Introducing Capitalist
Ownership
In a capitalist economy,
individuals own not only their own private personal
clothing and other personal possessions, but also
means of production such as the tools found in factories
and even the factories themselves. This ownership
is heavily skewed so that 1% of the population owns
almost all productive property, another 19% or thereabouts
owns some, and 80% owns essentially none.
Ownership of
productive tools is a critical factor in all sides
of economic life. Ownership conveys rights of control
and of accruing surpluses to owners.
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Introducing ParEcon Ownership
In a parecon, individuals own their own private personal clothing and other personal possessions…of course…but means of production are socially “owned,” not personally owned. More accurately, one might say no one owns them, or one might say that everyone owns an exactly equal share of every item of productive property.
In any event, in a parecon ownership of productive tools is moot. It has zero implications for control or distribution of income or wealth.
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Evaluating Capitalist Ownership
Private ownership in capitalism,
one of its centrally defining features, creates a class
division between capitalists and non-owning classes.
It leads to vast differentials in wealth and income as
well as in power –those who own property earn profits
which can be gargantuan. In contrast, others work for
a living.
Owners command and
control huge swaths of economic life via corporations
they have ownership of or share in ownership of. Those
who don’t own either eke out a degree of command and
control capacity via their job responsibilities, or,
far more often, simply follow orders.
Ownership does
instill effective incentives to accrue property,
on the one hand, and to use owned property to generate
profits, on the other. This incentive works in promoting
property seeking, that is, but what it promotes as
guiding norm of decision making and evaluation is the
further centralization of power and wealth in few
hands, on the one hand, and on the other the orientation
of economic life toward maximizing profit for the
few, rather than toward the collective betterment
of the many. Profit maximization can be enhanced,
at times, by producing items that are more demanded,
but can also be enhanced by cutting costs, imposing
costs on others, compelling consumption even against
user interests, etc.
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Evaluating ParEcon Ownership
The ownership features of parecon
are inconsequential in effects on production and consumption
relations. They are neutral vis-a-vis income, power,
class, and essentially everything else.
They are absent, in
essence. You can think of it as if no one owns any
means of production or as if each person owns an identical
share of every item that is a means of production,
where that ownership conveys neither rights nor responsibilities.
Remuneration and decision making power and responsibility
come from other factors, entirely.
Whatever parecon’s
virtues or debits regarding income, wealth, power,
decision making, class relations and other dimensions
may be…ownership doesn’t play a role.
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