Finding a way to merge a market economy into a pla

[the_sociallist]

I am a firm supporter of a sociallist society and Leni's idea of withering away. But his ideals were written a hundred year ago... I think we need to take the idea that he set forth and use it as a fondation for finding a better way to merge a market economy into a planned economy.

I think that competition is a good thing, but that resources need to be regulated by the state. In order for there to be competition there must be multiple companies competing in the same industry. This presents a problem, since it mirrors a capitalist economy and does not appear to be a sociallist one. But finding a way to merge the two will allow a sociallist economy to have the longevity that we have seen in market economies.

any suggestions?

[Marxist Napoleon]

Your plan is fatally flawed, because it is dependent on capitalist competition. We need to think of competition in an entirely new way.

For example, instead of making several competing factories, you split workers up into work brigades with specific goals, and the teams are given shares of the revenue based on their work. Every worker will receive his or her fair share, but this system encourages collective and group rewards, instead of individual rewards. This is by no means a universal solution, just a proposal that gets people thinking about socialist competition.

In capitalism, competition exists for one company to out-do or destroy another. In socialism, competition must be based on solidarity and all-around growth.

Think about sports, which are supposed to be for fun and exercise. American football, especially on the national level, is based on money, sexism, and violence. This represents capitalist competition. Then you have Ultimate Frisbee, which pretty much sums up socialist competition. You have two "opposing" teams, who adhere to the Spirit of the Game and do not use force.

That's why sports are such a vital part of the Cuban Revolution. A socialist transformation will lead to a change in every aspect of society, and the change in the nature of competition is clearly visible with Cuban sports. They treat their opponents with honor and dignity, and they remember the original purpose of athletics.

I think a better question to ask is, how do we replace competition with cooperation? I think the first step, which will be confined to the socialist transition period, will be to change the way we think about competition.

[MarxSchmarx]

In the global north, market economies are basically planned economies. First, a large segment of the population is employed in the public sector, which is basically a planned economy.

Second, much of the economy is controlled by massive corporations. Hence the planning is done undemocratically by general electric, mitsubishi, microsoft, Shell, Sony and citibank. And in fields like agriculture or transportation, there is already massive government planning re: harvest forecasts, manipulated demand, etc... Generally speaking, the individual companies all behave alike and use comparable information in these fields.

Not to mention that advertising creates a reliable "demand plan."

What we call "market" economies are de facto planned economies. It is basically a matter of who controls the planning.

[Spasiba]

Two questions, regarding markets:

How do you feel about the free market system? Can it work in a leftist sense, removed from capitalism, or does it require that?

Also, growing up hearing about how competition is great, its still hard to learn and understand some of these ideas. I know competition can lead to wanting to destroy the competitor and such, but from what I've been told, competition also makes people be more inventive, is this true, and is there a leftist response to this?

Oh, I guess a 3rd question, after reading the posts: How do you think popular sports today will be held in a leftist world?