Economics
- All individuals, in seeking to express themselves, must depend upon the use of resources. Thus, in their natural dependence on the use of resources to express themselves, all individuals express, at the base of their desires or needs, a fundamental state of insecurity. In this sense, insecurity is the expression of an individual’s state of dependence and is characterized by a sense of powerlessness, weakness, or vulnerability.
- When an individual is able to express himself using a resource or resources, he produces a state of pleasure – i.e. a state in which he is able to enjoy a sense of power. Thus, a resource is anything – tangible or intangible, natural or artificial, object or labor, time-dependent or time-independent – that, if usable, can help an individual produce pleasure.
- If a resource can be used, then the use of that resource expresses an intensity of desirability with respect to the individual. That is to say, the individual will perceive in the use of that resource a certain probability for self-expression. This intensity of desirability an individual feels for the use of a resource can be called value. Put simply, if a resource can be used, then the use of that resource expresses value.
- If the use of a resource expresses value, then that value can be measured. That is to say, the level of desirability with respect to the use of the resource can be determined.
- If the value of the use of a resource can be measured, then a system for measuring this value can be agreed upon by a group of individuals – i.e. a people. This system can be called an economic system. And the term for the value of the use of a resource measured by this system can be called economic value.
- If a system for measuring the value of the use of a resource can be agreed upon, then a people can establish this system to help manage themselves with regards to how these resources may be produced and allocated for their use in a certain territory or set of territories. This establishment of the use of an economic in order to help a people manage themselves with respect to the production and allocation of resources can be called an economy.
- An economy is not instituted by a people simply to establish the allocation of resources, but to establish legitimacy concerning the use of those resources. The establishment of a legitimacy of use is the identifying feature for an economy; it defines the social relations that make a certain kind of economic activity possible. For this reason, an individual seeking access to resources in an economy for the purpose of self-expression must take up a specific position that legitimates for him a certain use over those resources with respect to that economy.
- An economy that depends upon the free (unregulated) exchange of resources in order to measure economic value can be called a capitalistic economy. Under a capitalistic or capitalist economy, an individual holds the position of capital exchanger or provider. With this position, an individual’s legitimacy concerning use of resources (or capital) depends upon the amount or quantity of capital he can exchange or give. That is, the more capital (e.g. money, goods, services) one can exchange or give, the more legitimate access one has to other capital in the economy.
- An economy that depends on the free (unregulated) use of resources produced by and for a people (a commune) in order to measure economic value can be called a communistic economy. Under a communistic or communist economy, an individual holds the position of user-producer. With this position, an individual’s legitimacy concerning use of resources available in a commune depends on the organization of productive forces (of which the individual is a part) of that commune.
- An economy that depends upon the management of laws or rules by a government in order to measure economic value can be called a socialistic economy. Under a socialistic economy, an individual holds the position of legal subject. With this position, an individual’s legitimacy concerning use of resources is facilitated by the performance of his duty with respect to the law or rules of his society.
- If a government is instituted for the purpose of securing the power or influence of a nation, then all socialistic economies, whether capitalist-like or communist-like, are intended to help serve that purpose. Thus, in a socialistic economy, the role of government is, through the management of laws, to provide direction for that economy towards securing the nation’s power or influence with respect to other nations. In other words, socialism is an international affair.
- At the same time that it must provide direction for the economy that it institutes or allows for, the government must also ensure that it maximizes compliance and minimizes violations to its laws from the individuals over which it governs. Ensuring this, in part, requires allowing individuals to express themselves using available resources of that economy in order to produce levels of enjoyment, while at the same time excluding forms of self-expression that threaten the power or influence of the nation. Thus, the best socialistic economy is one in which a majority of individuals are able to express themselves using resources available in that economy and to promote the interests of the nation.