jlou

joined 2 years ago
[–] jlou@mastodon.social 1 points 8 months ago

I'm not a socialist because I think markets are useful and haven't seen a planned economy proposal that seemed plausible. Worker co-ops and unions aren't socialism in 20th century sense because they are technically compatible with markets and private property.

An economic democracy is a market economy where all firms are worker co-ops, so I was speaking about managers in a worker co-op

@technology

[–] jlou@mastodon.social 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I did my part in trying to elect Harris.

What is the point in moderating if even after moderating Democrats are perceived as too left-wing?

@politicalmemes

[–] jlou@mastodon.social 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

*Perceived* leftward shift. The Democrats aren't that left wing in the first place. If democrats are going to be perceived as too left wing regardless of reality, they might as well take on some left-wing policies, so they can at least bribe voters with stuff that obviously and immediately makes things better for them like UBI.

If you're suggesting throw LGBTQ people under the bus, that is just wrong. What would we be fighting for at that point?

@politicalmemes

[–] jlou@mastodon.social 1 points 8 months ago (5 children)

Is there any evidence to support the claim that ultra-progressives caused Harris to lose?

@politicalmemes

[–] jlou@mastodon.social 196 points 8 months ago (16 children)

If the Republicans are going to call the Democrats communists and socialist regardless of how moderate a campaign Democrats run, Democrats might as well lean further left on economic policy. Appealing to the right does nothing because the right can appeal to the right better than the center-left can

@leftism

[–] jlou@mastodon.social 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

5/5

Creating or joining a worker coop is a much more actionable political step that someone could take then completely transforming the government. If the worker coop movement grows big enough, it could acquire the economic power to purchase it own lobbyists to influence the political process to hopefully pass those reforms

[–] jlou@mastodon.social 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

4/5

It is irrelevant that some workers don't want to be held responsible for the positive and negative results of their actions (the whole result of production). Responsibility can't be transferred even with consent. If an employer-employee cooperate to commit a crime, both are responsible. This argument is establishes an inalienable right i.e. a right that can't be given up or transferred even with consent like political voting rights today

[–] jlou@mastodon.social 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

3/5
The idea that the employer is production's whole result's just appropriator due to the risk they bear is tautological and circular reasoning. Risk, in this case, refers to bearing the liabilities for used-up inputs, which is production's whole result's negative component. It ignores the joint de facto responsibility of workers in the firm for using up inputs to produce. By the norm of legal and de facto responsibility matching, workers should get the whole result of production

[–] jlou@mastodon.social 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

2/5

The empirical evidence I have seen on worker coops and employee-owned companies seems to suggest that worker-run companies are slightly more productive.

I oppose socialism as I think markets are useful. I advocate economic democracy

In an economic democracy, the employer-employee contract is abolished, so workers automatically legally get voting rights over management upon joining a firm.

[–] jlou@mastodon.social 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

1/5

Worker coops can have managers. Managers' interests can be aligned with the long term interests of the firm by giving them non-voting preferred shares as part of their compensation. Managers will make sure workers they are managing perform. The difference is that these managers are ultimately accountable to the entire body of workers and are thus their delegates.

Profits/wages don't have to be divided equally among workers.

I'm going to use multiple toots since I'm on Mastodon

[–] jlou@mastodon.social 1 points 8 months ago (12 children)

Your reforms sound good, but aren't pragmatic. Today's system requires you to have lobbyists to push an agenda through. Who is going to fund the lobbyists to make these reforms happen.

Also, even in an ideal capitalism, there is still an injustice at the heart of the system. The employer-employee contract violates the tenet of legal and de facto responsibility matching. The workers are jointly de facto responsible for production, but employer is held solely legally responsible.

@technology

[–] jlou@mastodon.social 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Thanks for the feedback. Will try to keep that in mind when coming up with post titles

@solarpunk

 

Pro-market anti-capitalism

Many on the left conflate markets with capitalism and oppose both. This is a mistake. Markets freed from capitalism where every workers' inalienable right to worker democracy may be useful, and help avoid the calculation problem. That being said, I'm highly sympathetic to those that seek to explore what might be possible without markets as that area is under-explored. Ultimately, we should emphasize worker coops

Here is an non-nuanced meme

@politicalmemes

 

A moral argument for why all firms should be employee-owned - "Inalienable Right: Part 1 The Basic Argument"

https://www.ellerman.org/inalienable-rights-part-i-the-basic-argument/

@general

 

Partial Common Ownership: A New Model for Ownership - A new alternative to capitalist private property that addresses scarcity in the small

Partial Common Ownership (PCO) is a flexible template for reconfiguring property relations, which has inspired many of us at RadicalxChange because it opens the door to a different kind of conversation about capitalism.

https://www.radicalxchange.org/media/blog/pco-a-new-model-of-ownership/

@anarchism

 

Partial Common Ownership: A New Model for Ownership - A new alternative to capitalist private property

https://www.radicalxchange.org/media/blog/pco-a-new-model-of-ownership/

The main disagreement I have with the article is that voting rights over management of firms should lie exclusively with workers. Besides that, the alternative described should be interesting to anti-capitalists.

The revenue from partial common ownership could be allocated using non-market mechanisms in democratic communities

@leftism

 

"Inalienable Rights: Part I The Basic Argument" - All responsibility lies with workers

https://www.ellerman.org/inalienable-rights-part-i-the-basic-argument/

@socialism

 

AI, Guaranteed Income, and the “Which Way Is Up?” Problem Afflicting Our Elites

https://cepr.net/ai-guaranteed-income-and-the-which-way-is-up-problem-afflicting-our-elites/

@politics

 

Rethinking free and open source and its role in the movement against capitalism - "Copyfarleft and Copyjustright"

https://www.metamute.org/editorial/articles/copyfarleft-and-copyjustright

This is an interesting paper and something like this should be explored. Although, I would shift the anti-capitalist analysis to the labor theory of property and shift some of the critique of property to employment contracts.

@socialism

 

Capital Has No Borders—Why Should We?

Precarious immigration status creates an exploitable labor force, allowing bosses to drive down wages for everyone. Inside the labor case for open borders:

https://inthesetimes.com/article/capital-open-borders-immigration-labor-exploitation-migrant-crisis-urban-citizenship

@politics

 

The Problems with Money and Without Money, and Communal Currencies and Vouchers - "Plural Money, Socially-Provided Goods, and the Principal-Agent Problem"

https://www.radicalxchange.org/media/blog/plural-money-socially-provided-goods-and-the-principal-agent-problem/

@leftism

 

"Inalienable Rights: Part I The Basic Argument" - How personal responsibility, contra-capitalists, actually implies anti-capitalism

https://www.ellerman.org/inalienable-rights-part-i-the-basic-argument/

@libertyhub

 

Tax the land

One radical idea to solve America’s housing crisis.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22951092/land-tax-housing-crisis

@socialism

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