Some Ideas on Socialism [View all]

[Powers Hapgood]

Last edited Wed Feb 17, 2016, 03:36 PM - Edit history (1)

Having been a "democratic socialist" since 1972 when I first read Michael Harrington's watershed "Socialism, " I have often been pulled into discussions of what "socialism" really is. More often than not, the discussion usually degenerates into some argument with a conservative about "government vs. the private sector" or "the individual vs. the state." Frankly, such arguments are so skew from what socialism really is that they amount to little more than disinformation. So, here are my thoughts.

First and foremost, socialism is about the emancipation of the working class -- and by "working class," I mean those whose only "capital" is their own ability to labor. And by "emancipation" I mean the ability of people in the working class to freely navigate through the social fabric of the society they live in. In that regard, I think we need to recognize that this means a major expansion of free time for everyone. Consequently, I think the most critical issue for socialists to pursue is the reduction of working time -- a much shorter work week. This, Marx and Engels noted in Volume III of Das Kapital, is the prerequisite for "the realm of true freedom."

Second, that private ownership of the means of production gives way to public ownership is a given of socialist thought and politics. But, is that ownership necessarily "ownership by the state"? No. I don't believe so. Capitalist society, as we have known it, encompasses a proliferation of forms of ownership, private and public. Since in a socialist society the dialectic of the individual and the group will not magically disappear (although it will radically change, and hopefully dispense with the inherent capitalist contradictions), I think that we can assume that a truly socialist arrangement will have to include various types of ownership, with particular emphasis on public ownership. I think the common thread will be incremental construction of an economic commons to replace the market. Forms of worker and state ownership should aim to build a commons to allow all individuals free access to the products of their social labor, and the roles they can play in social production. I'll leave the discussion open for comment so as to stay within 3 paragraphs.