Evan Yates
Hi, I’m just a curious newcomer interested in the topic. Game/System Designer by trade.
I was a pretty standard baby communist when I read Cockshott/Cottrell’s book a few years back, which sparked my interest in the idea of economic planning. From there, I found Ferdia’s YouTube channel, then a bunch of great podcasts and authors, which made me realize there’s already a diverse array of scholarship and discussion on the subject that I wasn’t aware of. Since then, I’ve been absorbing as much as I can about the topic and trying to compare/contrast the potential systems dynamics of all the various models I’ve encountered so far. I still have lots to learn, but I appreciate many of you involved in INDEP for helping introduce to me to this topic.
Currently interested in:
– Responsive “pull”-based distribution mechanisms (like TPS/kanban) as opposed to more “ex ante” / “push”-based mechanisms (such as those arguably presented in TANS, Parecon, Half-Earth Socialism)
– System dynamics that truly overcome the social relations of wage labor (GIC’s “Fundamental Principles” approach seems promising, but I need to study it deeper)
– Economic democracy, from workplace to industry to the economy as a whole (ideally using a more direct form of democracy than elected representation)
– Beerian cybernetic principles
– How to incorporate ecological limits into any given model
– How to incorporate decolonization (particularly of settler-colonialism in the American context) into any given model
– Political strategy for making such a transition possible without falling prey to the forces of reaction OR compromising the socialist project in the process.