Community-Based Economics.

• Author: Welzer, Steve

Capitalism is an economic system where the means of production are for the most part privately owned and controlled; socialism is an economic system where the means of production are for the most part publicly owned and controlled. Most Green Party programs do not advocate either system. Greens in the US characterize their economic orientation in a phrase: "community-based economics."

I'll make the case that community-based economics constitutes an alternative to both capitalism and socialism; that it is very much in keeping with the Greens' valuation of diversity and decentralization; and that it has the potential to resonate with the public/electorate--and therefore should be highlighted in our organizing work and electoral campaigns. In terms of developing economic policy, Greens should understand that communitarian social relations are more important than economic property relations.

Wrong for Greens to Advocate a Universal Economic System

If Greens advocate regionalization of economic activity and hold out a vision of diverse and decentralized communities, it would be contradictory for us to advocate uniformity in regard to property relations or a single economic system as "best" for all communities. Economic diversity would mean that in some regions the preponderance of the means of production might be publicly owned and controlled. In other regions only the "commanding heights" of the economy might be socialized. Some communities might opt to hold most things in common, going far beyond socialization of just the means of production. Others may disavow public enterprise, preferring an economic model based on locally-owned private businesses. In other cases there may be a tradition of co-ops (which are private). Most likely, varying mixtures of public and private enterprise would be the rule.

The communitarian perspective of the Greens can encompass market relations here and economic planning there. It can encompass the profit motive and the desire to "start one's own business," or municipal socialism with workers' control. What it cannot encompass is unlimited accumulation of capital. Community-based economics implies that economic activity be local and humanly-scaled. The building of far-flung economic empires (epitomized by modern transnational corporations) and the concentration of wealth and power are anathema to this vision.

This vision seems fairly simple and straightforward, but its implications are quite radical. For one...