Some days back we posted on ZCom the provocative and in my opinion exemplary – due to the left’s absence of concern with vision – Reimagining Socialism piece run in the Nation by Bill Fletcher and Barbara Ehrenreich. It was the author’s clear intention, and also the stated hope of the Nation, that the piece would engender a "lively discussion" of the issues, both online and I think also in the pages of the magazine. In the words of the Nation: "The following essay will, we hope, kick off a spirited dialogue, with four replies in this issue and more to come here at TheNation.com." A very nice bonus, from my perspective, was that the original article specifically mentioned Parecon as one among three intriguing models they mentioned.
I wrote Bill and asked if I should reply despite my history of never getting anything published, or noticed, or reviewed, or even mentioned (until this piece) in the Nation. He replied, that yes, by all means reply thinking the odds were good they would run a response given that parecon is literally mentioned in the original essay. and he wanted my reactions. Around the same time, I got a note from Chomsky pointing me to the Nation article, in case I hadn’t seen it, saying that what Bill and Barbara did provided a good opening to interact, at last, in the venue. My own expectation was not that optimistic – I have to admit – but there was no problem with trying, in case I was wrong, so I asked Bill for an email address for the purpose, and to speed things up he very kindly sent me addresses for publisher Katrina vanden Hueval and for the editor directly in charge, Betsy Reed.
Lots of folks have asked me, since then, why I am not in the exchang. Well, the relevant immediate facts are that I sent two replies. One was quite long, and the other was more suited to their discussion format – which is to say much shorter. I asked if either was okay, if I needed to adapt them, etc. Both have been posted on ZCom:
Taking Up The Task is the longer reply: http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/20826
The shorter reply is attached as a comment on ZCom to the original Fletcher/Ehrenreich essay, and I include it in this blog, at the end.
Betsy Reed kindly replied to my email quite promptly letting me know that they would make my name, in the original article, a link to the long piece, which they did. However, they wouldn’t run the actual comment in the exchange as something the Nation was posting, publishing, etc. She said the problem was that they were over strapped editorially, both their print and their web folks. She also said she personally liked the long piece more, a very nice piece of news, and of course I do too – which is why I wish in exchanges publishers provided ample room. I wrote back and said, great, if you like the long piece, why not have me do an article, or an interview, or anything else for the Nation, about economic vision in general, or about parecon, parsoc, or whatever – I would be happy to do something, just let me know. I also reiterated that I would still like to see my response included in the growing exchange, not least because parecon was mentioned by Barbara and Bill as worth attending to, but much more so because unlike replies that commented on the state of the economy and the need for activism, my reply was actually trying to push the sought discussion forward. There was no further response from the Nation, however, other than posting more content, by other folks, most recently oddly including a piece taking a rather gratuitous swipe at parecon.
Finally, for those interested, here is the shorter comment I offered for possible inclusion in the reimagining socialism exchange. I leave it to readers to decide if the entries that have been posted on the Nation were superior – though, for an online discussion by serious people about serious content, one wonders why the norm isn’t the more the better…
Response to Reimagining Socialism
Ka patai a Ehrenreich raua ko Fletcher: "kei a matou he mahere [whakaritea]?" me te whakautu tika kaore matou, a ka hiahia matou ki te "tikanga whiriwhiri mo te whakaaro me aha."
E whakaae ana ahau. E hiahia ana tatou ki te matakite tahi hei whakahihiko i te tumanako, hei whakauru i nga kakano o te heke mai i tenei wa, me te whakamarama i te huarahi ki te waahi e hiahia ana tatou ki te huri. Anei te whakarāpopototanga o te tuhinga roa roa ake "Take Up The Task," e waatea ana i te paetukutuku ZNet.
Ko te kore o te karaehe hei whakaatu i ta tatou whainga ohaoha.
Ki te whai ohanga kore karaehe me whai waahi nga tangata katoa na runga i o raatau tuunga ohaoha ki te whai waahi, ki te whakamahi i nga kaha me te whakaemi moni. Me whakakorehia te mana motuhake o nga rawa whai hua, engari me pera ano te wehenga o nga mahi ka nui ake te awe o etahi kaihanga me te whiwhi moni nui atu i era atu kaihanga.
Na to ratou turanga i roto i te ohanga, roia, taote, miihini, kaiwhakahaere, aha atu, ka kohia nga korero, nga pukenga, te maia, te kaha, me te uru ki nga huarahi ki te awe i nga hua o ia ra e tika ana ki te whakahaere i a raatau ake mahi me te tautuhi, te hoahoa, te whakatau, me te whakahaere i nga mahi a nga kaimahi i raro nei. Ko enei mema o te karaehe kairuruku e mahi ana i raro i te whakapaipai, engari kei runga ake i nga kaimahi.
"Kei waho me te rangatira tawhito me te rangatira hou" kaore e mutu te whai rangatira. Ki te pupuri i te wehewehenga i waenga i te karaehe kairuruku me te karaehe mahi ka whakarite te ture o te karaehe kairuruku. Ka taea e tenei momo huringa te whakamutu i te whakapaipai, engari kaore tenei momo huringa e eke ki te kore karaehe. No reira, ko o tatou nekehanga me o tatou kaupapa me whakakore i te mana whakahaere o nga kaipanui ki runga i nga rawa whai hua, engari ko te mana whakahaere o nga kairuruku mo te whakamana i nga mahi. Inaa, koinei te mea tuatahi mo te whakahou i te hapori.
