ReindeerThistle
Zimmerwald Left
Initial questions:
(1.) What individual rewards are there for hard work?
I'm about to get old school Marxist-Leninist, here. You can't jump from capitalism to communism. Capitalism has class contradictions which are not resolved until -- under socialism -- the working class replaces the ruling class. So, I will answer from thw grid of life under socialism:
What individual rewards are there in current capitalist economy for hard work? The US farm worker who harvests the food we eat has a life expectancy of 49 years, and earns usually less than $10,000 a year. They work 10 to 12 hours a day during harvest season and when they are not in the fields, they do child care, attendant care work and other service work. About 50% of the US population is living in poverty.
The first stage of society post a socialist revolution is to establish socialism. People will no work for free, so they will work for pay -- but that will vary form society to society. Chinese workers in 1959 were not making equivalent wages to Soviet workers in 1927. The basic tenent of socialism is "If you work, you eat." (Stalin, from "Speech to the First Conference of Stakhanovites") That is, you will not be denied the fruits of your labor if you work and if you work harder, you are rewarded. If you can't work, are elderly, disabled, etc., you will be taken care of -- see my answers to your points 3 and 4 below.
(2.) How are scarce goods allocated most efficiently in the absence of a (free) price system?
[note: this question is to both market and anti-market communists]
See http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/2095 and listen (4 hours) to the Fidel Castro Speech at the Riverside Church 9/8/2000 and 9/9/2000: he explains how Cuba deals with scarce goods.
(3.) If there is a market, how can "labor hours" be used as a mechanism to efficiently establish a price for goods?
(a.) How do you account for factors other than labor time, such as scarcity and quality?
(b.) How do you incorporate the cost of capital into the price of finished goods if labor time is used in place of a free price system?
(4.) If there is a market, what happens when a business fails?
(a.) Who owns the business?
(b.) Do the business owners own the physical land upon which the business is situated and if so, what subsequently happens to the land?
In socialism there are markets. No need to establish "labor hours" for trade, as workers will get paid. Why not? Pay for work did not change when Roman Dinaris were replaced by Italian Lira, which was in turn replaced by the Euro. Payment for labour is as old as labor and money. In this case, the government could establish a minimum wage. See Lenin's "The State and Revolution" on that. When a business fails, the workers and the business owner will find other work, There will be plenty of work to do.
Who owns the business? That depends. Utilities and transport may be state-owned, as well as other major productive industry, but that can depend on the situation. In Russia, there were millionaires who participated in the rebuilding of the country, and there were millionaires created, too. In China, there are billionaires. Yes, China is socialist -- critics and supporters in country agree with that. The socialist government could buy the industries at market value and turn them over to the people, or the industries can continue to operate (severely curtailed by the government strictures and living wage statutes) side by side with state-owned factories.
Venezuela, for instance, gave grants to cooperatives to start their own manufacturing to compete with privately-held businesses and most are thiving.
RE: land: ownership will depend on the situation. In China there is no inheritance - but then none is needed, as yet.
(5.) Can residential land be owned and if so, under which circumstances may it be expropriated? Example: I own a plot of land upon which my house is situated and it has been decided that a shoe factory is going to be built, but my house and the land lie within the proposed factory's building site.
My friend, you will not lose your land to a shoe factory under socialism. In the United States, we have thousands of dormant factories that can be put into operation. In Japan, ditto. I'm sure.
Under US law, the government can take your land at any time, as long as they compensate you. But lately, I have seen municipal governments use this for the good of private enterprise. THAT would not likely happen under the socialism I want to build.
(6.) What happens if I choose to reject the communist system and issue currency not tied to labor hours? (or, in the case of an anti-market communism, what happens if I try to establish market relations?)
We will not likely see communism in our lifetimes, and by the time the world does see communism, people will have a different mindset. They will look back at today with the same bewilderment a modern Catholic (like me) looks at the Spanish Inquisition -- HOW DID WE EVER SURVIVE?
Besides, can you issue your own currency under capitalism? Why is this an issue?
Thanks for the query.