o. the twentieth century it has -eenpossi-le to discount them in terms o. the support whichthey have attracted and their impact on the world The>uestion there.ore arises% i. the si!ni.icance o. the non*market socialists does not lie in their num-ers andin.luence4 where does it lie The answer is that non*marketsocialism is si!ni.icant -ecause its various currentsrepresent success.ul attempts -y !roups o. workin! men

and women to .ormulate a .undamental criti>ue o.capitalism and simultaneously to pose a !enuinely socialistalternative Considered in isolation4 it is easy to dismissanyone o. the .ive currents as too small and toounin.luential to -e important Taken to!ether4 however4they represent a sustained response on the part o. wa!e

la-our to capitalist e ploitation and irrationality"rrespective o. the limited num-ers o. wa!e*earnersinvolved4 non*market socialism should -e seen as anauthentic response to capitalism -y wa!e la-our -ecause4as the e istence o. the various non*market socialist

68




currents demonstrates4 !roups o. wa!e*earners haverepeatedly4 and lar!ely independently o. one another4

.ormulated the same criti>ue o. capitalism and the samealternative o. socialism The .act that this has occurred atdi..erent historical :unctures4 and in di..erent !eo!raphicaland cultural conte ts4 !ives wei!ht to the claim that4 aslon! as world capitalism persists4 !roups o. wa!e*earnin!men and women are certain to emer!e who will challen!e

capital<s priority o. production .or the market and call ontheir .ellow*workers to take :oint action in order toesta-lish the human community o. socialism

"t is important to emphasise the scale o. the claim which is -ein! made here with re!ard to non*marketsocialism "t is not -ein! su!!ested that non*marketsocialism is another socialist tradition which should -eplaced alon!side #ocial 9emocracy and 6eninism4 andseen as a rival to them The claim is considera-ly moreaudacious than that /hat is -ein! ar!ued is that4collectively4 anarcho*communism4 impossi-ilism4council communism4 Bordi!ism and situationism are

socialism in the twentieth century Hutside these

currents4 socialism has not e isted4 since whatconventionally are considered to -e the !reat victorieso. ;socialism< in the twentieth century have -een nothin!more than e tensions o. state capitalism at the e penseo. private capitalism #ocial 9emocracy and 6eninismhave made priceless contri-utions to world capitalism

-y de.lectin! workin!*class criticism away .rom the keyelements o. capitalism as a mode o. production to thecontin!ent4 and increasin!ly o-solete4 mani.estations o.capitalism in its private capitalist .orm Hnly those

workin! men and women who have looked at capitalism

69




.rom the perspective provided -y non*market socialismhave -een a-le to see throu!h capitalism in all its .orms

and have avoided capitulation to one side or another instru!!les -etween rival capitalist interests

"mplicit in this ar!ument is a criticism o. theconventional method o. political analysis4 which seeks tounderstand the world in terms o. a ;le.t<O<ri!ht< dichotomy

The ;le.t< and the ;ri!ht< are di..erent only to the e tent

that they provide a di..erent political and or!anisationalapparatus .or administerin! the same capitalist system /hat the ;le.t< and the ;ri!ht< have in common is that they-oth accept the world market is the .ramework in whichthey must operate #ince -oth the ;le.t< and the ;ri!ht< stand.or the perpetuation o. wa!e la-our4 it .ollows that theycannot o..er convincin! solutions to the pro-lems whichinevita-ly con.ront wa!e*earners A permanent solution tothe pro-lems which are inherent in wa!e la-our4 such asinsecurity and intensity o. work4 can only lie in thea-olition o. the wa!es system Net the a-olition o. the

wa!es system is a demand which cannot -e located on the;le.t<*<ri!ht< political spectrum Hnly the various currents

which represent non*market socialism have consistentlydemanded an end to wa!e la-our4 and that is why they toocannot use.ully -e identi.ied in terms o. a ;le.t<O<ri!ht<orientation

!he principles of socialism

"n order to sustain the claim that4 collectively4 anarcho*communism4 impossi-ilism4 council communism4Bordi!ism and situationism are twentieth*centurysocialism4 it needs to demonstrated that there is a -asic seto. socialist principles which these currents share "nitially4.our such principles can -e identi.ied The currents o.

