[p2p-research] Short Circuit Production - Eliminating the Exchange of Goods through Property Ownership. (was: The "Free Market" requires scarcity)

[Samuel Rose]

On Sat, May 1, 2010 at 12:46 PM, Patrick Anderson <agnucius at gmail.com> wrote:
> Kevin Carson wrote:
>
>> I don't think there's any confusion about the fact that people in
>> business *want* to make money.
>
> That is very unfortunate.
>
> We won't fix this until we begin to make businesses for the purpose of
> making products, not for money.  Money is not value in itself, it only
> 'points' to value.
>
>


I actually argue here
http://forwardfound.org/blog/?q=comparing-business-development-paradigms
to go one step further and make business "people centered" instead of
product centered. So, business is about solving the problems of
people, putting people in control. If that means creating a product,
great. If it means sponsoring discussion and exploration of needs of
participants, this is worth it, too.

What I propose is also not business for money. It is business for people.


>> Destroying product in order to reduce supply and drive up the
> price is just great
>
> Poverty is the *difference* between Price and Wage.
>
> Attempting to fix the problem by increasing both will get us nowhere.
>
> Most  people think Workers need a higher Wage and assume nothing can
> be done about lowering Price.
>
> But if the Worker were a co-owner in the Means of Production of that
> which he *Consumes*, then Price would be as low as possible - Price
> would *equal* Cost because he wouldn't buy the Product, but would own
> it already as a "side effect" of his ownership in the Sources.
>
> When a Consumer of Apples owns the Tree, he might hire someone to pick
> that fruit, and must pay all other Costs as well, but does not even
> have a chance to pay Profit because the Exchange of those Goods does
> not even occur when they are already the property of the person who
> needs them.
>

This is exactly what we are doing in Localized Food Systems work now.
Participants have the option of using food production for their own
food needs, or selling the output as they see fit.


>
>>  How would that change if customers owned the sweatshops?
>
> We must support those Workers "from below" by helping them also own
> the Sources of that which they Consume.
>

I agree with this. We've discussed many times that it is possible now
to create a company that does exactly this. Community Supported
Agriculture comes close (community does not own property, but does
co-own production)


>
>> Isn't it just as much in the interest of
>> consumers to get workers to work for as little as possible?
>
> This is a good point within the traditional mindset of protecting
> Workers by propping-up Wages.
>
>
> But let's look at this from the other direction:
>
> Let's assume Consumer Ownership is a bad idea.
>
> Now, what will we do to protect Workers if Consumers begin organizing
> and Owning the Means of Production as i have described?
>
> Since there will be no selling at the end of the season (the owner of
> a fruit tree owns the fruit already) there will be no Profit for the
> Workers to claim they should deserve.
>
> Profit will never even 'happen'  in this "short circuit" scenario
> because the product will already be in the hands of those that will
> finally use it.  This means Price will be at the minimum it can ever
> be - which is exactly the real Costs of production and Profit will be
> 'undefined'.
>
> Nor will the Workers be able to prop-up Wages since they do not have
> ownership in the orchard beyond that which they need for their own
> Consumption, and so cannot keep other workers from under-bidding for
> that job.
>
> So the only safety I can see for the Workers is to protect their
> ability to Consume by helping them co-own their own Means of
> Production that will supply them with the goods they need.
>
> This will also 'protect' us from the 'dangers' of automation and
> robotics, and all other forms of abundance.
>
>
> Patrick Anderson
> Social Sufficiency Coalition
> http://SourceFreedom.BlogSpot.com
>
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-- 
-- 
Sam Rose
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"The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human
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