In a message dated 1/7/2004 11:40:35 AM Pacific Standard Time,
mike@drinksusa.com writes:
I found this article to be most interesting…especially the statement below
that suggests that the autonomous family is the only unit where the pure
socialist principle actually works: from each according to his ability, to each
according to his needs. This could be a good way to communicate with our
socialistic friends…say that we agree that socialism works, but only within a committed
family unit. We might also suggest that socialism’s benefits diminish as the “
family” grows beyond “family-size”. However family is defined, these units
will certainly be considerably smaller than what government represents today. I’
m going to give it a try with my socialist sister and see how it goes.
hi mike,
definitely food for thought.
the reason why "from each according to ability, to each according to need"
works in the family unit because there is a total identity of interest between
the members, so each is willing to sacrifice for the good of the whole.
as the group becomes larger, there is a divergence in interests, and then
there is conflict of interest, even among larger families. that is when the
utopian logic breaks down, and self-interest rules in practice, as politcs assumes
more importance in mediating between power groups and value systems.
it would be accuarte to describe San Francisco in this way. everyone wants
"good" to be done, but each group wants someone else to pay, and for itself to
be the beneficiary.
Sarosh Kumana
www.sfrent.net
Pacific Investment Properties
Tel: 415-861-4554
Fax: 415-861-4209
Cell: 415-425-5184