http://projectquestion.org/?page_id=61
http://projectquestion.org/?page_id=76
http://projectquestion.org/?page_id=90
Intro Narration:
Having already asked who owns what, who calls the shots, who does what, and how wages are set, there’s only two basic food group questions left. There’s “who gets what,” and there’s “how prices are set.”
Now, in economic terms these two questions address what we call allocation. And in a capitalist economy, these two questions are left to what they call “the market.”
So what’s our alternative? Well, many assume that we’re looking toward a centrally planned economy like in the Soviet Union. But we’re not. Remember, we’re looking to avoid the food chain. We’re looking to avoid a class of coordinators.
Instead of institutions that embrace top-down vertical power, Participatory Economics opts for a system of horizontal power where each person or group has a say proportionate to how the decision affects them. Through the institution of Participatory Planning, we allow nested Worker and Consumer Councils to cooperate and negotiate the best use for resources.
Verse One:
In a market, prices and wages are set by competition / No solidarity, ’cause everyone’s on a mission / to get theirs – in other words, to get yours / sure, you could do the right thing, but what for / when bargaining power’s dressed up as justice, bust this / all values are out the window, trust this / He with the most receipts makes the rules / While receiptless disciples of the market play the fool / Ask yourself – who’s the one getting over / when water is the price of soda / when death is the price of life saving drugs / ain’t hard to see that a market economy breeds thugs / and if you seeking remedy, don’t hold your breath / without a fancy ass lawyer, the courts is deaf / and when the media’s a market auctioning off speech / There’s no voice without a receipt / it don’t take a psychic to know what they all about / when you hear them devils say – let the market sort it out / ’cause let the market sort it out, well that means we stuck / bowing down to the biggest gun or biggest checkbook / and it ain’t just price – that the market perverts / when wages are targeted, it’s the workers who hurt / pitting the least powerful against one another / It throws us off they scent when we’re suspicious of each other / Instead of working together to decide our fate / we make the market a god and let god dictate / but goddamn it, if profit is the only commandment / This can’t be our religion, it’s time we demand / a new system – where we learn again to care / where market share’s replaced by fair share / We want real institutional change / And no i ain’t talking about washing brains / but bleaching souls, if you know what I mean / ’cause money only has one color / and that’s red, blood red
CHORUS:
we don’t want no markets, or central bureaucracy / we want PARECON values, we want real democracy / we want to participate, not just be obedient / participatory planning is our last main ingredient
Verse Two:
Instead of competing, we cooperating / worker and consumer councils negotiating / what kind of products and how much we gonna make / not to mention how much work it’s gonna take / Yet when it comes to wages, we already know better / Remuneration based on sacrifice and effort / But when it comes to products and price tags / Participatory planning is a brand new bag / it ain’t just about the toll that it takes on our wallet / but the hole that’s been placed in our conscience / ’cause it ain’t just the products, it’s the byproducts / when innocent bystanders get caught up / in pollution, displacement, economic downwind / one billion children in poverty and counting / we gotta redefine the way we thinking of cost / not just to buyer and seller, but all parties involved / yo how it affects the environment and working conditions / where the value of our goods ain’t about bargaining position / but where price is just a value that reflects impact / not just of good – but the good that you can’t get back / for certain goods to be produced, others are sacrificed / that’s something that they never show in market based price / but in a PARECON, we all share the cost / to our degree of benefit, to our degree of loss / and in return for the price each individual pays / that’s the degree that they get of proportionate say / a system open to the public, nothing we can’t know / nobody guarding power, by guarding crucial info / we understand real value, so our choices are pure / no market snake oil salesman out there trying to get yours
CHORUS:
we don’t want no markets, or central bureaucracy / we want PARECON values, we want real democracy / we want to participate, not just be obedient / participatory planning is our last main ingredient
Narration: Yeah, yeah, look, it sounds good and all, but how does it work?
Verse Three:
In a PARECON, supply and demand / all starts with rounds of planning / where round one – is kind of like a wish list / made up of worker and consumer requests / with each list kicked to – other councils affected / so the real social costs of the requests are respected / Then all parties involved are checked against this first draft / facilitation boards – steady doing the math / all the pros and cons factored in the equation / then data’s redistributed for further consideration / now councils and members have a better idea / the real costs of their desires, so they can refigure / new drafts to submit based on the new info / and the process repeats and repeats and so it goes / Till individuals are satisfied with what they get / compared to the effort and sacrifice they gotta sweat / and collective requests – councils provided a choice / of five feasible plans, so then members can voice / their say proportionate to the impact of the request / until negotiation reflects what’s best / now at first it ain’t gonna flow as smooth as all that / just like any new journey, there’s sure to be set backs / that’s why critical assessment is part of the mission / and each year, the planning process gets more efficient / we take the good stuff and leave the bad behind / experiment in the cooking, getting better over time / checking history, so it ain’t left to repeating / in a system that don’t leave much room for cheating / ’cause ain’t no profit – except for the profit of social good / a real democracy where it only pays to do what you should
CHORUS:
we don’t want no markets, or central bureaucracy / we want PARECON values, we want real democracy / we want to participate, not just be obedient / participatory planning is our last main ingredient