[PEN-L:1197] New Additions to Socialist Planning Homepage.

1998-11-25 Thread Eric Sommer

Hi there,

Several new works have been added to the Stewards/Socialist Econonomic
Planning homepage at http://www.stewards.net/socplnh.htm 

* `On the Modes of Distribution' by Dr. Stuart Piddocke, (1998, Vancouver,
Canada), a 65 page essay.  Grounded in the work of Karl Polanyi and the
discipline of economic anthropology, but moving significantly beyond these
frameworks, this work contributes broad and clear conceptual guidelines for
understanding the general nature and logic of the three historically
emergent forms of economy and distribution: reciprocity, market, and
`re-distribution' (aptly renamed in this work as `centribution'.)  A great
strength of this work is in showing that reciprocity, market, and
centribution are frequently all
present in a given social institution or society, but to varying degrees and
in varying ways, depending  on the institution or society in question. 

* A Critical but Sympathetic review of Cockshott and Cottrell's work on
socialist planning and of the `Cyber Revolution' approach to planning by
Louis Prycot.

* Another essay by Prycot concerning Che Guevaras arguably important
contributions to Socialist Planning theory.

There are many other important links and documents at the site, and
additional material will be appearing on the page in coming weeks.

Stop by.

Cheers,
Eric


Free Web-based e-mail groups -- http://www.eGroups.com







New Addtions to Socialist Planning Homepage.

1998-11-25 Thread Eric Sommer

Hi there,

Several new works have been added to the Stewards/Socialist Econonomic
Planning homepage at http://www.stewards.net/socplnh.htm 

* `On the Modes of Distribution' by Stuart Piddocke, (1998, Vancouver,
Canada), a 65 page essay.  Grounded in the work of Karl Polanyi and the
discipline of economic anthropology, but moving significantly beyond these
frameworks, this work contributes broad and clear conceptual guidelines for
understanding the general nature and logic of the three historically
emergent forms of economy and distribution: reciprocity, market, and
`re-distribution' (aptly renamed in this work as `centribution'.)  A great
strength of this work is in showing that reciprocity, market, and
centribution are frequently all
present in a given social institution or society, but to varying degrees and
in varying ways, depending  on the institution or society in question. 

* A Critical but Sympathetic review of Cockshott and Cottrell's work on
socialist planning and of the `Cyber Revolution' approach to planning by
Louis Prycot.

* Another essay by Prycot concerning Che Guevaras arguably important
contributions to Socialist Planning theory.

Additional material will be appearing on the page in coming weeks.

Stop by.

Cheers,
Eric


Free Web-based e-mail groups -- http://www.eGroups.com








New `World Crisis' and `Socialist planning' webpages.

1998-11-08 Thread Eric Sommer

Hi there,

New sections devoted to `the world crisis' and `the theory and practice of
socialist planning' have been added to the Stewards Corporation movement
website at www.stewards.net .  The new mini-homepages for the two new
sections are at: www.stewards.net/socplnh.htm and
www.stewards.net/worldcrh.htm  The sections will be expanded over time, and
currently include a number of articles on these subjects, links to online
books and resources, and - very esoteric (hidden higher knowledge) in the
west, the current stance of the Russian communist party on mass organizing,
public action, and progressive political reform to deal with the Russian
crisis.  (Hint: It's more militant, and calls for greater mass action, than
has been presented here in the media.)

Also, the new socialist planning listserve, already described here, will
launch in about one week.  Please let us know if you would like to be
included.  All interested people are welcome.  

Finally, we have also established a new private listserve with several
programmers and economists, including the authors of `Towards a new
Socialism', a great work on socialist planning, for the purpose of exploring
collaboration in the development of new socialist planning software to
support democratically planned, ecologically-viable socialist or stewards
economies based on social ownership in the means of production.  If you are
an economist, programmer, or have relevant theoretical interests, please
email me with your pertinent background and interest in joining the
socialist planning software nexus.  

