3.1.2.2.2 Work Division
Socialism will introduce significant changes in the system of labour division. The disadvantage of today’s division of labour lies in the insufficient possibility of choosing work. Namely, occupied jobs are not accessible to other candidates and unemployed people. Even under capitalism, such positions are privileged and do not achieve sufficient economic productivity. Therefore, socialism will introduce a constantly open competition for each job and employ the best worker available.
In socialist production, all jobs will be subject to labour competition in the labour market within the operational possibilities that every job has. The worker who offers the highest productivity, responsibility and the lowest price of labour will exercise the right to work in every job position.
The socialist work organization in the commune may freely vary from a centralized production organization to an entirely liberal business operation of enterprises. The commune’s management will establish the work division and the decision-making power in production, resulting in the most significant benefits for the commune. The managers of the commune will organize production to achieve maximum productivity. They will have the authority to form new companies and shut down companies that do not perform sufficient productivity.
Managers must respect the production obligations of companies. If the volume of needs for production decreases, they will reduce the number of workers who perform them until the possible closure of the company. Workers whose employment is terminated due to the redirection of the economy are recognized as having fulfilled their contractual obligations and therefore receive rewards for work as if they had fulfilled their responsibilities and search for new jobs provided by the management.
The management will have great operational power, which is necessary for establishing fast and efficient coordination of work, which is again essential for good economic performance. Some may compare such power to the power of dictators. Still, nothing will be further from that because the managers will directly owe the responsibility to the people and because they can be replaced at any moment.
Under the pressure of labour competition, every worker will strive to achieve maximum productivity within their workplace’s work competencies. Changes in the authority at each workplace are possible only by agreement between the employee and manager, provided that the managers have the right to decide. In the transition period, the work of managers will be controlled by commune assemblies and worker councils, but most likely, people will give up on it when the system shows it is more efficient without them.
Private companies will continue to produce just as they do today.
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A worker who offers the highest productivity and responsibility and the lowest price of their current labour is the most suitable for the collective staff and society. Therefore, they should get the right to work at such work post. Thus, each work, management included, may be defined in the function of productivity, responsibility, and the work price. To compare the different work functions more efficiently, it is necessary to express the mentioned values for each work post by the following coefficient:
This formula will require the coordination of influences of each variable. After that it will give the value that points to the competitive capability of a worker for a needed work post. Each worker proposes a magnitude of coefficients according to their own capabilities for the job they wish to perform. A worker who offers a higher productivity, a higher labour responsibility, and a lower current work price will win the right to work at the desired work post. Besides that, the realized higher C-of work competition allows each worker to take the work post of another worker with the obligation to assume all labour obligations and responsibilities of that work post.
Labour Productivity
Each work has its measure of productivity. Today, the measure of productivity can be in the most straightforward, most comprehensive, and most efficient manner determined by profit on the market. Cash profit in the free market involves all elements of productive business activity, such as the quantity and quality of work, cost-effectiveness, rationality, usability, serviceability, etc. Profit is the social evaluation of the success of the business performance. However, there are no commodity-money relations within the enterprise, so productivity needs to be expressed by the quantity and quality of the goods and services produced in a determined time interval.
Where it is impossible to precisely establish the labour productivity by the produced goods or where the establishment of productivity would be time-consuming, productivity can be expressed by assessing the production value. Existing productivity defined by grade for each work post has the value of 1 (one). A worker believing that they can increase their productivity by 10% will offer the assessment of their productivity higher by 10% of existing productivity, and the value of their envisaged productivity will then be 1.1. The work assessment may replace all other forms of labour productivity valuation. Each worker can show their C-productivity by the formula:
The envisaged productivity expressed in money, products, or work estimate, and if identical with the existing one, will form the coefficient 1 (one). A coefficient larger than 1 (one) will indicate a work more productive than the existing one. A worker who offers a larger coefficient will exercise their right to the desired work post.
Once the accounting period is over, it is necessary to valorize the realized productivity to establish the worker’s success in the work offer. The realized productivity may be presented by a coefficient with the following formula:
The realized productivity expressed by cash profit on the market may efficiently show the success of the business activity, and other forms of productivity valorization are, therefore, unnecessary. However, the said form of work valorization applies only to self-employed entrepreneurs and management of the associated labour in the economy.
