The Logistical Problems with Anarchosocialism

[jordan179]

In Ursula K. Le Guin's famous novel The Dispossessed (1974), we see (perhaps intentionally, perhaps unintentionally) one flaw with anarchosocialism -- it handles logistical issues poorly, due to its refusal to engage in trading in the market to establish the relative values of resources. (Here's my old and perhaps unreasonably-hostile review of

Comments

[jordan179]

Glad to hear that. I actually enjoyed the book too, and it has occured to me that given the subtitle, "An Ambigious Utopia," that Le Guin may not have meant Anarres to be the Mary Suetopia that I believed she did on earlier readings. Either that, or she accepted some useful critique from an author a bit less enamored of anarcho-syndicalism (the essence of "Odonism" from the novel).

[luagha]

Only the rapists, apparently.

Some of them use condoms.

[dexeron]

Great writeup. Well said, and very true.

[gwendally]

Right this minute, as I read your blog, I'm supposed to be going to a place where a bunch of volunteers work to do some accounting for them.

They have not paid my last bill, even though I SEVERELY write down these bills to a level that barely makes sense for me to even work at.

The last two times I showed up when scheduled they were not there to open the doors when I arrived at the agreed-upon time.

Then they had a volunteer come in to use the computer I was supposed to be using.

In short, they're fuck-ups. I have PLENTY of accounting work. I don't need to go work for fuck-ups who don't pay me.

So I blew them off this morning and am reading LJ instead and listening to people marvel about how badly they could use accountants.

[polaris93]

A perfect example of the principles Jordan describes here. Without rewards/incentives for excellence at work and in goods produced, the results will be totally screwed.

[shockwave77598]

I find it puzzling how you see a group of people demanding only a more level playing field rather than the banks being exempt from the laws of Business (aka bailouts), and you conclude they are all anarchists and socialists. Or is that right of Freedom of speech and Freedom of assembly things we give lip service to, but aren't expected to actually have?

The banks drove this country to near collapse with their unregulated greed. And when that wasn't enough, they took our taxmoney. And they want to keep on doing business as usual and keep screwing Americans as they have been for years. And ordinary Americans are screaming enough all across the nation. Americans as red blooded and nation-loving as you and I who are fed up with the Zaibatsus crapping on this country and its citizens.

You do them a grave disservice to call them all "Socialists" for demanding accountability on the part of these unelected CEOs who think they run the country and can do whatever they like without consequence.

[gothelittle]

He's not calling them this based on what their message is to the press on on their little signboards.

He's calling them this, rightly so, based on the little mini-government they've got set up in their mini-country in Zucotti Park.

[ford_prefect42]

There's a reason I call this the "Rorschach movement". Everyone seems to see what they want to see in it. You seem to want to see a bunch of people that want a level playing field and oppose bank bailouts. That isn't what is there. What is there is an inkblot.

There's a lot wrong with your second paragraph. Starting with "unregulated". The banking industry in the US is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the history of mankind. There was never any "deregulation". At all. Ever. There was some "dumbregulation", where strong protections against systemic risk were replaced by regulations intended to generate "social justice", but that's not the same thing at all. "Deregulation" would imply less regulation, and that never happened. Nor was it the banks that drove us to bankruptcy, that was the government, first in the creation of the mortgage bubble through fannie and freddie, second through massive deficit spending on social programs. It isn't the banks that created the national debt.

[madwriter]

>>There was some "dumbregulation", where strong protections against systemic risk were replaced by regulations intended to generate "social justice"<<

How exactly was the repeal of Glass-Steagall meant to generate social justice?

>>It isn't the banks that created the national debt.<<

And it wasn't the government that created the massive speculation and derivatives packages that built a big needle to poke the debt bubble.

It was, however, the government that offered up the bailouts. I'm perfectly happy with the idea that we should've let capitalism run its course here and let those banks go under.