Food Distribution in Socialist States

[orihara]

I was having a conversation with a Capitalist recently, and the topic of Socialism came up. She was saying "all Socialism is, is the government owning all the wealth. Even the most commonplace items, such as butter, you have to go through countless checkpoints and difficulties just to get them. Thousands have left all their belongings begins to escape that hell". I know this isn't true, but I don't feel I know how to properly refute this accusation. How is food distributed and how do you buy it in a Socialist state?


Any advise/thoughts, comments? Thank you for all your help comrades.

[Skyhilist]

Um well first of all, there's no such thing as a socialist state.

Second of all, the thing that she is describing - that is the replacing of a corporate marketplace with an even less inventive and innovative state-controlled marketplace has nothing to do with socialist ideals, and any group or state that has ever claimed otherwise is full of it.

[Fourth Internationalist]

Well, there is much truth to what she said in regards to most of the former Stalinist, nominally socialist states like in Eastern Europe. Though, having difficulty getting basic needs met for yourself and your family is also a real part of everyday life for many people living under traditional capitalism, and then even more so in the oppressed, imperialized countries. Of course, those states were set up by Stalinists through the suppression of workers' mass actions, newly created soviets, and any other attempt by the working class to take power. So in basic Marxist theory, which states that only the proletariat (the working class) can build their own state by their own actions, the Eastern European states couldn't even have been workers' states let alone have achieved socialism. Just as with the Stalinist Soviet Union, those Eastern European Stalinist states were capitalist states.

Like all other socially produced products, food will be distributed based on need. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."

[TheSocialistMetalhead]

The info on how food distribution was organised in countries like the USSR is pretty easy to find. There were stores where you could get a limited amount of foods, the variety depending on the period and area. Cuba has/had ration cards people can use to get some food for free.

At any rate, money had a very different function in these stalinist countries. If it no longer affects prices directly through the mechanism of supply and demand such as in free market capitalism and housing, electricity and heating are paid for by the state, it's pretty much been reduced to a glorified ration stamp.

A more interesting question would be: How SHOULD a socialist society organise food distribution?

[Brutus]

A more interesting question would be: How SHOULD a socialist society organise food distribution?

We're talking about post-scarcity here, so I see no reason why you couldn't just pop down to what would essentially be a free-access supermarket. I doubt there'd be any desire or need to horde. Food would be grown/produced scientifically (taking into account population of the area, etc- I'm not an expert) ensuring that there is enough and that no more work than necessary is needed.