In the direct production of commodities, the volume of realized and envisaged quantity of products and services may establish productivity. However, where the number of products and services cannot precisely express productivity or establishing the amount would be time-consuming, an assessment of indirect work value will be introduced.
The evaluation of workers’ productivity may be given by managing boards, worker’s councils, and workers among themselves. The managing boards and workers councils of enterprises will monitor and grade the operational improvements and declines of workers. Their grades may show the realized productivity of workers. However, the workers know the quality and shortcomings of each other the best, so the best evaluation of workers would give they among themselves. They should get an equal right to anonymously evaluate the work of several others as a response to their proposed productivity.
The grade received will be a confirmation or negation of the envisaged rate that each worker has given to themselves to offer their productivity. The proposed subjective grade of a worker’s productivity will get its confirmation or negation, influencing the production development of objective value categories. Work valorization is necessary not only for establishing the accountability of workers for the realized productivity but also as a determination that defines recognition of the individual’s essential powers. Individuals need an objective scale of values to get to know themselves objectively and the possibility of their improvement.
The coefficient of realized productivity that realizes the value higher than 1 (one) will represent the productivity realized in a volume larger than envisaged and will also get a higher income. And vice-versa, the coefficient of realized productivity smaller than 1 (one) will represent the productivity realized in a volume smaller than envisaged, so that the income will also be smaller.
It should be emphasized that the presented bookkeeping is based on the capitalist form of running the economy, which is quite demanding. Nevertheless, it is presented in such a way that it could explain the new economy to people who think traditionally. The socialist economy will accept the principle of democratic anarchy, which will apply significantly simpler bookkeeping than in capitalism but will not lag behind it
Responsibility of Workers
Without a defined method of bearing responsibility, workers would not be bound to implement their proposed productivity. In this way, their declarations in the work competition would be exaggerated, and work results could not follow them. Such irresponsibility could have catastrophic consequences for the economy. Therefore, it is necessary to set up a system by which every worker will bear responsibility for realizing their envisaged productivity. It needs to be based on the coefficient of realized productivity. The method of responsibility bearing needs to be thorough, multi-layered and efficient.
Each worker needs to bear responsibility for their work. Since their job is non-alienable from the collective’s work, they thus also take responsibility for the productivity of the collective. The level of responsibility assumed by a worker may be set by the coefficient of responsibility.
Let it be assumed that the average coefficient of responsibility gets the value of 1 (one). Let it be assumed that the interval between the minimal and maximal responsibility is 0.1 to 10. The responsibility set by the value equal to 0.1 would be the minimum, and that set by the number 10 would be the maximum responsibility. Let each worker set the level of commitment that they may assume for their work and the collective work expressed by the coefficient. A higher coefficient of responsibility needs to render higher work competitiveness in the work market for performing work at every public work post and vice-versa.
Workers will primarily bear responsibility in the production process using their past work points. The total quantity of past labour points of all workers in the commune needs to be equal to the realized revenue of the commune. Economic enterprises that realize a rise in productivity will realize a surplus of cash assets. They will distribute that surplus to workers in the form of past labour points proportionately to their coefficient of responsibility. Conversely, if enterprises lose money, it will be deducted from the past labour points of all workers proportionately to the coefficient of their responsibility.
Enterprises in non-profit sectors, such as administration, possibly health care, education and other activities proclaimed by the commune through its leaders and the assembly, do not realize direct income in the market. Instead, they realize it by the appropriations from the commune’s revenue. In non-profit companies, the measure of the production value needs to be based on the satisfaction of service users. Therefore, a higher grade from the service users will be equivalent to a higher profit for economic enterprises. In this way, non-profit companies will have a productivity measure and responsibility for their production activity.
The system needs to fully equalize the measure of success in the business activity of profit and non-profit companies. By applying mathematical coefficients, it is possible to compare the revenue of the profit economy and the realized productivity of the non-profit organizations expressed in any magnitude, including the productivity assessment.
