The Moneyless Society
I read the Socialist Standard for the first time with considerable interest.
One thing puzzles me. How can any society run without some token of exchange, be it cowrie beads or pieces of metal? This is not a frivolous question. I really want to know as I cannot see a way round the difficulty myself. Is there a book which could help?
Best wishes to the paper. I shall continue to take it.
Winifred Manson,
Horsham
Reply:
Your letter reminds us that it is some time since we had an article on this subject, and we are pleased that you have written to us about it.
The basic question to be considered is: what is the motive of production under capitalism, and what will it be under Socialism? In capitalist society, production takes place for sale and profit only. The opening words of Marx’s Capital are: “The wealth of those societies in which the capitalist mode of production prevails, presents itself as an immense accumulation of commodities” — commodities being articles for sale.
Unless they can be sold, goods and services are not produced. This is why we have trade depressions and, to use the old phrase, “poverty in the midst of plenty”. Labour-power, the worker’s ability to work, is itself a commodity which has to be sold on the market and often cannot find buyers. In this situation the function of money as a means of exchange is obvious; it is also a measure of value, showing the proportions in which commodities can exchange for one another. Obviously, too, in a society which runs like this money dominates all of man’s activity. Human worth is assessed by it: without money, one is nobody.
But that is capitalism. In the social system which preceded it, feudalism, production took place largely for use. Its products were for the peasant or craftsman and his family and associates; the landlord appropriated some, and any surplus was taken to market to be — usually — directly exchanged. The use of money was very restricted. Please understand that we are not commending feudalism. Life in it was “mean, brutish and short”. We are explaining that until commerce grew and commodity production became general, money was commonly not necessary.
Production in Socialism will be for use. That does not represent a designed policy; it proceeds naturally from common ownership, just as production for profit is the consequence of class ownership. The produce of agriculture and industry will be, to reduce things to their simplest terms, put or sent there for people to take. Since the means of production belong to everyone, so will the products (our term is “free access”). Thus, exchange will cease. One reason why some people are astonished by this is simply conditioning by capitalism and the conviction that there must be something wrong in having things without paying for them.
Your question “can any society run” without exchange indicates more practical kinds of uncertainty, possibly whether everyone’s requirements can be met. We say they can. Our economic criticism of capitalism is not that it maldistributes wealth (the “cake” argument of the Fabians) but that — precisely because it is directed by sale and profit — it obstructs production. At the present time factories are closed down and workers are unemployed, yet millions of people need the things they could produce. At any time, production is limited to “the market”.
To add some other considerations, huge numbers are in non-productive occupations generated by capitalism; for instance the armed forces and employment — banks, insurance, advertizing, etc. — made necessary by the use of money. They are a labour force now wasted that will be available for Socialist production. There is also the fact that production is the reproduction largely of inferior goods, either shoddily made for people with too little money or deliberately given a short life to keep the market going. The resources of the modern world, rationally organized, can sustain a system of free access without difficulty.
You ask if there are books which would clarify the view of a moneyless society. It is possible to be misled, as from time to time proposals have been made for eliminating the use of money within capitalism. We suggest that you read our pamphlets World Socialism and Questions of the Day, and apply for a selection of back numbers of the Socialist Standard. If you are able to visit a Party branch they would be ready to discuss this or any other question with you.
Editors.
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