Anthology of Ideas

One of the goals of socialists is an economy in which all participants are equal and goods are available to all regardless of family, wealth or occupation. The ultimate goal of such an economy is an entirely money less society in which goods are free for all. Unfortunately a a system such as this is not possible when goods and resources are finite and where some occupations are harder to train for and others are physically harder.

Another problem with this system is that a money-less economy does not encourage hard work. As was demonstrated on the communal farms of Russia, when each worker has little reward for working harder than a minimal amount there is little reason to work harder. If harder work doesn’t mean more reward what is the point? In a completely equal society there is little point outside of personal pride, but even that is taken away with the right (or wrong as the case may be) conditioning. In a group society it does not serve to stick out among ones compatriots. However it is possible to encourage those who wish to succeed while still keeping people economically equal if a merit based system was introduced. A merit system would reward those that put more effort into benefiting society and as such allow them access to greater wealth and have the opportunity to acquire more exclusive goods.

In such a system a person would not be competing against all other people and occupations as they do in a money economy, but instead compete against those that have similar educations and occupations. Lets take for example two theoretical people. The first is a maid who never finished high school; the second person is a doctor who is among the preeminent surgeons of the day. Quite obviously in a money economy the maid would make far less money than the doctor, even to the point where the maid may make in a lifetime what the doctor makes in a year. Although one may argue that the doctor, because of his position and education, is worth more money than the maid, but should the doctor’s children automatically have a better chance at life than the maids? In a perfect society it sounds nice that the maid’s children have the same opportunity, but in reality the doctor’s children would have access to better schools and better teachers.

Ensuring all people start equally in life should be the main goal of the system, but as a person ages the amount of effort they are willing to put in should determine where they end up. Using this system each person must be the best they can be, or are left behind to fulfill the more menial requirements of society. Those that surpass expectations will prosper while others will only look on with envy and have none to blame but themselves. Rather than money, family or connections a person’s own nature will define their life.