Envisioning Socialist Society

What would a socialist economic system look like? Here's a possible vision.

A key aspect of such a society would be that workers exercise control over what they produce and how that product is used.

In capitalism, you pretty much take the jobs you can get. The kind of jobs people have access to will very much depend on their background and class. Did they have access to good schools, training and qualifications, do they have connections to the industry, etc.

Under socialism, people will have more choice of what to do. They will have access to the same high level of education and training as anyone else. Their chosen profession will be based on their natural talents and their preferences.

Furthermore, workplaces will be democratic, meaning that all workers will have a say in major decisions such as how work is done, how the fruits of work are allocated and how the workplace is run. This is in stark contrast to the authoritarian model of capitalist businesses, where the business owner has the final say and can hire and fire people as they see fit.

Socialist workplaces won't be mere "money making machines" which obey the laws of the market. They will have the purpose of providing people with useful things, things they want or need. Even if what people want or need isn't "profitable". For example people may want libraries rather than just book shops, but in a cutthroat capitalist market libraries may not be profitable enough to justify their existence.

In a socialist society that doesn't matter. We have the labour and resources to create things that enrich people's lives, as libraries do. We can publicly fund and run what people need: education, health (human development) and infrastructure including transport, communication and energy (development of nature). Manufacturing and agriculture can be controlled and directed to a definite social plan. Land and natural resources, as well as machinery and technology that isn't used can and should be expropriated in order to produce useful things. Everyone who wants a job should get one; full employment should be maintained.

But what about consumer goods, retail and the like? Are we going to get state produced shoes, art or newspapers? Some goods and services are better produced on a small scale, but even here businesses and organisations need money to start, and resources. Based on how well particular industries or businesses are at clearing their products, more or less resources will be allocated to them.

In a socialist society money will serve a different purpose. The allocation of productive resources won't be based on how much money businesses have to bid for them, but how productive and useful that business is. People will still "buy" consumer goods which shops will "sell", but this money will be like a voucher, handed out to workers based on the hours they work and recollected when they buy products. It will not circulate and will not be used to invest, instead it will be used by the state as a way of gathering information about consumer behaviour.

As the economy becomes more productive, because land, housing and technology that was going unused in a profit-directed society is utilised to the fullest under socialism, because full employment is maintained, and because the need to make profit is eliminated, it will take less time to produce useful products. This will mean people can work less while maintaining the same standard of living. People will have more free time and the necessities of life will become cheaper. Over time, whole species of products could be decommodified, until eventually money, the state and work as we know it is abolished.