70




new society4 without makin! any payment4 since money will not e ist #imilarly4 people will .reely make use o.

social .acilities4 such as theatres and li-raries4 withoutenterin! into e chan!e relationships ?i e -uyin! tickets orpayin! .ees@ $on*market socialists are con.ident thatsociety could run4 smoothly on this -asis4 without -ein!undermined -y people -ecomin! insatia-ly !reedy orindul!in! in recklessly e trava!ant consumption Hur

con.idence derives .rom a num-er o. considerations Mirst4the production o. use.ul articles would -e much !reater inthe new society than in capitalism4 not only -ecauseproduction would -e .reed .rom the constraints o. themarket4 -ut also -ecause all those presently en!a!ed inactivities which are speci.ic to a commercial society?-ankin!4 insurance and so on@4 or in activities which arespeci.ic to a class*divided society ?such as sta..in! thenumerous arms o. the repressive apparatus o. the state@4could redirect their e..orts towards production #econd4since !reed and conspicuous consumption are reactions toscarcity4 we can e pect these .orms o. -ehaviour todisappear in a society which raises production to the level

where it !uarantees everyone an a-undant supply o. allthat is re>uired .or a com.orta-le and satis.yin! li.e Third4in a society which is -ased on cooperation rather thancompetition4 not only would the individual<s sense o.solidarity induce him or her to e ercise sel.*control onoccasions when this was necessary4 -ut social disapproval

would -e a power.ul restraint on any who were disposedto reckless e trava!ance

(. /oluntary la our"n the new society4 everyone will have the ri!ht toconsume4 irrespective o. whether they are en!a!ed in

73




esteem ?as with li.e-oat crews and mountain rescue teams4.or e ample4 even under capitalism@

0. " human communityCapitalism is a divided society The -asic divisions withincapitalism are class divisions4 which e ist -ecause themeans o. production are owned and controlled -y sectionso. the population and not -y society as a whole #ectionalownership can -e maintained only when it is constantlyrein.orced -y the state4 and since states e ercise theirauthority over !eo!raphical areas4 national divisions areperpetuated -y capitalism Murthermore4 since la-ourpower is a marketa-le commodity under capitalism4 wa!e*earners throu!hout the world compete with one another tosell their la-our power to those who employ them #uchcompetition .orms the -asis o. the se ual4 racial and otherdivisions which divide the workin! class4 and which areskil.ully manipulated -y the rulin! class in order tomaintain capital<s ascendancy over wa!e la-our

The society envisa!ed -y non*market socialists wouldremove all these divisions at one stroke4 -y realisin! the

communal ownership o. the means o. production #incecapitalism is an inte!rated economic system whose marketencompasses the whole world4 it can -e removed only -yan e>ually world*envelopin! system which displaces themarket

The new society which non*market socialists

envisa!e must there.ore -e a human community on a!lo-al scale $ational .rontiers will not e ist Culturaland lin!uistic diversity mi!ht .lourish within the humancommunity o. socialism4 -ut in a moneyless world

where distri-ution was accordin! to need4 there would-e no way in which the em-racin! o. a certain culture or

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The witherin!*away o. commodity and moneyeconomy is4 however4 only one o. the .actors

-rin!in! a-out the disappearance o. socialine>uality4 classes and the state8

A .i.th principle is there.ore re>uired in order todistin!uish the non*market socialists .rom all varieties o.6eninists4 includin! the Trotskyists This principle can -e.ormulated as .ollows%

. 2pposition to capitalism as it manifests itself in all

existing countries.$on*market socialists do not take sides in the wars andstru!!les .or supremacy -etween rival states which are apermanent .eature o. world capitalism Hn the

contrary4 non*market socialists are hostile to all states4includin! those which .alsely proclaim themselves as;socialist< or ;workers< states< "ndeed4 it was the variouscurrents o. non*market socialists who pioneered thetheory o. state capitalism in order to clari.y the nature o.sel.*styled ;workers< states<4 startin! with 5ussia4 and in

order to !ive a theoretical e planation .or their re.usalto support such states

#tate capitalismMollowin! the 5ussian 5evolution o. 1+1,4 the D#!overnment deported a num-er o. activists who were o.5ussian ori!in4 includin! the anarcho*communists