Cordially yours,
Eric Sommer






STEWARDS CORPORATION MOVEMENT - A NEW MOVEMENT OF POOR PEOPLE

1998-11-04 Thread Eric Sommer


RADICALLY DIFFERENT THAN OTHER APPROACHES.
USES `CONTRACTS OF CARE AND OBLIGATION'.
NO ONE SHOULD BE LEFT TO STRUGGLE ALONE!

STEWARDS Corporation Movement - A NEW MOVEMENT OF POOR PEOPLE
Website: http://www.stewards.net 
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

--
This is an introduction to the Stewards Corporation Movement.  If you want
to inform other individuals or listserves in your network about this
movement, please
forward this message to them.  Thanks, Eric
---

Hi there,


The Stewards Corporation Movement, also known as the Stewards Planetary
House, is a new just-being-born movement of working and non-working poor
people who seek to become
increasingly able to work together to care for one  another together with
the planet.  Our approach is highly inquiry-oriented and includes new
methods of social organization, economics, information  technology,
childcare, personal development, care of the earth, `co-obligation contracts
to work together to care for one another', and much  else.

Our approach could, in a nutshell, be summed up as: `Organize the planetary
underclass as the Stewards of the world!"

The SPH also combines the seven ways people have traditionally sought
liberation: The human potential movement, progressive social change,
religion or spirituality, ecology, feminism, progressive art, and science.

The Stewards Planetary House is open to all poor people, wherever they may
be on the planet. People are needed to help us to begin our program of
`organizing the poor people of the world - beginning with ourselves - to
work together as Stewards  to care for one another together with the world.

One element that strongly distinguishes our approach from others is that while 
supporting all progressive struggles for greater freedom, equality, and 
democracy, we place emphasis as well on the new principal of `co-
obligation', which entails the use of `Stewards Democratic contracts' through 
which we enter into formal and informal obligations which we undertake, 
outside the capitalist system, to work together to meet one anothers needs and 
to care for one another and the planet.  This is Stewardship.



 The URL for our homepage, where you can read about us, and connect with
us, is:
http://www.stewards.net

 Along with many other documents of interest to poor people and their
allies,  the website includes an important new book entitled:`The Stewards
Corporation: A System for Total Human Development'.

 This book sets out a model for a `corporation of a new type', which
includes  within itself: poor people's social unities called `Stewards
Houses' (these are  not primarily physical structures but social units of
cooperation which can be  used by anyone affiliated with a Stewards
Corporation including homeless  people); poor people's production systems
called `Stewards Services'; poor people's education systems called `Stewards
Guilds'; a poor people's  democratic management, ownership, and governance
system for the Stewards  corporation called a `Stewards Polis'; poor
people's use of advanced  information technology for communication,
collaboration, and coordination;  poor people's ownership and management of
land; and much more.

The book on the Stewards Corporation is accessible from the `Contents' page,
which is
accessible from the homepage. 

We are involved in attempting to establish the first functioning Stewards
Corporation here in Vancouver, British Columbia.  Please call email or call
us for further information.

In case you - like ourselves - dislike the oppressive and life-fragmenting
aspects of traditional business corporations, rest assured that the
`Stewards  Corporation' are corporations of a VERY different type!

If you are interested in entering into regular dialogue and communication
with  us regarding the theoretical and practical steps involved in
developing a  Stewards Corporation in your area, please e-mail us at:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] or call us.

If you want to inform other individuals or listserves in your network about
this movement, please forward this message to them.  

Cordially yours,
Solidarity,
Blessings of light,
Eric Sommer
coordinator of B.C. Stewards Corporation http://www.stewards.net
and The Chiapas Alert Network. http://www.stewards.net/chiapas/10.htm






THE HIDDEN HOLOCAUST AGAINST THE POOR

1998-11-04 Thread Eric Sommer

THE HIDDEN HOLOCAUST AGAINST THE POOR
by Eric Sommer
 
The advent of the World Crisis, with its' disturbing mix of economic,
ecological, and technical Y2000bug elements, , brings new importance to the
hidden holocaust against the poor which has been taking place 
for some time on a world-wide and accelerating scale. 

