http://projectquestion.org/?page_id=61
http://projectquestion.org/?page_id=73
http://projectquestion.org/?page_id=87
Intro Narration:
And voila, we just got rid of capitalism. Capitalists, by definition, are the owners of capital, the owners of productive property. If you eliminate the ownership of productive property, you eliminate capitalists. No more capitalists, no more capitalism.
This of course doesn’t mean that productive property goes to waste. Just because productive property can’t be personally owned doesn’t mean that we do nothing with it.
Productive property can still be used to provide the things we need and want. It’s just that the power to make those decisions is no longer a matter of who possesses a particular receipt, deed, or the right piece of paper. Instead, we allow for a more democratic decision-making process, one that upholds the values of equity, solidarity, self management, and diversity.
In other words, we answer our next basic food group question: “Who calls the shots?” If there are no individual owners of productive property, then who calls the shots as it pertains to the use of productive property?
The answer to which is actually our first main ingredient, our first economic institution: Worker and Consumer Councils.
Instead of some grand food chain of money and power dictating the use of resources, PARECON allows ordinary people to deliberate in relatively small councils in order to decide what is best for their community.
CHORUS:
when there’s power to the people, baby, who calls the shots / worker and consumer councils we call the shots / who calls the shots who calls the shots / worker and consumer councils we call the shots / (repeat)
Verse One:
In a PARECON services and goods / ain’t figured at the top, but the level of neighborhoods / through councils – basically just democratic groups / where every member has a say and the right to choose / according to the impact decisions have on them / and if there ain’t no impact, then your voice ain’t in it / we start with groups the size of maybe 20 families / with each council part of a bigger community / and the larger council represents the councils within / when choices in one affect more than just their members
Narration: so wait wait slow down let me get this straight / councils within councils, how is that not a food chain?
well, check it, just think of councils like birds in a nest / and all the little nests are part of a bigger nest / and the bigger nest is part of an even bigger one / and so on and so on and so on / that way, power don’t start at the top and rain down / but at the same nest level, there’s enough to go around / it ain’t about – who’s on top of who’s on top of who / the only power you got is to decide for you / and your nest, no excess rule or control / so we get what’s best for the people as a whole / from food and shelter to toys and clothes / to libraries, fire departments, bridges, and roads / and all the birds deliberate till there’s agreement in the nest / then each council decides their own budget request / made up of both personal and collective orders / limited to what the community can afford for / the work each and all members are willing to give / so it’s equal to the worth of the goods they want to get / and that’s it – no need for extra authority / no need for the input of a powerful minority / it’s for y’all to choose what you can or can’t consume / ’cause who better to decide what’s good for you than you
CHORUS:
when there’s power to the people, baby, who calls the shots / worker and consumer councils we call the shots / who calls the shots who calls the shots / worker and consumer councils we call the shots / (repeat)
Verse Two:
And next we go to workers in the workplace / forming councils to address the challenges they face / so all the day to day, week to week routine plans / are held by everyone – not in just a few hands / and the future’s decided by who it affects / out in the open so the rest of us can keep it in check / and no it ain’t a perfect world, and everyone ain’t a saint / full agreement if we can get it – close enough if we can’t / with proportionate vote according to impact / where the consequence you cause is the consequence you get back / with real democracy – power don’t come first / and priority goes with those who fair the worst
Narration: yeah, but who runs the show if there’s no owners or bosses / who gets the credit – who takes the losses
well baby that’s us, that’s what self management is / we take control of our lives when we control the business / the same decisions that was made at the top before / get made through agreement on the council floor / now that don’t mean ain’t no power no more / you still got authority in what you was hired on for / it just means beyond your specialty you ain’t got / no more juice than the next worker to call the shots / ’cause when there’s too much distance between you and your decisions / you ain’t as competent to comment on other’s conditions / that’s why there ain’t a person rocking this record who ain’t thought / I could do a better job than them clowns at the top
CHORUS:
when there’s power to the people, baby, who calls the shots / worker and consumer councils we call the shots / who calls the shots who calls the shots / worker and consumer councils we call the shots / (repeat)
Verse Three:
Imagine what power to the people really looks like / where ain’t just one MC, and ain’t just one mic / when no person or group is any more powerful / there’s just the power of worker and consumer councils / ain’t no leader stealing all the glory / you the hero of your own story / no need for a savior to save the day / when everybody getting theirs through a fair say / different voices being heard, ideas being stirred / deliberation and creation in a council, we’d prefer / a day when the bargaining powers that be – don’t ignore us / and outside pressures ain’t making our choices for us / that’s why we getting rid the whole food chain / and a school system that be washing our brains / nobody tell us our minds, we making up our own / and ain’t no daddy to elect, ’cause cousin we grown / we ain’t children we can work it out ourselves / with real education, ain’t no need for no one else / self management is the only power we want / where i ain’t got no more than you got – than you got / who am i to decide – who gets what at what cost / and who are you to tell another worker – you they boss / ’cause property ain’t got a damn thing to do / with my right to decide what happens to you / and the power of a person should be limited to / that person’s life – it ain’t no true or false, that shit is true