Post-capitalism

Post-capitalism includes a number of proposals for a new economic system to replace capitalism, examine more advanced forms, or otherwise speculate on the fate of the current form of the social order. According to some Classical Marxist and some social evolutionary theories, post-capitalist societies may come about as a result of spontaneous evolution as capitalism becomes obsolete. Others propose models to intentionally replace capitalism. The most notable among them are socialism and anarchism.

Transition forces

In 1993, Peter Drucker outlined a possible evolution of capitalistic society in his book Post-Capitalist Society.[1] The book stated that knowledge, rather than capital, land, or labor, is the new basis of wealth. The classes of a fully post-capitalist society are expected to be divided into knowledge workers or service workers, in contrast to the capitalists and proletarians of a capitalist society. In the book, Drucker estimated the transformation to post-capitalism would be completed in 2010–2020.

Drucker also argued for rethinking the concept of intellectual property by creating a universal licensing system.[2] Consumers would subscribe, for a cost, and producers would assume that everything is reproduced and freely distributed through social networks.

In 2015, according to Paul Mason, the rise of income inequality, repeating cycles of unemployment and inflation, and capitalism’s contributions to global warming had led both economists and philosophers to begin seriously considering post-capitalistic societies. Post-capitalism is expected to arise with further advances in automation and information sharing – both of which cause production costs to approach zero.[3]

Technological drivers of post-capitalism

The emergence of post-capitalist dynamics were made possible through three major changes that were brought by the evolution and increasing sophistication of information technology. A first driver is a new dynamic that information technology brought to the workplace. Through increased connectivity the reachability of employees was improved and the lines between working hours and free time became blurred. [4] In addition to that, the technological era lead to an abundance of information that is easily retainable for everyone. While some industries only maintained to exist due to information scarcity and secrecy, the market become disrupted by the emergence of new competitors that were able to enter the market and benefitting from large sources with publicly available information. A result from this was the increasing acquisition activities since the early 2000's which tried to counter decreasing margins through consolidation and monopoly building. A third dynamic that emerged from new technology was crowd-funding and crowd-sourcing. Crowd-funding lead to a new kind financing alternative for corporations, which was often achieved for socially accepted innovations. Crowd-sourcing on the other hand challenged the traditional employee-employer relationship under capitalism as people started to voluntarily contribute to product developments with a distinctive skill like programming or designing. A major reward for people engaged in crowd-sourcing is not monetary compensation but the intrinsic reward of having a stake in an active development. [5]

Socialism

Socialism often implies public ownership of companies and centralized planning of the economy, though it is argued whether either are essential features. In his book PostCapitalism: A Guide to our Future, Paul Mason argues that centralized planning, even with the advanced technology of today, is unachievable.[3] Alternatively, Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel argue that central planning is key to creating a Participatory Economy.

For post-capitalism to come from a socialist standpoint, a political and cultural transformation would need to occur alongside the economic transformation.[6][7][8]

As Robin Hahnel states:[9]

Our defense strategy—and we will need one—must be centered on organizing for massive resistance and non-compliance since no elite, no matter how well armed, can rule unless we, the people, carry out their orders.

Helpful definitions involving socialism:

Participatory economy

In his book Of the People, By the People: The Case for a Participatory Economy, Robin Hahnel describes a post-capitalist economy called the participatory economy.[10] The book ends with the proposal of the Green New Deal, a package of policies that address climate change and financial crises.

The participatory economy focuses on the participation of all citizens through the creation of worker councils and consumer councils. Hahnel emphasizes the direct participation of worker and consumers, rather than appointing representatives. The councils are concerned with large-scale issues of production and consumption, and are broken into various bodies tasked with researching future development projects.

In a participatory economy economic rewards would be offered according to need, the amount of which would be determined democratically by the workers council. Hahnel also calls for “economic justice” by rewarding people for their effort and diligence rather than accomplishments or prior ownership. A worker’s effort is to be determined by their co-workers. Consumption rights are then rewarded according to the effort ratings. The worker has the choice to decide what they consume using their consumption rights. Hahnel does not address the idea of money, currency, or how consumption rights would be tracked.

Planning in a participatory economy is done through the councils. The process is horizontal across the committees, as opposed to vertical. All council members, the workers and consumers, participate directly in planning, unlike in Soviet-type economies and other democratic planning proposals in which planning is done by representatives. Planning is an iterative procedure, always being changed and improved upon, that is accomplished at the level of either work or consumption. All information and proposals are freely available to everyone, those inside and outside of the council, so that the social cost of each proposal can be determined and voted on. Long-term plans such as structuring public transportation, residential zones, and recreational areas, are to be proposed by delegates and approved by direct democracy (i.e. voting by the population).

Hahnel argues that a participatory economy will return empathy to our purchasing choices. Capitalism removes the knowledge of how and by whom a product was made: “When we eat a salad the market systematically deletes information about the migrant workers who picked it.”[11] By removing the human element from goods, consumers only consider their own satisfaction and need when consuming products. Introducing worker and consumer councils would reintroduce the knowledge of where, how, and by whom products were manufactured. A participatory economy is expected to also introduce more socially oriented goods, such as parks, clean air, and public health care, through the interaction of the two councils.

For those that call the participatory economy utopian, Albert and Hahnel counter:[11]

Are we being utopian? It is utopian to expect more from a system than it can possibly deliver. To expect equality and justice—or even rationality—from capitalism is utopian. To expect social solidarity from markets, or self-management from central planning, is equally utopian. To argue that competition can yield empathy or that authoritarianism can promote initiative or that keeping most people from decision making can employ human potential most fully: these are utopian fantasies without question. But to recognize human potentials and to seek to embody their development into a set of economic institutions and then to expect those institutions to encourage desirable outcomes is no more than reasonable theorizing. What is utopian is not planting new seeds but expecting flowers from dying weeds.

Anarchism

Other

See also

References

  1. ↑ Drucker, Peter F. (1993). Post-Capitalist Society. HarperInformation. ISBN 978-0-7506-0921-0.
  2. ↑ Schwartz, Peter (1 March 1993). "Post-Capitalist". WIRED. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 Mason, Paul (2015). PostCapitalism: A Guide to our Future. Allen Lane. ISBN 9781846147388.
  4. ↑ N. Korody. "Architecture after capitalism, in a world without work". Retrieved 25 Jun 2017.
  5. ↑ P. Mason. "Three dynamics leading to post-capitalism". Retrieved 25 Jun 2017.
  6. ↑ Albert, Michael; Hahnel, Robin (1978). Unorthodox Marxism: An Essay on Capitalism, Socialism, and Revolution. South End Press. ISBN 0896080048.
  7. ↑ Albert, Michael; Hahnel, Robin (1981). Socialism Today and Tomorrow. South End Press. ISBN 0896080773.
  8. ↑ Albert, Michael; Hahnel, Robin (1981). Marxism and Socialist Theory: Socialism in Theory and Practice. South End Press. ISBN 0896080765.
  9. ↑ Hahnel, Robin. "What Is To Be Done?". Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  10. ↑ Hahnel, Robert (2012). Of the People, By the People: The Case for a Participatory Economy. AK Press Distribution. ISBN 0983059764.
  11. 1 2 Albert, Michael; Hahnel, Robin. "Participatory Planning" (PDF). Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  12. ↑ Schweickart, David (2002). After Capitalism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. pp. 22–23. ISBN 0-7425-1299-1.
  13. ↑ Heinlein, Robert (2003). For Us, The Living. Scribner. p. 233. ISBN 0-7432-5998-X.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.