👉The table of contents so far is here.
Chapter 16: Economic Transition Plan I: Transition Period
16.4. Establishment of preparatory organizations for Consumer Business Cooperatives
The second pillar of the sustainable economic plan is consumption planning at the broad local level, the Zonelet. Once the sustainable planned economic system is complete, this will become a local economic plan formulated by the consumer business cooperatives themselves—cooperative organizations responsible for the supply of daily consumer goods—organized in each Zonelet.
During the transitional period, a comprehensive entity, which will be the predecessor of these consumer business cooperatives, will be established. This entity will have a structure similar to merged corporations in key industrial sectors, but since the future consumer business cooperatives will also be economic planning bodies, the predecessor organizations will also serve as preparatory organizations looking ahead to these planning bodies.
In other words, since the future consumer business cooperatives will also be the core organizations of a planned, free-of-charge supply system that does not rely on a monetary economy, the preparatory organizations for consumer business cooperatives during the transitional period will have the important task of preparing and rehearsing for the construction of such a free-of-charge supply system.
These preparatory organizations for consumer business cooperatives are similar to consumers' co-operatives that often coexist with commercial retail distribution capital even under developed capitalist economic systems, and it may be possible to establish them by reorganizing existing consumer cooperative organizations. Where consumers' co-operative do not exist, or even where they do, it is necessary to integrate retail distribution capital such as supermarkets and convenience stores, which form the core of retail distribution under the modern capitalist system. This integration process can be considered in line with that of merged corporations in key industrial sectors.
However, integrating coexisting for-profit retail capital and consumers' co-operative, which are legally incompatible business organizations, presents legal challenges. Nevertheless, the merged business entity as a preparatory organization for consumer cooperatives will be integrated as a special transitional entity that sublates the for-profit/non-profit dichotomy.
Furthermore, since the preparatory organization will be the predecessor organization for consumer cooperatives to be established in future broader Zonelets, it needs to be separate for each Zonelet. However, while the division of the Zonelets is still undecided, it may be acceptable to postpone the division and provisionally launch it as a nationwide organization for the time being.
👉The papers published on this blog are meant to expand upon my On Communism
