Re: [Pen-l] a post-capitalist future

[Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

Roger Burbach wrote:
> "In both the developed and underdeveloped countries, a wide variety of
> critical needs and interests are being neglected at the local level,
> including the building, or rebuilding, of roads, schools and social
> services. A new spirit of volunteerism and community participation, backed
> by a campaign to secure complimentary resources from local and national
> governments, can open up entirely new job markets and areas of work to deal
> with these basic needs." (ibid, p. 164)

It should be admitted that US labor unions started out that way,
providing services that the government wouldn't or couldn't (like
burial insurance & unemployment insurance). Mutual aid was quite
common at the start. Of course, religious fundamentalists get into the
same game, the non-state provision of (what we think of as) state
social services. Hamas and a lot of other Islamic political parties
spring to mind, but so do the Mormons in Utah.

A key problem with non-state provision of "welfare state" programs is
that the risk-sharing pool is too small: a labor union offering
unemployment insurance can't do well if the whole membership is laid
off. In addition, these services are typically exclusive, not helping
outsiders (often the neediest) at all.

I also don't see how it's a precursor to socialism. Instead, it's more
of a precursor to real welfare statism: the German Social Democratic
Party's social welfare programs spurred Bismarck to bring in state
pensions. (As a minor example, as I understand it the U.S. AF of L
started doing stuff like calculating cost of living measures, leading
to the rise of the official Bureau of Labor Statistics in response.)
-- 
Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own
way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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