Unemployed inhabitants will also have some C-responsibility set by leaders and adopted by the assembly of the commune. They can, on this basis, receive or lose past labour points but in a smaller quantity than workers in production. In this way, the entire population of the commune will bear responsibility for the commune’s productivity.
Since the production or, more precisely, the profit in the market may show oscillations in the periods of accounting, collective responsibility by way of past labour points needs to be linked with the period when the business activity of an enterprise shows objective indicators of success. Of course, the accounting period may be different for different productions; however, it may be considered that productivity that shows smaller or larger oscillations in the monthly period will give a realistic balance of productivity in one year.
Once the quantity of past labour points that each enterprise realizes or loses is known, then distribution or deduction of these points will be carried out proportionately to the coefficients of responsibility of workers. By applying computer technology in the period of accounting, the distribution of past labour points, as well as their deduction, can be calculated for an unlimited number of workers by the formula:
Worker-1 : Worker-2 : Worker-3 : …. : Worker-n =
C-respons.-1 : C-respons.-2 : C-respons.-3 : …. : C-respons.-n
Then computer technology can quickly and easily produce the results in the form of:
Worker-1 = +/- Quantity of Points-1,
Worker-2 = +/- Quantity of Points-2,
Worker-3 = +/- Quantity of Points-3,
……
Worker-n = +/- Quantity of Points-n
The obtained values are different magnitudes expressed in past labour points added to (or deducted from) the quantities of past labour points held by workers.
An example: A worker who stated a coefficient of responsibility of 1.5 in the case of a rise in profit of the enterprise would realize, on account of the responsibility function, a three times larger gain of past labour points than a worker who stated a coefficient of responsibility of 0.5. And vice versa, they would gain a three times larger loss of the past labour points in the case of money losses by the enterprise.
In the proposed system, each worker bears responsibility for the collective work proportionately to the stated size of the coefficient of responsibility. In this way, workers become active creators of their conveniences and inconveniences and are no longer passive collective members. Furthermore, such commitment will require that workers become familiar with the consequences of company businesses, which will largely contribute to overcoming alienation in production.
In the capitalistic form of production, a more significant profit is, as a general rule, related to a higher risk of investing money. The new system introduces C-responsibilities with which the workers can, according to their own will, speculate the risk assumed for the success of the collective production. However, such speculation is non-alienable from the direct work of the workers, which will contribute to better knowledge about the economic process, which will again contribute to the rise of the workers’ responsibility for the output. A higher commitment requires a higher degree of confidence in the community, which will result in larger productivity and prosperity of society. A higher degree of responsibility will be formed by workers who are more familiar with business flows and have more confidence in themselves and the collective.
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Besides the collective responsibility of workers, workers’ personal responsibility in the production processes needs to be defined. Workers individually might produce benefits and disadvantages in the joint process of production. To create a productive orientation of society that will motivate productive work and prevent irresponsibility in the production processes, it will be necessary to determine principles of rewarding and sanctioning the workers by a certain number of past labour points. Such remunerating and sanctioning of workers should be carried out by the arbitration commissions of the company following the company regulations.
However, the best way to determine individual responsibility will likely be through mutual evaluation of workers through democratic anarchy. Democratic anarchy would reward good and punish bad workers in the value of the coefficient of responsibility that workers proposed for their work. Let each positive assessment bring the employee points of past work in the value of their coefficient of responsibility. Conversely, let each negative assessment deprive the employee of the points of past work in the function of their coefficient of responsibility.
Such a system of evaluating the value of work and submitting responsibilities represents all the influences that work brings in the broadest sense. It may reward any benefit and sanction any inconvenience that a worker does to another worker or production. Every worker will be careful not to cause inconvenience or cause as minor inconvenience as possible to any other worker and the production processes. This will be the essence of a productive social orientation that will improve interpersonal relationships and production.
For example: let us arbitrarily assume that the commune’s average income is 100,000 monetary units. In that case, the average quantity of past labour points is 100,000. If workers cannot assume a great responsibility for their work, they will opt for a small coefficient of responsibility. For example, if they propose their coefficient of responsibility at 0,1, one positive evaluation would bring them 0,1 point, and five negative votes -0,5 points. Then in the first case, the worker with the average quantity of past labour points will have 100,000.1, and in the second case, 99,999.5 points.