Ale ander Berkman and mma oldman Berkman andoldman went to 5ussia and o-served 6eninist rule at

.irst hand Hn the -asis o. his e periences4 Berkman

8 rnest 7andel4 Mar0ist -"onomi" Theory ?6ondon% 7erlin4 1+8'@p 8,3

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.rom its vanta!e point in Britain4 the So"ialist Standard was already a-le to discern that 6eninist policy

amounted to state capitalism 11 At a later sta!e4 when6enin was dead and his successors were en!a!ed in a

vicious stru!!le .or power4 the #P B clearly e pressedthe non*market socialist conviction that4 since 6eninistso. all types are advocates o. capitalism4 .rom a workin!*class standpoint there is nothin! to choose -etween

them Commentin! on the stru!!le -etween #talin and Trotsky4 the So"ialist Standard wrote% ;Both Trotsky and#talin draw up their pro!rammes within the .rameworko. state and private capitalism which prevails in5ussia <12

Althou!h the Bordi!ists and the situationists reachedthe conclusion that state capitalism e ists in 5ussia andelsewhere at a later sta!e than the other currents o. non*market socialists4 .or many years now all .ive currents haveattempted to dispel popular illusions a-out the statecapitalist countries $ot only have they e posed thecapitalist .eatures o. the state capitalist countries4 -ut theyhave counterposed to state capitalism the alternative vision

o. a !enuinely socialist society which could li-eratehumankind .rom indi!nity and oppression -yincorporatin! principles 1*& which we outlined a-ove "t isthis4 a-ove all4 which distin!uishes the non*marketsocialists .rom the Trotskyists and other varieties o.6eninists The Trotskyists have -een inhi-ited .rom

counterposin! to capitalism the alternative o. non*marketsocialism4 -ecause the .ocus o. their attention has -een therelatively minor di..erences which e ist -etween

11 So"ialist Standard 4 July 1+20

12 So"ialist Standard 4 9ecem-er 1+2'

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traditional4 private capitalism and capitalism as it mani.estsitsel. in their so*called ;workers< states< To e press this

schematically4 the Trotskyists< .ailure to em-race principle( has caused principles 1*& to -e rele!ated to ?at -est@ the-ack!round o. their concerns Alternatively4 one could saythat the Trotskyists have lost their ;utopianism< ?i e theiridenti.ication with no nation*state@ -y allowin! themselvesto -e sucked into stru!!les -etween rival capitals and -y

electin! to de.end some capitalist states a!ainst others This has resulted in an un-rid!ea-le divide -etween Trotskyism and the .ive currents o. non*market socialism

ifferences etween the non,mar'et socialistsavin! identi.ied the .ive principles which the various

currents o. non*market socialists collectively hold4 theissues which have separated these currents and provokedtheir mutual criticism must also -e considered -rie.ly

The anarcho*communists have seen 7ar ism asyet another .orm o. politics which seeks to maintain thepower o. the state $ot only have anarcho*communistsidenti.ied 7ar ism with statism in !eneral4 -ut in

particular they have identi.ied 7ar ism with the 6eniniststates They have ar!ued that the characteristics o.6eninist state capitalism derive .rom the 7ar istprinciples on which it claims to -e -ased Conversely4:ust as the anarcho*communists !enerally have made nodistinction -etween 7ar ism and 6eninism4 so the other

non*market socialist currents have reciprocated -yindiscriminately lumpin! the anarcho*communiststo!ether with all other varieties o. anarchists4 -e they#tirnerite individualists4 anarcho*capitalist ;li-ertarians<or whatever "n other words4 they have chosen to i!norethe commitment o. the anarcho*communists to

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communism Althou!h not all impossi-ilists have -een committed

to parliamentary activity4 the #P B * as the -est*knownimpossi-ilist !roup * has -een separated .rom the othercurrents o. non*market socialists perhaps a-ove all -y its-elie. that parliamentary elections can -e put to arevolutionary use The #P B has insisted that theparadi!m o. socialist revolution consists o. the workin!

class consciously electin! a ma:ority o. socialist 7Ps to thenational assem-lies in di..erent countries4 whereupon ;themachinery o. !overnment may -e converted .rom aninstrument o. oppression into the a!ent o. emancipation< 13

