The fallacy of market socialism

Introduced by socialist historian, economist, and author Rick Kuhn.

The world economy is complex. It seems a big ask to have us believe that we can plan it and run it together, not only without bosses but without buying and selling, or money. So much easier to think, as many self-proclaimed socialists do, that we can liberate the market from capitalism and use it for good. Or can we humans really take collective conscious control of our lives?

Readings

Bertell Ollman ‘Market Mystification’ http://www.nyu.edu/projects/ollman/docs/ms_ch04.php

Sam Gindin ‘We Need to Say What Socialism Will Look Like’ (a recent defence of market socialism) https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/03/sam-gindin-socialist-planning-models

Marx Capital, volume 1, chapter 1 (section 4, in particular, is a ripper) https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch01.htm