One other thought/question: social ownership is the most succinct way to say what the goal is. Why would using nationalization be necessary? Technically that word does mean state ownership or control. If we did nationalize it would just end up another flavor of what we have now like you mentioned. It feels like nationalization might cause confusion and helping people focus on social ownership and the benefits of social ownership would be most beneficial.
Great article by the way! Very well written, clear and accessible. It’s interesting because we the people already do manage complex systems. We already do high levels of collaboration for the aviation system or global supply chains or medical surgeries.. all of that is our work already. We already have experts among us who know best practices etc. We are just excluded from making the top level strategic decisions democratically and from keeping the value and wealth we create in our communities.
I shared your article with some communists. This was the feedback: “Some concepts in there are not incorrect, but the way they word some phrases is suspicious. Orwell being in the citations doesn’t raise my hopes lol. Also, David Schweickart is a market-socialist, which explains some of their phrasing.”
I’m trying to learn more about how all this would work. Are there any resources that are particularly good in explaining the different options for how these 2 things can be defined/implemented?
“The Communist Manifesto” by Marx & Engels – concise overview of the goals of communism and why social ownership matters.
“Critique of the Gotha Program” by Marx – discusses the transitional phase of the state and why state ownership isn’t the end goal.
“State and Revolution” by Lenin – explains the role of the state in transitioning from capitalism to socialism. Note: historical, not a blueprint for modern socialism.
2. Modern explanations / accessible guides:
Michael Hudson’s writings on public/social ownership and finance – great for understanding how social ownership can work in practice.
David Schweickart’s “After Capitalism” – explains practical forms like worker cooperatives, social trusts, and decentralized planning.
Richard Wolff’s “Democracy at Work” – accessible intro to workplace democracy and cooperative ownership.
3. Comparative approaches:
Look at cooperative economies (Mondragon in Spain) vs. state-owned enterprises (China’s SOEs) to see real-world implementations.
Some academic papers: search “social ownership vs. state ownership” + “Marxist theory” for deeper case studies.
4. Key takeaway:
The difference isn’t just semantics—social ownership = collective democratic control; state ownership = bureaucratic administration. Both can overlap, but social ownership is the end goal.
Imo the country is in a different place than you describe. We’ve got six billionaires determined to own and control everything, including our access to food, housing, healthcare, justice, etc. A thoroughly corrupt, illegitimate, and dysfunctional government. A media environment that distracts rather than informs, an environment that’s collapsing from climate change about to be accelerated by data centers which will, in turn, control every aspect of our thinking, speaking, and participation by use of fear. We have a masked, unidentifiable army of goons descending on our streets and schools!!!!! abducting children and families, and we don’t know half the atrocities they’re being subjected to. We’re so far from being able to influence our future until we somehow bring the entire govt down and rebuild from scratch. At that point, I’m all in for how we build a better society. I just think a revolution lies between where we are now, and where we wish we were. But I like the reading list, thanks!!
One other thought/question: social ownership is the most succinct way to say what the goal is. Why would using nationalization be necessary? Technically that word does mean state ownership or control. If we did nationalize it would just end up another flavor of what we have now like you mentioned. It feels like nationalization might cause confusion and helping people focus on social ownership and the benefits of social ownership would be most beneficial.
Great article by the way! Very well written, clear and accessible. It’s interesting because we the people already do manage complex systems. We already do high levels of collaboration for the aviation system or global supply chains or medical surgeries.. all of that is our work already. We already have experts among us who know best practices etc. We are just excluded from making the top level strategic decisions democratically and from keeping the value and wealth we create in our communities.
I shared your article with some communists. This was the feedback: “Some concepts in there are not incorrect, but the way they word some phrases is suspicious. Orwell being in the citations doesn’t raise my hopes lol. Also, David Schweickart is a market-socialist, which explains some of their phrasing.”
Do communists want social ownership or state ownership?
Socialists and Communists want social ownership. State ownership is sometimes used as a transitional mechanism, but it’s not the end goal.
Social and State ownership generally overlap each other in terms of how they are defined. You may to be more specific.
I’m trying to learn more about how all this would work. Are there any resources that are particularly good in explaining the different options for how these 2 things can be defined/implemented?
I recommend the material I've collected as well via the link on my profile under Dialectical Materialism.
1. Foundational Marxist texts (theory first):
“The Communist Manifesto” by Marx & Engels – concise overview of the goals of communism and why social ownership matters.
“Critique of the Gotha Program” by Marx – discusses the transitional phase of the state and why state ownership isn’t the end goal.
“State and Revolution” by Lenin – explains the role of the state in transitioning from capitalism to socialism. Note: historical, not a blueprint for modern socialism.
2. Modern explanations / accessible guides:
Michael Hudson’s writings on public/social ownership and finance – great for understanding how social ownership can work in practice.
David Schweickart’s “After Capitalism” – explains practical forms like worker cooperatives, social trusts, and decentralized planning.
Richard Wolff’s “Democracy at Work” – accessible intro to workplace democracy and cooperative ownership.
3. Comparative approaches:
Look at cooperative economies (Mondragon in Spain) vs. state-owned enterprises (China’s SOEs) to see real-world implementations.
Some academic papers: search “social ownership vs. state ownership” + “Marxist theory” for deeper case studies.
4. Key takeaway:
The difference isn’t just semantics—social ownership = collective democratic control; state ownership = bureaucratic administration. Both can overlap, but social ownership is the end goal.
Thank you for all the great recommendations!! Will be taking a look!
Imo the country is in a different place than you describe. We’ve got six billionaires determined to own and control everything, including our access to food, housing, healthcare, justice, etc. A thoroughly corrupt, illegitimate, and dysfunctional government. A media environment that distracts rather than informs, an environment that’s collapsing from climate change about to be accelerated by data centers which will, in turn, control every aspect of our thinking, speaking, and participation by use of fear. We have a masked, unidentifiable army of goons descending on our streets and schools!!!!! abducting children and families, and we don’t know half the atrocities they’re being subjected to. We’re so far from being able to influence our future until we somehow bring the entire govt down and rebuild from scratch. At that point, I’m all in for how we build a better society. I just think a revolution lies between where we are now, and where we wish we were. But I like the reading list, thanks!!
to be truly free we must run our own lives
Quite literally the most succinct way to put it