A parliamentary strate!y o. this type has -een anathema tothe other currents o. non*market socialists

Council communism has emphasised the part to -eplayed -y councils in the pro:ected socialist revolution4 andhas com-ined its advocacy o. councils with hostilitytowards trade unions Hne repercussion o. this emphasison councils has -een a perennial di..iculty .aced -y councilcommunists when it comes to decidin! the respective roleso. the workers< councils and the political party ence4 one

can say that not only has the council communists<emphasis on councils separated them .rom the othercurrents o. non*market socialists4 -ut that it has also actedas a source o. division amon! the council communiststhemselves "n e treme cases4 attachment to the workers<councils as an or!anisational .orm has entirely eclipsed the

communist element in council communism4 resultin! in a variety o. ;councilism< which is compati-le withproduction .or the market

The Bordi!ists have seen themselves as a van!uard

13 #P B4 /e"laration o rin"iples ?1+0&@

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which must lead the workin! class to socialism Theirconviction that they have the responsi-ility to lead the

workin! class derives .rom the premise that only a.ter theachievement o. socialism could the mass o. the workers-ecome conscious socialists The other currents o. non*market socialists have denounced the Bordi!ists<

van!uardism and have ar!ued that ?to >uote .rom thestatutes o. the Mirst "nternational@ ;the emancipation o. the

workin! class must -e the act o. the workin! class itsel. 1&

and not o. sel.*appointed leadersPerhaps -ecause o. their artistic ori!ins4 the

situationists have o.ten seemed to -e more concerned withsel.*e pression than with communicatin! their ideas to

wa!e*earners The situationists have seen the othercurrents o. non*market socialists as outdated and4 at -est4the products o. earlier sta!es o. capitalist development Hnthe other hand4 the other currents o. non*market socialistshave o.ten criticised the situationists as ;modernists< whohave -een overly in.luenced -y current intellectual.ashions and who have shirked the arduous toil o.sustained4 or!anised activity within the workin! class

The di..erences -etween the various currents o.non*market socialists are deep*rooted and have acted tokeep these currents separate .rom one another andmutually hostile 9espite this4 the claim which isadvanced here is that these di..erences constitute a;periphery< which is relatively less important than the

commonly held ;core< o. socialist principles which weree amined earlier /hat !rounds are there .or re!ardin!the ;core< as more si!ni.icant than the ;periphery<

1& 9avid Mern-ach47arl Mar0: the 2e%ol#tions o 18 8 oliti"al Writings 4 vol " ? armondsworth% Pen!uin4 1+,3@ p 8(

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ssentially4 the ar!ument is that the ;core< principles o.socialism relate to the vital task o. posin! a socialist

alternative to capitalism4 while the ;peripheral<di..erences lar!ely arise .rom the de-ate over howsocialism can -e achieved ?-y means o. parliamentaryelections4 workers< councils4 van!uard parties and soon@ H. course4 one cannot pretend that the method o.achievin! socialism is an unimportant >uestion

Certainly4 the choice o. means has implications .or thenature o. the pro:ected end $evertheless4 in thecircumstances o. the twentieth century4 when socialismis widely misunderstood as #ocial 9emocracy and6eninism4 the prime responsi-ility o. socialists is toencoura!e wa!e*earners4 as they come into con.lict withcapital4 to see that a non*market alternative to capitalistproduction represents the only lastin! solution to theirpro-lems "n this re!ard4 all .ive currents o. non*marketsocialists have played a positive role Hn the other hand4precisely -ecause .or most o. this century mere hand.ulso. wa!e*earners have -een committed to non*marketsocialism4 the .ierce polemics over the means to achieve

socialism which non*market socialists have en!a!ed inhave -een lar!ely academic

Hne can illustrate the a-ove ar!ument -y takin!the Bordi!ists as an e ample and considerin! .urthertheir commitment to van!uardism As has already -eenmentioned4 with the e ception o. the Bordi!ists4 most

non*market socialists re:ect the idea that a van!uard canlead the wa!e*earners to socialism They interpret thema im o. the Mirst "nternational that ;the emancipationo. the workin! class must -e the act o. the workin! classitsel.< to mean that capitalism can only -e overthrown4