Beyond classlessness, we also ought to seek equity, solidarity, diversity, self-management, ecological balance, and economic efficiency.
Ko nga tangata katoa e kaha ana ki te mahi, mo nga take morare me nga take ohaoha, me utu mo te roanga, te kaha, me te whakapau kaha o ta raatau mahi tohapori.
Ko nga whanaungatanga ohaoha me whakaputa i te hononga hapori mahi tahi mo te awhina tahi, kaua nga tangata e rere ana tetahi ki tetahi i roto i te kopere a-iwi.
Ma te ohaoha e tuku ki ia tangata te whakahaere i a ia ano te korero mo nga whakatau i runga i te rahinga na te mea e pa ana aua whakatau ki a tatou.
Kaua te ohanga e akiaki i a tatou ki te whakangaro i to tatou kainga maori engari me whakaatu nga utu me nga painga o te hapori me te rauropi me nga painga o nga whiringa tautohetohe, me te kawe mai ki a tatou te mana whakahaere mo nga whiringa.
Maamaa ana, ko te mana motuhake o nga rawa whai hua, nga wehenga rangatōpū o nga mahi, nga whakatau o runga ki raro, nga maakete, me nga mahere matua e takahi ana i enei wawata katoa.
Mo nga kaimahi me nga kaihoko ki te awe i nga whakataunga i te mea e pa ana ki aua whakatau me whai kaunihera whakahaere whaiaro ma reira nga kaimahi me nga kaihoko ki te whakaputa me te tatau i o raatau hiahia.
Ko te tohatoha tika me utu nga kaimahi mo te roanga o te whakapau kaha, te kaha o te whakapau kaha, me te kaha o nga tikanga, me te whakapau kaha ki te taha hapori kia whai whakatenatena nga kaimahi ki te whakatutuki i nga hua.
Self-managed decisions require confident preparation, relevant capacity, and appropriate participation. There can’t be some actors monopolize empowering work while others are left disempowered and unable to manifest a will of their own. Balancing of jobs for empowerment eliminates the division between coordinators and workers by ensuring that all economic actors are enabled by their conditions to participate fully in self-management.
Me whakahaere te toha ma te mahi tahi me te whiriwhiringa mohio e tutuki ai nga hiahia o nga tangata katoa, me nga mahi, nga whakaaro, me nga hanganga ka kaha ake te arorau o nga kaunihera whakahaere whaiaro, nga huinga mahi taurite, me nga utu tika, kaua ki te takahi i ia kaunihera. Ki taku whakaaro, ko te tikanga tenei e kiia nei ko te whakamahere whai waahi.
Mena ka whakaae tatou ki nga ahuatanga penei i runga ake nei mo te tirohanga ohaoha, ko nga whakaritenga mo nga kaupapa kaiwhakatairanga o naianei, whakahaere, me nga nekehanga kia manawanui ki te whakauru i nga kakano o nga ra kei te heke mai i naianei, tae atu ki te whakahaere i a koe ano ki te whakatau kaupapa, ki nga huinga mahi taurite, te utu tika, me te whakarite mahere mahi tahi.
I runga i te rautaki, ka rite ki nga nekehanga e tohu ana i te wa kei te heke mai he wahine, he ahurea-rua, he mahi torangapu hoki kia kore ai e taupatupatu i roto i o raatau uara, kaore e kaha ki te whakahihiko i nga rohe pooti kanorau, kaore e kaha ki te whakakore i te whakahianga, me te ngoikore ki te mohio ki nga whanaungatanga o naianei. Ko nga nekehanga mo nga take ano e tohu ana i te heke mai karekau he karaehe, tae atu ki te whakauru i te whakahaerenga kaunihera whakahaere whaiaro, nga huinga mahi taurite, te utu tika, me te whakamahere whai waahi.
Ko te rapu i nga umanga ohaoha kua whakarerekehia me timata tatou ki te hanga i enei umanga i tenei wa engari me whawhai ano tatou mo nga huringa o nga umanga whakapaipai. Inaa, ko te huarahi ki te pai ake a meake nei ko te hikoi roa i roto i nga umanga o naianei, me te whawhai mo nga huringa hei whakapai ake i te oranga o te tangata i enei ra, ahakoa e kaha ana ratou ki te whakarite mo etahi atu huringa apopo.
I roto i nga pakanga e pa ana ki te moni whiwhi, nga ahuatanga o te waahi mahi, te whakatau, te tohatoha, nga mahi, te roanga o te ra mahi, me era atu waahanga o te oranga ohaoha, me maarama taatau korero ki nga uara mutunga. Me whakauru a tatou whakahaere i nga tikanga e rapu ana tatou mo nga ra kei mua. Kia ki tonu to tatou wairua i te tumanako, engari kia marama ano mo nga arai.
Ko te putea a ZNetwork na te atawhai o ana kaipānui.
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