The socialist alternative
Subtitle: real human development
By: by Michael A. Lebowitz
Publisher: Monthly Review Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 191
ISBN-13: 9781583672143
Copyright date: 2010
Subjects: Socialism
Description: “A good society,“ Michael Lebowitz tells us, “is one that permits the full development of human potential.” In this slim, lucid, and insightful book, he argues persuasively that such a society is possible. That capitalism fails his definition of a good society is evident from even a cursory examination of its main features. What comes first in capitalism is not human development but privately accumulated profits by a tiny minority of the population. When there is a conflict between profits and human development, profits take precedence. Just ask the unemployed, those toiling at dead-end jobs, the sick and infirm, the poor, and the imprisoned. But if not capitalism, what? Lebowitz is also critical of those societies that have proclaimed their socialism, such as the former Soviet Union and China. While their systems were not capitalist and were capable of achieving some of what is necessary for the “development of human potential,” they were not “good societies.” A good society as Lebowitz defines it must be marked by three characteristics: social ownership of the means of production, social production controlled by workers, and satisfaction of communal needs and purposes.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : Reinventing socialism; title: pt. 1. The socialist triangle; title: The wealth of people; title: The production of people; title: The solidarian society; title: pt. 2. Building the socialist triangle; title: The being and becoming of an organic system; title: The concept of a socialist transition; title: Making a path to socialism; title: Developing a socialist mode of regulation.