Over the past few decades massive numbers of middle class, working class,
and - in the Third World - peasant people have been driven into poverty,
where they have been increasingly threatened with annihilation. To see the
truth of these statements, we need only look about us. 

In the U.S., the richest country in the world, lower middle class and
working class standards of living have been falling for 20 years and now one
or two million - nobody seems to know the exact number - poor people have
actually been made homeless. 

The life-span for Russian men has dropped since the fall of the Soviet
Union, along with a radical increase in poverty, from 75 or so years to 59
years. 

Turning to the Third World, the picure is replete with statistics such as
2,000,000 homeless children in brazil, with 250,000 of them in the city of
Sao Paulo alone.  Even before the current crisis there were hundreds of
thousands of child prostitutes in southern Asia; now, under the impact of
economic desperation,  the numbers are increasing still further.  Similar
facts and figures, confirming a holocaust of unprecedented proportions
against the poor, including massive former members of the middle and working
classes who have been driven into poverty,  could be adduced for many other
areas of the 
world. 

One face of this new holocaust against the poor is that - like the original
Nazi holocaust - it includes a virulent hate campaign. The media,
government, and right-wing think tanks have in recent years sponsored a
sweeping propaganda attack against impoverished - and especially unemployed
- people. This campaign has sought to drill into the public consciousness
the notion that poor people are `shiftless', that they are infected with a
`culture of poverty' or `culture of dependency', that they are the `reason
for high taxes', that they are `deadbeats and criminals' and so forth. 

One consequence of this campaign has been to scapegoat poor people; they are
blamed for economic problems which actually have nothing to do with them.
Declining working class living standards, and growing social misery and
economic insecurity, stem in reality from the current workings of the global 
economy, from globalized competition, from the application of new
informational and robotic technologies, and from the extraction of super-
profits from the rest of the population by the upper 20% of society. But
government and media, using ideas spun in right-wing think tanks (such as re
labeling 
poverty as `dependency'), have sought to re-direct public frustration
towards the poor, with their supposed responsibility for high taxes and
other social difficulties. This demonizing and de-humanizing of 
the image of the poor has, moreover, served to harden public sentiment, so
that the current massive suffering - and mass deaths - of poor people can be
made acceptable. 

The reality of this new holocaust against poor people is, to some extent,
obscured by its outward differences from the original one. In the original
holocaust, for example, ordinary members of society who happened to be Jews,
gypsies, homosexuals, communists, or other targeted categories found 
themselves progressively publicly vilified, singled out for repressive
legislation, rounded up, worked to death, and then gassed. In the current
holocaust, growing numbers of ordinary people in the middle and 
working classes, and in the peasant class in the third world, find
themselves `inexplicably' cast down among the working and non-working poor,
where they become `the new Jews' of their society, and where life becomes a
daily struggle for adequate nutrition, housing, and dignity. 

Another difference which hides the similarities between the two holocausts
is the nature of the concentration camps which are used. The victims of the
original holocaust were interned in slave labour camps at places like Belsen
and Auschwitz. The concentration camp of the new holocaust is the street, 
where the ever-growing numbers of homeless must try to live, sleep, and care
for themselves. For those who still have homes, the new concentration camps
are the ever-worsening poverty ghettos and substandard life-support systems
and housing of the inner cities and shanty-towns. 

Finally, there is the difference in the methods of execution. Unlike the
original holocaust, the poor are not - for the most part - visibly murdered
by the state or the upper classes. Under a smoke screen of rhetoric about
the `necessary working of the economy' and `ending dependency' and `reliance on 
market forces', we are told we must simp

OVERDETERMINATION OF WORLD CRISIS

1998-11-01 Thread Eric Sommer

Hi there,

The Socialist planning listserve has elicited great interest from a variety
of people and organizations, and will therefore launch within the next two
weeks.  Meanwhile, 
I wanted to invite any interested members of this group to subscribe if you
wish to our world Crisis Listserve, which was founded when most of the world
still thought the crisis would be confined to Asia/Russia.  Just send me an
email if you want to join. Below is an article I wrote two months ago on the
crisis.  By the standards of PEN, the economic analysis in this article is
no doubt superficial, but I think its' emphasis on the three-fold character
of the crisis is worth emphasizing.