83




and that socialism can only -e achieved4 -y a ma:ority o.conscious socialists Hn the other hand4 the Bordi!ists

-elieve that a socialist ma:ority is unattaina-le undercapitalism They envisa!e the socialist revolution interms o. action -y a van!uard -ecause they insist thatonly in the chan!ed material conditions o. socialismcould the ma:ority -ecome socialists

#ome non*market socialists would see this as

su..icient reason .or denyin! that the Bordi!ists aresocialists owever4 " think it can -e shown that theBordi!ists< van!uardism is not crucially important in thepresent situation 6ike the other currents o. non*marketsocialists4 the Bordi!ists en!a!e in activity to challen!ecapitalist ideolo!y and to popularise socialist ideas9ependin! on the country and the cultural environmentin which they e ist4 wa!e*earners may stum-le acrossthe Bordi!ists or across one o. the other currents o.non*market socialism Just as with any other current o.non*market socialism4 wa!e*earners who make contact

with the Bordi!ists will .ind the e perience use.ul .or!ainin! a reco!nition o. what socialism !enuinely means

#imilarly4 they can !ain .rom the Bordi!ists anunderstandin! that capitalism is a sin!le4 uni.ied worldsystem4 which e ists in all countries and dominates theentire !lo-e 6ooked at in this way4 the >uestion o.

van!uardism has little si!ni.icance #nder present"ir"#mstan"es' Any wa!e*earner who encounters the

Bordi!ists and is impressed -y their theories is accepted aspart o. the van!uard $o-ody who a!rees is turned awayit is assumed that they are part o. the van!uard

The Bordi!ists< ima!e o. themselves as a van!uard isnot vitally important at present -ecause the >uestion o.

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van!uardism will ultimately -e settled -y the practicalactions o. wa!e*earners at the relevant time "t is up to the

wa!e*earners to carry out the socialist revolution and toprove the Bordi!ists wron! H. course4 i. the Bordi!istspersisted with their determination to act as a van!uardeven in the .ace o. a ma:ority o. conscious socialists4 thesituation would -e drastically di..erent .rom that whichcurrently pertains * and this would call .or a drastically

di..erent response #uppose that under the circumstances where a ma:ority o. conscious socialists were actuallyen!a!ed in trans.ormin! society to socialism4 theBordi!ists were to proclaim% ; ands o.. the socialistrevolutionU "t is our a..air /e do not reco!nise that you

workers are capa-le o. achievin! socialist consciousness <Clearly4 in such a situation4 additional principles to those

which have -een .ormulated to cover presentcircumstances would swi.tly -e !enerated4 and e>ually swi.tly ?anddeservedly@ the workers would sweep the Bordi!ists and allother would*-e leaders aside

"mplicit in the .ore!oin! discussion is the idea thatthe distinction -etween ;core< and ;periphery< is not

.i ed4 -ut re.lects the prevailin! circumstances "n thecurrent situation4 the prime responsi-ility o. socialists isto challen!e the economic mechanism and the set o.social relations which constitute capitalism -ydemonstratin! that society would -e or!aniseddi..erently in socialism The core principles o. socialism

which were .ormulated earlier are a re.lection o. thispriority4 in that they are principally concerned with the>uestion o. ?capitalist or socialist@ ends "n a di..erentsituation4 when the socialist revolution was imminent4the >uestion o. means ?how to e..ect the socialist

85




trans.ormation o. society@ would also demand ur!entattention Conse>uently4 the key principles o. socialism

would necessarily have to -e e tended in order toencompass the pressin! >uestions o. means as well asends As a result4 the -oundary -etween ;core< and;peripheral< >uestions would naturally alter4 and a moree ten sive set o. criteria .or distin!uishin! socialists .romnon*socialists would -e re>uired than at present

owever4 to anticipate this development4 and toconstruct arti.icially an e tended set o. socialistprinciples which encompass means as well as ends4 even

when the circumstances o. the socialist revolution lie inthe .uture and hence are speculative4 is to i!norematerial conditions and to construct a suprahistoricaltheory

