Investments in Anarchist society?

[cyu]

What are your thoughts on investments in anarchist society? Say universal employment was already achieved and everyone works in a democratic workplace. One day, someone discovers a way to make use of a previously useless mineral. How will access to the mineral be decided among the people that are interested? First come, first served? Will there be a vote among all the people interested in using it? A vote among the community members that live near the mineral?

Say the first question is solved, and there is some decision over how access to the mineral is decided. The next step: how will the people granted access get the equipment to extract it? Will they have to pay out of their pockets? Will there be grants or loans given to them based on a vote of the people? Which people?

[Sickle of Justice]

i'd say it'd work on a need basis, so depending on what the mineral was used for it would go to different people. if it was for, say, construction, the community with the greatest homelessness. but all people would get a share

[Raúl Duke]

???

Investmenst in a Anarchist Society?? :blink:

I though investments were related to Capitalist Society. :wacko:


How will access to the mineral be decided among the people that are interested?

Well....the mineral will belong to the commune as a whole. So the commune local asemblies make some decisions about it and create a collective/worker's council that would be do the task of extracting this material. People could either apply for the job or we would use a volunteer force (which randomly selects people in the volunteer pool to do many jobs that are understaffed/unwanted).

Than this mineral would be avialable for all, but of course mostly people who need the mineral (for construction, etc) would be most interested in getting it than just some guy.


how will the people granted access get the equipment to extract it?

I don't think there is money in Communism. In a moneyless one you just get the equipment society provides for you that you would use to provide society that new useful mineral. "From each according their abilities, to each according their needs."

In a Socialist society where there is money....hmm....well they would have to pay it out of their pockets or the commune could give them a grant/loan/etc so to get the money. However...I have a feeling that if there were money/LTVs this kind of situation might cause problems (I might be wrong...).

[Tower of Bebel]

I though investments were related to Capitalist Society.

Not at all. Where there's money, there's investment. Even the middle ages and ancient Greece knew what investment were, but there wasn't much of investment as in capitalist society.

[Enragé]

en una sociedad anarquista no hay dinero

[Raúl Duke]

Where there's money, there's investment.

Aqui esta la verdad:


en una sociedad anarquista no hay dinero


QFT

P.S. Translation: In an anarchist society there is no money.

So, the opposite applies, if there's no money, there's no investments.

[cyu]

Well, by "investment," I wasn't referring to capital investment in which the investor expects a return on investment. I was asking about things like equipment needed to extract the mineral, job training, and other organizational costs. Some resources will have to be redistributed to cover making use of the mineral, before anything can be produced. There will also have to be a decision about whether it's worth using this mineral or if all the effort is not worth it, and to just stick with other raw materials.

How will the decision be made whether to provide equipment or to just not extract the mineral at all? At the commune level? How big is a commune? What if people from other areas want to come here to extract the mineral? Do they need approval from the locals? Do they just become part of the commune, by virtue of them traveling here from other places, so they get a vote as well?

[Raúl Duke]

How will the decision be made whether to provide equipment or to just not extract the mineral at all? At the commune level? How big is a commune? What if people from other areas want to come here to extract the mineral? Do they need approval from the locals? Do they just become part of the commune, by virtue of them traveling here from other places, so they get a vote as well?

It would be at first done at the local levels.

But if the other communes want it, they could bring the issue up either in a federation regional meeting/assembly. Or the other commune can send an envoy to discuss with the commune that has the mineral.

In the end, the commune that has the mineral makes the decision about it. If they don't want to mine it, give some to the other communes, etc than they aren't force to.

I suppose in the last part (of what I quoted) you mean people from other communes would travel to the commune with the mineral so to influence the vote. I think they might be able to influence it in a very minor degree.

[cyu]

I think there should be need-based access. That is, if some people outside the commune live in poorer conditions than those in the commune, then they should have priority access.

But if everyone already has relatively equal quality of life, then I think it's up in the air. How will membership in a commune be decided? You can't just show up and say you want to join the commune? Will there be a probationary period or something before you become a voting member?

[Raúl Duke]

I think there should be need-based access. That is, if some people outside the commune live in poorer conditions than those in the commune, then they should have priority access.


hmm..

let's say they're are collectives outside the commune (like agricultural collectives, etc) that are affiliated to the commune with the mineral. Since they're affiliated they have a say in commune affaris. So if they needed it they can argue there case and vote for the mineral's extraction. If they are unaffiliated, than they would have to affiliate themselves to the commune in question or, like I mentioned with the case of other communes, send an envoy to argue the case to the mineral-holding commune in which they would decided whether they would extract it and in what scale and later decide if they should trade/distribute to this collective (or any other collective/comune for that matter)

I doubt that there would be many cases that commune's held a needed mineral unless there is a real important reason behind it.


But if everyone already has relatively equal quality of life, then I think it's up in the air.

Are you saying there is going to be money/LTVs/etc?

There are differing views on what an anarchist society's economy would be like. I prefer money-less gift system or some kind of non-accumulative credit system.

Unless you mean this quality of life in different non-money term...


How will membership in a commune be decided? You can't just show up and say you want to join the commune? Will there be a probationary period or something before you become a voting member?

Why not?

Let's say that a commune wants to sent a lot of people to the mineral-holding commune so to influence the vote on what to do with the mineral. In practice, I think it would be difficult and would only influence the vote by a small margin.

Unless the mineral-holding commune is small...than..maybe.

I suppose if the commune(s) wanted to, they could place a probation period.

These are my opinions; there are many solutions/decisions, etc that could happen due to the democratic nature of the communes. People will bring up there own ideas and discuss them.

[Janus]

How will the decision be made whether to provide equipment or to just not extract the mineral at all?
By whomever the decision would affect.


At the commune level? How big is a commune?
For statistical reasons, communes would probably be roughly equal to municipalities,etc. in order for purposes of decentralization and to avoid any need for bureaucratic management.


What if people from other areas want to come here to extract the mineral? Do they need approval from the locals? Do they just become part of the commune, by virtue of them traveling here from other places, so they get a vote as well?
In that case, then there would probably be negotiations between the commune and any other areas that need the resource. There's no reason to surreptiously infiltrate another commune in order to influence the decision.