Humanism in Brief
People have unsuccessfully tried to build a good society for centuries. I took the same challenge, was very persistent and finally defined in my book “Humanism” a system that will solve the problems of society through centuries. While working on the problems, I concluded that a good future of mankind requires a total change of the systems we have today. In the future literally, nothing will be the same as today. That is the reason the new system is not easy for understanding neither for applying even though it is much simpler and better than any known model. However, if you invest a little effort in studying it, you will find out how the future of mankind will look like. The following short description of my book “Humanism” is indeed worth reading.
People aspire to a higher power. They define their power by comparing themselves with other people. Such an act is most probably a consequence of alienation; however, it exists, and society needs to accept it. A productive society should develop a productive power of man. We can measure such power. The better defined the productive power is, the better social directing is, and the better society is. We need to create a system that will determine the total value of the productive power of man by means of values of his past work. This value will have to incorporate the values of real estates, money, shares, awards, education and all other values that man possesses. Besides that, it will include the value of labour that brings the rise of economic productivity to the people and all other values that are generally accepted in society and may help the development of society.
On the other hand, if the man produces damages to society such as loses in the economic productivity, or creates inconveniences to the community, or commits any crime, he will lose an appropriate value on the scale that presents the total value of his productive power. The pooling of different forms of values will require a comprehensive study and indeed hard negotiations in society. However, after some time, a new regulated system of values could be established that would create standards for all benefits and damages that man can do in society. Such regulation will be automatically applied whenever it is needed. In such a way a new system of values will be created that will summarize the total value of productive powers of man. Such a system will supplement and enrich today’s forms of values, based on capital with the new humanistic values and thus significantly contribute to the development of society.
It is quite understandable and desirable that such a system of values needs to become very important to society and therefore it should be additionally stimulated. May each man get the voting power proportionate to the total value of his productive power. This measure proposes an unequal voting right of people. However, it would represent in reality a contribution to the development of democracy. Up to now, influential people have used to manage the society alone, although frequently hiding behind formal democracy. Prominent people have never been willing to share their power with the society in the name of the noble idea of equality, as it is contrary to the basic alienated need of the man to achieve higher power in the community. A compromise is therefore needed that would be equally acceptable to everybody. Each man will have the voting power proportionate to his own contribution together with the contributions of his ancestors to the building of all forms of values the society has. It should be said that an unequal voting power would be rather formal because an individual would not be able to significantly interfere in the democratic process without matter what the democratic power possesses. On the other hand, the measure will open the possibility for society to finally really participate in the decision making processes.
The development of computer technology allows the people to participate directly, by way of referendum, in the making of all key decisions of joint interest. All the questions for polls should be created by the consensus of political parties inside the parliament. That is the best way to protect the interests of a minority. The questions that would not be accepted by agreements would not be forwarded to referendums. Each decision may have a scale of values prepared by the parliament, where each voter elects the value that suits him/her best. The middle value of the values expressed by all members of the population, in the function of their voting power, would point to the acceptability of each and every decision in the society. It would be the beginning of a real popular rule, and the best way for determining the needs of the society itself.
Irrespective of how much democracy is developed, it will always have limitations, as it cannot respect, not even take into consideration, the specific needs of individuals. Individuals will still be overruled and may, therefore, be endangered. This fault may be eliminated by the introduction of a new system by which individuals will be able to adequately defend their rights by themselves and protect their specific interests in society. I have named it a democratic anarchy.
Democratic anarchy is a new form of social relations where every man exercises equal legislative, judicial and executive power in the society. It is possible to be accomplished in the manner that each man has the same right to evaluate the activity of any man. Each positive assessment will need to automatically bring a little increase in the total value of the productive power to the positively assessed. On the other hand, any negative evaluation will result in the same form of punishment. Taking into account that all individuals will have the same evaluation right and that they will give their own assessments independently of any written rules, such democracy will assume a form of anarchy. Democratic anarchy will direct each member of the society to create maximal possible advantages in society and to diminish or abolish the creation of all forms of disadvantages. Such a measure will definitely decrease uncontrolled or not enough controlled powers of individuals that originate from privileged statuses in society. The privileged status of individuals in society causes the most considerable inconveniences and problems to society. In this straightforward way, the people will for the first time in the history of mankind realize enormous direct power in the society that will result in very harmonious and constructive social relations.
Economic prosperity is created by proper planning of the production and consumption, and by appropriate implementation of the plan. The best program of production and consumption is to be achieved by the direct order of consumption by the consumers. That is the reason the new system will accept the existing market economy, but also it will gradually implement the development of production based on the direct orders of customers. That is precisely what today’s companies like the best because the known consumption establishes a stable production. The highest level of the plan realization will be performed by a centralized, hierarchical decision-making system because it creates the most efficient coordination of joined activities of the associated work. In practice, a centralized system easily accomplishes great stability in industrial operation and full employment of workers. If the creation of new work posts will not be needed, full employment will be achieved by reducing the work hours proportionally to the rate of unemployment. Such an economy will be similar to the model of today’s big corporations, but the new economy will achieve significantly higher production productivity and satisfaction of the people than private companies can produce.