Hne reason why the distinction -etween ;core< and;peripheral< areas o. their theory has not -een made -y thenon*market socialists is the tendency o. most currents toset themselves up as a minuscule !roup or ;party<4 which-oasts a detailed pro!ramme encompassin! every aspect o.socialist theory Dnder current conditions4 the !roup then

-ecomes a -esie!ed citadel which con.ronts not only thehostile capitalist world -ut also the ma:ority o. wa!e*earners4 whose ideas4 a-out socialism are the result o. theillusions spread -y #ocial democrats and 6eninists "n sucha situation4 the !roup -attles to maintain its doctrinalpurity in the .ace o. the constant threat o. -ein! swamped

-y the ideolo!y o. capitalism The very survival o. the!roup seems to depend on the !rim de.ence o. every dotand comma o. !roup doctrine4 and the " resultin!;-esie!ed citadel< mentality makes it di..icult to distin!uish

what is crucial in the !roup<s pro!ramme .rom what is

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pro-lems when it is .irst esta-lished $o dou-t4 the mess which capitalism has made o. the world will ensure that

there are ma:or pro-lems which a newly emer!ent socialistsociety will have to solve Net what the phrase;immediately -ein! replaced -y socialism< does imply isthat the solution o. these pro-lems -e>ueathed -ycapitalism will have to take place .rom the outset on asocialist -asis arious approaches which are popularly

misunderstood as ;transitional< can -e ruled out inadvance Mor e ample4 one could not have -its o. socialismtransplanted into still*.unctionin! capitalism4 any morethan elements o. capitalism could -e le.t in sit# withinnewly esta-lished socialism #till less could one le!itimatelydescri-e the doomed o..sprin! which would result .romsuch .ar*.etched attempts at social hy-ridisation as a;transitional society<

Hne .eature which capitalism and socialism havein common is their all*or*nothin! >uality4 their ina-ilityto coe ist in today<s hi!hly inte!rated world4 which canprovide an environment .or only one or other o. theserival !lo-al systems "n the circumstances o. the

twentieth century4 the means o. production must either.unction as capital throu!hout the world ? in which case

wa!e la-our and capitalism persist internationally@ orthey must -e commonly owned and democraticallycontrolled at a !lo-al level ?in which case they would -eused to produce wealth .or .ree4 worldwide

distri-ution@ $o hal.way house -etween these twostarkly opposed alternatives e ists4 and it is theimpossi-ility o. discoverin! any via-le ;transitional<structures which ensures that the chan!eover .rom

world capitalism to world socialism will have to take the

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.orm o. a short4 sharp rupture ?a revolution@4 rather thanan e tended process o. cumulative trans.ormation

ow4 then4 mi!ht a newly emer!ent socialist societysolve pro-lems4 such as shorta!e o. .ood4 which capitalismhas created The .irst point to make is that the pro-lem o.twentieth*century hun!er is a social pro-lem and not atechnical pro-lem Technically4 the means to .eed the

world<s population are within humankind<s reach4 -ut it is

capitalism<s priority o. production .or pro.it whichprevents plenti.ul conditions .rom -ein! actually realised#ocialism will remove the strait:acket which calculations o.pro.ita-ility impose on production4 so that a situation o.a-undance * where men4 women and children throu!houtthe world will -e a-le to take accordin! to their sel.*determined needs * will -e rapidly achieved

$evertheless4 accessi-le thou!h such a situation is4its achievement will re>uire time The time involved willcertainly -e nothin! like the relatively len!thy process

which 7ar envisa!ed in 1',( -e.ore ;all the sprin!s o.co*operative wealth .low more a-undantly< 1( $othin! ismore ridiculous today than to repeat the stale .ormulae

o. more than one hundred years a!o4 and hence toi!nore the immense developments in the techni>ues o.producin! wealth which capitalism has ?or4 moreaccurately4 the wa!e*earnin! wealth producers withincapitalism have@ -rou!ht a-out As .ar as the productiono. .ood is concerned4 we are talkin! o. at most a .ew

harvests -e.ore enou!h .ood * and more than enou!h *could -e produced .or every man4 woman and child tohave .ree access to whatever they re>uired ow mi!ht

1( arl 7ar and Mrederick n!els4 Sele"ted Wor!s 4 vol """ ?7oscow%Pro!ress4 1+,0@ p 1+

