👉The table of contents so far is here.
Chapter 14: Planned Economy and Consumer Life
Marx stated that “distribution itself is merely a certain moment of exchange, or exchange considered in its totality,” thereby placing relatively low importance on distribution. Not necessarily because of this, but planned economies in countries professing Marxism tended to suffer from distribution deficiencies, particularly difficulties in obtaining daily necessities due to flaws and corruption within the distribution system.
However, distribution inherently possesses a unique significance that cannot be reduced to exchange in general; its system structure must be specifically designed. For a planned economy to succeed, the issue of distribution is an unavoidable challenge.
Consumer business cooperatives, which are the main actors in consumption planning in a sustainable planned economy, not only formulate consumption plans but also directly operate supply centers. Depending on their size, supply centers can be divided into convenience store-like lightweight supply centers and supermarket-like comprehensive supply centers.
Lightweight supply centers are planned and located at high density to avoid overcrowding like commercial convenience stores, fulfilling the same end-user supply function as convenience stores. In contrast, comprehensive supply stations would be similarly planned and located at a lower density. These supply stations would also offer home delivery services for consumers who have difficulty visiting supply stations, such as the elderly and disabled.
Meanwhile, consumer business cooperatives would need to deploy their own transportation departments to ensure the reliable delivery of products received from production companies to each supply station. A planned economy does not completely reject the division of labor, but it does relativize it to a certain extent, so services like transportation are internalized.
In addition to these supply stations for everyday goods, consumer business cooperatives would also manage stockpiles for emergencies such as disasters, and in the event of a disaster, they would work with disaster relief organizations to ensure the smooth supply of emergency supplies.
Planned distribution based on the above consumption plan is actually only a part of distribution; entertainment and luxury goods other than everyday necessities are produced and distributed freely. In this way, distribution in a sustainable planned economy will consist of a mixed system of planned distribution of basic necessities and unplanned distribution of all other items.
However, even though we are talking about unplanned distribution, the monetary economy has been abolished, so there will be no distribution based on monetary exchange, but a distribution system based on free or barter exchange will develop. Therefore, in these fields, private supply stores or exchanges based on individual shops will be widely accepted, including online.
👉The papers published on this blog are meant to expand upon my On Communism.
