Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 20:17:51 +0100
From: Lew <Lew-AT-dialogues.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: M-I: Victory in Europe: To rejoice or not to rejoice? That is        the ...


In article <CMM.0.90.0.865756873.kbevans-AT-panix.com>, boddhisatva
<kbevans-AT-panix.com> writes

>       It seems to me that the current discussions on Europe and Soviet
>state capitalism are linked by this question:  Can the Left develop a new
>concept of ownership?  At present, there is the capitalist "I paid for it" 
>concept of ownership, opposed by nothing but the expanding of government
>apparatus into things that capitalists used to own.  What is lacking is a
>clear idea of ownership which gives the worker on the shop floor the same
>feeling of ownership that the shareholder has.  The mere expanding of the
>apparatus of government, which is the French and (at its extreme) Soviet
>style, has proved to be nothing more than a superposition of a welfare
>state over the top of capitalist property relations or, even worse, a
>throwback to a feudalist "Je suis l'etat" conception of the ruling party. 
>
>
>
>
>       In this light, both the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the
>imminent collapse of the European social-democrat movement are necessary
>and even welcome developments.  It is not easy to be part of a movement at
>what may well be its nadir, but that seems to be the truth.  The days of
>socialism by edict are gone.  Now we face the task of socialism by logic.
>How can we tell the worker on the shop floor: "You see that factory?  You
>own that factory now, sport, it's yours, and here's what that means...."?

A good question. I would argue in terms of effective democracy. Not
voting for politicians, but controlling the affairs that affect their
lives and the community and environment around them, or directly
delegating responsibility. Capitalism is a society of class ownership
and priviliged interests, with little or no meaningful democracy.
Socialism will be a society of common ownership (not state ownership)
and democratic control of the means of production with production solely
for use. Common ownership is not really a form of property ownership (in
fact it implies no ownership whatsoever, for if everybody owns
everything then nobody owns antything) but rather a social relationship
of equality regarding the control of the use of the means of production.
The actual forms of democratic control will be established by the
workers in the build up and establishment of socialism, and will no
doubt vary from place to place. The urgent task of socialists everywhere
is to make more socialists so that we can make a democratic change to a
democratic society viable.

-- 
Lew


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