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A review by mentat_stem
Of the People, By the People by Robin Hahnel
challenging
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
4.25
The left can suffer from utopian abstractions.
This book provides a practical framework for an alternative to both capitalism and central planned economies. It's refreshing to have a text focused on how instead of why - a text that provides a path to a possible future.
It covers how to fairly divide labor and resources. It argues for intimate direct democracy with a federation system that avoids a permanent political class. It deals with producers and consumers and has a specific carve out for the environment. There is a lot here to build on.
Still, it suffers from hand waving abstraction. There's an assumption that all the mid level logistics and community planning can be easily handled by untrained workers/consumers. There's an assumption that workers WANT responsibilities outside of their core expertise.
It shines internalizing effects that current economic systems ignore. However, it also feels like it has gaping holes with regard to health care, homelessness, national defense, insurance, art, entertainment etc. which are all entangled with current economic systems.
All together, this is a great starting point for thinking about alternatives to current economic systems. We need to try many such solutions as we move beyond the flaws of current systems.
This book provides a practical framework for an alternative to both capitalism and central planned economies. It's refreshing to have a text focused on how instead of why - a text that provides a path to a possible future.
It covers how to fairly divide labor and resources. It argues for intimate direct democracy with a federation system that avoids a permanent political class. It deals with producers and consumers and has a specific carve out for the environment. There is a lot here to build on.
Still, it suffers from hand waving abstraction. There's an assumption that all the mid level logistics and community planning can be easily handled by untrained workers/consumers. There's an assumption that workers WANT responsibilities outside of their core expertise.
It shines internalizing effects that current economic systems ignore. However, it also feels like it has gaping holes with regard to health care, homelessness, national defense, insurance, art, entertainment etc. which are all entangled with current economic systems.
All together, this is a great starting point for thinking about alternatives to current economic systems. We need to try many such solutions as we move beyond the flaws of current systems.