Author:
Al Campbell, Professor Emeritus, Economics Department of the University of Utah (USA)
Abstract:
Looking at the title, many readers would assume that this work is intended as a contribution to the ongoing vital social debate about what various functional aspects of a future ideal society should be. However, is not the main purpose of this paper. Its primary goal, by contrast, is methodological, questioning how to actually determine what policies and practices are best for the desired future society. First there is a discussion for what is generally needed as a basis for deciding whether certain institutions and practices of a future society will be desirable and, in particular, will they be more desirable than those currently existing compared to alternative concepts of that aspect of the future society. Secondly, two underappreciated views of Marx and Engels on human nature are discussed, which became important foundations for their goals of creating the desired post-capitalist society. Thirdly, a partial list of the most commonly cited goals of socialism is provided as a basis for rethinking old ideas about the most appropriate institutions and practices for the desired future society. Finally, after establishing a transparent framework the author reconsiders the six standard doctrines of 20th century socialism about the institutions and practices of the desired future society.
Keywords: global transformation, capitalist production, socialist production, future society goals, the nature of human consciousness, collective self-determination, planning, concept of social development.
For citation: Campbell A. (2023). Re-thinking the Institutions and Practices for a Future Better World. Noonomy and Noosociety. Almanac of Scientific Works of the S.Y. Witte INID, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 37–52. DOI: 10.37930/2782-6465-2023-2-3-37-52