Ask an Anarcho-Communist

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1. db0 06.07.09 / 7am
   9

   Because while it might be somehow feasible to achieve this principle on a small scale (as in within a small company – and even then it might be tricky as you end up with people who are more intensive or simply better) the more factors you insert, the more difficult it is to say that you have a whole socioeconomic system which really repressents this principle. You end up with complex rules and laws to achieve it and prevent people from somehow getting more or less than what is "fair".

   Communism is the same principle on the abstract, in that people have the incentive to work as much as they can (ie a disincentive to free ride) and consume as much as they wish (ie a disincentive to be greedy). As such, we need not obsess about the labour hours and what is "fair" as long as the system remains egalitarian, and use this energy for more productive purposes.

   If we are to argue more on this, then I would really need you to define what "fair" is and how it differs from egalitarianism.
2. Francois Tremblay 06.07.09 / 7am
   8

   All I'm saying is, I don't see how a communist system can be fairer,
   on the whole, than a systematic principle like \”1 labour-hour = 1
   labour-hour, no ifs no buts.\”
3. db0 06.07.09 / 7am
   7

   I do not understand what you mean by "everyone decides what each worker receives.". As in a democratic vote? If so no, this is not what I suggest. Between the two options you mentioned, number 1 seems better to me.

   However, It's impossible to make an accurate repressentantion of the third option which I really suggest by looking only at an individual company, as communism is a full social sysem.
4. Francois Tremblay 06.07.09 / 7am
   6

   To give a simplified example, let's take two different systems:

   1. A business with a labour-based currency, where everyone gets their
   full product on the basis of 1 labour-hour=1 labour-hour currency.
   2. A business where everyone decides what each worker receives.

   I expect 1 will be fairer than 2. You obviously think 2 is fairer than
   1. Why is that, is my question.
5. Francois Tremblay 06.07.09 / 7am
   5

   I don't think you understood the substance of my question. As I see
   it, the communist system decouples work from reward (so does
   capitalism, but in a different way), the only thing which in my
   opinion can make an economic system fair, and is rather based on
   direct planning on the part of the society as a whole. I don't see how
   such a system could possibly be fair.
6. db0 06.07.09 / 7am
   4

   Why not? Under communism, all people are equal in power and can have whatever they wish for or the capacity to make it themselves. Do not forget also that "fair" is a general market-based word (As far as I remember its origins) and as such is of limited application to a communist system. So perhaps you need to explain what is "unfair" about it as, the way I see it, you're making a circular argument.
7. db0 06.07.09 / 3am
   3

   2. It's not really just that. A communist system is simply not based on exchange. We decide to make away with this whole concept and use communal control. For example we consider that land and productive means belong to the community and various people or group are simply using them for a period.

   Exchange does not come into the picture. Commodities are not exchanged, they are simply given to whoever needs them.
8. db0 06.07.09 / 2am
   2

   1. Ensure that the things that may result in inequality are not possible, ie sticky property. If the problem is that people may not work for the same amount of stuff as much as someone else, then this isn't really a problem as we're always talking about working according to one's ability. As long as the result of work does not result in inequality, ie in rewards which give power of over humans, then if the actual result is a bit more or less than the workhours * intensity of any one person is not a big issue and in any case trying to achieve perfect equality in this point is going to end up with complex rules and laws that increase the level of bureaucracy and import a feeling of envy and competition between people.

   If the issue is simply about free riders, then I've already written about this particular issue.
9. Francois Tremblay 03.07.09 / 8pm
   1

   1. How do you expect to set up a fair economic system without a process that ensures that fairness (such as a commodity-based currency based on labour-hours, for instance)?
   2. Why do communists try to distance themselves from free markets all the time, when the systems they propose are merely decoupled forms of value exchange?