If communism was global

[Red Flag]

Some obscure questions I've been wondering about, maybee someone more learned on Marx's more advanced works could have some insight?

If communism became the way of the world.. say I was in santiago, in what is present day dominican republic.. and I wanted a computer which is manufactured in Hong Kong.. how would I get it? Or Would Distribution be according to what the local resources allow?

What about travel? If I wanted to travel from Santiago to Madrid, via plane, how would that occur? How is travel distributed according to need?

[redstar2000]

Well, as to your Hong Kong computer, I suppose you'd send a request for one (by email) and eventually your name would come up on their list and they'd ship you one.

As to plane travel, I think it's possible that it would be greatly reduced...in terms of resources, it's a very expensive and cumbersome way to move people (or anything else) from one place to another.

Thus you most likely would take a passenger ship. An additional possibility is the revival of the passenger dirigible...a perfectly safe way to travel if helium is used.

Your trip from Santiago (DR) to Madrid would take about 72 hours.

:redstar2000:

The Redstar2000 Papers (http://www.redstar2000papers.vze.com)
A site about communist ideas

[Red Flag]

Ok so trains and boats and such.. what of obscure regions, how would the inhabitants have the same access to travel?

what of personal jets and airplanes? who would get them? I guess they would be discontinued as well correct?

wouldnt air travel become much more effecient since the fabricated 'shortages' of fuel would be a thing of the past?

And back to boats.. what if 2 people from the DR want to go to Madrid in the next 3 months.. surley a boat wouldnt go out for the 2 of them?

Wouldnt most people emigrate to a desirable location, ones they cant afford to live in now, or politics keep them from going to.. like the bahamas.. who would want to live in alaska when your free to live in the tropics, and for free!

[dark fairy]

comrade redstar makes good points
but i think that all the stuff would be figured out by that time
you don't wake up to a communist state it takes years and years :unsure:

[Red Flag]

Obviously.. but when there is a theory, it needs to be challanged..

"Once communism is reached everything will fall in place" doesn't appease me

[redstar2000]

Well, I suspect there will be a "drift" of the population to the more benign parts of the planet...to some extent that is already happening.

And it's certainly possible that "isolated" parts of Earth might well be altogether abandoned...or very nearly so.

It's hard to predict what people will really "like" once the constraints of class society have been removed...not to mention the fact that people's personal preferences vary widely. (Crazy as it may seem to you and me, there are people who love Alaska. :blink: )

Personal aircraft are, I think, out of the question...as are yachts, mansions, and other such obscenities.

When moving people or goods on or near the Earth's surface, the equation is simple: X amount of energy needed to move Y kilograms of mass Z distance.

Powered aircraft suck by this criterion...far worse than any other form of transportation. The advantage of powered aircraft is T, time.

If someone needs a replacement heart, you have to get it there fast. There are not too many other circumstances where a few days or a few weeks make that much difference.

So there would still be jets...but for "emergency use only".

At least, that's what I would advocate.

:redstar2000:

The Redstar2000 Papers (http://www.redstar2000papers.vze.com)
A site about communist ideas

[God of Imperia]

What about personal movement? Shall we all have our own car? Shall we use public transport? It is possible for public transport to reach every part of any land?

[Hate Is Art]

public transport is fine if you aren't in a huge rush, contry to popular belief it does work in Britain.

[Per Aspera Ad Astra]

Would not the production of computers and most other things be more "shattered" to the whole world, if we got rid of capitalism?.... I mean is it not systematically concentrated to poor countries with cheap, unorganized labor available, to benefit the capitalists? In a communist world that would no longer happen.
Please correct me if you don't agree..

[peaccenicked]

The general principle for Marx is that distribution of goods shall be done in accordance to social need. Much can be drawn from this principle. The sociable distribution of labour throughout the world can be inferred.

[GUTB]

On the subject of how allocation would be determined, I would imagine that, shortly after the world revolution while world labor was still building up the full potential of world productivity, factory, shop, farm, the trade unions would, through elected delagates, accept the requirments of the State and hash out the requirments of one another.

So, for the example of wanting a computer in Santiago which is made in Hong Kong:

Several years before you placed your order, the First Ecenomic Development Congress was called to session, and delegates from every factory, shop, firm and trade union on Earth attended. While there, the Hong Kong Electronics Co-operative accept a production target for a variety of their products, conditioned by items of high importance (such as the making of integrated circuits to be used in the manufactre of medical devices going to the poorest parts of Earth) ranging down to items of low importance (consumer products) plus any agreed-upon surpluss production to fullfil the margin of error. These targets are hashed out amongst individual members of the Union of Electronics Manufacturers, which was handed the orders from the other Unions and the State (which represented the general interest of all mankind everywhere). Once hashed out, the Union ratifies the production targets and delivers them to the Congress.

Once the actual targets for production are confirmed, the Transportation and Commerce Union accepts the bill of requirments for transport, werehousing, etc, and they hash out wih their members who will meet what targets where and when and how. If they decide that they're going to require more trucks or boats or storage space than what they have, they will request these from the Congress, who will seek to ammend their targets and ratify new ones. This processes goes back and forth several times until everything is settled, and the Plan is implimented.

Afterwrads, you place the order for a computer from Honk Kong. Since the Hong Kong Electronics Co-operative had planned ahead of time to fullfil your future order (based on surveys and statstical analysis by your local council), they send you your're computer from their wherehouses. Since the Transportation and Commerce Union had planned ahead of time to anticipate the requirements of the Co-operative, a delivery truck comes to pick up your computer, loads it onto a ship, sails your computer across the Pacific and delivers it to the local wherehouses, waiting delivery or pickup -- all anticipated by the Congress several years before.

Now, in the case of a developing communist economy where there just isn't enough to fullfil all requirements, the State my prioritize based on the most crucial needs. For instance, poverty-striken peasants in Bangledesh need food, clean water, cothing and proper shelter a hell of a lot more than you need a computer. So, in the case that the Congress can't come up with enough resoruces to feed and cloth and care for the immediate needs of the most needy and fullfil the consumer desires of the comfortable at the same time -- the most needy get what they most need first.

In the future world of a fully developed communist society immersed in super-wealth, the need to plan will eventually disapear, as there will be so much productive force that all needs can be fullfilled easily.