A worker wishing to increase their work competitiveness may also increase their coefficient of responsibility. For example, the coefficient of responsibility of 1,2 will bring 12 points to the worker who gets ten positive evaluations. If the same worker has 100,000 past labour income points, they will have 100.012 points after the assessment. If they get 20 negative votes, 24 points will be deducted, and they will thus, after that, have 99.976 income points. The evaluations will be given monthly so that the mutual evaluation system will require highly responsible work. It should be repeated that the examples are entirely arbitrary and that implementation of such measures in practice will require a broad study and social acceptability.
Once democratic anarchy is accepted in society, workers will no longer have to offer productivity. It will be assumed that their work productivity should meet the needs of consumers and the collectives of joint production. The price of labour will be standardized in the same way that the costs of goods on the market today are standardized. In practice, the greatest responsibility that every worker offers for any job will be the main, if not the only, indicator of workers’ productive power. The example above shows that the fine-tuning of workers’ responsibilities will be determined quickly and efficiently through democratic anarchy.
By accepting democratic anarchy, productivity offered by the politicians and managers loses its meaning. For example, suppose people think that their work is not satisfactory. Then, they will get negative evaluations regardless of what productivity they offered and achieved, or if they won the elections.
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There is no doubt that in socialism, each worker will be cautious before declaring their productivity and degree of responsibility. Such cautiousness will prevent hasty statements and voluntarism, which are dangerous to production processes. The system will allow each worker to know their capacity and act according to their ability, thus meeting their needs. Such an act is a precondition for a constructive orientation of society.
The unemployed population should also bear responsibility for their activities, but the commune’s leadership will set their responsibility coefficient considering they do not work. Therefore, they will probably bear the lowest responsibility in the production processes. However, their social responsibility will be sufficient to behave with respect towards society and its environment. This means that the unemployed people may also be rewarded and punished by community members for their behaviour in the community. They will be getting and losing the points of past work in the value of the minimum coefficient of responsibility in the commune. In this way, the entire population of the commune gets the right to evaluate other people’s behaviour and be evaluated by others for their behaviour. It will significantly contribute to the betterment of society
The total amount of past work points of all commune residents should be equal to the realized revenue of the commune. After all the additions and subtractions of past labour points related to the individual responsibility of all commune residents, it is necessary to settle the total amount of past labour points of all people with the revenue of the commune. The final settlement can be made in proportion to the coefficient of responsibility of the people in the same way as rewards and penalties are calculated in companies.
Current Labour Price
Finally, the price of current labour forms the competitive power in selecting the work. The current labour price depends on all the conveniences and inconveniences that work brings in realizing the required productivity concerning the conveniences and inconveniences of other forms of work or from the state outside of work.
The system envisages workers set the current labour price by themselves by a coefficient within a value range from 0.1 to 10. The average price of present labour will have a value of 1(one); a work twice as inconvenient will have a price equal to a value of 2, while the job twice as convenient will have a price of 0.5.
A worker who seeks a lower current labour price on the labour market for equal productivity will realize greater work competitiveness. The system of labour competition will form a threshold value of the current labour price for each job, which will be accepted as an objective by society. Such a current labour price will be one of the foundations for creating a just income distribution. Such a price of labour will be one of the foundations of building a just society.
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Capitalism will face a robust political demand to reduce the work hours of workers until full employment is provided. It will employ all people who want to work, which means that capitalism’s unfavourable form of unemployment will no longer exist. Reducing working hours will increase the demand for workers. Increased worker demand will increase workers’ wages and reduce employers’ profits. Workers’ rights will grow while employers will lose their privileges. This will make capital decrease its significance. The owners of low-profit companies facing higher labour costs might be interested in selling their companies to the commune.
Owners of private companies that make high profits will not be interested in selling their property to the commune. Such companies will continue their production as they do today. Socialism can begin to be realized even if no private entrepreneur unites their property in the commune. Then the socialist system will be based on organizations and institutions owned by the commune. Socialism will then show significant progress in production.
