PARTICIPATORY SOCIALISM
Participatory
Socialism
I consider myself a long time democratic socialist. I am not a “state ownership” socialist. However, I do believe that there are certain “public goods” that should be operated through representative governmental oversight for the sake of all citizens, education, large infrastructural projects, health, social security and national defense. I am also an advocate for democratic participation in the private sector by co-management systems for a greater sharing of power. I promote elected employ representation to have up to half of the seats on the boards of directors of large companies, even without any share of ownership. Shareholders would still have the decisive vote. A more truly participatory socialistic system would also include inheritance wealth reform. In order to encourage greater circulation of power a new tax and inheritance system would encourage the circulation of property itself. This could be organized by a minimum inheritance for all. Implicit in participatory socialism is a different set of values than those reinforced by capitalist norms. There would be a focus on cooperation, deliberate and transparent values and not on competitive and winner take all values. Given the dominance of economic forces in our society we see the influence of market oriented and commercial values invading all spheres of life, from religion to entertainment and art. Therefore, it is imperative that we change the way we organize our financial lives.*
My journey to socialism has taken a somewhat circuitous path, yet still seemingly inexorable, from my Mother voting for Norman Thomas for President as a young social worker in the 1930s to my teaching ethics as a professor with a community-oriented approach. The path has always included a critique of American individualism. Along the way I founded a socialist journal, supported the policies that came from the Franklin Roosevelts New Deal, in many cases, implementing the ideas of Norman Thomas. In the 1970s I took a course in San Francisco from Al Richmond the author of A Long View from the Left. I still have my notes from the class that gave me a better understanding of the American Communist Party. Richmond a former Party member was a critic but still a proponent of many of CPUSA’s espoused values. My general world view was formed in the 60s and 70s in the Bay Area to the extent that after I finished my PhD, I even considered joining a vanguard underground Party. This was being formed by a group of former friends and colleagues from anti-imperialist research collective focused on America imperialism in Latin America. It became clear that my religious faith and commitment to non-materialist ethics was not compatible with the Party.
Often my agreement with socialism took the form of a critique of capitalism. My work at the World Council of Churches or my graduate studies at the Graduate Theological Union and UC Berkeley led me see American life from a counter cultural perspective. Touchstones for my views included the works of Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Paul Tillich, Robert Bellah, Reinhold Niebuhr and Jürgen Habermas. My dissertation, a case study of
The Berkeley Free Church had the backdrop of a criticism of American life dominated by economic power and capitalist generated utilitarian individualism.
A highwater mark for testing the ability of socialism to become more mainstream was the Presidential candidacy of Bernie Sanders, though mainly couched in policy issues and anti-capitalist rhetoric. Today the work of Robert Reich’s most recent video “Debunking the 10 Biggest Myths About our Economy." It exemplifies a popular approach that is helpful to communicate the destructive views that support capitalism.
I look forward to hearing from others with other resources to make the case for participatory socialism and furthering my education and practice for a more just economic system.
*I draw on the work of Thomas Piketty’s Time for Socialism, Dispatches from a World on Fire, 2016-2021 for my current thinking about socialism.
Read my reflections about inequality here.
Read my review of The Unknown Dimension; European Marxism since Lenin, Radical Religion, Vol. 1 Iss. 1, Winter 1973.