Commodity exchange existed a hell of a long time before capitalism, and it probably will for a while afterwards too. Capitalism is just the commodification of basically everything, though most importantly the commodification of labor power and the means of production (especially land).
There is nothing problematic with decentralizing the economy some and allowing people to engage in production using only their own labor and what meager means of production that they own and realizing the value of their labor via sale on the market.
I dont see how to get around this issue, other than either just not instituting any legal framework for this economic activity and letting the black market run rampant or somehow magically getting rid of money at the flick of a hand.
For these reasons it looks like the Cuban people and state made the right call by extending legal frameworks and thus protections to people who were otherwise falling through the cracks.
Because thats exactly what was happening: people sometimes werent able to suppprt their family just off of the sales from their farm through the coop or from their wages from state employment (big surprise when you're sanctioned to hell and back theres not much money to go around), and thus they had to independantly labor as freelancers to support themselves.
Thankfully they have a state that at least even pretends to care about its people and thus it empowered these workers by providing a legal framework and protections for them as self employed persons.
As long as they are not facilitating the employment of laborers by private capitalists in order to reap their surplus value in the form of profits, or allowing people to own whole apartment complexes, engage in private usury, etc. i really dont see any major problem.
Theres definately a lot to be done, but it looks like Cuba has done a pretty decent job of balancing the tightrope it was placed on, and is not succumbing to either full liberalization or insane adventurist ultraleft bullshit.
"Producing commodities for sale is not capitalism. Capitalism is only when bad rich man doesnt pay you." - Karl Marx.
Commodity exchange existed a hell of a long time before capitalism, and it probably will for a while afterwards too. Capitalism is just the commodification of basically everything, though most importantly the commodification of labor power and the means of production (especially land).
There is nothing problematic with decentralizing the economy some and allowing people to engage in production using only their own labor and what meager means of production that they own and realizing the value of their labor via sale on the market.
I dont see how to get around this issue, other than either just not instituting any legal framework for this economic activity and letting the black market run rampant or somehow magically getting rid of money at the flick of a hand.
For these reasons it looks like the Cuban people and state made the right call by extending legal frameworks and thus protections to people who were otherwise falling through the cracks.
Because thats exactly what was happening: people sometimes werent able to suppprt their family just off of the sales from their farm through the coop or from their wages from state employment (big surprise when you're sanctioned to hell and back theres not much money to go around), and thus they had to independantly labor as freelancers to support themselves.
Thankfully they have a state that at least even pretends to care about its people and thus it empowered these workers by providing a legal framework and protections for them as self employed persons.
As long as they are not facilitating the employment of laborers by private capitalists in order to reap their surplus value in the form of profits, or allowing people to own whole apartment complexes, engage in private usury, etc. i really dont see any major problem.
Theres definately a lot to be done, but it looks like Cuba has done a pretty decent job of balancing the tightrope it was placed on, and is not succumbing to either full liberalization or insane adventurist ultraleft bullshit.