A. Well, what about the unemployed? Not having paid work is not a problem in an anarchist society. People may be overworked, they may not be working to their full capacity, they may refuse to work, but they will never be unemployed in anarchist society because access to the goods produced and the services produced in an anarchist society is not determined by what you do in that society, but by your participation in the life of that community.
An anarchist society may be rich or poor, it may be able to produce a surplus, it may only be able to satisfy the most basic needs of the members of that community, but a measure of an individual�s ability to participate in the life of that community is not an issue in an anarchist society.
Linking an individual�s ability to survive, to their participation in the paid workforce, is both barbarous and counterproductive. It is barbarous because it forces people to become involved in boring, repetitive, monotonous work to produce consumer items that are not needed. It is counterproductive because it creates an economic climate that allows industries that are harmful to society to flourish. It forces people to fight to retain jobs that are harmful to both them and the community as a whole. Not having paid employment in a capitalist society is the road to ruin, unless you have been able to invest money in the very same economic system that is currently destroying the individual, the community and the planet.
Unemployment is a serious issue for the individual in a capitalist society, the difference between survival and poverty is 6 weeks wages. It is not an issue for the individual in an anarchist community because paid employment plays no role in the economic life of an anarchist society.
Q. WHERE IS THE MONEY?
A. Money? Money isn�t the life blood of the community; it is just a medium of exchange. I�m surprised when people keep asking me, where is the money to create an anarchist community? Wealth is measured in terms of the people, resources, and knowledge in a community; it has little, if anything, to do with the medium of exchange that is used to transact business within a community. Wealth is created by the efforts of people using the available resources and their knowledge to produce the goods and services they require to both survive and prosper. It has nothing to do with the medium that is used to facilitate exchange between people.
You don�t need money to create an anarchist society; what you need is a fundamental shift in the way resources are currently allocated. You don�t need to reinvent the wheel, invent computers or learn how to sing to create an anarchist community; those skills already exist. What we need is a shift in the way resources, both human and physical, are used to create wealth and a shift in the way they are distributed.
We have the �money� to create an anarchist community; such a community can become a tangible reality if ownership of the means of production, distribution, exchange and communication is transferred from corporate and State hands, into the hands of the community. You don�t need money to achieve such a transfer. You need the desire, the will and the need to create a society that tries to satisfy human need, not create profits for a minority to create an anarchist society.
Money is an artificial medium of exchange that is used to perpetuate inequality in a society where power and wealth is exercised by a minority. It is not necessary in a society where access to society�s wealth is determined by your presence, not by what you know, do or achieve.
Q. WHAT ROLE DO �EXCHANGE CENTRES� PLAY IN AN ANARCHIST SOCIETY?
A. One of the most important institutions in an anarchist society is an exchange centre. Anybody living in an anarchist society who wants to change accommodation, go on a holiday, find a new job or wants to travel overseas would go to an exchange centre to lodge their details. Once their details are lodged, their request would be processed against the details of everybody else who has lodged a request. Once a positive match is found, the exchange centre would organise the necessary paperwork to allow the exchange to go ahead.
If no match is found, details would be swapped with other exchange centres until a match is found. If still no match is found, the request would go onto a priority waiting list. If the request is urgent and no match is found within a reasonable timeframe, the request would be transferred from the exchange centre to a delegates group, who have been appointed by the community to deal with urgent requests that cannot be dealt with through the normal processes.
Exchange centres play a central role in a community that does not use a monetary system to decide who has access to what. Access to goods and services in an anarchist society is based on need, not how much you have got in your bank account or who you know. An economic system based on need has to be both transparent and efficient. The activities of an exchange centre would be monitored by a delegates group that has to report to the communities that the exchange centre services. Transparency in the activities of the exchange centre is crucial, if it is to operate successfully. These centres need to reflect the will of the community who they service, not just a particular section of that community.
Citizens in an anarchist society need to know they can intervene in the way these exchange networks operate, if they believe they are only representing the interests of one section of the community, not the whole community. Equity is based on the ability to access institutions and structures that have been created to service the community. The ability of the community to monitor and if necessary change how these institutions and structures function, forms one of the more important cornerstones of an anarchist society.
Q. IS AN ANARCHIST ECONOMY A BARTER ECONOMY?
A. No. A barter economy may do away with a monetary system but it does not replace capitalism. Money simplifies the processes surrounding the sale of goods. Not having a monetary system does not mean you have created an anarchist economy.
Capitalism is an economic system in which the production and distribution of goods depend on invested private capital and profit making. Anarchism is an economic system based on the satisfaction of real, not manufactured, human needs. A barter economy is to a significant degree a capitalist economy. The trade which occurs is linked to the intrinsic value of the products traded, not to the needs of the people trading those commodities. Simplifying the process by using a monetary system, which is guaranteed by the crown or the State, makes capitalism a much more dynamic process.
Anarchist economics is not based on barter, it�s not based on private investment, and it�s not based on the ownership of the means of production, distribution, exchange and communication by the State. It�s based on the idea that property is owned by the community as a whole and is used for the common good, not individual profit. From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs forms the framework of an anarchist economy. Individual ability and need is able to be exercised and fulfilled only if the means of production, distribution, exchange and communication are owned by the community as a whole. Placing their ownership in the State�s or individual�s hands inhibits individuals from exercising the talents they have, and prevents those with needs from satisfying their needs. The satisfaction of human need through common ownership, not through a monetary system or a barter system, defines an anarchist economy. >>>>