The following is a scenario on the efficiency of socialism and capitalism. I thought of this the other day and I think it is scenarios like this that make the production relations of capitalism so bankrupt.
My experience with shoplifting has been extremely pro-socialist. There is a cafeteria where we all eat lunch at around 12 everyday. Its very open, and most of us have little money. Most of the time there are people who steal food and drinks from the cafeteria which is essentially a food court. The other day, my friend was ordering a burger when the fry guy winked and said, "you're not gonna put that in your bag are ya?"
He did anyway and walked out. No one stopped him.
My conclusion is that the workers in the cafeteria (who are paid around minimum wage) have little stake in the success or failure of the institution. They just don't give a shit. They are paid a set wage by a private hand which they work for.
In a socialist society, the workers will own the factories and workplaces while the farmers own the farms and the people own the community.
...
The revolution has taken place and we are now in that same cafeteria but now, the workers own the cafeteria. They aren't producing for the profit of a private hand but rather for the public and because they control the cafeteria and have a stake in it.
When my friend takes a candy bar and is seen by a worker, the worker will stop him because he is now in control of the cafeteria, it's in collective hands not private, and stealing will affect him as well as the guy waiting on line next to my friend stealing the candy bar. Why? Because there is now one less candy bar for the community, and when the guy next to him goes to get his candy bar, it'll have been stolen. This is obviously a simplistic example but it can be applied to just about everything.
In conclusion, since the means of production are collectivly owned, the people have more of a stake in reporting or ignoring theft. Under the capitalist-imperialist system, private ownership makes it so that no one gives a shit whether you steal because only the private owner loses. On the otherhand, the popular ownership of socialism affects everyone because its owned by everyone and thus is not only a more just and democratic system, but also, a more efficient one.
My experience with shoplifting has been extremely pro-socialist. There is a cafeteria where we all eat lunch at around 12 everyday. Its very open, and most of us have little money. Most of the time there are people who steal food and drinks from the cafeteria which is essentially a food court. The other day, my friend was ordering a burger when the fry guy winked and said, "you're not gonna put that in your bag are ya?"
He did anyway and walked out. No one stopped him.
My conclusion is that the workers in the cafeteria (who are paid around minimum wage) have little stake in the success or failure of the institution. They just don't give a shit. They are paid a set wage by a private hand which they work for.
In a socialist society, the workers will own the factories and workplaces while the farmers own the farms and the people own the community.
...
The revolution has taken place and we are now in that same cafeteria but now, the workers own the cafeteria. They aren't producing for the profit of a private hand but rather for the public and because they control the cafeteria and have a stake in it.
When my friend takes a candy bar and is seen by a worker, the worker will stop him because he is now in control of the cafeteria, it's in collective hands not private, and stealing will affect him as well as the guy waiting on line next to my friend stealing the candy bar. Why? Because there is now one less candy bar for the community, and when the guy next to him goes to get his candy bar, it'll have been stolen. This is obviously a simplistic example but it can be applied to just about everything.
In conclusion, since the means of production are collectivly owned, the people have more of a stake in reporting or ignoring theft. Under the capitalist-imperialist system, private ownership makes it so that no one gives a shit whether you steal because only the private owner loses. On the otherhand, the popular ownership of socialism affects everyone because its owned by everyone and thus is not only a more just and democratic system, but also, a more efficient one.
Labels: Socialism
Without a doubt this is one of your best posts. I have played with this idea myself. I've worked a minimum wage job before and there is truly no incentive to stop shoplifting, or to motivate a person to work hard.
Let me give you a scenario: A McDonald's worker gets paid a low, hourly wage. Since he has no stake on how much work gets done in a single hour given he is paid on a fixed ratio and has no ownership of the business, why wouldn't he just waste time for an hour, doing as little work as possible so he could still make his $6.67 an hour? Socialism is efficiency.
If it doesn't involve you, you ignore what is happening. That is the law of the streets.
Is this a joke?
anon, originally, yes, but it turns out that it makes a point about how upsurd capitalist production relations are.
Ren,
I agree.
Hey...Amazing post!!
What was it Mao said about not stealing a crumb from the masses?
You should check out The Coup's song " I Love Boosters" on their album Pick a Bigger Weapon.
haha yeah it was Mao who said that. To bad those boosters have never read the Quotations
Less stealing in a Communist state?
How do you explain Cuba then where stealing from the state is a normal everyday occurance.The seriousness of the problem was highlighted in October, when a team of reporters from one of Cuba's main state-run newspapers, Juventud Rebelde Rebel Youth, wrote a series of long articles accusing state workers of routinely cheating cash registers.In one case in which workers were caught underserving patrons at a state cafe, the paper calculated that each employee was pocketing the equivalent of one worker's monthly pay every day.The cheating was widespread, the paper found, affecting 52 percent of state retail establishments it inspected.The paper warned that the problem was "a perceptible evil" eating away at the country's revolutionary principles.Petty corruption is also said to be rife in the state sector, where better-paid jobs are allegedly traded for money. This situation has also spawned official corruption, previously a rarity in Cuba. Some municipal officials who handle the licenses are accused of taking bribes. State tax inspectors can also be bought off.
