Let's learn and talk about the PARTICIPATORY ECONOMICS ("PARECON") model
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Attention friends,
( CyberSyn-heads, I'm especially looking in y'all direction, )
The Participatory Economics ("Parecon") model, originating from the work of economists Robin Hahnel and Michael Albert, is an attempt to describe, at a reasonably high level of detail, how an economy might operate while avoiding both the pitfalls of capitalism and those of top-down, centralized planning. Among the novel solutions proposed by the Participatory Economics model are :
- a decentralized, iterative planning process designed to balance workers' outputs with consumers' desires in a socially-beneficial way that accounts for "externalities" like pollution
- "Balanced job complexes", whereby each worker undertakes a combination of empowering, thinky-type work and more tedious, mundane tasks.
- direct democratic planning of public goods
...and many more.
Without getting too deep into the technical weeds (yet...?!), let's learn a bit about what "Pareconists" advocate. I propose we get started by checking out the free ebook at https://participatoryeconomics.info/ (click here for the PDF). Shall we try to cover the first few sections on INTRODUCTION, VALUES, and INSTITUTIONS? Or at least give it a go, and see how far we get?
If videos are more your cup of teh C, maybe check out these lectures :
- Participatory Economics, Robin Hahnel, Part 1/3 - Introduction & Goals : https://youtu.be/liqtfBmyQzA
- Participatory Economics, Robin Hahnel, Part 2/3 - Institutions : https://youtu.be/2oeaZJpdSCg
As always, I'm open to input and flexible regarding the event's topical coverage, location, and so on. See you!