Socialism will introduce workers’ competition for every public job. No economy can be more productive than one in which every job gets the best available worker. Private companies will not be able to allocate workers efficiently enough to compete with public companies so that public companies will become more productive and profitable than private ones. Above all, private companies will not be able to accept workers’ participation in the distribution of profits as workers in public companies will be able to. As a result, workers will be less interested in working in private companies. Consequently, working in private companies will not be as attractive to workers as working in public companies.
The lower productivity of private companies and the lower interest of workers to work in them represent the end of capitalism. At the beginning of implementing the socialist form of production in public companies, private companies will show interest in joining the public companies of the commune. In return for their property, the owners of private companies will receive the equivalent in points of past work that will bring them a proportionately higher income in public companies. In addition, the owners of private companies will realize that socialism is more stable to oscillations in the economy, ensuring greater stability of the values they possess. If the owners of private companies could join socialism today, they would most likely do so because they would preserve the value of their capital more in the frequent problems of capitalism.
The commune should also allow residents to sell their past labour points for money. Thus, the points of past work could become a form of humanistic actions in which the commune population will have confidence. In socialism, private entrepreneurs may be interested in selling their property to the commune. Over time, the commune can purchase stock shares, real estate and other valuables owned by the commune’s inhabitants. When the owners of private property leave their property to society, their amount of past labour points will replace the values of the capitalist system and supplement them with new values that will enable the further prosperity of society.
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People have constantly been pressured by authoritarian forces that brought them a sense of inferiority. The reaction to that creates a need for superiority over other people. This is wrong, but since such behaviour exists, it must be accepted as a reality that will prevail in socialism. People need to show their power through competitions. Being a winner is of great value to people because it proves their power. Victory compensates for the subjective experience of powerlessness.
Labour competition is a constant struggle to achieve greater productivity. It is a struggle that allows every worker to be the best in their field. It will be a form of compensation for powerlessness caused by authoritarian influences. People will present their competitive power in their workplaces. That power will be recognized by society and will surely satisfy the workers. Therefore, there is no doubt that work competition is more acceptable than all other forms of competition because it brings socially beneficial results and contributes to the well-being of society.
In socialism, work will no longer be privileged. Revoked privileges will eliminate the power of people over people, that is, the mechanism of exploitation of people, which is the basis of problems in society. Under socialism, all workers will be equal in labour and wage distribution. Everyone will be able to choose a job they like to do and be satisfied with the income earned.
Labour competition will not allow anyone to sleep on their laurels. Over time, one can expect tiredness and satiation from over-intensive action on a broad social level so that ambitions will subside. Such an orientation will form a balance between man’s natural needs and possibilities. Freedom in socialism will enable workers to follow work processes with interest, develop a critical attitude and act on their strengths. This path will allow workers to examine the validity of the premises that guided them to form their needs. This will contribute to the formation of objective values in production.
In this way, people will get closer to their nature and find values that stem from their nature. Socialism will contribute to removing the subjective vision of reality imposed by the authorities throughout humanity’s history, which is the basis of alienation and problems in society. It is a process of disalienation. This will bring values that allow people to find their balance and satisfaction.
In socialism, people will accept their helplessness where they cannot overcome it and find fields where they can objectively exercise their power and thus satisfy their needs. People who manage to meet their needs constantly are not destructive. Such people would have no depression, neurosis, or psychosis and are not alcoholics, drug addicts, masochists, sadists, or aggressive. The process of disalienation will make people live responsible life. Socialism will enable the productive and constructive orientation of people, and then they will believe in prosperity based on productivity, solidarity, and reciprocity. Then one can believe in peace, love, and the joy of living.
Then, society will form a constructive attitude towards young people. This relationship will no longer be authoritative because no person in the community will be subordinated to authoritarian forces. It can be assumed that such a society will form a natural way of life with natural needs. The population will give up alienated ambitions to create healthy relationships in society. Relationships will be formed in which adults will respect young people and where mutual contradictions will be resolved by agreement. Relationships will be formed to enable a person to develop appropriately from an early age. And only then can society find its long-term constructive orientation.