Corruption is everywhere in Cuba because they are so very poor.You just don't like Capitalism Lefty and it's probably because you are poor.And our society and our women tend to take a shine to you if you have money.
That's only because Cuba has now implemented a state capitalist style system of economics, "market" socialism.
It's so funny you should write this.
When I was an undergrad, I almost never paid for my lunch at the college food court. I stole my lunch almost every day for years.
I'd load up the tray and then just walk right out. I'd refill to-go coffee cups usually a couple of times a day.
I was never stopped once. I did it in plain sight. Maybe the workers never noticed, but I suspect they were like me when I worked in service.
My first full-time job was at an upscale health food store in the midwest. I worked in the cooler behind the drinks and dairy cases keeping everything re-stocked for minimum wage.
The owners were total shits who wanted to close the store without having to pay the staff unemployment, so they were harassing us all into quitting. But we knew the game and were waiting them out.
In the meantime, merchandise was draining through all kinds of ways, not least the steady stream of high schools students from down the street. They'd constantly make a beeline for the drinks and I'd watch them behind the racks as they stuffed bottles and cans into their jackets... thinking they were clever.
There's nothing wrong with stealing from large corporate stores except getting caught.
Under socialism, if the goods are not being sold for private profit – then stealing is an entirely different act, and one that shouldn't be tolerated.
I guess that's one of the differences between socialism and anarchism, with the latter always just looking out for self.
Even in a Socialist model where the worker owns the McDonalds or a small cafeteria, his or her stake in the output will be so small that the choice of letting someone steal or not is still academic. It won't impact the bottom line of the enterprise. However, the worker by owning the enterprise will feel more empowered as "an owner" who presumably can't be fired and will then just let his friends steal (just as they will return the favor to him). That's exactly what happened between individuals and enterprises in other Socialist experiments, ultimately breeding a kind of Socialist corruption that undermines the authority of the system.
At least in the Capitalist system, you have the fear of being fired or jailed, and further, you have the the dis-incentive of that low wage to improve yourself through education and training. Imagine if, like in Socialist Russia, the cafeteria worker is paid a similar salary as a doctor or manager? Who will want to excel?
no because on the contrary, those things which are stolen are still needed. They need to be paid for. In a socialist system this will translate to not meeting your quota which could be reprimanded with some small punishment or another. In capitalism what happens? There's really no incentive. Especially if I do the work I'm told to do there is no reason to stop someone
This is the dumbest thing I've ever had the displeasure of reading. Under socialism stealing is far more prevalent because NO ONE OWNS ANYTHING. Collective my ass. The chain of command is so long and undefined that no one cares about anything.
And for those of you that advocate stealing, you're criminals. It's really that simple. You belong in jail. Those that waste time and do as little as possible to make their hourly wage, that's considered lazy. Some people have pride, and will never be held to having a minimum wage job as a result.
Most of you that think socialism is so great should swim on over to Cuba and live it. You'd be some of the first to go missing.
Kthxbye.
anon,
that is wrong on a variety of level. property was collectively run and owned. Any revenues from profits were circulated back into the system in order to provide housing, education, food, and healthcare to the masses of people as opposed to in the capitalist system where revenues are used to make as much as possible with the lowest wages and concern for the workers while the rest sits in some executives bank account. Because under socialism, property and property ownership serves a fundamentally different purpose (people over profits) the way it is run, either through worker councils (known in the USSR as "soviets") or in some cases elected managers, is fundamentally different.
And think about what you're saying in regards to calling people criminals. Why are people driven to this, IN THE FIRST PLACE??? What kind of fucking system do you have where this is a rational thing to do for millions of people, where it is the only way in which people can get by! And to brush off the working class as "without pride" or whatever is batshit insane. Go a day without the working class. Try it. That means, no food, no water, no sitting down, not taking the bus to or from work, no driving to or from work, no sleeping, no buying anything, you wouldn't be able to do anything. Why? Because it is the working class which produces EVERYTHING around you and there is nothing you can be MORE proud of then being a Worker
I have no problem with bus drivers, and I have no problem with doctors. What I think anon is saying is if you pay a doctor and a bus driver the same, then there is no incentive to go to school for 10 years to be a doctor. I'm assuming your saying a doctor isn't a "worker" though. I do have a hard time believing you were all stealing lunch in order to survive. Really, I'm supposed to believe that? I think you were stealing because you could. I don't care that you steal (not saying it's noble either), but lets not pretend you are doing it to fight for the rights of the people.