this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2023
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Why is co-operative farming inflexible to shocks and instability? Wouldn't it be more stable if the group can react democratically, rather than depend on several competing mini-dictators to not price-gouge and take advantage of instability for profit? I'm not just talking off of vibes, here, Worker Co-operatives, ie collective ownership of business, are shown to be far more resistant to economic shocks and more adaptable than Capitalist entities: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/building-and-sustaining-worker-cooperatives-in-the-us/
The USSR and Maoist China were developing countries just coming out of revolution, and both the Russian Federation and modern PRC remain developing countries. France was also highly unstable following the French Revolution, and became headed by Napolean, one of history's most famous dictators. Pretending decentralization is purely to blame, rather than instability leading to centralization, is a weak point to make.
Why do you believe that no Leftist has attempted to learn from the mistakes of previous Socialist systems? That's incredibly wrong, modern leftist discourse is oriented around how to achieve Worker Ownership in modern society, and avoid the problems that have plagued previous Socialist systems.
All in all, why are you on a leftist, decentralized site like Lemmy, if you hate Socialism so much? It's interesting to see such cognitive dissonance, if you like Capitalism, then there's Reddit.
Coops are perfectly allowed and acceptable in the current system. Literally no one is telling you that you cannot do this and there are many quiet communities doing it already. You simply are not going to be resourced for it unless it will provide something for the state. Neither would any corporation or sole proprietorship.
All of what you said is true but the collapse was so immediate that there was only cause. Additionally, the collapse immediately went away through collectivization. You can argue with myself and the socialist governments at the time but you are making excuses for them unasked.
I never claimed that modern leftists have not attempted to learn. The entire so called American left is a product of 60s radicals slowly realizing that the way to greater equity is through reform. It simply has capitalism at its base instead of group ownership.
Why are you on a nonprofit run economic alternative to Reddit if you don't believe that the ultimate power in any market is consumer choice?
Because I believe in open source where I'm not a consumer, but a participant in it's creation. The ultimate power in the market isn't consumer choice, it's the choice over what gets made and who gets paid.
Not everyone wants to be responsible for every aspect of their lives. Can I assume you don't want to participate in your own food production or waste disposal? Specialization of labor is an important component in this which most respectable leftist texts will at least attempt to answer, even if they cannot solve it without centralization of economic planning.
Being pro-Open source is to be against the specialization of labor? That's probably not what you mean, but I don't get how having the option to participate negates specialized labor.
I'm pretty sure they just operate on reflex. I say I think democratization of production is a good thing, they say that I'm suddenly a hardcore USSR Stan and want to Purge everyone who disagrees with a Supreme leader. I truly don't think someone thinking coherently and logically can make these leaps, they must be purely operating on anti-socialist reflex.
They wouldn't even answer straight when I asked which is better, a factory that is democratically controlled, or a factory that is owned solely by a Capitalist, then said I'm as dangerous as a fascist.
Love it. Often I'll frame "better" in terms of individualism. Licking a boot as an individual is better than bargaining as a group I guess 🤷
Yep, for these people Capitalism is the only thing that has ever existed and is the only thing that will ever exist, so there's no point in advocating for better, as it can't be better. Real "end of history" neoliberal bullshit.