--
To subscribe to the World Crisis Listserve, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

---



Overdetermination of the World Economic Crisis
  by Eric Sommer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
   

The current world crisis, upon closer examination, can be seen to
be `overdetermined' in that it is actually resulting from three
inter-related processes.  These three processes are the `financial and
material production crisis' and its immediate causes; the ecological
despoilation crisis; and the Year 2000 computer bug crisis, which is proving
to be a far more important issue than most progressives yet realize. 

First, then, there is the `purely' economic crisis, which may well, at least in
large part, be the product of a `crisis of overproduction' resulting from
the productivity of today's information technology and robotic technologies
outstripping the ability of consumption based on the ability of workers
operating in a capitalist framework to buy back the products they create.
In additon to productivity advances, another contributer to this aspect of
the crisis is the trend to `free market globalization' such as the NAFTA
agreement which have removed import tarrifs which protected the industrial
activity and wage levels within the developed countries which allowed
workers in those countries to buy back some of their output.  There are also
issues of financial speculation and malfeasance in various countries, which
have fueled matters.

This financial crisis is, of course, `twinned' in many areas with
socio-political crises involving the instability of corrupt and
authoritarian governments operating in the interests of global capitalism,
such as the governments of Suharto in Indonesia (his cronies still have
power there), Yeltsin in Russia, and so forth.  

The `financial' aspect of the crisis is exemplified by massive losses in
financial markets worldwide; massive unemployment in Russia and South Asia;
and massive declines in prices and demand for commodities such as steel,
oil, copper, and wood, whch are heavily impacting resource export areas such
as Mexico, Chile, and rural
British Columbia, Canada (which is experiencing depression conditions), as
evidenced by the rapidly declining relative value of such currencies as the
Mexican Peso, the Canadian dollar, and the currecny of South African. 

A second element in the world crisis is an ecological crisis resulting from
untoward human intervention in the biosphere.  The possible starvation of up
to 80 million people in Indonesia in comming months, as predicted by both
the World Bank and the Indonesian government, is exacerbated by the
possibility of serious crop shortages resulting at least in part from
changed wheather patterns.  


In addition, the ecological element is also betokened by the almost
unprecedented number of major floods in diverse locales this year.  Forty
percent of Bengladesh was underwater at one point, and very serious
disruptions of eco-systems and social life have been produced by floods in
China, Chiapas Mexico, and elsewhere.

In Latin America the crisis is just beginning to take hold through 
sudden drops in currency values, plunging stock markets, and drastic reductions 
in world prices and demand for key exports such as Chilean copper, Mexican
steel, 
and so forth.  There, the impact of the El Nino current, thought by 
many ecologists and climatologists to have been greatly amplified by global
warming, 
is heavily damaging the harvest of fish in Peru, for example, where they are
an important economic factor.

A third element in the world crisis, which is already impacting stock
prices, is the Y2, or `year 2000' bug problem, involving the possibility of
massive computer 
and network system failures due to the inability to fully locate and replace
software dating sub-routines which only run up to 1999.  These subroutines
are burried
deeply inside massive numbers of corporate, governmental, hospital, and
other systems.  This problem, which is greatly underappreciated outside
computer industry c

Re: [PEN-L:769] RE: Socialist Planning Listserve (fwd)

1998-10-30 Thread Eric Sommer

Hi there,

Thanks for the `confession'.  I know the feeling; I'm too am an
`info-junkie'.  Anyway, I'll add you the growing list of prospective
participants.