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socialist society or!anise itsel. durin! the intervenin!months or4 at most4 .ew years -e.ore actual plenty

would -e producedCertainly the answer is not -y constructin! a

;transitional society< sandwiched -etween capitalism andsocialism /hat will -e re>uired will -e temporarymeasures which are compati-le with4 and will lendstren!th to4 emer!ent socialism not the construction o.

a so*called ;transitional society< which would need to -edismantled -e.ore socialism could even -e institutedH-viously4 the men and women who have newlyesta-lished socialism will .irst turn to the ;milk lakes<and the ;-utter mountains< which capitalism hasaccumulated -ecause o. its ina-ility to sell suchcommodities pro.ita-ly on the world markets 7anynation*states also have strate!ic stocks o. vital supplies4desi!ned to provide some security a!ainst thedisruption o. supplies in the event o. war #ince theesta-lishment o. socialism will entail the immediatea-olition o. all markets4 nations and wars4 sources o.supply such as these will -e turned to socially use.ul

ends and made .reely availa-le The scale o. any shorta!es which could not -e

eliminated -y such stop*!ap measures is a matter o.speculation4 -ut let us assume that shorta!es would e ist.or a time -e.ore production on a socialist -asis could !et.ully under way and a-undance could -e attained ow

would socialist men and women handle such shorta!es "tis out o. the >uestion that they would make selective useo. the wa!es system or monetary distri-ution #uchmeasures would not -e ;transitional< -ut would instead!uarantee the continuation o. capitalism >ually

90




unthinka-le would -e any su!!estion that a machinery o.state mi!ht -e retained temporarily as a ;transitional<

apparatus .or en.orcin! a rationin! system The persistenceo. the state would si!ni.y that class divisions had not -eeneradicated $ewly emer!ent socialism4 stru!!lin! to solvethe pro-lems which it has inherited .rom capitalism4 willhave to meet any shorta!es -y relyin! on the very item itcan sa.ely -e assumed it will have in a-undance%

revolutionary enthusiasm"n the Criti9#e o) the :otha 6rogramme&7ar assertedthat ;5i!ht can never -e hi!her than the economicstructure o. society and its cultural developmentconditioned there-y < 18 /ith re!ard to the lon!*term.unctionin! o. socialist society4 he was a-solutely ri!ht

Any attempt to run socialism4 year a.ter year4 -ycompensatin! .or material shorta!es -y ideolo!icalappeals to revolutionary enthusiasm would -e -ound to.ail But thanks to the material advances -rou!ht a-out-y capitalism4 lon!*term shorta!es are not the pro-lems

with which socialism would now have to !rapple Thepro-lems which are likely to arise are those associated

with temporary short.alls prior to the attainment o.a-undance and it is precisely such a transient situation

which could -e ne!otiated -y relyin! on revolutionarysolidarity

"t will -e the revolutionary enthusiasm o. millions o.socialist men and women4 and their determination to make

a success o. the new society4 which will -rin! a-out thetrans.ormation o. the capitalist world in the .irst place4 asthey take whatever actions are necessary to -rin! themeans o. production under common ownership These

18 "-id4 p 1+

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-arrier o-structin! the path to socialism The idea o. a society which acts as a ;transitional<

sta!e -etween capitalism and socialism has lar!ely -eena-sent .rom the thinkin! o. the anarcho*communists4impossi-ilists and situationists4 -ut it has -eenentertained -y some council communists and theBordi!ists Mor e ample4 in 1+30 the roup o."nternational Communists o. olland ? "C@ -orrowed

some o. 7ar <s speculations in the Criti9#e o) the :otha6rogramme and envisa!ed a ;transitional society< -asedon e chan!e and la-our*time ca1culation 1, As .or theBordi!ists4 they have taken the view that the partyshould e ercise power a.ter the revolution andadminister a society which essentially would remaincapitalist .or a period until socialism could -e achieved

/e have seen the dire e..ects which result .rom the Trotskyist -elie. that 5ussia4 China and the other statecapitalist countries are ;transitional< ;workers< states<Council communist and Bordi!ist ideas have -een lessdama!in! -ecause4 unlike the Trotskyists4 these currentsdo not identi.y their notional ;transitional society< with

any e istin! state Net4 even so4 all notions o. a;transitional society< are -oth mistaken and .rau!ht withperil They are mistaken -ecause capitalism andsocialism ?as market and non*market societiesrespectively@ are totally incompati-le4 so that no