Such an economy may be achieved only by voluntarily pooling producers into a joined “humanistic” corporation on a certain territory. Inhabitants of such territory who voluntarily surrender their private properties to society will in turn for their ownership realize the increase of the total value of their productive power proportionately to the values of the surrendered property. The value of man’s productive power may be presented as a humanistic form of shares because each man will receive an income for the work performed in the “humanistic” company proportionately to the total value of his productive power. In the new system, the man will realize income proportionately to his own contribution (including also the contribution of his predecessors) to the building of all kinds of values that society possesses. The pooled (associated) economy will offer significantly greater security to individuals, and may also accomplish significantly greater advantages. That fact may encourage the inhabitants of the certain territory to voluntarily pool their private companies into a “humanistic” corporate form. If a private company is not willing to pool into a collective corporation, it will then resume operating as an independent enterprise.
To avoid the privileges of the centralized system of economic operation, which, as a general rule, leads to low productivity, it will be necessary to establish a permanently open labour market. Each public work post will have to be offered to the worker who envisages and offers the highest productivity at any time. Such a measure will probably bring difficulties to the realization because at the beginning it may look risky and painful to the people. However, the possible unpleasant side effects would be prevented by a new regulation of the work distribution. I have to stress that this measure is in first place necessary because it will definitely abolish the work privileges that present the basis of inconvenient orientation and problems to society. Also, the freedom of choosing the work will make the work becomes a direct value. The workers will like what they are doing, and there probably lies the most crucial convenience of the proposed system.
The new economy will necessarily require an efficient system that will determine the responsibility of workers for the realization of envisaged productivity. The system will establish a new mode for bearing the workers’ responsibility by their productive power. The unrealized productivity or its fall will reduce the total value of workers’ productive power proportionately to their responsibility in the process of production. And vice versa, the rise in productivity will increase the total values of workers’ productive power proportionately to their responsibility in the process of production. The system will be based on such strong responsibilities of all the leaders, managers, and workers that they will have to cooperate at all levels of the production processes and establish a high level of consensus before making decisions.
In the case of limited productivity, the work post needs to be obtained by a worker seeking the lowest price of current labour and, consequently, a lower income. Labour market would set an objective measure of direct labour value. Once the workers determine the price of their current labour by themselves, they will be most satisfied with their earnings.
In short, the workers, including leaders will be able to compete for all of the public work posts they want. They will get wanted work posts if they offer the highest productivity for such positions. After that, they will bear responsibility for the realization of assigned productivity with the values that present their productive power. Such an economy will easily become significantly more productive than the capitalist one, and therefore for the first time, the private enterprises will be forced to withdraw and join the new system.
The new economy will develop the market of work and reduce the market of goods. That will contribute to the development of a productive economy and to the rational exploitation of natural resources. On the other hand, the reduced market of goods will not result in diminished quality of products because the consumers will evaluate all the goods. The evaluations will also present the productivity of producers, and therefore they will influence the workers’ incomes. That is the reason the producers will organize the production in some kind of agreement with the consumers. That would be the best production possible.
In such a system the work will become a direct value and the goods will lose their alienated value. In such an orientation lies the bright future of humankind.
The future of democracy will not be based on elected leaders anymore; the people will instead directly create the policy of society, on the first place the economic policy. In the system of pooled ownership of the means of production, the money will also be grouped. Collectively owned money will enable people to involve direct democracy into the economy. Each voter will directly participate in the distribution of the collectively owned money realized from the revenue of the collective. The funds will be distributed for the development of the economy (total amount of money for investments in the economy), for the collective consumption (total amount of money intended for the collective consumption of all inhabitants) and for the individual consumption (total amount of money for workers’ earnings). The elected parliament will previously to people’s decisions decide the possible value intervals of distribution of the collective money. Taking into account that the new system predicts unequal voting power, each voter will actually distribute the total value of his productive power to the voting groups. The total of statements of all inhabitants by the voting groups will form the macroeconomic policy of society. A larger quantity of money earmarked in one direction will reduce the consumption in others and thus will be directed the economy of society. The present-day system of income distribution and establishment of the fiscal and developmental policies of the community will be directly upgraded democratically.
The distribution of money presents the core of the social problems of present-day society. We actually do not need democracy anywhere as much as here. If we allow direct democracy to manage the money distribution, we would give a chance and get a solution to a large number of the problems of present-day society. There is no doubt; an equal democratic power would not be acceptable to the people who have dominant force today. That is the reason we need to define an unequal voting power equally acceptable for all as a solution based on the value that presents the productive power of people. If we sacrifice formally equal democratic rights we will get a real democracy, and as a side product, public ownership of the means of production, equal working rights, unlimited freedom of individual choices, and the highest economic productivity. It’s definitely worth it.
The described political and economic model will improve the efficiency and stability of production, introduce more justice into the process of production and distribution, and provide significant advantages to all the members of society. Generally, the described system will rid the people of the authoritative pressure and give them the freedom to follow their own interests, but will at the same time force people to mutual respect. Such experience will demystify the values imposed by the authorities and teach people to live following their proper nature, which will rid them of all types of alienations characteristic for the present-day society. Further, the system will teach people to set their needs following their possibilities of satisfying them. This is the chief prerequisite for overcoming the destructiveness in the society because the people who permanently satisfy their needs are not destructive. The proposed system promises a natural, harmonious and highly prospering development of the society. The development of such a system will realize, so far, an impossible task: “From everyone according to his ability to everyone according to his needs.” If you read my book “Humanism” that is available free of charge here at least, you will not have much doubt about it anymore.