Cheers,
Eric


>> Subject: [PEN-L:767] Socialist Planning Listserve (fwd)
>
>I'm already on too many lists, but I confess
>I'm interested too.
>
>Max Sawicky
>
>
>






Socialist Planning Listserve

1998-10-30 Thread Eric Sommer


Please forward this message to all relevant listserves, organizations, and
individuals.

--
Hi there,

With the arrival of the current world crisis (economic crisis, year200bug
crisis, ecological crisis), the issue of how to convert a capitalist economy
to a socialist economy or a social economy or a democratic economy or, as I
call it, a `Stewards economy', may again be on the historic agenda. I am
canvassing opinion on whether people are interested in participating in a
`socialist planning network (SPN)' which would initially consist of a
listserve, and accompanying shared electronic workspace. These 
facilities would be devoted to dialogue, exploration, and possible joint
projects regarding historical and contemporary theory and practice related
to socialist planning on the basis of socially owned and managed property in
the means of production.

The essential thrust of this listserve, and of related facilities, would not
simply 
be academic discussion but active preparation for the possibility of socialist 
transition.

If you would like to participate in this process, which would initially involve 
enrollment in a listserve, please let me know by email. if a minimum critical 
mass of people, say 20 or so, show interest, I will initiate the listserve and 
include you if you have sent me email to that effect.

Dialogue and exploration through the listserve might include but would not 
necessarily be limited to such topics as:

* The sharing of pertinent bibliographic references on socialist planning.  To 
wet your appetite, you might initially look at `Towards a New Socialism' by 
W. Paul Cockshott and Allin Cottrell. The introduction to this book is on-line 
and you can download the whole work in Adobe Postscript format from:  
www.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/socialism_book/  A shorter related work which 
also contains many of their ideas can be read in on-line in its entirety at: 
http://www.gn.apc.org/Reality/econ/mfs.htm  

* Planning experiences in the former socialist block(s). We need to learn from 
both the positive and negative lessons of this `vast historical experiment'.
The 
economic successes of the first soviet five year plans; the positive aspects of 
socialist block planning and management approaches; the relative absence of 
democratic participation in the planning and management of the socialist 
block economies; the role of `imperialist encirclement' and of participation in 
the arms race in `distorting' socialist block economic development and 
planning; the relative absence of ecological criteria from socialist block 
planning and the consequent widespread ecological destruction; and the 
general economic difficulties encountered in the socialist block economies in 
recent decades, would all be on the agenda.

* The problems of appropriation and transition from capitalim to socialist 
property and planning in an actual, `messy', `real-world' revolutionary or 
quasi-revolutionary setting.  These problems are illustrated by the experience 
of the soviet people in 1917-1921 in which, amidst war and civil war, huge 
numbers of ordinary workers and peasants participated in the appropriation 
and initial planning processes regarding the factories, mills, mines, and
fields 
in the Soviet revolution.  Just one example of what can be learned here is the 
little-known but essential role of `workers control' in safeguarding
production facilities such as factories, mines, and so forth from sabotage
by capitalists 
and capitalist managers in the chaotic transition period immediately after the 
revolution.

* The role of democracy in planning - i.e., What is the nature of democratic 
planning?  How is this achieved on local, regional, and national scales?

* The new prospects for democratic planning opened by use of contemporary 
technological means such as computer networks, automated electronic data 
interchange (edi), databases, groupware such as Lotus Notes, and similar 
facilities to facilitate `real-time socialist planning' and coordination
would also definitely have a place in these discussions.

* Discussions of the planning and related management procedures of 
contemporary business practice, such as `Hoshin planning', as these may be 
creatively applied in democratic socialist planning, would also be encouraged.

* Relatively smaller scale planning and management in cooperatives or 
intentional community settings might well also be of interest.

* Rehashing the `socialist calculation debate' and similar material ala Hayek 
would definitely be discouraged, as these subjects have been `done to death', 
and are often the focus of anti-socialist ideologues and academics with little 
knowledge or interest in the actual planning and management  of socialist 
economies.

If you would like to participate, please let me know.

Cordially,
Eric Sommer