1, ;Temps de travail social moyen% -ase d<une production et d<unerepartition communiste<4 #upplement to+n ormations Correspondan"es3#%rieres 4 101 ?1+,1@ see also Anton Pannekoek4Wor!ers. Co#n"ils?Cam-rid!e4 7ass % 5oot and Branch4 1+,0@ Mor a criticale amination o. this area o. 7ar <s thou!ht4 see John Crump4 ,Contri*#tion to the Criti #e o Mar0?6ondon% #ocial5evolutionO#olidarity4 1+,(@

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;transitional< com-ination o. capitalist and socialistelements is possi-le They are perilous -ecause

entertainin! the notion o. a ;transitional society<inevita-ly results in the !oal o. socialism4 to a !reater orlesser e tent4 -ein! eclipsed "t is .or these reasons that" have ar!ued that all non*market socialists shouldre:ect the notion that a ;transitional society< will -einterposed -etween capitalism and socialism The

pro-lems con.rontin! humankind are too !rim to allowthe wa!e*earners o. the world to solve them -y;transitional< hal. measures Hnly the complete a-olitiono. the market4 classes4 the state and national .rontierso..ers hope .or the .uture

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7i liographyBra!ard4 Jean*Claude4 ,n +n%estigation o Mar0s Con"ept oComm#nism ?unpu-lished 9 Phil thesis4 H .ord4 1+'1@

Burnham4 James4The Managerial 2e%ol#tion ?6ondon%Pen!uin4 1+&(@

roup o. "nternational Communists ? "CO " @4r#ndprin;ipien 7omm#nisti"he <erteil#ng #nd rod#!tion

?Berlin% AAD94 1+30@ayek4 M A von et al 4Colle"ti%ist -"onomi" lanning: Criti"al

St#dies on the ossi*ilities o So"ialism ?6ondon% 5outled!e41+3(@autsky4 4The So"ial 2e%ol#tion ?Chica!o% err4 1+02@

7andel4 rnest4 Mar0ist -"onomi" Theory ?6ondon% 7erlin41+8'@7ans 9reams4 Mans /reams ,re Coming Tr#e ?7oscow%Pro!ress Pu-lishers4 1+88@7ar 4 arl4Capital 4 3 vols ?Chica!o% err4 1+1+@

VVVVV4=2es#lts o the +mmediate ro"ess o rod#"tion. = Appendi to 7ar 4 arl4 Capital4 vol " ? armondsworth%Pen!uin4 1+,+@7ises4 6udwi! von4 -"onomi" Cal"#lation in the So"ialistCommonwealth in ayek4 M A et al ?1+3(@$eurath4 Htto4 Wirts"ha tsplan #nd Nat#ralre"hn#ng ?Berlin%

6au-4 1+2(@$ove4 Alec4The -"onomi"s o 5easi*le So"ialism ?6ondon%

eor!e Allen Dnwin4 1+'3@Pannekoek4 Anton4Wor!ers Co#n"ils ?9etroit% 5oot and

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Branch4 1+,0@Philoren4 Money M#st o ?6ondon% J Phillips4 1+&3@

Pierson4 $ 4The ro*lem o <al#e in the So"ialist So"iety inayek4 M A et al ?1+3(@

#amuelson4 Paul4 -"onomi"s& an +ntrod#"tory ,nalysis 4 11th ed?$ew Nork% 7c raw* ill4 1+'0@#herman4 oward J 4The -"onomi"s o #re Comm#nism inSo%iet St#dies 4 ))""41?1+,0@

#tonier4 A / and a!ue4 9C4 , Te0t*oo! o -"onomi"Theory 4 (th ed ?6ondon% 6on!mans4 1+'0@ /allerstein4 "mmanuel4 The Capitalist World -"onomy?Cam-rid!e Dniversity Press41+,+@

/iles4 Peter4 The oliti"al -"onomy o Comm#nism ?H .ord%Blackwell4 1+82@

The Alternative to Capitalism - Adam Buick and John Crump

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