The Striking 45,000 Dock Workers Should Get Exactly What They Deserve. What Is That?
This is not complicated. But the rich want us to think it is.
Let’s think about how much these dock workers SHOULD get in a just society.
What do these dock workers deserve?
It’s not complicated. Every one of these dock workers who works reasonably according to ability1 deserves the honoring of their right to take for free from the economy what they need or reasonably desire (but not more) with scarce things equitably rationed according to need. Likewise for all other people who work reasonably according to ability.
People who do not work reasonably according to ability have no such right to take, or claim to own, the fruits of other people’s labor.
Biden, by urging a “meaningful increase” in wages, is calling for denying to workers what they deserve and for allowing the rich to keep what they do not deserve.
Who decides who is working reasonably according to ability? In an egalitarian society it could work like this:
The decision is made by the local assembly of egalitarians for the local community in which the worker works or lives, typically in this way.
First, workers work for a democratically run (by the workers!) economic enterprise, such as a factory or a hospital or a school or a dock loading/unloading enterprise, or a guild of sidewalk hot dog vendors or a guild of journalists, or whatever.
The local assembly of egalitarians decides if an economic enterprise is contributing reasonably (doing something useful and appropriately, with its workers working reasonably according to ability) and is taking (raw materials, other services, etc.) from the economy what it reasonably needs, and if so then the economic enterprise is considered to be in good standing in the sharing economy that the local community is a part of. This means that all of its workers are considered to be working reasonably according to ability and thus have the right to take what they need—for free—from the sharing economy what they need or reasonably desire. The local assembly also determines how to ration scarce things equitable according to need.
Who can be in the local assembly of egalitarians? The people with a right to participate democratically as equals in the local assembly of egalitarians are all, and ONLY, the adults who live or work in that local community who share the egalitarian values of no-rich-and-no-poor equality and mutual aid and truth and fairness and justice—i.e., the vast majority of people in most places, whether they’ve ever heard the word ‘egalitarian’ or not. Furthermore, there is no other governmental or any other body that can make laws or policies contrary to those of the local assembly that people in the local community are obliged to obey. Order on a large scale is by voluntary federation of the sovereign local assemblies. This is all discussed here.
What is the sharing economy? The sharing economy is the economy of all the local communities (it could be one, or two, or two thousand or two million, etc.) whose local assemblies of egalitarians have mutually agreed (with specified details) to share for free (not buy and sell with money, nor barter) the fruits of their labor with each other according to the principle “From each according to reasonable ability, to each according to need or reasonable desire with scarce things equitably rationed according to need.” Read more about how this works here.
Most people would LOVE society to be this way. When it was this way in Spain 1936-9 economic productivity increased. Guess who does NOT want society to be this way? The rich, obviously, because they would no longer have a right to possess their vast fortunes and privilege and power.
Read here how YOU can help build the egalitarian revolutionary movement to remove the rich from power so that everybody gets exactly what they deserve.
Egalitarians, being reasonable people, will no doubt count children and retired elderly and people physically or mentally unable to work as "working reasonably" even though they do no work, and likewise deem it "reasonable work" when people care for their own or other children or for other sick adults or attend school or apprentice programs to learn skills so as to be able to work in the future. Also, being reasonable people, egalitarians will no doubt take into account, when deciding how much work is reasonable, how onerous or unpleasant or dangerous some kinds of work are compared to other kinds.
A local assembly may determine if an individual person is working reasonably according to ability and taking products or using services reasonably and is therefore a member in good standing of the sharing economy, but more typically the local assembly determines whether an entire economic enterprise itself (consisting of people who work together or do similar kinds of work) is working reasonably and taking products and services from the economy reasonably and is, therefore--as an entire enterprise--a member in good standing of the sharing economy.
If the enterprise provides a useful or desired product or service of reasonable quality and makes it available to appropriate people in a reasonable way and does all this with a reasonable number of workers who take products and use services reasonably then the local assembly will determine that the enterprise is a member in good standing of the sharing economy. This means that the enterprise may freely take products or use services from the sharing economy that the enterprise needs to operate, and each of its workers (except any specific individual the local assembly may judge to be taking more than reasonable) may freely take products and services for personal or family use according to reasonable need or desire.
The people in each economic enterprise know that the enterprise's membership, as well as their own personal membership, in the sharing economy depends on the enterprise and its workers having a good reputation for reasonableness in contributing to the sharing economy and reasonableness in taking from it. Rather than profit, the indicator of the enterprise's success is the strength of its good reputation. This is discussed more fully in "What Replaces the 'Free Market' in a Sharing Economy?".
Read how this kind of egalitarian economy produced more wealth than the capitalist economy it replaced in about half of Spain in 1936-9 in "Which Creates a Higher Standard of Living: Capitalism or Egalitarianism?"
Within an economic enterprise (including, in this context, organizations such as a school or hospital, as well as non-economic neighborhood associations, etc.) at the local community level, the workers (or members) are all formally equals, although some, as discussed above, may provide leadership based on respect for their greater experience, knowledge, integrity or commitment to the purpose of the enterprise. All of the workers democratically determine all of the policies relating to the enterprise, consistent with all policies and decisions and laws of the local assembly. Among other things, the workers of the enterprise decide how, exactly, they will democratically make decisions (majority rule, consensus, elected "officers" or otherwise), who is or may become a member of the enterprise or organization and the general and individual-specific conditions of their membership, and all decisions formerly considered the responsibility of "management." A worker in any enterprise is always free to quit working for the enterprise and look for a different way of "contributing reasonably according to ability."
Economic enterprises at the local level may use voluntary federation, parallel to that discussed above for local assemblies, to achieve order and coordination and cooperation on as large a scale--even global--as is mutually agreed upon by the local economic enterprises. Still, a local economic enterprise must obey the laws of the local assembly for the community in which it is located.