Can I read The Socialist Alternative : Real Human Development on EtoBox?

The Socialist Alternative : Real Human Development by Michael A. Lebowitz, Etkin Bilen Michael Lebowitz is a book available to read on EtoBox.

What is The Socialist Alternative : Real Human Development about?

"A good society," Michael Lebowitz tells us, "is one that permits the full development of human potential." In this slim, lucid, and insightful book, he argues persuasively that such a society is possible. That capitalism fails his definition of a good society is evident from even a cursory examination of its main features. What comes first in capitalism is not human development but privately accumulated profits by a tiny minority of the population. When there is a conflict between profits and human development, profits take precedence. Just ask the unemployed, those toiling at dead-end jobs, the sick and infirm, the poor, and the imprisoned. But if not capitalism, what? Lebowitz is also critical of those societies that have proclaimed their socialism, such as the former Soviet Union and China. While their systems were not capitalist and were capable of achieving some of what is necessary for the "development of human potential," they were not "good societies." A good society as Lebowitz defines it must be marked by three characteristics: social ownership of the means of production, social production controlled by workers, and satisfaction of communal needs and purposes. Lebowitz s

Author

Michael A. Lebowitz, Etkin Bilen Michael Lebowitz

Publisher

New York: Monthly Review Press

Published

2010

Language

EN

ISBN

9781583672150

Subjects

Philosophy, Economics, Social Science