Instead of individual capitalists deciding what to produce in their endlessly varied, constantly competing private businesses, “without any democratic input from the rest of society,” control over industry and decisions about what to produce would reside in state planning agencies. And imagine their decisions perfectly, if improbably, reflect the actual democratic will of workers, whether in the nation; or a state, like Ohio or Utah; or a metropolitan area, like Maricopa County or Oklahoma City.
Popular control is finally realized! So: How popular is Islam? How many Muslim prayer rugs would the democratic majority of workers vote to produce? How many Korans? How many head scarves? How much Halal meat would be slaughtered? What share of construction materials would a majority of workers apportion to new mosques?
Under capitalism, the mere existence of buyers reliably gives rise to suppliers. Relying instead on democratic decisions would pose a big risk for Muslims. And Sikhs. And Hindus. And Jews. And maybe even Catholics.
Right now, under capitalism, vegetarians and vegans have more options every year. But there aren’t very many of them. Five percent of Americans are vegetarians. Three percent are vegans. Would “the workers” find a societal need to produce vegan meat or milk substitutes? No one knows the answer.
How important would worker majorities consider hair products for African Americans? What if a majority of workers decided that only English-language commercial reading material should be printed in the United States? Would planning bodies decide for or against allocating materials for sex toys? Or binders for trans men? Or sexually explicit art work? The birth-control pill has “massive public implications.” And remember, “only when the private decisions that have massive public implications are subjected to popular control will we have a democratic society.”
So, young leftists: Would you prefer a socialist society where birth control is available if, and only if, a majority of workers exercising their democratic control assent? Or would you prefer a society where private businesses can produce birth control, per their preference, in part because individuals possess economic rights as producers and consumers, the preferences of a majority of people around them be damned?
Democratic majorities fueled the “tough on crime” policies of the high-crime decades that produced mass incarceration.
After years of watching Black Lives Matter protests and police killings on YouTube, roughly 57 percent of Americans today say that they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in law enforcement. A majority favor the death penalty. Left-leaning New York City repeatedly reelected a mayor who favored stop-and-frisk. Maricopa County repeatedly reelected Joe Arpaio
If a majority elected a populist demagogue like Donald Trump—which very nearly happened in 2016 (when he lost the popular vote) and may well happen in 2020—he would preside over not only our government, but alsoover our social and economic realms.
WTF I HATE SOCIALISM NOW